Diwali - Festival of lights

Diwali - Festival of lights @ Brampton, Canada

It all started 3 years ago , when we started gathering at my place for Diwali celebration. It was so good that , our house has became permanent venue for Diwali festival . just for the sake of information , we are not allowed to light up the firework  any time of the year except in the city of Brampton for Diwali as major population in Brampton city are Indian.( Sikh community )

The festive season for Hindus  starts with the Ganapati  festival,  in October and the nine-day Navaratri followed by Dussehra   and Diwali.
This year, Wednesday , Oct. 26, is the actual religious date for Diwali, but we could not celebrate on that particular day , as it was a working day. We Have decided to gather and celebrate on the weekend 29 Oct 

We gather and traditionally celebrated with prayers to Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth.

Needless to say Diwali centers around the legend of Lord Rama, who was said to have defeated the demon king Ravana who had captured his wife Sita.
Lamps were lit to welcome them home.

Diwali holds another significance for the Sikh community which celebrates Bandhi  Chhorh Divas as the day Guru Har Gobind Ji, who was held prisoner, had himself along with 52 other princes released from Gwalior Fort by Jahangir.

As everybody was busy lighting up the firework . I was out with my tripod and camera shooting the fireworks

All the pictures were taken in shutter priority mode with the shutter speed around 6 to 10 secs . the same can also be shot at in bulb mode , which most of the cameras have . please read the camera manual to find out. We need a tripod , wireless/wired shutter release and camera  of course.

Enjoy the pictures……..

Finally the Usual Metadata  for these captures

Mode:  Shutter  priority

Aperture:  f 22

Shutter Speed:  6 sec to 10 sec, depending on the kind of firework (Bulb mode only in Manual mode)

ISO: 100

WB( White Balance) : Auto

Camera : Nikon D90

Lens:  Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX ultra wide lens 

Don Valley Brick work... an effort to give its glory back

 

Don Valley Brick Works [Ever Green Brick work]

At my work place The Home Depot Toronto, we have a ongoing program called Giving back to the Community. As a part of this one Friday we visited this place Ever Green Brick Work to plant some 1000 plants..At first I thought I was a regular community charity activity. But the place is photographer's  dream place for photo shooting . Unfortunately I was not prepared for it as I was not carrying my gear. I went around the place, it was amazing place.

I went back again the next day for photo shoot with my gear. Enjoy the HDR images of the brick Works

History of Don Valley Brick Works

The Don Valley Brick Works were created in 1889 by the Taylor brothers. They use to make bricks 100,000 units a day . in 1946 there was a major fire accident and everything  got destroyed. more details can be found in the below link

http://ebw.evergreen.ca/

Now let's talk about the Photography technique

HDR Photography

High Dynamic Range (HDR) - Is taking  multiple photographs at varying exposure levels and  Merge the photos into an HDR image that reveals highlight and shadow details.

HDR images accurately represent the range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint light.

This multiple images at different exposures can be taken using a feature called Bracketing in the DSLR camera. Many cameras offer one or more bracketing functions. The most common is auto exposure bracketing (AEB), which involves taking a series of pictures of the subject while changing the exposure level. The normal practice is to take three shots, one under-exposing by 1/3EV, the second at the metered exposure and the third over-exposing by 1/3EV. That being said lets talk about the File format.

Most of the DSLR  cameras are often take pictures in  RAW(not yet processed - uncompressed file)  image format and  JPEG [8 bit compressed )It is always advisable  to take pictures in RAW format, though they will occupy lot of space on the memory card as compared to JPEG,is uncompressed. Most of the cameras have the options of shooting in RAW and JPEG.

 I always shoot both in RAW and JPEG fine. You do not want to miss any moment .Regarding the memory card capacity. Instead of carrying a higher capacity one card , it always advisable to carry 3 to 4 smaller capacity cards.

There are various software in the market for that can be used for generating HDR images , some can be purchased and some are for free.

Here are some of the most popular software's available in the market. Luminance HDR and Picturenaut are free software's available

 Artizen HDR

DynamicPhoto HDR

easyHDR

Essential HDR

HDR Darkroom

HDR Photo Studio

Luminance HDR

Photomatix Pro

Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro

Picturenaut

Finally the Usual Metadata  for these captures

Mode:  Aperture priority

Aperture:  f 9 –f11

Bracketing: 3F

Shutter Speed:  0.5 sec to 1/250 sec, depending on the ISO and the exposure

ISO:100

WB( White Balance) : Auto

Camera : Nikon D90

Lens:  18mm – 200mm VR II  f 3.5  Lens

 

24 Aug 2011 Tornado Waring Day @ Brampton

The Day When Tornado Warning was issued to GTA

Environment Canada issued a tornado watch for the city of Toronto and much of the surrounding region that night i.e., 24 Aug 2011 and was upgraded to severe thunderstorm warning 

At my work place, we were asked to go home at 3:00PM, so that we will be home safe while Tornado hits the city. But due to some unfinished work I stayed back thinking that it’s just a warning. At 6:00 PM I left for Home. On my way back I saw lighting on the free way which scared the hell out of me and at the same time I was excited about taking the Lighting pictures . I rushed to my house , look my toy kit( Camera , tripod and the umbrella – to prevent my camera from getting wet) to the back yard ., started taking pictures. At first it was fun taking the Pictures, but as the time passed and when the big lighting hit the sky, that when I started getting freaked out. But the end result was I was able to capture some good lighting pictures.

