Flash - Issue I - Oct 2011 - Final Version

8/3/2019 Flash - Issue I - Oct 2011 - Final Version

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O c t o b e r 2 0 1 1 I s s u e

ravel Photographyow not to ruin Vacations

Photographing Butterflieswith Arvind Balaraman

vents Cornerhotowalks &

Workshops

eatured PhotographerMaharajapuram Ramachandran

alks about his passion for

hotography

Monthly Features…. ear Talk

Members Clicks

Monthly Winners

ost Processing How-to’s

aturalist’s Angle

ambo to Kenya – Part INegotiating Samburu’s Wildlife

with Uma Ganesh MASTER CLASS

LIGHT SETUP FOR

CAPTURING WATER

DROPLETS



Wide Angle – Our Story

What started as an idea has now become second nature to all its members. Wide Angle is a great community

where we share and learn. Thanks to its members, today Wide Angle has transcended geographical boundaries and is

exploring new horizons every day.

Wide Angle is what it is today, because of its members and will continue to become a community to reckon with in the

global arena of photographic aficionados. In our pursuit to get closer with our members, we have started this initiativeof ‘Flash’- Wide Angle’s Newsletter.

Flash, will feature valuable information about the art of photography from the best in the industry. Highlight

contributions of its members; feature a member and their contributions, talk of photographic gear and lots, lots more.

We believe that we will get the same support from all of you as you have been giving the forum and it is our

endeavor that every member gets featured for their outstanding contribution to the art of photography.

Let there be light.

Wide Angle Team



Travel Photography

Shruthi Venkatasubramanian

The moment one decides to be a

photographer; most of us are guilty of

conjuring up grandiose thoughts of

travelling the world and capturing that

beautiful wallpaper like photographs that

will be the toast of travel magazines. Alas!

We live in times where those pictures are

dime a dozen! So, for all us commoners

who end up traveling the weather beaten

tracks of destinations that are on

everyone’s itinerary, here are a few tips

from an old hand of such vacations that

have borne some indelible memories andtravel columns in newspapers.

Jack in the box and out of the box

Be a tourist but with a traveler’s attitude. The idea is to think out of the box, that’s where the traveler kicks in

Consciously wander away and look for angles that no one has ever seen before. Can you get high or can you get low?

Can you go away and show the Taj as a backdrop to local life in Agra? Won’t it be more interesting to capture people

who derive their livelihood from the Taj with the monument as a setting?

The mesmerizing photograph does exactly that – a moment of local life captured with a setting sun brilliantly

silhouetting the Taj.

Sense of Place

Capturing this is by far the most

difficult thing to do, though the

concept is perhaps the simplest to

understand. Sense of place can be

captured in people, in markets, in

offbeat ruins, in festivals and

cultural events that abound most

locations that you visit.

Time your visit to coincide with

one of these, check with loca

guides about time of day

significance of events and places

before you plan you

photographic sojourn to a

destination. On a recent trip to

Bali, that is exactly what I was able to achieve by showing up at temples during funerals, which are larger than life

celebrations and highly symbolic of Balinese traditions.

Photograph by Adrian Pope (Getty Images)



People

I can’t stress enough about capturing local life when you are indulging in travel photography. The flavor of a place neve

comes alive if you don’t capture the people who define it. Be friendly; ask if you can photograph someone by

establishing a rapport with them. Begin a conversation and talk about something they are wearing or something they

are doing. Be inquisitive about their work, more often than not people will talk to you and allow you to take a

photograph. In the bargain you will walk away with interesting anecdotes and stories to tell, besides brilliant portraits.

Try to shoot some candid shots as well, but never carry an intense looking telephoto lens to do it, that intimidatespeople. Seek permission wherever necessary, especially if children are involved.

People also add a sense of liveliness to otherwise insipid photos; they add a sense of movement, of life throbbing

through an otherwise lifeless monument. Even if they are not locals and are just tourists, they add life to a picture.

Do some Research

Before you go on a trip, make one thing

clear to yourself – what are you

photographic objectives. For me, I make a

list of things I have to shoot and

everything else is an added bonus. This

list helps me fine tune my itinerary

because time of day –as you all know – is

absolutely vital to photography.

