Some christmas cheer :)

Merry Christmas to all!

Full circle :D

So I got tired of trying to make me do this as I planned... I considered shutting this blog altogether coz I was obviously doing a massively bad job of handling it.

But couldnt make myself do it somehow.

Kept bringing the arrow to the remove button and cringing..
Sooo i decided to hell with the atructured approach...its back to randomness.. i'll put in some snaps thoughts and see how it goes from there! Yay! :D

(There is, i suspect, a terrible lesson here that shouldnt be learnt and be avoided and overlooked. sigh.)

So below are some snaps i took in Matheran... I loved this little kitten who was sitting very confidently in the vicinity of hulky dogs against this perfect backdrop.

And of course i couldnt have left without one of the trademark matheran pullcarts ...and yes below it the horse!!

I deeply wanted to take one of the horses eye real close but they kept getting suspicious of me and sniggering dangerously towards me trying to get unthinkable stuff on the lens... so i thought the better of it and wait till i get a good zoom :)

Observation

ART is a very vague and gigantic word. It also has very fluid lines which keep changing according to the hopes, desires, experiments, tolerance etc of the society or individual in which it is evolving. Maybe the only thing definite about it is the expression of skill and thought.

When my cousin brother gave me his old SLR non-digital camera i was immeasurably happy. I thought the time for truly grasping this art had come forth. Once i began handling the instrument i realised how much thought I'd have to give each picture as i slowly figured out each little knob and its twisting and turning. I also simultaneously learnt about other subtleties and skills which are required for going that extra mile. Patience was one. You weren't gonna get that perfect snap in the first go. You'd have to learn how the lighted played with its subject, how it played with your instrument, if they dance right. And then there were those strange mistakes which turned out looking so good that you figure its a technique you can use. It takes time and a slow tuning of senses with environment and instrument.

Lately though with the advent of digitals it seems to me that the careful conversion of a layman into an artist has been seriously hit. Digitals give you a chance at taking a photos to your hearts content making that thinking process behind each picture that much lesser. As the point and click cameras are called so they are used. No setting frame, choosing angles etc it can all be done once back home leisurely with the myriad photo manipulation softwares available.

I'm not saying that i haven't enjoyed the joys of digital photography. It gives a novice a fair chance of doing their trial and error without culminating to great costs. Yet each time i hold that large film camera in my hands i cannot help feeling the nervousness and excitement of learning, of trying harder to get something right, of mixing emotion, with image, light and film. Maybe the relegation of the art of photography to the backrooms of manipulation more than the subtly of framing in the real environment makes me feel like some of the romance and adventure has gone out of the art of photography.

Back to point A

I am so undecided about things it isnt funny.
Coz my learning through blogging isnt taking off.. NOT if i may emphasise becoz of not learning but more of the hassle of shifting from camera to computer A (on which the usb port works) to Comp B (on which only one certain pendrive works). It kills the enthusiasm after a point. So im back to being whimsical with this blog. I will post anything that seems interesting enough to me in the field of photography.. and some photos of course. Things work better, i think, when i take less structured stances.

I found this very simple and interesting tutorial online a couple of weeks back. I have had Photoshop for ages but have only explored minimum on it (it seems like a trend with me). So this is a more focused approach to learning (hopefully i keep this one going). Heres the link if anyone else is interested:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshop/l/bllps5out.htm

Did lesson one today!
yay!

Oh yeah before i push off i must note one interesting experience.. i went to a NatGeo store in Singapore. Now one of their speciality since forever has been top notch photography.. and so this store had to have it displayed in oodles and more quantity. They had this gorgeous huuge wall full of frames (something i have always adored) containing the most beautiful photographs ever. To add there was also a special gallery display of one of their photographers (cant recall his name quite right now). Especially remember this brilliant blue one of a snake caught in a turbulent blue stream.. cant imagine how the photographer caught it!
More of them here:
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/

Finally!

This blog is dying from its need to be heard.
I hear you.. but i lack the grit i think to keep it on.

Actually one cant say that i havent made some strides in figuring photography out.. but to parallely blog about it became a bit difficult after a point i think.
That point for me seems to be the beginning *sigh* but well i endevour to drag my feet on.

So heres a pic of a camera cum some cool gear that my very selfless cousin brother gave me one fine year before. Its become functional only recently.. and im on the path to experiment.

Also news is that i have also been doing quite well with my automatic... which ive begun to learn to use in manual and other modes. I should try to be more descriptive... but well thats for another day.

Im just glad im writing something here... this space has been feeling very jaded and jinxed i think. Lets break it *i hope*

And soon!

This poor blog, post the big resolution, has seen much neglect. Amends must be made soon! Have some amount of decent leisure time to get working on things now... definitely one post on some basic learning required this week!
Onwards soldier!

THE PLEDGE

Sure i started this blog sometime back with great enthusiasm as a constant reminder for me to get moving and learn to use my camera beyond just the auto mode. But as is well obvious :( I just havent done it till now!

My dad sometime back gifted me a nice Samsung S1050 as a gift. A good camera for someone who aspires to make that shift from complete novice to somewhat knowledgable (it would be too early to say a superbly professional :D) photographer. Reviews told me that its got some pretty nifty manual bits which I could learn great from before I thought of buying one of those gorgeous DSLRs. Having a DSLR and working it are two completely different things really.

Yesterday night when in some great flash from above I finally picked my camera and began fiddling around I sort of rediscovered how great it was and how under utilised its many features are by me. I have almost never used the manual mode choosing instead the easy way out most days and sticking to other available easier options. I hate to admit I didnt even know the fullforms of a couple of abbreviations that kept showing up and though curious till date hadn't bothered to figure them out! I am completely ashamed because in the face of this my supposed love for photography sounds like a big fat farce :(

So heres to turning a new leaf and shutting the easy way out!

I solemnly swear from this day on I will pursue this love for photography as an art with the gravity and hardwork it deserves and not give in to 'auto' modes and shorcuts of the world!! Every entry however good or bad will hence forth not be about show casing photos taken in random places but the effort of learning this art!
To this I will abide completely and truly!

To a new beginning!!!