Rahul's Portfolio

My old buddy Rahul has been into model et al since quite sometime now. We got together this weekend and did a photo session. My artistic selections are as follows

Neha's Portfolio

A few months back, I identified this girl to have a good potential to be get a portfolio done. I was pretty happy with the results.

What is suspension

I was about to give my car Fiat Palio for servicing and, I knew something was not good about my shock-absorbers or suspension. So, to understand the mechanism better... I went through a few pages on web. This what I saw...

http://www.carbibles.com/suspension_bible.html

Let's talk about HD

Hi Shirish,

Mast re... Ekdam uuche prashna vicharle ahes tu....

You will have nearly all the answers here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_video

A few quick answers inline, in the mail below. :) After reading this you will be enlighten :) There is not of jargon in there, but the whole idea is HD will give you an awesome quality of video. Even if you just ignore all this jargon stuff, just record a small clip from an SD and an HD and see the difference, in color, contrast, and sharpness.... you will love HD.

I have spent quite some time writing this email and with your due permission, I want to put this thread into my blog, http://pramodgoggi.blogspot.com

Regards,
Pramod

On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 2:26 PM, wrote:

Pramod,

Thanks for the info.I had a look at the models u have mentioned below, and I have some questions. Pls let me know if u have answers / pointers to the answers for these.

1. Exactly what image quality diff is there between the ‘Secret desire’ video and commercial cam video? Was it in terms of fps (Frames / Sec) and/or resolution?

Not just about 'Secret Desire', but to talk SD vs HD --->
Both resolution and fps, SD works on 720x480, fps:i30 at max (480i30). Where HD works on 720p28 or 1080i50 or 1080p30... etc

Where:
p: progressive scanning
i: interlaced

Please read p and i, on the website.

25p fps = 50i fps

1. 
   
2. What’s the FPS for commercial quality video? I think it’s 25 fps for PAL and 28 FPS for NTFS, pls correct me. Where does 30 FPS video fall in this scenario?

NTSC and PAL are standards, predominant for viewing, Don't record video at those resolution, convert them into NTSC or PAL for viewing. Just get the resolution and fps stuff clear for video recording... And I would suggest record in HD :)

I like this image from the same site

See this image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Common_Video_Resolutions_2.svg

1. 
   
2. I understand that HD standard renders video in a resolution of different dimensions than standard video. What’s the screen size for each frame of HD video? What’s the frame rate? Is it again different like NTFS and PAL?

HD 16:9 aspect ratio. NTSC and PAL are SD (Standard Definition) 4:3 aspect ratio

Size is given above. Frame rate can be anything above 24p... that's just fine.

I personally want to record a slow motion video at 240fps and convert it into 50fps, and majja bagachi ahe... ki how does a high-def slow motion video looks like!!! :)

1. 
   
2. There are 2 high def video standards – HDTV and Blu-Ray. Does HD video on the camcorders mentioned below support both of these? Since Blu-Ray is Sony specific, will Sony cams support HD mode as compatible to Blu-ray only?

Blu-Ray is disc format. HD is video standard. HDTV is television standard. A Blu-ray disc can store an HDVideo that can be viewed on HDTV.... Kitti confusion kela ahe re Sony ni!

1. 
   
2. The reviews for below mentioned camcorders do not mention frame rate and lines per screen (which, according to my understanding is close to 1080 lines /screen in case of commercial quality videos). Can you elaborate?

1080 line is HD.. right... anything above 24p fps is just fine. Elaborate....by now you must have already know many things.

1. 
   
2. If the HD video supported by camcorders mentioned below an ‘authentic’ HD video (in terms of lines per screen / frame rate / resolution), or a stripped down version? If it’s authentic, what does a commercial HD cam possesses in terms of video quality, which these do not have?

A movie or commercial documentaries are made on 'film', this is something like a 35mm camera file, include slots of audio, etc etc... So each film will contain one frame :), imagine how big a 3 minutes documentary will be :)... and imagine the quality!!!

I understand your question... commercial HD cam's... Well its something like comparing:
1. mobile phone camera (8 Megapixel)
2. A digital SLR (8 MegaPixel)

Even though both are producing a 8 MegaPixel image... that doesn't mean they are having the same quality of image. Its just that the size of end-pixel are same, but the quality of the image will depend on many parameters... like lens, aperture size, medium storing this data.. etc..etc. So HC9 costs 50K in India is the basic HD handycam, while there are Rs.5Lack HD camera that give professional quality. On a different note....believe me HC9 is an amazing handycam.

There are no HD DVD cameras (only blu-ray disc's and other that are extremely costly). And its said that our dear old Mini-DV (tape) is the best medium to store high quality videos. Surprisingly, people buy a HDD (Hard-disk drive) or DVD handycams for nearly 50k, but people aren't aware that a HD handycam of the same price will deliver outstanding results. But, they are cosumers, not amateur short-film makers :) Anyways... HD HC9 is not available in Pune, because there are not customers for this camera :( :)

Also it will be huge pain editing these video, as you will require higher configuration PC's :)