Equipment

I carry extra memory cards as these don’t

really occupy space, a polarizer and a

couple of neutral density filters, a tripod

(if you are serious about photography

please invest in one) and three lenses. Let

me explain the lenses, I carry a wide

angle, a medium telephoto and a

standard zoom. This to me is more than enough lenses for most travel photography

If all you own is a point and shoot, that is perfectly ok. Just learn to manipulate your camera to the maximum to achieve

what you intend to. At the end of the day, do remember it is your vision, your eye for detail that matters – not the

equipment. No one is going to say, “What a gorgeous 5D Mark II picture that is”!

About the Author

Shruthi is a passionate writer, blogger and photographer. Her writings and photographs have been published in leading

newspapers and magazines. You can follow her at http://photoppurtunist.wordpress.com/

http://photoppurtunist.wordpress.com/






Master Class

“TheSfirst permanent photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Josep

Did You Know?

Strobe is the brand name of the first studio flash. Today, flashes and strobes are used interchangeably to denote the

same light source.

Strobe is a brand name of the first studio flash. Today, flashes and strobes are used interchangeably to denote the

same light source.

Events Corner

Architecture Photo walk

On 12th Sep 2011, 35 wide Anglers attended the

architecture photo walk. The group, ably led by

the expert Prabhakaran Sambandham, explored

two ancient temples of Kancheepuram

(Varadharaja Perumal temple and Kailasanatha

temple).

Bangalore WA Photowalk

35 Wide Anglers under the able guidance of

Kesava Murthy & Ramesh Shimoga, participated

in the first Bangalore Photo Walk at Avenue

Road on Sept 4th

,2011. The team got an

opportunity to shoot a lot of street candids

Watch out for more photo walks in Bangalore



Post Processing Tips

Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC) Exposure up to +.31

Added a bit of fill light (+13).

Added contrast (+49).

Moved the white balance warmer from

5000 to 5300.

Click the “black & white” color converter in

Lightroom 3. I find black and white actually

makes the image look darker so I have to ad

more when it comes to exposure – usually

about +.50 will do. I found that bringing up

the exposure really blew out the dress. I

don’t worry about blowing out the highlight

overall, but I used the recovery and moved i

up to +18. I then added some fill light for the

shadows (+13), moved the contrast up to

+49. I added a little to the blacks too +13.

Photos and steps courtesy http://www.lyndsaylondonblog.co

To make your images pop in photoshop

1. Duplicate layer

2. Change blend mode to Overlay

3. Adjust opacity to your liking



Gear Talk

In this section we will highlight a photography gear and talk about its use

Macro Lens

Macrophotography is close-up photography, usually of very small subjects. The ratio of the subject size on the film plane

(or image sensor plane) to the actual subject size is known as the reproduction ratio. A macro lens is classically one lens

capable of reproduction ratios greater than 1:1, although it now refers to any lens with a large reproduction ratio,despite rarely exceeding 1:1.

Macro lenses of different focal lengths find different uses:

Continuously Variable Focal Length — suitable for virtually all macro subjects

45 –65 mm — product photography, small objects that can be approached closely without causing undesirable

influence, and scenes requiring natural background perspective

90 –105 mm — insects, flowers, and small objects from a comfortable distance

150 –200 mm — insects and other small animals where additional working distance is required

Some popular macro lenses are

Tamron 90mm AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S

Sigma 150 f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM

Source wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography



Monthly Competition Winners

Portrait Theme winner Vidhya Krishnan

http://www.facebook.com/CVidhyaa

Flora Theme winner Aditya Kambampa

htt : www.facebook.com tarakaram

Did You Know: When you use apertures beyond f16

diffraction becomes significant and can reduce imag

sharpness.

Reflections Theme winner Prashanth Sharm

http://www.facebook.com/tanshap

Thanks to all our fellow Wide

Anglers who participated in

each of these competitions. The

depth and range of submissions

were breathtaking.

Congratulations to all the

Winners.

