Category Archives: Photography

Golden hours – Photography lighting

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An important aspect of photography is about capturing light. A term which has been used quite frequently is “Golden Hours”. The photo of River Tern below was shot during the “Golden Hours”.

River Tern captured in Golden Hours

River Tern captured in Golden Hours

Guidance for “Golden Hours”

  • Golden Hours refer to time of the day so that the color of light is the best without harsh shadows or blown out details for the subjects. General rule about timing is morning 6:00 am to 8:00 am (can be extended if needed to 10:00 am) and evening timings from 4:00 pm to 6:00pm.
  • In the above image, the shot was taken at around 5 pm capturing the wonderful warm lighting effect with that golden effect.
  • I wanted to include some of the habitat in the frame also. The rock at the bottom is the nest for this family of River Tern.
  • The angle of sun light is about 4′o clock. The sun can be seen in the eye as reflection.
  • The color of foliage in the background also adds to the lighting effect of the whole frame captured.

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Canon 7D firmware update available for download

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An earlier post was made of Canon 7D firmware announcement. Now we have the firmware live and available for download. Cheers to all photographers for this Canon 7D firmware update to 2.0.0.

Canon 7D firmware update

My Canon 7D firmware getting updated

 

The Canon 7D firmware update 2.0.0 can be downloaded from Canon website. A quick list of what is new in this update is documented below:

Quick Steps:

  • Downloaded compressed file (.zip) is extracted, a firmware folder is created.
  • Extracting the downloaded file: Right-click the zip file, and then select Extract All to extract the file.
  • The extracted folder contains the firmware (file name: 7D000200.FIR / file size: 17,462,140 bytes)
  • Instructions on the firmware update procedures (a PDF file in five languages: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese) are part of the zip file

My experience with “Canon 7D firmware update”:

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London Olympics 2012 Photography

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As athletes push to limits when performing on an occasion like Olympics, technology has to catch up with expectations of audience and capture that moment which will create history. The London Olympics 2012 photography raises the bar of freezing the historic moments.

London Olympics 2012 Photography

Capturing moments of emotion, ecstasy, joy, cry are mostly digital done now. The high-speed action and momentary capture which will create headlines, the next morning are all captured in unique way with innovative ideas.

London Olympics 2012 Photography

Canon Store at London Olympics 2012. Courtesy: Canon France

A sneak peek into the store house of Canon at London Olympics 2012 photography base will show the arsenal used by photographers to capture the moments. From technology angle, limits are being pushed by the athletes. Skills of the person behind the viewfinder are being treated to high-speed action. Camera manufacturers are also field testing a lot of their equipment like the Canon 200-400 IS with 1.4x TC.

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Canon 7D firmware update plans

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Canon EOS 7D

Canon EOS 7D

Canon 7D firmware update announced with official confirmation.Yay!

Canon has made a Press release that it will be releasing a firmware update for its flagship APS-C camera. As a proud owner of 7D, I could not be happier specially with the slew of new features planned to be unlocked via this update.

This free update is expected to be live in August 2012.

New features expected from Canon 7D firmware update: Continue reading →

Serene heights

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Are carnivores always aggressive and gulping down meat from a kill?

Tree climbing Serengeti Lion overlooking savanna grasslands

Tree climbing Serengeti Lion overlooking savanna grasslands

If you have not thought, it is a tree climbing lioness! Think again! The lions of Manyara and Serengeti are the only known tree climbing lion species. Lion is from the cat family which cannot climb trees except for these special ones found in this region.

“Tree climbing Lion” framing guidance

  • It is good to show something in the frame which helps educate people about nature and make them think about the animal behavior, its habitat or surroundings.
  • The frame should help project the animal in its elegance. In this case the king of Jungle is sitting on a tree branch with no obstructions to help him overlook his territory.
  • The blue color adds to the relaxed frame setting with Lion showing no signs of aggression.
  • The lion tail hanging from tree branch just adds to the relaxed and calm frame instead of reflecting the aggressive nature of this cat species.

