Day 287 - Getting Sporty

Umm.. not me.. as an athlete, but officiating as photographer for a badminton game.  I got called upon to shoot a game yesterday, and although these images were shot yesterday, I am going to post them today as I'd already done my shot for the day before the evening.

I hadn't had the chance to do any sports photography before this, although I did mention that I shot some pictures of a couple of little girls sledding, but I'll talk about that in a bit.  So, when I got called to do this, my first thought was that I would have to battle with artificial light, which means the flash.  I had planned on going for a preliminary round of test shots before doing the actual game.  But I had too many things that kept me from doing that.  Therefore, I had to wing it!  I had just one chance of getting this right.

I had already enquired about the available lighting and I'd especially asked about the colour scheme of the gym.  To my dismay it turned out to be the almost-fluorescent green gym that my son played soccer in last summer.  I knew I had to bring my grey card with me to do a custom white balance.  Although, in the end the grey card did come to my rescue, I can't say it did a fabulous job, maybe because this grey card was a cheap one that came with my PSE8 book, and therefore not that accurate.  I still saw some tinges of green (no, not from envy) in the images.

I shot in JPEG as I had to shoot really fast to keep up with the action.  Shooting in RAW could potentially slow me down as it would stop from time to time to write the images to the memory.  However, this fear didn't hold good when I realized that my recycle time on the flash was slowing me down anyway.

However, I kept shooting, on continuous mode in JPEG, in the hopes that any action I didn't catch with the flash, I might be able to fix in LR3 later on.  And I was right.  A couple of shots needed to be fixed, but I got away with turning them to B&W, so the light wouldn't look quite that ugly.  And as for the green colour cast, most of it was fortunately taken care of by the CWB, and I could fix a little bit more in LR.  I'm glad I chose to carry it with me.

I had initially started to shoot on Shutter Priority while the players were warming up, but when I couldn't help but use the flash, I pretty much had to dial down the shutter from 1/500s to 1/250s to match the sync speed.

The next three shots are from last Sunday.  Since I couldn't shoot anything with snow today, I thought I would post these shots instead.  This little girl and her sister were playing in the snow, and I went up to the dad and begged permission to snap them.  He was really kind and let me take as many shots as I pleased, and I later emailed them to him of course.  Such beautiful little girls!

Day 276 - Breaded Omelette Recipe

I sometimes make this for a Sunday brunch, and it has become quite a favourite with family and friends alike.  It's really simple to make, and as long as you have bread and eggs at home, you can pretty much throw in any other add-ins that your palette or mind fancies.  I made this one with lots of coriander and topped it off with shredded cheddar cheese.

You will need: 

Bread - 6 slices

Eggs - 4

Milk - 1/2 cup

Fresh coriander/cilantro - a big bunch

Cheddar cheese, shredded - 1/2 cup

Salt & black pepper powder - to taste

Crushed chilli flakes (optional) - to taste

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
2. Grease a small and shallow baking tray and keep aside.
3. Cut the bread into small cubes - about 1/4 inch.
4. Spread the cubes in a single layer on a lined baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes.
5. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add milk, coriander, salt and pepper.
6. Once the bread is baked, pour the cubes into the bowl of egg mixture; mix well till the cubes have absorbed most of the liquid, but before they turn mushy.
7. Pour this into the greased baking tray and top with crushed chilli peppers (if you are using it), and then with the shredded cheese.
8. Bake for about 25 minutes until the eggs have set completely.
9. Cut the omelette into squares, and enjoy with ketchup or without any condiments - it tastes great as is.

For variations - you can add bacon bits, sausage, green pepper, onions, green onions, shrimp - you name it. 

I also made a smoothie with berries and bananas and that really went down well with the omelette.  

And I wanted to try to get some reflections, but I didn't have the macro lens to do it right, so I just took a shot anyway. 

Day 272 - Frozen at Sunset

Not just the river, but also my fingers!  I always pick the wrong day for staying out.  It was freezing cold at - 22 deg Celsius when I left work, but I am certain by the time I got to the pedestrian bridge next to the highway, it was much colder.  I couldn't stay out in the freezing cold for more than 20 mins or so, and that included my walk up to the bridge, which takes a good 5 - 7 mins. from the bus stop.

I will probably have to drop off the radar for the next couple of days, because I have another cooking class coming up.  However, I know I will have to do some food photographs again, so maybe I will be back sooner, who knows!

