Guess Me

[D70,Tamron macro f2.8 90mm @ F4.5, 1/4 sec]

It was one of those days when I was shooting macro. Shot a flower and was reviewing it on the camera LCD when this pleasant blur turned up, didnt have a clue when this crept in.

The last 2 weekends I locked myself at home. The summer heat is going out of bounds. The only leeway that the summer gives is to tolerate it and hike those aweing mountain peaks. With great deal of planning I should be able to hike atleast 4 peaks this summer.

May the force be with me.

Road Trip : Fuji Parikrama

Courtesy : http://www.jnto.go.jp

In the August of 2003, I trekked Mt. Fuji with a goal of watching the early morning sun and then make a full circle of the crater on the top, neither of this was possible on account of a typhoon, call it bad timing. But last sunday I joined Bharat and Eisha in completing the "Fuji Parikrama" if not at the summit.

We set out at 8:00 AM on the chou expressway. It was a bright sunny day. After an hours drive we rested at Futaba Parking area , and dallyed at the fuji view point. The plan of the day was to exit the expressway at Fuji-yoshida, drive down to Fuji Safari park via Lake Yamanaka, then move onto Shiraito Falls and take the route 139 and hit the expressway.

FUJI SAFARI REVISITED

[AP*, f4.5, 1/200, 200mm ], Handheld VR On.

It was around 11:00AM and we were at Fuji Safari Park as planned. This being my second visit in under 7days was a bit reluctant to go on a shooting spree. Bharat was almost petrified at the wheel when a lioness started strolling around the car.

[AP*, f5, 1/250, 22mm ], Handheld.

This lioness on the tree caught my attention as I was in perfect position to get the best of what I could. This would be my first reference of calling the big fellow "cute" and hopefully the last. After spending a couple of hours at the park we traced our way to my destination of the day the Shiraito Waterfalls. The drive to the falls was just the best of all times. It was like driving an alpine course on the Grand Turismo 4 (sony playstation).

SHIRAITO WATERFALLS / SHIRAITONOTAKI

[SP*, f16, 1/3, 18mm ], on tripod, crop in height.

At the very sight of the falls one feels that they are rightly named as "white thread falls". The falls measured 200meters in width and 20 meters in height. I started on my assignment of shooting the falls. Since we had a plan of spending a good amount of time at the falls, I spent a great deal of time correcting some imprefections I got used to.

[SP*, f11, 1/25, 31mm ],on tripod

Probably this is my first instance of using the tripod to the best. The slightly overcast conditions helped me to a great extent. Shooting the images in raw always has the down side of spending loads of time to rework, since I am still a longway away from Photoshop and/or writing automating scripts. On the lighter side along with great felxibility comes great pain.

[SP*, f9, 1/8, 18mm ], on tripod, circular polarizer

Once done with the basic shooting I experimented with the polarizer, which yeilded some acceptable results.

[SP*, f16, 1/3, 18mm ],on tripod.

There were a couple of gold fish that were trying to swim upstream. Wondered for a while why they need to do so. With little interest in further researching on that subject, I tried to capture them, the end result being the shot here under.

[SP*, f7.1, 1/10, 18mm ], on tripod, circular polarizer.

At around 3:00PM we hit the road. On the way we visited the Fugaku Lava cave, the temperature in this cave is ZERO Degrees centigrade even in peak summer. One can find 15 feet long ICE stalagmites resembling the Amarnath ice lingam.

We were almost nearing the expressway when we got a good glimpse of the Mt Fuji which was masked by clouds all day long. By 6:00PM we were done and a successful Fuji Parikrama came to an end.

Camera : Nikon D70
Lens : Nikkor 18-70mm DX

Fuji Safari Park

[AP*, f2.8, 1/1250, 200m ]

Yesterday I made it to the Fuji safari park along with Mahesh, Amit and Prasad Joshi. This park is somewhat unique for the very reason that it allows you enter in your own car to the proximity of the carnivores. It was a cloudy day and in the evening we were greeted by some rain. The safari park is situated at the foot of Mt Fuji. Once again clouds enveloped fuji-san and I was having a walk in the clouds all the way.

