The essence of photography

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"As I grow older my childhood memories of growing up in Simla have gradually assumed a fairy tale dimension. I remember Simla as a town which was close to nature. A town of nimble sunshine in the summers, swirling mist and rain soaked trees in the monsoons, magnificent views of the Himalayas after the rains and intense cold and magical snow in the winters. My journey back into the past was nostalgic...emotional...sad. I was trying to discover my lost childhood through the eyes of my 7 year old daughter. Walking through the bazaars and back alleys I discovered that the never never land of my childhood still exists in a timeless zone."

Simla (Memories of my childhood) - a set on Flickr
 
The essence of photography:

Photography gives you immense powers for understanding and documenting the world. Provided you are able to strip of the trite and superficial outer wrapping and reach the heart of the matter. Provided you are able to ignore the noise and chatter which passes for "expert advise" on internet forums and reviews. Provided you learn to blame yourself for your failures rather than the camera or lens. Provided you can render perfect images straight out of the camera and don't have to resort to tampering or cropping them on a computer. Provided you are willing to walk alone and enter into unchartered territory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVRfxelJmYM
 
Choosing an ultra-wide lens for a Nikon DSLR:

In the Nikon FX system there are essentially two great choices for an ultra-wide zoom: Nikkor AF-S Zoom 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF and Nikkor AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8 D IF-ED. A Nikon FX experience would remain incomplete without having shot with both these lenses. The Nikkor AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8 D IF-ED is a full frame, ultra-wide lens with a field-of-view equivalent to 25.5-52.5mm. It is a professional gold-ring lens which was released in 1999 and is still part of the Nikon arsenal.

Nikkor AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8 D IF-ED. - a set on Flickr
 
ajay124 said:
The Nikkor AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8 D IF-ED is a full frame, ultra-wide lens with a field-of-view equivalent to 25.5-52.5mm.
Click to expand...

You gotta be kidding.... wheres the wide angle? To me the definition of wide begins at 18mm down to 14mm for a normal lens thats not fisheye with a 180 degree FOV.

-G0bble
 
gobble

Your observation is correct as there was a typo on my part. The 25.5-52.5mm field of view would be on a DX sensor. The definition of ultra-wide would change depending on whether you are using a full frame or cropped sensor camera. For full frame cameras (FX on Nikon means a 36x23.9mm sensor) a focal range of less than 24mm is normally considered to be ultra-wide and 24-35mm is considered to be wide.

Keeping the 1.5 crop factor in mind, on a cropped sensor (DX on Nikon means a 23.5x15.6mm sensor) ultra-wide would mean any focal range of less than 16mm.
 
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Random musings about photography which may or may not be of interest to anyone :)

Our personal opinions and preferences about photography and equipment are to a large extent subjective. They might act as pointers for a few people but they are not universal truths. In fact even a review by a professional reviewer is ultimately nothing more than a personal opinion. Tests and charts seem to carry the mantle of "objectivity" but as the saying goes "I can prove anything with statistics except the truth." Personally I would be happy with reviews which are sans words and talk only through the medium of photographs. If someone has something to say then perhaps the most convincing argument would be to say it through photographs. But mere photographs don't seem to be sufficient evidence of actual worth. Most people (and that includes me) can't resist the urge to bolster their work through casual references to famous people one has been influenced or inspired by. It seems to be almost mandatory to mention famous artists and works of art as inspirations. Even art critics and curators can't resist the urge to bring in a few big names in praise of work which is quite often ordinary and mundane. At times you come across someone speaking spontaneously about his personal experiences and it can be both touching and enlightening. But most of the time what one witness is soaring towers of babel in various stages of construction and abandonment.

Moral of the story (if there is one):
Photography is still an unchartered terrain. A journey without maps or directions. And the only paths which matter are the one's you discover for yourself in the lovely, dark and deep woods. Couldn't resist the temptation of finishing with a quote from a famous work of art :)
"Two roads diverged in a wood/and I took the one less traveled by/And that has made all the difference."- Robert Frost
 
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The SUN is a great and generous lord. It sheds its light equally and unsparingly on all things great and small. A camera is a receptacle for gathering this light. A photographer is a person who (through constant mediations and explorations) gradually acquires the ability to understand and gather light. "Photography" is derived from the greek "Photos" and "Graphe" meaning DRAWING WITH LIGHT.

