Kala Ghoda Art Festival 2015 - Mumbai

Apart from being my home country, I like India because it is perhaps the most colorful country in the world. The sheer diversity and unpredictability of the country makes up for the one of the best recipe for photography. With all the new technology that make photography very affordable for amateur photographers like us, the scope and possibilities for photography in India are limitless. 

For many years, I kept hearing great feedback about Kala Ghoda Art festival in Mumbai and wanted to visit it one day. This year the festival started on 7th Feb 2015 and was scheduled to end today, 15th Feb 2015. So I decided, I should go and make visit before I miss it for yet another year. 

Getting to Kala Ghoda Art Festival 
Most of my readers (at least as of today) are Indians, so they typically know the challenges of travelling from one part of the Mumbai to another. But for my non-Indian readers, I just wanted to give you an idea of what it takes to get to Kala Ghoda Art Fest (or for that matter any place in India) so just in case if you ever decide to go around in Mumbai, you are prepared.  Well basically - if you want to reach 'quick' take train. If you have time and can wait in long traffic, take a personal car. I decided to take train (from Kandivali to Churchgate) so that I could reach quickly (btw - by quick I mean 1 hour) and then there is about 10 mins walk to the place where the festival is hosted. 

What happened over there
Oh well, this is a whole different story. I was all excited to go to Kala Ghoda festival. I had all my gear, ready to take photographs. BUT - the moment I reached there, I saw an ocean of people and my first reaction was "WHAT THE HELL !!" It took about 10-15 mins for me to get inside as there was super long queue. I didn't lose hope yet, I finally got inside and all I saw was more people ! 

The funny thing is - most of the art work is covered/surrounded by people trying to take their picture with it, without realizing that the art work itself is not coming in the picture (because they covered it !!). 

The art work were beautiful, but the amount of crazy crowed kinda frustrated me. I decided not to take a lot of pictures and enjoy the art as much as I could. Reason ? because there was hardly any scope for getting a clean shot ! Most of the shots would only have people's heads OR people taking their selfies. 

After enjoying the art for sometime (and of course taking a few pictures), I decided to leave early and go to Marine Drive (Queen's Necklace area) and try my luck over there. 

Here are the pictures that I could get - 

Overall I wished I went a bit earlier OR may be on a weekday to avoid crown and enjoy the festival more... A lesson ! :-) 

Anyways - thanks for reading this post... you take care and have a wonderful day !

Moved to India

When you work in IT industry, you are always on the wheels. The life is very dynamic and you learn to enjoy and accept these changes. I frankly think that many of the folks from IT have started photography because they get to go around the world, work in different countries, meet people with different cultures, experience the extreme weathers etc etc... which are all the necessary ingredients to get into Photography. 

India is dynamic, colorful, random..and it will be exciting to see what photography I can do in India. Life's gonna be busy, but gotta find some time for passion ! 

Not going to write much.... will post pictures when I go for a photography trip ! Till then ... tk care ! and have a nice day !!

New additions to my photography gear

Whether you are a Pro photographer or a hobby photographer, we all suffer from what photographers call 'GAS' (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). We always want to buy new photography gear and we somehow find a way to budget for it (big or small). 

This year was no different for me. I bought a couple of things that I hope will help me improve my photography. 

Dolica GX 600B200 Ball Head Aluminum Tripod

So this one goes back almost a year. I was looking for a good (semi-pro) tripod for a while and I was finally able to buy it this year.  I have had tripod before, a Vanguard tripod that I originally bought for my Canon Rebel T1i. It was a $30 tripod that everyone starts off with. Vanguard tripod was a decent tripod, very useful with my T1i, but somehow not sturdy enough to support my Canon 6D. So I definitely needed an upgrade. I selected Dolica GX tripod series because 

• It is a semi-pro tripod, loaded with features
• Aluminum tripod, so it weighs less but is sturdy enough for my Canon 6D
• Ball head 
• And last but not the least, reversible center column (a feature that I always wanted) 

 

