njbfoto: Blog https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog en-us (C) nilesh bhange njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) Tue, 19 Jul 2022 14:57:00 GMT Tue, 19 Jul 2022 14:57:00 GMT https://www.nileshbhange.com/img/s/v-12/u753139699-o1030427452-50.jpg njbfoto: Blog https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog 89 120 How do I get so nice colors in my photographs ? https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2018/9/how-do-i-get-so-nice-colors-in-my-photographs It is not uncommon for you to do something simply because you enjoy doing it. Passion drives your love for that activity, and you go so far that you never look back and realize how far you've come. We never take the time to reflect on what the journey has taught us. But, every now and then, life forces us to pause and reflect on the milestones we've reached and how the journey has shaped us into a person you never imagined you could be.

It occurred to me one fine day as I reflected on a few questions posed to me by my friends and followers. To be honest, until I came across a few queries that led me to document my process of what I do, why I do it, and how I do it, I never had the opportunity to reflect deeply on the photographic journey that I had embarked on several years ago.

The Little UmbrellasThe Little UmbrellasCloseup of leaf patterns. Example 1 : The Little Umbrellas 

Every time I come across an intriguing subject, I often see myself photographing colors, shapes, and patterns. This fascination for various hues, patterns, and shapes inspired me to explore a wide range of subjects including paper, fire, water, flowers, and architecture. My approach to photography is to make photographs by capturing what I can't see, and this further motivates me to explore and capture the hidden beauty. According to me the focus of art is creation rather than invention. The goal of invention is to discover something that has never existed before, whereas the goal of creation is to use what already exists to express your inner world. Creation emerges out of the way you look at things. The way you look at something has the potent to transform ordinary into extraordinary. Similarly when it comes to photography, how to present the most ordinary subjects is of paramount importance. The main supporting element of every creation is perspective. I can go beyond what the human eye typically sees by using photography and various perspectives, and I can use colour theory and creativity to manipulate the tones, hues, and colors of an object to show how I see it. To achieve the desired feel or mood in the photograph, I enjoy taking liberty in experimenting with white balance, light, and temperature.

Example 1 is a closeup of beautiful leaves that have been processed and visualized as tiny umbrellas. Example 2 shows a macro shot of colored papers that appear to have mystical curves or caves. A close-up shot of a weathered window in Example 3 explores texture and patterns.

Example 2 : Mystical Curves

1. If the subject has an excessive amount of contrast (high/low) compared to the average tone, I adjust the exposure value while I'm shooting. For instance, raise my EV to the higher side (+1, +2) if the overall exposure is lighter or to the lower side (-1, -2) if it is darker.

 

2. I always shoot in RAW. It gives me more freedom to experiment with the white balance and adjust highlight/shadow depth. The drawback is higher size, but I don't believe it to be a major issue given the affordability of storage devices today. If your camera has this option and you are not shooting in RAW, set your colour profile to Adobe RGB. But remember to change the colour profile to sRGB after processing and before uploading to the web.

 

3. I play around with white balance a lot until I get the tone I want for my image. Although it's a nice tool, one needs to be careful not to push it too far and lose the natural look of the image.

 

4. When I'm not satisfied with the results of white balance adjustments, I occasionally experiment with camera profiles in Lightroom.

 

5. In RAW processing, I experiment with exposure, contrast, and light adjustment. I also believe in finding your personal favorite settings by experimenting with it.

 

6. Instead of using Photoshop's Hue and saturation adjustment, I experiment with selective colors. It gives me more precise control over it compared to Hue/Sat adjustments.

 

Weathered WindowWeathered WindowCloseup photograph of an old window showing interesting tyexture & patterns. © 2018 Nilesh J. Bhange Example 3 : Weathered Window

One has to know the rules to go beyond the rules. One must therefore discover and create their own style and workflow over time. The aforementioned procedure has been my guide throughout my photographic journey. But in the end, I think that each person must make their own decisions about when and where to stop the adjustment sliders because each image is different and there are no standard settings.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) color lightroom nileshbhange photograph photoshop processing techniques tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2018/9/how-do-i-get-so-nice-colors-in-my-photographs Tue, 18 Sep 2018 06:49:33 GMT
My Publications on National Geographic Magazine (NGM) Website https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2016/9/-rush-on-platform-published-in-ngm-built-to-walk-story I have been been member of National geographic magazine (NGM) website from 2009. I am uploading my selected photographs regularly under "Your shot". Fortunately enough, my several shots have been selected as NGM editors as favorite  & have been published in Daily Dozen as well as stories under assignments. 

Images published in Daily Dozen & your shot assignment stories on NGM

About NGM Daily Dozen, Assignment & Story:

Under Daily Dozen, each weekday NGM editors showcase their top 12 submissions. Members vote on editors favorites, and the winners appear in the Editors' Spotlight and be featured on the @natgeoyourshot Instagram account.

Assignments are not contests. Assignments are designed to mimic the process of being a photographer on assignment for National Geographic magazine. The editor(s) have an idea for a story they want to publish. They give the assignment to a photographer, who then goes out in the field and shoots. The photographer often brings back 10,000-plus images, only a handful of which go into the story. Throughout the experience, the editor and photographer are working together to make sure the images that come back are in line with what the editor has in mind for the story. The final selection that gets published may not include what were technically the best photos, nor the ones that the photographer or other editors liked the most. Rather, they are the ones that the editor decided worked together to best tell the story. Editors make a subjective choice based on a lot of elements, including the technical quality, how an image portrays one aspect of a larger story, and even the layout that’s available on the page.

"Snowfall" Published in Daily Dozen in NGM Your shot on 29.09.2016

It came to my surprise that my recent shot "snowfall" was published in National geographic Your shot selection on 29.09.2016. I was surprized because it was relatively very simple shot of an ordinary subject straw in the garden. The shallow depth of field was giving interesting blur effect which I was visualising as snowfall because it appeared as small cute snowballs to me. For giving tint of cold I shifted white balance of the captured image in RAW during post processing.http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/daily-dozen/2012-02-13/

Snowfall_2Snowfall_2

 

"Rush on Platform" Published in NGM "Built To Walk" story !     Date 13.02.2012

I was so happy to know that my photograph "Rush on Platform" was selected by editor of National Geographic (NG) your shot monthly assignment "Built To Walk". I feel getting noticed a image from more than 10,000 entries is itself a compliment which gets extended by having a editors note & published in the story on NG assignment.
I do participate in Your shot consistently & like to get feedback from all around.Moreover this shot has been earlier published on NG Daily Dozen on Feb13, 2012. Daily Dozen is collection of 12 curated images by the editors of NG from the weekly uploads. This shot was also shortlisted in top 50 images in Sony World Photography Organization 2013 international photo contest.

About the image:

This image was captured in my Betterphotography Magazines face off contest for better photographer of the year 2012. It was taken on Dadar railway station of Mumbai in morning before office hours elaborating the rush & hurry of people. The local train has became integral part of Mumbai & the peoples lifestyle.

 EXIF Data: 1.3 sec , f16, ISO 100, 17mm

Editors comment (Paul Salopek : Foreign Correspondent and National Geographic Fellow)

Fabulous. A diptych of human movement. There are so many balanced elements in this image of mass movement (light, space, symmetry) that the whole image is tensed--poised between calm and chaos. Bravo.

"Curves" Published in NGM "Create It" story !   Date:05.04.2015

I was so happy to know that my photograph "Curves" was selected by editor of NGM your shot monthly assignment "Create It". I feel getting noticed a image out of around 11k entries is itself a compliment which gets extended by having a editors note & published in the story on assignment. I do participate in Your shot consistently & like to get feedback from all around.

About the image:

I worked on the series of paper abstract quiet a long. This work includes getting closeup of color papers exploring interesting forms & colors. This all work was done using my macro lens. I simply get fascinated while doing this kind of work & can invest my hours while working on it. This image was created by using simple paper curves with a spotlight. The shape gives a feel like lady resting on a beach to me. Although everyone is free to interpret​ there own feelings in abstract photography.

Abstract by capturing closeup of papers.Abstract by capturing closeup of papers.Abstract by capturing closeup of papers.

Editors comment:

Let there be light! The lines, contrasts, movements, lights, and use of colors. What is there not to like about this picture? The abstract feeling and the minimalistic approach. This picture is so aesthetic and beautiful. - Liz Andersen, guest editor for the Create It assignment

Earlier my image "Sky & Clouds" was picked up by editor with his note on assignment " Nature in Black and white" The image was captured from the corridor of my house presenting a view of sky through the frame. This was giving a illusion as reflection of cloud in a big mirror ? Whereas it is a straight view of sky from my balcony on a cloudy day.

A view of sky from my balcony on a cloudy day.A view of sky from my balcony on a cloudy day.A view of sky from my balcony on a cloudy day.

Editors comment:

Nice idea of looking at nature from a man made structure. - Peter Essick (National Geographic Photographer)

I hope my images get noticed by the editors in future too :)

"Painter" in NGM Daily Dozon     Date: 20.06.2011

Dear friends during online surfing it took to me surprise that my image "painter" was shortlisted in National Geographic Daily Dozon for the 3rd week of May 2011. Unfortunately I didn't got any mail intimating that to me but seeing my image as a part of shortlisted group of images was nice experience.

P a i n t e r

For those who don't know about Daily Dozen NGM from the Daily Dozen, Photographer across the world post their images under the section "Your Shot". Images under these categories were shortlisted for the Daily Dozen. a selection of photos publishes in monthly National Geographic magazine if photograph gets qualified through voting machine.

National Geographic My Shot & Photowalk 2010 HM        Date 04.08.2010

I am happy to share with all of you that my photograph : "Apartment: Reflection" has been displayed on the home page of National geographic My Shot page on 4/8/2010.

This is my first time to get such an honor on this site. I hope to like repeat such success  in future also.

About The Image:
This shot was taken during photowalk 2010 in Indore near Bombay Hospital. I like the distorted reflection of the building forming in glasses of another building.  Unfortunately from the road I was only able to see a partial reflection. I realised that the view could be better from the upper floor. I requested the watchman of the building to allow me to get a shot from the required point of view. He not only allowed me to do so but also came with me & guided for the location. You can find me with a shadow of that watchman under center blue arch.

Apparrtment : ReflectionApparrtment : ReflectionA typical find during having photowalk 2010 in Indore near Bombay Hospital. I like the distorted reflection of the building forming in glasses of another building. I realizedA typical find during having photowalk 2010 in Indore near Bombay Hospital. I like the distorted reflection of the building forming in glasses of another building. I realized that the view could be better from the upper floor & captured it. You can find me with a shadow of the watchman under blue arch in the center. that the view could be better from the upper floar & captured it. You can find me with a showdow of the watchman under blue arch in the center.

EXIF data

Camera
Exposure
0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture
f/5.6
Focal Length
20 mm
ISO Speed
200
Exposure Bias
-2/3 EV
Flash
Off, Did not fire

You can find other images taken during this photowalk at “My Photowalk 2010” & other interesting images taken with group members at "Indore Photographers".

Update 16/8/2010:

This Photograph has been selected in Top 10 images as "Honorable Mention" in Worldwide Photowalk 2010.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) assignment Bhange Black Built India Mumbai My Achivements NGM Nilesh platform published rush Shot story To Walk Your https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2016/9/-rush-on-platform-published-in-ngm-built-to-walk-story Thu, 29 Sep 2016 19:27:00 GMT
Emulsion Art Exhibition https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2016/9/emulsion-art-exhibition It gives me immense pleasure to share with you all that I recently got an opportunity to take part in group art exhibition ‘Emulsion’ in Indore. I was so happy and excited that I decided to share my personal experience at this event with you all. This art exhibition featured the work of seven photographers and four sculptors. This was held at Indore's "Canaries Art Gallery." The event began at 5:30 p.m. on September 16, 2016 and lasted until September 20, 2016.
 

Details of participant & event is as given below:

InvitationInvitation

Image 1 : Invitation for the event & Participants

 

BEFORE EVENT

After a nearly three-year long break, I took part in a group art exhibition called "Emulsion," which featured photographers and sculptors. I find the processes of preparation, printing, mounting, framing, and display to be a little stressful. Because it seems difficult to store and maintain the work after the show, I'm hesitant to take part in exhibitions. This may be due to the fact that I began using a digital camera for photography (I started doing this after 2006) and that I posted the majority of my images online on my websites, Facebook, and photo-sharing websites.

My photography work had nearly ceased for about a year, except for maybe a few clicks here and there. It's difficult to restart a shooting career if interest wanes. During this time, one can start clicking, participate in art-related activities, visit exhibitions, or simply keep exploring the work of those you follow. But instead, I find myself avoiding all of these activities, particularly not visiting Facebook and other photo sharing sites. Time constraints brought on by hectic schedules and the tendency to only think about ideas without trying to put them into action are the main causes of work getting stuck. I think that such a phase doesn't need a good justification, but a new beginning does, in my opinion.

But once I got going, I realised that I was beginning to enjoy my working style. Because this exhibition was planned on such short notice, I was once more on the fence about taking part. However, senior photographer Mr. Tanveer Farooqui ji took the initiative and was charged with handling the issues that had previously prevented me from taking part. This left me with the task of choosing and getting the files ready for printing. This also occurred with similar assistance from senior photographer Mr. Upendra Upadhya ji for my most recent exhibition, "Photon," in 2013. I merely agreed to it because I believed it would help my photography work gain more momentum. This time, I was confident in showing off my most recent collection of macro photographs, which were taken over the past few months.

I've been working on everyday subjects for a few years now because I enjoy the process of discovering beauty in these ordinary subjects. I'd like to continue on that topic, hoping that long breaks will be limited in the future.

 

ABOUT THE DISPLAY

Subject of Displayed Work : Beauty in leaves.  

Sequence_2Img1 Beauty In LeavesMy 10 displayed images in this exhibition.

Image 2 : My Ten displayed images in the exhibition

About the theme: Certainly, flowers are beautiful, but that doesn't mean leaves aren't, either! It's my little way of trying to get your attention on the lovely things about leaves. I believe pearls are formed when an oyster receives a drop of rain or dew, but I have seen them glitter like a pearl on the leaves. I tried to capture and present the pure sound of "OM" in these leaves as well as the contours of butterflies, stars, and even butterflies.

 

DISPLAYED IMAGE

Since my previous exhibitions, I have been practicing the exercise of creating tiny thumbnails of the images to be displayed in order to finalize the arrangement for the final display. This saves a huge amount of time during gallery installation. Additionally, it prevents last-minute confusion about arrangements. Due to my liking the way they all complemented one another, I decided to mount ten images in two rows on the same wall.

 

DURING THE EVENT

Along with other well-known photographers from Indore, I participated, and I saw it as a learning opportunity. Although there are many tutorials on the internet and in books discussing technical aspects of photography, there are very few that explore aesthetics. This can be acquired by speaking with senior artists, photographers, and painters to understand their perspectives on the artwork that is on display. Seeing the different levels of reaction to the displayed art from a regular person to a senior artist also enriched my life.

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Event Images with Shriram Jog ji, Hemshankar Pathal ji & kirti pandya (Photo Courtesy Balwant Chouhan)

The most important aspect was interacting with the participants, other artists, and friends. I enjoy receiving feedback on my work, especially from painters, because I focus primarily on shapes, patterns, and colours. I'm pleased to report that I received a lot of positive feedback as well as insightful observations and recommendations.

Slideshow : Images from the event (Photo Courtesy Tanveer Farooqui ji & Balwant Chouhan)

The event's most interesting highlight was meeting renowned theatre artist Mr. Shriram Jog ji. I happened to see him perform in a Marathi drama called "Kahi Teri Kara Re" at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore. The owner of "Vaibhav Nursery," Kirti Pandya, paid a visit to the gallery, which was another highlight. With his gracious assistance, I have been photographing at his nursery for about 8 to 9 years as I have wished. It was very touching to see his acceptance that he had developed a new perspective on these plants after looking through the images that were on display.

A WORD ON PHOTOSHOP PROCESSING HYPE

The majority of viewers, I noticed, seemed preoccupied with evaluating how the effect was created or to what extent it was edited. Actually, I had the same thoughts earlier, but I stopped doing that. I think it takes the artistic vision of a creator to achieve the desired effect using any available tools, and according to me one should not impose any constraints on how you view things.  One ought to be allowed to approach a subject however he pleases if he is not aiming for scientific documentation. The subject's natural beauty must be preserved while keeping treatment to a minimum. When I see other people's work, I just ask myself if it's working for me or not, regardless of the method used to achieve the result.

I completely understand the human desire to understand the process, but I find it utterly unconvincing to make judgments solely based on how something is processed. It should be remembered that in the past, when using film cameras, a photographer would process the images in a darkroom to get the desired result.

In photography, the word "editing" seems to have a lot of different meanings. When someone asks or says, "Edit kiya hain kya?," it appears that they are already convinced that processing tools can accomplish anything, including automatically turning a mediocre photo into an exceptional one. As opposed to that, I consider these tools to be enhancing already beautiful images. Editing process can be subdivided into basic, advanced, and creative.

Basic: Adjustment brightness, contrast, colors, cropping & rotation.

Advanced: Adjustment by basic editing + cloning small areas, dodging, burning etc.

Creative: Advanced editing + merging different images, adding elements not present in original frame.

Most of the time, simple or sophisticated editing is sufficient for my style of photography. Anyhow, this subject is endless and somewhat debatable. I also believe that occasionally the processing tools have lost a little bit of respect due to overuse (resulting in an unnatural look).

It will be more beneficial for them if they try to understand the viewpoint of an artist rather than concentrating on technical questions at such an event, which is my kind advice to beginning photographers.

CONCLUSION

The event ran from 3 to 8 p.m., and since I didn't want to miss a single piece of feedback, I made an effort to spend as much time as I could in the gallery. I was fortunate to receive insightful comments from viewers about the differences between printing on canvas and paper, the fine composition improvements in the images that were displayed, compliments on colour schemes, and information about plants that was genuinely fascinating.

I'd also like to thank everyone who participated, especially the seniors, for giving me a chance to exhibit my work alongside theirs. Throughout the event, I also look to them for advice. It's impossible to list every single detail because the event lasted almost five days. I sincerely appreciate everyone's kind comments and admiration for the work that was on display. This involvement will undoubtedly fuel my continued interest in photography.

