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.

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 29th 2013 - Good Bye 2013

We have come to the end of the year 2013. A lot happened to everyone this year, there were some good moments and some not so good. For me, photographically, it's been a kind year. I accomplished a lot in my own standards. I thank God for all the accomplishments.

This is a shot of some place near where I live. The snow had turned into ice and the branches were drooping down by their weight.
Shutter speed : 1/125 sec  
Aperture : F11 
ISO : 100


As the year comes to an end, I saw the most beautiful winter I had ever seen. Usually I sit in my cozy home but this winter I made an effort and clicked  a lot of pictures outdoors. All this was only possible with the help of my better half who drove me to places where I couldn't have embarked on my own.

The blue sky with the icy branches.

Shutter speed : 1/200 sec
Aperture : F9
ISO :  100

The Bean in the dark.

To top it all off, I went for a vacation to Chicago and for the first time captured The Bean in the dark. I am very fascinated by this piece of architecture so I click it whenever I get a chance. It was a cold evening but worth all the walk down to the Millennium park. Captured a lot of city images too which I promise to share in my future posts.  Here is a shot of  The Bean handheld, with the buildings in the background in Black and white.
Shutter Speed : 1/2 sec
Aperture : 3.5
ISO : 1600
A very Happy new beginning to the coming New Year 2014. Have a blessed year. See you all in the New Year!

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.

November 15th 2013 - The first snow fall of the season.

Taking a picture in studio is like creating art, while capturing something in nature, or architecture or landscape is like capturing art. I like to do both the things but some photographers think that in studio pictures do not take much effort. It  is more difficult to create than to capture , I believe. I say this because the past week I have been trying to create and for that you need  fresh ideas and fresh mind, which were both not possible this week as I have exhausted myself with work. This is a random thought which came to my mind, anyway I was lucky to take a few pictures of the first snowfall we had this season. Here are a few...

In this picture I found a few leaves on the path leading to the woods which I thought would look good in SC.

Shutter Speed -1/60 secs
Aperture - 4.5
ISO - 125

As this was the first snowfall , there are a few brown, red leaves on the Oak trees even now. So this shot is of 8:00 am in the morning when the sun was lighting up the leaves on the top of the trees. The golden hour light is always considered the best time to take pictures outdoors. The pictures are soft and magical. I usually miss this time when I am not on vacation, which means I am working as this is the busiest time. That day I left everything and shot a few first snow pictures.  It looked magical. Being a photographer you are blessed with such views and feelings. Very often you can just admire the beauty that surrounds us. 

Shutter Speed - 1/60 secs
Aperture - F16
ISO - 100  

This picture is of the snow on the deck. Just loved how the leaves are sitting there and the sun rays dancing it's way through the railings of the deck. You will be seeing a lot more snow pictures  from me as it's here to stay for some four-five months. Hope you enjoyed the view too and hope you all will have a nice weekend.

Shutter Speed -1/20 secs
Aperture - F16
ISO - 200

8th November 2013 - Time to stay home.

Temperatures are dropping and it's raining outside - it's time to stay indoors. Would definitely want to go to some warmer place for a vacation. Thanks giving is around the corner and I might as well plan for one. Lets see how it goes. For now I am stuck indoors as it's not very feasible to go out to take pictures. A very good way to entertain is to cook food, take some pictures and then consume the food. 

This picture is of before cooking the food - the ingredients for a hot cup of tea.

Shutter Speed - 1/6 sec
ISO - 200
Aperture - F11


Flowers are great subjects to click in an indoor setup too. Though most of the flowers have worn away, but there are some that remain. One of them are Roses. I had plucked a bud which was somewhat open a day before and just in a day it bloomed to a beautiful flower.

Shutter speed- 1/10 sec
ISO - 400 
Aperture -F 6.7

I end this post with a goodbye to fall season with a basket full of fruits very common in fall. Will be seeing snow very soon. Make some nice pumpkin pies and pumpkin curries to take relief from the flurries. Have a nice weekend!


Shutter speed - 1/6 secs
ISO - 100
Aperture - F8

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.