Flashback 27 of 365

Wedding Sandals

1/14/2007

Shot Info:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Lens: Unknown
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/1.6
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 50mm

From my iPhone #3

True "Silver" ware

From my iPhone #2

Flashback 26 of 365

Soda Bubbles

9/18/2005

Shot Info:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Lens: Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 Aspherical-Macro Lens
Shutter Speed: 1/20
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 80mm

Flashback 25 of 365

Tulsi(The Holy Basil)

Tulsi - 9/17/2005

Shot Info:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Lens: Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 Aspherical-Macro Lens
Exposure Time: 1/125
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 49mm

From my iPhone #1

Flashback 24 of 365

Water, Earth & Sky

Lake Del Velle - 4/9/2009

Shot Info:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Lens: Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 Aspherical-Macro Lens
Exposure Time: 1/125
Aperture: f/7.1
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 56mm

Grand Earth Mosaic - Earth Day Awareness

Earthmosaic.org was hosting a program to create a huge earth mosaic with pictures taken on Earth day which was April 22, 2009 by the participants. This is where the power of Twitter kicked in. I followed the link and registered on earthmosaic.org website to participate in their effort.

Next, I took my camera with me to work and captured some moments throughout the day. And few days later, VOILA!!!


Here are my images that were in the mosaic. Few weeks ago I had written a blog about my day on Earth Day where I had posted these images. You can find the originals of these images here.

You can download original size mosaic image file at earthmosaic.org
They were also generous to include names of people who contributed to this mosaic and create a Wordle out of it. Lets see if you can find my name "Nirav" in this wordle.



No luck? Here you go.

This was a really great end to end experience for me. What better way to show that we care for our one and only planet EARTH!

Flashback 23 of 365

Natural Blue Sphericals

4/9/2005

Shot Info:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Lens: Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 Aspherical-Macro Lens
Exposure Time: 1/60
Aperture: f/14.0
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 80mm

Flashback 22 of 365

Thirsty Bird

6/7/2008

Shot Info:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Lens: Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Exposure Time: 1/500
Aperture: f/7.1
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 105mm

Flashback 21 of 365

Early Macro

This photo is one of the dear ones to me. It was one of the first few macros I took when my Canon EOS Digital Rebel was a hot item in the market. And the image came out really good compared to my expectations as an early amateur photographer. The background fills perfectly even to the flower. I am bad with flower names so I don't know what this flower is called. But this beautiful contrast of green and yellow was so inviting I had to try it out.

Well, I could have tried different angles to see what results out of it. Trying out different depth of fields wasn't bad of an idea at all. Oh well, I still had not learned the vast possibilities of photography then.

Flashback 20 of 365

Birthday Cake

4/15/2006

Well, these cute kids are from a birthday party I attended from my work back in 2006. That was the time I was just realizing the magic of digital SLRs. I had promised a friend of mine that I'll capture his son's birthday party so I did. Selective Coloring is a really cool technique that can give you some really amazing results that will change your perspective as a viewer. Look at the color photo. Even though it captures all colors, I see distraction from the main subject which for my depiction is the kid and his birthday cake. Now look at the top photo with selective coloring. It brings out the subject loud and clear in that photo.
But you are welcome to take your pick and tell me which you like the most and why.

Flashback 19 of 365

Satya Narayana Katha

My House - 12/20/2008

Colors have an important role in the culture I am a part of. This capture is from a ritual called Satya Narayana Katha in Hindu religion. In fact this event was in my own house. I have plans to blog more about various topics but for now getting to the basics. I took this picture for one reason and that is to capture the colorful arrangement. My place was crowded with people to attend this ritual so I had limited space to work with and to capture this shot. You can see the vibrant colors of different offerings we give to our god. I know what you are looking at. The $ bills right? Yes, that is one of the ways we give our offerings to our god. Eventually, this money ends for a good cause, per se.