Because this event was planned on such short notice, it's possible that I didn't get to invite many of you. We made every effort to invite people via Facebook, Whatsapp, email, and text messages. In such a case, I ask for forgiveness because I made a human error. I'd also like to thank all of our friends, followers, and visitors for spending time with us and providing encouraging feedback. I'd also like to thank those who were unable to attend this event; I completely understand their personal reasons. I am already overwhelmed by the response and hope that they will continue to show their support for my work.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) 2016 art canrays Emulsion exhibition gallery India Indore photographer sculptour september https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2016/9/emulsion-art-exhibition Wed, 21 Sep 2016 19:09:30 GMT
After One Year https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2014/2/after-one-year Happy Valentine's day to all of you !

Today this website completes the first year. Last year I started this website basically to keep backup of my files & simultaneously to display in user friendly way to the viewers having interest to explore my photography work. I was really happy to receive overwhelming response & love. Over 6000 unique visitors visited this website & around 40 visitors taken effort to mention their valuable feedback & words of appreciation in the guestbook. I sincerely appreciate their feedback & expresses lot of thanks for loving my work !

The interesting data for me was there is some percent of serious fans who can stay on this website more than 20 minutes to hour. That's really encouraging to know.

Visit lengths statistics

I was planning to display a new set of work on this day but unfortunately due to busy schedule from some months I was not able to work on it. I regret for that but also hope very soon I will start sharing new work.

The experience with Zenfolio (the service provider) was really good. Regular updates were being added giving new features & templates. Though I have preferred the first designed template minor changes were added to the site like addition of new logo & watermark to the images. Your valuable feedback will be welcomed for adding any correction/features to the site.

Thanks to all of you & keep loving!!

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) feedback website https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2014/2/after-one-year Fri, 14 Feb 2014 04:15:26 GMT
Article on "Me & My Photography" Published https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/11/article-on-me-my-photography-published Dear Friends on the ​occasion ​of festival Diwali I express my greetings to all of you. I wish this festival brings happiness in your life. I am happy to share with you all that my article "Me & My Photography" is published in annual "Diwali online Magazine" by Foto Circle Society.

'FOTO CIRCLE SOCIETY' is an organisation formed by a group of enthusiastic and active photographers in 1998, with motto - 'Together we progress'. They have started publishing online annual magazine FA FOTOCHA ( F for Fotography) exploring the artist mind instead of usual technical details we found every\where in other articles.

My Article " Me & My Photography" was published in online Magazine.

In this article I tried to open my mind as a photographer, my understanding towards Abstract photography & thought as well as some confused mind as openly as possible.

I hope you like it. Since it's in Marathi I am sorry for non-Marathi friends. Maybe someday I will translate in English on my blog. For this article after a long gap it inspired me to write down on paper in Marathi language. The electronic media really cut down my habit of writing letters/ diary..may be my lazy nature is more responsible than the electronic media.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) Diwali India magazine online photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/11/article-on-me-my-photography-published Sun, 03 Nov 2013 05:50:14 GMT
Photon 2013 Photography Exhibition https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/10/photon-2013-photography-exhibition In this October 2013 18-20, I got opportunity to exhibit my 10 photographs on "paper Abstracts" along with renowned photographers from Indore. I took it as great compliment & participated in the exhibition. The overall experience was very satisfying & lot of things learned, experienced!

This show Photon-2013 was organised by Indian Society of Lighting Engineers, M.P. State Centre along with Knowledge Partner SGSITS, Indore, is organizing a mega Lighting & Allied Products Show in Central India. Various latest technologies in lighting were displayed in the show. For adding more interest to visitor a photography exhibition was planned based on the theme of Lighting. The participant photographers were

Participant

  • Devdutta Barskar jee
  • Nilesh J. Bhange
  • Pravin Rawat jee
  • Tanveer Farooqui jee
  • Upendra Upadhyay jee

This was the first time I exhibited my 10 photographs of print size (18"x24"). Earlier I was participated in Pratibimb-2010 & Pratibimb-2011 photo exhibition displaying 4 photographs each. All photographs in this exhibition were prepared on canvas except mine. I preferred glossy prints with matte lamination since I was not having experience of canvas prints & I was not sure how it will result. Due to restriction of time I didn't had time to experiment also.

_MG_0464-Edit_MG_0464-Edit

The response to the exhibition was spectacular & the exhibition resulted as a surprise to the visitors in the crowd of technical stalls & people were enjoying to invest there time to have a look towards the displayed work. The exciting feedback & appreciating words was  overwhelming coming from the senior artists as well as a common man. Similarly I have seen most of the visitors getting confused in guessing whether all the exhibited images were original photographs or paintings? Lot of audience was also curious to know more about the media on which prints were made, framed etc. rather than simply enjoying the work displayed.

A photography contest was also conducted on the subject of capturing interesting images of the event of sky lantern launching (small hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended). It was fun to shoot for that event even though I was not supposed to participate considering myself as a member of judging panel.

Meeting a renowned painter Shri Akshya Ameria jee was a wonderful experience. I was planning to meet him far before but it didn't worked out. I am great fan of his sketches of "Innocent Ganesh". Having a chat with all the senior colleagues through out this event was also a learning experience.

Though it was encouraging to receive nice feedback but it was disturbing to see some typical visitors doubting about the originality of the photographs. I always think one should see the vision of artist instead of what media he has used. Well everybody is right from his point of view being this topic is completely subjective.

देखा छायाचित्रों की प्रदर्शनी में हर एक को उसे टच करते हुएं |
क्यां करे आज कल टच स्क्रीन की आदत सी जो हो गईं हैं |

था कई को शक हैं ये चित्र या छायाचित्र, बगैर लेने के मजा उनका|
क्या करे आज कल मन हमारे प्रदूषित से जो हो गए हैं |

कहते हैं आज कल समाचारों में शोर शराबा कुछ ज्यादा सा हो गया हैं |
क्यां करे आज कल इंसानों को सुनायीं देना जो कम सा हो गया हैं  |

I will also like to express my sincere thanks to all the senior colleagues for allowing me to exhibit with them & my friends from IPC (Indore photographers community) for extending their help for displaying the images in the exhibition.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) 2013 exhibition indore photography photon https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/10/photon-2013-photography-exhibition Tue, 22 Oct 2013 09:53:47 GMT
Developing Photography Skills https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/8/developing-Photography-Skills Many times I have been asked via email, Facebook messages for providing few tips on improving individual’s photography skills. Whenever possible I reply back with some basic tips. Today while doing something similar I thought why not to write a blog which can be shared with everyone. I understand the phase of the photographers who coins such questions towards me because I can identify myself when I was used to send such mails to the photographers I was following. We all are always in the process of learning. Only the subject or level of questions varies.

When I self analyse the phases of a photographer from my experience I can see a initial phase where photographer has a thrust of producing quality images which are at least good looking better enough to get acknowledged & praised. He is in the process to prove that he can also take good photographs. In later phase he strives to discover his style of work irrespective of proving something. He shoots to really enjoy by presenting his ideas.

In initial phase he tries to shoot a lot which is good thing actually. In that process he understands his equipments and availability of the subjects to an extent. I have tried to categorize the different things required in the process of developing a novice photographer into a good photographer to the limit I know. This is just to share my feelings & in a hope it addresses some of the questions I often being asked.

In first reading they may look very basic but believe me no magic exists which can turn overnight into interesting image maker. The more you follow these tips with trust & self belief more they are going to help you.

1. Know your Gears.

Don’t you like to complain that you don’t have pro gears to capture the quality shots like whom you follow? If your answer is NO then chances are you are lying. I agree every gear has its own limitations but at this stage your target is to understand basics, isn’t it? You can work on basics with any camera including cell phones. It’s a process of understanding what you see, what you capture & what you get. If you are not getting what you see then you should take efforts to trace the applicable reasons for it. For that you should give sufficient time to analyse your work.

Most of the time we are unaware of full capabilities of the gears which we use. If you feel you better understand your equipments then my immediate suggestion will be you need to go through the manual of the device again. You will definitely find something new. I have updated my gears only after finding its features are limiting me in some way.

Image 2: My daughter Mansi posing while reading.I Love Fairytales! 2. Keep on reading.

There is so much to understand & practice on technical aspects. Fortunately there is huge information available to read to the limit how much time do you have to invest? You can get it on internet, ebooks or help from your friend. So I am not rewriting again on various aspects like basics of composition, exposure etc. I agree art can not be bound in the rule set of composition but I strongly believe one need to know & understand what they tell us about. They have been developed after lot of analysis & understanding psychology of visual reading. Understanding exposure is necessary since camera is a machine & can not identify your subject, its tonal range. Practicing on getting proper focus, sharpness, understanding importance of tripod, using shutter speed creatively, observing the light, importance of external lighting & their arrangement (I am still not clear on this), the importance of colors, understanding when color photographs works, how to process your images complimenting the mood of images,  the character of various lenses … a never ending list.

Image 1: My daughter Mansi posing while reading.

 

3. Observe a lot.

Once you start going through basics, understanding technical aspects you can analyse the work you came across. In this phase you have to restrict your instinct of passing on critiques to others work because that is supposed to happen knowingly/unknowingly. I am telling you based on my experience. I always share with my friends that observing good work of others is very important. It develops our vision towards photography. Further try to self analyse why you liked a work? The more you ask, to self, analyse the more you get. The good thing is that for observing we don’t have to do anything extra. Only we have to keep our eyes open & override our habit of not to see which we develop with the age. The things we observe can be work of our favorite photographers, images published in magazines, newspapers, advertise banners, daily life, nature, objects so many.

In the nature see how the shapes of clouds forms, how drops of rain refreshes the leaves, forms waves on water, after rain how sunlight shines through it, how beautifully the sky is reflected in the calm water & how it got interesting distorted effect when it was subtly pinched. The more we observe the more we find interesting enough to capture.

Photographer's sunrise Image 2 : Landscape of Machal Lake in Indore, India while a photographer shooting sunrise.

4. Keep on shooting.

After reading, understanding & observing you will definitely get itching for shooting. If no then you might have skipped the above paragraphs. Don’t restrict the desire to shoot. Shoot as much possible & invest your time with your camera as much you can. Don’t think the subject you are shooting is outstanding or not. You need to observe & practice as much you can stretch yourself. But don’t share your all work. Keep it to yourself. You are shooting just for practicing & getting command over the gears you have. Try to keep attention on all corners of viewfinder. Try to avoid tilting of horizon unless needed. The angle may change the rhythmic relation of lines in the frame. Try to avoid distractions, keep attention on backgrounds. These small things may save your lot of frustration afterwards & processing time too.

5. Be self critic

You shoot, import, process & upload for sharing with your friends, isn’t it? Nothing wrong actually we all do it. But how it will be if you start to self critique?  I mean if we start to reject our images & process only those which are unique in some way? I know it’s difficult at least initially but you have to make efforts for developing this kind of habit. The more interesting shot you share more followers you can get. When you will go through the rejected images, you may find out where the scope for improvement in your photography skill is. You can work on those too. I have observed most of the time when I import images I like my average images too but not later. So it’s better to review them after some time. If you are pretty sure you really liked it then only consider them worth to share. I agree it’s a difficult to control, even I struggle over it ;)

6. Don’t Justify.

You get hurt when someone passes bad critiques on your images, isn’t it? It’s natural because you are pleased too when somebody praises your work. There is a strong probability that you may feel somebody has passed that just to pull your leg. If he is doing that then it’s his/her mistake you have to overlook it. You have to restrict yourself of doing another mistake of wasting your time on justifying it. During shooting there may be some practical problems which is not known to the commenter because of which you were not able to capture as you were willing to. If you noticed that problem in the image earlier then you were in hurry to publish it, better option was to re-shoot (if possible) again & published only after your satisfaction. If you didn’t noticed that earlier of criticised then the feedback is constructive for you, which should be welcomed. You should respect the commenter because he is putting some valuable time to leave a feedback, isn’t it?

 I know it’s easy to suggest but equally difficult to suppress the itch of pressing your fingers on keyboard for justification. I have too also done such mistakes. If you are sure you wish to improve your skills then you have to learn from my mistakes. The reason for this is once you started throwing justifications you might be blocking way of hope coming towards you for improvement. So if you agree with the received critique then better to thank & try to improve on the suggestion. If you don’t agree then be brave to forgive him (if the comment was from her chances are you already accepted the suggestion ;)).

7. Follow your favorite photographers.

You should not be ashamed of following your favorite photographers with due credit to him whenever possible. I don’t see there is nothing wrong to achieve something similar which you liked. But this should be limited only to develop your skills. We must restrict our instinct to share duplicate work created by inspiration of others work. Because if it is done then it’s only for proving that you can do similar to that but remember it’s not your original creation. You are actually pirating others concepts. But in this process there is always a possibility to discover something new & unique which is purely yours which must be shared. Try to be as much honest with yourself as possible.

Image 3: Closeup shot of papers forming similar to abstract of sand dunes.

8. Discover your way.

Now it’s time to understand the real reason why you are loving photography. Too late I know. But in initial phase you ask this then you may answer some typical answers like you like to share, you like to represent your vision, it’s like meditation, it connects to you with nature etc. I don’t doubt your honesty, it may not be fake and but somewhere I believe everybody has something unique way to represent his work. We all need to discover it. I am still in this process. Unfortunately there is so less to read on developing aesthetic side of photography in contrast to the availability on technical aspect of photography.

But what I understood is we initially work to prove that we can take good photos. But in this phase you are shooting not to prove but rather represent your own idea/ feel/ thought. Once you develop your skills to produce beautiful photographs try to experiment. Try to work for your self, limit your habit of producing the work just to impress your friends. Try to experiment, don’t hesitate. In fact for generating something with novelty you are supposed to experiment. This search for something "new" is, most of the times, an "accidental" process. That is why most artists or painters feel that the success that their work of art achieves is actually still to be received. And that is why artists reject praise.

Happy clicking ! Enjoy your photography!!

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) development hobby learn photography skills https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/8/developing-Photography-Skills Fri, 30 Aug 2013 10:08:38 GMT
6 Days in Kenya https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/5/6-days-in-kenya Well I was lucky to be selected as portrait: Face category winner in the betterphotography annual contest 2012. I was invited to attend the Face-Off contest in Kenya along with other seven photographers. This was going to be very exciting experience to me.

Basically I am not a wildlife photographer so I started about thinking what equipments I should carry on this trip? I am currently using canon 5D mark II. Though a crop body camera like 7D might be more suitable I was not feeling comfortable with handling two bodies & that too by borrowing. I exchanged my Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS with Canon 100-400mm f/4-5.6 & Canon 17-40mm f/4 with Canon 24-105 f/4 with my friends. I also kept Canon 50mm f/1.8 + extension tubes with me.

The Journey started on 11.5.2013. I reached to Mumbai & got familiar with the colleagues. We all had gone through Yellow Fever vaccination which is mandatory for the travelers to Kenya. we came to know that one guy is going to miss the tour since his bag was stolen & he lost his passport. It was really unfortunate & we all felt sorry for him.

The Preparation

I was a bit worried about missing some important accessories/documents which I was to carry. I made checklist & kept copies of it with me. I also made three set of copies of important documents. one was kept at home for reference. One was in my Cabin bag & one was with me in handbag/camera bag. All the scanned documents were also kept on my skydrive for online access, if needed in emergency.

Following were essential documents which I carried:

1. Passport + Copies

2. Flight Tickets + Copies

3. Travel Insurance + Copies

4. Visa Application Form + Copies

2. Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate

Following equipments other than standard camera & lenses were most useful which I carried in this trip:

1. Universal adapter (Mains plug type is bit different) + Small Extension board

2. CF Card Reader + USB drive + Laptop

What I missed in this trip:

1. I was having 3 cards (8GB) + 1 card (4GB). Though it looked sufficient but in RAW burst mode the memory cards may fall short. one 16GB/32GB card gives you plenty of room & avoids changing of cards during shoot.

2. Macro lens. I missed it especially to take beautiful shots of flora/insects available in the lawn of our restaurants.

Day 1: Nairobi

We landed at Nairobi & after going through getting routine procedure like getting on-arrival visa, currency exchange & immigration forms started towards our stay in  Sarova Stanley.  After arrival we had our breakfast followed by briefing session about the contest.

We were supposed to work on two themes. Theme 1: Magical Kenya was about submitting total 48 photographs (5 per day mandatory) & Theme 2: Mobile Diary shooting 60 images (10 images per day) & 18 Video clips (3 clips per day). These 60 images & 18 clips need to be presented in a sequence like making a movie telling a story. Hmm... it was really tough than all of us we were expecting. Mostly we were going to travel together & even though producing images not only unique but also interesting was another challenge.  After 30 minutes of break we started & visited various places in Nairobi like Railway Museum, Kenyatta International Conference Centre etc. We all were warming up by handling with our gears in this new city. Everybody must be thinking on contest themes though were busy in shooting.

Flights

We all visited a shopping mall & got our new local SIM cards. Unfortunately due to some misunderstanding I was left out in shopping mall & when I reached parking lot nobody was there. Due to new changed numbers I was unable to contact our colleagues. I left my message to collect me at the reception center of our hotel & waited for that. But after waiting a long I realized that it was not going to help me. I took help of a local gentleman who guided me for traveling in local bus. Traveling through mini local bus was similar kind of experience as traveling at my hometown local buses. People enjoying the country music busy with their everyday work & activities.

Day 2: Departure for Bagoria Lake

We visited to Bagoria lake in the morning. The soda waters of the lake attract massive flocks of Flamingo, and the lake is often carpeted with pink. The 32 sq km lake (34 km long by 3.5 km wide) is still volcanically active, and the Western shore is lined with spouting geysers, spurting steam and bubbling geothermal pools. Fresh water springs at the lake edge attract an abundance of birds and wildlife.

There are many Fish Eagles, which often prey on the local flamingos. The shores are always lined with Gazelle, Zebra, Baboons and this is one of the best places to see Greater Kudu.

The main attraction here was the sight of millions of flamingos, hot springs & beautiful landscapes. The lake is spread along south - north direction followed by mountain facing towards west. The sunset light falling on the mountains was enhancing it's beauty.

Day 3 : Departure for Rift Valley

The Great Rift Valley is a large trench that runs through Kenya from north to south. It is part of the Gregory Rift, the eastern branch of the East African Rift, which starts in Tanzania to the south and continues northward into Ethiopia. The valley contains the Cherangani Hills and a chain of volcanoes, some of which are still active. The climate is mild, with temperatures usually below 28 °C.

This long drive offered beautiful viewpoint

A view of Bagoria Lake with Flamingos

s of valleys with plenty of opportunities to shoot landscapes but due to limited time we were not able to take frequent halts & mostly busy with observing the views only. We had our packed lunch at the viewpoint. We started for Lake bagoria after a group photo session. The evening at lake Bagoria was exotic. I had taken some landscapes from the viewpoint & near hot spring points.

