Self portrait

After a long time I am writing a blog so feeling like a stranger on my own blog :) ...Today morning while I was going through my LinkedIn profile I thought I should have my profile picture here..... however, I have been always thinking about it but never gave a serious thought. First of all I am shy to publish my photo on the web and second, I always wanted to take a self portrait for which I never took special efforts. Now being alone at home and having plenty of time in hand it was perfect opportunity to take a self portrait to have a profile photo.

So here is the photo.....to be honest I am pleased with the result.....the reason is .....taking a self photo is not at all easy, more over I have added 2 external flashes in the setting which made it more difficult to take photo and check the results after every shot. After almost 85 shots this one came near to my expectation.....now I am proud owner of my profile picture

f5.6 @50 mm
ISO 200
Key light (left) : power 1/4 @ 4 ft with 60 inc umbrella
Fill light (right) : power 1/16 bare flash without modifier
Post production: added little contrast and vignetting in PS camera RAW

Moment and Motion !

In the search of something new, this week I came across something called Cinemagraphs. This is a technic which allows motion in the captured moment, which is a pretty cool idea. I gave a shot to create my own cinemagraph.....its so nice to have the Moment with Motions.

Here is the link which I referred to create cinemagraph.

Update 07/23/2012: I have found this cinemagraph tutorial which is more simpler to understand hope this will help you to create your own.
http://www.labnol.org/software/cinemagraph-tutorial/19453/



My daughter Urvi was watching her favorite animated tv show Wonder Pets on nick Jr.

Canon 28-105mm good generic lens...

What a coincident....I recently came to know that my neighbor (Owen Zyltra) is a photographer, thats a great surprise for a hobbyist like me !! Last week we had a chat over his apartment and exchanged our photography thoughts...which was a fruitful discussion...Owen is a Canon shooter (5D / 40D) and has almost all the gears which I dream about, the prime and L series lenses which covers most of the focal ranges, Canon Speedlites, elilnchrom light system, pocket wizards etc etc....so no doubt I was amazed.

The best part is he lend me 28-108mm macro lens ... it’s a pretty good lens which covers generic focal lengths. With my Canon T1i the equivalent focal length comes to 44.8-160mm which give me better compression at f4.5 which is cool.. I enjoyed shooting with this lens indoor/outdoor, low light and with off camera flash... here are some pics I shoot of my daughter Urvi :)

Thanks Owen :)

 

Low Key Drama

Low key photography is something I learnt new this week, so thought of attempting it. Light in 90 deg always creates a dramatic mood. Models are as usual the ever ready my family :) Keeping Urvi still for these pics was a challenge, I had to promise her a candy just for a this shoot....kids are always demanding and she got it as promised...

Exif:
f/5.6, 1/80sec, ISO 200
Flash- Vivitar DF 383 @ 1/8 power

Setup: I placed a flash inside a closet to restrict the light spreading all over the places. Here is the light diagram I found it online  

My Valentine...

On this valentine day I dedicate this post to my greatest supporter, best friend, and wife Kamakshi. I believe any hobby to continue, you need a great support from your near ones and someone should understand how much you are into it...Kamakshi motivated my photography hobby by always saying yes to the things I do, the things I buy, assisting me in photography set ups, by giving me various suggestions, telling me where I am wrong & most important is sparing time whenever I need it...what else I want ?? My blog is a outcome of her suggestion..she wanted me to record my experiments and she believe this way I will not lose the traction on my hobby.... trust me that’s a "BIG" support and motivation.

Many a times I feel guilty that I am so much obsessed with my hobby, I just don’t give attention to her likes and wishes. I am very poor in getting any kind of gift to make her happy...so thought of expressing my feelings to her through this post… Kamakshi you are my Valentine.. J