Camera Info:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Lens: Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Exposure Time: 1/40
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 55mm

Flashback 18 of 365

Disney Fireworks!!!

Disneyland Los Angeles - 6/23/2007

I have lot of fireworks shots at Disneyland so it was getting difficult to decide which one to pick for the blog. Finally I decided to go with this one because, well, I love the sparkle and color of the smoke it captures. It almost felt like dozens of shooting start rising up from the ground all at once. Each one has such a perfect star-like twinkle.

Flashback 17 of 365

Blue Night

Beverly Hills, CA - 6/22/2007

Somewhere in Beverly Hills I saw this place and decided to park my car and just spend some time at this beautifully lit park. This is a park at some business locations in Beverly Hills. I was just passing by driving back from an Indian restaurant where my wife and I had dinner. This was really a very personal moment. Colors of the fountain, lights on the trees and the blue background light was just picture perfect setup. No, I didnt use tripod so yes, I had to keep my hands steady, breath carefully and use one of my legs as a monopod to get a steady shot.

Flashback 16 of 365

Eatin' good in the neighborhood...of birds!

Melbourne, Australia - 8/28/2008

This view was amazing. I was walking around Captain Flinders statue and saw that people weren't eating or drinking anything while relaxing on these benches because flock of these birds would just surround you for food. But looks like this man was so hungry he just had to sit and enjoy his meal, no matter how hungry and close these birds were. I just thought it was a good emotion and subject to capture with the birds surrounding this man in suit but he is enjoying his food with great pleasure and satisfaction. I like the story my subject tells in this image.

It was hard to get closer to the subject because the birds would just fly away. So I had to be very careful and quiet to capture it.

Flashback 15 of 365

You've Got Mail!

Sacramento, CA - 9/3/2006

There was a Gold Rush festival in Sacramento that happens every year I think. I happened to stop at Sacramento while coming back from Lake Tahoe. I found about this festival that I had never heard of. To my sweet surprise, it was the best festival and celebration I have ever seen of such event. I mean you were instantly transported to the 1800s. I could go on and on about what I saw there and how many pictures I captured but this old US Mail carrier I had to capture it.

Ever seen such setup? I took multiple shots but this was the closest that shows what is written on the car while telling the viewer what it is about.

Flashback 14 of 365

Rodeo Drive Baby!

Beverly Hills, CA - 9/8/2007

Don't know what Rodeo Drive is? How about Beverly Hills, does that strike something? Well I do see couple of things here. The Rodeo sign pole is perfectly aligned in vertical position. Had it been a little tilted, it would'nt have been a good shot, perspectively speaking. That pole in the background is noisy and so is the building wall on the left. I could not capture "Via Rodeo" completely. Maybe I was rushing since there were lot of visitors. I think if i had angled it properly the composition would have looked much better. Well, so much for the first attempt.

On a second look maybe the street light pole in the background serves as an umbrella directing the viewer to main subject which is Rodeo and Dayton sign, what say you?

Flashback 13 of 365

Pure and Natural

Redding, California - 12/23/2007

Pure & unadulterated is what signifies this shot. I like this shot just the way it came out and I didn't have to even launch Photoshop for this shot. I am glad I applied the rule of thirds on this one as the stones really enhances this composition. Well, if I had known about HDR then I could have changed this landscape into a much more attracting one. But then again, I glad that without any such techniques this shot came out closest to what I saw. I get a feeling of calmness and silence by looking at this shot. This is exactly what I experienced when I took this shot just below the Sun Dial bridge in Redding, California.

Flashback 12 of 365

Its golf time!

Griffith Park, Los Angeles - 6/7/2008

Well, after the action shot on my previous post of flashback 365, this one seems pretty still. But actually it is an action shot. My wife was just getting ready to set her swing when I got this shot. I think if I had applied the rule of thirds here with more of the ground in the top part of the frame it would have looked more appealing. Nothing great but just a shot I think fits well to my list of flashbacks that I think were my best attempts.