Day 4 : Departure for Naivasha Lake

Lake Naivasha is a beautiful freshwater lake, fringed by thick papyrus. The lake is almost 13kms across, but its waters are shallow with an average depth of five meters. Apart from transient streams, the lake is fed by the perennial Malewa and Gilgil rivers. There is no visible outlet, but since the lake water is relatively fresh it is assumed to have an underground outflow.

The beautiful views of lake, pure white pelicans, storks was wonderful visual treat to the eyes. Pelicans are a genus of large water birds comprising the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and large throat pouch used in catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing.

Day 5 : Departure for Masai Mara

The Maasai Mara National Reserve  is a large game reserve in Narok County, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Mara Region, Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people and their description of the area when looked at from afar: "Mara", which is Maa (Maasai language) for "spotted," an apt description for the circles of trees, scrub, savanna, and cloud shadows that mark the area. It is globally famous for its exceptional population of lions, leopards and cheetahs, and the annual migration of zebra, Thomson's gazelle, and wildebeest to and from the Serengeti every year from July to October, known as the Great Migration.

Well this trip might be not complete without visiting this place. We spotted various wild animals like black spotted Hyena, Elephants, Zebra, Giraffe, Lions with cubs, Wildebeest,  gazelles, impalas, rhino etc here along with beautiful birds like crested crane, Secretary bird, Ostrich, Marabou Stork, Southern Ground Hornbill, Lilac-breasted Roller etc.

Day 6 : Departure to Nairobi

Flying from Mara Serenas local airstrips by charter flight to Nariobi's Wilson Airport was fun. No check-in procedures putting our luggage by self in the cabin & sitting just behind the pilot & having aerial view of Masai-mara was all together a very different experience. We were having flight from Nairobi to Mumbai. Most of us all were busy with their laptops in selecting final images for submitting to the contest. Though we were given 2-3 days for processing the images & submitting online we were supposed to give them final file selections before we leave from Mumbai.

It was wonderful experience, I made new talented friends each one blessed with special skills. While reviewing images database I found that I just shoot like a kid trying to capture whatever possible I came across just like a novice photographer. May be I was just too excited by seeing so many opportunities & being bit nervous on the issue of my inexperience in wildlife photography. I missed many shots due to my poor skills in this genre of photography, inexperience with handling canon 100-400 etc. but no complaints. I learned a lot & I am sure it is going to help me!!

You can watch all images in my album : Magical Kenya I will recommend you to watch with the option of slideshow (button top right side) for getting big size previews.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) 2012 Face Kenya Off POY Trip betterphotography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/5/6-days-in-kenya Tue, 28 May 2013 16:46:59 GMT
Portraiture:Face Category Winner BPOY 2012 !! https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/5/portrait-face-category-winner-bpoy-2012 Friends I must say your blessings are working for me !!

The good news is that in the annual photography contest "Better photographer of the year 2012" conducted by India's leading photography magazine I have been selected as category winner of the "Portraiture:Face" contest. As reported in magazine ( Better Photography June 2013 ) total 72864 entries were received including print & online entries. These images initially shortlisted by BP Team and then 16 renowned photographers were given the task of shortlisting the nominees.

pure joy !The Pure Joy !

Image 1: My Winner photograph in Portrait category of BPOY 2012

That photograph is portrait of my son "Manas" when he was about 6 months old. This shot was taken just after his bath wrapped in a towel on the bed. I was having fun with him taking photograph making some funny faces. The manual flash was bounced from the wall in manual exposure overexposing the image slightly. But the RAW shooting helped me to overcome the exposure in post processing, in fact it helped me to wash out the details of bed sheet surrounding & I cloned out minute details around him. No key elements were digitally disturbed of the original capture. The editing mostly is around adjusting white balance, healing minute dust particles, scratches around eye & color-contrast adjustments.

About the composition  irrespective of bright background & centered subject the portrait stands out because of his expressions complemented by visual lines of towel & his arms. The bright white color adds the feel of purity also. The arcs of towels goes in rhythm adding visual interest.

Another outcome of this honor is that I am invited to attend the face-Off contest along with other seven category winners in Kenya ! I am excited for it especially considering my first foreign tour in which I can invest my time for photography as much as possible.

Update : 7.7.2013

An event was organised at "Taj Land's End" on 4th July 2013 by betterphotography to reward the category winner awards & declare overall winner for BPOY 2012 (Better Photographer of the year) & WPOY 2012 (Wedding Photographer of the year). Bangalore based photographer Senthil kumar was the winner for BPOY 2012 & I missed trophy this year too. But honestly I don't have regrets since I was knowing he was deserving it completely. Here is the certificate & trophy for category winner:

Image 2: My certificate & Trophy

Image 3: Receiving Trophy From renowned photographer Ashok Salian

Image 4: The Category winners & POY2012

Here is telecast of the show on CNBC for those who missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUhMH8O0Kjs&feature=share

My sincere thanks for your love & affection towards my work. It helps me a lot !!

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) 2012 Bhange Nilesh better contest photographer photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/5/portrait-face-category-winner-bpoy-2012 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:54:25 GMT
Guide for Buying a Camera https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/2/guide-for-buying-a-camera You ask any photographer what is the most irritating question he has frequently being asked? I assure you he will say "Which camera you will suggest me to buy ?" The simple reason for not welcoming this question is that its answer is not that easy as the buyer sees. The answer for this question depends on many factors & preferences of buyer about which photographer may not have any idea. The next difficult thing about suggesting a camera is that there are hundreds of cameras available at many different types of retail outlets with wide prices range from $75 to several thousand dollars. Some cameras are small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. Others are large and can weigh up to two pounds. Some are easy to use. Others look like you need an engineering degree to operate them.

I have also been asked this question many times. The funny thing was that some times I have been called when the buyer is holding a camera in his hand in a shop & asking me about it's performance before paying for it expecting me to answer in few seconds ! It's really difficult to keep updated with new cameras & their specification especially for a hobby photographer like me. Unfortunately sometimes I even felt the buyer is asking the question just for testing my knowledge & showing me how better he knows about the new cameras, that's really irritating & waste of time.

I will like to write down a checklist for a new buyer so that he can himself analyse the answer & can get some help over taking a better decision for purchasing a new camera. First you will need to identify in which type of camera do you need?  Following flowchart may help you for taking the decision. However if you find more confused than getting help then go to the description given below the image:

The summary of the flowchart is if you are novice user & looking for low cost & everyday use then simply go for a penny pincher point & shoot one. If you wish to add more sturdiness considering your naughty kids probability of giving considerable threats to camera then go for better build quality point & shoot with waterproof, shock proof features. For a bit advanced user higher zoom & manual feature SLR like medium cameras can be better choice. If you are sure you need better than this then SLR/PEN camera will be final choice.

So your answer is giving you following options:

1. A Penny Pincher Camera : Compact point & shoot (Optical zoom may be upto 5x)

2. Sturdy but good camera : Waterproof, shock proof compacts

3. Happy Medium Camera : Medium zoom to tele (upto 20x) with manual features

4. Professional SLR : Professional full frame D-SLR or higher

5. Top-Notch Entry level Camera : Mirrorless SLR / D-SLR

Then go to a website camera buying guide which is my personal favorite i.e. DPreview

You can compare side by side 20(max) cameras at a time & this is very helpful feature on this DPreview website : Compare Cameras

Here you can search for your camera by providing features you will like to have. You can also find the top cameras by the reviews given which will help you to pick the best one out of latest cameras.

Instead of mentioning all specifications details which you can find anywhere on net I will simply like to list some tips:

1. Don't go for only high megapixels. You may not need more than 10Mega Pixel.

2. Don't go for digital zoom numbers. Optical zoom matters for better picture quality.

3. Lithium ion batteries give better performance & small size in lieu of higher cost against Ni-MH batteries.

4. Go for lighter/small cameras unless you are very sure you need big one so that you don't miss it when you really need it. Many smart phones are now available with good picture quality now - days.

5. If you are going for D-SLR then have a look for mirrorless SLR/PEN cameras. They are becoming popular due to compact size.

6. If you are very sure you need professional D-SLR then save some money for quality lenses. Quality is not only about great camera body. Moreover body can be changed but not the lenses very easily.

Hope this helps you for choosing you new camera & me for the guiding the new camera buyers in better way :)

Update 10.01.2018

Here is a link declaring some best cameras in 2018 in each category.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) camera guide purchase https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/2/guide-for-buying-a-camera Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:04:02 GMT
My New Website ! https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/2/my-new-website Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Happy Valentine's day to all of you & here is my gift to you on this special occassion !!

Dear friends I am extremely happy to welcome you all on my new website. I hope you all find it interesting & easy to surf through the images displayed. I was busy from almost month & half for putting it to work.  Though the interface provided by Zenfolio is easy & I don't have to go through any coding but I was having zero knowledge about getting a custom domain & a website. I was mostly busy in customizing, understanding the tools provided & most important selecting, sorting, metadata editing, re-touching (for a few) & uploading images.

Many of you might have a question in your mind "Why I needed a website now?" I can understand that because I asked that question to myself many times before. As most of you know I share my images on Flickr / Facebook & 500px. Unfortunately I have gone through image library data corruption 3-4 months back. More on that may be in different blog. That accident gifted me some sleepless nights under the fear how secured my favorite images are? I was so much frustrated when I came to know the PC was having some serious problem & corrupting my backup drive when connected for restoring the images. In that process sometimes I felt it will be better even if I can get my full size images in JPG format in lieu of RAW images. I thought of using some paid cloud services like dropbox, Gmail drive etc. Later I thought instead of putting the images simply online why not to display on a website?

Gerbera in Hands

I am not comfortable uploading full size images on flickr/facebook/500px & even if I decided to do it I have to put permanent watermark on it. Many sites compress the images. Zenfolio offers to put a virtual watermark so that in case of need I can have access to my original file from anywhere & I can share it in case of need. There can be a debate on do photographers really need a watermark? Because having it doesn't make sure it is fully protected. I was interested to have it just for a reason if anybody shares the images it can leave the main source of image if the person doesn't take effort to mention it. I have experienced some of my non-watermarked images floating on net without wrong intentions of the person who is sharing.

Now a days the dropping rates of LCD/LED monitors most of the people are using big screens on which traditional web size image of longest pixel length as 640, 800 or even 1000 might not be big enough to leave the impression it has. These website visitors can enjoy the big size previews & explore the details as much possible. I don't wish to take away that fun from my fans in the fear of image thefts.

I have tried trial period account on smugmug & Zenfolio for 15 days. After playing with all the features I decided to go with Zenfolio. I found the interface more user friendly, easy integration of my blogs & windows file explorer kind of file management. I put hard efforts for customizing the available template suitable for my taste. I created a menu such that visitors can switch to any category of images from any page. I also added some custom pages giving information about my equipments etc.

I make a wish all results well giving a nice gift to my fans. Please don't be shy to point out any mistakes & suggestions for better improvement. I will put my sincere efforts for all practically possible modifications. I will also request you to share this website with your friends if you liked it.

In case you wish to create your own website on Zenfolio you can use my referral code for getting some discount which can also help me to get few reward points. The referral code is 139-F15-3QZ

You can also get 20% discount on domain purchase from Go-Daddy by using referral code : WOW000

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) bhange new nilesh website https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/2/my-new-website Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:58:00 GMT
2013 Sony World Photography Awards Shortlisted ! https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/2/2013-sony-world-photography-awards
Dear friends just received mail from the worldphoto.org that my image " The Rush" was being shortlisted in top 50 photographs in Travel category in 2013 Sony World Photography Awards.
 
This image has been commended (top 50) in the Travel Category.  The commended gallery will go live on the website by 11pm GMT on 5th February. 
 
 
worldphoto.org mentions to me " Being a commended photographer is an outstanding achievement with over 54,851 images entered from 170 countries and your image stood out to the judges.  As a commended photographer, your image will be shown digitally at Somerset House at the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition from 26th April - 12th May, 2013." 
 
 
  EXIF Data: 1.3 sec , f16, ISO 100, 17mm
 
 
This image was captured in my Betterphotography Magazines face off contest for better photographer of the year 2012. It was taken on Dadar railway station of Mumbai in morning before office hours elaborating the rush & hurry of people. The local train has became integral part of Mumbai & the peoples lifestyle.
 
 
The funny thing in this episode was I got a message prior to this mail that I was shortlisted in top 10. To my fortune I missed that mail because after 8-10 hours it was followed with apology for correction this as commended photographer instead of 10 shortlisted entries ;)
 
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) 2013 Sony World Photography Mumbai My Achivements Travel lifestyle local people rush shortlisted worldphortography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2013/2/2013-sony-world-photography-awards Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:34:00 GMT
Creating Abstracts by Paper Published https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/12/creating-abstracts-by-paper-published

Dear friends my article on creating abstracts using paper has been published in the UK based magazine of photography "Digital SLR Photography".
 

 


It's nice to see their interest in my paper abstract work & imitative for publishing the tips & techniques about this work in the magazine along with my other images in the new year issue of Jan 2013. I am really privileged for this providing this platform to me to the Jordan Butters (Features Writer) &  Caroline Wilkinson ( Features Editor) of this magazine.

I will like to thank you all for you kind support & appreciating my images on Flickr, Facebook & elsewhere.

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/12/creating-abstracts-by-paper-published Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:28:00 GMT
Sunset Point Published https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/8/sunset-point-published
I am happy to share with you all that my photograph taken at the sunset point of Pachmarhi was published in the National Geographic Traveler India launching magazine in July 2012 issue.


This photograph was taken at the sunset point of Rajendra Giri in 2009. The people in the image are sunset viewers. Photograph is taken with two  split gradual density ND filters (One Tobacco & other neutral). The lens flare is adding to the concept & gives a divine feel to the image.

Exif Data

Camera Canon EOS 400D Digital
Exposure 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 20 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias +1/3 EV        

My Sincere thanks to all of my friends appreciating my work & keep inspiring & motivating me.


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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/8/sunset-point-published Thu, 30 Aug 2012 19:57:00 GMT
Paper Abstract Photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/5/paper-abstract
     Dear friends finally I am able to take some time for sharing the behind the scene secrets on paper abstract work with you all. I hope you will enjoy it & ignore the delayed publication of this article.

How it all started ?

     I love to shoot all subjects which attracts me irrespective of what it is ! I have not yet restricted myself to any specific genre in the photography. I am not a professional photographer & can only utilize my weekends/holidays time for the hobby. Considering my small kid "Manas" which is now around 15 months old I had to restrict my freedom for shooting outdoor on weekends. This focused my attention to family portraits, still life & abstracts.
 
 

Image 1 : Motion : This shot was taken to convey the feel of motion using still life. During taking this shot for getting the movements of paper I allowed to move the end of papers with the help of ceiling fan. The the ripples on stable glass bottom added virtual feel of motion. This image also adds me the nostalgia effect of the children playing the game of push toy wheel in my childhood days. EXIF:100mm, f/11, 1/40 sec, ISO 800 

Image 2:  Delicate Curves: Using color papers & white papers can add interesting reflections of color on the white papers. This shot is extreme closeup of folds of papers showing delicate curves. It may appear as closeup of a door handle due to the shape & colors gradation. EXIF:100mm,f/5.6.1/80 sec, ISO 400 

     I was struggling to fulfill my thrust for the hobby due to stopped outdoor activity.  One day while surfing through online photo galleries I came across beautiful abstract work done by a photographer using everyday subject. I found it really inspiring & as a solution for my need, indoor photography. I started shooting on paper abstract work. I was enjoying it & what's more it  was getting very well appreciated by my friends. That  helped me to focus even more on this interesting genre of abstract photography. I simply love the feeling of getting myself lost while observing the beauty of these papers in various forms & colors through the viewfinder of my camera during shooting :) 
 
     I am sharing this just to illustrate how the inspiration can come from anywhere. The important thing is that we have to keep observing & explore opportunities to do photography. Whenever I came across a photograph appealing to me, I like to keep myself asking why I like it? I like to observe the creative use of elements by the photographers even cinematographers while watching movies.
 
Needed  Equipments ?
 
     I use following equipments:

Camera : Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Lens : Canon EF-100mm f/2.8 USM Macro
Subject: Printing papers, color papers, color drawing sheets
Light: one or two strobes/ daylight/ studio light

Image 3: Paper Swan :The color paper arranged in a pattern to form the shape of a swan. I applied duo tone effect to give importance more to the shape than colors in the images. The choice of color adds subtle & delicate feel of the swan shape. EXIF: 100mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec, ISO 400

Image 4: paper Waveform : I wished to create the shapes like waveforms using the papers. I used different color papers with the side light for adding more depth in the image. For getting such kind of shapes my technical side in electronics engineering helps me. This image was shortlisted in top 30 images earlier in Digital camera world  international photography contest photographer of the year 2011 in "Creative License" category. EXIF: 100mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec, ISO 400
 

     Don't be disappointed if you don't have very high end equipment or SLR camera. Any SLR camera with macro lens can work for this subject. Point & shoot cameras are not recommended considering the high depth of field. But now a days various closeup filters are also available for a point & shoot camera for doing macro work. 5D offers me more benefits considering nice gradual color tones & a bit more shallow depth of field by the virtue of it's large sensor size. If macro lens is not available then extension tube can also be used with the lens like 50mm/f1.8. 
 

How I do it? 

  You jumped directly to this section, isn't it? I can understand your curiosity :) I was really surprised when I was getting inquiries about how I do it? This was simply because I was not following any extraordinary techniques for doing this work. But I guess that's happens when I recall asking myself to the photographers whom I follow about their setups.


Image 5: Magical Curves: This is pure abstract image without any particular shapes with interesting subtle colors. I like the way paper curves mixed up in the formation. To add more that feel I used the colors with less contrast. EXIF: 100mm, f/5.6, 4 sec,ISO 100 

Image 6: Mysterious: This image resembling to a shape with a mysterious feel. The choice of wide open aperture was to add less details & colors in post processing to strengthen the feel of mystery. EXIF: 100mm, f/2.8, 1/10sec, ISO 100 

     It's all about abstract images by taking macro shot of papers exploring beauty of shapes, light & colors with unlimited opportunities. This is about study of interesting shapes & forms in addition with colors by using ordinary subject like papers. Papers can be A4 size printing papers in white & different colors.
 
 

Image 7 : Setup after shooting : Well next time I will upload a setup while shooting. I always end up taking the shot after doing my work :). The glass table helps me for using strobes below the subject. Please ignore other subjects not related to the shooting. 

