Art of Lighting

Sunset Pictures

by razipix on Oct.19, 2008, under Panorama, Pictorial

Sunsets and Sunrise colors facinatess anyone. Sunsets are more beautiful for their contrast with clouds. During the first weekend of October 2008, I happened to be on a trip to Grand Marias, MN. Its famous for scenic drive and fall colors.

On the second day of the trip, I happened to be on the Docks during the sunset and here are the most spectacular Sunsets that I have ever captured.

Some are HDR and one in panoramic for a stick of 7 photos.

This is a HDR combined from 3 bracketed pictures.

This is a stich from 7 different photos

6 Comments :boat, Marina, Shore, sunset more...

Landscapes in HDR

by razipix on Oct.19, 2008, under Nature, Pictorial

Ever wonder how to capture the Grass Greener, Sky Bluish with details of the clouds, the building with details of the siding? There is an easier answer to this these days.

It occurs in nature that not all objects reflect the same amount of light and hence for photographers, it’s difficult to capture them all in one photo since if exposed for one setting, the other objects and areas might be either over-exposed or under-exposed.

In the film camera days, there used to be multiple exposure on single frame. Today we can expose in different frames, combine them ‘after the fact’ and finally get one picture. This technique is been popularly called “HDR” or “High Dynamic Range”.

Here is my attempt at HDR (though I should say Photoshop – even CS4 sucks at properly merging the photos. Manually merging them makes it a lot better!)

To take HDR, key things to note:

1. Try to capture still images like landscape shots.

2. Capture one at recommend exposure, one above and one below. The more the better. So bracket the shots at least in the range of -2eV to +2eV.

3. In Photoshop, select the photos and merge them to HDR

Use Photomatix which is better than photoshop.

Put the photos in different layers and do the work yourself.

Non HDR

HDR

Non HDR

HDR

2 Comments :boat, Buildings, Church, HDR, Landscape, Layer, Marina, Natural, Photoshop more...

My new Canon!

by razipix on Oct.19, 2008, under Still objects

You know something? The first idea I got after I received my new Canon 40D was to try some HDR since now I can take some pictures which has some color saturation and details captured too. Canon 10D was good, but the color and details captured were not that great.

But before that I knew I had to take some detail pictures of my new 40D from my 10D as a tribute to the 10D that has been with me for the past 5 years. (Wow! Did I really have that long? As a matter of fact, I am still interested in photography which is very different since I have not stayed on a hobby this long)

Some captures of my new 40D!

Leave a Comment :camera, Electronics, Still object more...

Grill’n

by razipix on Jul.15, 2008, under Food

It was bright and sunny outside. Guys and ladies had come home with food and beer! It was fun-filled potluck party at our place.

As always, I take the Grill’n job whenever I get a chance and this was no different. I decided to do Veggie and Chicken Kabobs.

The veggies were colorful which included Green apple, Green, Red and Yellow bell peppers, Potato, Pineapple, Zucinni, Squash and much more. Here are some photos!

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God’s own Country

by razipix on Jun.19, 2008, under Animals, Buildings, Flora, Nature

During my recent visit to India, went to Thrissur, Kerala, a beautiful city often called the cultural center of Kerala, with perfect balance between greenery & concrete and rural & urban population. During the stay at the Hotel, found this amazingly huge Cathedral. Here are 2 photographs of the same at different times of the day.

From there, the adventure began and we were travelling to Kuruva Island. It’s a beautiful set of small islands held by Tourism department. A guide walked us through a small group of 4 islands covering a 2km route.

After wading through knee deep water and trekking through tough rocks for 2km, we ended up in this big island where we found a bamboo house built to watch wildlife.

This flower is not just the symbol of a national party in India, but also the symbolizes the “progress of the soul” per Buddhism. Never mind that, but the photo opportunity was awesome.

The Banasura dam, largest earth dam in India, was amazingly wide. At the end of the dam, there was speed boating where I shot this picture.

Then the incredible Soochipara Falls. It was a trip downhill containing steps and a little bit of hike, the cascading falls was amazing.

‘

Muthanga wildlife sanctuary was another story. After a long ride in an open jeep through the dusty red soil, we finally were able to see some wild elephants. But the rememberable event from the ride which made us skip the next wild life santuary in the plan, was the dust which had settled all over us and my camera. I had to spend hours the day after cleaning all the equipment.

1 Comment :Church, Elephant, Falls, Flower, India, Kerala, Wildlife more...

Eclipse 2008

by razipix on Jun.19, 2008, under Zoomed in

No, its not the Mitsubishi Eclipse . Its the total Lunar eclipse observed from most parts of North American continent in February 2008. I was in Orlando, Florida and had just checked into the motel. It was a beautiful view from the lawn of the motel the most expected Eclipse event since the next Total Lunar eclipse is not until Dec 21, 2010.

So I grabbed my gear (Canon 10D with 70-200 2L lens). I was experimenting Sunny 16 rules and basic exposure guide to capture moon. Finally, got one.

A: F/16
T: 1/350s
ISO: 400

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Scream with the kids

by razipix on Mar.18, 2008, under Animals, Nature

It was 4:00 PM on 20th Feb. We (me and Brindha) were rushing to the Minneapolis airport to board the non stop flight to a place where we can escape from the winter of Minnesota… Yes, we were going to Florida where it was 85-90F.

This is the land that claims “Scream with the kids for a change”
Very True. We became kids going in all the rides at Universal Studios and the next day at Sea World. Here are some photos from there:

On the day 3 and 4, it was set aside for touring the Keys of Florida. We went to Key west first where we went for few adventure rides like Para sailing, Jet skiing, Kayaking and also snorkeling.

After that we went for scenic spots and one such place is near Key Largo.

Leave a Comment :Florida, Landscape, Ride, Sea World, Theme Park, Water more...

Celebrity Kids

by razipix on Mar.08, 2008, under Portraits

Celebrity Kids is the Photo studio in Woodbury Lakes mall, MN. Tom Dunn, the owner of the studio was kind enough to let members of Saint Paul Camera (http://www.saintpaulcameraclub.com) use the studio for the evening of Feb19, 2008.

The “open house” started with a demo of the studio and the process he follows in developing/framing etc. Then he started giving some basic tips on how he becomes a kid when raking pictures of kids and simultaneously handles lighting/camera etc. Then the 2 big studio rooms were open to us. Here are some photos from the session…

No they are not kids!

3 Comments :Kids, Lighting, Portraits, Props, Studio more...

Hot air affair

by razipix on Feb.18, 2008, under Architecture, Pattern

It was 6 in the morning and I headed east for 19th Annual Hot air affair Feb 2nd. The school ground was packed with pick-up trucks and balloon laid flat.

Slowly one by one got filled with lighter than air stuff and they began to fill the sky with colorful resins. Here are some pictures!