Photography Lessons: Basics

I've decided to note down everything I've learned about photography so far so that I don't ever forget any of it.

1. Get a good camera.

The camera should be reliable. For example, if it's been advertised to have red eye reduction, it should have effective and not negligible red eye reduction.

It should have some manual functions like white balance, exposure, shutter speed, etc. I'm using the Canon Powershot A570 IS. It's good. It has enough manual functions for a novice to learn all the basics of photography.

The only drawbacks are the short battery life and poor screen. I need to keep recharging the batteries that go dead after every hundred shots. And the screen at the back of the camera doesn't do the photos justice. It's also hard to see the screen in bright sunlight. The photos come out great on a computer screen though. Which brings me to the next important thing I've learnt.

2. Don't depend completely on the screen

The camera screen is not be the best indicator of how the final picture may turn out, so I need to take as many pictures of the subject as I can on different settings.

3. Get a camera with image stabilisation or vibration reduction

Without a tripod, the camera shakes, the effects of which are noticeable in corresponding photos. IS/VR reduces this effect greatly.

4. Learn photography in a phased manner.

The best way to learn something is in a phased structured manner as opposed to all at once. With respect to photography, composition needs to be learned first, followed by other basics like exposure, shutter speed, etc.

It was exciting when I got my hands on a new camera. I first shot completely in automatic mode, then used different exposure settings on Program mode, and then learned about composure. Looking back, I should have focused on composure before exposure. It's no use trying to get perfect lighting for your subject when it's not even placed properly in your screen.

5. Composition.

I've learned about the rule of thirds recently, and have tried to adhere to it in every way I can.

I've also learned about general symmetry in photos, all from Morgue File, like focusing on shapes like triangles, circles, leading lines or frames within frames formed by objects in the picture.

Composition also includes looking for angles and placement of objects in the picture. Other things to keep in mind are to get close to the object being photographed and to not have any other distracting objects in the picture.

I continue to expand on my knowledge with each trip I take, and from sites like Morgue File, Short Courses, Slideshare, and Nat Geo.

Photography Lessons: Basics

Books Read - Measuring the World, One Hundred Years of Solitude

Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann, 2005

Someone called this Germany's first Latin American novel (those who read Gabriel Garcia Marquez books will know what this means). I've read the English translation by Carol Brown Janeway published in 2006.

The story starts off with Carl Friedrich Gauss and Alexander von Humbolt, two great German scientists, meeting for the first time. The year is 1828. The book then goes on to trace their lives and the great feats they accomplished, starting from their individual childhoods, focussing on each one's adventures in alternating chapters until we come again to their present meeting and the story concludes soon after. It may sound biographical but it's not. The historical content that the book deals with has been fictionalised to entertain us. For example, a visit by Humbolt to the Orinoco really happened, but the conversations he had with his colleague and friend while he travelled there is a fabrication, invented to tell us more about the man rather than just the plain facts.

As the author said:

"It has the tone of a non-fiction book. But it keeps slipping into fiction and mock-historical monography".

"It's very sincere, but not sincere at all."

I enjoyed the book tremendously, my only grouse is that it's too short, at a little over 300 pages. Other reviews are here, here, and here.


One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1967

The book details the lives of seven generations of the Buendia family in the fictional village of Macondo. Along with the events in the lives of the family members, we also get to see the changing social and political structures in a Latin American setting. The book though, is not completely realistic, making use of Magical Realism for the most part, such that most events appear quite surreal. Time itself is unsure of it's role in this book, and the absence of any dates makes you use your imagination to put the events and their durations in context with each other.

Apparently Daniel Kehlmann was influenced by this book to a large degree and tried to write a German version of it, which is why his own book, Measuring the World, has moments that can also be described as surreal and irrelevant, though within the context of history and real life characters.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is nothing short of a literary epic.

Books Read - Measuring the World, One Hundred Years of Solitude

Arnala Fort Trip

Went to Arnala Fort on Sunday with BD. First heard about the fort at this photo blog.

Took the 7.14 train to Virar and then an S.T bus to Arnala from Virar West that took 20 mins. Visited the town church first before heading out to the beach, which was filthy. Local villagers use it as an open toilet. We walked the entire length of the beach to get to where a boat takes people to the island that the fort is situated on. The boat ride is only a few minutes long.

Did take some pics though, before getting on the boat to the island.




Once on the island, we walked through a little village to reach the fort, which we explored quite thoroughly. The fort walls are intact and the square shaped area enclosed by those walls is used by the villagers for cultivation. It also houses a temple and a mosque.

