Portraits....

Love taking shots with the sigma lens at 18mm, with ISO set all the way to 1600 (all the way the 400D will go) and setting the white balance to cloudy. Gives a candle light feel to the shots taken indoors with diffuse lighting.


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Lens envy

While we were at the Queen Wilhemia Tulip garden yesterday, there was a big crowd and a photo session happening in front of us.

We did not know if the marriage was happening in front of us or it was just a post wedding photography session, but was amazing to watch the way people took their time to pose, get the group dynamic going and the photographer trying to arrange this group shot!

Having tried to assemble 40+ relatives for a family shoot at my Grandparents anniversary ceremony, the difficulty of orchestrating something like this dawned on me again and was in awe at the way this photographer was "conducting" the group.




While the families (us and the cousins) were mostly looking at the wedding dresses, trying to figure out who the groom was, etc. etc. (the kids constantly kept screaming.. who IS she marrying in there?), yours truly was all focussed on the photographer lady's gear.

She had diffusers on her camera that looked like giant cups, a lens that would make my lens look less endowed and a battery pack that was part of the camera and visible almost 80 feet away!

She would run back and forth to the crowd, simply because here instructions would not carry in the noise of the ocean. Yes, this place is a block from the beach, right next to the SFO zoo entrance. Every now and then she would go on a clicking spree and her flash would be so faithful to her.

My 50mm lens was dropped on the ground (after two bounces) and the lens popped out of the housing during our Sacramento zoo trip, the day after thanksgiving. While trying to exchange lenses to enable zooming on a snow leopard that had suddenly decided to give darshan to its waiting devotees, I dropped the lens because it looked up and growled at me.

Not used to being growled at by snow leopards and having a camera and two lenses in my hand, the 50 mm just jumped up and fell some 8 feet away and was in two pieces. It was pushed back in and held with some crazy glue and found to be still functional, but with some caveats.

a. Manual focusing only
b. The lens had to be held against the body at all times (or it would pop out)

After seeing the photographer do her magic, told myself that the 50 mm would be used as much as possible and still get decent pictures. Well, 20% came out good, but that 20% was still worth sharing...

Here are four more photos...













Sometimes old and damaged equipment can still give you good results.. if you are pissed off enough to take it up as a challenge!

I know this is counter productive to justifying my getting a new lens... but the truth is, as they say, the truth!


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Two plus two plus two equals...

Pumpkins + some time available on a gloomy Saturday afternoon + new lens = HDR photos!!

High Dynamic Range photos, created by superimposing multiple shots of same object with a constant exposure time but with different f stop settings to get fine details on over exposed and underexposed areas of picture.

If that was all information overload, the idea is to create a photo that closely captures what the human eye can see. (It also adds a depth perception)

A glass globe on our dining table (composite image from 4 images 1/8 s exposure f2.5, f3.2, f4.5, f6.3)




and the pumpkin, a composite of 5 images with 1 second exposure and f11.0, f8.0, f5.6, f4.0, f2.8




Okay, time pass is over..

Off to do more serious things!

Wishing all those who celebrate a "Happy Hallllllloooooweeeeen!"





ps. Updated globe..






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Bloom

We have a new cluster flower blooming in our front yard. There was no breeze and the stalk held steady enough to be used for multiple shots in sequence.

This is the best superimposed HDR image that is blog worthy, given the sway and the sun setting behind the flower.

Now that the camera has graduated from still objects to slightly moving objects, more exploring will be done.




Tomorrow brings us new subjects..


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More photos from around the house

Playing with the software, realized that there is an alignment feature to align each picture to a reference to capture the light variation without increasing the blur.

In spite of using a tripod and taking the individual images in self timer mode, the few seconds it takes to change the exposure setting and clicking the shutter somehow moves the center of the image by a few pixels and that is enough to change the quality of the picture.

Found this trying to image a cabbage rose in our front yard.








Went back and zoomed in on a single rose in the flower vase and it came out crystal clear with fantastic detail even inside the shadows within the petals.