I didn't have my long lens, and I was pretty far from these giant reeds, and couldn't zoom in with my 18 - 55 mm.  Therefore, I had to compose with the taller ones silhouetted, as opposed to only the shorter backlighted ones, which was initially my plan for this image.

The river is completely frozen!  I loved the reflections of the setting sun on the icy parts.

Day 271 - Portrait Session - 2nd Day

These images are from Sunday. I took most of the images with ambient light coming in through my balcony door from the left of the camera with a flash side-bounced for additional light from the right - it was pretty gloomy and snowy by the time we were ready to shoot.

I used my 18 - 55 mm lens as I would have to get the family together, therefore a wider angle and the flexibility to get in tight was also required due to a lack of proper space in my make-shift studio.

I really liked the relaxed expressions on the faces when they all thought I was testing the light! ;-)  It's sometimes nice to just shoot in between posing the subjects, trying to catch them off-guard.

The littlest one had already scampered off, not wanting to be part of the photo session any longer.  He was much more at home watching my son play on his computer, than he was with us, posing for pictures.

I really love this shot! Dunno why, but I think it's mostly to do with how tight I was able to get them in, creating a feel of immense bonding.

Day 257 - Food for the Hungry Soul

The word "Soul" here has two intended meanings - soul as in a person (like when we call someone a "poor soul") and soul as in the Spirit - the essence of a person. 

Food feeds the soul, but when that soul is my son, it has to be good food!  But for me, food feeds my imagination, after it has nourished my body, of course.  

This dish, the Chicken Biryani, is a favourite with most Indians, and likewise a favourite with my son and me.  And although it could become a little elaborate, over time I have learned to simplify the process so I can whip it up quickly and on demand.  

The Biryani, a rice dish with add-ins, can be made with most anything - beef, lamb, chicken, shrimp, eggs and even vegetables!  I love making this really hot and spicy and colourful.  However, having run out of the orange food colouring, I had to use red, which in my opinion turned out pretty cheesy.  But as I don't usually like to judge a book by its cover, digging into the biryani sent my taste buds spinning on a deliciously pleasurable journey (although I say so myself)!  

Reminds me of a line from a commercial for Maggi Instant Noodles from when I was growing up in India - Fast to cook, good to eat! 

The best light for food photography would be - you guessed it - ambient daylight.  However, since I don't have the luxury of cooking dinner in the middle of the afternoon, I have to make do with the flash.  I set up the external flash at 28 mm, 1/4 power level, to bounce off of the ceiling, placed to the right of the subject.  

Both these shots are almost straight out of the camera - the exposure was fixed marginally in the first one.  The second one is SOOC.

The shots were taken with the 18 - 55 mm lens.  The reason is simple - I find it really helpful to either shoot with this one or the macro lens as they allow me to be flexible with the focussing distance and angles.  I chose a very shallow depth of field (f/4 and f/4.5) and a fairly fast shutter at 1/180s.

And just a little note to those who have referred to my tutorials page before - I have removed that page and added a new How-To Blog.  Please feel free to check it out.  I hope to upload more findings from my various experiments in the future.

Day 184 - Arc en ciel

I had decided not to touch my camera today - exhausted after a night of very little sleep.  I was relaxing on the couch, after I got home when my son alerted me to the colour of the sky.  And not only was the camera lifted, but the lens was changed in record time, coat donned, feet slipped into running shoes, and the shoes were running away with the feet in probably less than two minutes of witnessing the light outside my window - there was a huge rainbow!

On my way home I had seen the heavy, dark clouds with a tear in them and the sun shone through it and lit everything up with a strange, iridescent light.   I knew that if I were in my right mind, I should go out.  But that's the thing - I wasn't in my right mind.  I was so tired, I had almost dozed off on the couch.  Had it not been my son asking me to look out of the window, I would never have known.  If my son has identified a photo op, then it's gotta be real good!  Normally, he just couldn't be bothered, because he doesn't quite figure out why I do what I do, every day!

Anyway, to cut long story short, I ran out to try and shoot the rainbow, since I've tried and failed to produce a good shot in the past.  This occasion was no different.  By the time I fiddled around with the settings, it was reduced to a blur! :(  But on turning back to return home, I was rewarded with the most incredibly red sky that I have ever seen!  I took a couple of pictures of that, and headed back home as it had started to drizzle, and I was bitterly cold having gone out without socks or gloves - and the temperature definitely felt sub-zero with the wind and the moisture.

