Expectations

Expectation 1:

We were on a plane back from Dallas to San Jose..

Little One: How long is this flight?

Jr. : 4 hours (right daddy?)

Me : yes. it is almost 4 hours.

Little One: FOUR HOURS ?!

Me : yes.

Little One : If we have to sit in the same seat for 4 hours, we should at least have our own TV! There is no TV on this plane. What am I supposed to do for 4 hours? It is not night. I cannot sleep either! This is not fair!

Me to San : Ellam Neram di! (closest translation is "this is all a sign of the times") 5 year old girl has an expectation of fairness for a 4 hour flight.


Expectation 2:

We are at a friends place and I am showing them a picture of the Black Mamba which was posted in Bigstockphoto. Daddy Narayanan is trying to make some money from Photography to pay for his 70-200 zoom lens.

San : These days he takes photos only of animals, flowers, insects..

MIL : and takes portraits of the kids. We don't show up in photos any more

Me : Come on now! You guys never come pose during the day. You always show up when I am tired or after dark. I get great photos when there is daylight.

MIL and San : We need more photos of us!

So to meet this expectation there is going to be a Saree party at our place with a photo session.. all lady friends of wife/ MIL who need new Facebook profile photos are to be invited. Yours truly is building a small studio made of white foam walls and white LED lights.. a home made light box setup. Let us see how this shapes up!

Expectation 3:

We are looking at tickets to India. A narrow time window when kids do not have school, when parents are in a frame of mind and are in better health to see the kids, when work can allow a break. So usually the ticket prices don't factor into this equation.

We watched prices go from 1380 to 1700 in 7 days and we are talking cheapest tickets. Why? Libya, Egypt crisis causing Oil prices to go up.

Why would a few days of unrest in a few countries affect oil prices for summer? What is happening is a drop in the bucket compared to fuel consumption over time. So, obviously someone is using these events to make money and is price gouging.

Decided not to wait anymore. What if the prices go to 2000 a ticket? So we got tickets now. Then realized that we have a passport that is expired.

Me to San: Why can't we mail it in?

San : I would love to but if the kid is <15 you have to go with both parents and stand in line!


Expectation 4:

We went to the San Jose Post office Passport section at 10 in the morning. (we went to Mountain View office and it was closed. so by the time we went to San Jose we were an hour late). Our token was 876. they were serving 796 when we got the token. It was moving at 7 numbers per hour. No, not kidding. 7 numbers per hour.

It is noon and they are attending to 811 and the lady announces "we are closed now, but if you have a token we will serve you as long as you are here when we call your number"

So we wait and wait and wait. Some folks who thought they could go out, have lunch and come back in time missed their slots.

My expectation was that the ladies at the counter tell the people who did not wait that they did miss their turn to give the benefit to folks like us who sat there with starving kids to get their chance. They DID ! They actually told folks who showed up after missing their numbers that they have to come back another day.

We finally got our turn at 2:45 and came out just before 3PM. The little one was totally dehydrated and complained of knee pain. Once in five years we go through this ordeal.

They should make this less painful and have more people to serve on Saturdays. How many people have the luxury of taking half a day off (both parents) with today's work pressure ?

The blogging has taken a backseat as have many other things. Have had a change of jobs within the company last week and that meant more time at work.

Planning to get a fresh start on the health front by joining a Yoga class at 5:30 AM. Time will tell if this will last or join the list of failed attempts to stick to a health routine.

Well, the expectations continue.


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Camera or the photographer?

Should copyright this..

Behind every successful camera, there is a photographer.


:)



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Another love affair begins..

As all of you know everything about my-exes...

The Tamron was sold off because it could not focus in low light. Later it was reported that it was not something a Tamron was supposed to do like a good lady should! Too bad the fact was realized only after selling it off.

Then came a quick make shift purchase of a used 28-90mm lens (with a small scratch) and eventually a 50mm prime lens which broke during the thanksgiving day zoo trip, so all in all a not so good run.




San gave me the go to get the lenses replaced a long time ago. One does not get these chances every day. Maybe once every three or four years and the pressure to do the homework right was just too much.

