The essence of photography

[ajay124]

For me the single most important reason for buying a Nikon:

AF NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8D.

I am really happy with the pics I shot today evening with this lens. I was killing time in a park, waiting for my daughter's roller skating session to get over. Saw a few kids playing cricket and generally freaking out. Took a few pics. Gave me the idea for starting a set on children called "shine a light".

blessed by the light | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[ajay124]

hi ajay let me know of any good underwater cameras

had a stint with the go pro HD2 @ havelock but pics not too good

or should i go for a casing for the D3100 nikon, but then it would be too bulky

DSC-TX5 | Cyber-shot? Digital Camera TX5 | Sony USA

FinePix XP10 digital camera | Fujifilm Canada

Canon PowerShot D10 waterproof camera emerges: Digital Photography Review

Nikon AW100 COOLPIX Compact Digital Camera | Underwater Camera

Waterproof Cameras - PENTAX Digital Underwater Camera

Ikelite's waterproof casing seems to be twice as expensive as the D3100.

Ikelite 6801.31 Underwater Housing for Nikon D3100 6801.31 B&H

 

[iaudio]

ajay, really nice shots of those children!

 

[ajay124]

For anyone planning to buy a full frame, it may be worth waiting for the 'rumored' D600 at the 'rumored' price of 1500$.

Updated specs:

Nikon Rumors

 

[ajay124]

Until a few months ago photography meant taking a few pics with my D40 when we went for a holiday. I seldom indulged in photography when I was in Chandigarh. But recently it has become a compulsion. If I don't shoot a few pics everyday I feel that something is missing. Shooting pics everyday means overcoming a few challenges and limitations. The first obviously is the hot, dusty Indian summer. From 9am to 6pm the unforgiving sun renders everything shadow-less and uninteresting. My photo-shoots are early in the morning or late in the evening sessions accompanied by my camera, bicycle and water bottle.

There are no landscapes to be shot in Chandigarh. The local men (by and large) wear monotonous, dull colored attire and aggressive, disgruntled faces. The women, young and old, are more colorfully dressed. Some of them even seem to be happy and at peace with themselves. A rare phenomenon in the urban nightmare of 21st century cities and towns! When I do come across interesting looking people I feel scared or shy of taking their pictures. Should I ask their permission before taking a pic? How would they react? Should I take a few pics without their knowledge? It might be possible with a zoom lens but it is difficult to indulge in candid photography with a 50mm or 85mm prime!

Conclusion. It is easier to take pictures as a tourist in a strange place than as a local in your hometown!

Are You Afraid to Ask?

 

[jls001]

When I do come across interesting looking people I feel scared or shy of taking their pictures. Should I ask their permission before taking a pic? How would they react? Should I take a few pics without their knowledge? It might be possible with a zoom lens but it is difficult to indulge in candid photography with a 50mm or 85mm prime!

A long zoom is your best friend for such situations

You seem to be eyeball deep into this Keep the flickr photostream flowing.

 

[ajay124]

We had driven far from our hometown seeking the bliss of a himalayan paradise. But that paradise turned out to be a mirage. 'Progress' had ravaged the mountains and forests many moons ago. Nature was in retreat everywhere as the automobiles of the city folks sought to temporarily carry them away from the insanity of their city lives. On the road to Chaukori (Kumaon) we met a happy woman who kindly posed for a picture. Her carefree and contented demeanour was in stark contrast to the ennui of the city which we were carrying into the mountains. While parting we wanted to give her something. All we had was the junk food we were carrying from the plains. Soft drinks and biscuits. She accepted a bottle and a pack, shoved them deep into her bundle of grass and walked away into her himalayan paradise. A paradise from which we were forever locked out.

a happy woman | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[iaudio]

Until a few months ago photography meant taking a few pics with my D40 when we went for a holiday. I seldom indulged in photography when I was in Chandigarh. But recently it has become a compulsion. If I don't shoot a few pics everyday I feel that something is missing. Shooting pics everyday means overcoming a few challenges and limitations. The first obviously is the hot, dusty Indian summer. From 9am to 6pm the unforgiving sun renders everything shadow-less and uninteresting. My photo-shoots are early in the morning or late in the evening sessions accompanied by my camera, bicycle and water bottle.

