Visual Abyss

IGI to IAD

2012-05-12T21:22:00.001+05:30

Being the frequent flyer i am, i was still never bored in the long haul flight as i was in this one. Well what a photographer can do best to kill time? Shoot .. Harmlessly of course.

The flight with a stopover at london goes via afghanistan, erstwhile western USSR and europe. Afghanistan was just as barren as jhon luke picards shiny head. Russia on other hand was wintery white even in starting of summer and london was rainy as always.

Heathrow Birds-eye view

London, Rainy as ever

Russia, Wintery White

Barren Afghanistan

London City, sun shining for some parts

Flowers

2012-04-05T23:02:00.001+05:30

Flowers beautiful, graceful, colorful and.. well I am running short of adjectives, but you got the point. Couple of weeks ago I motivated myself and grabbed by camera bag for a visit to Lodhi gardens.

The day was perfect, full sun shining and no haze. The sun was very bright though, so bright that I found some of my photographs appearing overexposed. Had to shoot the rest on full manual.

As you may have noticed I am not very fond of post processing, even though I keep a full compliment of photo editing tool on my laptop but use them only for framing and signing and on few occassions brightness, contrast and some sharpening. Otherwise these pictures are always right of the cam. Just converted from RAW to JPEG.

In this post you will find few in macro mode and few in full. I used two lenses, 50 mm Nikon Prime and 90mm Tamron Macro. It is hard to distinguish the

clarity between the two. they both seem to be working exactly as they are supposed to.

I did shoot a few which are pure macro, if you liked my earlier post nectar and appreciated the flower in it, then you will like my upcoming post too. I though keep it as a continuation from this post. But unlike this post that will have a better flavour of macro photography.

None the less, I hope you enjoy this post and relish these flowers which I tried to capture somewhat better than they appeared to the naked eye.

As always, open click on the pics and open them in larger size to appreciate the clarity.

Macro : Jumping Spider

2012-03-18T11:59:00.001+05:30

Behold, today I present to you the Jumping spider. This half a centimeter being can be easily missed by your eyes, but is quite common on our walls.

Irrespective of its commonality it does make an excellent and a rather smart (i must add) object for macro photography.

It has 8 eyes and can see ahead and behind at the same time. With the same amount on legs it can rotate 360 degrees in less than the blink of an eye.

Needless of say it wasn't an easy object to frame, still I am quite happy with the results.

Macro : Bees

2012-03-08T18:09:00.001+05:30

Bees make very good Macro objects, but its very tricky to shoot them, by the time you get a good shot they fly away. But when you do get a shot they look quite majestic.

Being bigger in size between insects, they dont require you to get very close. Plus they usually sit on flowers which add the natural elements and very great colors. Plus pollen on them makes for added detail and great test for the macro lens.

You will be surpised by my next macro object.. post coming soon.

Nectar

2012-03-04T22:22:00.000+05:30

This silence was definitely the lull before the storm. I finally picked up my bag and filled my card with lots of pics. Majorly shot with the new 90mm Macro, these pics explore a different world.

Right before our eyes is an alternate world. The tiny word beams with life, be it moving or still.Today's post and the ones to follow with explore just that.

City lights

2011-12-29T08:11:00.000+05:30

I wanted to shoot some pictures which capture city life for a long time. I believe the same shot in black and white gives makes up for a great shot. All these shots were taken in Toronto, Canada.

Joys of Macro Photography

2011-12-11T08:04:00.000+05:30

I finally found the courage to buy a Macro lens (Tamron 90mm 1:1 Macro F2.8 - Nikon mount), the deal put me back by $450 (yeah could have bought a laptop in this price) but I guess that’s the price for passion these days .. No regrets.

Winter is not the best time to do macro photography, all the cute little flowers and the tiny bugs are either dead or dying.. not a sight you would like to capture.. or so i thought.

I did manage to capture some decent shots which shows the power of my new lens. Pros - please spare me, its my first attempt with this lens, though comments for improvement are always welcomed.

Note : Apart from adding a border and signature there is no post processing done on these pictures, not even brightness or contrast.

So to begin with a shot of red plum Roma Tomatoes -

Ha ha .. got you.. these are not tomatoes they are wild berries, each one few mm in size. That’s what a macro lens can do. I tried some more close up shots, but with the chilly wind the hands shook and picture came out a bit blurred.

Next - Here is a shot of drying plant from 2 feet just to give you an idea how good this lens is. Love the brokeh.

And here is the close up right off the lens.

Nice eh?

Here is another example, this shot is from about one foot away.

And this is from about 2 centimeter.

But this lens is not restricted to only macro photography, it can click some real nice normal photographs too. I can be used as a portrait lens, maybe not as sharp as my cheap 50mm prime, but very close. Here is an example of some formation on a tree, this object is about 12-13inches long, look at the detail this lens could capture.

At the end all i would say is.. more to come :)

Flight of fancy

2011-08-11T01:20:00.000+05:30

Looking at these birds I can understand what made endless generation of humans to strive to fly. I am glad we can enjoy the same views in our lifetime are these creatures do.