[AP*, f5.0, 1/125, 200m ]

The first section happens to be that of the bears, a bear entered the water and started having some fun. I just swung into action, started shooting, just when I am done I realized that I got two things wrong, the first was that I was shooting in JPEG only mode rather than RAW and secondly it was in Aperture Priority mode than the desired Shutter priority mode for such fast action. Of all the above image looked a bit acceptable.

[AP*, f2.8, 1/400, 160m ]

It was half past noon and guess the tigers were done with their lunch, hardly could find a tiger in the vicinity. At the very exit was this tiger.

[AP*, f2.8, 1/1600, 116m ]

There seemed to be a population explosion in the lions camp. The lioness out numbered the lions as usual. This very lioness/cub turned to be the animal of the day for me. I was staring right into my eyes, I was 10/15 feet from it when I took these shots.

[AP*, f2.8, 1/250, 200mm ]

Initially I used to wonder how come goats and pigs take center stage in a zoo/safari, well I dont have an answer let me put it this way "This is Japan, sometimes expect the unexpected". Not pretty sure but I presume this is a mountain goat.

[AP*, f2.8, 1/1600, 200mm ]

Some of you might be wondering how come safari in Japan. Well once a Japanese industrialist been to an african safari near Mt Kilimanjaro and was so pleased with it that he set up one right at the foot of Mt Fuji in 1980.

[AP*, f6.3, 1/250, 200mm ]




[AP*, f6.3, 1/250, 200mm ]

I was very thankful to Mr. Lion for posing upright. This being my first shoot of the wild though not in the wild, was quite an experience. Loads of lessons learnt. Guess every serious photographer should have a short checklist stuck right in his mind and breeze through it before the click. That sure will make a difference between a perfect shot and a near perfect shot.

[AP*, f2.8, 1/200, 200mm ]

This rihno seemed so bogged by it weight or by the unknown factor that it hardly lifted its head. Some how I found this snap very interesting.

[AP*, f2.8, 1/2000, 95mm ]



[AP*, f2.8, 1/800, 70mm ]

Locked with a medium telephoto lens , with the wide angle lens in the trunk and no option to get out of the car, left me to squeeze this to the best. The quadruped walk was the most graceful I seen in its class.

[AP*, f2.8, 1/1000, 200mm ]

This deer was quite far away and there was a fencing wire running at its nose level. I just wondered if this lens can blur that line to a desired extent and I guess it did a decent job.

[AP*, f6.3, 1/100, 190mm ]

I never liked cropping the images and this is one time I havent cropped on any of the images.

So over all its been a wonderful day with the camera but still its a long way for the perfect shot and mastering the art.

Camera : Nikon D70
Lens : Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR
Tripod : No tripod, all handheld.

*AP : Aperture Priority Mode

US Times : Boston

John Harvard [ Founder 1638 ]

Last month [ 18th-22nd May 2005 ] I was on a small business trip to Chicago, USA. I was at my sluggish best on account of jetlag. A 11/12 hr difference [Japan-EST US] literally made my days into nights and the vice verse. No sooner I was done in Chicago, I took a flight to Boston.

The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library [ Harvard, Boston ]

Boston been loaded with friends from my schooling and college, I had a royal time. It was a cloudy day all the way in Boston, I was so lazy that I just did a point and shoot photography.Early in the morning of 21st May 2005, I , Srikanth and Anu walked around Harvard Square and hit the Harvard Campus.

MIT

Later in the day Ashok, Subhash,Siva and Naveen gave me a ride to Boston downtown, on the way we visited the MIT campus. For the past 10 years I been looking forward visiting the campus and there I was.

Mr Bagpiper

At Harvard Campus there was a memorial church and a wedding party was on the way. There was this Bagpiper in all his splendor who caught my attention.

Physics lecture notes

Walking down the Harvard Lawn I stumbled on some Physics lecture notes, reminding me of my bygone days.

On Assignment

[ f2.8 ,1/1000s @ 200mm ]
Handheld ,Nikon D70, Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 VR

Finally I have my dream lens and with no further delay today I planned to get a feel of it. With no shooting location in mind I was at the mercy of wind. Amit , Mahesh and myself checked out of the house around noon and had a lunch at "Maharaja Indian & Nepali Restaurant" around suwa region.