There are no landscapes to be shot in Chandigarh. The local men (by and large) wear monotonous, dull colored attire and aggressive, disgruntled faces. The women, young and old, are more colorfully dressed. Some of them even seem to be happy and at peace with themselves. A rare phenomenon in the urban nightmare of 21st century cities and towns! When I do come across interesting looking people I feel scared or shy of taking their pictures. Should I ask their permission before taking a pic? How would they react? Should I take a few pics without their knowledge? It might be possible with a zoom lens but it is difficult to indulge in candid photography with a 50mm or 85mm prime!

Conclusion. It is easier to take pictures as a tourist in a strange place than as a local in your hometown!

Are You Afraid to Ask?

One of the biggest problems I face too. I belong to the first category from that article by Mansurov. I am afraid to ask. Period. Street photography is something I am very attracted too, but I am paranoid to engage in it. The few times I have asked, I have got quite firm No's.
I feel a big tele lens and a DSLR look quite ominous to the common man.

Once I was on the terrace of my apartment building, trying to get a moon shot with my D200 and 70-300 focussed upwards towards the moon on a tripod. A couple from the same building who ventured on to the terrace at the same time, came to me with a troubled,even suspicious look and asked me what I was doing. I traced a line from the angle the lens was pointed at to the moon. They appeared quite relieved and even went on to admit they were afraid I might be taking pics of women in the opposite building.

I have experienced many more similar instances like these. I wish I could get some kind of a amateur/freelancer badge which gives me some credibility.

 

[Sumanta]

I have experienced many more similar instances like these. I wish I could get some kind of a amateur/freelancer badge which gives me some credibility.

Your confident, innocent, honest smile should do.
It does for me. It did for me even in Abudhabi, but I did not tried shooting women there.

Street photography has many essence. One of them is bringing out the surrealistic moment on the street. A superb combination of light, timing, composition and a semi wide or normal-wide lens. I myself consider taking portrait photograph of interesting people on the street as a candid portrait but not as a street photograph.

ad str3

Noon sun
ad street
Abudhabi Autumn

 

[ajay124]

If the rumors are true, then here is how the new product line from Nikon would look like:

Entry Level (APS-C/DX): Nikon D3200
Upper Entry Level (APS-C/DX): Nikon D5100 (to be replaced by D5200)
Mid-range (APS-C/DX): Nikon D7000 (to be replaced by D7100)
Budget High-End (FX): Nikon D600
High-end (FX): Nikon D800
Professional (FX): Nikon D4

Is Nikon D600 on the Horizon?

 

[ajay124]

gerry the merry

Continuing our 'pm' discussion here so that other folks may chip in if they are interested.

Reprise:

a1 in Custom Setting Mode provides the option of selecting AF-area mode:

Single point
Dynamic Area
Auto area

a2 provides the option of increasing the size of the center focus point:

normal zone
wide zone

b3 provides the option of changing the size of the center weighted area:

6mm
8mm
10mm

Personally I use single point focus for still subjects and dynamic area for moving subjects. With the dynamic area mode I opt for AF-C rather than my usual AF-S. I never use the default setting of auto area mode and AF-A. In the default setting the camera chooses which focus points will work and where they will focus. Strictly a hit or miss affair. Mostly miss! Camera technology may have advanced rapidly but whatever a camera can do automatically can always be bettered by a photographer shooting manually. But only by a photographer who has taken some pains to understand the technology packed into a modern SLR. I am still experimenting with a2 and b3 and have not really got a handle on them as yet.

My photography inclinations in order of preference:

human subject
natural phenomenon
street secenes
abstract
landscape
wildlife

My current lenses -50mm and 85mm- and current knowledge limit my shooting to the first four. I have not shot landscapes but I am looking forward to landscape photography as a separate exploration in the future.