“Never letting the competition

define you. Instead you have to

define yourself based on a

point of view you care deeply

about.” – Tom Chappell


http://www.facebook.com/tarakarama

http://www.facebook.com/tanshapr

http://www.facebook.com/tanshapr

http://www.facebook.com/tarakarama




10 Tips to Photograph Butterflies

Arvind Balaraman

Know your subject

Understanding your subjects and studying about their habitat will pay dividends. Every butterfly will go through the

metamorphosis cycle in different seasons.Understanding this cycle and knowing its

habitat will reward you with rich photographs.

In order to get a good photograph, please do

not destroy the habitat. Please keep in mind

that you are a stranger at their home.

Choose the correct Gear

Butterflies are very colorful creatures. They

have wonderful patterns and textures in their

wings. A DSLR equipped with macro lens in the

90mm to 150mm focal length range is ideal to

capture these beauties. Butterflies are very

sensitive and can fly off once they detect

motion. Hence lenses with smaller focal length are not advisable for people who are new to shooting butterflies.

Choose the correct time

Best time to photograph butterflies are early mornings when the sun is just up and the air is very warm. Winter

mornings offer wonderful opportunities to shoot. During these mornings the wings of the butterflies have dew drops

from overnight. This will make their wings heavy and the butterfly will stay in one place until the sun comes out and

burns the dew off.

Choose the correct attire

Butterflies like many insects are very color sensitive. Bright colors tend to scare them and make them restless. Wea

mild-colored clothes, with a lot of mid tones

like green, gray, brown etc. This will make you

blend with the environment and help you

approach the insect easily. Avoid using

perfumes or strong deodorants and insect

repellants.

Get support

I cannot stress enough about the importance of

using a stable support while shooting subjects

up-close. Working distance is very small; a

small motion is magnified manifold. While

shooting butterflies early morning, you are

constantly challenged with low light. To

provide stability, a tripod may come in handy. It is not always convenient to use a tripod in many cases. During such



instances, a monopod may come in handy. If you have a cable release or remote trigger, use them to minimize shake.

Go Parallel

When you are shooting butterflies very close, the working distance is very small. This gives a very small Depth of Field

(DOF). So even at narrow apertures (f8, f11) you will have a very shallow DOF. To maximize the number of points in

focus, go parallel to the wings of the butterfly.

Watch out for your background

A background plays a vital role in highlighting your subjects. A cluttered background will take away too much attention

and will distract the viewer. A soft smooth background will bring out the details in the subject very well. Also look for

contrasting colors and remember the color theory when you choose your background. Blue and yellow are opposite

colors, they will stand out against each other.

Use camera features

Most of the modern cameras have live

view. When you shoot butterflies up

close, you may face challenges using

your camera’s autofocus. Switch tomanual focus and use the live mode

zoomed in at 100% to get finer focus

on the point that you are interested. If

your camera has mirror lockup

(MLUP), turn it on to avoid any shake

due to mirror vibration. Some

cameras do not allow you to use

MLUP and Live view at the same time.

Try multiple POVs

Butterflies look pretty when they

perch on a flower sucking honey. They

look even prettier when they open their wings and show the underlying patterns and designs. The compound eyes of the

butterflies are a wonder to watch. Translucent butterflies’ backlit by the sun are a treat to photograph. Try multiple

compositions and angles and be creative in your capture.

Patience, Patience and more Patience

Some butterflies are more approachable than others. Observe them and keep your camera ready. Approach them

slowly. Avoid any fast movements or noise. Before taking a photograph survey the location. Take a couple of shots for

every step that you move forward. Have loads of patience in shooting them.

About the Author

Arvind Balaraman is an internationally acclaimed photographer. His work has been published in many leading

newspapers, magazines and books. His interests include nature, people, product and architecture. His work can be seen

at http://www.arvindbalaraman.com.

http://www.arvindbalaraman.com/





Featured Photographer

In this section we will highlight a Wide Angle photographer and will showcase some of his work

This edition’s featured photographer is Maharajapuram Ramachandran

A few words about yourself

Here is what my Google+ profile says: Photographer by passion, IT Consultant to pay the bills. I think that it pretty much

summarizes myself. I love to travel and over the past few years, my work has taken me places. I'm also a social mediaenthusiast and a gadget freak and would want to create my own start-up someday.

How long have you been into photography?

About 4 years.

How did you get into photography?