     Usually I place A3 size color drawing sheet on my table  attached with wall forming seamless corner. I try to arrange the 4-6 layers of papers with different color combinations giving interesting patterns. The papers might be tied with paper clips/transparent tape on a end keeping other end free or fixed into another object like stack of books. Use of white papers in between colors can help you to get duo-gradient reflections of color papers on each side. For lighting I use one or two strobes or simple daylight from a window. The arrangement of strobes can result in various interesting output of a same subject. The combination of background paper color & subject is really important. The more contrasting colors can add a punch whereas similar color can add smoothing less contrast images. Mostly a wide open aperture is preferable giving selective focus & nice soft backgrounds.

Image 5: Paper Wave: A simple paper wave shape. Shape similar to the unit of resistance ohm in electronics component.EXIF: 100mm, f/8, 1/8sec, ISO
 

Image 6: Freedom: Abstract shot with motion blur applied on photograph of paper macro. The blur applied to add the feeling of freedom without any sharp ages & the mixing of colors. EXIF: 100mm, 3.2 sec, f/11, ISO 400 

     The real challenge is to add variations in the patterns & I am still experimenting on that. There is huge scope to explore much more on this. The interesting curves, paper layers & shapes can look monotonous after initial start. During post processing one can play with colors using hue saturation adjustment layers or selective color adjustment layers in photoshop. Sometimes I love to add motion blur effect to add some mood to the images. (as in freedom image no : 6) In some images one can duplicate the original layer & can free transform the layers with different blending modes mostly with darken. 

     If you want to practice on this subject the the word of advice will be keeping on experimenting. I have to still dig into this subject for creating interesting images like using reflection, using papers with different texture & material etc. Once you able to get macro shot with nice graphical shapes your interest will keep on developing. Keen observation & patience is the key for getting good quality shots. 

 
Ideas about shapes & creation?  
     As I get involved doing paper abstract I found more challenging to form new shapes & add innovative output. I found very little work while online surfing on paper abstract so considering the originality of the subject it also added as a challenge for me. You can see many shapes are inspired from my technical background as shown in images 4, 5 & 7 like
shape of waves like sinusoidal waveform in image paper waveforms, shape of measurement units of electronic component like ohm for resistance in image paper wave or shape of accelerator ring showing synchrotron radiation in image rays. You can also represent some ideas from your professional side for adding variations for keeping on experimenting with.
 

Image 7 : Rays: For getting this shot I allowed light to fall on the edges of papers only. It give me effect like rays from the firework. Again the idea for this shot came from my technical side the pattern resembling to an accelerator ring emitting synchrotron radiation. EXIF: 100mm, f/8, 1/4sec, ISO 400

Image 8 : Feminine: In this image I see figure resembling to a feminine shape like a blank face with hair line on curves. I choose the sepia tone to add earthen feel to the image. EXIF: 100mm, f/4, 1/8sec, ISO 250

Image 9: y : This is the image showing how curves can add delicate feel to the images making them more interesting. EXIF: 100mm, f/8, 1/8 sec, ISO 1250

     Some times I get clue about representing some idea using the paper abstract whereas most of the time I keep myself engaged playing with arranging the papers with various combination of colors & shapes. I may not be able to reproduce exact shape as I have captured earlier again in some images because many times I arrange it randomly.. It's all about keeping on experimenting & enjoying the work.
 

     The interesting part of the abstract work is you are free to compose the images giving importance to graphical elements. I tried to represent my perspective for each image but everybody can interpret image in his own perspective. You can find shapes resembling to various other elements mostly to the thing you are used to in your daily life.

 

What's Next ?
 
    That's really interesting question for me, what's Next? Well there is no end to creativity as long as we follow it passionately. I keep asking myself this question for adding variations in the work Meanwhile I tried to add the element of paper in natural environment but still to do more interesting on that. I will keep on experimenting with this subject as long as I enjoy working on it or get attracted by another interesting subject..that's the way a hobbyist photographer leaves his life. 

     Thanks again for your lot of appreciation & feedback. I  can not express my gratitude for taking your time to leave feedback. You can follow my work on paper abstract at the links given below : 
Paper abstract on Flickr
Paper abstract on Facebook

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) Paper abstract photography abstract design forms nilesh bhange patterns photography techniques https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/5/paper-abstract Tue, 29 May 2012 11:26:00 GMT
Paper Abstract Published Work https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/5/paper-abstract-published-work I am so overwhelmed the way my work on paper abstract work is getting appreciation from all around. Honestly I didn't expected such a success for this work. As an artist I am really loving it & which artist didn't wish appreciation for his work?

I really enjoyed every bit of working while shooting these beautiful subject. I am more happy to share with you all the publications listed below were initiated by the publishers.

Digital SLR Photography_June 2012

The image "Paper Waveform" was been published in the magazine under Reader Showcase in "Digital SLR Photography" June 2012. This is one of the leading photography Magazine in UK.


Published in Composition magazine

I am again excited to share with you all that my image "Golden Arc" was published in the Composition magazine.

As per the note of their editor to me before publication "Composition magazine is a web based magazine (PDF format) based in Israel. In every issue we publish our top ten photos of the month, these photos are meticulously selected by our editorial board"






You can have a look at this site if interested at : http://composition.co.il/index.php/he/download
Can get a download at: http://goo.gl/R9e8O



On Assignment Published

My article on paper abstract has been published in the section of on assignment in the 15th annual edition of Betterphotography Magazine June 2012.




I am thankful to all my followers & appreciators for keep me encouraging for doing work & sharing with you all.]]>
njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) Magazine nilesh bhange paper abstract published https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/5/paper-abstract-published-work Tue, 29 May 2012 08:23:00 GMT
BPOY 2011 https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/2/bpoy-2011
I am really excited to share with you all that I was selected as category winner for Still Life: The obvious Things in the annual photo contest conducted by India's leading photography Magazine "Better photography".


My attached image Paper Swan was selected as winner in the still life. In the category "Joy of color" another image "Rainbow Twirl" was nominated in final 6 whereas "Paper Waveform was shortlisted in top 20 images.

It was overwhelming to see my work on paper abstract being appreciated so highly especially considering around 70,000 entries from all over India.
The eight category winners were invited to Mumbai & were offered the challenge to photo shoot in Mumbai on the theme of "Spirit of Mumbai". I was supposed to shoot for 4 days & submit 10 individual images & 8-12 images in series for photo essay. Though I didn't able to turn that for grabbing overall winner award among 8 I was happy enough to get opportunity to shoot the Mumbai for 4 days.

I just can't express in words the thrill & feel of the overall face-off session, sleepless nights, endless opportunity to shoot in Mumbai ..!

 
The day I come to know I have to fly to Mumbai for face-off session I was eager to meet other 7 category winners & participants for this contest. What's more I was excited to know I was going to share room with Baiju Patil one of the great wildlife photographer from India for 4 days. I really thank him for co-operating so well & giving me excellent tips. Honestly I invested this opportunity to learn more from him than entirely focusing on the contest.
 
It was excellent experience to understand the work from each photographer & understand their perspective towards photography. I was really touched by their work & it was interesting to see how each photographer having their individuality & way to see the life.

Nilesh Bhange accepts the Canon-Better Photography Photographer of the Year 2011 award for the category 'Still Life: Obvious Things' from photographers Ian Pereira, Girish Mistry and Vikesh Ramchandani, Asst Director, National Retail Division, Canon India. 

It was honor to share some time with India's legend photographer Raghu Rai & getting refreshing inspiring positive energy. The way he speaks keeps you to isolate from the rest of world & start feeling the things around you. Receiving appreciation from great persons like Girish Mistry, Hari Mahidhar & Indranil Mukherjee was enough to boost the confidence for putting more hard work towards photography. 
 
The team of Better photography main editor K Madhavan Pillai (Editor of Better Photography,) & Senior Features Writer Raj Lalwani & Neha Mutreja was kind enough to guide us at every step 24x7.
 
It was great experience to see & feel the Mumbai through the lens of my camera. The spirit of the people is commendable especially after seeing most of things might not be in favor of  them may be it the area of Dharavi, Dhobi ghat or high society area. Everybody is trying to match them with the speed of city.

Note:
I will also like to mention that the photograph "Paper Waveforms was also shortlisted (Top 30) in the international photo contest conducted by Digital Camera World Photographer Of The Year 2011 for the category Creative License.

Update on: 10/2/2012
A small publication about my work in local newspaper "Nai-Dunia" in Indore.
Link: Indore_Nai Dunia

Update on : 22/2/2012
Two shows were showcased on CNBC TV-18 on 18th Feb @3:30 pm & 19th Feb 5:30 pm. These shows can be seen at : BPOY 2011 on CNBC TV-18

I will like to thank all my friends & family for encouraging me time to time & appreciating my work!

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) 2011 Better Photography Magazine Mumbai My Achivements award india nilesh bhange still life https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2012/2/bpoy-2011 Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:20:00 GMT
The Spirit Of Indian Fair https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/7/spirit-of-indian-fairmela
In Indian city & villages the fair/Mela other than festival & cultural activities are being regularly devised. It mainly contains various adventure sports specially for kids like giant wheel & rides. I visited such fair with my kid & sharing some shots showing the spirit of Indian Mela. Mostly there fairs are being run during vacation of children's like summer vacation, Diwali vacation,new year celebration etc.
 
Mela is a Sanskrit word meaning 'gathering' or 'to meet' or a Fair. It is used in the Indian subcontinent for all sizes of gathering and can be religious, commercial, cultural or sports. In rural traditions melas or village fairs were (and in some cases still are) of great importance. This led to their export around the world by south Asian diaspora communities wishing to bring something of that tradition to their new countries.
 
The purpose of these fairs is to offer an opportunity to enjoy amusement rides like Giant Wheel, fun slide, merry-go-round, toy trains etc. It also has Indian chat & food centers to serve for food lovers. 
 
The Balloon Shoot Image 1 : The senior old man enjoying the balloon shoot like an innocent kid. This is a very favorite game part of such fairs/melas in India.

The Joint Wheel scares, it makes heart beat faster, and brings it to a standstill that to give a feel that the rider is no longer alive. A long time back, someone shared this secret with me, on enjoying the ride on a Giant Wheel. The advice was "breathe in when it goes up.. hold your breath while you are up there, and breathe out when it comes down.". Any fair will not be complete without a Giant Wheel. Does this idea is applicable to our life also? Breath well while riding steps of success & fame, be stable & breath out in tough times?

Rides of Kids People & Giant Wheel Image 2 & 3 : Photograph of a giant wheel  & Rides for the kids in motion along with the fair in background.
 
It was really nice to take an opportunity to  see a Kathputli show (Puppet show) in this fair. I was more interested because my daughter had never seen such a live show before. Kathputli is a join of two Rajasthani language words Kath meaning wood and Putli meaning puppet. Kathputli means a puppet which is made entirely from wood. However it is made out of wood, cotton cloth and metal wire.

The art of puppeteer has a long tradition in Rajasthan, but the puppets themselves are fairly simple creations. Mostly, they consist of painted wooden heads draped with dresses made from old fabrics and sequined for charm. The hands are made simply by stuffing rags or cotton into the sleeve of the dress and filling it out. The most quaint aspect of these puppets is the way their expressions are painted, large expressive eyes with arched eyebrows, and a curling mustache for men, or a nose ring for the women. Inexpensive souvenirs, they recall more easily than most other things memories of a visit to this state of chivalrous kings and beautiful queens.

In Kathputli Dance in Rajasthan India, the puppeteer narrates the stories through soulful ballads. Kathputli Rajasthan features puppet plays based on popular legends (now here Indian Bollywood stars) being performed by skilful puppeteers. Various types of puppets or Kathputlis are used during the Kathputli Traditional Dance in Rajasthan. These include Glove Puppets, String Puppets, Rod Puppets and Shadow Puppets.
 
Image 4 : Photograph of a Kathputli Dance & junior show player in the fair.
 
It was sad to see people taking away their interest of paying for the free show conducted by the performer. It also shows that how a marketing has become necessary to earn the money from your art for daily living.
 
 
The three persons drive two cars and a motorbike simultaneously along the walls of the `maut ka kuan' (wheel of death), a wooden well 18 ft deep and 50 ft across. The maut ka kuan has been in existence for about 35 years. But, the use of cars in the kuan was started in recent years.
Waiting For The Show Image 5 Spectators waiting before starting the adventurous ride in "Maut Ka Kuan"( wheel of death )
 
Thrill Of The Show   Image 6  Car driver taking special prize money offered by the spectators without loosing control of the vehicle.

 The drivers feel comfortable between the speeds of 60 to 70 km per hour. That way we are stuck to the walls firmly and find sufficient time to veer when needed. needless to say that these peoples with big heart are far away from having any knowledge about gravitational, centrifugal or centripetal forces. They just rely on their personal co-ordination, in between understanding & judgment. The owner of the show after asking "don't they fear from death & accident?" he said "The performance is called well of death. However, it is the grace of God that we are still alive".

The highlight of these fairs is that everybody enjoys it without bothering the age, cast & class of others with a right spirit. It was nice to see the existence of such sports even in so called modern age delivering the thrill & adventure at such a low cost lived up to by the courage & efforts  of the performer.

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) culture fair india mela photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/7/spirit-of-indian-fairmela Mon, 25 Jul 2011 02:16:00 GMT
January 2011: 2 Finalist Selected As Winners https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/2/january-2011-2-finalist-selected-as
I am intensely happy to continue to be selected as winners & being listed along with great photographers in the monthly competition on Betterphoto website. My two images were selected as finalist & were resulted in winners in the January 2011 monthly contest. The image "Staring Girl" was selected in the category People whereas "The Boy & The Bicycle" was selected in the category "Nature & Landscapes".
 
As a very popular competition this month too it was having a lot entries as 17200. It is really wonderful experience having my two images at second place along with top 10 winners at second place in each category.
 
Staring Girl:
This image was captured at Maheshwar. She was selling flowers on the Ghat of river Narmada. I was eager to get her portrait but she was a little bit shy. I convinced her if she doesn't like the image I will delete it in front of her, that helped me to get a pose from her. Her face is having very dry skin because of cold though her eyes are having a warm smile as on little bit lips. The earlier version was a color it was selected as finalist but not as a winner. Recently this black & White version was published on 1X.com so I thought to give a try again on betterphoto & fortunately this time it was selected as winner.
 
Flower Seller GirlFlower Seller Girl
 
 
The Boy & Bicycle:
 This image is taken in a field on a winter morning. The sunlight was filtering through the leaves of a mango tree & due to fog resulting into nice sunbeams.
 
The Boy & BicycleThe Boy & Bicycle
 
Intimation From the site administrator:
2/11/2011 Photographer Nilesh J. Bhange of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has won Second Place for January in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site's founder, Jim Miotke, announced Friday.
More than 17200 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories. Bhange's stunning image, "The Boy & Bicycle", garnered top honors after being submitted in the Nature & Landscapes category. Bhange's stunning image, "Staring Girl", garnered top honors after being submitted in the People category. All of the winning images can be viewed at BetterPhoto.com's contest page: http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/winners/1101.asp The contest is conducted each month. Categories include Nature and Landscapes, Animals, People, Elements of Design, Digital Darkroom, Travel and Place, Flowers, Details and Macro, Catch-All, and Monthly Theme. Judging is performed by a panel of professional photographers.

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/2/january-2011-2-finalist-selected-as Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:04:00 GMT
Composition: subject in center ? https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/1/composition-subject-in-center
Every beginner in photography does one mistake which professionals don't like i.e. keeping subject in the center of the frame. He must have been bombarded for not doing that mistake again by seniors .
 
This place is considered having less visual attention of the viewer. A subject in center divides the frame equally & may confuse the viewer where to look at? This offers a less visual weight to the subject.As soon as subject is moved from the center of the image gets a dynamic feel from a static. The golden point according to very famous rule of composition which is Rule of thirds.
 
Lucky GlassA Golden Egg
Image1: Egg in glass
 

In this image I have placed the egg in center of the frame but is it really not visually interesting? The answer is yours since it is going to be subjective. I think dividing the entire frame using shapes of circles helps the viewers eyes to recognize the subject with an ease (Ref: Gestalt Law of grouping). So the egg in the centered portion doesn't matter to much, in fact it is catching the viewers attention without loosing interest. If the subject was only egg then there will be enough space to divert viewers eye in entire frame.

A centered subject can also be made interesting by using virtual lines leading to the subject. It will avoid the viewers eye  to wondering everywhere unnecessarily  while guiding it to the subject of interest. Image 2. is an example illustrating this.

Image 2: An Old Coin
 
Your feedback will surely help. Kindly correct me if you find anything wrong here.

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) center composition ideas life nileshbhange photography still techniques tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/1/composition-subject-in-center Wed, 26 Jan 2011 05:27:00 GMT
An Event by Snapster's & IPC https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/1/event-by-snapsters-ipc
It was my great pleasure for being part of the  event organised by IIM Indore (Snapster-Aperture Photography Club) + IPC (Indore Photography Community) on Jan 23,2011. In this event seminar from the great photographer Mr. Hemshankar Pathakji was delivered. It was very informative &  with  rich information about composing & using natural light at best in photography. It was a visual treat to see his beautiful work captured through his vision. A photo competition was also planned contributing the images taken in the beautiful campus of IIM. The competition was open to the only photographs taken on that day after the seminar.
 
I took this opportunity  at best to explore the beauty of the IIM campus through my camera. The architecture of all buildings is really very artistic & inspiring to shoot. The evening light was making it even beautiful giving elegant shadows & lights. I will like to share some of the images taken in  this event along with small information on it.
 
Image 1, 2 3 are shots of the beautiful architectures of different buildings. Image 1 shows the arches as main component.The shadow of the arch helped me to double the lines dynamically leading into the frame exploring the viewer the beauty of the architecture. I deliberately kept it in grayscale to keep it simple & placing importance to shapes & light.
 
A r c h e sArches
Image1: Arches
EXIF:
   Camera   Canon EOS 400D Digital
  Exposure   0.008 sec (1/125)
  Aperture   f/13.0
  Focal Length   10 mm
  ISO Speed   200
  Exposure Bias
Lens
Date and Time (Original)
  +1/3 EV
Sigma 10.0-20.0 mm
 2011:01:23 17:59:01
 
Image 2. It's taken from bottom of the arch pointing camera upwards using the edge of the arch to lead the lines. I kept it color because I like the contrast in the colors of building against the sky.
 