Have a great time reading about videos and filming awesome short-films

Cheers,

Shirish Deshpande

From: Shirish [

fyi ------------- Hi Preetam, The handycam details that I promised to send..... these are just my scratchpad details, see if you can make sense of these details. Sony HDR-HC9 or Canon Hv30, is a decent enough camera to start with a short-film ------------- HD handycams: -------------- Profession : -------------- $5000 --> Sony HDV V1 --> Profession HD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hKv7xqhdhc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qayetW8rflI [setup] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FPAsZnPB40 [ Slow motion ] $4000 -->Sony HDR FX7 -------------- Pro-Consumers --------------- $900 - $1000 --> Sony HDR-HC9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwJG8kgRy5g http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-detailsInactive.asp?Sku=S08-3424&SRCCODE=WEBTV&CMP=OTC-WEBTV $1000 --> Canon HV30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74LH8khNYPA --------- Misc: ------------ $1000 --> Sony HDR-HC7 --> Pro consumer camera $800 --> Sony HC3 --> Consumer HD camera http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/sony-handycam- hdr-hc3/4505-6500_7-31749257.html $1300 --> Sony Handycam HDR-SR7 (Hard-disk) http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/sony-handycam- hdr-sr7/4505-6500_7-32427828.html?tag=also Sony HDR SR1 ----- -- Regards, Pramod Goggi

Out-of-Office

I am using 2 email accounts and wanted to auto-forward from one emails to other.

Link

Let's talk about Linux

http://nixcraft.com/

Did you have this problem that you want to collect data from multiple Linux box and consolidate / automate a few stuff... I sure had this issue. A few resolution are here:

Link

Quick steps (Command to run from the box you need to write your script):

> ssh-keygen -t rsa
> scp .ssh/id_rsa.pub 'user'@'machine_address':.ssh/authorized_keys2


Linux commands: a practical Reference
I love this reference, surely helpful:
http://www.pixelbeat.org/cmdline.html

VI Editor

I was not sure if I had the VI Editor common commands list in my blog, this help people who are uncomfortable working in UNIX/Linux and the vi editor

http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.pdf

Send email from UNIX box

Automated email sending from Unix command line. We have been doing this from year, this page is a good reference, for attachments handling.. etc

http://www.shelldorado.com/articles/mailattachments.html

Happy scripting

Ghost and the Darkness

As teenagers, Rahul and me, loved reading man-eater stories, primarily Kenneth Anderson, and we still search for Kenneth Anderson books whenever we get the chance.

"Ghost and the Darkness" is one movie that we really liked. This movie is based on a real story of Tsavo maneaters (South Africa), two lions who attacked the builders of the Uganda-Mombasa Railway in 1898, killing about 135 of them, and the subsequent hunt to kill them.

About the movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_and_the_Darkness

Watch this movie here:
http://www.watch-movies.net/movies/the_ghost_and_the_darkness

The actual book written by Lt.Col. J. H. Patterson:
http://robroy.dyndns.info/tsavo/tsavo.html

Video: Achmed: The dead terroist

Education system Vs Creativity

Ken Robinson talks about today's Education system killing creativity

I want to buy and DigitalSLR

Hi Amu,

Good to see that you are doing some nice research on Canon DSLR's :)
I will answer these questions one-by-one.

1. "So does this mean that the SLR cant click good pictures without the lens? "
Canon EOS 400D (Rebel XTi) is capable of clicking outstanding photographs with 18-50mm kit lens. I have a huge collection of fabulous photographs with that lens.
You are graduating from a consumer camera (Canon powershot's) to hobby/amateur camera. DSLR 400D with kit lens is great. Now, when you read people mentioning about18-50mm is not a good lens, they are talking in a professional photographers point of view.
I have just blown-up one of my snap that I clicked with my 18-50mm lens to 4" by 6", and that's when I noticed that the photo could and should have been more sharp, that's when I felt a need to upgrade my lens to professional range of lenses. (L-series lens) which are highly priced.

2. "The lens that you mentioned below are they a must? Is there no in built lens? what is the purpose of these lenses ? zoom ? distance photography? clarity? I am kinda confused"
Ok... now about lens in-depth. There are basically 3 range types of lens wide-angle, normal and telephoto. (I am talking about Digital camera here not the film based camera's 35mm)
Wide-angle: Ranging below 20/30mm (Clicking landscape)
Normal: Ranging between 20-80/100mm (portraits, etc)
Telephoto: 80/100m and above (wildlife, birds, etc)
Again lens are of 2 kinds: fixed (or box) lens or zoom lens. example
fixed lens: 50mm, 60mm, 400mm
zoom lens: 18-50mm, 100-300mm
Zoom lens have range. You must have always seen zoom lens. The word "zoom" is miss- understood by many. Zoom doesn't mean that you get a telephoto view but you get the range.
So the lenses that I have are:
18-50mm - normal zoom lens
75-30mm - telephoto zoom lens
50mm normal fixed lens
I took 50mm because it picture quality is superior. In general, fixed lens give better quality result to their zoom lens counterparts.
There are specialized lens too: like Macro lens, etc. Macro is for minute objects, like flowers, insects, fine marking on the leaves, etc.
Read this: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/enjoydslr/part3/3A.html

3. "WHat if i dont buy a lens immediately and buy it later.... what are the things I wont be able to do without these lenses?"

You can start-off good with 18-50mm, with standard photographs of trips, people, landscape, mountains, etc, etc, Its one of the most used range. And when you feel the need to a telephoto then buy a 75-300mm ($200) or a professional 100-400mm IS($1500). You will feel the need when u want to click flower details(macro lens), birds, wildlife, telephoto shot of a scene. I got my Canon 350D in May 2005, purchased the telephoto lens in Jan 2006.

