Month: July 2009

Nemesis in action

~ Sudhi ~ 2 Comments

Vijay3

Just a quick post on the shots that I took during today’s match. I was supposed to go early, but just overslept a bit and by the time I reached the ground, the match was almost over.

I was preparing for this chance of taking my teams pictures for a long time. All my action shots were not getting better due to my focus setting. This time I made sure that I do choose the continous mode and the pictures turned out better, though I still need to figure out the other settings. The light was pretty harsh too. If only I had woken up on time, then I could have made use of the early morning’s soft light..well, there is always a next time 🙂

Since I’m a bowler, I prefer to take shots at them. Its also interesting to see how the expressions turn out just before the ball is delivered. Check the intensity of DP here….

DP4

The rest of the player’s photos can be accessed here.

…and of course how can I forget the captain; Vijay. I had to put his photo at the start as I don’t want to be messing with the captain of the team 🙂

I believe I can fly!

~ Sudhi ~ 7 Comments

I believe I can fly!

Almost every evening I’m out taking my daughter to nearby parks to quench her new found thirst for slides and swing. This time the entire family went to Catamaran Park in Foster City. My daughter spends nearly an hour (and sometimes even more) playing with all the things that are there for kids to play. I take my camera along with me so that I can practice some silhouettes while she is busy playing. Since the sun is almost down and nothing of interest around, I resort to practicing silhouettes.

There is a basketball court and I often do see some people playing there. Never did it cross my mind to take a shot at them. Since there was nothing else, I thought maybe I can try some at the players. Though there were some players (with long track pants), I was waiting for somebody to turn up in proper attire (with basketball shorts). After some time, Matt came along and gave permission to take his shots while he practiced his at the basket.

Matt is a nice guy who has just moved into the city. Here is some background info on him in his own words….

“My name is Matt I recently turned 25 and I grew up in Sacramento and recently moved to the bay area for work. I enjoy playing basketball and I also play football. I come from a close family who is very important to me. I play sports to stay in shape and because I am very competitive at every thing I do. I hate to lose.”

This is the first time where a shot of mine has come out exactly how I pictured it at the time of taking it. Right from the elements in the composition to post-processing, everything worked like a charm…except for the green fence. The fence is the result of the adjoining soccer field getting renovated and I couldn’t avoid it. I might have tried a more close-up shot from the ground angle, but that would mean asking Matt to jump higher in the air. Also there wouldn’t be any reference as to how high he was in the air without the ground element in the picture. Other than that, I would have to ask Matt to jump even higher…which didn’t feel right as I would be disturbing his practice session. It was great that he allowed me to take some shots, but asking him to jump higher would be too much. So I let it be there in the picture. Probably could have darken’d it a bit more, but for some reason didn’t. Overall I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Vintage Golden Gate

~ Sudhi ~ 1 Comment

Golden Gate in B&W, originally uploaded by kaddisudhi.

Its really interesting how my mood responds to my own pictures. Since I’m at a very early stage of learning, I’m very critical of all my photos as there are way too many things that would have gone wrong, but at the time of making the shot, it would have never crossed my mind. I’m a slow learner and every picture I take gives me something to learn about it. I try to use that in the next shot I take and thats my progress. It would not be a obvious change that you’ll notice, but I’m getting there at a snail’s pace.

This photo was an exception to my usual feeling and it really turned out to be a pleasant surprise.I had totally messed up my camera settings and just hadn’t reset them back…why…I just forgot about it. I didn’t realize it until I saw this picture on the computer. The moment I looked at the photo, it just looked so …aged! and that’s what I tried to do. Just converted it to B&W with a crop and this is what I got.

What do you do when you screw up your camera settings … give it a vintage look … doesn’t work always though :-p

Golden Gate

~ Sudhi ~ 5 Comments

The bridge is about 30 miles from where I live and of course I was like ‘wow’ when I first saw the bridge. My wife was so keen to see it and for some reason or the other, I just hadn’t taken her out there. One fine day (after nearly 2 years) we decided and to make a visit and she also gave the ‘wow’ thing after seeing it.

This is one of those places which has been shot to death…of course I mean in terms of photography. Yet you’ll find many taking a shot at it. So I joined that group too…about 2 weeks back, which later turned out to be a a total disaster

Initially I was going to join some friends to a trip of the city, but finally it was just me heading out to the bridge. Seeing this pathetic state of me venturing alone at night, my wife and a family friend decided to give me company along with my 2+ year old daughter.

As I was heading near the bridge, my sheer excitement turned into disappointment after seeing the thick fog over the bridge. For a moment I thought of just heading back, but still continued towards the bridge with just one thing “There will always be something that I’ll learn from making an attempt”.

The point that could give the view I wanted is well known as Fort Baker. From its military post bunkers you can get a good view of the bridge. After parking the car all I had to do was just open the door to get another dose of disappointment; gusty winds…It was so windy that I had to put some strength to shut the car door. Seeing this wind, my wife and co decided to stay put in the car (really a wise idea) and I dared to head towards the point.

As I was walking, my mind kept telling me one thing “just hang onto the ground and don’t die!” Seriously I had never ever imagined that the winds would be so strong out there. I could barely walk and kinda crawled to the place. After reaching the point, I took my gear out, got the angle and elements I want in the composition and pretty soon realized that a cheap $20 tripod, can’t stand a chance against the winds. Though it had a hook where I can suspend some weight (used the backpack), still didn’t suffice to keep the camera steady. Add to this that I can’t keep the camera in a stable position to get my horizon right. Imagine getting a long exposure shot and soon you realize that there was a camera shake in that shot and the horizon is not straight….:(

I took quite a few shots and every single one of them had the dreaded camera shake in them. By the time I had reached home, I had made up my mind that I’m going to now buy a decent stable tripod. If there were any stores opened at that time, then I would have certainly bought it at that very moment. But now I’m more than convinced that I need one. Explaining my wife as to why I’m paying so much for a 3 legged stand would be very easy…show her these pictures 🙂

Here are two of the shots which has got the least amount of camera shake in them. Its more like the better of the worse set.


Golden Gate, originally uploaded by kaddisudhi.

…and the complete north tower of the bridge…


Golden Gate, originally uploaded by kaddisudhi.