Image: Bird - Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

This one was shot last weekend near Bangalore.



Exif: Canon EOS 350D, 100-400L at 400mm, f/5.6, 1/100sec, ISO 400

Feb 2007 desktop calendar

February 2007 desktop calendar is ready for download. To get the image in 1024x768, click on the picture below.



About the image

The mountain in the picture is Mt.Nanda Devi, one of the tallest mountains in India. Nanda Devi is located in Garhwal Himalayas in Uttaranchal state, and is surrounded by Nanda Devi National Park, home to rare snow leopards and Bharals(blue sheep). This image was taken from Auli, a ski lodge near Joshimath, Uttaranchal on a winter evening in 2006. You can read more in detail about my trip report to Auli. Also see images of Auli that I shot in 2005 and 2006.

For those interested to know more about Nanda Devi, I recommend the book "Nanda Devi Affair" by Bill Aitken, published by Penguin India.

Image: At the flower show

An image of flowers neatly arranged in a flower show held at a local park.



Exif: Canon EOS350D, 17-40L, 1/100sec, f/6.3, ISO 400

Images of India Widget

Yesterday I was browsing through a few blogs and noticed the mybloglog widget on one of the blogs. Somehow it reminded of flickr images that some bloggers and websites display on their pages. I thought why not have such an image streaming box on my India Travel Blog too, which could pick random images from my image gallery. I did not find a tool that was already available and works with blogger, so I did the next best thing - I fiddled with the application and created one myself. I have now installed it on the sidebar(scroll down) of this blog too. It shows different images each time you reload. I would love to hear your thoughts on how it fits in on the blog.

I also thought of throwing the widget open. The widget can be fit on any webpage, and if you feel you can do with this to add some color to your webpage, go ahead and install it by copying this code.

<iframe src="http://www.paintedstork.com/pictures/rand.php" width="130" height="350"></iframe>

Image - Stageshow - traditional dance form

This is the image of a traditional dance form, called Goravara Kunita, once performed to ward off evil but has now remained a form of entertainment. As with any stage show, this one too is shot in difficult lighting conditions and high ISO.



Exif: Canon EOS 350D, 100-400L at 350mm, IS on, ISO 800, 1/40sec, f/5.6

The Photographer's Itch

Does it happen to you? It has been a while I have gone out and done some serious photography, and now I just can't wait to put my hands on the camera. I have been a bit busy with other things and haven't managed to take time out to be with my camera since I made the Chikmagalur trip. And now I have made plans to get out and take some pictures next week(which is a long weekend for us), but can't wait for it and having a hard time anticipating it. Besides the fact that I am missing the fun, I have a few composition ideas that have come up in my mind in the last few months and can't wait to try them out in the field. No matter what, I still have to wait for five more days!

New NPN homepage

The folks at naturephotographers.net have changed their homepage to show a slide show of a few images in the place on single image. Even the single image they used to put up used to be so stunning each time, I used to keep staring at it endlessly, wondering at the marvels of nature and the skills of the photographer who shot it. Now, looking at the slidshow, it just makes me go crazy. Do have a look at their home page and you will know what I mean. And don't miss their galleries which have even more incredible images.

Photography Competitions

Although I rarely take part in photography competitions(actually never did so far!), I always keep looking out for them. And I wished there was one place where all competitions get listed. There is indeed such place on the web - photocompetitions.com.
Link via photocritic.org

Imperfection in Images - III Some basic composition errors and suggestions

This is the last of the three part series on imperfections in photographs. In previous sections, I wrote about technical errors like exposure errors and sharpness of images. This section will focus on basic composition errors.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

Do keep in mind that there are no clear rules when it comes to composing your images. But there are some basic principles that can be used to make good images. Some photographers say there are no 'rules' but only 'guidelines'. And there are many good images that break all the principles and guidelines. That means you can have an image with the problems I am going to mention, which is still a great image. Note that I keep out of the topic of 'how to compose great images' here and only focus on what to avoid. The former could be a much bigger topic to cover here.

1. STRAY OBJECTS IN THE IMAGE

You will very often have a center of attention or attraction in an image. It could be flower, a person, a bird or anything of such kind. When you have such objects of attention, it is important that the object gets sufficient space and coverage in the image. Sufficient space, in the sense that you should be able to separate the object of attention clearly, and it should be isolated from other objects in the frame. Coverage, in the sense that the object should occupy sufficient area in the frame that the viewer is instantly attracted to it. Let's see with some examples.