Original plan to go to take a picture of the golden gate didn't come through. Will have to try that another day..

For now, I am like a kid in a candy store.. so many possibilities with the same camera...


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Photo Sans Lens ?

That was an attempt at a pun, after San's request to try taking pictures with just the camera body!

I tried.. All I got was an overloaded CMOS sensor!

After some repeated pleading and researching, I found a lens for near 100 bucks which was

1. new
2. had some zoom as opposed to a 50mm
3. if possible a canon lens for the canon digital rebel xti
4. at least a f/3.5
5. an autofocus (EF lens)

and I got 4/5 on a New Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 III lens for <120 bucks from a local photo store!

Granted it is not a f/2.8 or a USM (ultra sonic) but the thing is great for the pictures I usually take!

Going to play with this lens over the long weekend..

and now for some pictures.

The first one is my princess photographed with the old S30 (the thing had to be taped at places to hold the battery, CF card etc. and the picture had to be cropped to get rid of the light spots, but still...)


and the second one is a photo taken today with the two of them posing for me




Some lens is better than no lens!

Just like that Cereal ad. which says "Kid tested, mother approved" why doesn't Canon come up with a nice lens that is "dad tested, mother approved"?


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Cannonites vs. Nikoneers

No we are not talking religion here, or are we?

This is a response to The Visitors question on Canon vs Nikon digital SLR's.

More specifically the EOS 400D vs the D40.

First, the EOS 400D (drool, drool, look at it on the shelf, more droooool)..

A thing of beauty and a joy for at least the next 4 years! (the only beauties that will be retained in my head longer will be the Mrs. and the little ones! There, that should improve the longevity of this blog!).

I digress, predictably. So far, the 400D has done a fantastic job of taking pictures. If the pictures are crappy, it is only because I forget to switch that little button from MF to AF or I have given the camera to someone else to take the picture. (if you are used to a slower digital camera, you better watch out.. all it takes is a feather touch to click the shutter). The pictures are coming out great (I dont use a Canon Lens but a Tamron Lens which was way cheaper than the Canon and which also happened to be a single lens that went from 18-200mm).

Now for the Nikon.

The noticeable absence of drool does not necessarily indicate a lack of love or respect for the Nikon. It is just that I have become a Canon loyalist for various reasons..

1. I am familiar with the Canon dial, the menus, the look and feel.
2. It is a coke vs. pepsi thing. On a blind test I would probably identify coke only 90% of the time but somehow I always ask for Coke. I drink Pepsi when Coke is not around. I would probably go for a Nikon if a Canon was not around. In short, if the Canon was my wife, the Nikon is like a long lost girlfriend. It is a "what if?", that is never considered (that should also improve the longevity of this blog, neh?). Once again, I ramble.

I know a lot of people who have a Nikon who are extremely happy with Nikon and would present the Visitor with a similar message with the two models reversed. The D40/D80 are definitely cost competitive and the Nikon lenses are amazing(Or so I have heard from other Daddy photographers at Daycare functions. We usually stand in a corner and talk about our cameras during fathers day, thanksgiving lunch, graduation parties for pre-kindergarten, etc. etc.).

Reviews say that the Nikon D80 has beat the next generation Canon because Canon has become somewhat complacent over the success of the Digital Rebel that it did not improve significantly on the Rebel XTi aka EOS 400D (you can read Phil Askey for the scoop. I use this site as my camera Gita, Bible and Koran.. not that I have read any of those books!)

So, dear Visitor, I can only offer you a one sided view and hence cannot give you an honest comparison, but dpreview can!

On second thought, Boo was got a D40 the same week I got my 400D. You can ask her about the D40 and compare notes!


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Oakland zoo - Revisited

After a break of two years, we visited the Oakland Zoo today. We had a really great time!

Here are the teaser photos, taken with my new love, the Digital Rebel!




of birds and...




animals, or kids trying to be animals..