The Wall & WindowsCurves
Image2: Shapes
 
The Image 3 & Image 4 were taken at the beautiful sunset point. I was inspired to shoot there in my last very short visit to IIM, Indore before the Pratibimb 2010. I visited there for giving the poster of the exhibition of Pratibimb & from that day this location was in my mind. Due to non-justifying reasons it didn't happened. But as I come to know about this event I was unable to control my excitement.
During shooting I realised some practical problems which were not suiting to the idea with which I was visualising to compose. The chair was half hidden behind the tree.  Fortunately it was not fixed so with help of friends it was placed as in the shot. The sun was on right side of tree whereas I was preferring it on left to take advantage of the slight inclination of tree towards left & a it's lower horizontal branch (not visible in image) framing from top. The light poles (cloned away) were big distractions, thanks to Photoshop. Anyway Finally I composed this image & two exposures were mixed manually in photoshop.
 
ItIt's Part Of Life
Image3: it's Part of Life

The Sunset PointThe Sunset Point
Image4: The Sunset Point
 
Thanks goes to Abbas, Renu, Pranjal & Pranshu for helping me to take this shot. Abbs really took strong initiative (:)) to be beside Renu. The Mr. X on left was not planned actually. There were some guys who were also excited to shoot on this beautiful sunset. He did helped not only adding another angle to the story in the image but also balancing the image with virtual triangle forming between him,sun & the persons on chair. A also see an virtual triangle between these peoples & the peak of the tree. While shooting I was with only two lenses sigma 10-20 & Canon 55-250. I was missing my 18-55 to frame it properly in my camera. Fortunately Pranjal shared his lens for this shot which is taken at 30mm.
During post processing I realised that this image may have been further better composed by taking more area in the left side. Maybe it was not possible due to other enthusiastic photographers shooting sunset. I like the light & small vignetting effect added in post processing using "GESTALT PERCEPTION". The imaginary oval shape formed on right side whereas another portion on right speeds up viewers reading to the image identifying the objects in group with an ease.
 
EXIF:
Camera Canon EOS 400D Digital
Exposure 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 30 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure  
Lens
+5/3 EV
EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
 
 
Missing You..
Image5: Missing You
 
Image 5 is of Kiran Bhatt, a very sporty member of IPC group. I was looking for model to take advantage of some interesting background & light, she was looking for photographer. Though this shot come out good but it's not very sharp due to low ambient light & slow shutter speed. i still hesitate to increase the ISO of my camera above 400.Thanks to her for being not only model but also when it was really needed.
 
I really enjoyed the day where I learned from seniors, shoot & shared very nice moments with my friends. Hope you find the article & images interesting.
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) Aperture IIM IPC Indore Photography event snapster https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/1/event-by-snapsters-ipc Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:26:00 GMT
Nomination in Photographer of the Year 2010 https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/1/nomination-in-photographer-of-year-2010
Dear friends I am happy to share with you that my image "Over The Clouds" has been shortlisted  in the category "Patterns Of Nature" for Betterphotographer of the Year 2010. Overall 60,000 images were entered in all 8 categories.Total 6 images have been shortlisted in each category. I have participated in all categories with maximum number of images allowed.I will like to share with you the participated images in different categories.

About The Competition:
The Better Photography Photographer of the Year is a much coveted title among photography enthusiasts-from beginners and hobbyists to serious amateurs. The contest has been conducted successfully for four years now, and has seen keen participation from photographers from varied walks of life, across the country. Our participants and winners have been proving that India has a wealth of photographic talent that is just waiting to be recognised. And this year the event goes international. Our finalists - the first-prize winners of the 8 themes will fly to Singapore for a final Face-off contest! The winner of the Face-off will not only win the title of Photographer of the Year 2010.
 
Faces:
All the participated images are street shots, taken in available natural light without any camera/off camera flash. I really enjoy to interact with the people for taking their portraits. I like the way most of them like them being photographed. I like to share the happy moments with them. 
 
The first photograph is of innocent child with a hand of assurance from her elder sister. This was taken at the checkpost of changu lake near Gangtok. This image has been selected as top 12 runner up for the oakwoods contest "Trust is.." recently. The second image is taken at Maheshwar, India. The young girl was selling flowers on the bank of river Narmada. I like her face with full of character specially the gaze in her eyes. The eyes with mystical confidence. It was a bit difficult to convenience her for getting photographed but finally she did. I really like the way the wind added additional touch in the photograph. Her skin was considerably dry due to cold weather.
 
The third image was a candid shot taken at vegetable market, Nanded. The senior person was using an empty basket as his hat from protection from the sunlight. I found it really funny & got near to him & keep on shooting, undoubtedly we both enjoyed those moments. The fourth one was of a worker smoking on the bust stop near Annapurna road, Indore.I like the way mustache & hat adding in his overall character. All these faces are really unforgettable for me & the moments I lived with them.It was most difficult for me to choose only 4 images among my personal favorite images. Thanks goes to my IPC (Indore Photographer community) friends for helping me sorting that out.
 
Man & His Environment:
I submitted all the images taking this challenge as environmental portraits. I am yet not sure whether I took it correctly or not. The first image is of a potter engaged in his work. I like the way I was able to use the graphical shapes & element in composition of the image. The second was taken at Maheshwar while this lady was engrossed in her pray. I like the way the blue color contrast against her red sari. The movement of the water reflected with ripples against her calm composed pose also add something about faith,trust to me.
The Third image is of about sunset & sunset lovers. This was taken at Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh on a sunset point. I thought of capturing the peoples along with sunset using split ND filter adding interesting twist to usual sunset image. The fourth image is of the people from Rabri community. More about in the discussion with the images in "A place called home".
 
Shadows & Light:
I was very clear about my submissions in this category since I was not having too many distinct images suiting to this topic in my portfolio. The first image "frustration" was taken for my DPChallenge contest with topic "cardboard box". I used only single table lamp for lighting this image with my close friend as model in a big cardboard box. The line of light for me is leaving little way as hope in the overall gritty mood of the image. The second on is newly executed image for this contest with my old concept of "Defeat". The King who had lost his war & a dead pawn near his feat. The standing King shows his character such as confidence as well as courage even in such situation but the pawn can not withstand & it's defeat of his strength & courage. The dead pawn, the light, exposure & long shadows were used to create the atmosphere of defeat, sadness.
 
The third one is "Painter". She is a painter from The Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre at Darjeeling. I shared some nice moments with her. I asked her about the painted text on windows "Free Tibet" & "Save Tibet". She told me this is in protest of Chinese occupation on Tibet and for the fundamental human rights of Tibetans to be respected. This has been photographed completely natural light. I have to take care for not getting the window in the background overexposing areas. The fourth one is of leaves looking interesting only due to the play of light keeping half side lit by light while other side in shadows.
 
Architecture & Monuments:
Shooting architecture & monuments without loosing interest of viewers I think is a quiet a bit challenging. There are huge chances of having monotonous look & getting a usual record shot of known places. I don't do much on this subject. The first image is taken at Darjeeling "Shanti Stupa" on a misty morning. Actually it may not be visible very well in the small version of it but I like the way I can use the lines of walls & arrows in the bottom pointing/leading towards the statue of Lord Gautama Buddha.A larger version of it can be seen at See on Flickr .
 
The second & fourth image was taken in photowalk 2010 in Indore on 25th July 2010 organised by IPC.The second image was selected in top 10 Honorable mention images fin this event. In this image slightly distorted reflection of an apartment can be seen in the reflective surface of another building. The third image showing an interior of an old ancient architecture of Rani Rupmati Palace, Mandu. The fourth one show view of the Bombay hospital building taken d A viewpoint through the grid showing symmetry of two buildings.

Patterns Of Nature:
A wide variety of subjects was suitable for this category. The lamp image was taken on the holy river Ganga at Varansi. The touch of sunrise light making the water look as gold & the ripples creating interesting patterns. The web with drops was taken on a misty morning formed on fencing of field. The background bokeh is of crop wheat husks.
 
 Nomination for BPOY2010
The Published image along with other Nominations in the Betterphotography Magazine issue January 2011
Over The CloudsS k y
Over The Clouds shortlisted image
 
The third one was taken from the flight while traveling from Delhi to Bagdogra in my trip to North East India. I must praise my luck for getting the interesting view of clouds along with the land & space above the clouds.The spider one is macro image showing the details of the spider. I wonder the way the patterns of wood is matching to it's body but the DOF is helping me to get nice contrast for isolating him from the surface.


Waterscape:
It's my favorite subject. I like to shoot the falls, seascapes any images including water.I can spend hours shooting them without getting tired. The first one is of a small stream at Patalpani waterfall & the fourth one is of Tincha fall. Both these falls are from Indore.
The second one is taken at the rock garden of Pelling. The third one is taken on the holy beach of Somnath,Gujrat. Probably it is my the first image which was appreciated in various online contest & forums. It was my very old image taken with point & shoot camera SONY DSC-H2 in 2006. The image of lamp on river was also taken with this camera.


Wildlife:
I was knowing this category is not for me. I feel no shame to admit that I lack the patience to capture the images in this category. I do have very small portfolio with these kind of images. I was also doubting to include the 2nd & third one suits this category or not.
The lion is from the Zoo of Hyderabad, giving me a nice portrait. I feel myself lucky to get the second & third shot with beautiful light & clarity. The fourth one is of Yellow-winged Darter taken during Photograph taken on the Kajligarh outing, Indore conducted by IPC under the inspirational guidance of Upendra Upadhyay. I cropped the wings during capturing the shot to show it's beautiful details.
 
A Place Called Home:
I was really touched by the the way  these Rabri community people face the hard life.Traditionally they are camel herders. They sell wool and clarified butter to city merchants and manage all money matters.The Rabari men can often be seen roaming the countryside with their droves. They travel hundreds of miles on annual migration routes in search of new pastures to graze their animals.
 
I shoot their open houses & kitchen. I was sure these may not suit completely to the challenge but all the images were on the same topic showing the open house as per as physical material is concerned but it was nothing less than their emotional bonding among each other. I didn't find any of them lacking love & affection. The various image shows these things, the generation gap & their habits. I wish to highlight the thing that the house without these things is of no use irrespective of how nicely it has been built. I hope you like the images & story behind it. 

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements Photographer of the Year 2010 nilesh nilesh bhange https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/1/nomination-in-photographer-of-year-2010 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:43:00 GMT
Oakwood "Trust. is.." Photo Competition https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/1/nomination-in-oakwood-trust-is-photo
Dear friends it's my pleasure to share with you that my image "Innocent Eyes" has been nominated in top 12 images in Oakwood's "Trust is.." international photo competition in partnership with Canon.

A panel of expert judges selected 50 images for public voting. Voting  was open from November 16th to December 31st. Visitors to the official 50th Anniversary website were having 6 weeks to vote for their top three favorite representations of what ‘Trust is…’. Through online voting 12 winners have been selected in this competition.This entry has been selected as a winner of the Runner-Up Prizes. I will be awarded with a Canon Powershot camera. This image will be displayed the traveling exhibition of the 12 winners, starting in February. The exhibition will most like move on from the Philippines to Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Mumbai, Jakarta, Seoul…and other cities in the region. along with my profile as an amateur photographer, as well.the Grand Prize winning image will be selected by a committee including Mr. Howard Ruby. Recognized as the International Conservation Photographer of the Year in 2007 by the National Wildlife Association, Ruby’s photos were selected to be displayed in the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum.
 
 
 
About The Image:
This photograph was taken in my trip to North East part of India. I visited Darjeeling, Gangtok & Pelling in this period. I was amused by the thing the way the younger sibling was having faith & trust with elder one. I found this thing almost everywhere in this region. It was nice experience to see the elder sibling taking care & forwarding hand of insurance towards the junior one.  While moving to Changu lake from Gangtok I found this cute kid near the check post. I like his innocent eyes the assuring hand of his elder sister. 
 
EXIF Data:
 
      Camera           Canon EOS 400D Digital
      Exposure           0.013 sec (1/80)
      Aperture           f/5.0
      Focal Length           46 mm
      ISO Speed           200
      Exposure Bias           0 EV
      Flash           Off, Did not fire
      DateTaken on           March 2, 2010 at 10.43am IST 
      Exposure Program   Aperture-priority AE
      Lens                          Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

About Oakwood Serviced Apartments
Oakwood is a global leader and provider of furnished and serviced apartments. For one need or many, local or around the globe — Oakwood offers flexible, easy-to-use, custom solutions to meet any temporary housing need. 

Oakwood celebrates 50 years of being the most trusted name is serviced apartments worldwide in 2010. Oakwood Asia Pacific’s golden anniversary celebration and activities can be found on its 50th anniversary microsite www.oakwoodasia.com/50anniversary. The site will feature a chance to win 50 nights at Oakwood properties located in 11 cities across 7 countries in the Asia Pacific region; amongst other exciting activities to thank Oakwood’s loyal customers for the trust and support received over the years. 

Update on 20/01/2011
As per the updates on the Oakwoods photo competition website it seems to me that the final winners are announced. I am being left only as runner up along 11 participants.  Mr.Wong Chi Keung  has been selected for 1st prize winner for his excellent photograph : You can see the results at : Oakwoods Trust is Competition

Update on 4/3/2011
 

The 12 winning images a showcase exhibition has been started from 18th February that will travel across Asia in selected Oakwood properties and will be produced as a limited edition postcard series by Oakwood, providing a wonderful pictorial display of what “Trust is...”
 
Well the prize for this contest has been arrived which is canon A3000IS with all accessories. I must admit Oakwood has conducted all the contest & events very well with proper communication with the participants.
 
Canon A3000IS

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2011/1/nomination-in-oakwood-trust-is-photo Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:42:00 GMT
Betterphoto Finalist & Winner : November 2010 https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/12/betterphoto-finalist-winner-november Dear friends I am happy to inform you about my selected images as finalist & a winner in Betterphoto online international photo contest ( November 2010) in different categories.

Image 1:The Story of Big Eyes was selected as finalist & winner in "Details & Macro" category whereas Image 2: Pink Lotus were selected as finalist in the "Flowers" category. Total 17500 entries were received & 882 finalist were shortlisted in overall 10 categories.

The Story of Big EyesThe Story of Big Eyes

Image 1 : The Story of Big Eyes
EXIF Info:
Camera Canon EOS 400D Digital
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 100 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Fired

About The Image:
Image taken with canon 100mm/F2.8 macro + 36mm extension tube & external flash with a diffuser.
Dragonflies (and bees) have the largest compound eyes of any insect; each containing up to 30,000 facets, and the eyes cover most of the insect's head, resembling a motorcycle helmet. In contrast to a human eye, each facet within the compound eye points in a slightly different direction and perceives light emanating from only one particular direction in space, creating a mosaic of partially overlapping images.
Dragonflies can also detect the plane of polarization of light, which humans cannot do without the aid of sunglasses. The advantages of this capability are unknown for dragonflies, but other insects are known to use polarized light as a sort of "sky compass" by which they navigate.
Pink LotusPink Lotus Image 2: The Pink Lotus
EXIF Info:
Camera Canon EOS 400D Digital
Exposure 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 100 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias -2/3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

About The Image:
Botanically, lotus and water lily are different plants. Waterlilies have lily pads that float on the surface; lotuses have leaves that are held above the water, and blooms that are much larger than water lilies, and most often pink.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/12/betterphoto-finalist-winner-november Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:12:00 GMT
Betterphoto Finalist & Winner : October 2010 https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/11/betterphoto-finalist-winner-october Dear friends I am happy to inform you about my selected images as finalist & a winner in Betterphoto online international photo contest ( October 2010) in different categories.
 
My 3 Lucky Images:
Image 1 was selected as finalist & winner in "Digital Darkroom" category whereas Image 2 & Image 3 were selected as finalist in the "Details & Macro" category. Total 18600 entries were received & 922 finalist were shortlisted in overall 10 categories.
  Evil LaughsEvil Laughs
Image 1: Evil Laughs
 During experimentation with smoke shot I met this. In post processing I cloned out additional smoke in black areas & applied color gradient. The only thing which was not part of original capture is the eye which was added with a stroke of brush. I processed this image for the DPchallenge Halloween Song Titles (Expert Editing) online photo contest, fortunately in which it also stand out on 5th place with Honorable Mentions. 
   I used two strobes on the left & right of smoke in manual mode with black cloth as background of  smoke.
 
EXIF of this image:
Camera: Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Lens: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro
You can see this image at different locations : BetterphotoWinner | Dpchallenge Winner
Floating CrabFloating Crab
Image 2: Floating Crab | 179mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec, ISO 400, -2EV
Camera           :     Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Lens                :     Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
You can see this image at different locations : Betterphoto FinalistMy Flickr Photstream
 
Image 3: Yellow-Winged Darter
 
About the Insect: Yellow-winged Darter species is smaller (Length: 32-37mm) than the Common Darter or Red-veined Darter. It has extensive pale orange colouration to the basal half of the wings and many wing veins. The bright red males and clear yellow-brown females are attractive. The eyes are brown above and yellow below. The pterostigma is red or brown strongly outlined in black, somewhat shorter than in most darters.The males become orange-red with maturity with a red frons and red-brown thorax.Females have a ochre yellow abdomen strongly marked with black along the lower half of each side.
You can see this image at different locations : Betterphoto Finalist
 
It is nice to see that both images "Floating Crab" & "yellow-Winged Darter" were taken in our IPC (Indore Photographers Community) trip to Kajligarh, Indore. It is a nice place for landscape, wildlife & macro photographers.
 
Notification from Betterphoto site:
11/17/2010 Photographer Nilesh J. Bhange of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has won Second Place for October in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site's founder, Jim Miotke, announced Wednesday.
More than 18500 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories.
Bhange's stunning image, "Evil Laughs", garnered top honors after being submitted in the Digital Darkroom category.
All of the winning images can be viewed at BetterPhoto.com's contest page: http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/winners/1010.asp
The contest is conducted each month. Categories include Nature and Landscapes, Animals, People, Elements of Design, Digital Darkroom, Travel and Place, Flowers, Details and Macro, Catch-All, and Monthly Theme. Judging is performed by a panel of professional photographers.
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/11/betterphoto-finalist-winner-october Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:16:00 GMT
My Firework Photography Experience https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/10/my-firework-photography-experience Dear friends recently I shoot some photographs of firework on the eve of Dassera on 17/10/10.  Before this I never tried for such kind of firework. Though earlier I tried to capture some shots of rocket & other simple items on Diwali. I will like to share the settings & the reason for that with all of you. 
 