Look at the image of a Sirkeer Malkoha in the above image. This is a correctly exposed, sharp image. But there are so many branches running all around the bird, that the bird does not really get sufficient emphasis. Especially damaging are the two thick branches - one on which the bird is sitting and the other one running horizontally behind the bird. It could get worse if there was a branch or leaves in front of the bird. On the contrary, look at the image below, where the bird distinctly stands out and there are no distractions. It is more appealing to the eye, and all the attention of the eye easily goes into the subject of interest. Also note that the bird gets sufficient part of the frame.



To go further on this, see how a simple non-distinct branch to the right of the bird in the image below can disturb the entire image.



Preventing: The only way to prevent this outdoors is to keep a watch and take care each time at the time of composition. Recompose if you can. Since you may have good control of the subject when you are indoor, you can be careful and account for the problem, and setup the subject properly or move your subject to a better place if necessary. Do not forget to check the image on the LCD and look for any problem of the above kind. If a crop can get rid of some clutter in the image, go for it.

2. LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND

A bad background usually results in a bad image. If you have a yellow subject with a yellow background, obviously your subject does not stand out all that well. A cluttered background too can spoil the image despite good contrast between background and foreground.



Look at the image of a Golden Langur above. It is not a bad image but for the cluttered background. Now look at the image below. There is not much difference with the way the subject appears in this image from the previous one, but a good background has made remarkable improvement in the overall image. Also note that the background has a good contrasting color.



Getting good background: When you look through the viewfinder, your eye looks at the subject and nearly ignores the background. One needs to make a conscious effort to scan the background and check if it fits well with the subject. A background contrasting with the subject(such as black on white) usually makes a good background. Always review the background of the image on LCD, and recompose if possible.

3. VERY TIGHT COMPOSITIONS

If your subject alone takes up the entire frame, it can often be discomforting to the viewer. Leave some room and let the person seeing the image feel around the object too.



The above image is a tight crop leaving little room for anything but the subject. See the image below, which has some space around the subject, especially to the front of the bird. A viewer may feel some discomfort with a tight crop and leaving some open space improves the image.

Who is selling more cameras..?

I came across some interesting camera sales statistics today, which indicated who is selling more digital cameras. Canon seems to be leading the market with an excellent 40% share, with Nikon holding more than 30%. Others are far behind, and that includes Sony. See the graph here.

And flickr has a page about camera usage pattern among its members. Surprisingly, Canon leads the pack here with a wide margin, with Canon Rebel XT usage more than twice the nearest DSLR. And Canon brands have captured all the top five slots in point and shoot.

Kodak goes pink..!

Digital cameras were still evolving only a few years back. Now we are in a position to say that the megapixels are sufficient, and image quality matches or rivals that of film. So what is the next stop for consumer, point and shoot digital cameras? Forget technical and quality improvements, just package it, brand it and sell it; just do something to ensure that it doesn't look like a 'commodity'. That's exactly what Kodak seems to be doing.

They are now launching cameras that are colored pink, or even better, cameras with different 'skin colors' to choose from. Added attraction thrown in is a stylish pink bag that comes with the camera! And it is promoted with lines like 'Make a Statement'! Seems like digital camera market has matured considerably and now it is time to move on from features like "8 megapixels, nx zoom,.." to "..makes you look cool" kind of marketing. See for yourself - Kodak Easyshare V1003 and V803.

Imperfection in Images - II Look for dark regions and burnt areas

+ Go to beginning of the series

DARK REGIONS

This is a more common imperfection, and also more obvious than the previous one - soft images. It is likely to occur when you are shooting indoors with single flash and no reflectors, or when you are shooting outdoors when the sun is high.

Although it is a very common imperfection and easy to spot, beginners are often unaware of it because our eyes tend to ignore these spots. Here are some examples of dark areas in the images.



Look at the dark patch to the left of the girl's back. You see a narrow dark strip which is nothing but the shadow created by the flash. Similar effect can happen when you are shooting with single source of light, even without flash.



The image on the left was taken in the mid-day sun. You can see dark shadows which have completely hidden the eye of the person. You can see ugly dark spot under the nose of the boy to the right.



Besides portrait images, this can also happen easily when you are shooting buildings, or landscapes in general. Below is an example of a structure shot in harsh sun, which has cast shadows to the right of each pillar.



And below is the image of last sunlight of the day falling on a mountain peak. It is a beautiful sight and mountain peak is glowing beautifully. But note that the bottom portion of the image has gone completely dark, spoiling the whole image. Such problems can occur frequently when shooting sunrise and sunset.