I have always been interested in

Photography, I got my first camera in

2006 immediately after I started working.But the real kicker came in when I moved

to the US in 2008. Without family and a

lot of close friends around me, I had a ton

of spare time over the weekends. Also, I

badly wanted to get myself into

something creative to beat the stressful

and monotonic weekdays.

What are your primary interests?

I assume that we are talking about photography here. When I began, I tried to shoot everything under the sun - whichisn't bad after all. While I was at it, I saw myself mostly shooting landscapes and cityscapes and macro - basically

anything that involve people. I really suck at doing people photography - be it portraiture or street. This is something

that I'm working consciously on as this involves more social skills at directing and being discreet than photography

technicalities.

What would be your advice for aspiring photographers?

As an aspiring photographer myself, these are some notes that I make to myself .

The 6 P's for success in Photography:

Great photographs do not happen by chance. There is an immense amount of practice, patience, perseverance, planning

and some photoshop behind every one of those shots. Add participation to this mix and you have the perfect recipe for

success. Let me elaborate

Practice makes a man perfect. The first shot you make will not be your best. The hundredth would be slightly better. The

thousandth, even more. Shoot as much as you can so that so that the technicalities become reflex actions to you. When

you get these settings and numbers out of the way, you will find out that you feel immensely relaxed and consistently

make good looking pictures.



Be patient. Don't be forced to do too many

things at a time. I have seen very many

photographers (including myself) who want

to create a 100 masterpieces in a 1 hour

Photo-Walk. It ain't going to happen. Think

before you shoot. If it means that you have

to wait for an hour before you get that

perfect golden light or the blue sky, so be it.

Don't stop until you get that perfect

shot. Perseverance is the key to success fo

anything in life. Hike a few kilometers to get

that perfect reflection. Get back to the same

location again and again to get that divine

light. If that small out of focus spot bothers

you, get back and try to shoot it again.

Planning is what creates that difference between an amateur and a pro. Google is your best friend. Search for the best

photos from the location that you are planning to visit well in advance. Gather thoughts on what you want to shoot

Work out which is the best time of the day to shoot it. Have a chart of the sunrise and sunset times in that area. Some

people even go to an extent of working out tides and the angles of the sun. It may sound crazy, but then, when you see

the results, all the planning shows up. It is better to scour the internet for a few minutes looking at what the location has

to offer than finding it the hard way by walking a few hours, Isn't it?

I know that I'm committing heresy by adding photoshop into this mix.

But let us face it - it has become an inevitable part of photography. I'm

not arguing on where the lines are to be drawn - it is entirely up to you.

I'm a big fan of getting it right on the camera, however, I do embrace

photoshop to get my shots a slight facelift in terms of sharpness,saturation etc.,

And last but not least, participate. Engage with the community in a

constructive way. Most of you, who are reading this, are already doing

this part. However, one more thing that I would like to push for is being

constructive in your comments and when you encounter criticism, be a

sport and take it in the right sense and strive for perfection.

To summarize it all, remember this mantra (adapted from the British

Army Adage): :D Proper Planning, Practice, Patience and

Perseverance Prevents Piss Poor Photography

Where can we see your work?

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/meramphotography

Photostream : http://www.flickr.com/me_ram

Blog: http://www.arreosambar.com/

Google+ : https://plus.google.com/104178046050349421716/

https://www.facebook.com/meramphotography

http://www.flickr.com/me_ram

http://www.arreosambar.com/

https://plus.google.com/104178046050349421716

https://plus.google.com/104178046050349421716

http://www.arreosambar.com/

http://www.flickr.com/me_ram

https://www.facebook.com/meramphotography



Editor’s Picks

Photograph by Sudarshan Gopalan

Photograph by Kumar





Photograph by Kannan Balan



Photograph by Rahul Nair



Photograph by Ganesh S

“Some photographers take reality... and impose

the domination of their own thought and spirit.Others come before reality more tenderly and a

photograph to them is an instrument of love and

revelation.” - Ansel Adams

These are a collection of photographs, as chosen

by the Editor from the photographs submitted to

the date wise albums on the group’s Facebook

Page.