I would also suggest you to look into Canon S5IS. When you see Canon S5IS is 12x zoom, it has a 38-450mm equivalent lens, it has a great range (zoom) and its telephoto end is awesome, fabulous Macro mood and super-macro mode, where you click great details of flower et al. But its missing the wide-angle range, it does have a wide-angle attachment. As a whole I was pretty impressed with S5IS. But its not an SLR, and you cannot achieve the SLR type quality in this camera. Also, do you really need that high quality?

The main feature of SLR is that lens can be changed. But, it also is the draw-back. You will have to change lens for different kind of shoots. For example when you are out for a trip to a scenic mountain place, you have 4 items to shoot:
1. Great mountain range landscape (20mm) or (17mm)
2. Silhouette of a lone tree in background of sunset(20mm) or (200mm) as per your framing
3. Great flowers on the ground. Nice macro shot (50mm) or (macro lens 90/100mm)
4. A bird sitting on the tree top (200/300/400/600mm)
All these photo can be achieved with 18-50mm lens, when you not too detailed about photography like correct frame etc. Forget bird shots with 18-50mm, unless the birds are in captivation.

4. "This might be a very basic question but wanted to get the funda cleared in anycase."
Phhheww, that was some details I have given you here. This thread is surely going in my blog... I ain't be typing this all over again.

Hope these detailing clears most of your question. Feel free to ask question till you get the answer that you want, coz I have gone through these question in 2004-2005, before finalizing on putting some Rs,60,000+ on Canon EOS 350D in May 2005 :)

Conclusion:
1. Get Canon 400D, if you want great quality, and planning for inclination to photography, ready to spend of future specialized lens (macro, tele, etc). Want large prints
2. Get S5IS, if you want an all-in-one solution. Good quality is fine, I don't want great quality. Want readily macro, tele, etc. Video recording inside the camera, etc. Get a 4GB memory and u are done! :)

Regards,
Pramod

On Nov 17, 2007 3:42 AM, Amruta Bhogale wrote:

So does this mean that the SLR cant click good pictures without the lens? The lens that you mentioned below are they a must? Is there no in built lens? what is the purpose of these lenses ? zoom ? distance photography? clarity? I am kinda confused. WHat if i dont buy a lens immediately and buy it later.... what are the things I wont be able to do without these lenses? This might be a very basic question but wanted to get the funda cleared in anycase.

AMu

On Nov 16, 2007 3:22 PM, Pramod Goggi <pramodgoggi@gmail.com> wrote:

Canon EOS 400D (in US called as Canon EOS Rebel XTi) 10MP, is the successor of Canon EOD 350D (Rebel XT) 8MP, is the camera that I have with 3 lens.

I have been using Canon 400D and its an awesome camera, and no doubts that you can get any better camera at that price. Its the cheapest SLR camera for amateur and professionals.

Go with the kit lens 18-50mm, or if you are getting a good deal go with the 17-40mm L series lens, that is around $250.

So basically with SLR you will get outstanding picture quality, but you will have to get different lens for different zooms. I have a 50mm (fixed lens), 18-50mm and 75-300mm, all Canon lens. 300mm end is still less zoom for me during wildlife photography.

Note: With SLR's there is no video recording possible. On screen shooting view in not available you will have to see it through viewfinder.

I would also suggest you to see Canon powershot S5IS as it has great zoom (38mm-410mm) IS lens. For me to get a IS lens (100mm-400mm IS) is costing somewhere like $1500. But the quality of DSLR is surely superior.

On Nov 16, 2007 9:58 PM, Amruta Bhogale <amruta.bhogale@gmail.com> wrote:

hey I am buying a canon 400D slr . I am not sure of the 18-50 mm lens.
Over all i wanted your review on both. I have researched and found out that the above lens that comes with the camera if taken as a kit is not of very good quality. Please reply wanted to know your views also.

Amu

--
Regards,
Pramod Goggi

pramodgoggi@gmail.com | www.goggi.net

--
Regards,
Pramod Goggi

pramodgoggi@gmail.com | www.goggi.net

"This, too, shall pass" from my best friends wedding

A stirring scene from the movie "My best friends wedding", starring Julia Roberts. One of my favorite shot and I call it the "This, too, shall pass" shot.

I found these dialogs really interesting:
1. "See, I'm a dangerous, criminal person. I do bad things to honest people. This, see, this smoking? Tip of the iceberg."
2. " Make a citizen's arrest, I won't struggle. It'll be like getting Al Capone on tax evasion."
3. "This, too, shall pass"

This is the sequence where Julianne (Julia Roberts) has tried her best to break Micheal's marriage (her best friend), and realizes that in this process she has got Micheal into trouble.

---------

Micheal:   Please?

She nods, stumbles out of her room, closing the door behind her.
Now she's in the empty corridor, clutching her big jumbled bag,
sinking down to sit on the carpet, her back against the door.

She doesn't look elated.  She seems frightened, distraught, and
most of all, confused.  Because she can't understand why.  She digs
absently through her bag.  Cigarettes.  Box of matches.

She lights up.  Draws deeply.  Somehow, she seems near tears, and
laughs bitterly at that.  Shakes her head at how fucked-up she finds
herself.  Squeaking wheels approach, but she is too lost to hear them.

