A Few Become Many: Photo walk on Mahabalipuram’s Shore Temple.

A SUV from Chennai to Mahabalipuram used to pack at best two people from Ambitions4 Photography Academy on its way for an early morning Photo walk in Mahabalipuram. The story this time was different. 

There were 9 seats in the car including the one behind the steering wheel and there were 14 applicants for it. After filtering out the crowd, we set out with 7 enthusiastic students and 2 staffs on what seemed to be an overcast morning. Rain teased us again but stayed out during the best parts of the day.

A 50km drive on OMR/ECR on Sunday mornings with other motorheads is an event by itself but with Horse blinkers on we were headed straight to Mahabalipuram where our beloved photo walkers were gathering looking forward to an exciting three hours.

Fun Fact on the way: Fastags aren’t implemented on the State Highways yet. (15th Dec 2019)

Food takes precedence to all the above. A dosa & coffee stop was made, and we headed towards the gates of shore temple with happy stomachs.

There we were greeted by happy faces. Alumni, New students, Current Students and complete strangers were waiting for use to give the opening instructions and get that walk going. Just like that from 9 the number became about 20.

With the rising sun behind the shore temple, we started out with some beautiful backlit and silhouette of the shore temple.

The one thing we noticed at first glance was that, It was CLEAN. Owing to two things, The Modi Visit and the Lite showers the day before.

This time around there were a lot of ppl doing touristy things around the shore temple. A lot of foreigners were spotted too, owing to the holiday season.

We practiced composition concepts and then moved around the temple to find a puddle of water which was strategically reflecting the shore temple’s Gopuram. There we learnt how to break the rule of thirds and include reflections in a photo.

We then moved around to shoot images with perspectives, patterns and used lines and curves efficiently to add depth in an image.

Through out the session we had our mentor KL Raja Ponsing, clarifying doubts and teaching the walkers to take beautiful images of the location.

We also bent our backs to get interesting frame in frame images with grass, trees, leaves etc. too.We regrouped for one more time to review our images. After some customary selfies we journeyed back to Chennai.

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How to use ISO effectively?

ISO directly connected to the light available and the brightness or exposure of the image

ISO numbers denote the light responding capacity of the image sensor in a given situation. Higher the ISO the image sensor responds effectively even in light conditions and forms a bright image.

Higher ISOs result in noisy images and these digital noise is noticeable when we enlarge the picture and print them. On the other hand, low ISO settings will give good quality images without digital noise. Images for professional applications are shot using low ISO.

Low light needs a higher ISO settings like, 800,1600, 3200..an so on

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  ISO 1250

Bright light needs a lower ISO setting like, 100 and 200

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  ISO 100

Higher ISO settings are generally used in relatively dark indoors.

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  ISO 1000

Lower ISO settings are generally used in relatively bright out-doors.

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  ISO 200

We can also use, higher ISOs when we are using faster shutter speed to freeze fast moving subjects

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  ISO 2500

We can also use Higher ISOs when we are using aperture like f/16, f/11 for greater depth of field.

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  IS0 200

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Our viewer shares his thoughts on the video by KLR the photo guru YouTube channel

Steve Mellor Photo Vlogger: You know, ISO is often the thing that gets left out of the exposure triangle. We’re constantly talking about shutter speed and aperture but I’ve seen a lot of photographers really rely on those higher ISO settings to get their shots. That said, from my experience, I wouldn’t go higher than 6400 on the cameras I’ve used, unless shooting Astrophotography. But, this is a really important subject that people need to know if they’re starting out or if they’re moving from traditional film to digital (of course, that is less likely now but does still happen).

Tips to avoid Camera Shake

Camera shake or handshake is a basic problem in many of the beginners’ photos.
Use faster shutter speeds….this is decided based on the lighting condition and the focal length of the lens used.

• 1.Use the shutter speed higher than the reciprocal of the focal length. Ie. If we are shooting with a 50mm range, the shutter speed has to be atleast 1/60secs and 200mm range, then it should be 1/250secs
• Use higher ISO settings.
• Use large aperture (f/4, f/2.8) settings
• Use IS or VR options ON on your lens or camera.
• Use the camera on a sturdy tripod. When you are shooting in low light condition, and not able to stick on to the reciprocal principle.
• For long exposure and bulb settings, use a remote shutter release to trigger the shutter button.
• Use total flash exposure…flash can easily freeze the action

Enjoy photography….

Have you ever tried a Magic filter – CPL filter..?

Have you ever tried a Magic filter – CPL filter..?

The Circular Polarizing filter (CPL) is a magical filter that does wonders in photography.
1. The polarizing filter will remove/reduce the unwanted reflections created by indirect diffused light from non-metallic surfaces. It cannot remove/reduce the specular reflections created by the direct light sources.
2. CPL filter is a dark grey special optical filter fitted on to a rotatable ring mounted in front of the lens.
3. CPL lets in the polarized light without reflections to enter into the camera. The effect of polarization can be seen apparently in the viewfinder as you rotate the CPL filter. The overall subject gains better colour saturation and clarity gradually and becomes best at one point of rotation
4. CPL filter can saturate the green foliage and blue sky while shooting nature and landscapes.
5. The amount of colour saturation and clarity obtained depends on the light direction and time of the day.
6. CPL filter polarizing effect will be ultimate in ‘sidelight’ conditions and will be the least in ‘against the light’ conditions.
7. It will be better during the golden hours of photography (up to two hours from the Sunrise and two hours till Sunset).
8. CPL filter comfortably removes the reflections on the glass, tiles, shiny floors, shiny furniture, wet surfaces, water and almost anything that reflects. Useful for shooting exteriors & interiors, glass enclosures, high reflective products like automobiles etc.
9. Being dark grey, the CPL filter will absorb at least two to three stops light. This will result in using slow shutter speeds or higher ISOs or open apertures or all the three.
10. CPL filter can also be used like an ND (Neutral Density) filter for achieving shallow depth of field/ blurring effects.
11. CPL filters can also be used in the indoors with artificial lights and studio flashes.
12. Only a very ‘good quality CPL filter’ can protect the optical quality of your expensive lens – never settle for anything less.