Canon PowerShot S110 

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the DSLRs that I own are absolutely wonderful and amazing ! But there are always times when you cannot carry the big DSLR camera with you. To take pictures in those situations, I wanted to buy a Point and Shoot camera that I could rely upon. I have had a Nikon point and Shoot camera that I bought about 5-6 years back, but honestly speaking I was not very impressed with that camera myself. While it was a good camera when there was enough light, it failed in low light situations. So this was a year to buy a new point and shoot and me being a Canon fanatic, was always going to buy a Canon. I had 2 options in mind S110 and S120, but I ultimately decided to go with S110 because of low cost. Since this was not going to be my primary camera, cost was a major factor in making that decision. The camera ofcourse is wonderful with good daylight and low light performance. 


What next?
Well, I have a long list of things that I want to buy in 2015. But let's see how much I am able to buy from that list :-) until then, keep clicking and keep reading my blog !! 


 

PhotoJojo Canon 70-200mm F/2.8 Lens Mug Review

It should come as no surprise to you when I say, "Hey, I want to own a Canon 70-200mm F/2.8 Lens". I mean, who wouldn't want to own it? Right? Anyone who uses Canon system, and loves photography wants to own that lens. It is perhaps the best lens that Canon has ever made. And, like every other 'awesome' thing that you want to own, it comes with a big price tag. Most of us, who are doing photography as a hobby have hard time justifying that cost and buying that lens.  But we are who we are. We still go through all the photography websites and look up the most recent price of that lens (may be every other day).

So one day I was browsing through internet as usual going through some photography articles, and I came across an article "50 affordable gift for photographers under $50". The title seemed interesting enough, so I started reading the article and there was one item that made me say "Yup. I want this!". It was the Canon 70-200mm F/2.8 Lens Mug. I said to myself, "If not the lens, I should at least have a mug!".

I decided to buy a mug. I thought buying a 'mug' shouldn't be difficult, but when I started looking for it, I was faced with 100s of options of various quality and price. It took about 6-8 hours of research and googling before I decided to go with "PhotoJojo" to order these mugs. 

In this post, I wanted to go through some of the options that I found over the internet and why ordering from PhotoJojo made sense to me. 

There are basically 3 types of Canon (or Nikon) mugs that you can get. 

1. Canon branded
2. Canium or other names branded. 
3. Unbranded

The Canon branded lens mugs are not available in US directly. I tried to look it up on the popular US websites and they did not have the mugs with "Canon" written on them. If you are looking to have mugs with "Canon" written on them then the best place to order them would be from eBay. There are sellers from Japan/China/Hong Kong who will ship these to USA. It takes longer for your shipping to arrive, but you would get a mug that you would like.

Canium or other branded mugs are also great, but my problem was that it had "Canium" or something else other than Canon written on it, which kind of kills the mug completely. No offense to the mug makers, but my idea was if you want to buy a mug that looks like lens, it should "look" like a lens. Canium or something else written on it just kills that 'look'. 

So therefore I ultimately decided to go for an unbranded lens mug. Those that are sold by USA sellers. PhotoJojo is a popular name in USA and a reliable place to buy, so I decided to buy the mug from them. I was a bit skeptical at first about how the mug would 'look' or 'feel' as compared to the real lens. But I was so pleasantly surprised when I received the mug. It looked just like the real lens. The feel was sturdy, the looks were awesome. I even almost zoomed it ! The only problem with PhotoJojo's 70-200 f/2.8 mug is that it does not come with a sipper lid. It comes with a standard lid. But if you are ordering a 24-105mm f/4, it shouldn't be a problem because that one comes with a sipper lid. 

At the end, I would like to show you a few pictures of the mugs.

Fall photography at Rocky River Reservation

I have been staying in Cleveland for about 4 years now and contrary to popular belief, this city does offer some excellent photo opportunities...especially during Fall. And just like every year, I decided to go out and do some fall photography...only this time, I was not alone. I was accompanied by my friends (and also fellow photographers) Karunesh Karn and Parag Makhija. 