[ f8 ,1/30s @ 18mm ]
Handheld ,Nikon D70, Nikkor 18-70mm DX

Trying to figure our way to Route 20 we landed infront of Kamisuwa castle. It was pretty pleasant, this being my fourth time to this place , never was it so deserted, but that happened to be a blessing for me. I had a real field day. Of late I got used to trying all the text book shots, so to give a break I lowered my center of gravity and got a shot from just above the water level.

[ f5 ,1/200s @ 170mm ]
Handheld ,Nikon D70, Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 VR

The ducks were a treat to watch, they perched on a stone in the middle of the pond and thats when I switch to my medium telephoto lens and went clicking. A couple of weeks back I swore to myself that I will not be clicking at random but only when I am done with thinking through the shot, well this rather turned counter productive, sometimes one should leave it to his senses.

[ f8.0 ,1/250s @ 90mm ]
Tripod Mount ,Nikon D70, Tamron 90mm F2.8 Macro

Finally I set my eyes on a flower, and I took the macro for a ride. I tried some low DOF with little success. Well trying to be Jack of all trades doesnt work always. Over all it made me feel better, and gave me the required boost for the long week ahead.

Mr Cool

( f/2.8, 1/1000 @ 200mm ) 100% Crop.

Last Night I was testing my new Nikkor lens and tried a shot at Mr Cool the Moon.

Camera : D70
Lens : AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G
Tripod : Yes

Macro : A Rose

I was shopping at MaxValu, when I found the flower section inundated with fresh flowers like never before, only for me to realize that Mothers day is around the corner.

[1/5 sec , f22]

There were a multitude of rose plants to choose from and I picked a bonzai rose plant if I can call it so, back home I put myself to work with my macro lens on the tripod. The end result was rather OK kind of stuff.I was struggling with the lighting. Need to figure out how to illuminate macro subjects !!

Camera : D70
Lense : Tamron SP AF 90mm F2.8 Macro 1: 1
Tripod : Yes

Utsukushigahara and Mount Asama

It is Golden Week and thereby a holiday time out here, April 29th-May 5th. Probably these are one of those wasted holidays as I plan to stay home, not without a reason the Markins Q-ball ( Head for my tripod ) shipment got stuck somewhere in the transit and I vowed to shoot only with my tripod. Finally it arrived this sunday but the weather kept me home.

Mt Asama

So today I set myself to test my new Gitzo G1227LVL and Markins M20 tripod. Took the bus to the Utsukushigahara Kogen (plateau) which is in backyard of Matsumoto city. Being a clear sunny day, the panoramic view was just awesome. I was able to clearly locate Mount Asama ( active valcano). Last year I had a plan to trek this Mountain but currently trekking out on Asama is banned as they found some signs of eruption.

Mt Asama was steaming out and it was quite visible from where I stood. I tried for a panoramic , the tripod operation was very smooth, I tried shooting with the circular polarizer filter on but had little luck. I goofed up again by not locking the exposure, the end result is artifacts while blending/sticking the images together.

Utsukushigahara sports an Open air museum. One should plan to spend atleast 2-3 hours. This being my second visit to this place I walked straight to the sculptures which I missed in my last visit. When I walked up one elevated platform, I realized the 360 degree view it offers. One can view Mt Fuji a range of all the 2500- 3000+ mts mountains.

So this marks the only outing for the Golden week this year.

Spring Barbeque '05

I was lazy all the way to sit before the dashboard and scribble a bit, well better late than never. Spring is suppose to be the best season in Japan. The onset of the spring is greeted by the blooming Sakura flowers. If your in Japan at this point of time then you cant miss the Spring Barbeque parties.

We set the table for the Barbeque Party at the Skypark near Matsumoto Airport. It was an awesome sunny day and a near clear sky and this happened to be my first Barbeque party on this planet. We made some veg curries at home and carried along for it turned out to be a saviour for the veggies.

I played for a while flipping and toasting the meat slices and then serving it. Basked around the park for a while before I started munching the curry-rice. For some of the Japanese colleagues the curries sounded a bit hot.

Shortly Ichikawa-san logged in with his kids and we had some fun playing baseball. Ichikawa-san started his shooting session with his Canon-EOS 10D. I had a feel of the camera and it was rock solid. But what appealed to me is the Lens : Sigma 18-200mm, obviously it was an cool consumer lens. I very much enjoyed the perspective that lens offers.

