April 2008 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper

This month's calendar is a Sparrow taking a dip in a puddle.



Shot in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

Image: Common Langur Baby

I woke up on a cold morning in Pushkar, Rajasthan, India and decided to go for a walk and see the town waking up. There was hardly any activity. A few men were walking on the street and a couple of tiny shops were open making tea. I was wondering if it was worth coming out in the cold. It turned out rewarding after all. A few langurs(monkeys) were sitting in a huddle to escape from the morning cold, still feeling sleepy. A tiny one peeped out from it's mother's protections and peered at me inquisitively.

Exif: Canon EOS 350D, 100-400L at 400mm, 1/30sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, handheld.

Experience and Evolving in Using Flickr

When flickr was new, I was loathe to join. I took it as yet another online tool for storing and show-casing photos, and did not see a need for it. After all, I had my own online Image Gallery and something outside my site did not seem necessary. As flickr's popularity grew leaps and bounds I could not help but sit up and notice. Everyone I knew was getting on flickr, and I eventually followed suit, still without knowing why should I really use flickr. Now it has been a few years since I reluctantly started with flickr and eventually embraced it fully. Here is my experience of positives of flickr.

1. Flickr is great for networking with fellow amateur photographers who are either like minded or share some passion on the same genre of photography with you. But the best networking happens with photography groups within your city. Flickr has got me in touch with a few passionate people who are enthusiastic about photography, and we have a few groups who often meet and go for shoots. It is a great place to start if you are looking for someone to join you for your photography excursions.

2. Flickr is great if you have to automatically keep track of pictures of a photographer you admire, or photographs uploaded by a friend. All you have to do is add them as contacts and keep a watch on pictures from your contacts. I did not bother to have any contacts added initially, and then figured it has its advantages. There are a few people whose works I admire and having added them as contacts, it is easy for me to find out when they upload new images. Besides this, it can also work as broadcast tool to show your latest pictures to your friends. You would have had to email a link to your latest photos after coming back from a trip or after some events. But now, as long as they have you added as your contacts, they will automatically know about the new images.

3. It is easy to find people to critique your images. But this has to be taken cautiously. The commenting feature does help, but it is very likely that you will only get praises on every picture you upload. You can find people to give a critical review of the images and help you improve only if you build the right contacts, and are willing to take every comment with stride.

4. Flickr can be surprisingly good at giving publicity to your images. I have managed to sell a few photographs via flickr and know a few more friends who have done the same. What is important is to get the keywords right.

5. All the above are not to talk about the features that flickr gives you - a free account, virtually unlimited storage, a wonderful and convenient interface.. This list can go on, and I would not bother to talk much about it. But all these can be available in many other online photo galleries too. The advantage of flickr is that nearly every one(except the big professionals and those who haven't even started on photography) is on flickr and being there can give you an excellent lead in showcasing your photos and networking with people. That is the primary reason why I am on flickr today, and that is the reason I would say, why you should be on flickr.

An unlikely career in photography

It is amazing how innovative careers do people find. Sheffield Quigley finds a career in shooting pictures for myspace profiles of people, and does only that, and has a successful career at it!



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In times of construction

I have been travelling a bit in the last few months, and have been visiting heritage sites in India. Surprisingly I ended up having to make do with some restoration work happening at many places. That means the best possible photograph of these places could not be taken without some scattered construction materials or supporting pillars. Here are a few pictures of work in progress.



The right portion of the ancient temple was covered with supporting pillars. Similarly with the picture below.



These are far away places I would not be able to visit often. So I had no choice but to do my best to make some pictures. I tried various combinations to make the subject look appealing and hide the restoration work. Below is what I got out of these places. For the first one, the temple was in a dramatic location, which helped. I made a picture of the panorama.



For the second one, I simply avoided the part that was being restored, and shot only a portion of the fort. The work in progress portion is hidden behind the roof with pigeons.



But there are more occasions when I felt completely helpless. A major disappointment was at Taj Mahal, where the pool in front of the monument was running dry due to maintenance work and the reflection that is seen in so many of the images of Taj Mahal was not to be seen.

Do you think I can eat the camera?

Shot during a hangout with fellow photographers in the city.