Lens:
I opted for my wide angle lens Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Canon. Considering my 1st experience of such kind of shoot I didn't know how much area I have to cover without missing anything in the frame. This lens on my crop body canon 400D was wide enough to be on safer side.
Dassera FireworkShot 1: 18mm,  f/18,  ISO:100, 20sec, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Canon,400D
 
Aperture & DOF:
I used the aperture from f/8 to f/18 tuning the required exposure along with different shutter speed. I started with f/18 &  gradually shifted to f/8 keeping overexposed area at minimum. This range was enough to offer me good DOF keeping all elements in the frame focused. I keep on checking the exposure in histogram & get opened the aperture shot after shot.
 
Dassera Firework
Shot 2: 18mm, f/20,  ISO:100, 20sec, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Canon, 400D
 
Shutter Speed & Effect:
I changed shutter speed from 15 sec to 30 sec. I may have liked to use cable release putting camera in bulb mode but I was having some problem with my cable release gadget. So I don't wanted to take chances & miss the shot keeping me frustrated.
 
Dassera FireworkShot 3: 18mm,  f/8, ISO:100, 30sec, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Canon, 400D
 
Framing & POV :
I was very much clear that I need to be framing vertically capturing the firework at their entire height . I also wished to have the outline of festival in the bottom of frame adding a story to firework. I kept the bottom area as minimum as possible giving more space to sky. I kept my tripod to an height of around 60-80 cm keeping the point of view from seated viewers. It also allowed me to be comfortable by sitting on the lawn & take shots with an ease.
 
Exposure:
This kind of firework (shot 1,2 & 3) has an advantage that they explode in different areas keeping possibility of overexposure minimum. As shown in other shots (shot 4 & 5) of Diwali the rocket & other items keep firing mostly in single area. For capturing this kind of firework a slow shutter speed will overexpose the areas. So for capturing these kind of shots with slow speed one has to use polarzier or ND filters.
Rocket FireworkFirework Shot 4: 17mm,  f/11,  ISO:800, 30sec, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4, 5DII
FireworkFirework Shot 5: 180mm,  f/29,  ISO:100, 1/25sec, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4IS, 5DII
Focus & metering:
Manual focus was obvious choice & I set it to infinity. I also insured from viewfinder the portion in bottom is looking into focus & tweaked a little with manual focus. Getting proper exposure  was  completely trial & error method. I knew the camera metering is not going to help me considering the spontaneous nature of the shots. In fact in the end (shot 3) I achieved a good exposure adding more bright sky & people in bottom with good exposure.
 
I hope these tips you found useful & my best wishes are with you for your firework photography.
 
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) firework photography technique https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/10/my-firework-photography-experience Thu, 21 Oct 2010 23:17:00 GMT
My First Group Exhibition : Pratibimb 2010 https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/8/pratibimb-2010 On the occasion of world photography day Indore Photography Community  (IPC) has organised "Pratibimb 2010". It is a three day mega photography event at Indore (M.P.), displaying the best work of around 30 photographers for the first time. Indore Photography Community is an independent group of passionate photographers, from serious amateurs to professionals having worked upon diverse subjects such as wildlife, macro, nature, portraits etc.
waiting.. Study Of Smoke Shot
Image 1: Just before the inauguration of the event. Image 2. Boys trying to understand my smoke shot.
 
I joined this community almost a year back in 2009. I feel myself as lucky being part of such talented group of friends who are as passionate for photography work as I am. The most highlighting thing which makes this community really special is the friendly atmosphere & non-formal structure. There are no formalities binding the members, no laws & restriction, freedom to express, give & execute the ideas almost anything.
 
Group Shot_Pratibimb 2010
Exhibition Hall_Pratibimb 2010
Image 3 Group shot of all the participants. Image 4 A view of the exhibition.
 
Being a part of such large group really helps to learn the skills from the photographers working in different field with excellent skills. It helps to share our ideas, concept & also correct some misconceptions.

I Am Lost Photolovers_Pratibimb 2010
Image 5 & Image 6 Spectators enjoying the images.
 
As this was the first experience of displaying the photograph in exhibition for most of the photographers everybody was so excited it is impossible to describe in the words.The group has been moderated by Gunjan Karun & mentored by Shri Tanveer Farooqui. This event was possible only due to lot of hard work & constant efforts by the members from last 1-2 months. It will be incomplete without mentioning few names & the efforts of the members given below:
 
Tanveer Farooqui: Inspiring & Guiding on each step. Using their experience & contacts to add glamor/life in this event by inviting seniors for workshop like Mr. Gurudas Dua & Vijay Shah.
 
Gunjan & Mahulika Karun: Organising,planning, leading meetings,documenting & putting a beautiful website for the community. Excellent efforts ! I solicit the hard work.
 
Sandeep Ramje: As a graphic designer he offered his skills for designing & developing Photo ID cards, invitation cards, visiting cards, poster for publication & even beautiful T-shirts.
 
Manish Shirvastava: Selecting vendors for photo prints & framing. Arrangement of the frames in the hall & constant support throughout the event.
 
Vaibhav Nagonde: Booking the exhibition hall, management in the hall & much more activities behind the scene.
 
Pranshu dubey,sonali sharma: Highly responsible for giving media coverage, generating press releases & making this event really special.
 
Pranjal Rajput: For putting honest efforts for getting some sponsorship restricting individual expenses for this event.
 
I will also like to mention the names of other members Devendra Bagadi, Renu sharma, Vivek Dixit for supporting & participating as volunteer for other activities.

Overall it was a very exciting experience for all of us for displaying our favorite images 1st time ever. The exhibition received huge response from the spectators from Indore. It resulted in a very successful event.
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) IPC Indore Photographer of the Year 2010 Pratibimb abstract.photoshop exhibition https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/8/pratibimb-2010 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:11:00 GMT
Never Before : 7 Betterphoto Finalist & a winner https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/8/never-before-7-betterphoto-finalist
WoW !!
 
How lucky the July 2010 month was for me! I never got before total 7 finalist in Betterphoto online international photo contest in different categories. I cant explain how happy I am while sharing this with all of you. Until yet maximum 2 images were shortlisted only. Surprisingly today morning while checking my mails I came to know all about this.
 
Category : People
Tired Of Life (#10471509)
Tired Of LifeTired Of Life
He seems to be really lucky for me. I have already written about this image in my note : My Second blue after winning this image on first place in DPChallenge photo contest.
 
Hope (#10419219)
H o p eIntense A portrait of a innocent child of a farm worker. I loved the intensity of hopes expressed in his eyes.
 
Category : Animals
 The Old King (#10414368)
The Old KingOld King
I was dying to get such a shot from many days. Finally I got it in the Zoo of Hyderabad not only as I was expecting but of a lion with nice character & amazing look.
 
Category : Elements Of Design
Art Of Symmetry (#10521893)
Bombay Hospital : Through The Grid
I shoot architecure shots a little rarely. I joined a photowalk 2010 recently completed. In this we conducted a walk near Bombay Hospital in Indore. My new lovely gear Sigma 10-20 added more interest in shooting some architecrual shots exploring the elements of design. Surprisingly this one is selected as finalist in Betterphoto whereas another "Apartment : Reflection" was not selected as local winner on photowalk 2010 but also displayed on the MY Shot home page of National Geographic.
 
Category : Flower
The Pink Orchid (#10415280)
o r c h i dorchid


The two flowers I always missed to shoot are Orchids & Tulips. I consider these two flowers along with Gerbera most photogenic. Due to weather conditions I didn't get the opportunity to capture the beauty of these flowers. I didn't missed to capture these flowers in my camera while I was on the tour of North-East India. I was lucky enough to get the beautiful Orchids while having walk on the streets of Pelling in the flower pots decorating the houses. Surprisingly I got best of the shots during such walk instead of in botonical garden/Nursery.
 
Category : Catch All
 
The Craftman's Hands (#10424631)
 

I have taken similar kind of image before for a DPChallenge contest. I found this subject appropriate for another contest " Pieces of the Human Form" . I was thinking how it can be different than previous one. The earlier was on the backdrop of natural land with textures. I used his tools this time in the background adding more strength to the content as well as nice graphical elements.
 
Category : Nature & Landscape
In Shelter of Tree (#10431405)
In Shelter of Tree

This image was taken while I have to take the shelter of this beautiful tree from rainfall. I found the mountains view from trees perspective the light was beautiful & I didn't missed the opportunity to press the shutter button :)

 
Notification from Betterphoto site:
Congratulations! You have placed as a finalist in this month's BetterPhoto Contest! Over 19100 photos were entered into the competition; it is an honor to have your image selected among the top 1503 finalist photos.
 
Update on 16/8/2010

8/16/2010 Photographer Nilesh J. Bhange of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has won Second Place for July in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site's founder, Jim Miotke, announced Monday.
More than 19000 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories.
Bhange's stunning image, "Tired Of Life", garnered top honors after being submitted in the People category.
All of the winning images can be viewed at BetterPhoto.com's contest page: http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/winners/1007.asp

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/8/never-before-7-betterphoto-finalist Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:08:00 GMT
My 2nd Blue : Tired Of Life https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/7/my-2nd-blue-tired-of-life I am really excited to share with all of you that 2nd time I got blue (1st place ) on Dpchallenge contest. It was with the my image "Tired of Life" in DPchallenge contest "Weathered"

There are some really interesting coincidences with this image. The same person's portrait gifted me my 1st blue on DPchallenge contest. The coincidence is that it happened almost 1 year after I got a winning shot of him (Shepherd).
There is no prize for winning but the satisfaction of winning among the best photographer is priceless! That urge of winning had improved my photography knowingly & unknowingly. For winning in such contest one try to learn more, look around for subject. I was also able to update my portfolio with variety of subjects & concepts. This is important for a non-professional hobbyist since they have to take time from their non-official hours.
Tired Of LifeTired Of Life
His name is " Jitro". I visited again almost 1 year after & this time he really seems to be tired of life due to old age. He was so week that I  avoid ed  to make a request for posing. Technically I was expecting him against sunset light for getting catch lights in his eyes but nevertheless he added another beautiful portrait in my portfolio.The side light also added to enhance the texture of his skin exploring the marks of ages.

His expressions though not very pleasant but connects to the reality of problem he his facing. It was also fulfilling the requirement of contest "Weathered". The signs left by the time in the wrinkles of his skins & a human fatigued by health & age.He is surely going to get a nice gift for being responsible of two beautiful portraits in my portfolio.

Image Link | Contest Link
 
Image EXIF:
Model: Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL
FocalLength: 50.0 mm
ISOSpeedRatings: 200
ApertureValue: f/5.6
ExposureTime: 1/15 sec.
ExposureProgram: Aperture Priority
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/7/my-2nd-blue-tired-of-life Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:12:00 GMT
red : Betterphoto Photo Of the Day https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/7/red-betterphoto-photo-of-day I am happy to share with you that my following photograph has been selected as "Photo Of The Day" on 7/7/2010 on betterphoto. This is the second time I am honored with. I am really happy for that.
 
red
About the Photograph:
I worked with Mansi (my daughter) after a long gap. She is now around 51/2 years old now. Now she understands my request in better way. Along with evening natural light a manual off camera flash has been bounced from wall on her left side. The red cloth around her is a the sari. Many are interested to know that what I did with her eyes? Believe me her eyes are beautiful. The bounced light from flash & bright sky above is helping to add extra shine in it.

EXIF Data:
Camera
Exposure
0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture
f/5.6
Focal Length
55 mm
ISO Speed
200
Exposure Bias
-1/3 EV
Flash
Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program
Aperture-priority AE
Date and Time (Original)
2010:06:18 18:21:21+05:30
Metering Mode
Average
Exposure Mode
Auto
White Balance
Manual
Lens
EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
 

Update on DATE : 13/7/2009
I got a mail from Betterphoto confirming this image has been shortlisted as finalist in June months People Category. The intimation from the site is:
 
Congratulations! You have placed as a finalist in this month's BetterPhoto Contest! Over 17800 photos were entered into the competition; it is an honor to have your image selected among the top 1312 finalist photos.
 
Your finalist photo: r e d (#10375349)
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements mansi https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/7/red-betterphoto-photo-of-day Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:05:00 GMT
My Published Images In Betterphotography Magazine https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/6/my-published-images I am happy to share with you my published images in the Better photography Magazine.
 
I have participated in their contest Better photographer of year 2009 & submitted images in various categories.Unfortunately none of my image was selected as finalist/winner. But it looks like that they found some of them good enough only for publishing in their magazine supporting the article. I am sharing those images in this article.

Published in the supplement "secret of shooting the natural world" in annual issue of "Better Photography" Magazine of June 2010. Large Size Download
 Published in "Better Photography" Magazine, issue of May 2010 under Tips & Tricks section. Large Size Download
 
 Published in the supplement "secret of shooting the natural world" in annual issue of "Better Photography" Magazine of June 2010.
Large Size Download
 
 Published in the supplement "secret of shooting stunning macros" in annual issue of "Better Photography" Magazine of June 2010.
Large Size Download
Published in the supplement "secret of shooting people & portraits"in annual issue of "Better Photography" Magazine of June 2010.
Large Size Download
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/6/my-published-images Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:28:00 GMT
My Trip To Darjeeling Article Published https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/6/trip-to-darjeeling I am happy to announce my blog on "Trip To Darjeeling" has been published in the Issue #27 – Apr 2010 of Photography BB.
The PhotographyBB Online Magazine is composed by a hardworking team of volunteer contributing authors who’s goal is to teach beginners all about digital photography and image processing.

You can download it at free in PDF o ZIP format. This issue is also having another interesting articles. Thanks to the editor Dave Seeram for appreciating my work & encouraging to update my article with setup details. Hope you will like it.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/6/trip-to-darjeeling Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:14:00 GMT
My Trip to Darjeeling https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/3/my-trip-to-darjeeling
As some of you know from my recent photographs & notes I recently had a short trip to North East India. I visited Darjeeling,Gangtok & Pelling. I also visited Changu lake near to Gangtok.

Over The CloudsS k y
Image 1 :Taken from the flight while traveling from Delhi to Bagdogra.

We started our journey on 26th of February  from Indore. We had a flight of Indian Airlines from Indore to Delhi in the morning & then a connecting flight from Delhi to Bagdogra. From Bagdogra we hired a taxi for Darjeeling & reached there in evening.

Note: Try to hire a taxi on your own from Bagdogra air port since we have observed the pre-paid taxi payer is taking some commission & which may cost you a little more. Similarly  hiring a taxi for local site seeing on without reference of hotel manager may cost you less but sometimes it's unavoidable if they offer you nice service & you want to save time & headache in bargaining with the taxi drivers :)

Darjeeling:
Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal, is internationally famous for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO  World Heritage Site. It is the headquarters of Darjeeling district, located in the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya at an average elevation of 6,710 ft (2,050 m).

We started our site seeing at this place on 27th & 28th of Feb. We visited several place as given below:

1. Peace Pagoda:
The Japanese Peace Pagoda was established by Nipponzan Myohoji, a Japanese Buddhist order. Situated on the slopes of the Jalapahar Hill the pagoda can be reached by foot or on taxi. The pagoda is the highest free structure in the town. It also showcases the four avatars of the Buddha.

We had a very nice view of this place on foggy morning enhancing the purity of this place at its most.

Image 2:Peace Pagoda
Peace Pagoda In The MistPeace Pagoda
StupaLord Buddha
Image 3: A statue of Budhha at Peace Pagoda situated in Darjeeling.

2. Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park:
Established on the 14th of August, 1958, the zoo was dedicated to the memory of Padmaja Naidu, former Governor of West Bengal on the 21st November, 1975. Considered as one of the best zoos in the country, it is the only centre that breeds the tibetan wolf in captivity. Breeding programmes for the endangered red panda, snow leopard and the siberian tiger are also carried out at PNHZP. The zoo is open on all days except on Thursdays and other national holidays.
We do enjoyed having a view of cute Red Panda & tibetan wolf here.

Image 4: The red panda is a reddish brown, bushy-tailed mammal the size of a small dog. The red panda shares its name with the giant panda but, unlike the giant panda, the red panda is not a bear. Scientists believe it is more closely related to raccoons and skunks. The red panda lives in temperate forests from Nepal to southwest China. It feeds on bamboo, is a good climber, and spends most of its life in the trees. Due to poaching and habitat loss, it is now endangered.
Red PandaRed Panda Tibetan WolfTibetan Wolf Image 5: Tibetan Wolf is a medium sized wolf with long lightly colored fur. They are found in the cold desert areas, both in open and forested tracts. In some areas, they live close to areas occupied by nomads.

3. Himalayan Mountaineering Institute:
The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was set up following the successful ascent of the Mount Everest-the highest peak in the world by the local hero Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir EdEdumund Hillary on 28 May 1953. The oldest mountaineering institute in the country carries out various mountaineering courses every year. Apart from Tenzing, legendary mountaineers like Nawang Gombu(the first man to climb Everest twice) and Lattoo Dorjee Sherpa have helped build the reputation of this pioneering institute. The institute is presently under the purview of the Minstry of Defence, Government of India and its museum is worth a visit.
It was really a treat to have look of the gadgets of those brave people & to know about their great episodes from hired guide with us.

4.Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre:
After Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet, thousands of Tibetan refugees came to reside in India. Darjeeling too became a home away from home for the Tibetans in exile. To rehabilitate the community a ten-member committee was formed in Darjeeling to organize a rehabilitation centre which was known as "Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre". The centre was established on October 1, 1959 and the residents of the centre are today known for their handicrafts. The centre makes excellent carpets, woolen goods, woodwork, etc, which are famous across the globe.

Image 6:  She is a painter from The Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre at Darjeeling. I shared some nice moments with her. I asked her about the painted text on windows "Free Tibet" & "Save Tibet". She told me this is about to end the Chinese occupation of Tibet and for the fundamental human rights of Tibetans to be respected.
 
P a i n t e r I met here some very senior artist & workers. I had nice conversation with them & some very nice touching moments in my life. I observed the strong desire of independent Tibet in her eyes.

f r e e d o m
Image 7: He was a enjoying his game in The Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre. The image exploring his joy of freedom.

 
5. Ghoom Monastery:
Built in 1875 by Lama Sherab Gyatso, this ancient monastery is said to have been blessed by the renowned Tomo Geshe Rimpoche of Tibet. The specialty of this monastery is that it contains the statue of the 'Future Coming Buddha' known as Maitreye Buddha. The Monastery has also preserved some of the rare handwritten Buddhist manuscripts. You could visit the monastery on your return journey to Darjeeling from Tiger Hill.
Note: If you don't have keen interest in observing the Monastery in detail,photography then it's better to visit famous places at one or two places. If you have short time then you can save that time to visit other places.