I learned an important lesson while taking photos of the fort's interiors. Use natural lighting as much as possible instead of flash, particularly when indoors.




Stairs placed at intervals along the inner rim of the fort wall led us to the top of the wall, which is walkable all the way round.



Also saw a lot of gun turrets.


And the view from the fort's highest point.


The history of the fort mirrors the history of most of Mumbai's suburbs. It was originally under the control of the Mughals, who lost it to the Portuguese, who lost it to the Marathas, who lost it to the British, who lost it to the Republic.

We made our way back to the island's beach after exploring the fort, from where we returned to Arnala beach by boat. This time, instead of walking the length of the beach, we cut through the town on our way back to the bus stop, saving us time and preserving our sense of aestheticism.

Arnala Fort Trip

Saturday

Watched a couple of movies on Saturday.

Blue Velvet - a 1986 David Lynch dark mystery thriller. The movie is filled with moments of silence mixed with various shots of small town life, lending a feeling of surrealism to the movie at times. Added to this is the dark violent graphic aspect of the movie that hits you periodically. The movie is more about the director's personal vision taking precedence over the story. Each scene is extremely powerful; though not all leads are tied up or all events explained at the end, you get caught up in the story anyway, despite it getting weirder.

Papillon - a 1973 Franklin Schaffner movie about escaping from prison. Excellent. Close to an epic.

Saturday night was fun. Met up with friends who I haven't seen in years. Ate shormas and visited CCD at Carter road, before heading to Elco's. Laughed and joked around a lot. Haven't done so in a while. Forgot how good it feels. Should do this more often.

Saturday

End of an Era

One of my best friends, MD, got hitched yesterday, in a much awaited ceremony that went off perfectly.

I first met MD almost 2 years ago. It was Jan 6th, 2007, and I had tagged along with a group of guys from I.C for a Lonavla/Khandala trip, the three guys being CP, JB and J. How I met CP and JB is a story I shall recount some other time. I had walked to CP's place with my travel bag on Sat afternoon, from where JB (who lived next door) drove up in his Volkswagen. We helped CP load the car with water, snacks, alcohol, his BBQ grill, etc. and then picked up a bag of charcoal, withdrew money from an ATM, and went to a third guy's home - J - whom I was about to meet for the first time. Apparently, they were all former classmates, along with another guy from Vashi we were to meet later and a guy named MD who we'd rendezvous with at Khandala and whom they kept saying I'd love. We befriended a friendly pup as we walked to J's place, and the first thing that struck me as we entered his bungalow was the huge cat (I was to discover later that he had 6 of these). Apparently, J didn't know about the trip until we turned up at his place, but sportingly, allowed himself to be convinced to come along with us after CP and JB insisted.

We drove to Centre One in Vashi to meet up with the fourth guy, K, who had his own car. And did the four former classmates, after meeting up, pay heed my advice to make haste so as to make the best of optimal light conditions that could and should have been utilised for a trek? No, the four generously proportioned mates spent an hour loafing around Centre One, a significant amount of that time at one of the supermarkets on the ground floor, and even clustered around the chocolate/candy stall at one point. It was a comical sight, and I stepped back to avoid being paired with them. JB kindly offered me a Marzipan chocolate (which was actually quite good) but I was in no mood to lounge around or snack at the mall, for I was told earlier that I'd be meeting MD, a man as trek crazy as I was. And with each passing moment, I felt like he was having fun that I was missing out on, which later turned out to be somewhat true.

We eventually reached our lodgings - Kune Mission - in the evening at around 7.00 P.M and it was dark. I was disappointed to say the least. I never figured that we'd take so long to reach our destination, and my main fear was that I'd missed out on a trek, which was the main reason I'd come in the first place. We walked inside, and one of the guys introduced me to a man about my height with an easygoing manner, significant beer belly and an evil smile. This was MD, and those were the first three things I noticed about him. I immediately confirmed the possibility of a trek to a place called Deer Falls the following day, though I had missed out on one to Bufallo Falls that day.

MD had arrived there in the afternoon with his own group of friends and relatives, and I soon got to meet them all. I would go on to meet some of them - like Abhi, RV and BD - on subsequent treks and random city meet ups.