Photograph by Sekhar VC

Photograph by Anjali Venkidusamy



Jambo to Kenya – Part IA three part travelogue series by Uma Ganesh on her recent Kenyan Wildlife Safari

Couple of years ago, during an evening with a cousin, discussing about

Indian forests we were told Kenyan forests and Masai Mara in particular are

the Mecca of wild life. Having read about these forests and seen National

Geographic videos, we knew it was to be a true feast, but were quite

apprehensive about whether all that we saw in images, videos and readingare truly the sights and sounds of the forest. The first step was to get the

right tour operator and guide. After lots of ‘Googling’ and nagging the

operator, we decided on the itinerary of Samburu, Lake Nakuru and Masai

Mara for 10 days in the wild.

After 17 hours of flying from Jakarta to Nairobi with a stopover at Doha, we

reached Nairobi at 13.00 hrs local time. The immigration and visa on arrival

process was quick, and was done in an hour and we were out of the airport.

Michael and Mulei, our guides, said Jambo –which was ‘welcome’ in

Swahili. Raphael Mulei our guide cum driver made our dream come true.Truly outstanding and committed is Mulei that he left no stone unturned in

our pursuit of wildlife. After we checked into the Intercontinental hotel we

managed to catch some sleep and ready ourselves for the forest trip, the

next day.

On the morning of Day 2, we left the hotel to drive to Samburu which is more of a dry forest. The drive to Samburu is

about 5 hours with just one rest stop. As we approached Samburu, the terrain completely changed and it looked more

like the drives in Rajasthan. Temperatures kept shooting up. From the forest entrance to the lodge, we managed to

spot three of the endemic species – Gerenuk, Reticulated Giraffe and

Grevy’s Zebra. Samburu Sopa lodge, where we stayed, is a good

functional place with clean spacious rooms and friendly people. They

more than compensate for their functionality with their food and the

way they serve you. During all the meals we saw the chef in the dining

area nudging the guests to try out his stuff.

Before we left for Kenya and in our initial briefing by Mulei we were

categorically told that everything on the sighting list is possible except

for leopards. Leopards are very, very rare to find in these forests

During our first game drive in the forest after managing to see both Red

billed and Yellow billed hornbills, we moved ahead to have another

close spotting of Reticulated Giraffe. Mulei was pushing us to move

ahead when Ganesh was still looking for some good shots of Vulturine

Guinea Fowl. Finally Mulei had his way and was speeding in the forest

like a man possessed, talking very less to us. By this time the clouds se

in and it started raining. The suspense broke when Mulei told us to look

at the leopard on the tree. It was raining very heavily and the leopard

sat on the tree licking itself with no signs of moving. Mulei told us tha

she has had her food and will come down, which none of the other jeeps

waited for. But for us and couple of other jeeps, the others felt satisfied

Gerenuk



with seeing the Leopard in the tree, camouflaged. What was to follow after the Leopard got down from the tree is

serendipity. The leopard came down and walked off into the bushes, we followed her for another 100 mts but now there

were no signs of her and suddenly from the thicket about 15 to 20 feet from our jeep she appears, drinking water from

the ground. We moved a little ahead and saw the Gazelle kill of hers and we were sure that she was going to guard it

For the next half an hour, in fading light we were blessed to see the leopard posing for us. The rain gods also blessed us

and we were lucky to manage some real close up shots of the leopard. By the time the leopard walked off, it was really

dark and we drove back in a hurry to the lodge.

Day 2 morning in Samburu game drive was marked with lots of interesting bird with the likes of Hornbills, Guinea fowls,

Goshawk, Bataleur, Vultures, Go way bird and quite a few others. The Dik-Dik’s didn’t disappoint us and neither did the

Reticulated Giraffes. As we moved to a lioness’s resting place that we had seen the previous day, she moved and we

saw the lioness walk right in front of our Jeep to

the river. As we moved with her we spotted a

real rare vulture, a Palm Nut sitting on a lone

branch.

We went to the place where we saw the

leopard the previous day, only to see more

birds. Now it was time for us to go back to our

list of Samburu specials. We were yet to see

the Beisa Oryx and the Somali Ostrich. We

managed to finally spot the Oryx and also the

Chevy’s Zebra under some good light

conditions. As we drove back to the lodge for

lunch we managed to get the first sightings of

African Elephants.