   BELLMAN
     Miss, are you locked out,
     or something?

She looks up.  A small, wiry man of nearly 60, in a slightly faded
but neatly-kept uniform.  On his cart, a ton of bags.

   JULIANNE
     No, I just stepped out, because...
     it's a non-smoking room.

And inhales deeply.  Leans back against the door, to look up at him
more comfortably.

   BELLMAN
      (politely)
     Well, it's non-smoking floor,
     too.  Maybe you could go to the...

   JULIANNE
      (seriously)
     Why don't you have me arrested?

That wasn't sarcastic.  He doesn't know what to say.

   JULIANNE
     I mean that.  Arrested, convicted,
     put in solitary.

Another puff.

   JULIANNE
     See, I'm a dangerous, criminal
     person.  I do bad things to
     honest people.  This, see, this
     smoking?  Tip of the iceberg.

Waves her hand.

   JULIANNE
     Make a citizen's arrest, I won't
     struggle.  It'll be like getting
     Al Capone on tax evasion.

Now she seems angry.  But not at him.  Her eyes fill with tears.

   BELLMAN
     Can I... Can I help you, miss?

She squints at his nameplate.

   JULIANNE
     Do you smoke, Richard?

   BELLMAN
     Yes, ma'am, I do, but it's...

   JULIANNE
     ... a non-smoking floor, yeah.
     Well, you know what?

And she takes the cigarette from her lips.  Turns it around, holds
it out to him.  Go ahead.  He doesn't move.  Please! And so...

... he reaches down, takes the cigarette from her hand.  Staring in
her eyes, he takes a deep drag.  Savors an expert nostril-inhale of
his exhaled smoke.  Hands the cigarette back to her...

   BELLMAN
     My grandmother always said,
     "This, too, shall pass."

She swallows.  Wipes at her eyes.  Finds a smile.

   JULIANNE
     Thanks, Richard.  If you weren't
     on duty, I'd buy you a drink.

He just nods.  She waves.  He waves back, pushes his cart down the
--------
hall. 

White Balance

You have understood what exposure means, you started setting your own shutter speed and aperture values. You heard about white balance, color temperature and color balance, and you wonder how do I handle it during the shooting itself, rather than a post-processing. Some link you to guide you through.

http://tinyurl.com/3aansv
http://tinyurl.com/2kww5e
http://tinyurl.com/bpaow

About lighting: www.webphotoschool.com
About photoflex: www.photoflex.com

How to Photograph birds

With my Canon 350D + 75-300mm (non-IS lens) the bird snap that I click are ordinary, nothing too special, and are less ordinary when left uncropped. I can't afford a 500mm or 600mm f/4 lens or any teleconverter. What should I do... I am using a tripod... don't help me much with the unsharp end of the 75-300mm.

Some tips around here:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/birds.htm

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/photographing-birds/

http://www.naturephotographers.net

Great forum:

http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/bbs.cgi?a=vf16

I believe this man has done some great job:

http://www.birdphotographs.co.uk/

Good collection:

http://www.outdoorphoto.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/all/si/bird

Ultra-zoom lens --> IS --> MLU

Its time you are photo-shooting wildlife / birds and you want extremely sharp pictures. What do you need as you arsenal? You need lots and lots of money :) to get a fabulous 400mm / 500mm / 600mm lens, with a 1.4x or 2x converter. Great! Good to start.

This is when you read this reviews!!!!

IS lens tips:
http://www.poelking.com/wbuch/scharf/index_e.htm
Parent website: http://www.poelking.com
Most interesting thing is image sharpness increase with the Mirror lock-up (mlu) feature! So basically when the mirror moves-up it create vibrations that may shake the clicked photograph... Hmmm I need to start doing this often!

More on Mirror Lock Up:
photo.net/photo/nature/mlu.html
A clear eye-opener!!!

Carry a good tripod:
http://tinyurl.com/2hdefc

Do I really need an IS:
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009TC5

Reality of photo resizing: Some amazing facts

I belief this article is reserved for photographer those who want to go as pros.

Have you ever tried to enlarge your photos to large / huge prints and wondered why was the photo all pixel-prone. Well the link below will give the reason and the solution. Keep it a secret, its not for everyone :)

That is the 72 DPI crap that has always given you the problem, its the difference between monitor and high quality prints. Always keep your images as 300dpi.. Well, read on...

Reality of photo resizing

50 tips for better outdoor photos

This is a preview of a book. I liked the tips
http://www.gafneyphoto.com/Free7.htm

Some essentials on DOP (Depth of focus)

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/25485.html

Also keep a watch on this site for good tips:
http://www.completedigitalphotography.com/

MOTO SLVR L7

These sites will give you explanations on what you need to install themes/skins

http://forum2.mobile-review.com/showthread.php?t=16917
http://www.66mobile.com/how-to-install-themes-skins-on-motorola-phones.html
http://www.slvrhackers.net/home/index.php
http://www.motomodders.net/
http://www.themotoguide.com/

Good Digital photography tutorials online

http://www.geofflawrence.com/photography_tutorials.htm

Reference for CVS commands

http://durak.org/cvswebsites/doc/cvs_toc.php#SEC_Contents

Mozilla command line arguments

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Command_line_arguments

Reference for Linux quick commands

http://www.pixelbeat.org/cmdline.html

New Year 2007 visit to Kelshi beach

New Year's visit to Kelshi beach and Mahabaleshwar on the 31st eve.