These shots are SOOC.

Day 169 - I crossed the bridge when I got there...

... but only after I had snapped up this sunset.  Gorgeous colours and the clouds tell a story of their own.  I tried different perspectives, but this low-down shot through the railings got me the best one.

These shots were taken a couple of days ago, but I just hadn't had the time to upload them because of my work schedule.  It's finally lightened up a bit, and although I'm exhausted, I figured I should start clearing my backlog.

Handheld @ 1/15s, f/11, 21 mm, ISO 100, Aperture Priority

Handheld @ 1/25s, f/11, EV -0.33, 34 mm, ISO 100, Aperture Priority

Day 166 - Ferry dock at sunset

I was determined to go out and do some photography today as it was sunny, bright and beautiful after a long, long time.  I thought I'd almost forgotten what the sun looked like!  I had wanted to do some bird photography, but after doing the shopping for the month and with the exhaustion I have been feeling, I pretty much didn't feel like getting out early enough to find birds.

So, I checked on the sunset times and went out with about 45 minutes in hand to get to the place where this hidden ferry dock is.  I have posted some pictures of that earlier in my blog, and honestly, I didn't really experiment with a new perspective this time, as I wanted to try out HDR, as it has been my latest fun thing to do ( I actually try to learn something new and practise a few times so I don't forget it in a hurry).

However, I didn't bring my tripod with me because this place is a very long walk from home, and I would be slowed down with the added weight.  But I knew I could rest my camera on the railings there.  But believe it or not, it was so windy, it was actually moving the camera around when I rested it on the railing.  Fortunately, I was able to do some quick shooting when the winds went down a little bit.

The shot was created from the 5 bracketed shots below:

 

Here's the final HDR image that I created using CS5.  I added a little bit of saturation, and sharpness as I found that it looked a little washed out.  Also, the original HDR image was too grainy, so I removed some noise in it and added back a little shadow to make it look more realistic.  Afterwards, I added a border and voilà!

Day 159 - When will the rains stop?

I got caught in a huge downpour just as I left work.  My umbrella flew off and turned inside out in the most awkward ways and I was sopping wet long before I got to the bus stop.  I didn't get a seat as usual, and I think it was a good thing today - I saw how beautiful the rain-slicked streets looked from the reflections of the colours in the puddles.

So, once off the bus (this time I wasn't impatient enough to jump off it) I rushed home, shed my wet coat (and did I tell you I bought it thinking it was waterproof and then realized I think too much?), didn't bother getting out of my wet shoes, had my son hand me my camera, and I ran out.  Although the rains had held up for a bit, it was still much too dark.  So, I bumped up the ISO and started shooting.  I tried looking for the puddles, and saw one that had nice reflections, but somehow couldn't get a shot I liked.  I am certain there will be more rain in the next few days, so I am going to take a shot at reflections again.  Here's one I got from this evening:

Noting that the light was getting feebler by the minute, I left that alone and walked over to where I saw a couple of red maple leaves amidst some yellow and brown against a nice grassy, green background.  And for the first time, I saw these yellow leaves all curled up into a ring!  Amazing little things - trying to figure out what they are.  Any idea?

Here's the little leaf ring!

The shot below could have been much better if I weren't hand-holding the camera at 1/10s.  I was finding it hard to focus (even after I turned the AF off, so I could focus manually) in the extremely low light but finally managed to get a somewhat clear shot.  I've cropped it in post to emphasize the droplet.  You can click on it for a larger view.

Day 155 - Tired

I didn't do any photography today - I was completely fatigued for a lack of sleep for days now! :(  Happens too often for comfort, but well, that's me!

I ended up snoozing in the evening, and thought I'd take this chance to process a few shots I took yesterday.  Not sure which composition of the leaves with the house in the background I like better - probably the first one.  What do you think?

Day 154 - Fly me to the moon

Day 153 - Cyclists

I was scoping out a good place to do some cycling and skating photography for our next photo club meetup.  And for that I had to try out some shots myself.  This was my first time doing it and I realize that it's not such an easy thing to do.

One is that you have to be really good at panning.  You also have to be able to make spot decisions on whether you want a motion blur, or would you rather keep the cyclist in sharp focus and this I think depends on the speed at which the cyclist is coming.  A faster cyclist would be helpful in getting a good blurred background if you're able to pan properly.

