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.

September 8th 2014 -I am back.

This post comes after a long break. I have been on my toes the past few months. A lot happened during these months. I was out of the country, visiting family and friends, which was fun, then  my kid's vacations started, which is by the way, my full time working period.  I have to keep them busy and a whole lot needs to be done during those times. When my kid's vacations ended in September, mine started. Phew... Even if you work like a dog during their school days, it's nothing compared to having school going kids at home. I think I have done enough of whining. Let's get back to business.

I have been clicking pictures, though they were more of family and friends. Just this week I clicked a few nature pictures. It's been such a nice summer. Even in September we have an extended summer month going on. Just loving the weather out here, but I am too afraid of the winter. In no case do I want an extended winter.

The dew drops have started appearing in the mornings. It's a little chilly, temperatures going down to 50 F, so what, the days a warm and cozy.

Hope these pictures would bring some freshness in your lives. Will be back with some more soon.

May 27th 2014 - Summer is here.

Summer is here finally. It's been a busy month and hence I could not post earlier this month. When you live in a place which has 6-7 months of winter, you welcome the summers even more. There are parts of the world where the summers are too hot . Here at my place the summers are mild. Even, an 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius) seems like scorching heat. Anyways, for good or for bad the summers are here and so are the flowers trees, bees and the baby birds. 
The first picture is of a Poppy flower with rain drops.
Aperture-F4
ISO- 100

The next picture is of the Tulip flowers. A few miles from my place is the city, Holland. Few Dutch settlers from the country Holland founded the city and a large percentage of people here follow Dutch traditions and culture even today. Such a cool way to preserve your culture. They even have a Tulip festival. The picture is from the Tulips gardens of Holland Michigan.

Aperture - F9.5
Shutter Speed - 1/60 secs
ISO- 100

This next picture is of the trees in my backyard which were snow capped in the winters and now every branch brimming with life. It's a refreshing site. The breeze has a melody - the melody of the summer and with every whiff of air you can smell the fragrant flowers. Lots of song birds have nests in these trees. It becomes the busiest place. The blue skies, the green rustling leaves, can bring life back into your life. With all the busy birds, I was also busy at home doing all the pending jobs which were back logged during the winters.

This summer I was in no case going to miss taking shots of the baby birds, so one day I went in search of goslings and chicks. I found a few and took lots of shots. Here is a shot of a gosling very close to me. 

Aperture - F11
Shutter speed - 1/500 sec
ISO - 2500

This is all for now from me, but I have taken lots of flower pictures which I will definitely share with you in my coming posts. Hope you all are keeping yourselves safe in the summers by keeping hydrated. Have a great week!

April 26th 2014 - The new look and feel of my website.

Check it out at www.dipalis.com.

Your feedback is welcome.

Won Staff Favorite on April, 2014 on Viewbug.

I received 1 Awards, won 1 Trifectas, 16 Likes, 9 Peer Recognitions and 9 Favorites on viewbug.com

More of my work on View bug is at

http://www.viewbug.com/dipali

March 24th 2014 - Waiting for Spring.

We have had the official first day of Spring, but here in Michigan it seems that Spring is far from near. Though the piles of snow have melted  to some extent, even then we have occasional snow flurries here and there. Ugh... now  I am getting impatient. Cannot wait for the Spring break to take some time off from this daily humdrum. When you have school going kids, you feel their Spring break is like yours, though that is just an illusion, but this time I might just get a chance to go out for a long road trip. Fingers crossed. It is said that the darkest hour is just before dawn. I love to read quotes. They give you courage to fight the adverse conditions, in my case - the weather. I know.. I know.. this is nothing as compared to the misery in this world. Wish I could do something about that too. Sometimes I enjoy this roller coaster ride of weather that was this year. Still cannot wait for the daily dose of sunshine and the warmth that it brings with it. I love the mild summers of Michigan.

This is a still from the visit to Chicago in December. Loved the little puddle and the reflection. I have been looking for one to take a shot.

Shutter speed - 1/60
Aperture - F11
ISO -100

Since the weather is such, I got a bit bored of shooting the cold, grey and very rarely blue sky landscapes, city-scapes so mostly I went again to my indoor subjects.

Yet another quote comes to my mind - Necessity is the mother of invention. I discovered some new things not inventions, but new ideas. My sessions of long hours on different kinds of softwares to make Illustrations was also a part of my new discoveries. Played with them to make something interesting.  Also as I have been designing and developing websites for long, I designed a few templates.


Please click on the image to view full size. The image on the right is a collage of a few templates.


Now you know who to call when you need a website. :)  Sorry, if you think this was soliciting. ;)

Another skill I am honing is converting color images to black and white to get the right tones of greys, blacks and whites.

This is yet another cityscape of Chicago downtown.

Shutter speed - 1/45 secs
Aperture - F11
ISO - 100

Hope some of you on the other side of the globe are enjoying the onset of summers while I am still waiting for Spring. This was not sarcasm, just enjoy life whatever may come. Live in the moment. Have a nice week!

