15th February 2016

15th February 2016

It's been a mild winter. Mild winter in Michigan is like very cold winter with fewer snow storms. So, there is no relief from the cold but still the cold is bearable. Is this just a temporary thing or is the climate changing for good , I wonder sometimes. It's good to have a mild winter but that brings in lesser snow and hence lesser water to the Great Lakes which in worst case can turn to drought in the summers.

The image is of a bridge over a creek in the winter in a park. It was quite a day after the storm. Loved the freshly fallen snow on the branches of the trees.
Lens is wide angle at 10mm.
Aperture is F11

ISO 100

Just in the park is a river which looked really beautiful after the fresh snow and the blue sky.
You can see the reflections of the trees in the water which is very still. It was just  heavenly.

Lens is wide angle at 24 mm
Aperture is  F11
ISO is 200

Rest of the days when we do not have snow, we have rains. This picture is of the windscreen f my car on a rainy day.

Aperture F11
ISO 100

9th February 2015 - Waiting for Spring

I have been away for a very long time. I was busy with life. Some highs and some lows. I realized that if you do not get the lows of life, you would never know what the highs are. In the midst of the chaos that life brings us I was not away from my passion and that is photography. I have been clicking every day, almost. Here in this post I have some shots that I clicked recently. As winter has been my companion all through out this time here are a few shots.

This one is of Grand Haven, some forty five minutes away from my place.

A lot of times we get sub zero temps. We've had a few winter storms and few are still on their way. Winter is just not the cold that hinders us from moving but also the load of clothes we have to wear to keep us warm. Just a few more days, I tell myself and then we will step into Spring.

This one shows how the beach has transformed into an icy shore. It was windy and cold.  My hand were numbed by the cold. Being a photographer, I had to use my fingers, though I was wearing gloves that have your fingertips out.

There is one more thing to share. I was given the opportunity to judge a worldwide photography contest sponsored by Pixoto.

Submission Deadline: 2/15/2015
Winners Announced: 2/20/2015

PRIZES:

Judge's Award: One Year of Pixoto Pro (a $95.40 value)
plus 1 Pixoto credit for each image entered (currently 119)
2nd Place Award: 10,000 Pixoto Credits (a $75.00 value)
plus 0.6 Pixoto credits for each image entered (currently 71)
3rd Place Award: 5,000 Pixoto Credits (a $40.00 value)
plus 0.4 Pixoto credits for each image entered (currently 48)

If interested you can visit the link below.

http://www.pixoto.com/challenges/pwc-140-flowers-arrangements

Hope you all will have a great week and a great February.

October 17th 2014 - Welcome Autumn!

It's been a while again since I've penned down my thoughts and displayed painting with light of some fleeting moments of life. At the end of each post I always say to myself that I would write more often but juggling all the balls of life and not letting them fall in the wrong places is what every human being that takes birth on this plane has to accomplish. This is the way life is. That was some serious stuff, but once in a while you have to ponder on such things. Let's take some time to admire the painting that is set before our eyes at the moment. It is that time of the year when it is colorful again like spring, only difference is that the trees and plants are not sprouting leaves but shedding them after they have colored the landscape in the most artistic way.


The above pictures have been taken last week when the Fall had started. The gorgeous fall colors of Michigan are here to stay for some while. The whole place is lighted up with yellow and orange red leaves. I tried slow shutter speed in the creek pictures.

Aperture varying from F8 to F27. Yes, and it was not hand held except for some shots. I did not forget to carry my tripod for once. It was a low light condition and cloudy and the park had tall trees. I am sure you can picture that.

I had fun taking slow shutter speed pictures. I stood in the middle of the creek for some shots. It was fun. My shoes caught some mud as the soil around this time of the year is slushy and mushy.

The train tracks pictures is a bracketed shot. I love my wide angle lens. Just makes you see the world in a different perspective.

  The above pictures were from last week  and in just seven days time you can see the changes that the landscape has made.

The next picture is of a path with leaves fallen on the path. Autumn is so colorful. It has been rightly said by Stanley Horowitz- "Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of all of them." 


Aperture - F 9.5
ISO - 200


Click on the picture to enlarge.

This picture is of a small reservoir of water separated from the main river. The beautiful Maple leaves make it so lively. I was lucky to see a few floating leaves in water near some rocks in the Thornapple River.


Click on the picture to enlarge.

The adjacent picture is of a fire pit in a park.The rocks act like benches people have bonfire in the center.

 I love the view we have here and to tell you the truth this is the most spectacular view I have seen in years here in Michigan.

Hope you all will have a nice weekend. Hope to see you all soon. If you have a beautiful view that you can capture, do it now. Happy shooting!

February 18th 2014 - Still under the spell of storms.

This has been a long winter and it's not over yet. There is not much to do in these winter storms apart from staying warm and healthy. Just an occasional outing for pictures is all that can be done. The scenes of winter are picturesque only when the sun is out and the surroundings are filled with sunlight - a rare  commodity this winter.
This is a scene at a Park near where I live.
Shutter Speed: 1/750
ISO : 100
Setting : Manual


In the same park I saw this Coniferous tree. It was huge. Really loved the blue sky which we rarely see here at this time of the year. It is always greyish and cloudy. You can imagine how huge it must have been. It is so surprising that some trees just stand in the adversities  to grow and flourish. Kind of like the quote - "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going". Also reminds me Kelly Clarkson's - "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I love this song. One can also say that they are made tough genetically. So standing strong in adversity is not their property but their genes are like that. Anyway, they are a delight to the eyes amongst the white snow.

