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!

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

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!!!!

October - 15-2013 - Another post on woods and Mushrooms.

It's something about Nature that it draws you to it. This is a trail at the back of my house. Don't you think it's inviting? The fresh green color and the breeze, with wet leaves fallen on the ground. It is this time of the year when dew drops are very common on leaves and trees. This year we are witnessing a very beautiful Autumn or Fall season. Love all the colored leaves. The play of light and shadow on the leaves makes it even more dramatic.

So this weekend I stepped out into the woods even deeper, looking for mushrooms as this is the season for mushrooms.

I saw this growing on the wood chips. Looked papery and the light falling from above gave this a lighted look.


Shutter Speed - 1/8 secs
ISO- 200

I love the way the bokeh has formed in the background by the shadow and light passing through the leaves of the woods.

Some of the fallen leaves. They can glow in moonlight. All the yellow leaves glow when there is moonlight. Looks beautiful even in the night.

Shutter 1/60 secs
ISO -  100






This is all for now. Have a nice week!

October-08-2013 - A walk in the woods.

As Autumn arrives, you see all the beautiful colors of goldens, reds, purples and browns. Another thing that crops up during this time of the year are Mushrooms. Yesterday, I went for a walk in the woods and found lots of different types of Mushrooms growing in the woods. As the plant world prepares itself for the winters by making an abscission layer in their leaves and shedding them, here are some living things which grow like it were Spring.

Above is an Elegant Stinkhorn -Mutinus caninus, said to be having antibiotic properties. These beautiful pink things are pretty to look at but have an awful smell.

These are the delicate Parasol mushrooms. If you touch with your finger they might fall apart. There was little sunshine and therefore couldn't take any dramatic pictures of them and I was short on my gear.

This was a giant one sitting next to my kid's playset and was so camouflaged with the surrounding fallen leaves that I could've stepped over it.
I loved the sturdy look it gave. Nature has got so many beautiful things that never a day passes by when you do not get amazed by it.

Here is a fallen leaf to end the post whichever way you want to put it, you can say it's the end or just freedom, it's for you to decide. Hope you all are having a nice week. Enjoy all the colors that life has to offer.