San had only two conditions.

a. A fixed budget

b. Once I get the lens (or lenses), I forfeit the right to complain about my photographic equipment for the next two years. Including no conversations about their ability, disability, etc. etc.

With a deal to get a new body for Thanksgiving 2011 (yes, we plan ahead) and months of web surfing, the final choice was...




The broken 50mm has been replaced with a new one. The scratched 28-90mm with a 18-200mm Sigma lens. This does what the old Tamron used to do, with the added OS or Optical Stabilization (same as the IS or Image Stabilization in the Cannon Lenses or the VR in the Nikon which stands for Vibration reduction).

Sample picture...




We will live happy ever after and have many many pictures together..



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The gift

The FIL gave me an amazing gift for our 10th wedding anniversary. That was for keeping his gift to me from ten years ago still alive and kicking.

Alive she is and kicking (me) for sure, and that goes without saying.

In any case, he gave me an iPhone which he had got in India. Unfortunately that thing didn't work here as it was attached to a Vodafone carrier. So we sold it to a phone store here and purchased a new 3GS !!! The employer also decided that they would support the plan since I paid for the phone out of pocket! That was a winning deal...

This gizmo (inspite of reports that it overheats) is awesome. I have never owned an i-anything. This is my first attempt at owning an i-device and absolutely love this.

1. It takes great pictures and videos with 800x600 resolution (my Sony camcorder takes videos at 640 x 480).

2. Have downloaded all of 2063 songs in my music collection to the iPhone and it still has memory left!

3. Have downloaded Pacman, Hangman and Tic-Tac-Toe and can now amuse Jr. and the little one very easily for upto 20-25 minutes, thereby setting a new world record.




That was a photo taken with the 3GS.

Unfortunately the quicktime video's are not amenable to editing using Windows Movie maker and that is leaving me back in the stone ages. Picasa 3 seems to be able to direct upload the video without any editing possibilities, but youtube is down for maintenance, so hopefully you will see that video uploaded tomorrow.




Quicktime + PC = blasphemy
AVI + Mac = blasphemy'

Using those two equations, one can understand how Microsoft and Apple complete the universal software laws.

All said and done, an all purpose amusement device, for a guy who is already amused easily!

ps. If you know of a good, free, virus and malware free movie converter to get the quicktimes to avi please let me know.

pps. If you know how to get the quicktime directly into Picasa or another free movie editor to put titles and credits and then save movie file, let me know as well.

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Happy Deepavali Wishes and ....

Wishing you all

a Very Happy Deepavali

It happens to be on a work day here and that means it will be celebrated this weekend in the US of A.

The MIL has already made her usual sweets and savories... and those cannot wait till the weekend!

Now for the "and ... " part in the title.

A recent conversation between a husband and wife

H : I just sold my Tamron lens
W : Just look at all the money YOU lost making bad decisions !
H : It was not a bad lens. Just not the best for taking indoor closeups of kids in the dark!
W : Still, bad decision and you lost money on it!
H : A new lens costs 300 bucks. Need to buy it before the kids birthday so we can take pictures
W : Buy the cheapest lens.. something for under 50 bucks
H : !!!! A canon digital SLR lens for under 50 bucks ? Maybe I can buy a 50 mm fixed focus.. still will cost me more..
W : Can't you take pictures without the lens ?
H : !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is management 101 folks, Dilbert style. I always loved Dilbert, but now I have been Dilberted in my own home. The H is still trying to answer that last question!


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Patience is a virtue

That is one virtue that I don't have and I know it!

Jr. on the other hand seems to have been gifted with infinite patience.




As the video clearly demonstrates, she just sat there for a full 8 mins, then continued to be there for another 5 before she got all upset that the battery charger was not turning green..

Finally I took the half charged battery and put it in the camera. She now takes pictures with the old S30. Her hands shake when she finally clicks the shuttter but the pictures still come out okay.

I seem to be going through a Jinx. The Tamron lens wont autofocus when the subject is close. The Zune player's screen cracked and it was not even dropped. It cracked because of temperature fluctuation is my guess. To top things off, there is a viral infection in my eye and all this happens on Sunday.

