Photographing the perfect sunset

Sunset has been the favorite subject of photography, due to the rich, warm tones cast by the slanting rays. Every sunset we see, stirs something within us, and when we look back at them, we re-live the memories that happened at that particular date/time. However, the viewers of the photo, who was not there with us and who has seen a lot of sunset photos may not find them as interesting as we seem to see it.

I have shot many sunset scenes, but there was only one shoot which I feel have enough substance to justify being a post in my photographic blog. It had all the elements to create a spectacular sunset portfolio.

So what makes a sunset photo interesting. As quoted by some professional photographers, the sunset should be complimented by a interesting backdrop and a perfectly still water in front to create a stunning reflection.

I will post here four images, shot at the catskill mountains. The peaks provide the backdrop, while the Ashokan Reservoir gives that perfectly still water reflections. Do judge them and tell me what you think.

Interestingly, I was without a camera during the shoot, so my friend's wife kindly let me have her Panasonic Lumix "point and shoot" to do my "own stuff". My friend on the other hand was using his Nikon D80 and at my insistance was using RAW mode for the shoot.

Ok ... here goes the first one ... shot by my friend Sumit Mishra with his D80. Converted to JPG and post processing by me.

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The second one was also shot by my friend in his D80. Converted to JPG and post processing by me. I have converted it to Black and White as I feel in a proper sunset shot, BW removes the warm color, and your tonal ranges stand out. Let me know what you think.

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The third and fourth was shot by me with a Panasonic Lumix point-and-shoot. You can see for yourself that the results are comparable to the Nikon D80. This firmly asserts my conviction that great photos depend more on the ambience and the photographer and less on the equipment. By the way, I felt that Panasonic Lumix cameras are the best point-and-shoot I have ever seen, so if you are thinking of buying a point and shoot, do evaluate these as your options.

In both the photos, I have silhouetted my friends in foreground to give another dimention to the photo. Let me know if you like them (or not)

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Photographing the abstract

This is the one of the most debated aspect of photography. I might photograph something abstract and it might be of great interest to me, but it may not appeal to the general viewer.
The reason for abstract photography : well in my case, living in a jungle of concrete, I don't get enough chance to shoot nature, so after a time, I get bored with shooting whatever I do, and dwell in the realm of abstract. Judge for yourself, if you can identify and enjoy some of the images posted here.

The first one I will start with is a shadow picture. I have a dancing girl statue, which was lit with bedroom lighting. The two lights cast directional shadows on the wall, and I decided to shoot the line-up. Taken with my point-and-shoot Olympus SP510UZ.


The next one is a great favorite of mine. I shot this in the corridor of our apartment complex during my short trip to USA. I like the composition because of the guiding lines, the minimalism and the tones, making it very simple. Taken with my point-and-shoot Olympus SP510UZ. (At that time I only owned one camera).


This one is first of my two shots, which made to explore. This won't be properly visible in a monitor with high contrast, so in case you don't see this properly, please pardon me. I use an IBM R series laptop and the soft variations of tone are visible in my monitor.


The fourth one (and the fifth) I am showing here are the photos of the same object. I have a CFL (Compact fluoroscent Lamp) in my bedroom, and sometimes I make it the subject of my photographs.



the same lamp, in a different orientation ... makes another interesting composition.

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The last photo in today's set is a picture of a toy plastic tumbler with LEDs fitted. The LEDs has cast a strange glow making it a strange composition.



I hope you like some of the results posted above. Let me know how you feel of these. Show me your abstract photos. I have some more which I will post in a future article.

My experiements (And probably Failures) with Portrait Lighting: Portrait 151

Use of lighting can make your portraits very interesting. Now, if you are a portrait photographer who shoots outside, then you don't have a problem. Sun is a brilliant light source for portrait photography and you get to work with a big field, so you can control your depth of field to blur your background suitably.
If you are a professional and have access to a studio, you are also good to go. Studio's offer you a lot of lighting to be creative.

Now what happens to amateur photo enthusiasts like us, who need to shoot within cramped furnishings of our house? This is a big challenge, specifically so, you are probably under a strict budget, and lack of access to a studio means that you are shooting against a clutter.

Recently I have bought a set of Vivitar wireless flashes (See below) for my portrait work within the cramped spaces of my house.



These flashes provide lighting of a wonderful color temperature (5500K) and light the subjects very well. However I am still finding it a little difficult to control these flashes with my Sony Alpha300.

The first two pictures I am going to show is perfectly balanced lighting, bounced of the ceiling. I have used 1 flash for the photo of my son, and two flashes for the photo of my wife. The flashes are bounced of the ceiling and the color of the walls have set a color cast.

From Blog From Blog

Both of the above images have light which is diffused and is well balanced. Now lets see what happens, when I tried to use a light which is more directional. In the following photo, my wife was busy doing some chores, when I put two directional flashes on her face from a distance. The face is a bit washed out (the flashes are manual and have a very high intensity), but it gives a bit of a mood to the photo. (Judge it for yourselves)

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Another interesting thing I have found out originating from a mistake. When I am bouncing a flash from the sky, sometimes it gets deflected out of the ceiling fan if I have not positioned the flash correctly. Now this gives rise to some photo effects which I found interesting ... apparently very few others did, but I have included one such example here anyway: afterall the mistakes should also be published.

The last photo I would like to publish in todays article when I was shooting my sister-in-law. I was using multiple directional flashes, and my mistake in balancing the intensity and direction produced some interesting shadows. One such example posted below:

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If you have read this upto here, you might be wondering what is it I am trying to say through this post. Well, I believe photography is a creative pursuit, and if you dare to digress from what everyone does, while still keeping in mind the basic rules of good photography, you will bring out something which will be cherished by you. This post is titled lighting, as lighting is one aspect which can generate a lot of interest in the photo.
Do let me know what do you think. If you have suggestions, please post them as comments.