Photo link below

From Kelshi

red.com

Amazing new technology digital cameras

www.red.com

Thanks kapil for sharing this link with me

Top 10 Techniques for Better Pictures
Making beautiful photographs involves nothing more than a bit of thought. While it often helps to have decent equipment, all you really need is to take a moment before each shot to think clearly about what you are attempting to capture or create.

The following guidelines are intended to help novice, non-artistic, and/or non-technical picture-takers immediately improve their photography.
If you would like to:
Bring home much more pleasing memories from your travels;
Make more artistic portraits of your family, pets, or friends;
Be satisfied and excited instead of disappointed every time you look at your photos; or
Simply enjoy the process of making pictures more;
Then read, study, and implement these simple guidelines.
Top 10 Beginning Photography Tips

1. Move in closer
2. Be quick
3. Compose with care
4. Be selective
5. Focus on your subject
6. Experiment in time
7. Look at the light
8. Watch the weather
9. Keep it simple
10. Be Bold


Beginning Photography Tip #1:
Move in Closer

Each time you spot a subject, snap a shot and then move in closer for a better shot. Having your subject almost fill the frame helps your viewer understand and appreciate your photo. Also, details are often more interesting than an overall view.
Keep moving in closer until you are sure the photo will successfully represent your subject.

Beginning Photography Tip #2:
Be Quick

If it is at all possible that your subject may move, bolt, fly away, stop smiling, or just get tired of waiting for you to take the picture, shoot once right away.
Practice getting quicker and quicker to the draw.
Do not worry about taking too many pictures and do not wait until you're absolutely certain all the knobs and buttons are in their correct position.
As the motto of one of BetterPhoto old t-shirts states, "Shoot First, Ask Questions Later."

Beginning Photography Tip #3:
Compose Your Picture with Care

Even if you don't plan on selling your photo to the Smithsonian, make every effort to keep it balanced and beautiful. On one level or another, everyone responds better to a picture that has all elements in balance.
Strive to lead the eye along an interesting path through the photo, with the use of strong lines or patterns.
Keep the horizon level;
Crop out extra elements that you are not interested in (more on this is the next tip);
Consciously place your subject where you think it most belongs rather than just accepting it wherever it happens to land in the photo;
Play with perspective so that all lines show a pattern or lead the eye to your main subject;
Work with the Rule of Thirds.


Beginning Photography Tip #4:
Be Selective

Discern what you are really interested in and center your efforts on getting the best photo of this subject, whether it a still life, your funny cat, your doggy, a friend, a family matter, a mood, a place or culture.
Then be sure to keep anything that would distract out of the picture. The easiest way to do this is to watch your borders - the edges of the view you see through the camera's viewfinder. Then recompose if anything - such as an unattractive telephone wire, an old soda can, a distracting sign, your finger, or your camera strap - hangs into your picture.
It can become more difficult if you want to, say, shoot a San Francisco cable car without a single distracting telephone line. But even in such a difficult case, you have many options.
You can:
Focus in on a close-up that tells the whole story;
Move around until you arrange the telephone lines into a neat pattern that leads to the subject; or
Take a panning shot that makes the cable car remain in focus while the background goes blurry.

Beginning Photography Tip #5:
Focus on Your Subject

Practice shooting with different apertures and monitor the results afterwards to learn how depth-of-field affects your photo.
You will find that a smaller depth-of-field (and smaller f-stop #) focuses all the attention upon your subject. This is great for taking a picture of your child, your dog, or your husband - subjects stand out against a blurry background.
Likewise, you will find that a greater depth-of-field (bigger f-stop number) will make everything from here to eternity appear in focus. This will help make those landscapes fascinating and lovely.

Beginning Photography Tip #6:
Experiment with Shutter Speed

One of the most basic, overlooked, and fun aspects of photography is that you have the power to slow time down or catch a split second.
One image happens so slowly that we could never see it and the other happens so quickly in real time that we would never notice it. Play with shutter speed!
Use a slow shutter speed and a tripod to make a pretty picture of any creek or stream. On the other hand, you can use a fast shutter speed (1/500 and up) to capture an object in motion.
Combining a fast shutter speed with a long lens, you sports buffs can get a trophy of your own when you are able to catch the expression on your favorite runningback's face as he slips past the final defense toward a winning touchdown. Remember, catching the moment in fast-paced action photography may take a little more practice so hang in there.

Beginning Photography Tip #7:
Look at the Light

By this, I don't mean look into the sun - no, that won't do at all. But it is good to see what kind of light you are working with. Which way are the shadows falling? Unless you want a silhouette effect, where your subject is black against an interesting background, it's generally best to shoot with the sun behind you.
How is the light affecting your subject? Is the subject squinting?
Is the light blazing directly and brightly upon your whole subject? This works well if you are in love with the bold colors of your subject.
Side lighting, on the other hand, can add drama but can also cause extreme, hard-to-print contrasts.
Lastly, indirect light can be used to make your subject glow soft and pretty.

