How to be an Environment Friendly Photographer

These articles are worth reading for everyone, not just photographers. Please keep the environment and surroundings in mind when you are out.

How to Be an Environmentally Friendly Photographer
12 Ways to be an Environmentally Friendly Photographer

Lunar Eclipse - Aug 2007

Here are some pictures i took of the Lunar Eclipse that occurred on August 28 2007. The west coast of US was the best spot for viewing the total transition as the eclipse started at 2:52 AM and lasted for approx 2 hours.

I was up the whole night to watch the moon enter totality, turn bright red and then emerge out of totality after 90 minutes. For those of you who missed it, the next lunar eclipse is on Feb 21, 2008. More details here....
http://www.hermit.org/Eclipse/2008-02-21/

What makes the next lunar eclipse exciting is that it is accompanied by a Solar Eclipse on Feb 07, 2008. Double treat for y'all ! If you aren't already excited, then hear this. Year 2008 will have two solar and two lunar eclipses in Feb and Aug!. Check this link out...
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2008.html

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More information on the August 2007 eclipse here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_August_2007_lunar_eclipse

Shooting Fireworks

Independence day is around the corner and i'm sure most of us are eagerly waiting for the spectacular fireworks. Here are some pictures i took last year and few tips on how to shoot fireworks.

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A Day @ Monterey Bay

Two weeks ago, we decided to drive down to Monterey Bay which is ~80 miles away from where we live and see the whales that everyone was talking about. Monterey Bay is the vacation spot for Humpback whales, Gray whales, Blue whales, Orcas, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Otters and a huge population of various bird species. Trust me, i ain't talking about the Aquarium or the Zoo; Monterey bay is one of the stops in the migration paths of these big fishes. The weather channel promised us bright sunny skies but the weather was cold, windy, cloudy and bleahhhh. Here are a few pictures from our adventure trip.

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Brandt's Cormorants

Brandt's Cormorants are strictly marine birds that inhabit the Pacific coast of North America. They build nests on cliffs and rocks and guard them all the time as the Sea gulls have a reputation of robbing their nests. The blue patch around the throat and the blue eyes appear only during mating season. They fly very fast and are known to dive great depths into the water to catch fish.

California Sea Lions

Sea Lions are very similar to Seals with the only difference that Sea Lions have tiny ears sticking out whereas the Seals don't. They are most noisy, like to take group naps and eat just about anything they find. They love to hang around the shore, perched up on rocks. Sometimes, they invade the beach in hundreds and take- over boats, parks, parking lots and the waterfronts. Don't believe me? Read this.

Few Lazy Whales
Humpback whales spend most of their summer and fall season in Monterey Bay feeding on Anchovies, Sardines and Krill and head back to Mexico in the winter. To see these whales close up in action, one needs to take a boat and sail ~2-3 miles into the bay. Morning boat trips are fun as the big fishes are on a feeding frenzy and are very active and playful. You could spot atleast 50 Humpback whales, a couple of Blue Whales, a few hundred Dolphins and some Orcas. We could not get the morning trip as it was sold out and took the afternoon trip instead. Here are a few Humpback and Blue whales that were lazing around.

Life of a City Bird

The bird population is growing leaps and bounds... unchecked and uncontrolled. I used to find a lot of these wild birds in the marsh lands and lagoons. Now i have noticed that they have started moving to the city as i see a lot of them around where i live. Nothing wrong with that, they too have a right to live a better life, to live the American dream :-)

Here are their 2 cents on the city life.

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Read what the birds had to say after the jump...

Farewell to the Monarch

The Monarch Butterfly, known for its bright flashy colors, is a very common species found in North America. You might think this creature is fragile and delicate, but read on to see why this tiny little flapper is so special and spectacular.

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A Face In The Crowd

I was bored. Took a few pictures walking around San Francisco Downtown. Though not as busy and crowded as Manhattan is, this place gets very lively and bustling during the weekends.

As a photographer, my experience tells me that human subjects appear most beautiful in their natural state; when they are totally unaware of the fact that a camera is zooming in on them. None of these people knew i was taking their pictures.

Nothing much to write here. Hopefully these beautiful people will speak for themselves.

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Once in a Blue Moon...

The Moon has fascinated mankind throughout the ages. It is the only natural satellite of Earth: Called Luna by the Romans, Selene and Artemis by the Greeks, and many other names in other mythologies. Due to its size and composition, the Moon is sometimes classified as a terrestrial "planet" along with Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The Moon is spherical in shape, is not self-luminous, but rather reflects the light of the distant Sun and circles the Earth once per month. It has no atmosphere, the sky always appears dark, even on the bright side.

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The Moon always shows us the same face everyday and this is why the features on the moon never change. Since both the Earth and Moon are rotating and orbiting, how can this be possible? Long ago, the Earth's gravitational effects slowed the Moon's rotation about its axis. Once the Moon's rotation slowed enough to match its orbital period (the time it takes the Moon to go around Earth) the effect stabilized. People often refer to "the dark side of the moon", but there is no such thing. The sun shines on all sides of it in turn. However, there is a "far side of the moon" which is never seen from the earth.


So, does a blue moon really exist? Visit my new website and read more...

Behind the Lens...

I usually write about my pictures in my posts, but this time i decided to write a bit about photography as an art. A friend of mine who is interested in photography asked me how i manage to find interesting subjects for my pictures. In the same breath, he also wanted me to tell him how to take "good pictures" and help him buy a good camera for taking "good pictures". I tried to explain this to him but i'm not sure if i made sense. Hope this post explains it more clearly.

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Photography is an art and a photographer is like an artist. An artist starts with a blank canvas and adds what he thinks should be shown in his painting. This can be from a view in front of him, or something from the depths of his creative imagination. If the painting is of something real (e.g. a landscape), objects are added or removed based on the artist's choice. No one ever walks up to the artist and says: "Hey, how come you didn't include that tree in your painting"?

The photographer, on the other hand, starts with what is available in front of him. His job as an artist is to remove all that which is not a part of his imagination by trying different methods of composing the picture. Thus the photographer creates by removing whereas the artist creates by adding. The photographer has to wait for certain conditions to be met and needs to make a few decisions before the picture is taken. The conditions seeked are usually the available light quality, atmospheric conditions and the subject. The decisions to be made involve f-stops, ISO, shutter speed, depth of field, focal length and choice of lenses.

Producing excellent pictures has to do more with the photographer and less with the equipment. Beginners often wonder why they don't automatically get excellent photographs despite having just obtained excellent equipment. This is equivalent to assuming that if you own a Ferrari, you can drive like Michael Schumacher. A good equipment makes it easier to get good pictures by expanding your possibilities but it is the photographer who ultimately decides when and how to take the picture. Timing is really important, so is skill and experience of the photographer.