I love shooting human beings who look like normal human beings and not like celebrities. Celebrities are a different species which I find immensely banal and boring. Celebrities are a phantom created by the media. A phantom who disappears in a puff of smoke once you stop paying attention to the media.

I feel that pics of living, breathing organisms shot in the area AF mode very often have a bland, ordinary, picture post card look. Where as a single point focus brings them to life and gives them a distinct identity. If I ever shoot (still) wildlife I would still prefer to use the single point mode. A single focus point trained on the eye or some striking feature of a bird or animal may give startling results which pop out of the frame.

Strictly rookie ramblings I apologize in advance to the pro's who have travelled further down the road.

 

[Shivam]

I thought I too will join in.
Some of my work - Flickr: Dr. Shivam Maini (SgtPepper)'s Photostream

My wife is not as much into audio as me but she does like photography.
Some of her work - Flickr: lena.maini's Photostream

One of the sites that I recommend to all those interested in photography -
The Luminous Landscape
The essays and some similar articles are really good on this site.

 

[anm]

wow Doc saab!!

 

[Shivam]

wow Doc saab!!

Is that wow for my work or my wife's work ?

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Doc, the Dragonfly and the butterflies are magnificent.
On single point v/s dynamic, I mainly shoot wildlife. The reason is that the lens most in use is the 70-300, and its versatility cannot be compromised. Hence instead of changing lenses my plan is to use a better point and shoot, which can be used for portraits, landscape and macro.

The single point focus is critical for shooting birds in particular, since usually (but not always) the distance is sufficient to expose the entire subject uniformly. At times, there has been a thin branch running across the bird, but somehow I have got the entire bird uninterrupted since I was able to zero in on the bird through all the leaves and branches, only because of single point focus, and the branch went out of focus, and almost became transparent.

But it takes quite some practice to be able to pull it off on moving birds, and I have practised sufficiently I think. But on one occassion when a majestic eagle was circling overhead i kept missing the eagle as the single point focus locked repeatedly on the blue sky. I guess a dynamic area focus would have helped me snag that bird.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

There are no landscapes to be shot in Chandigarh.

I recently went to Parvanu, in HP, which is merely 30 KM from Chandigarh, for visiting a company that was having its off site there. The scenery is utterly brilliant. I have no doubt if one continued north along that route, it would only improve.

 

[jls001]

I thought I too will join in.
Some of my work - Flickr: Dr. Shivam Maini (SgtPepper)'s Photostream

:thumbsup:

I love your dragonfly and sunflower.

My wife is not as much into audio as me but she does like photography.
Some of her work - Flickr: lena.maini's Photostream

:thumbsup:

This one is special: Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing!. I am big time fan of macros.

 

[Shivam]

Doc, the Dragonfly and the butterflies are magnificent.
On single point v/s dynamic, I mainly shoot wildlife. The reason is that the lens most in use is the 70-300, and its versatility cannot be compromised. Hence instead of changing lenses my plan is to use a better point and shoot, which can be used for portraits, landscape and macro.

The single point focus is critical for shooting birds in particular, since usually (but not always) the distance is sufficient to expose the entire subject uniformly. At times, there has been a thin branch running across the bird, but somehow I have got the entire bird uninterrupted since I was able to zero in on the bird through all the leaves and branches, only because of single point focus, and the branch went out of focus, and almost became transparent.

But it takes quite some practice to be able to pull it off on moving birds, and I have practised sufficiently I think. But on one occassion when a majestic eagle was circling overhead i kept missing the eagle as the single point focus locked repeatedly on the blue sky. I guess a dynamic area focus would have helped me snag that bird.

We, both me and my wife, use manual focusing more frequently. For shooting flying birds and similar actions, we do predictive manual focusing. Single point continuous focusing is useful but it limits to placing the subject at the location of the chosen sensor.

 

[anm]

for both Doc!

 

[ajay124]

Great pics Sgt.Pepper! Especially the macros.

Your's wife's photo stream is softer. More poetic and colorful. Equally good

I would appreciate if you were to write a few posts about the technical aspects of shooting macro and other stuff. I would have liked to read the exif data of your photographs but you have chosen not to share it !