Place: National Mall Grounds, Washington D.C (Aug 2011)

Duckie

2011-08-11T01:10:00.000+05:30

Ducks are noble creatures....Heck No !!!

They are the most noisiest and messy beings I have seen. But not this one though, i love the colors of its feathers. The contrast of grey and the special blue.. this one looks almost alien to me.

Place : National Mall grounds, Washington DC (Aug 2011)

Multiplicity

2011-02-11T19:33:00.000+05:30

Idea/Concept : Aditi Ahuja
Photography/Editing : Rajat Ahuja

Another appropriate title .. team work :)

Passer domesticus

2011-01-09T17:32:00.000+05:30

Passer domesticus or the common house sparrow, all fluffy like a kick-able football in Delhi winters. They come in hoards and deposit all kind of "stuff" on my car.

sitting pretty

2011-01-05T19:35:00.000+05:30

Several ancient religions believed that cats are exalted souls, companions or guides for humans, that they are all-knowing but are mute so they cannot influence decisions made by humans. This one seems completely in accordance to the belief :).

High Dynamic Range Petronas Towers

2011-01-04T15:00:00.000+05:30

People say falling into HDR is an endless abyss, you can never seem to master the art. But I say try everything but don't let anything be your habit (except for cofee, internet and television). Anyways, it doesn't make any difference if you post a few more HDR images that you think are worth posting .. right?

Portraits

2010-12-27T19:09:00.000+05:30

I am usually more excited by nature and its elements and never really forayed into the world of portraits. But now with such a beautiful face to click who can resist the temptation. Hence, presenting my first real portrait. Used my 50mm prime (and no flash, just white light of 40watt tube light) to get the crispness and clarity to the portrait and basic touch up to flare up the colors a bit.

Let me know if you like it and of course comments are always welcome.

Merry Christmas 2 !!!

2010-12-25T13:56:00.000+05:30

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-25T13:54:00.000+05:30

Monsoon colors

2010-09-03T21:07:00.000+05:30

Sometimes you should let a shot be as is. No words.

Perfect shot

2010-08-24T22:35:00.000+05:30

Its seldom that you find a shot which is just perfect right out of the cam. No touchup required no flaring up of colors no sharpening, nothing. And if that shot is of a pink rose with rain drops on it right after a cool shower you should consider yourself awesomly lucky.

In case you are wondering, that would be me today :).

PS : I would recommend clicking on the pic above to see it in full size and zoom in.

Part three.. best for last :)

2010-08-23T23:51:00.000+05:30

As they say you always save the best for last. Here is some moments of mom and kid playing with each other. First is mom's closeup, second is kids and third is the best :)

ugly fugly

2010-08-23T14:44:00.000+05:30

I hope the crow didn't read the title, but these models make my day. After following the cats for few minutes Mr. crow obliged me with a photo op, together with full sound. Stills yet cant capture the sounds, i guess that would be the good part in this case :)

part deux

2010-08-23T13:20:00.000+05:30

3 new entrants

2010-08-23T12:00:00.000+05:30

The cat god bestows his best again. 3 new entrants to my backyard, all three are brandnew, super active and chirpy kittens. The best is they are awesome models, evident from the ever inquisitve eyes peeking at the lesn of my cam. I am not complaining ... ever :).

Passion beckons

2010-07-25T16:05:00.000+05:30

Took out my super expensive camera kit and swished off the dirt from it today. I dont easily get the time to pursue my passion of photography (dont excatly know the reason why), so today was a lucky day.

Clicked a few pics here and there. Its really amazing to see how simple looking things around you when viewed from a slightly different angle come out to be very different.

Every time I start clicking, I have a theme in my mind. This time it was selective coloring. My previous two posts 'lonely' and 'together' were examples of it. But apart from the theme I usually take one more away from the ordinary for one single purpose, which is to find my new desktop wallpaper. I usually make it a point that my dektop always has something of my own on, like the pic you see next to this text.

Together

2010-07-25T15:51:00.000+05:30

Together we share our love
Together we share our future
Together we hold hands
Together we confide in each other
Together we help each other
Together we share our secrets
Together we cry
Together we feel each others pain
Together we smile and laugh

Lonely

2010-07-25T15:39:00.000+05:30

Lonely on the land I walk,
Lonely cross the sea I sail,
Lonely air of beach I stroll: This lonely life doth take its toll.

Lonely trek of woodland trail,
Lonely mist in haze o’ dawn,
Lonely spies the bird of preyIn lonely circles all astray.

Lonely be such dark of nightWhen sleep is but a yearning wish,
To dream of sweet companions close,
As wine would pair with diner's dish.

Lonely do these thoughts me make
That draw my blood of precious life: Replace with stream of flowing pain
To bless my veins with coursing strife.

Lonely years are now my friends,
Lonely cries bereft of sound,
Lonely tears that cool my face: In lonely life of sullen pace.