Beginning Photography Tip #8:
Watch the Weather, Too

Look outside and decide whether or not you are going to want to have the sky in your picture.
If it's overcast, simply keep the sky out of your pictures as much as possible. This is usually the best way to avoid both muted tones in your subject and washed-out skies in your background. You might also find black and white pictures of an overcast day more pleasing than color.
When the day is beautiful, go ahead and make the most of it.
If your camera allows for the use of filters, purchase a polarizer. This will help you render deep blue skies against bright white clouds, richly contrasting colors, and other wonderful effects with a simple twist of the wrist.

Beginning Photography Tip #9:
Keep Your Camera Settings Simple

While you may wish to have "all the bells and whistles" available just in case, you will probably get the best results if you do not try to use them all the time and instead learn a simple set up that works best for you in most situations.
This doesn't necessarily mean keeping your camera set on "Program" - while this mode may be perfect in its simplicity, it may be frustrating in its tyrannical control.
Instead of relying on a fully automatic program, pick a simple, semi-automatic program such as aperture-priority and master shooting in that mode. Then, you'll be able to control certain basics without letting the other basics control you, and thus keep that 150 page manual where it belongs - in your camera bag.
Tip: if you want one accessory, bring a tripod. This one item can solve camera shake issues and help you get beautiful evening shots.


Beginning Photography Tip #10:
Be Bold

Don't allow yourself to be paralyzed by fears of using the wrong settings, or an non-politically-correct social policy.
If you are afraid of upsetting someone by taking their picture, just go up and ask if it's okay. Ask them to sign a release and offer a print in return.
With wildlife, adopt a low-impact method when you go places where few photographers have gone before. For the above photos, I put my camera and telephoto in a waterproof bag and kayaked out into Monterey Bay. (Lawyer-talk: This can be dangerous - so be careful.)

Be wise... but be bold.

About Canon DSLR

here are some links that either I or other members have shared which I found after rummaging through my old emails. I hope this helps. As usual, any and all questions welcome.

http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/index.html

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/index.html lower left corner for XT

http://philip.greenspun.com/photography/building-a-digital-slr-system

Rob in NYC

Whatever makes you happy. ... hop to it

Talk about Photo Enlargement

Photo Enlargement details link

The moon shot

The moon was looking pretty yesterday night and I took this apportunity to capture this on my camera.

Diet Coke + Mentos reaction

If you take a 2 little bottle of Diet Coke, put around 6 Mentos in the bottle. The coke erupts out from the bottle like a geyser. Need to try it.

There are dozens of videos on http://video.google.com

My favorite:
Google Video 1

Created a fountain using 200 litre of Coke and 500 odd mentos. These people have done crazy
http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html

And these are extremes!
Google Video 2

These are making ice bombs!
Google Video 3

Save the Pune Trees

http://www.kalpavriksh.org/f3/punetw/PTA_june06

EOS Flash info

Details

Wildlife santuaries in India

Kanha websites:
Link 1: http://www.visit-indya.com/wildlife/kanha-national-park.html
Link 2:http://tariquesani.net/thumbnails.php?album=31
Link 3:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanha_National_Park

Tadoba:
http://projecttiger.nic.in/tadoba.htm

Trek the Sahyadris

Destination Type Date Photos
-----------------------------------------------
Vasota Yes
Harishchandragad
Kokankada
Purandargad
Dukes Nose
Lohagad / Visapur
Chawani Village Nature
Peb Fort
Makarandgad
Sajjangad Temple
Bhimashankar Wildlife Santuary
Tikona
Sinhagad
Malshej
Raigad

Visit to Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary

Visited Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary this weekend, to support the Forest officials for the animal sensex (animal counting). [Team size: 8]

We had a night trail on Saturday, where we strengthened our senses, to identify the location of the animals / insects /birds. Also located some water-holes and hide outs where we can possible hide to see animal at night for the sensex.

Sunday morning was the pugmarks search 6am - 12pm. With help of the forest servant, Ganesh, we identified the pugmarks of Monguse, wild boars, sambhar. Year 2005 sensex had counted 9 leopards (bibtya). During our visit, we identified and recorded 2 leopard pugmarks, one was identified as a young male (3 years old), and one was a female (mostly the other's mother). The pugmarks were fresh and looked like they had passed the location around 3 hours before our visit. [Pugmark prints are taken in plaster-of-Paris (PoP) to record the sitting.] Also sited the state animal - "Shekaru" (the giant squirrel) found in-majority around the Bhimashankar region. All-in-all a great experience and a fruitful event. Do follow the link below for a few photos from the event.

Photos link: Link

Details on Bhimashanlar on the web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhimashankar

Issues in Installing and Upgrading Ant

ANT: ANT can be installed in many ways, the most convenient is probably with an RPM, if you can find one for your particular distribution of Linux. Alternatively building from source is relatively easy. There may be dependencies required by ANT, these will usually be reported as errors or warnings, when you attempt to “./configure” or “make” and you will be prompted with the names of the dependencies to be installed before being able to completely install ANT. Once ANT compiles completely, ANT_HOME must be set in your shell. In bash, the .bash_profile should include an export statement for this purpose.