6.Rock Garden:
Situated 10 km from town, Rock Garden and Ganga Maya Park has now developed into a very attractive picnic spot with natural water falls. The park offers boating facilities and is endowed with great scenic beauty. Ample eateries are available for visitors to indulge in local delicacies and one can even buy souvenirs. No fees are charged for taking photographs. Visitors are however, required to make arrangements for transportation. A two way travel arrangement is advisable.
 
 Image 8: Waterfall at Rock Garden

Rock Garden Waterfall Rock Garden Waterfall
 
Tree & Mist
Image 9: The lost trees in the mist at Rock Garden 
 
Note: Some tourist may find all the rock garden at various tourist places as same. Since a normal tourist can't differentiate every waterfall has got different characteristic like how the streams have formed, how the texture,pattern,color of stones is present,the presence of moss on rocks & the importance of falls & flowers with unique viewpoint & surrounding. If this is the not case with you then better to avoid visiting rock garden at every places :)

7.Ava Art Gallery
Situated about 4 km from the Market Square and on the National Highway, Ava.Art Gallery was established in 1965 by the Late. Bhopal Rao Sett and Ava Devi. It is the only Art Gallery of its kind in the Hills. A collection of 60 pieces of art work in water, oil and thread paintings are displayed in the Gallery. Visitors can travel on foot to get to the Gallery or simply hire a taxi. Entrance fees are not charged.
It was nice to see the typical art forms. I was really impressed by the way she had created the textures on the skin by using shades of threads..unbelievable!!
Note: Don't miss this place!

8. Tiger Hill:
Situated at an altitude of 2590 meters (8482 ft.) and 13 kilometers from the town, this spot has earned international fame for the magnificent view of the sunrise over the "Kanchanjunga" and the great eastern Himalayan Mountains. Even Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, is visible from here. The hesitant rays of the early morning sun paint these peaks in pale gold.

Well 28th Feb was not our day actually. We missed the view of sunrise & Kanchanjunga hill due to dense foggy weather. I was too depressed to describe in words :(

Note:
Best time to visit:
1. September to November is ideal for sight seeing and outings.
2.December to January is perfect for those like chilly climate and is best period for honeymooners.
3. February to June is ideal for all tourist activities in Darjeeling.
More Info available at: Darjeeling Time to Visit

9. Toy Train,Batasia Loop and the War Memorial:
The Batasia loop situated almost 5 km away from the town is a gigantic railway loop where the Toy Train makes a 360 Degree turn. It was basically built to make it possible for the Toy Train to cut the deep ascend. Strategically located the Batasia Loop offers a panoramic view of the Kanchanjunga Range.A War Memorial constructed in the memory of the brave sons of the soil who laid down their lives in the different wars since the independence of the nation adds to its attraction. There is also a well furbished market where visitors can buy locally made purses, bags and other decorative items

Train & Cable
 
 
Image 10 & 11 Broken headlight & electrical cable problem


The experience was so bad that at one place the headlamp of the train was broken due ti an electrical cable the headlight was placed in our coach.Some foreigners didn't got it before I explained to them what it is.I missed to capture their funny expressions when I told them "Guys this is the headlight of our train & it was broken due to cable & we don't know what's going to happen next"  

Note:To avoid the unfortunate toy train trip it's nice to have idea about recent trip information from local people. If you are having less stay in Darjeeling then better to avoid this trip & cover other spots like botanical garden etc.
Pine Trees Image 12 Pine trees on a misty morning near Peace Pagoda at Darjeeling

As said 28thb Feb was not our day actually. We started late in Toy train due to some technical problem & the train halted at many points & at last was not able to complete the described route.

We stayed in the Hotel "North Star" which is not on the main road but I really like the very good service provided here & I do recommend a stay here to my friends.

If interested in seeing other images then can have at : Darjeeling on Flickr

After noon we left to Gangtok. I have taken the spot details from the Darjeeling government site for noting detailed reference of the spots which we have visited.  Hope you like this post good bye & love you all!!

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) blog Darjeeling east experience images Indian information north photography review techniques tips tour Travel https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/3/my-trip-to-darjeeling Thu, 25 Mar 2010 03:47:00 GMT
CD Buner : How I did that? https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/2/cd-buner-how-i-did-that The idea to capture this shot illustrating visual pun was playing in my mind from many days. I was unable to find the way to execute it without any accident & damage. I am not a great photoshop expert so it was not easy for me. Finally I did it using multiple exposure trick. I had used it very first time & really enjoyed it.
CD Burner The details about the procedure are as:

1. I placed a paper in the background & on a box with my CD/DVD driver on it.

2. I used a flash for background on camera left while another flash on camera right, light bouncing from a white foam adding fill light to object. The flash were fired by using wireless trigger units.

3. I used a 10 sec exposure with camera on tripod.

4. I put on the timer & took my first exposure with flash light.

5. For avoiding fire drag after flash firing I blocked the lens with black piece , meanwhile the flame generated by camphor tablets on a spoon was moved on CD. then I removed black piece. During this period camera lens was blocked so no exposure.

6. Before removing that I have holed ND + tobacco filter in front of lens too avoid overexposure in the fire. The fire was moved all over the place & completed second exposure.

May be you might be knowing this trick but I did it first time & excited about it. Hope you will like this :)
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) burner CD DVD firework hot life nileshbhange photography still techniques tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/2/cd-buner-how-i-did-that Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:29:00 GMT
Are your subjects comfortable? https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/1/are-your-subjects-comfortable After seeing my portrait images my lot of friends & visitors asks me about my used equipments & where that shot was taken? I found most of them are having keen interest to know which was the lens I have used. But I guess sometimes they miss important thing about the expression of the subject. In portrait photography that is most important. Did you take care your subject is comfortable or not? It may not matter when you are shooting your family members very important while shooting strangers.
 
Age of a smile
 
People photography requires a special skill & it comes with practice. I know whenever two strangers meet it's difficult to crack awkwardness. I  have found most of the people (at least in India) are eager to be get photographed. As I have written in the description of my many images on Flickr I try to have conversation  with them. I take their early shot knowing that they are not my best one & try to have communication with them. I do observe light,background, facial character etc. while talking with them. I try to realize them that they have no harm from me, my shooting & I am their friend. Winning the confidence of the subject is a key. After only that you will get nice expressions from them. 
 
 
In children photography also it is very important to be patient & giving the kids there time to talk. Kids are impatient & it's your turn to understand them, balance the situation  by being patient. Giving breaks in shooting helps them to relax. Experimenting with them adds their interest in the shooting. Giving some gifts like toffees & chocolates also helps. You have to talk with them as if you are a kid, that greatly makes them comfortable & more are the chance to get nice shots. Keeping the camera to the eye level of your subject really makes them comfortable as well as viewers.

In family portraits while shooting with 2-3 people you have to arrange them to portrait the relation,emotion along with affection. You have to comfy them for getting close enough to get nice compositions.
 
Hope you like these tips & will take care in your next shoot out. 
 
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) India nileshbhange people photography portrait street techniques tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/1/are-your-subjects-comfortable Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:24:00 GMT
To crop or not ? https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/1/to-crop-or-not
In practical condition while shooting many times it is not possible to frame your subject as one is pre-visualizing the shot. There may be number of reasons like the situation doesn't permit, limitation of lens zoom, the shortage of time etc. My best advice to novice photographer always is take a breath & stop for 1 second before pressing the shutter button on the camera. After that do the followings:

1. Look along all the corners & frame of your viewfinder & think once is it all ok?
2. Whatever being seen in viewfinder is really needed in the frame or not?
3. Is any change in angle is going to avoid background distractions?
4. Is any change is going to avoid exposure problems like bright sky?
5. Is any change is going to give you more contrast with subject?

.... & much more can be asked. It comes with practice & practice. A beginner may ask like how can I see all that in one second? It comes with practice & until then you can breath more before clicking :)

Flower Seller Girl

But what if you didn't able to shoot as you were planning? In such cases cropping is the key. I am very particular about cropping the images & expects everyone should be. There are number of reasons for cropping your images like:

1. It helps to improve your compositions by cutting down unnecessary areas.
2. Add a new element to the image, making your subject interesting.
3. Avoid background distractions.
4. Placing the graphical elements in the image in neat order & much more.

Yogesh There are number of rules suggesting how to crop or not. But don't hesitate to break such rules unless your composition is strong enough. You may see in my number of images I cropped out chin in my portrait shots & I don't think I have done anything wrong with the subjects. It helps me to place my subject engaged with viewers until they forget about cropped chin. The images in this blog are showing such examples. Hope you like the images & small tips about framing & cropping. I will like to add more about cropping may be in next blog. Enjoy shooting & cropping :)

 

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) composition cropping nileshbhange people photography portrait street techniques tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/1/to-crop-or-not Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:31:00 GMT
Holy Man With Yellow Ribbon https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/1/winner-on-dpc-holy-man I am delighted to share my winning shot on a DPC contest. Recently a contest called "One In 7 Billion" has been completed. I was winner on 3rd place & got a yellow Ribbon .
The Holy Man About the image:

I have submitted the image taken in my trip to Maheshwar on 3rd Jan 2010. On that morning at Narmada ghat I found this interesting charachter & I requested to allow me to take his portrait. He was humble enough to allow me for that. The morning sunlight & the breeze helped me for adding in the image.I really want to thank him for resulting in nice portrait & giving me a winner shot.

Camera settings:
This shot was taken with my telephoto lens Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS. The light was nice to get nice aperture setting as f/8.0 with high shutter speed like 1/640 sec. I even though increased my ISO to 200 because I was not with tripod & didn't want to miss the shot. He was having far distance from the stairs in the background & I was shooting with the focal length of around 90mm so the f/8.0 allowed me to take sharp image with shallow background adding only colors in the background helping for the image.

About the contest details:

One In 7 Billion
An Exclusive Open Challenge using the Advanced Editing rules.

Description
Take a Portrait in ANY style (classic, candid, street, environmental, etc) that's a storyteller which shows the depth of someone different, special or interesting, a person that stands out (good or bad) in your part of the world. Dig deep and tell their story through an image.

Submission Dates:
Dec 30 2009 - Jan 5 2010
Voting Dates:
Jan 6 2010 - Jan 12 2010
Submissions: 99
Disqualifications: 0
Votes: 21,245
Comments: 569

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/1/winner-on-dpc-holy-man Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:47:00 GMT
My Smoke Aticle Published. https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/1/my-smoke-aticle-published I am happy to announce my blog on smoke photography has been published in the Issue #23 – Dec 2009 of Photography BB.

The PhotographyBB Online Magazine is composed by a hardworking team of volunteer contributing authors who’s goal is to teach beginners all about digital photography and image processing.

You can download it at free in PDF o ZIP format. This isuue is also having another interesting articles. Thanks to the editor Dave Seeram for appreciating my work & encouraging to update my article with setup details. Hope you will like it.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements publication https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2010/1/my-smoke-aticle-published Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:55:00 GMT
Wophy NOV 2009 Member of the month https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/11/woophy-nov-2009-member-of-month I am glad to share with all of you that I have been chosen as Member of the month November 2009 on the website "WOOPHY".

About Woophy:

Woophy stands for WOrld Of PHotographY, a website founded by a Dutch collective of photo aficionados and internet designers who believe navigation on internet can be more visual, logical and associative.

The goal of Woophy's founders is to create an accessible, visual, current, democratic and collective work of art comprised of a database picturing our remarkable world.

With the help of (amateur) photographers across the world we strive to ultimately cover every inch of our world map with images that represent the world's beauty and peculiarity from all different cultural perspectives. Users upload their photos into a free personal account protected by a password, or download pictures for personal use. User email addresses and passwords are not shared with any third parties whatsoever.

My Experience:

I am member on this site from August 9th, 2006 & sharing my around 650 images on this site. I must admit here that the encouraging feedback on my images from Woophy members always inspired me to do better work & share immediately my new work on this beautiful site. Sometimes I felt that I get less citiques on this site but for keeping me on ground I have many tricks as follows.

1. The dpchallenge voters are always ready to for giving harsh critiques, giving low votes if image really doesn't deserved it.

2. If on a day after my work got praised & I feel like flying in the sky, I visit the gallery's of masters. It helps for me settling down & balancing the lofty mood.

The image presented in this blog are my most appreciated images on this website.

I will also like take this opportunity for offering my sincere gratitude to all Woophy members for appreciating my work time to time & pushing me harder to do more work!
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements Woophy nilesh bhange https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/11/woophy-nov-2009-member-of-month Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:55:00 GMT
Rocket Firework Photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/10/everybody-loves-firework-i-love-to Everybody loves the firework & I love to shoot the firework! I especially love to shoot the Rocket firework.

A rocket is a pyrotechnic device made out of a paper tube that propels itself into the air in order to fly. Types of rockets include the skyrockets, which have a stick to provide stability during airborne flight; missiles, which rotate rather than having a stick for stability, or are shot out of a tube; and bottle rockets, smaller fireworks – 1½ in (3.8 cm) long, though the attached stick extends the total length to approximately 12 in (30 cm) – that usually contain whistle effects... From Wikepedia

Here are some of the tips about shooting these kind of photograph. You need a tripod without that it is not possible to shoot these images. Framing should be vertical as the subject is.

1. By taking precautions we will ensure that it will go upwards but it is difficult to know what path it will follow. I use wide angle lens for this. Currently I don't have a lens much wider than 18mm. Using telephoto lens for capturing the abstract of firework may also give nice shots.

2. I place the rocket in a bottle on a surface area with substantial height while placing my camera on a tripod at lower height than the rocket. Take precaution for keeping your camera at safe distance since sometimes the nasty rocket may explode instead of just flying upwards.

3. Use low ISO for avoiding any overexposure, noise & artifacts.

4. Shooting in manual mode is preferable. Use the aperture & shutter speed settings as given below.

5. Use Aperture in the range of f/8 to f/16 to avoid overexposure. I also use polarizer for avoiding it further.

6. This is most important setting. I use shutter speed in the range of 5-10 seconds. I keep the camera in timer mode & press the shutter button just before igniting the rocket. The complete event may take around 2-3 seconds but the long duration will help me to keep further away from camera after pressing the shutter button. If you have a remote cable release you can do it in better way by putting the camera in bulb mode & ending the capture after completion of the event.

7. Focusing is a bit tricky. I use manual focus & by using torch I keep focus on the rocket before taking the actual shot. My 18-55 doesn't have marking of infinity. If you have it then keep it on that.

8. Tweak with your settings after observing the results of your trial shots.

Hope you find this article useful & keep on shooting :)
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) diwali fire firework nileshbhange photography rocket shutter slow speed techniques tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/10/everybody-loves-firework-i-love-to Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:41:00 GMT
Betterphotography Winner September 2009 https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/10/betterphotography-winner-september-2009 I am happy to share with you that recently my photograph "pure" has been selected as a winner on second place on betterphotography in People category.

pure
About the image:
This is portrait of my beautiful daughter "Mansi". This is the photograph in the same photoshoot as in "Sinless". I have converted it to black & white to enhance the concept of purity & innocence. The setup was pretty simple the image was taken without flash & natural light in my balcony. She had given me very fine, natural expressions on that day. She is just 4-1/2 years old now & I am really get amazed the way she responds & co-operate me off course unless she doesn't gets into naughty mood. You can see me in her eyes with a bright background door & wall.

The EXIF data for this image is:
Model: Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL
FocalLength: 55.0 mm
ISOSpeedRatings: 400
ApertureValue: f/5.6
ExposureTime: 1/20 sec.
ExposureProgram: Aperture priority
ExposureBiasValue: 0.0
WhiteBalance: Manual
MeteringMode: Multi-segment

Notification from the site:

10/26/2009 Photographer Nilesh J. Bhange of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has won Second Place for September in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site's founder, Jim Miotke, announced Monday.
More than 18800 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories.
Bhange's stunning image, "p u r e", garnered top honors after being submitted in the People category.
All of the winning images can be viewed at BetterPhoto.com's contest page: http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/winners/0909.asp

The contest is conducted each month. Categories include Nature and Landscapes, Animals, People, Elements of Design, Digital Darkroom, Travel and Place, Flowers, Details and Macro, Catch-All, and Monthly Theme. Judging is performed by a panel of professional photographers.
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) My Achivements betterphotography mansi nilesh https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/10/betterphotography-winner-september-2009 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:44:00 GMT
Portraits in Bright Light https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/9/portraits-in-bright-light Taking portrait in bright light is quiet tricky & most of the time photographers avoid to take images in such conditions. The major reason for this is the harsh light creating unpleasant shadows, bright highlights & more contrast.
 
Sometimes it is unavoida Man with umbrella ble to do so & you may miss really good shots. The simple tricks which can be used under such circumstances. Try to use a shade if available nearby.This will provide you for getting nice exposure & soft light.


I was to take portrait of a villager & I noticed he was having the umbrella with him. I requested the person kindly use it. It helped me not only for getting good exposure but also composing the image. It is good practice to put an soft white umbrella in your gear box if possible. Somebody can assist you by holding it for creating shade with soft light.
 
 
Use your flash light source as secondary light source & ambient as prominent light.Try to use fill flash wherever needed. Use flash compensation for reducing the power of flash & keeping your subject exposure with the ambient light. If shadows in background of subject by use of flash is unavoidable then prefer dark backgrounds in the shade. Try to keep more distance between your subject & the background.
 
 
Using the sun in the background of model may give nice back light as well as a comfort to the eye of the person otherwise you will struggle with blinking/closed eyes of the person. In portrait photography it is most important that your subject should be completely comfortable.
 
 
Using reflectors is also a nice way for adding the fill light. You can also try to experiment with high key effect.
 
 
Practicing will make you comfortable to take images in bright light, it's a bit challenging but you will not miss shots in future. You may also explore very soon to get some environmental portraits rather than preferring the shade always :)
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) bright flash light lighting nileshbhange photography portrait shadow techniques tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/9/portraits-in-bright-light Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:56:00 GMT
A Trip to Mandu https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/9/trip-to-madu I was on the trip to Mandav/Mandu (6-9-2009) Sunday. My friend Vijay is having the bike “Theunderbird :Royal Enfield”. The area local manager of Royal Enfield had organized an official trip to this place. Mandav is around 90Km from my residence place Indore, Total 16 people were in the group along with the manager & two mechanic.
 

Biker

We started around 6:15 from Indore. It was nice fresh morning the sigh of relief was there were no signs of getting rain.

