Window shooting (Part 1) and photography tips for shooting sunsets & moons

"I enjoy travelling and recording far-away places and people with my camera. But I also find it wonderfully rewarding to see what I can discover outside my own window. You only need to study the scene with the eyes of a photographer."

- Alfred Eisenstaed

A Bat flies across the setting sun in Mulund

 

Sunset over Mulund hills

In the page 'About My Bioscope', the blog description ends with the above quote and it is only fitting that I reproduce it over here - because today's post depicts some of the pictures I have captured from the cosy confines of my house by merely peeping out of the window and having the camera at hand (and also in part because nobody would have read the blog description!).

Photography is a subject which can be practiced literally anywhere, even in your bathroom (more about it some other day) and that is why I love it (not to be mistaken for spending time in the bathroom). As I have said in some of my earlier posts also, photography is all about perspective and a brilliant composition is just waiting to be captured right close to from where you are reading this.

It is not always possible to travel - due to time constraints, budget constraints and of course sheer laziness! In order to keep the creative juices flowing one is hence compelled to look around for subjects. And how very rewarding it can be, gee!

Birds heading home

People who have been following my blog (and I know there aren't many) would have seen in the previous posts the various colours and aspects of the sky that I have captured (see these posts here - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) from my home. This post takes the series forward by depicting some more enchanting skies. Additionally there is the picture of the bird, Oriental Magpie Robin, that I spotted this Saturday perched on a cable few feet away from my window (previous similar home shots - 1, 2). Apart from these, there is an entire world waiting to be captured from one's window - street life - which we will see in another post.

Sunset over Mulund hills

The hills that you see in these pictures are part of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. There was a time when I could get a sweeping panoramic view of these hills. But the real estate boom of the past few years has slowly blocked most of this view and it won't be long before I won't be able to see the sunset from my window and on that day this series would also come to an end, sigh!

Oriental Magpie Robin (OMR)

This bird was whistling its melodious tune and I knew the moment I heard the sound that it was the OMR (they are quite regular around my house) and I dashed to the window with my camera - in the process startling my father, who was enjoying his morning breakfast beside the window!

I am giving some photography tips below (free! free! free!) based on what works for me (disclaimer)!

Birds heading home

Photography tip for shooting stunning sunsets: For that ideal sunset picture it is important to ensure that you get the exposure right else the picture may turnout either too dark or washed out. Also the subject that you want to show as silhouette (hill, bat, buildings, birds and transmission towers in the these pictures) may not turn out as intended. For people using point and shoot cameras, use the in-built 'sunset' option. More often than not it works. For people with SLR and prosumers, set the camera to 'aperture priority' mode (aperture value of 8.0), meter the camera from the sun and stop down the EV by 1/3 - 2/3 - this will ensure that the camera compensates for the sun's brightness, adds warmth and produces the silhouette effect (should you need to quickly switch to 'manual mode', in case the sun becomes dull at the time of sunset, preset it to a shutter speed of 1/160 - 1/200). Lock the exposure and now compose your frame, click! Depending upon the scene, you could also use evaluative metering, but ensure that you stop down the EV.

While some of these aspects can also be controlled during post-processing, I believe in the Japanese management concept of 'Do it right the first time'. Most important thing is to take test shots before the actual moment - lest you miss out on a great shot because the settings were not right! And of course practice a lot!

In case you do not want the silhouette effect, such as in the pictures below, then meter from an area next to the sun (which will be less intense) else use evaluative metering. Rest of the procedure remains the same.

Mulund

Sun about to set over Mulund

For some more of my sunset and evening shots, click here.

The crescent moon

Photography tip for those beautiful moon shots: For people who want to photograph the moon, remember that the moon is bright and can also have a halo around it. In order to compensate for this, meter your camera from the moon using spot metering and stop down the EV by 2/3. Use the 'manual mode' and set the aperture value to 8. The precise shutter speed to use would depend upon the phase of the moon you are trying to shoot as well as its position in the sky (closer to the horizon they are a lot bigger but may not be as bright). For the above shot I have used a shutter speed of 1/15 (crescent moons are not as bright as full moons and require longer exposure), while for capturing Maghi Poornima I have used a shutter speed of 1/640 - in other words do some test shots - using 'aperture priority' mode would also work just as fine on most occasions (saving the headache of deciding the right shutter speed). These settings will ensure that your picture has the right exposure and captures the moon accurately, with craters, spots, et al!