Dinnertime was approaching, and we set up our BBQ behind the lodgings, on a patch of ground with some chairs and a picnic table overlooking the valley. It was cold, and just got colder as the night progressed. It was also very dark. The only light we had was that coming from the windows of the building behind us and the moon (if there was one) and stars. We got everything set up with the help of a flashlight that we kept passing around. The chicken that we were barbecuing was already cleaned and marinated so we just had to get the grill started.This turned out to be a major task. The wind at the edge of the valley was quite strong, and every single match we lit would simply get blown off. Try as we might, we simply couldn't light a piece of paper to place among the charcoal at the bottom of the grill. MD, who seemed the most persevering of us all, kept at it, we trying to help by using our bodies as wind shields. The matches were running low and a few times we thought the paper or charcoal were alight, only to have them go out again, but finally, with only a few matches to spare, MD managed to get it lighted.

We took turns overseeing the chicken, and our group sat at the picnic table. MD's group, sitting a little bit away on a few chairs available and on the ground, mostly had their own arrangements, with only Abhi joining us. As the night went on, our group munched on barbecued chicken and sipped our drinks, enjoying a truly enjoyable meal. Our group retired to our rooms after dinner to drink some more and chat, soon to be interrupted by MD, who invited us to join him and his friends to a Grotto on the top of a nearby slope. We weren't in the least bit sleepy, and after wrapping myself up in a blanket (over the sweater I was already wearing for it was freezing now), walked to the Grotto with the rest of the group. I noticed not for the first time that night that MD was carrying a really huge long flashlight, one of those pieces that looked like a really thick stick and might even be used as a weapon.

The Grotto was beautiful, and CP and another guy or two actually clambered up on top if it. Clambering down was somewhat harder, especially for CP who, with his weight, accidentally dislodged a stone that fell on a girl's foot. We rested in the cave like formation that the Grotto formed, which proved a welcome respite from the chilling wind. Once again, MD attempted to get a fire going, with the remaining matches and some dry branches that he went searching for. I didn't get why some one would wander about a freezing forest area in the dead of night looking for a way to start a tiny bonfire that wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. And his tenacity after piling the branches together and lighting match after match to finally get a fire going was something I didn't completely understand, thought it was something that appealed to me, a person who can get equally obsessed at times about doing something particular, though not anything like this. I don't remember who it was who first came up with it, but that night, MD earned the nickname Pyro.

We sat there for a while, talking about this and that, most of us silent, looking at the stars and admiring the beauty of the moment. It was at this time that I got to know RV. My gang decided to go back to their quarters to sleep. MD and gang decided to spend the night under the Grotto, waiting for daybreak. I waited with them for a while, before heading back myself. I slept snug under two blankets.

The next morning I woke up refreshed. MD helped wake up our gang, and we headed off to the common eating room for breakfast. I voiced out once again my eagerness to go trekking, drawing a breath of irritation from J, who felt I had voiced my eagerness to go trekking one time too many. Anyhow, I finished off the remaining rum and we started off on our short trek to Deer Falls, a little waterfall that I'm sure is a lot bigger during the monsoon. Friends took pics of the Duke's nose on our way there, and we took a little shortcut on our way back. It was really hot walking back. Afternoon temperatures go up to 33 degrees in the winter in Mumbai. It can't have been much better in Lonavla/Khandala.

Had a cold shower and then lunch, before CP, JB and I said our goodbye's and drove home. I made it a point to take down MD's contact details, for I didn't know too many people who liked going on treks as frequently as he did. The group I trekked with at the time did an average of one a year.

Since that fateful trip, I met MD many a time. Two months later, he called up to say he was going to Gorai and I readily joined him, even though it was only us two. At the start of the monsoon of 2007, I met up with MD and Abhi at a Goan fast food stall at Orlem. A week after my Peth trip (hopefully to be recorded later), MD and I went on a half day trip to Erangal (my idea), where we took a bus to the church, looked around the beach, and walked to the very tip of that little peninsula that marks the end of Malad, from whose coast we could see Andheri, and from where we took a two minute ferry to Versova. On reaching the Andheri end of the ferry ride however, we didn't bother getting out - the area was filthy - so we simply rode back to Erangal and took a bus to Mith Chowky, and another one to I.C.

As the year went on, MD and I would meet many times. He was studying at the same place I worked, so it was convenient to meet on Fri nights for dinner. We've probably been to more low-life low budget food joints with missing walls that can be documented here, though I could try. I wasn't blogging much in 2007 and so didn't record any of these trips, though there were many. Special mention must also be made of the dhabba near his home where his friends and us spent many a night making merry. All through this time, I came to know MD as a guy who valued his freedom more than any of the rest of us. He enjoyed taking random, unplanned, last minute trips to nearby trekking spots and having a blast, especially with beer. To see him getting hitched yesterday was a potent symbol of my own fleeting youth, and I sensed many of his other friends (now my friends as well) feel the same way.