I ran into several quirks with the installation of Ant. The first was due to a conflict with the previous installation of Ant that came with the system, another problem was associated with the path to Ant. To resolve these issues, I had to first make sure there was no ant.conf file on my system, and most importantly, set the PATH to point to the install directory for ANT. In my case, I installed from source, running (./configure, make, make install), and pointing to the directory in my .bash_profile as follows:

export ANT_HOME=/home/perin/prep/apache-ant-1.6.5

There were a few dependencies missing that Ant required, but those were installed in the order output after running ‘configure’ and all installed smoothly

Source: http://www.cbil.upenn.edu/downloads/RAD/JCPerin_InstallingRADSA.doc

Awaiting Canon EF-S 17 - 55 mm F2.8 IS lens

Awaiting Canon to release this lens Canon EF-S 17 - 55 mm F2.8 IS lens
Its gonna be costly!



Link: Click Here

Amruta smiles

It was long we had been postponing Amruta's photo shoot. Finally last weekend I caught Amruta behind the lens, and got a great shots with my new 50mm fixed lens f/1.8!

Work for a social cause

What social work are you talking about?
Member of a CybageAsha committe, (A group in my company, Cybage, which looks into work for the social cause), I have been involved in helping out people in need. My focus has been physical presence rather than financial aid. Visit orphan ages (Shreevasta), aids affected kids (Mannavvya) and other institutes where kids are taken care and educated.

Why work for social cause?


Motivation factors:

Hindering factors:

CybageAsha's recent visit to Phadke Kaku's place

This weekend CybageAsha had been to a visit to Phadke Kaka-kaku's place. Phadke kaku takes care of children's education. We had great fun doing a few hundreds of greeting cards and dozens of Handkerchief painting.

More details in my CybageAsha blog:
Blog: CybageAsha Social Group
Post: CybageAsha 2nd year celebration
Link: Click Here

Royal Enfield Himalyan odyssey

Do you have that craze for adventure. You can do something like this!

Royal Enfield Himalyan odyssey (27th June to 11th July 2005)
http://www.royalenfield.com/app/IN/Events/HimalayanOdyssey.asp

Driving Rules

Have a look at California Traffic rules. Just we need to change right to left.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/pubs.htm

-----------

http://www.punepolice.com/cta.htm

http://www.savepunetraffic.com/html/Channel-to-authorities.htm

http://www.uttaranchalpolice.com/traffic/traffic_rule.htm

MainLand China - Hyderabad

An uncommon focus and different photo with table arrangement

Recent visit to Hyderabad.

Recent visit to Hyderabad. Varun and Praveen in a playful mood.

Test your internet bandwidth

http://gambitdesign.com/bandwidthmeter/initialmeter.php

How do digital camera work?

http://www.bythom.com/ccds.htm

DOS tips

DOS tips!!! Why do u need dos tips!! You might need it sometime :)

Here it is:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/dostips.htm

Ganapati at home

Walk of Life won the 2nd prize

"Walk of life" photograph won the second prize in the Cybage Photography competition

Text-to-Speech

Text to speech:

"Welcome to my blog" Here it

My left foot ligament injury

The Introduction:

Met with a small accident yesterday (8th Aug'05), where the truck tyre went over my left foot.

Its not a bone fracture, but a ligament injury. As per the doctors it should heel within 3 weeks time!

The Story:
I was on my 2-wheeler, on the approach route to Holekar bridge (The bridge near Bombay Sappers), that approach route is mostly busy at rush-hours (12 noon), the vehicles were moving slow, and close to each other. On my left was a truck moving slowly (Not more than 5km/hr). A Sumo guy rushed in from right hand side (40-50kms/hr) and hit my handle. I went out of control, and was pushed on my left onto the truck. I took the support of the truck by my hand and kept my foot down. It was at that time the truck went over my foot. It was a close call!

The After effect:
I was in office for that day, without much pain. But by evening the pain increased. Went to Mangeshkar hospital late that evening and got a X-ray done. X-ray was ok without any damage to the bone. Doc says its a ligament injury. Next day got the foot plastered (Adhesive Scotchcast). Bright Pink: That was the only color available in the scotch cast! :)

Its difficult to walk properly with the plaster-on.

The Good news:
My foot X-ray report says: "The joint spaces are unremarkable"
The means my bone structure is good!

About Unsharp Mask

Link:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/unsharp-mask.htm

Opdicom's Disk media storage solution

One of my friend's at office is working for a new client, which is into Optical Disk storage solution.

I liked the concept!

There is this box, where you can dump-in all your CD's / DVD's. This box connects to your PC's USB. Type in a search string and - bingo!!!! the box pops-out your desired CD.... Cool...right!

Check it out:
http://www.opdicom.com

Currently I am using https://www.qunom.com's CD Bank cataloguer.

My photo competition entries at my office

We had to submit 5 photos for the theme: "Nature". My entries for this competition were:

Lance Armstrong Autobiography

It was in History channel that I saw the Biography of Lance Armstrong: his determination to bicycle riding and fight against cancer.

I have got his autobiography "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life"

You should see more about it here in the blog

Photo Storage from Camera Flash Card

How do I store my photos from my Camera Flash Card into a Storage Device without the help of a Computer?

I am finding for a cheap solution:
1. Digimate II Portable Digital Storage Solution?
link here

2. Digi Mate ?
http://blueangel.en.alibaba.com/product/0/50211163/Digi_Mate.html

Apple iPod have great solutions, but they are costly solutions

Let me know if anyone has a better solution

---
I got some more solution, like directly cutting a CD from the CF card - Battery operated

Apacer CP-200 CD Writer.