I promise you, this post is not like a Jackie Chan movie trailer where the best action sequences are completely shown in the trailer and you go watch the same sequences with filler material in the movie. Brings back memories of watching First night, first show in Alankar theater a few decades ago! Boy, I am growing old..shoo shoo, you bad thoughts.. Now back to the topic! You will see some more nice pictures when I upload them tomorrow!

Home made food, great company, nice weather, cooperating kids, time well spent! All said and done, it was a great day!


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Deda Nu Cheeees

Deda Cheees -> Old canon S30

Deda Nu Cheeees -> the Digital Rebel XTi

in baby talk! The little one has creative ways of renaming electronic products.

Here is a picture of the two kids saying "Cheese"!




(now that I am fully covered in protective gear, pillows etc.)

Ever wonder why there are no video blogs on this site ? Well, EOS 400D does not have video capability.

San had mentioned something about writing a paper on "Effects of spousal complaints on rapid deterioration of female footwear" in the New England Journal of Medicine, if she ever heard a single complaint about the Digital Rebel (hence the protective gear before writing this post)!

The absence of video capability was known prior to the purchase. The goal was to go back to my old hobby and take it seriously. In short, start taking great pictures, again! The other deal was that I will use the old Camcorder to record secret videos for videoblogs. Unfortunately, the install CD that came with the camcorder to download the videos has been misplaced last year in the move to Cupertino.

Now what is a good man like me, to do in a situation like this? (the keyword here is man.. in the, "after all, I am just a man" sense)


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Stirring a..

After the mixed bag of comments on the Sexy post, this picture is apt!




This nest is under our roof line. Will try another shot with the Macro later. Was not gutsy enough to go closer (lens was 2 feet away from the nest).

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FIMBY

Fun in my back yard (after NIMBY, YIMBY,...), with my new love the Digital Rebel. I thought the wifey was over reacting when she was worried that I might elope with the EOS 400. Well, she may have some reason for concern there. The only way I could diffuse the situation was to make it a threesome with me the wife and the Rebel!

What ? You actually expect me to show you how the wife took to the EOS (taking pictures) or how the EOS took to the wife (she sees my wife in a whole different way, I tell you) ? Naughty naughty! Even I am not allowed to go back and see those pictures. Forget you!

All I CAN show you, is other pictures with the Rebel, all taken over this weekend.
















The bird nests were manual focus. Wish that I had the bird on the tree on manual focus also. I am finding that it is very difficult to manual focus when the zoom is out at 200 mm.. difficult, not impossible.

Jr. was a tease as usual, making it difficult for me to take portraits. The little one has started smiling again, now that grandma is back!

A hummingbird and butterfly have been teasing me all afternoon. Will post pictures if I ever succeed in catching either one.

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Trolley rides and more

I have been in the San Francisco bay area for 9 years and I have not taken the trolley ride! Blasphemy cried the wife, who has recently taken some kind of resolution on correcting my past misteps!

So off we went on a family outing (with the cousin family) to SFO this morning, and took the trolley ride from Fisherman's Wharf to Union Square and back.

The entire day was spent in Union square, watching artwork on display, watching passers by, having the occasional shiver, buying contrabrand Compact Flash cards for throwaway prices, chasing kids through crowds and waiting in one loooooooong line to get back in that trolley! "Thank god for cars. No wonder we never do this!" was the unanimous verdict of the adults in the group. The kids as usual, disagreed.

Here is the trip in pictures !

This picture was taken while we waited in the fog for the trolley ride to begin.



When the trolley starts from Beach street, it almost feels like a roller coaster ride with Alcatraz zooming away from you!



No wonder, the kids loved the ride and thought this could be a routine form of transportation.



There was a woman following our trolley in her car! I cannot imagine driving on these steep roads, that too with a cell phone in one hand. High time the city of San Francisco put a notice as you enter which says "Do not try driving like this at home. All drivers are professions in a closed course" or something to that effect!



The art work on display.



Here is the chasing kids part! Of course you get to see only one kid out of four. I am sure Balaji will post photos of his two.