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.

December 3rd 2013 - World in Black and White.

There was a time when photography had no color. Since the discovery of color in photography we have been seeing color everywhere. Black and white still captures the world in all it's essence and beauty. Even today when we revisit pictures in black and white, a sense of purity and simplicity prevails. So, on one hand, color attracts the viewer with its catchy designs and color, black and white attracts the viewers by it's composition, lighting, focus and the story in the picture. A beautiful excellently executed black and white picture can surely beat a flashy color picture. I love color and capturing it is just what I do, but lately I've been attracted to the black and white. There are so many tones to black and white and capturing the right one for the right thing is just as important.

The topmost picture is of Holland Beach. It is a sunset at the Great lakes. The colorful sunset can be captured in black and white with equal drama even without color. Click on the images to view a larger version.

Shutter speed - 1/40 secs
Aperture - F10
ISO - 100

The picture on the right is of Fredrick Meijer Garden. It has sculptures of various artists.  That day, when I reached the garden it was closed , so I could only take shots from outside.

Shutter speed - 1/1000 secs
Aperture - F4.5
ISO - 100
The clouds and the sky can change your black and white picture from ordinary to dramatic.

This is a picture from the Zoo. This is the African elephant. Note the skin has come out beautifully in the black and white version. The wrinkles in the skin have come out perfect. They give the texture to the picture against the blur background.

Shutter speed - 1/320secs
Aperture - F7
ISO - 200

I have even added a new gallery for black and white on my website www.dipalis.com. Feel free to visit and leave your feedback. The other thing I've been working on in the last few weeks is Illustration. Hope to share a few in the next posts.

Hope you all will enjoy these pictures as much as I did capturing them.

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

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!

September 25th 1013

This week I mostly worked on  two websites and the rest of the time was spent taking indoor pictures and editing some of the them.

As Summer is working it's way to Fall, these greens will turn into yellows, browns and oranges. Will have to wait for 5-6 months to see them green again. So I clicked a few. These leaves are from the giant Oak trees we have here.

ISO - 100
Aperture- F 8
Shutter - 1/30 secs

I had Photoshop since quite some time but have not been using it for heavy editing. I like to enhance the image rather than create composites.  Digital Photography and Editing cannot be separated.  Some photo purists are strong believers that Photoshopping should remain separate from Photography. I stand in the middle and believe that taking a picture from your camera is 85% of the job and the rest is enhancing your work to make it  more appealing. This is the edit I did this week. I have given the Daisies a rustic look. I am not sure what you think of it. I like it.
ISO - 200
Aperture -22
Shutter - 1/8 secs

This is a hairy leaf which had a shiny look to it. I edited it to some extent .

ISO - 200
Aperture - F16
Shutter - 1/180 secs








This is all for today. Comments are welcome! Hope you all are having a nice week.

September 19th 2013

I haven't been blogging for some time. Lots of things were going on including flu. Anyway, now I am back. Here is a shot from a Botanical garden.
If anyone could ID this flower, I'll be highly grateful.

• ISO - 100
• Shutter Speed - 1/320 secs
• Aperture -4.5

The very attractive Water Lilies. I have not been able to do justice to these flowers as there was a railing and I could not get closer than this. These flowers are super beautiful.

ISO -100
Shutter Speed -1/125 secs
Aperture - F16

One of the most cute shots in this post is this macro shot which I had not planned but this visitor came to me as a surprise in a flower which grew in my backyard. Looks like it's saying - Mirror Mirror on the wall , who's the cutest of them all.

ISO- 400
Shutter Speed - 1/90 secs
Aperture -  3.5
Hope you all will have a nice weekend!

ISO - 100

Shutter Speed - 1/30

F number -9.5

ISO - 100

Shutter Speed - 1/30

F number -9.5

ISO - 100

Shutter Speed - 1/30

F number -9.5

July-August Pictures

All of July I was on vacation. Had a nice time with Family and Friends. Here is a picture from that time.
I was on an Auto Rickshaw, and believe me, not in a comfortable position at all and  neither stationary - the auto rickshaw was at 40 kms per hour. I used a Panasonic camera for this shot.
Some more info-

• ISO - 100
• Shutter Speed - 1/1000 sec
• F number - 3.1

Back home my backyard was blooming with grapes. This just cropped up when i came back . To my surprise I had never seen this vine before in my backyard. 

Some more info-

• ISO - 100
• Shutter Speed - 1/30
• F number -9.5

A walk to a nearby park in the evening when the weather is good is what an evening should be. This shot is of a covered wooden bridge over a river in a nearby park.

 Some more info-

• ISO- 400
• Shutter speed - 1/60
• F number - 5

And lastly to end this post here is something as fresh and as beautiful as a Sunflower . Happy weekend !

Some more info -

• ISO - 100
• Shutter Speed - 1/4 sec
• F number - 22