Background plays a big role.  I didn't find a place with a really great background to start with, because I had positioned myself at curves which were next to parked cars, or fences.  The place I had originally thought of as great, might not be as great after all.

But the most important lesson from all of this was that a photog has to forget being self-conscious.  I was, and I was paranoid that I might be told off by someone because this wasn't a public event of any sort.  So, I had to be somewhat candid with the camera.

Here are a few shots from the evening.

I had a nice low angle in this one

Low angle, but not low enough

Standing full height while panning

As above

The last one was by far the best shot I got because this gentleman was zipping by, so I could get a good blurred background.  But the green post got in the way of this one! :(  (I have to look out for this next time)  Since the other cyclists were much slower at the turn, so the panning wasn't as effective.

Day 153 - Boulder Bay

While on another walk by the riverside, I discovered this boulder in the river, and then as I got closer to it I found a little inlet (if I can even call it that) by the shoreline.  So, now my name for that little hidden cove (my imagination does make it sound exotic, doesn't it!) is Boulder Bay!  

So, I stood by boulder bay just breathing in the cooling autumn air and scents and realized that the moon was reflecting on the tranquil waters of the St. Lawrence.  I have very rarely seen the water as tranquil as it was this evening.  Since I was only armed with my 18-55 mm lens, I stood there and tried different perspectives.  I have a few other shots that came out pretty well, but I will have to take my time to sort through them.

Day 152 - Getting ready for cooking classes

I have to restart my cooking classes soon after the summer break.  Therefore, the culinary experiments will continue feeding my Photo 365 project.  Yay!

The pictures were taken handheld under fluorescent light.   I actually had no plans of doing this when I started, but changed my mind halfway through the process since I was falling back on my photos again.

What I made was a potato-stuffed Indian bread which can be made spicy or mild, and a spicy chick pea curry to accompany it.  The bread is pretty filling and can be a complete meal in itself when paired with a yogurt based salad, called Raita.  But I needed to check out the compatibility of the two together, since the chick pea curry is normally had with a plain (without stuffing) deep-fried Indian bread called a Bhatura. The type of bread I made is also normally deep fried, but I chose to try out a healthier option and baked them instead.  These are called Kulcha.  They turned out really good, if not better than the fried option. :)

The dough balls and the potato filling waiting to be rolled out

The baked bread

The potato stuffing inside

Just out of the oven

The spicy chick pea curry garnished with shallots, cilantro, julienned ginger and a slice of lime

Day 148 - First attempt at HDR

I had taken these shots a few days ago and was thinking of trying this out.  Since I didn't get a chance to go out and do any photography, I downloaded Photomatix and tried out the HDR.  Being a trial version, I was getting a watermark, which was obviously really ugly.  Therefore, I did an exposure merge on a series of 5 bracketed shots in PSE8 and then fine-tuned it a little bit in LR3.   But I couldn't do the tone mapping that is usually done in Photomatix, so the results aren't as great in PSE8.

If you have any tips on doing HDR photography, I'd love to know.

Day 130 - Reflections of a gorgeous sunset

Determined to get back on track a bit with my photo 365, I headed out with my camera, even though I felt totally uninspired.  Had no idea what to look for today, so just explored a new neighbourhood on the island where I live.  Found a few curious things, including an ivy covered lamp post.

I had a challenge exposing for the foreground that was the lamp post, because I'd wanted to include the interesting clouds in the sky.  Finally, gave up and just composed my shot with the lamp post, totally excluding the clouds, since they were getting blown out and the light was failing really fast.

Looking at this image makes me think like someone is towering over me and saying "I told you about the feet, didn't I?" (King Julian-style, in the movie Madagascar).

The image below was the only shot of the car I could get, because I was afraid someone might tell me off for photographing their car.  But I really like the reflection, and I managed to sneak a shot.  It didn't turn out too bad considering I had only the one chance.

The last ones here are not well composed at all!  I turned around at one point and saw the sky turning this incredible colour and I was in the thick of a residential neighbourhood.  I tried to get to the river side as fast as I could, because I knew that's where I would find all the colours, but I was on the east side of the island, and it would take me a good 20 min. brisk walking to get to the other side.  So, just to be able to record the colours, I shot into thin air, not caring about anything but the sky.  So here's the series almost SOOC, except for a little saturation and a crop in a couple of them.