This is one of those weeks where I just want to go close myself in a small room and shout .. no.. scream!!

Would like to think on the brighter side of life though. The manual focus ring still works and my fingers are not bandaged, so I can take pictures. The Zune dudes aka Microsoft, said that this is a most common failure mode on the player and I should be able to get this screen in any local electronics store (although they won't pay for it) and my eyes are getting better or at least the pain is gone with the drops they gave me.

It may be a day or two before I come back to blog...

Until then..

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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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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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My ex'es

If you think that this post is about me writing a chronicle about women in my life, I will promptly disappoint you.

This is however, a chronicle, about every camera my hands have held, my eyes have seen through, captured the moments and memories forever to be viewed and cherished or banished forever in those shoe boxes in the attic. This might also be a long post, longer than if I had chronicled women, that is.

My very first dabble with photography was during my trip to Kodai during my 11th grade annual excursion. A rich friend of mine got his point and shoot camera to the trip and was taking pictures. In those days even a Yashica point and shoot was a luxury (only a handful of my classmates had access to one). When this friend asked me to take a group photo, the camera bug literally bit me at that precise moment in time.

It was two years later, when I came home after my first year in college that my dad took me to Burma bazaar in what was then, Madras. It used to be this smuggled goods market dealing mostly in knock off gadgets. I got my Yashica autofocus with a manual film wind. I guess it was nothing more than a pinhole. Stuff that today is handed out as a freebie at company picnics, worth probably a dollar or two and mass produced in China. But to me, that Yashica was everything. I used to pedal for 30 minutes to the banks of the Ganges just to take pictures of the boats. I also realized that photography was a hobby for the rich. I had to make sure I took pictures worth printing.

Three years and a few hundred pictures later, the Yashica was left back in India. I wanted my parents to send me pictures of them every now and then to the USA. I knew, I was not going to return for at least two years. After looking at all the autofocus and SLR's the other graduate students and professors were sporting, I knew that my second camera would be an SLR. I did not have the money to buy one for a few months, so I used to go to the library and read up on SLR's. Finally during the christmas break, I charged a few hundred dollars to my first credit card and bought a Ricoh KR-10M. Most of you are wondering, "A What?". Well, you have to understand that it was cheaper than those Canon's and Nikon's but had some amazing features!

That camera took a few thousand pictures, and a copy of every print is now safely tucked away in some box in Chennai, or so I hope. I would take pains to send the prints through friends or mail it and my parents would just look at the 5 or 6$ in postage and complain! or say things like "we want to see you in those pictures. We really dont care about all that scenery or high rise buildings!". Those were divisive times. A time that made me see things in different light, and the Ricoh was a big part of creating that divide between me and my parents.

The camera had also grown over the years and put on a few pounds. There was a bag, a tripod, a few zoom lenses, filters of every kind, etc. etc. Even had a piece of black stocking tied around a lens hood which served two purposes. It was an excellent diffuse filter and doubled up as something to remember my friend Victoria! One fine day, during a snow storm in upstate New York, a guy broke into our house and stole the whole bag! I was shattered. To top things off, a close friend died of a heart attack at 26! during the same time. I refused to hold another camera for more than a year.

My dear brother, who had come to visit me during a short assignment in the US asked me to buy him a camera before he went back home. We happened to meet in Philadelphia. So I took him to Rittenhouse square in Philadelphia to my favorite used camera store. The old man recognized me after two years of absence! I picked a 15-20 year old Pentax, the one with a metal and black leather finish body, manual film load, rewind and a silk screen shutter. After we bought it and were about to separate at the train station, my brother surprised me by handing me the camera as he boarded his train! He said it was my cure, and he knew I loved that thing dearly. He didnt know a thing about SLR's and would buy a autofocus with a zoom in DC.