Shutter Speed - 1/200
ISO- 100
Setting : Manual



Below is a shot from a road over a highway. This is what I am talking about -the cloudy, gloomy but this one has a little sun shining through the clouds at sunset like hope in despair.

Shutter speed : 1/30
ISO : 100
Setting : Manual
Click on the images to get a better view.

  When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well, this is exactly what I am doing. With this optimistic note I end this post. Hope you all will stay warm . Have a nice week!

January 14th 2014 - Happy New Year!

A very Happy new year to you all! Hope everyone started the New Year with making new resolutions! As for me I made a resolution that I will make resolutions all throughout the year and follow them as they are made. Ha Ha! No worries and no hassles. As for the artistic side of me, I have been bitten by the creative bug. I had always loved designing things on the web -websites, images and the likes. I gave it a break for sometime, but the creative bug has bitten me again.  I made a lot of illustrations in the past few days which I will be sharing with you in this post.

This is just plain and simple New year Image I designed in Photoshop.

I have seen many Christmas ornaments and the fact is that I just wanted some thing to hang by the side next to the new year text and this came out not to be a Christmas ornament but lights you could say. I really liked the way they came out.

As for the weather out here, it remained deadly. We experienced the Polar Vortex which is unusual for my place. Temperatures below -30F, so low that there was complete shutdown of the educational institutions, flights were halted and warnings of  frost bite were swarming my email. Just to make our heads spin,  yesterday we had temperatures of 45F which can be called as a heat wave for Michiganders. Something is seriously wrong with this weather. If things do not improve we might see winters in summers and summers in winters. No, it hasn't changed at present, it's still icy all around.
These are a few shots taken of the nasty weather. The berries are somehow surviving the cold temperatures. Three shots with three diffferent cameras. A cellphone, a Panasonic and a Canon. Please click on the pictures to get a better view.  

Enough of the weather report. This weather just makes you open other options for your creative self. As of now I have indulged into Illustrations. Photography is a part of me but since the weather outside is not feasible, there are limited outdoor options. I mostly designed products, logos, typography, backgrounds, and abstract art.

These are a few of those. I have been posting pictures on Pixoto. We will be getting the yearly awards. I am very excited and anxious. So this is all from my side. Hope you all will have a nice week ahead and hope you all are abiding by your resolutions. Smile!

December 18th 2013 - The winter fever.

The winter fever is here. We got our first spell of Lake Snow Effect. This phenomenon is very usual  near the Great lakes. We can get cozy in our homes till March ... or is it June? I keep my spirits up and therefore I say that this is the time of the year when I can practice a lot, I mean, REALLY A LOT  (since it is such a long period of time and not otherwise ;)) on my indoor photography skills.

Shutter Speed - 1/90 secs
Aperture - 8
ISO - 100

I was lucky one day when I was at my kid's bus stop to have my ordinary pocket camera with me from which I took this picture of snow flakes. Not a very good shot but good for an ordinary camera. At the time I took this picture, I had a high fever - when am I not feeling under the weather, ugh? Since I had to pick my kid, I wrapped my self up and went to the bus stop. No one would believe, that a person shaking with fever the previous day had rolled down windows and was taking shots of snow. You see, I also have a different kind of fever - the photography fever.  Anyway, one thing is for sure, as I am unable to catch up with the flu season,  from now on I am also going to get the seasonal flu shots. Bring it on!!! I am not scared.

What will a person do sitting in bed all day? Work - of course, this time on my computer. And I did a lot of illustrations. Just a few are here as I had mentioned in my previous post. Please give your feedback below in the comments. These are best viewed at full size.

Since the viral cum bacterial infections had invaded me, I did not get a chance to do much of photography.

Just one fine day I thought to myself - that's enough and took a few indoor shots. Here are the perfect ingredients for a tomato soup, my favorite.
Keep yourself upbeat, as winters are here to stay. With this healthy soup and a splash of colors I end this post to meet you soon. Hope you all will have a nice week.

October 31st 2013 - Fall is here and Winter is not far behind.

Saw the first frost last week in the morning. Beautiful fall colors are covering the paths. The leaves which have fallen from the trees are no longer with us but they have transformed the place into beautiful paintings.

This is my capture of the frost.

Shutter Speed - 1/20
ISO - 200

Love the Oak leaves. They have lots of curves and are bold in shape.

 
A path in the park will give you a good idea of what the fall in Michigan is like this year. This was taken in the evening at the time of the golden light.
Shutter Speed - 1/13
Aperture - F13
ISO - 100
This is a short post as I have been busy with kid's stuff. Not much accomplished in the field of photography this week. Just working on my other passion and that is web designing.

Hope to get some pictures for my next post. Wish you all a happy Festival season. From the place where I come, we have Diwali - festival of lights, which is a four to five days long festival. Wish you all a very Happy Diwali!!!!

March 4th 2013

A very Happy Monday to all ! Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. This weekend I went for an excursion to take some shots of the snow capped Lighthouse. There was snow but not capped on top of the Lighthouse.

I got the opportunity to take closeup shots of the light house. I could have never dreamed of taking shots of the snow covered lighthouse. I used to huddle in the warmth of my home. I have started liking the winter scenes.

 Hope you like these clips of my excursion.