After a good research we decided to go to Rocky River Reservation and return to Strongsville via the metro parks. We knew that, it would give us ample amount of photo opportunities. We picked a rather unusual time for photography (about 4pm) but we still managed to get some good shots. 

Here are the pictures that I got.... 

5 Things You Do (As a Photographer) That Annoys Your Better Half

Photography is a great hobby, an expensive one, but a great one none the less. And if you have any hobby (not just photography), you would know that it doesn't take a lot for your hobby to become your passion and then eventually an addiction. 

Photography for me is an addiction, and for that matter anyone who has read about it or learned it. And honestly, why wouldn't it be? It not only lets you pictorially depict the way you see the world, but it also 'in a way' makes you feel good. How???Well it's easy..You carry a big professional camera, you change lenses on it, you have multiple filters and tripod etc etc..and you think "Ya, it makes me look cool"... You spend a good deal of time reading photography books, articles, watching multiple videos on YouTube. And last but not the least you genuinely like the subject.It's almost as if you forget about everything else around you and indulge into learning photography. 

Did you notice I wrote "forget about everything else around you !!" ... now that's a BAD IDEA ! You live with your spouse (or better half) and forgetting about them is never a good idea. If your spouse is not a photographer, you may have done things in the past that annoyed them. 

Here's a list of 5 things that you may have done, that have annoyed them. Just for the record, I have done all of them (and more).

1. You focus a lot on camera settings
This is perhaps the number 1 reason why your spouse might be annoyed at you. For majority of his/her life, he/she is used to someone pointing camera at her, clicking the picture and moving on. But after you, things change. You take the first shot with your favorite setting, and almost invariably, you don't like the shot. So you fiddle with the settings, you take another shot and its probably not something you like either. You take some more test shots, but by that time, your spouse is already annoyed.  

2. You're not in the picture 
Imagine, you went on a family trip - you spent a good time researching about the place, you got the best deal that was possible, all the arrangement was just perfect. Everything is great. You go out there, you have a great time. You take a lot of pictures. You come back from the trip, you sit with your spouse, you look at those 100s of pictures (hopefully not 1000s) and all you see is your spouse and kids(if any). There is no sign of YOU.  That my friends, annoys them a lot.

3. You are the photographer of 'any' event you go
Whether you are married or not, you have to socialize and go to multiple events. "Normally", socializing involves interacting with people, talking about stuffs that you like about (and most of the times about the stuffs that you don't really care about). But if you have a professional DSLR, things change. Your host wants you to bring your camera and take pictures of the event. And you do agree, because after all, you like photography. But be careful, you might annoy your spouse, if you are over doing this.

4. You are picky about direction of light
You've read about photography, you really have. And that means, you know the importance of LIGHT and the direction of it. You cannot stand the fact that there are hard shadows on the face when you are capturing the shot. You do not prefer taking pictures when the sun is on top of your head. When you're on a trip however, you cannot control everything. But you simply cannot help yourself. You try and change their position in some way so that the photo looks good (at least to your satisfaction). As I said before, they are not used this. All they want is for you to point the camera at them, click that button and get a picture. They want you to position them in front of the monument, waterfall or whatever there is and take a picture. And when you are not able to do that, you annoy them !!!

5. Quality, Composition and Post Processing... what is that???
Whether you are a pro-photographer, or a learner you understand the importance of composition, quality (focus, noise, negative space etc etc) and you really care about it.  You spend a great deal of time post-processing your photos so that they look 'great'.  But- your spouse don't care about those things.. well at least, not directly. They do want great pictures, they just cannot stand the whole big process of getting there,especially when they have to go through it every time.  Many times, you might find yourself putting your spouse and kids in "Rule of 3rd" arrangement or Leading lines arrangement OR many times you capture great expressions of your kid, but because the photo was out of focus, you discard the picture. Your spouse probably doesn't care. 

Ok so with that, I will end the post here. Hope you had some laughs reading through these 5 'things'.  I am no exception to these 5 things (and other things too) But for the record - I know for the fact that my wife likes what I do and supports me (& my little addition in photography) as much as she can, until of course I over-do one of those 5 things. ;-) She has been very patient with me. 