PREVENTING DARK AREAS

1. When shooting people indoors, look carefully for shadows on the face. It becomes evident after some practice. Avoid using flash and use the tripod where possible. Tripods and indoor light can be used to make some great portraits, but setting up the light properly is important(That is another topic altogether). If you have to use flash, try to complement with existing light in the room such that you won't get shadows. If you don't have a wall or any objects behind the person, you can avoid shadows to some extent. Do not shoot with a single artificial light source like a light bulb. You should install light sources in opposite/multiple directions such that they can eliminate shadows.
2. Avoid shooting outdoor when sun is high. This applies to all kind of photographs - people, buildings or landscapes. Early morning and evenings are the best time to shoot outdoor. If you are shooting people or close-by objects in the sun, you can also use fill-flash to prevent shadows. That is, turn on the flash which will light up the areas that would otherwise appear as shadow.
3. When you are shooting landscapes, especially sunrise and sunsets, sky and the ground will be at different levels of brightness. So if you shoot for the sky you will get completely dark areas for ground, and if you shoot for the ground, your sky will appear completely white. The best way to prevent it is to use Graduated Neutral Density filters, which can stop some light from the sky while allowing all the light coming in from the ground.
4. When the exposed image has some dark areas that are not too bad, it can be recovered during processing by tools such as Shadows/Highlight tool in Photoshop.

BURNT AREAS

The area in the photograph that appears completely white because of over-exposure is normally called burnt. This is a more common problem and difficult to prevent. Many high end point and shoot digital cameras and almost all DSLRs warn the photographer about burnt areas in the photograph by making that area blink continuously. You can also verify over-exposed image using the histogram.

Below is an example of burnt image. In this picture, the sky appears pure white because it is over-exposed. But actually sky was overcast and had some colors and was not pure white.



In the image below, some parts of snow appear pure white and patterns in the snow are not visible.



The trouble with burnt images is that it is not possible to recover any details from that area. In image like the ski slope above, a bit of burnt area may not hurt, but burnt sky can often result in bad images.

PREVENTING BURN

Burns are not so much of a problem indoors as dark areas. Here is some tips to prevent getting burnt images outdoors.

1. What applies for preventing dark areas applies to preventing burnt areas too! Do not shoot outdoor when the sun is high. Contrast in the frame can be high in such times and can result in some burn. Using Graduated Neutral Density Filters when sky and ground share the composition also helps.
2. Expose to the brighter areas. That can prevent burns, but other areas in the frame may turn out darker than desired. Since it is easy to fix such situation in software than what you get when you expose to darker areas, this is preferable.
3. The best thing to do is to evaluate the contrast in the frame, and if you can't get a good image without getting too much of dark or bright areas, re-compose the image or come back when the light is favorable.

To Bruce Fraser

When I moved from film SLR to digital SLR two years ago, I knew little about digital images and the technologies involved. But when I started taking pictures, I realized that some technical knowledge can help stretching the quality of images in digital photography. I started searching around the net, and one of the most prominent of the resources that I used for my learnings are Bruce Fraser's articles on creative pro. Fraser is a color management expert and has written many useful articles about color and other topics in digital photography.

Fraser died last month(December 16) of lung cancer. He is know more with us though his library of articles on creative pro will continue to serve digital photographers community, besides many books he has written. His friend Stephen Johnson has created a website in memory of Bruce Fraser - brucefraserlegacy.com. If you are living in San Francisco or around, there will be a tribute to Bruce Fraser to be held on 10th January at 6pm to 8pm. See more details on this page.

Imperfection in Images - I Soft is bad

Often I get to talk to people who are just beginning to learn and try their hands on photography. They do some ground work, try to understand about the skills and techniques, get an idea of what makes a good composition but still come back home wondering why they are not able to make arresting images. I can often spot some basic flaws in the images. Thats when I realized that it is easy to read about what to shoot and how to make great images, but few people get to read about what makes a bad image and what should not be done. Here is an attempt to fill that gap. This is a multipart series on imperfections that can appear in an image.

SOFT IMAGES ARE BAD IMAGES

There are several occasions when you could have taken a picture and loved it's composition. When you see in a smaller size no bigger than the screen of 1024x768, it might look fine. For the trained eye, even 640x480 image is sufficient to evaluate the sharpness, but a beginner might mis-judge it. But if the full-blown image shows any signs of camera shake, or that you find your subject out of focus or if the depth of field is insufficient, the only place that the image deserves to go to is the trash can.