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Creative waterflow effect

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The creative waterflow effect below achieved using slow shutter speed can be applied to various situations to generate trails of stars, car lights, light painting and many more. One example of using slow shutter is to create a silky smooth water flowing effect which is shown below.

Smooth flowing water effect

Smooth flowing water effect

“Creative waterflow effect” Guidance

  • The shutter speed of 0.4 seconds led to silky smooth flowing effect of water in this man-made display. The time of the day was around 6:00 pm with enough light. To ensure that the shutter speed is slow enough, I had to close the aperture opening to f/22.
  • This is not the ideal settings as the image sharpness is compromised.
  • Ideally there should be a Neutral Density (ND) filter used which will cut off the light entering the lens ensuring long shutter openings with narrow apertures of f/9, f/11 so on.

Review myself

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Adobe launches CS6 and creative cloud

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On April 23, 2012 Adobe Systems Inc announced the launch of CS6 (Creative Suite version 6) release of their flagship products like Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Dreamweaver and many more. Apart from these applications which have made digital graphic unimaginable and limited only by the creativity of artists.

Adobe CS6 and Creative cloud

Adobe CS6 and Creative cloud

Another historical shift with this release is the launch of Adobe Creative Cloud. This breaks the barrier of using Adobe software without draining your wallet. You can rent these softwares for $49 a month. This amount is not limited to the above 4 applications but a whole set of 24 applications.

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Beanie: Bean bag for camera support

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Rest your camera on bean bag while shooting

Beanie in action during off road driving

NatureLounge.in had launched its Beanie, bean bag for camera support, some time back. The Beanie provides photographers with the much-needed support while they capture shots with heavy lenses mounted on their cameras. It is really helpful in cases where tripod cannot be mounted like your car/jeep door/window. Just mount your lens on the camera, support it using the Beanie and off you go clicking.

“Bean Bag for Camera” : Product Features:

  • Empty weight is 150gm (We do not ship them filled)
  • Dimensions (Length:7in Breadth:6in Height:10in)
  • One size fits all (400mm/500mm/600mm and zoom lenses)
  • Tried and tested across rugged terrains of India and Africa
  • Camouflage color with nature print
  • Soft surface to prevent your camera from scratches and damages
  • Place it upside down and shoot with extra 3 sided support
  • Sturdy and comfortable handles make it easy to carry
  • Double zipper to prevent the filling from coming out
  • Velcro based leg locks to prevent any bag movement

Price: Rs 750.00

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BETA Shell:Hard lens cases

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Beta shell lens case

Beta shell lens case

  1. Do you travel light on your photography gear with 1 or maybe 2 lenses and a bag pack?
  2. Do you think that your camera equipment might get a beating?
  3. How many times have you been scared for the storage of lenses on move?
  4. Do you feel scared walking with your photography equipment in rains?
If you think you would answer YES to any of the questions above, look no further and spare 2 minutes to look at BETA shell lens case.

Beta Shell video showcase

The price of these cases range from US $60 to US $90.

Note: I have not tried these cases myself but the videos appear very impressive and their tests also prove their claims. If you have any experience with Beta shell lens case, please let me know.

Caution while photographing “Great Indian Bustard”

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Great Indian Bustard

Great Indian Bustard

APPEAL to all photographers to please be careful when capturing the shots and moments of critically endangered Great Indian Bustard. The forest department has restricted the movement of people in the Naliya grasslands, Kutch district.

This move is an attempt to conserve this species from extinction. Un-ethical ways of photographing these birds in their habitat seems to have led to this restriction. Some times people get over enthusiastic of seeing something which has been declared critically endangered.

The birds breeding season spans from April to October.

This guidance of restricted movement is part of Great Indian Bustard Recovery Programme from Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) through the Deputy conservator of forests, Kutch (West) division, P A Vihol.

Any person found violating the guidelines shall be prosecuted under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. This is a deterrent for people (including photographers) to leave the birds alone specially during their nesting/breeding time.

Lets hope, with some less selfishness, that we can see this heavy bird found only in the sub-continental region remove the endangered tag from it.