His wedding Mass yesterday was amazing. The priest he knows so well gave an excellent sermon, with a couple of guitar solos thrown in. I met up with now common friends BD and PV at the church, and we went to my place to chill out before the reception, which was close to my home. The reception was perfect as well, with an excellent spread, and everything going according to plan and everyone enjoying themselves. Met a few other friends there. BD & PV left early, and Ry's group and I hit a bar after we wished the couple (RV handing MD a quarter of rum as a parting gift, MD remarking that it was empty but still accepting it). We went to MD's place after the bar and helped with the unloading of presents, being rewarded with copious amounts of alcohol in return. It was a peaceful way to end the day, all of us friends minus MD sitting on a quiet beautiful porch sipping our drinks chatting and reminiscing. I looked up at the sky at one point and watched the stars - something I haven't been able to do for a long time.

As the friends started leaving, MD emerged and I finally got an opportunity to chat with him for a while, something I hadn't got much of an opportunity of at either the church or reception. It was nice to have a chat at last, before leaving for I.C at 1.00 A.M with the rest of his family. It's a bit sad to lose a friend to matrimony but I'm happy for him and a joyous landmark event in a friend's life has made this Christmas season all the more memorable.

End of an Era

Christmas 2008 - Tis the season to be moderately content

Went to work on the 24th, and caught the 7.15 local home. Changed (too warm for a suit or coat; I just put on a tie) and walked to the grounds for the 8.00 P.M Mass. Lot's of people. They usually set chairs for 15,000 and there are still hundreds left standing every year. Mass finished at 9.30, with a usual joke from Fr. Franklin and a request to stack the chairs. If there's one thing we're good at, it's stacking chairs after a Mass. I waited for the crowd to ease out of the two exits and made my way back home. Met a couple of friends on the way and chatted. Ate a late dinner and slept the sleep of the tired.

Woke up on Christmas morning to read the papers and spend some time on the net, before going back to bed and waking up at around 12.30 for the big family lunch at my cousin's place. Was nice to see everyone again. Played Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 for a while before heading home. Watched Shrek the Third in the evening. To say that it wasn't as good as the first two would be an understatement.

Took some Christmas sweets to the office this morning. They were well appreciated. Overall, Christmas this year was a lot quieter, what with 26/11 and the Kandhamal violence earlier. Less celebratory and more reflectional.

To get into the Christmas mood this year, I deleted almost all the songs on my Mp3 player two weeks ago and filled it with approx. 700 Christmas ones instead, that I've been listening to since, and I still haven't finished listening to them all.

Christmas 2008 - Tis the season to be moderately content

Movies Seen: The Band's Visit, Wall.E

The Band's Visit


A 2007 Israeli film directed by Eran Kolirin (his first feature film). An eight member Egyptian Police Band land up in the wrong town by mistake and have to make do with what they're offered. Funny and sad at the same time. The humour in the movie isn't the obvious kind, it's more of a slow, situational, squeezed out kind.

Wall.E

A 2008 romantic comedy on another level. Simply one of the greatest movies of all time. Pixar extends their success streak.

Movies Seen: The Band's Visit, Wall.E

Spice Tree Again

Another visit to Spice Tree. The second time this month. While my previous visit constituted a treat by PV who, after having acted on a piece if advice from me and finding himself happier, fell into a magnanimous mood, this one was more corporate in nature.

The party last night at 7.00 was held for the entire team I belong to at work, the menu being the one below,


And of course the alcohol kept flowing all through the party. My intake amounted to 5 whiskeys, I think. Finished off at 1.00 A.M and left for home.

Spice Tree Again

Movies Seen: Stray Dog, Tsotsi, In the Heat of the Night

Ah, a veritable selection of goodly films! What a way to signal my return to movie rental mode. I really got these over the weekend, but being too busy to see them then, have been having extra busy weekdays lately, vis-a-vis movie watching.

Stray Dog

Yet another excellent Kurosawa flick. The 1949 movie has a very young Toshiro Mifune playing Murakami, a young police officer on the lookout for his stolen pistol, getting increasingly panicky and guilt ridden each time his pistol is found to be involved in a crime, such that he's on the verge of a nervous breakdown towards the end of the film. There to help and advise him is Takashi Shimura, playing an older wiser officer.

The interplay between the two main characters is enjoyable as always. They feed off each other, one aggressive, the other more experienced. Parallels are also drawn between the young officer and the gun's user, whom they discover have pretty similar profiles, and the question of what makes a man resort to crime is raised. All this within a sweltering Tokyo heatwave.