I was thrilled to have fun with photography as it was my first experience to shoot while having a ride on bike. I have tried motion panning considering nothing can be better than this time to work on that. I kept wide open aperture to get slow shutter speeds & keeping image stabilization on of my canon 18-55mm IS lens. Some shots turned out really well. It’s really difficult to get very sharp images but I got some images with acceptable quality. I was also interested in taking some people portraits as always.

Here is a bit more information about this place:

History Of Mandu:
Mandu was founded as a fortress and retreat in the 10th century by Raja Bhoj.It was conquered by the Muslim rulers of Delhi in 1304. After the victory of Mughals in the early 16th century on Delhi, Mandu came under the administration of Afghan Dilawar Khan, the Governor of Malwa. Hoshang Shah, son of Dilawar Khan, transferred his capital to Mandu. Until 1561, it remained under the Afghans when Akbar defeated Baz Bahadur, one of the Afghan chieftains ruling a part of central India. Baz Bahadur fled Mandu instead of facing the Mughal army. During the administration of Marathas, the capital of Malwa was shifted back to Dhar and Mandu became a ghost city for some time.

Best Time To Visit:
Mandu enjoys an extreme climate. The best season to visit this place is during the monsoon, that is, from July to September. While other places in Madhya Pradesh and most of the north and peninsular India are closed for tourism during monsoon, Mandu is more of a monsoon resort than anything else. The natural surroundings are in full bloom during this time. The monsoon is to end in India so everything is with lush green & beautiful atmosphere. We were able to mage our visiting in the best period :)

Places:
Rupmati's Pavilion is a very beautiful piece of architecture & I got some very nice images of arches in symmetry along with there reflections in water. I also like to take picture of beautiful caves with good light & shadows. The Rupmati's Pavilion is situated on the very edge of Mandu Fort. It is a very romantic building, a perfect setting for fairytale romance. Nevertheless, unfortunately, the love story of Baz Bahadur and Rupmati had a tragic end. It is said that Akbar attacked Mandu for the sake of Rupmati and Baz Bahadur fled Mandu leaving Rupmati to poison herself. We all enjoyed the beautiful view of lush green fields, mountains & atmosphere with dramatic fog. I have taken snaps with my wide angle(18-55) & medium telephoto(55-250).



 
 
 
All of us enjoyed & shared the beauty of nature & I was with my camera on almost all the time & busy with taking the snaps. The most beautiful place we visited were Jahaz Mahal & Hindola Mahal. Just before going to this place there was a short rainfall. The beauty of these places was much enhanced with nice sunshine after the rain.
 
Slideshow of images in this trip & after

Jahaz Mahal (or the Ship Palace) is probably the most famous building in Mandu. This ship-like structure was constructed by Ghiyas-ud-din, son of Mohammed Shah, for his harem. According to the legends, this harem was home to 15,000 maidens. There are two lakes on the east and west side of the palace that create a perfect illusion of a ship with its rectangular shape.

Hindola Mahal (or Swing Palace) was a pleasure to me that gives the impression that the inward slopes of the walls are swaying. I was really impressed by the interior beauty of this Mahal.
 
Due to the inspirational beauty of this place I have revisited this place after this trip. I have shared all those images in the gallery & a slideshow above. I hope you enjoy those images.
 
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) bhange bike blog enfield experience india madhya mandav mandu nilesh photography pradesh royal travel trip https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/9/trip-to-madu Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:07:00 GMT
Ansel Adams:The Master of Landscapes https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/8/ansel-adamsthe-master-of-landscapes I guess all of you knowing the Master of Landscapes: Ansel Adams(February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984). He was one of the highly appreciated photographers in the world & is very famous for his fine quality of prints produced. His prints are still popular & in the sells.

He was having great technique to capture beautiful landscapes with eye pleasing composition & exposure. Adams developed the famous and highly complex "zone system" of controlling and relating exposure. This was a a method for getting real to life exposure for his images & prints. He understood completely how camera & lens sees the world & how one can get images looking real to life. In the age of film camera he understood how tones of color reflect in shades of grey.

His one of the favorite quote is "You don’t take a photograph, you make it".What I interpret his statement that a true photographer composes a photo first in mind & then apply his technique to capture that shot in camera. This is the way of making photograph. He always give advice to novice photographer to visualize, develop the skill of visualization. His development is enabling photographers to creatively visualize an image and produce a photograph that matched and expressed that visualization
 
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Adams_The_Tetons_and_the_Snake_River.jpg
 
He said in an interview he never took two different photographs of a same location. For answering this he added he knows what I have to shoot on a location along with what exposure & other settings. I understood this as if someone is taking more than one snap that means he don't know what he is doing. He took same photograph twice just to avoid accidental loss while developing films. I was really amazed to know this & his confidence in his techniques in the age of film camera. I still struggle to get correct exposure & composition in the modern age of digital camera.

I am still struggling to get good exposure by using modern day’s camera light meter & metering modes. I hope this article may help to make novice photographers curious enough to understand Zone System This will also help them for metering in many situations & getting correct exposure. There are various books & tutorials for getting correct exposure by following zonal system. A practical immediate advantage for following this system is getting perfect white background for subject isolation as required for stock photography. After having basic understanding of getting correct exposure you will see your images with very natural colors & light.

'I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us'- Ansel Adams
 
More information on him can be found at artisy: Ansel Adams

I can only expect to get a image close to him one day :)
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) adam ansel adam landscape photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/8/ansel-adamsthe-master-of-landscapes Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:01:00 GMT
My First Blue https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/7/normal-0-microsoftinternetexplorer4  

WOW! I finally got it!

It was one of my dream to get a blue (1st place ) on Dpchallenge contest, which come true today. I really struggled hard to make this happen. I tried hard, sometimes got frustrated & lost hope that I can ever make this.
There is no prize for winning but the satisfaction of winning among the best photographer is priceless! That urge of winning had improved my photography knowingly & unknowingly. For winning in such contest one try to learn more, look around for subject & I too was able to update my portfolio with variety of subjects & concepts. This is important for a non-professional hobbyist since they have to take time from their non-official hours.
 
About the image:
Thanks to the old man for kindly allowing me to take his photograph. On one morning walk I saw him setting outside his hut & the vibrant colorful clothes attracted me. After returning home I took my camera specially for capturing him for this contest. He was a little bit shy but I was able to make him comfortable & got a winning shot.
 
Image EXIF:

Model: Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL
FocalLength: 55.0 mm
ISOSpeedRatings: 200
ApertureValue: f/5.6
ExposureTime: 1/100 sec.
ExposureProgram: Manual
ExposureBiasValue: 0.0
WhiteBalance: 1
MeteringMode: 6
 
Undoubtedly his face was full of character, the face with marks of age, big mustache & beard & curious eyes along with vibrant colorful clothes everything was fascinating! I didn’t mind to take a tighter shot exploring all these details.
 
Update on 19/8/2009:
This image has been selected as "Photo Of The Day" on 18/8/2009 on betterphoto. My first ever experience of getting this honor & I am really happy for that.
 
Here is the notification from site:
Congratulations! Your image was chosen for the BetterPhoto Photo of the Day!
Our daily email newsletter, Photo of the Day, showcases outstanding pictures from our monthly photo contest and goes out by email to over 26,000 people!
Share this honor with your friends and family by sending them this link to view your photo: http://www.betterphoto.com/POTDarchive2.asp?ID=1795
Once again, congratulations and thank you for being part of our global community!
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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) Dpchallenge My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/7/normal-0-microsoftinternetexplorer4 Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:51:00 GMT
Betterphoto May 2009 Finalist 7 Winner https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/6/betterphoto-may-2009-finalist I am really happy to share with you that my two images are shortlisted as finalist in betterphoto May 2009 contest. One is "r e d" photograph of my daughter Mansi in People Category & other is "P e a s" in the category Elements of Design

Notification from the site:
Betterphoto Link : r e d

Congratulations! You have placed as a finalist in this month's BetterPhoto Contest! Over 19500 photos were entered into the competition; it is an honorto have your image selected among the top 516 finalist photos.

Your finalist photo: r e d (#8368766)

red
Betterphoto Link : p e a s

Congratulations! You have placed as a finalist in this month's BetterPhoto Contest! Over 19500 photos were entered into the competition; it is an honor to have your image selected among the top 516 finalist photos.

Your finalist photo: p e a s (#8296908)

Hope they will do better further & at least one image may be nominated as winner.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) Dpchallenge My Achivements https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/6/betterphoto-may-2009-finalist Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:44:00 GMT
Getting Abstracts From Smoke Shots https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/5/getting-abstracts-from-smoke-shots Smoke Photography is a really very interesting & there is no limit to your creativity. I have given the basic hints for getting good photographs by using smoke in my earlier blog “Smoke Photography”

Here I will like to give a practical example of how one can play with a image to create beautiful patterns & designs in very simple steps. The images represent my layers in photoshop & details are as given below.

1. This image is my basic image straight from camera.

2. After basic adjustment by using levels & contrast the image

3. The layer is copied & using free transformed flipped horizontally. Layer’s blending mode changed to Lighten.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.

 

Layer Both layers copied into new layer again blending mode set to lighten. I am showing individual layers but You will see a different image in photoshop.

5. Layer 4 duplicated & using free transform flipped vertically. Blending mode set to lighten.

6. All layers merged to new layer. Using free transformed rotated clockwise 90 deg. This completes the basic final shape in photoshop.

7. In new layer color gradient is applied.

These steps completes the final image. One can still play with various blending options, gradient options & lot more. As I said earlier there are infinite possibilities.


Hope you may found this simple technique helpful. Enjoy the unlimited available creativity with your smoke photography.

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) abstract.photoshop patterns photography post processing smoke smoke photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/5/getting-abstracts-from-smoke-shots Sat, 16 May 2009 19:34:00 GMT
My Inspiration For Portrait Photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/3/my-inspiration-for-portrait-photography
Today I am going to share with you about my inspiration for the portrait photographic work. I have no shame to tell boldly that all my portrait photography work is highly inspired by the master in this field Manny Librodo. I always believe that everyone might be inspired from something & one should not feel ashamed to get inspired.

Most of you might be very well familiar with his name & work. I still remember the first day when I visited his gallery on Pbase.It was a holiday morning & I can never forget that experience which I felt while surfing his work. I almost spent 2-3 hour just observing his amazing work. Believe me it was too late to sense that I have yet to take lunch. At that time I found more hunger in me to do such kind of work than the taking just a lunch.

Photographer : Manuel Librodo

The best thing which I liked is his work is how beautifully he has captured the emotions! He is master in creating good lighting & post processing. In some image He has created such a magical work one almost gets the 3D effect in the two dimensional photograph. I will definitely like to link the two images with such effect & which are VEIL & INTENSITY

I dig out on the net & I know many others may also for getting his post processing techniques but alas nothing came to my hand. I wonder how he is able to keep that so secret. Whatever I learned is just by observing his images very closely. I know my work is nowhere comes to close to his. But I am happy enough for seeing his amazing work & getting inspired.

The first thing which I started doing new was approaching the people. I was not having enough guts to ask the unknown people to allow me to get them photographed. I still haven't overcome this problem completely that but somehow I have opened up a little bit. It's really difficult for the newbie like me to develop this art. As I read in one of his interview that “smile is the key”. It can turn the things. I think when two persons meet each other somewhere in the corner of mind they are not friendly with each other, once they realizes that other person is not going to hurt me the door opens

I like most of his work with the children. I always believed the children give most natural expressions because of there innocence. The other thing which I experienced in my street photography work how rich the poor peoples are really! I can sense the warmth of their soul. I felt the sense of happiness when they came to know that somebody is interested to photograph them. I think they can deliver very natural expressions.

I like the way he composes his images. He has given a different dimension to the portrait photography by using the veils, turban & traditional clothing, jewelry. I know it's difficult for me to attend his workshop & there is no way to get his workflow. I have so much to learn & practice for at least to get such beautiful lighting effect & beautiful sense of emotions in my work.

If interested see my more work on Street Portraits: Indian People

I hope you enjoyed this blog. Best Regards & love you all :)

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) inspiration librodo nileshbhange people photography portrait street techniques tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/3/my-inspiration-for-portrait-photography Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:28:00 GMT
Mansi & Me https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/1/mansi-me
Mansi is my daughter & she is now around 4 years old. You will find significant images of her in my portfolio. She has got very beautiful eyes & charming face. We share a great time while shooting & I really like the way she responds to me. I really love her expressive face.
 
I am writing this blog because she is the person because of which my interest in photography has been started. If before 3-4 years you asked me anything about photography I may have not able to tell the basics (Even today I am trying to learn those.. ). I was not comfortable with the film cameras. I remember an incidence from my college days while once on a trip the camera was out of photos because the film was not properly fixed  in camera.The only thing in my favor was my  interest in drawing . I have successfully completed some good drawing courses in childhood.
 
Sinless
 
I bought my first digital camera Nikon 4200 only for taking images of my 6 months old girl. I was really impressed aboutt the digital convenience & the quality of images. I was very well familiar with computer so very soon I became used to the digicam. Meanwhile I came across some online photo competition site Dpchallenge & I begin to realize the manual setting limitation of my camera.
 
After around 18 months I switched to SONY DSC-H2. I really loved it's optical zoom (12X,6M) & manual features. I read many online articles & try to experiment with all manual features. In this process my photo library was growing with different subject whereas Mansi's images were somewhat in less quantity.

I changed my gear to canon 400D in April's of 2008. This was my first SLR camera & it opened a new doors to quality photography. I realized the difference between the compact & SLR camera.

 

Dreams

Well shooting with children is not an easy task. You have to respect their mood & emotions. One has to become their good friend. Some times you have to offer some small gifts. You have to be quick because you really don't know when the desired expression is coming. Children tend to change their facial expression very fast. Different setups develop interest of children for giving various poses in photo shoot. They enjoy it & take it as a fun. There are times when I became angry on her & very soon realize my mistake. I realized that it's very difficult to execute good shots with planning & most nice shots are candid one's.

I will be always thankful to her for turning out my interest in photography even though unknowingly. I know this article is too personal but hope you will like it. Don't forget to leave your comments because it really helps.

If interested see my more work on Mansi at : Mansi Photographs

Best Regards,
Enjoy photo shooting with your kids :)
Love you all!

 

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) child girl indian kid mansi nilesh bhange photography portrait https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/1/mansi-me Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:06:00 GMT
Smoke Photography https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/1/smoke-photography I think everybody loves to see smoke images & photographers want to expertise in such kind of photography. I wish to share the technique for taking such images. I am not the first one to do such work, you can get lot of information on internet. This is an attempt to share my personal experience with you. Before starting to work on this I must say one needs lot of patience for getting good images. One has to select really good images out of the bunch & dare to throw average images.

Image 1 Image 2

Image2: A image showing sound waves illustration representing smoke as sound waves. In actual photograph the smoke was from behind the speaker & only top wave. In processing it has been duplicated & shown coming from speaker. No external elements have been added in the image.

My few tips & techniques for capturing such images are as given below:
SOURCE: The source for smoke can be cigar, incense sticks etc. I prefer incense sticks considering long time needed for working on such shots. It is not harmful for health also & pleasant to work with.

PLACE: You will need a clean place with minimum dust & good ventilation. Insure it is with enough isolating atmosphere, not disturbing the smoke frequently. Small place will get filled with smoke & you will not able to work after some time.

BACKGROUND: Use a black background for getting good contrast with the smoke color. The another advantage is that during post processing when you invert image you can get isolated white background very easily. Some images looks good against black (Image 2) & other against white (Image3 & 4).

Tango Image 3 Image 4

Image4: Do you see a couple in tango? This was original shot & I didn't duplicated layers here to achieve these figures.

SHUTTER SPEED: Use higher shutter speed like greater than 1/160 Sec. This will help for getting sharp images.Use tripod even if you are shooting with higher speed. Sometimes you can get beautiful soft smooth effects images with slightly slower speeds. Handholding camera may help you to tracking faster the various portions of the smoke but you need steady hands.

APERTURE: Use higher aperture like f/12..f/18. Since you don't know the exact area for focusing it is preferable to use higher aperture values.

ISO: Use lower ISO if possible to get noise free images.It is quiet likely to get noisy images with this kind of subject & higher light requirement.


LIGHT: For getting high speed & higher aperture values light should be sufficient enough. For using lower ISO one needs good amount of light for that strobes really helps. Use one or two off camera flash such that light will not hit background. If possible use diffused light. If you don't have strobes here is old technique which I was using earlier. I was using sunlight illuminating only the smoke without falling on background, with some limitation on settings one can get nice images without flash. The on camera flash will not be useful because it will throw light . Using snoots (object like rectangular box) on external flash will help for illuminating smoke & isolating light from background. As shown in setup image those flashes were used in manual mode. The power is adjusted after taking some trial shots. Usually I prefer to handhold camera for getting interesting compositions. Since I am shooting at 1/200 sec (maximum sync speed of my camera) I have fewer reasons to worry about getting blurry images.

FOCUS: Last but important use manual focus. Don't move tripod aft
er focusing. You can focus on source of smoke & since you are using higher aperture it is quite likely to get the smoke with tack sharp details. Auto focus may trouble you to get shot in time & the focusing timings may irritate you. Macro lens may help you to get tack sharp images.

Image 5 Image 6

smoke Art Maori Tiki In post processing adjust levels to make background pure black & remove unwanted portion of smoke if needed. You can play with hue/sat adjustment for coloring the smoke. You can us multiple layers with masking to get multicolored smoke shots. In post processing one can use mirror image of the original image to get symmetrical abstracts. Most of the time they can turn into really good abstracts as shown in Images 5 & 6.

For getting some interesting shapes use other layers with main subject snapping horizontally & vertically. Blend this layers with darken, lighten etc. for getting different shapes. Sometimes you need to clean out some unwanted smoke.

The multi color effect can easily be obtained by applying color gradients, but use this layer by blending in color mode. You can get number of possibilities by using different layers with various blending & masking. No limit to creativity. The example is shown in Image 3 & 6.

Few days before I was experimenting on such shots & realised that the music can be very helpful for getting variations in smoke shapes. I played my favorite musicians A.R.Rahman songs & got some really interesting images, some of them are uploaded today & other I will upload very soon. Enjoy your favorite music & smoke photography. The only thing you will need is lot of time, patience, people with no allergy of smoke & if married a super calm wife :)

If interested here are view my more work on smoke shots: My Smoke Photography
If anybody feels this article useful I will be very happy. Love you all Keep shooting... :)

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njbhange@gmail.com (njbfoto) abstract art color fine macro nileshbhange photography smoke technique tips https://www.nileshbhange.com/blog/2009/1/smoke-photography Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:14:00 GMT