Now why do you see only baby's photos recently ? Well, Jr. is a big girl now and she went in to the cosmetic stores to check out stuff. I can only take pictures of the kid that hangs out with me. No, I take that back. I do not take pictures of the little one because she is stuck with me. She is a delight and challenge to photograph! Always on the move and always testing the camera's ability to adjust focus in the last nanosecond...



Did I mention the long wait for the return trolley ? Well, here is the line (circle describes it better) around the terminal. Have you seen a railway track that ends like this? This is the first time I saw this system. The little trolley comes and stands at the end, the dudes pull a lever and the tram rotates 180 degrees! It is then pushed back to the return line. The way they had engineered this was very very interesting.



Not to waste time while waiting, I captured a few shots of the tall buildings on either side.



The gray facades were a little on the gloomy side, but the sharp lines were eye catching.



The rows of balconys and..



the rows of fire escapes reminded me of Philadelphia. I used to live in a building with fire escape ladders, a long time ago...



Finally after many a photograph, we got into our return trolley..



The street pigeons were violent! Started wondering if this had anything to do with the local environment at Union Square.



One interesting and irritating item on the tour was this "join Jesus or burn in Hell" slogan shouting guy at Union square. He somehow managed to get a real loud speaker and was screaming about the "born again Christian" movement and went on and on about burning in hell, gays, lesbians, morality, etc. etc. to the point that he was downright offensive. I know we have freedom of speech but we have the right to denounce other religions, sexual preference with a loud speaker in a public place? Now that was a surprise!



A bunch of gay and lesbian folk (who are not that hard to find in SFO) gave him the finger, went up close and video taped him. A lesbian couple even kissed below his make shift podium (overturned bucket) and took pictures. Pretty soon the Jesus dude's supporters who were holding other "born again" placards came and stood near him and the onlookers (aka innocent bystanders) started worrying that it might evolve into a brawl. The heat was still on as we departed Union Square! We could have had lunch at the "Gaylord" restaurant in Ghirardeli square to exaggerate the irony, but decided that ice cream and hot chocolate was enough before driving back home!

Do not know what other places I have failed to visit over the years. I am sure I will find out soon, and so will you!


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Random Photos..

It is pretty late in the night (by middle aged daddy standards).

So why not let the mind wander and just pick some photos from the last few days and post them ?

First, a nice graduation shot of Jr. thanks to another parent's camera.




Next a tip for people who suffer migraines in the middle of a hot summer afternoon. If you ever said to yourself, "If only I could chill my head", I have the perfect tip.

1. Take some crushed ice in a Ziploc (or other local brand name) resealable plastic bag (the sandwich size bag works best).




2. Wrap it in our Indian towel(aka thundu). This does not work with the turkish bath towels!




3. tie it around your head so that the crushed ice bag ends up just above your neck in the back of your head, and lie down so your head is pressed against the pack and in a few minutes, the headache is gone! At least this works for me.




Actually the last three pictures were taken in reverse sequence. San took a picture of the "sick me", and that prompted me to take the other two pictures as I unwrapped the towel.

Finally, to complete the randomness(?!), a picture of a squirrel at our local park, which took off just as I had him in focus..




I did not know that squirrel ears were that intricate. Did you ?


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Focus Pocus

Like Narayanan Sir pointed out, the picture of the baby was out of focus.

Sometimes the camera has a mind of its own, thanks to the advanced technology!

If you look into my viewfinder you find 9 focus points in the shape of a diamond. Obviously, when I have the little one in a big chair and the chair is a few feet in front of a wall, the camera decides that it got a hit on 4 points out of 9 on the chair, 4 on the wall and 1 on the kid! So, it focused on the chair. The fact that baby is a fast mover, does not help.

Now that I have read the manual, I can actually make sure that the point that lights up in red is the center point! and the results are much better.






The zoom rocks! Picked this little one at almost 90 feet!




Poonam wanted the little one parceled to her. Tonight I plan to post some photos when baby is doing combo #1. Poonam will beg for a return shipping label after seeing those photos..


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