Like Kurosawa's High and Low, this film also deals with a painstaking police investigation, with officers following lead after lead to find what they want. The investigation however, only makes up the second half of High and Low, whereas here, it seems to take up the entire film.

Tsotsi

A 2005 film written and directed by Gavin Hood about a gangster from the slums of Johannesburg, who's forced to take a hard look at his life, after a crime he commits results in unintended consequences. Graphically violent, well made but not for everyone, the movie forces people to sympathise with a criminal.

In the Heat of the Night

A 1967 film directed by Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar). Sidney Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, a policemen who's forced to team up with a racist police force to solve a VIP's murder in a small town, inspite of the odds being piled against him. Another movie dealing with mostly a police investigation, with a look at the personal lives of the characters involved, only this time the main shadow overlooking the plot is racism. Good movie.

Based on a 1965 John Ball novel. John Ball's first novel in fact (and one that won him an award). He went on to write 6 sequels and a short story with the same leading character. The movie based on his first book went on to get two sequels of it's own and a T.V series.

Movies Seen: Stray Dog, Tsotsi, In the Heat of the Night

Shorts @ MTC

Went to the MTC with TP after work on Monday for the fortnightly short film fest by The Bombay Elektrik Project. Compered by Sudeip, it was mostly a platform for aspiring short film makers to showcase their work, with a little Jan Svankmajer (my personal favourite) thrown in for good measure at the end. Sudeip mailed us all a description of the shorts before the event, which started at 9.30:

1st Short: Simon Says
Language: English
Run-time: 15 mins
Written and Directed by: Siddhant Goswami
Cast: Varun Tharcherkar, Sushant Naik, Satyajeet Ganu, Tejas Sawant, Adam Makhija, Riya Joseph
Edited by: Jeremy Fonseca

Simon says is a short film from the psychotic thriller genre. The story starts off when Dr. Colaco gets a frantic phone call from one of his associates at the hospital one morning. From there on we learn about what is heard & what is seen; who to trust & what to believe, & how all the truth around us can sometimes only be half the reality.

2nd Short: Prejudice
Language: English & Hindi
Run-time: 20 mins
DOP: Gandhaar Kadam
Cast: Vikrant Potnis, Sudeep Pagedar
Edited by: Pratik Rasam
Story by: Sudeep Pagedar
Music by: Nihar Shembekar (composer, lyrics and vocals), Rohan Patel & Nitish Randive (music arrangement)

The year is 1993. Following the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, Bombay erupts in flames that burn to a cinder all they touch - the flames of communal violence. In the midst of this bloodbath, one night, two old friends meet. The religions they follow are different, but surely, the power of friendship can overcome the power of hatred. Right?

3rd Short: Safe Trip Home
Run Time : 5 mins

Eleven short films are being produced to accompany the release of Dido’s third studio album, Safe Trip Home. Based thematically around the concept of home, these shorts feature stories of hope, love, commitment and longing, from around the globe, a dump site in Rio, a Mumbai taxi-cab, the rugged coast of New Zealand's South Island, a Thai boxing ring and a picturesque Portuguese fishing village. The short film in Mumbai was shot by Siddharth Sikand for the song called 'Lets do things we normally do'

Jan Svankmajer Shorts -

1st Short: A game with stones(1965)
Run time :9mins

"Hra s kameny" (alternately called "Spiel mit Steinen" or "A Game with Stones") holds a special place. It shows stones dripping out of a faucet every quarter hour and doing a series of wacky dances, contortions, and what not. The kiss is especially impressive. As for the end, I guess that it's saying that all good things have to end eventually - although in this case, it sort of brought the end on itself.

2nd Short: Punch and Judy (1966)
Run time : 10mins

Punch & Judy is Svankmajer's third film effort, and a triumph of surrealist satire. Whereas his two previous films had been too strange for their own good, this third film stands as a strong testament to Svankmajer's blossoming ability as a filmmaker.The film features two puppets, Punch and Jody (mistitled as "Judy" - Jody has always been a male counterpart to Punch in his puppet plays, even though Punch does has a wife named Judy) who become involved in an escalating war with large mallets over a botched attempt to barter over a fine guinea pig. The sequences that follow feature bizarre imagery and seemingly nonsequitor clips and closeups (some animated) of archival newsprint.

Also had dinner at the MTC while waiting for the shorts to begin (their Chicken Stroganoff was excellent.) and bumped into a couple of office mates in the vicinity, though they weren't there for the shorts.

Shorts @ MTC