Taking Centerstage

Going philosophical this time around.

A dancer waiting backstage, every performance seems like a new test, the same inhibitions, the same fear but once the dancer is out there, everything just disappears. For the dancer, the only thing which exists is just the platform, everything else is just a blur. It is only the ovation at the end of the performance which brings the perfomer back to reality, only to realize that the initial inhibitions and fears were baseless. The next performance and the cycle repeats itself

Shot with the Pentax A50mm f1.7 on the Pentax K200D

 

Enchanting !

Another one from the Onam festivities, this one a snapshot of the ‘Mohiniyattam’ dance form. Not as elaborate as the ‘Kathakalli’ but equally enchanting,

Because of the low light I had no option but to use my 1980’s 50mm f1.7 manual focus lens. I must say that this lens never ceazes to amaze me. I picked it up at a pawn shop in Melbourne, Australia and is perhaps much more sharper than even my $1100 zoom lens.

I must say shooting moving subjects with a manual focus lens is a challenge initself and clicking a dancer with a portrait lens is like trying to kill a deer with a stone. Duh! Anyways i still managed to get some decent shots.

Notes to self : Need to invest in a superfast zoom !

Intriguing

Onam is the biggest (or as I understand the only major) festival in the southern state of Kerela. The residential complex I live in has a number of families from Kerela who now choose to call Bangalore home.

We had a gala two day Onam celebration at the apartment complex. One of the highlights of the celebration was ‘Kathakalli’, a rare ancient art form from Kerela. The dancer has an elaborate dress with the face painted in a unique fashion. I have been told that entire getup can take upwards of four to five hours.

This is a snapshot of the dancers face with the intriguing expression. Captured with the Pentax 18-250mm lens on the Pentax K200D.

For hardcore photography enthusiasts: With the dance happening in low light and in the absence of a fast zoom, most of my snaps were getting blurred. I then thought of a devious ploy. I deliberately underexposed the pictures by a stop which gave me relatively faster shutter speed to avoid camera shake and then pushed it later by a stop during post processing. The important thing to note is that you should be shooting in RAW to allow the required leverage.

The Last Moments

You can capture some intersting sunsets from the balcony of my apartments. Infact most of the sunsets shot by me have been taken from my balcony. A blessing and I could’nt have asked for more, except for maybe….a lake in the front, and a 4 bedroom duplex, and a Beamer, and a …..the list never ends.

Anyways, here is one more from the ‘Sunset Boulevard’ just before it disappeared. Since it was cloudy, the ball of fire was not even clearly visible.

Shot with my Pentax 18-250mm on the Pentax K200D.

Shimmer

September saw two business trips to Hyderabad. On the first one, I took the Mrs.along. Checking in at the hotel, the receptionist noticing that the Mrs is with me, gave us a free upgrade to the ‘Suite’. Yippie Dooo !

A very nice room with an equally amazing view of the HUssain Sagar Lake through the glass facade. Could’nt resist the long exposure snap of the lake. With the light in the room reflecting against the glass walls, i had to switch off all the lights, the Mrs. stayed put in the dark for a while cribbing about the mistresses (read ‘The Camera’) before I could get a good shot.

Shot with the Pentax K200D with the Pentax 35mm F2.4 supported on an ‘Ironing Board’ 🙂

Mountain Man

During our last last trip to Nandi Hills, we stopped at the base of the hils for a call of nature 🙂 We took the opportunity to get some pictures as well. This old man approached us for some help and my Dad fished out some dough from his pocket and gave it to the old man. As the old man stood there watching intently I thought it would make a nice picture and immediately snapped.

Taken with the Pentax 35mm f2.4 on the Pentax K200D

Feasting in the sun

This is another one taken at Lalbagh during the ‘Flower Show’. No sooner had I taken my Macro filter assembly off, when the Mrs. points this out. I immediately recomposed and shot with no clue of what the settings on my DSLR are. The Flash was still on, the aperture was way smaller than I would have preferred, but a little post processing did the job.

Taken with my standard Pentax 18-250mm lens on the Pentax K200D.

The Big Leap

It has been a while, over 5 months. Other pressing needs kept me away.

Last weekend, I happened to visit the ‘Flower Show’ at Lalbagh, Bangalore. I thought it will be a good opportunity to hone my macro skills. However, this was not to be. The place was crawling with people with the crowd clamouring to get a glimpse of the exotic flowers on display.

I moved to another section of the park, which gave ample opportunity to practice some shots and hey presto ! I saw this ‘big’ guy. I screwed on the assembly of  my HOYA +10 macro filters atop my Pentax 18-250mm lens and started a rapid fire.

This one was perhaps one of the better ones. Will post some more of the good shots from that day. So long then.

I’m Famous !

Everybody gets a chance to be in the limelight, atleat once in a lifetime. This is the time when your life is about to change forever. The moment in time when you are being escorted to say the words 'Yes, I do'. in Indian parlance, it is the moment before the final marriage rituals. A series of ceremonies over the course of a week.

Shot with the Pentax K200 with the 35mm f2.4 at a family wedding in Delhi

Ball of Fire

 

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A few kilometers away from the Pondicherry city center is ‘Auroville’. While the primary structure here is the Meditation center, the area sorrounding it is a small village inhabited by a number of French with lovely patisseries and eatries every few hundred meters.You see a number of foreign nationals prancing around on old beaten up Hero Honda’s, Kinetic Honda’s and other similar two wheelers. Honestly, I would have seen more foreigners than localites in this area.

A closeup of the ‘Ball of Fire’ taken one early morning at sunrise at Pondicherry. Taken with the Pentax K200D and the 18-250mm on the tripod.