Drawing with light - a set on Flickr
 
Some good shots there. I feel some of the pics may look better with a shift in white balance and less yellows. Do you like to experiment with w.b settings while talking a shot? Also some pics because they don't portray an explosion of color may just look more stark and captivating in B&W.
G0bble
 
gobble

Some pics have been marginally tweaked using exposure, contrast, saturation and temp sliders on iPhotos but most are straight out of the camera images. I set the aperture, shutter speed, exposure, iso, focusing, metering individually for every shot but WB remains on auto while shooting outdoors in natural light. The colours in these images of the lake in Chandigarh are mostly what the camera captured on auto white balance. Personally I am interested in what I can achieve on the camera and don't like to tweak images on a computer. I shoot in the RAW mode and save both the RAW file and a maximum definition JPEG file on the computer. I don't find results achieved by converting coloured RAW data into b&w particularly interesting. Somehow it does not seem to be a true and pure rendering of black and white colours. I would like to work with a minimalistic palette of two colours (black+white) if the sensor was recording the original data in b&w. I've read that the Leica M Monochrome exhibits far less noise than a typical sensor which records in colour. Unfortunately I can't afford a Leica M. Perhaps one day Nikon or Canon will release an affordable full frame DSLR with a b&w sensor!

Over time I have developed a preference for SOOC images. I believe that images processed on a computer cannot replicate the beauty of natural light. Too much processing drains away that essence of light and indeed the entire magic and romance of photography. This is merely how I view photography and is not meant to be a critique of how other photographers view it. Post processing offers limitless possibilities of playing around with the RAW files. Going by the work visible online PP seems to becoming an integral part of digital photography. Probably this shift towards tweaking RAW files on a computer will keep gathering force. Ultimately both PP or SOOC are merely a matter of preference. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Or as the old nursery rhyme goes "Some like it hot, some like it cold, Some like it in the pot, nine days old" :)
 
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HOMAGE TO MY HOMETOWN

A camera allows you to dream. It allows you to focus on the things you like about the time and space you inhabit. In my recent work on Chandigarh, I have sought to capture the essence of the city for future generations who will live or pass through it. When I migrated here in the late seventies, Chandigarh was a relaxed, laid back town. Time moved languidly and slowly during those days. It is now a bustling, energetic city, which has fortunately retained the charm and beauty of its early years. There are very few cities in India, which can be compared with Chandigarh, because there are very few cities, which were entirely built according to a master plan by an architect of the stature of Le Corbusier. The complex interplay of shadows and light in Le Corbusier's architecture is particularly enthralling to me as a photographer. I view a camera as a receptacle of light. But imagining a great architect conceiving and building a city as a receptacle of light is an exhilarating vision for me. Presently I am working on documenting this light as it falls on the stirring straight lines and open spaces of Chandigarh.

Chandigarh has retained the rigid design and beauty of Corbusier's art. Human habitation and nature exists in harmony in the city. In the future this city, like every other city, will change in ways we cannot fathom at the moment. In my work I have sought to follow Leo Tolstoy's dictum: "In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you". I have stopped for a moment. I have ceased my work. I am looking around. I would like to share what I see through the viewfinder of my camera. The human eye has a 50mm angle of view. But photography offers multiple angles of view stretching from ultra wide to ultra telephoto. I view these photographs as my homage to the beautiful city, which has given me shelter for over three decades.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rublev124/sets/72157633041385208/
 
ajay124 said:
The SUN is a great and generous lord. It sheds its light equally and unsparingly on all things great and small. A camera is a receptacle for gathering this light. A photographer is a person who (through constant mediations and explorations) gradually acquires the ability to understand and gather light. "Photography" is derived from the greek "Photos" and "Graphe" meaning DRAWING WITH LIGHT.

Drawing with light - a set on Flickr
Click to expand...


This one is my fav

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rublev124/12669240934/in/set-72157633041385208
 
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