Flashback 11 of 365

Imagine

Surfer's Paradise, Australia - 8/31/2008

Imagine Sea World in Gold Coast, Australia. This is the best dolphin show I have seen(compared to the 2 I have seen including this one and another in San Diego, California). Well best in terms of images I could capture. I didn't have digital SLR when I went to the San Diego one. I love this shot because of 2 reasons. One, because of the action it captures of the dolphins diving and throwing the pro up in the air that makes it a perfect freeze of the moment. And two, because the way whole composition turned out with the Sea World banner in the back it just gives a perspective that the whole action is actually part of the banner and one would think is glued as a logo. But that's just my imagination that someone might view this image like it was one big Sea World banner. Any yay's/nay's on this one?
I was actually looking for a shot that has Imagine logo/banner in the background. Well, it took more than couple of dozen clicks to get something to this effect.

Flashback 10 of 365

Everglowing Sin City

Las Vegas - 3/29/2008

Got this shot from a parking lot of Treasure Island casino. Again, it was unusual but it was very windy. But I had to get this glowing view of the strip. So I placed my camera on the edge of the wall. I know the framing could have been better but this is the best I could do from the spot I was at. Didn't have much time to look for a great view, but then I didn't want to miss this opportunity either. Had I known exposure bracketting at that time, I would have taken multiple shots and post-processed it to lighten up front area.

Flashback 9 of 365

Colors of Nature

Redding in California - 12/24/2007

My true inspiration for photography is, well, colors. Actually I love landscape photography more than anything else but only because it provides me the most gratification for looking at something natural and colorful in its purest form. So when I went to Redding in 2007 we were on our way to the Shasta Caverns where we entered their tour through the gift shop. I went straight to where these stones were arranged. Never have I seen such colorful arrangement before and so I had to capture these pictures.

First thing I thought to myself was "no distractions" in this image. So I zoomed right into the stones letting them gracefully cover my whole frame and I was happy to take them on. I love the way it came out. One day I'd want to print them big and hang it somewhere in my house. But that's yet to be done. Until then, I'll proudly blog about it.

Flashback 8 of 365

Sunset Glow

Santa Monica Pier - 3/25/2008

The way this shot turned out was actually amazing that I had thought while shooting the sunset. It was getting close to the sunset but there were too many clouds blocking the sun so I knew I wasn't getting one of those orange/red lit capture of the sunset landscape. Instead I waited few minutes for the clouds to move just enough so that the I could get the sun in my frame but not bright enough to over expose my composition.

Lesson I learned in this one was that you dont always have to have a landscape that we ideally see in lot of the images without distracting clouds and so on. I think that a sunrise or a sunset in any situation is just as perfect of a candidate for a landscape shot than it is for any other ideal climate.

Flashback 7 of 365

Light up the Night

Griffith Observatory - 03/15/2008

I was really looking forward to this shot. But setting up this shot was extremely challenging. I got it from the top of Griffith Observatory to get nicely lit Los Angeles downtown, the skies and the dome. However, it was so windy I would barely stand straight(not joking!). But I really wanted to get the shot as I was prepared with my tripod. To get a nice lit composition the exposure was set to 15sec. Believe it or not but I had to hold the tripod and the camera due to such long exposure with each hand to keep them from falling due to the wind. Think I managed to get what I wanted, that is the downtown, sky and the observatory dome. What do you think?

Flashback 6 of 365

Rising up to the Sky

Getty Center - 01/12/2008

Took this shot to experiment with an unusual angle. I was at the Getty Center last year where my wife and I had joined an audio tour of the museum where they were taking us down the stairs to see another beautiful view of the Getty Center garden. Saw these cactus plants and could not resist clicking. It was a beautiful sunny day so I had to somehow get the skies in the picture. Then I thought this is probably the best angle to show how tall these plants were and standing beautifully looking up to the sky.