If your spouse has been patient with your photography addiction, it is time that you thank him/her for that. How about you thank them today ?

Cheers !!! 

Buying the "Right" Camera for yourself

We are almost in the middle of Fall 2014, which means that the Shopping season is coming close and many of you may want to buy a new camera for yourself.

But there's that 'big' question ... "Which Camera Should I Buy?" With ridiculously many options, it is easy to get confused and spend your hard earned money on something that you will never need OR something that isn't really sufficient/enough for you. 

In this post, I will try and help you choose the "Right" camera for you. I am not recommending a particular camera. I want to lay out my thought process of how I would select a camera, If I wanted to buy one. So let's get started....

Here's the first question that you should ask yourself - "What am I going to do with this camera?" Now I want you to pick one of the answers below (the one that comes closest to your requirement)

1. I don't photograph much. I just need something that I can use for family events, trips. But that's about it. 
2. I feel like learning photography, but I am not sure if I will 'really' pursue it. 
3. I want to learn photography and I am ready to invest time and money. 
4. I have been doing photography for 'x' years. It is time for an upgrade !

Category 1 : I don't photograph much !!
If you selected the first answer, you are definitely not alone. Many of the people I know are similar to you. The purpose of camera is to record and capture some of the important events of your life. No intention of getting into photography. You just want to point that camera to someone, click the "button" and want a good picture.  Very well, then here's my recommendation for you - 

1. If you are not really picky about 'quality' of the image, do not buy a camera. Use your smartphone instead (or buy a smartphone with good camera). I know it is tempting to buy a Camera during those black friday deals, but don't buy it, if you really don't care about 'quality' of the image.  Save your hard earned money and invest it somewhere else.
2. If you do care for the quality OR if you are unhappy with your smartphone photos, then I recommend that you buy a Point-and-shoot digital camera. Here's the criteria that I recommend for buying the camera - 
1. Pick your Price: You have no intention of learning photography. So do not invest in 'high-end' Point-and-shoots. Pick a budget between $200-300 (for example). Do not go for 'really' cheap camera. They are no better than your smartphone camera (or worse).
2. Pick your Brand: Yes, when it comes to low-end point-and-shoots, brand of the camera does matter. I have had Sony, Nikon and Canon point-and-shoots before I bought DSLR and I have found a significant different in their quality. I recommend Sony OR Canon. 
3. Pick your Zoom: While this may not be really a choice with the kind of budget we are looking at, go for the camera with more optical zoom.

Category 2: I want to learn photography, but not sure !
This is perhaps the most common set of people that ask me the question "Hey which DSLR should I buy?". If you selected this answer that means you are 

1. Interested in learning photography.
2. You like how your friends with DSLR are able to capture great pictures that you are somehow unable to do with your current camera. 
3. But you are also conservative in terms of the budget. You are not sure if you want to invest a lot of money in buying expensive DSLR because you are not sure if you will continue to pursue your interest in photography.  

For you, I would recommend following selection criteria

1. I want "Manual": This is perhaps the most important criteria. Because you want to learn photography, you need to have camera that supports Manual Controls. 
2. I want "RAW": If you want to learn photography and post-production, you will want to shoot in RAW. Shooting in RAW format, opens up a lot of possibilities and trust me you will definitely need this.
3. I want "High ISO": Most of the new camera do support high ISO that allow you to shoot in low light situation. I recommend buying a camera that has usable ISO 6400. Usable ISO 12800 would be fantastic. 
4. I am Flexible in "Zoom":  I think people universally agree that, we really don't need super high zooms (unless you shoot sports or wildlife). For most of the practice scenarios, a 5x zoom is sufficient. I recommend being flexible about zoom and not run after 20x, 30x or 50x zooms.
5. I am Flexible in "Budget":Well this one is a bit tricky. I don't want you to invest a lot but definitely enough to get a good quality camera. A decent budget of $400-$600 should give you a good starter camera

Based on the above criteria, there are couple of options that you can choose.