So, the love affair started again and many a picture was taken with the old Pentax. We spent some glorious days in London taking in the sights. When the rolls came back, it was a shock to find that I had shot 6 rolls of blanks! I was near tears. Took my baby to a local doctor and he said that the silk screen was getting stuck. At the same time, I got married, all of a sudden. On my way back to the US after a whirlwind marriage and a promise of a prolonged romance, I gave away the Pentax to the young boy who was holding that powerful light in my face during the wedding. He was learning the wedding photo/video business and I sincerely hoped my giving away the near antique Pentax would take this kid away from the video business and someday save many a groom and bride from those blinding lights.

I had in a fit of rage, bought myself a Canon EOS Elan II after the London debacle. The Elan, was a camera so smart, so sexy that my wife used to get worried I would elope with it some day! It added some pounds of its own and my wife was the official bearer of the camera bag during our long road trips. She got sick of hauling it, and once we found out that she was pregnant and the doctor told us "make sure she doesnt lift anything heavy", the first thing she refused to lift was that camera bag and tripod!

I started practising with the other newborns around us. My wife saw that I got 7/24 right on a roll. To her chagrin and those of the parents of the kids, I complained that the kids werent co-operating well! All those other parents were sporting handy digital cameras. The SONY DSC's, the Canon Powershots, the Nikon Coolpix'es and what not. We did our homework (the subject was not photography, it was economics!) and got the Canon S30. Considering this was purchased a few months before the baby shower, and also considering it was so easy to use that San and even her fresh off the boat mom took a liking to this camera, it was a welcome addition to our family! In our case it was like bringing home a puppy a few months before you deliver the baby. Our puppy loved our baby, and went on to love our second baby as well!

Now that most of you readers know, the S30 has been growing old and the digital revolution is truly upon us. Add to it, I am surrounded by people who sport cameras that can zoom all the way to heaven or hell and it was just a question of time before I got an SLR camera. My one previous attempt with the Digital Rebel failed because it had focus problems and I had to return it two years ago. It has been a constant love hate relationship with the S30 the last few months, what with her refusing to open up and giving me E18 errors, just when I am in the mood for some fun. I was to put it simply, UPSET!

San decided to give me the best anniversary gift, by letting me choose the camera I wanted. Her initial budget however was a few hundred dollars! I sounded happy and was reading reviews online for practically every camera announced in the last few years when I had a stroke of luck. The Rajni movie "Sivaji" was released! Now if you are thinking "what the @#$# ?", let me explain. San insisted on paying 20 bucks for this movie ticket for a premier show. She knows that on a matter of principle I am against price goughing and I wouldnt go. I told her that I am not going to miss this movie being a big Rajni fan and all, but will wait for 10$ tickets. I will go for the first 10$ show and have fun. She went and watched the premier show with Balaji anyways and I managed to send her on a guilt trip for spending double and the clever fox that I am, insisted that I also get to spend 2x on the camera! She laughed, and relented at my logic. She had just come back after watching Sivaji and somehow my using the 2x logic to increase the camera budget by a few hundred dollars appealed to my dear wife, and she got me :

The Canon Digital Rebel XTi (400D) and a Tamron 18-200 Aspherical Macro lens!!

You will see plenty of pictures soon and I hope this beauty stays with us for years to come. The powershot, still works and San will use it to take pictures of me taking pictures!

Someone has got to photograph this photographer, right ?


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A day in the life of Jr. and baby...

Decided to go eat with friends at the famous "Yan Can Cook" restaurant. As fate would have it, there was some ingredient in the yummy stuff that I was allergic to, and ended up sick on friday night. That meant, spending some quiet time at home with the kids and keeping a low profile (not to mention the two birthday parties attended over the weekend)!

They were up to their usual antics..




In other news, the canon S30 has reached its limit. After making it through steam and sulfur at Yellowstone, even daylight images are getting grainy! (the fringes you see in the video however are not due to the S30, they are due to the insect screen on the sliding door!).

In other other news, San is getting me a new camera for our wedding day!

To all those (you know who you are) who have recently gifted digital cameras to your spouse for various occasions like anniversary's, birthdays, fathers day etc. thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Needless to say, you will hear all about the new camera. I can't wait to open that box!!


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