Peace

"I do sit there with you,

alone, with sunshine on your face,

& your smile on mine,

forgetting all the worries in world,

& I for the first time feel the peace."

One of the few photographs which my friend really likes.

The Old Man & The Mountains

"The clouds will but pass,

and the sun will shine again.

The winds will but calm down,

and the breeze will then flow again.

But the mountains will still be there,

and so will the rocks be. 

A little weathered may be, 

a little old definitely.

Some of them will change as the clouds & the sun,

but I will definitely be the same, waiting.

Not for the ones who change but who are still there,

a little old, a little worn off, but still the same."

P.S - Dedicated  to my friend Sid, who understands what I write, or at least seems to!

Flashback!

My last year in a glimpse...

'Life moves on' - Edinburgh Castle from a different angle.

Outside my Place! Shot on tripod.

'Joys of Childhood' - Shot at Silverknowes beach.

'Thoughtful' - Me, Harsh & Sampu! Aveimore Skiing resort.

'I do things besides making Love Birds' - Naughty Cupid! Shot at Brussels.

"We carry the goods for you" - Line of Trucks, Dover port

Keukenhof Garden, Holland

Skinny Bridge, Amsterdam

 Rhine Castle, Germany

Snow-clad Windmill, Belgium

'On the run', Piccadily Square, London

'Grass is always greener on the other side', Sussex

'The endless opportunities', Sussex

'Penny, Emma & Lucy', York

'Trust', York

'We drive CTE' - The mad people of my classic team

A stroll in the evening...

I normally don't shoot people on streets, feel a little shy & awkward for that. Somehow today, felt like taking a couple of pictures & here are the results...

The guy here was raising money to visit his dying father in Jamaica. He was playing free 3 minute chess matches. He had played more than 246 matches since morning & hadn't lost a single one. The girl in the picture made an amazing sketch of this guy playing. She asked me if I could take a picture. 

Address 128, Princess street, Edinburgh, Scotland. This is the outer window of a Waterstone's book shop. I really loved it.

This champ here was sitting alone in 'Princess gardens'. I know nothing unusual about it! But I expected a guy of his age to be chilling out with his buddies, girls or lazying around listening loud music. He however was intently sketching 'Edinburgh Castle'.

'Where the executioner's face is always well hidden'. 'Save Environment' exhibition at 'Princess Gardens'.

This is the Edinburgh territorial clock. At its full lush, reflecting the colors of summers, its 5 minutes faster.

P.S - All of these pictures were shot at 'Princess street'

Happy Friendship's Day

All those lucky bastards who had the good luck to have been tagged with my friendship, I wish you guys a Happy Friendship's Day.

Of course, this is just an excuse!

I bought a Manfrotto couple of days back. I didn't get much chance to use it till now. But today shaking away my laziness, I ventured into the streets at 10 O'Clock in the night to get some pictures. They are not especially good, because I am still learning.

I am facing 2 problems here. The white balance is not correct. I can manage that. The highlights are all washed out in the sky. But worst is people don't seem to drive in Edinburgh after 9. I don't get enough vehicle trail lights. Come on guys, move out of your home, go out!

These shots are taken from a bridge 5 minutes away from my place. Since I was already late, I couldn't compose. Also the limited view from the over-bridge makes the choices limited. All the 3 pictures are cropped.

The thing which troubles me most is I am not able to guess the correct exposure for these shots. I guess, I do need more practice & loads of it too!

Anyway Guys, I hope you do have a lovely day ahead.

      

Silverknowes

I am still learning how to play with sunlight & considering that I am a slow learner, don't get to shoot often, the results don't turn up what I expected them to be.

Following are some of the pictures which I shot at the local beach shore, one evening. 

I walk alone

The joy of youth

The wisdom of foresight

In all the above pictures I was trying to shoot the patterns on sand. I wasn't successful, partly because of the harsh light of the sun(which insisted on giving burnt out & washed up colors) & partly because of my inexperience.

The Steel Colosium

The Colors of Spring

I liked the last 2 pictures because of their warm tones, which I was finally able to capture.

Shows, how much I still have to learn. The most important thing I learnt that day was one doesn't needs great locations to shoot good pictures. Its all in how you shoot them, not the equipment & not the locations.

Happy snapping!

Aveimore Skiing

A study of the Thirds...

These are some of the pictures from our visit to Dunbar. Dunbar is in the outskirts of Edinburgh. It is famous for its "National Airplane Museum" which houses one of the two remaining Concords in the world the other being displayed at Heathrow airport. Unfortunately, we could not visit the museum.

Lot of pictures were taken, In fact out of the 7 people in our group, 4 people had digital cameras. Me, Nishta and Chilam were not carrying any. I took some odd shots from Abhi's & Srini's cameras. However none of the 2 I used were Nikons, with which I am really comfortable. So I never bothered about the results much. However some of the odd pictures were pretty good. I will load them some time.

The following pictures, were shot from Srini's camera. All of them (except for the first one) are good example for 'Rule of thirds'. I had to crop most of the pictures to look like this, but I loved the results.

                                             Watch out, there's a thief about

I love this picture for no other reason other than its simple composition. I know there are lots of things wrong with this picture, but I still love the composition. In case you still haven't noticed there is a car(red & blue) on either side of the board in the background.

                                                              All alone

I love this picture for its dull back-ground element but colorful contrast. The yellow surfboard catches the eye in the picture. Also see, that most of the body of the surfer is not visible, this also helps the surfboard to retain the attention of the viewer.

                                                           Back to the shore

This picture again has striking contrast. The colorful surfboards again catch the eye. Also notice the way the two subjects are placed in the picture, both of them occupying points of intersection in the thirds layout.

                                   All the King's men and all the King's horses

This picture though not exactly correct as per the 'Thirds rule' ,follows it to quite an extent. The sharp focus on the horse and the rider makes the picture stand out. The receding wave in front of the horse makes this picture a Fav of mine.

                                                Standing on the edge

I like this picture only for one thing, for its effect. The picture gives a sense of height and hollowness. Even though, it looks like I am standing on the edge of some cliff, I am not. This picture is just near the rocky shore, and just below my feet small waves are keeping the rocks wet.

                                              Blending in the background

In this picture, I am siting on the edge of a 200 feet drop. However the elements of the picture have blended in so well together that it seems that I am sitting on flat ground. Again, including only the backside of the subject in the picture helps in reducing the depth of field.

                                                            The elements

I like this picture because it shows all the elements in one frame. The rocks, the green moss and grass, the clear sea and the endless horizion compliment each other.

                                                   The ancient mariner

This photograph is special because it follows the rule of thirds perfectly. The only flaw with this picture is the small island is visible partially in the picture, otherwise I find it absolutely perfect in every sense. The boat attracts the viewers eye without any fail.