Somali Ostrich was the only one in the Samburu

Special which was still not ticked and we decided to go in pursuit of it in the evening. The first 2 hours of search for theOstrich yielded some Bustards and Giraffe. Light fading and no signs of Ostrich we finally decided to give up and started

moving back to the lodge As we drove fast to the lodge, we saw a few jeeps huddled together and as we drove close

we saw the leopard moving over the rocks. We were exactly positioned to see the leopard move about in the rocks and

jump up on the tree. This leopard sighting within 10 metres made us completely forget our otherwise not so grea

evening. Two days and two Leopards in such close quarters is much more than what one could have asked for. We

didn’t want to give up on the Somali Ostrich as yet so decided the next morning to exit Samburu through another gate to

Lake Nakuru. After an early breakfast we bid adieu to Samburu lake Sopa. After a real close encounter with Von De

Decken’s Hornbill we finally spotted our target Ostrich. A lone male and after driving a little bit more, a couple of

Females. Fully satisfied at the checklist of Samburu Reserve we set out for Lake Nakuru.

To be continued…..

About the Author

Uma Ganesh is an avid wildlife enthusiast first and a photographer second. Photography to her is just a medium to

express this unbridled love for wildlife. Along with Ganesh Mahadevan and Samvit Ganesh, she has uploaded her

pictures of this fabulous trip to Kenya and the Masai Mara on - http://itchyfeeted.smugmug.com/Mammals/Kenyan

Trip/18958960_npqDbd#1471860668_WKsLMkc

Beisa Oryx

http://itchyfeeted.smugmug.com/Mammals/Kenyan-Trip/18958960_npqDbd#1471860668_WKsLMkc








Naturalist’s Angle

Kesavamurthy. N

About the Author

Keshavamurthy N, is a trained naturalist with good knowledge on resident birds. He loves to travel and photograph

wildlife of any form, large or small. Some of his wildlife photography can be viewed on his Facebook Profile Page. He has

also captured a few natural history moments through his lens for others to enjoy. Kesava started Connect with Nature

to educate children about nature. To learn more, please visit – https://www.facebook.com/connect.nature.

Name : Baya Weaver

Male birds have a yellow head

and female birds are brownish.

Commonly found near

lake/ponds and open shrub

areas.

Difficult to photograph as they

move very fast and they are shy.

They can sense human presence

easily.

Tip: Need to hide to approach

near

Name : Pied Buschat

A bird of countryside, open scrub

or grassland, where it is found

perched on the top of short

thorn trees or other shrubs,

looking out for insect prey.

https://www.facebook.com/connect.nature






LET THERE BE LIGHT

Wide Angle Mission

Share, inspire and promote the art of photography

Wide Angle 's objectives:

Promote art

Inculcate learning

Create Opportunities

To achieve these objectives, the following activities are

carried out

Photo walks (local and global) Mentor Programs (for beginners & by

accomplished personalities for interested

members)

Photo Workshops (on various topics)

Guest Speakers (lectures by experts)

Webinars (for global members)

Exhibitions and Publications

Editorial Team

Arvind BalaramanSekhar VC

Shruthi Venkatasubramanian

Nishunth Anandan

Workshops (Chennai)

Jay Venkatesan

Arvind Balaraman

Narasimhan K

K.P.Krishnan

Amar Ramesh

Forum ManagementUma Ganesh

Pratap Venkatesan

Arun Balaraman

Anjali Venkidusamy

Veena Kannan

Competitions & Interpretations

Prabhakar Sambandam

Kesava Murthy

Visaka GuruSapna Reddy

Photowalks (Chennai)

Vinoth Chander

Kishore Iyer

Keshav Kandhadai Mukund

Ramasubramaniyan Krishnamoorthy

Ganesh Chandrasekaran

Photowalks (Bangalore)Kesava Murthy

Visaka Guru

Ramesh Shimoga

Photowalks (Singapore)

Maharajapuram Ramachandran

Portraits of India

Kausthub Desikachar

K.P.Krishnan

To join the group please visit https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/prabhagraphy/

For all inquiries please send email to [email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/prabhagraphy/

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/prabhagraphy/

Documents

Flash - Issue I - Oct 2011 - Final Version