Ichikawa-sans friend checked in with his EPSON RD-1. The worlds first Digital Rangefinder. It looked more like a collectors choice. It had a Carl-Zeiss Lens mounted with f2.8. When I checkout the price of that camera, I just dropped my jaw in awe. Its 3000 USD. Well I was aware of Point and Shoot Cameras,35mm SLRs, Medium and Large Format Cameras but what is this new breed of cameras called Rangefinder. Back home I did my search on the www to figure out that it has its roots stuck deep in the past. The Rangefinder happens to be a hot favourite for some journalists. Though its very much digital all the settings in RD-1 are manual. Its ultra large view finder was very impressive, but shooting though it is somewhat like trying to blend 2 images,get them in focus and then click.

To be honest the second part of the Barbeque party was like a Photo Assignment and all trying to give their best. I was rather lost in observing the rest. There was this unusual clock in the park which drew attention every hour. The clock starts with a new tune 3-4 mintues ahead and then strikes the bells to the count of the hours when its dot on.

Over all its what I call a relished day.

Sakura

[ 1/200 sec , f10]

The Sakura (Cherry blossom) started blooming around my region, running from shades of light pink to white, they form quite a hotspot . I planned to move around to Matsumoto and the hills around but thats when it struck me, do I need to travel that far ? when all I intend was to shoot Macro. To be honest I was bit lazy to travel, so I jumped onto my bicycle and rallied towards Shinsu-sky park (3Kms from my residence).

[ 1/200 sec , f16]

I hardly got as far as 200 mts that I bumped into a sakura garden. It was 0800hrs and hardly anyone around, I started with my assignment. Playing around with the DOF(depth of field),I started at f10 and worked my way up till f16, thats when the shutter speeds started dropping below 1/60 for the best exposure, which would induce an element of shake when handheld.So I could not try anything above f16.

[ 1/200 sec , f10]

I was rather not pleased with any of the shots, but the object of the day's shootout was met, I learnt a bit about the DOF with the Macro Lense. But some old habits die hard I only realized at the end of the shoot that I am still with the Manual Mode when I was asked to switch to the Aperture Priority mode.
Well I have figured out a logical excuse to the use of Manual Mode : When I have all the time in the world to compose my shot I would stick to M mode but when my subject is fast moving and want a control over the DOF then for sure I will switch to A mode.

[1/80 sec , f16]

Let me generalize the learning of the day till I find it convincingly fallible. On a Macro Lense the average DOF should be greater than f16 for a decent composition of flora.

Camera : D70
Lense : Tamron SP AF 90mm F2.8 Macro 1: 1
Tripod : No

Portrait of a simian

Browsing through all the potrait shots shot in the last 2 years, I came across this which I shot when I was climbing up the Seven Hills, Tirumala to the Lords Abode on Feb 14th 2004.

The monkeys out here are least afraid of humans, that gave me a chance to approach the monkey with ease and shoot it from 2 feet away with a Sony P-10 cybershot.

Spring is in the air '05

[D70, 90mm F2.8 Macro, 1/250 sec , f7.1]

Spring starts to set in after the rocking winter. The air is so comforting that I got onto the street in shots. Well finally my new macro lense (Tamron SP AF 90mm F2.8 Macro 1:1) arrived on saturday, but I'm a bit unlucky with the tripod and the Q-ball, they ran out of stock.

Saturday I scouted for some flowers around my apartment, figured some real good ones beside the road on the way to a colleagues room and scheduled to shoot them on sunday.

[D70, 90mm F2.8 Macro, 1/250 sec , f7.1]

It turned out to be a pleasant sunday. With enough read and experimented at home I hit the field. The wind was a bit harsh at times. Resenting that I miss the tripod I squat on the road and gave the best I could. No matter what be it the images turned out blur.

I got so engrossed in the shooting that I started following the flower path and set my self in position to get the shot of the evening, thats just when a loud dog bark got me flat on the road. Oh!! I over looked the kennel thats right next. With little interest in drawing attention, I pulled my self up and trotted away to safety.

[D70, 90mm F2.8 Macro, 1/400 sec , f5.6]