To capture Lighting or for that matter firework at Diwali , it is the same trick… Slow Shutter speed. I first tried with 1 Sec speed …did not work then tried with 4 sec was a bit better..Then worked Fantastic with 8 Sec...The same result can also be achieved in Bulb mode, which most of the DSLR’s have. Put everything in Manual mode including the focus start taking Pictures. In addition to tripod you need remote shutter release, by which you will control the duration of exposure 

Meta Data:

Mode:  Manual Mode

Aperture:  f11 – F13

Focus: Manual Focus

Shutter Speed:  8 Sec / bulb mode

ISO: Low ISO 100

WB( White Balance) : Auto

Camera: Nikon D90

Lens:  18mm – 200mm VR II f 3.5 Lens

Sun Rise...Rising Sun......

Sun Rise...Rising Sun......

I do not know where to start …..The most beautiful moment that occurs first thing every day is Sun rise.Every Individual knowingly or unknowing most awaited moment every day. Words cannot express the beauty of nature; you got to see it believe it. I always wanted to shoot sunrise and sunset. This takes me back to 1970’s when I along with the family visited Kanya kumari, that time we had a Konica film camera. With that Camera I try taking the Sunset and to my astonishment it came out well. I sent the same to Indian Express News Paper for some contest…off course I will don’t win it.

I got all Camera gear charged up  and kept everything in the car the before day night all set .woke up in the morning 4:00 AM texted my friend ( For Photography it is always important to have a group – The best way to share the experience and try new tricks), I silently sneaked of the house .  We reached the spot .

The forecast was cloudy day but still we went out to shoot. Took out my Tripod (Manfratto – 190XB) mounted the camera on.

Now comes the tricky part shot under what setting? , Aperture mode? Or Shutter priority (Tv in some camera’s) or Manual Mode? There are no hard and fast rules to settings one has to use to capture better.  Same results can be achieved with different setting and in different modes. Lot of my friends ask me for the setting for the falls (in my previous post and the lighting that will be posting soon) I cannot really answer that, as Photography is understanding the light surrounding the subject, and it changes all the time and from place to place, as I said you can get the same results in different modes and settings.

I usually shoot most of my images in Aperture priority (you controlling the aperture, and Camera setting up the shutter speed and ISO (common short name for the International Organization for Standardization.)

The ISO setting on the camera is something that has carried over from film. Remember back in the ‘old days’ when you used to go and buy  rolls of film and reads out  rated at 100, 200 or 400, maybe even higher .  Well that number refers to the film’s sensitivity to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive to light the film is.

In simple words Exposure…

It is always advisable to take few test shots before the moment begins  to see how the pictures is captured and make the changes to the settings , as you do not want to be setting your camera while moment happens or happening.

I had very less time (few Minutes) to spare as the sky started to become red I put the ISO in Auto, and see the result…

Finally the Usual Metadata  for these captures

Mode:  Aperture priority

Aperture:  f 9 –f11

Shutter Speed:  0.5 sec to 1/250 sec, depending on the ISO

ISO: Auto

WB( White Balance) : Auto

Camera : Nikon D90

Lens:  18mm – 200mm VR II  f 3.5  Lens

Niagara Fall @ Night

Its Kind of strange that before taking the shot to my eyes they were Niagara falls , But when I look at the Images , they more look like a rainbow colored silk yarn. I could not believe my eyes ...I have seen Niagara falls in the day light, but never under floodlights ...this was the fantastic experience.


I should Thank my son for that as, He was the one who insisted on the seeing the falls at night on the way back from the US Air show. Enjoy the Images....

These Images were all taken in full manual Mode with
 Metadata for these Captures
Nikon D90
Lens 18-200 mm
Aperture - 14,
Shutter speed 20-30 sec
ISO - 100
Focal Length - 50  mm
There are various ways of achieving the same results,

Thunder of Niagara, Niagara Falls Air Show - USA

..Thunder Of Niagara - Air show in USA 

My Son is very fond of Cars and  Airplanes...At work while having Lunch this topic come up and one of my collegue mentioned about this Air show . 

At first I thought its like a regular annual air show we have in Canada, but its not when I checked their site. It sounded Phenomenon. So we have decided to drive to USA for the air show which 150 km from my place.My son was so exited that he told all of his friends about the trip.

Finally the D day has come , as per the show schedule the Niagara air base gates open at 9: 00 AM , so we thought started at 8:00 Am in the morning and reached the Border by 9:30 ( Half hour late) Finally after a long drive beating the Traffic we reached the base. it  was Jam Packed. Some how we found a parking spot and went to the show. To my utter disbelief  I have seen a heavy security check up and in the front I see Planes on the ground and public going into the plane taking pictures in the cockpit, with the pilot. right away I took out my Toy (camera)  stated taking Pictures . I took some 1800 captures . Few of them are here


This one is the Thunderbirds Performing. There are lot more planes performed that day like B2, F-18 Super Hornet, and lots More.. See some of the pictures of the show

All of the Captures were taken at the below setting 
Metadata:


Exposure: 1/250 Sec at f 13
ISO : 100
Shutter Priority Mode ( Tv in some cameras)

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Humber Bay Bridge Toronto

Humber Bay Bridge, Toronto, Canada.:  Those were the days when I started testing my Photography skills. The Journey started with the Hunt for  a  good spot to photo shot in downtown Toronto. My friend Scott who is also into Photography Mentioned about this Location. We have decided to meet at a gas station at about 5 : 15 AM to shoot the sun rise over the Down town .this spot is 45 Miles away from our home.

After taking the Sunrise pictures On the way back to the car I took the picture of this bridge.
these Images are taken By Nikon D90, 18 -200 mm VR II Lens

Abstract version of the Humber bay Bridge: The best part of the capture is I love the burst of red in the right corner

Yet Another Abstract view..of the Bridge, this is the beauty of abstract art , you can show the same subject in different ways