1. High-end Point-and-Shoot Camera: These would be good for people who are unsure about pursuing photography. They are compact and have good quality.
2. Mirrorless Cameras: They are similar to DSLRs except that they are a much newer technology, much smaller and much light-weight. They have changeable lens system. 

Category 3: Don't know anything about photography, but committed to learn it  
If you are in this category, you will have a lot of choices, especially because you are committed, you want to learn and there are so many choices. Fortunately though the selection can be surprisingly simple.
If you are in this category that means -

1. You are flexible to stretch your budget
2. You do not mind carrying big DSLR and camera bags around
3. You like a particular genre of photography (For example - landscapes, seascapes, portraits, wild life etc). 
4. MOST IMPORTANTLY, you do plan to invest in photography in future (like additional accessories, lenses, tripods etc). 

 As I see it, the choice is very simple for you. Here's the criteria - 

1. Pick your budget: Fix your budget. Period. With DSLRs there are cameras from $500 to $7000 and I am sure everyone would agree that "you will get what you pay for". 
2. Pick your Brand: Yes. This is where you need to do your little research and pick a brand of the camera that you want to buy. This is very important because you would eventually (hopefully) buy accessories and probably upgrade to a new camera and switching between different system will not be a good idea.  My recommendation would be Canon, Nikon and Sony, in that order.  I have two Canon DSLRs and I love using those. 

There are basically 3 types DSLRs that you get in the market 

1. Entry-level DSLR: Canon Rebel series, for example, are the entry level DSLRs. They usually cost under $1000 and have good image quality and are loaded with features. They are CROP sensor camera, so their low light performance may not as great at some of the PRO cameras. But do you really need that? If your budget is less than $1000, then these cameras will give you a good start to digital photography. 
2. Mid-Level DSLR: These DSLR are also CROP sensor but they are loaded with different useful features like - high frames-per-second, high ISO, more sophisticated auto-focus system etc. They cost higher but as I said before you get what you pay for.  Examples of such camera - Canon 7D, Canon 60D, Canon 70D. 
3. PRO DSLRs: These are the expensive ones. They are full frame cameras with excellent image quality and low light performance. They are also loaded with various features I mentioned above. WIFI and GPS are some of the new addition to these cameras. Canon 6d, Canon 5d Mark III etc are some examples of this category of cameras. 

Pick any of the above camera depending on your budget. But if you are just starting photography, I would say you go for an Entry Level or Mid-Level DSLR. 

Category 4: I know Photography, It's time for an upgrade:

If you selected this, you probably don't need to read this article. You have spend good number of years doing photography and you probably know what you want to buy already. Plus I am sure you know about cameras, brands etc and I don't think there is anyone who can give you a better recommendation that you yourself. But below are some of the critical questions/decisions you will have to make. 

1. Your Specialization:
Since you have been doing photography for some years, you already know what kind of photography you like. If you are a landscape photographer for example, you will have a different need from a camera than a Sports Photographer or a wild-life photographer for example. No matter how much you want to say "I photography everything", don't say it. There is always a genre that you like more than other. 
 
2. Your System:
So this is a critical decision, whether you want to continue and use the same system/brand OR you want to change the system? Decision obviously depends on your experience with your current system. If you are unhappy with your system, then you would probably want to change it. But the decision won't be very simple because of all the investments that you have already made with the existing system. So unless you really HATE your current system, I recommend sticking with your current system. 
 
3. Your Sensor-Type:
This will depend upon the answer to your first question, your specialization. Generally speaking - landscape photographers love full-frame cameras while Sports/Wild-life photographers prefer to use crop-sensors with higher fps. Portrait work can be done with either full frame or crop sensors. So ultimately it is your choice on what kind of sensor you want. 


Ok with that, I would like to conclude my post here. Hope there was 'some' information that was useful for you.  

Once again, I really appreciate you reading my blog and keep visiting the page. Thank you for all your support.