In terms terms of gear, you need to have a camera with "atleast" 12-15X zoom or a 200-300mm lens to produce a picture of any meaningful size. Also use a lens hood in case there are external light sources nearby to prevent flares. If you do not have a steady hand, rest your elbow on a firm object else use a tripod (and if you don't have a tripod then boost the ISO and correspondingly increase the shutter speed, but this will make the picture grainy - for point & shoots use the 'auto-ISO' option). Of course practice and try out various settings depending upon the scene. Pictures of the moon come in handy for merging with other pictures - say for example when you want to show a moon shining above a monument!

In case you have any queries regarding the techniques, please feel free to contact me.

Shades of melancholy in black & white...

In my "humble" opinion Black & White (B&W) photography is perhaps one of the purest forms of photography. B&W stands on its own feet - on the strength of composition and mood, without the glamour (so to speak) of colour. I have also generally found that street photography is more appealing when seen in B&W - maybe it's because B&W brings out the starkness and hence help convey the mood better. To paraphrase it in a literary fashion - street-photography has the onerous task of capturing the shades of grey in our society and what better than using the shades of grey to portray them! It could also be because the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson (which were in B&W), the legendary photographer and father of street photography, continue to inspire photographers to this day, resulting in an immense amount of B&W work being done despite the colour capabilities of today's cameras.

Initially I had planned to share these pictures as part of another larger theme-based post, but then I had a feeling that they would get lost somewhere in the array of pictures (like so many of my other portraitures). Hence, this small post depicting some of the shades of melancholy which I observed recently.

A trumpet player in a Western-styled band

Wonder why the faces of most trumpet players appear melancholic and hardened to me? This man was otherwise quite jolly and would wink at me after finishing his bit!

A charioteer appears lost in thought

A relic of the past, horse carriages that were once common-place in Mumbai (they went by the moniker 'Victoria') are today few and far between. The struggle of having to run a carriage in the face of mounting costs, decreasing number of customers, traffic woes and animal rights groups breathing down their neck sure takes a toll on these guys.

Hardened by age, toughened by life!

A worker takes a breather during a dull moment in a festive procession. What intrigues me always is the impact the people, who come dressed in finery and gold ornaments for the festive / wedding processions, may be having on the minds of poor onlookers and members of a troop (such as this person)!

Another charioteer lost in thought

Perhaps the same goes for this charioteer as well.


Some great B&W pictures -
To see Henri Cartier-Bresson's work, click here.
Also have a look at the 10 photographs that changed the world.

P.S. - this time I have linked the pictures to the Flickr lightbox. In case you have encountered problems with it or find it troublesome to navigate then do let me know.

Musical Bands of Mumbai 1 – the Dhol-tasha band

Young boy playing cymbals

The arrival of the month of August heralds a long period of celebration for the majority of Indians. Starting with the Parsi New Year and ending with Christmas, it encompasses diverse festivals like Onam, Janamashthami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Paryushana, Eid, Navratri, Dussehra, and Diwali. It is the season of revelry, food (read sweets), music, penance, et al. In this and subsequent posts, I am sharing with you the images of people who get us swinging to their distinctly folksy beats during these festivals - the musical bands. Our first band is Maharashtra's famed Dhol-Tasha band.

If during a festival in Maharashtra you have heard the drums roll, clatter and create a deep resounding sound, then in all probability you have heard the dhol-tasha band play. As the name suggests, the band members play an assortment of drums (large and small) along with hand cymbals to create various taal (rhythm) synchronisations. The group members (more than 10 in number) are both young and old and sometimes also include children. Of late even women have started joining these bands (that should impress the women's rights groups)! During the Ganesh Chaturthi festival one gets to see the best of these groups. They typically rehearse for months and develop new taals to be in the reckoning of the large Ganesh mandals who hire them for the processions.


For a slide show of complete set of pictures of the Dhol-Tasha Band, please click HERE.

The mandali

There's an amazing amount of energy that they bring to this art form which is not seen in other traditional bands. During the processions they would halt a while and dance as they play music, raising the crescendo and pitch with every passing moment. The drums beating in unison and the clanging of cymbals have an earthy feel to it. It is also highly infectious. If you happen to be standing anywhere nearby, your feet would begin stamping without you even realising!

Electrifying to the core...

These people are quite jovial and give cheerful expressions upon spotting a camera.

In the next post I will share with you images of the great Indian Brass band (brought back into the limelight by Amit Trivedi in Dev D.) and also a Western version of it.

Till then...its goodbye!