Or a HDD reader USB 2.0
Goto Link

All about DVD formats

http://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Swami vivekananda's chicago speech

Swami vivekananda's chicago speech.. back in 1893...
An excellent sketch of the gist of Hinduism for the modern mind (Swamiji was speaking to Americans). Wonderful use of English.. possibly the finest you would have ever heard.

Speech Part 1 (20MB)
Speech Part 2 (16MB)

Spread the links if you can...

Want to know more about: Canon EOS lens!

Great link:
http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/canonFAQ.htm#2Q1

More on Canon lenses:
http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/lenses.html

Canon Camera:
http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/

Canon EOS 350D (Rebel XT) lessons and tutorials

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/
http://www.digitalrebelforum.com
Also, Rick Sammons' books were very helpful

Checking binary files in CVS

Its easy adding and checking-in text files in CVS. Use the following commands:
cvs add [filename]
cvs commit [filename]

And when you want to add and commit it in binary format in CVS. Use the following commands:
cvs add -kb [filename]
cvs commit [filename]

But, what if you add an binary executable file in text format (like I always do). You are in a big mess. I always used to delete that file from CVS and add the same file again in binary mode. However, I recently came to know that we can change the mode from text to binary using 'cvs admin' and 'cvs update' commands.

What you have to do is:
1. Replace the existing file in your local folder with a clean binary version. (I still want to verify whether this is necessary or not)
2. Call cvs admin -kb [filename]
3. Call cvs update -A [filename]

This converts the file in binary mode. This has saved a lot of my time, and also the version number isn't altered.
Reference:
Click here to goto reference page

Other CVS links (CVS tutor):
http://durak.org/cvswebsites/doc/cvs_toc.php#SEC_Contents

My Photo from my new DSLR camera -- Canon EOS 350D

My Photo new DSLR camera -- Canon EOS 350D





Lens used Canon 75-300mm

Makarandgad Photo

The group on the Makarandgad Trek. A Picture perfect photo

Photobucket

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

Lie

I had seen this documentary on Lies on National Geographic. Summary:

Lie:

Every individual tell atleast 2 lie every day. So in a year it come to more than 600 lies.

Self-Oriented:
- Protect from embarrasment
- positive impression
- gain advantage
- avoid punishment

Other-oriented:
Good motivate. Friend1 to Friend2 (Friend2 had a recent facial burn operation): "You are looking good today".

White Lies:
You are worried about you monthly budget. Your collegue crosses you, he asks: "How are you?". "I am doing great"

Infant Liar:
- Lie plays an important role of tranforming a child into an individual
- Till 3 year of age an infant cannot read others mind.
- Test wer conducted John and Mary example.

Liar's Brain:
- Good understanding of others mind
- Involves complex calculation

Pathological Liar:
- Pseudologs.

Lie detection:
- Polygraph
- Liars face --> Macro-expression --> computer-based techniques.

Makarandgad Trek

TreeBark Adventure Clubs recent visit to Makarandgad

Travelogue
Photo Album link

My Photo

That my in train, looking at infinity.

Photo clicked by Sameer Baheti.

VI Editor Commands

VI editor Tutorial:
http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.html#simple

Flamingo Bird details

http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Flamingos/home.html

Understanding Spyware, Browser Hijackers, and Dialers

I was really frustrated with a program or set of programs, which had changed my browser homepage to another homepage no matter how many times I changed it or I do a search in Google, but instead of getting the results back from Google, my search request is actually hijacked and sent to another search engine.

In my search to remove this I came accross this site giving be correct information, If anyone out there is facing such problem, its a must-read webpage:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=41
Also,
http://www.freewebs.com/spyvsspyware

My Dream Camera: Nikon D70

I hope I have this camera some day. Nikon D70 a DSLR camera.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/nikon_d70.html

Choosing a Digital Camera

http://www.photoxels.com/buyersGuide.html

Digital Camera's: Point-and-shoot vs DSLR's

Great link: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/2dig.htm

Trek to Peb Fort

Our group TreeBark_Club visit to Peb Fort on July 21th 2004 was exciting. I have added the Travelgoue in my website.

Click the image to see more details of the trek!

Ganesh Chaturthi (Pune)

"Ganapati Bappa Moauraya!!!"

In Maharashtra, Ganesh Chaturthi is the most popular festival. Ganesh, the elephant faced deity is the son of Shiva and Parvati and the lord of all auspicious beginnings. He is the remover of all obstacles and is to be propitiated before any other deity. Colossal images of Ganesh are built and carried all round the city before they are finally submerged in water.


Ganesha Idol (Ganapati)

"Ganapati Bappa Moauraya!!! Mangal Moorti Moauraya... Moauraya re bappa...Moauraya re"

Ganapati Mandal

Delete a directory tree in DOS (Win2000/XP)

I always used 'deltree' command in DOS, to delete a tree and all its contents, sub-folders... But I tried on my computer today it said:
'deltree' is not recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or batch file.

I was using Win2000. Then I check for 'rd' command. But rd just deleted the folder only if the directory is empty.

So you have to use "rmdir /S " command to delete the folder and all its contents in Win2000. Same behaviour as "deltree" in other OS's

rmdir /S /Q

First Blog

I am testing the blog spot. Come back to know more about me and my day-to-day life. Interested in software, programming challenges, C++, look out here. Interesting in photography, which camera to buy. You get everything. But u will have to wait