It may look fine to post on the web at a smaller resolution, or to print a post card size image, but soft images do not do good for professional use, or to make big prints. And as you start processing a soft digital image, you will see that it deteriorates faster than a sharp image. A soft image also means there is no way to make good prints. Besides, if you take two shots of the same subject, with one slightly soft(introduced by camera shake or because the subject is slightly out of foucs) and one perfectly sharp image, you will always notice that the sharp ones looks distinctly better than the soft one. This is true even in smaller sizes when the softness of the image may not be obvious.

Look at the example below. These images were made on different days and composition is slightly different, but it should do good to show the difference. The first image was taken on a day when there was a dramatic colorful sunset, but I did not have a tripod. The image came out soft but it is not obvious in the small version here.



Next, look at the image below. I did not have a colorful sky when I took this, but I had placed the camera on a sturdy professional tripod. You can see that the clarity and appeal of this image exceeds the first image, even when this image is made when the sky is not so colorful.



To demonstrate further, I have taken a small section of full-sized image to show how much difference can sharpness make. The latter image is in fact also better exposed, but even when you compare sharpness alone, you will know that a sharp image makes significant contribution to the overall quality of the image.



HOW TO MAKE SHARP IMAGES?

Unfortunately, there is no better way to make a sharp image than carrying around a bulky and sturdy professional tripod and shoot with the camera mounted on it. But there are ways to improve.

1. Learn the correct way to handhold the camera. I keep my left hand below the lens and support it. My right hand holds the camera, with an adequate grip(not too tight, not too loose) making a comfortable support. When I am taking a picture, I breath in, hold my breath while I click.
2. Click gently. This is the time when you induce maximum vibration in the camera. Do not make a fast/rapid movement of fingers which can shake the camera. With camera in single-frame mode, click gently, hold it depressed for a short time and then release. Do not release instantly. Essentially practice to click with little movement of hand except for the forefinger which depresses the shutter button.
3. It is generally recommended that you do not shoot at shutter speeds below inverse of focal length. That is, if your lens is 200mm, stay at shutter speeds faster than 1/200sec. Though practically you can manage to shoot at slower shutter speeds, this is a safe bet.
4. Use lenses with image stabilization where possible. IS lenses are no match to using a tripod, but very useful when shooting handheld. But remember to turn off IS when the camera or the lens is mounted on a tripod.
5. Always keep a watch on the shutter speed. If it is going too low, it is preferable to shoot at a higher ISO than get a blurred image.
6. The best way to get sharp images is to make it a habit to shoot with tripod. And to make best use of the sharpness that you can get from a tripod, use a cable release or remote release. Using the Mirror Lock-Up also helps. And it is important to ensure that you buy only good professional quality tripod and a matching head. Inexpensive tripods do not really do much in keeping the camera sturdy.
7. More expensive, professional lenses make images that are a great deal sharper than cheap kit lenses. Buy them if you can afford them!

You can also use software tools for sharpening an image, such as Photoshop Unsharp Mask. They can help sharpen the images to some extent, but are of little use if you have started with a bad image. Such tools can be useful when you do not have expensive lenses that can make sharp images. Keep in mind that software tools are no replacement to making a sharp photograph when you are taking it.

Image: Evergreen forest

This is an image from the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, India. This region has thick evergreen forest that can sometimes be hard to penetrate. Direct sunlight never enters inside these forests and it can be difficult to get handheld shots. Sometimes the moss filled tree branches make the whole place look spooky.



Exif: Canon EOS 350D, 17-40L, f/4.5, 1/45sec, ISO 400/

Worst Digital Cameras..

It is not hard to see a good camera being mentioned, but bad ones are rarely quoted. Some one at digitalcamera-hq.com did make a list of digital cameras that gave buyers a bad experience, and the list seems to feature every major camera makers. The models include Canon A70, Nikon 3200 and more. See for yourself.

Acclaimed Images of 2006 from various sources

When a year ends, many magazines and websites look back and bring out the best photographs from the year. Some 2006 awards will feature photographs from previous year too. Here are some.

* Time magazine: Featured 24 photographs. Some of them are really good photographs, but I would not say much about the rest.
* National Geographic: Great stuff as usual, some incredible wildlife images.
* Nationa Geographic(News): Some weird stories and photos, like cat chasing a bear, housefly gets glasses made with laser, and stuff of such kind.
* Reuters 2006 Award Winners has some nice photographs
* ABC News, best of 2006
* NPPA: Best of Photojournalism 2006
* Astronomy: Top ten images.
* World Press Photo: Winners of Photo of the Year.