Month: December 2013

2013… The year that was…

The end of the calendar year always brings about a feeling of nostalgia, a moment for introspection on the year that went by, and hope for the coming dawn in the new year. My year has been a mixed bag with some personal triumphs and professional achievements tempered by the sobering reality of bereavements in the immediate family and a continuing quest for the perfect recipe for contentment with the lot one has been given. I have also seen my son grow up another year and tried to experience the world through his eyes and revel in the minutiae.

As a photographer, I started out 2013 resolving to devoting more time on developing my hobby and sharing these through my blog here and the other place (that which must not be named – FaceBook!!). In this I have been partly successful (life’s commitments get in the way) and there is so much to learn in the coming year.

The sun sets on the last day of 2013! Happy New Year!

So here’s wishing everyone a very happy, peaceful and successful 2014. Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting and liking my posts!!!

Ely Cathedral

_DSC3990 by Jawahar1
_DSC3990, a photo by Jawahar1 on Flickr.

The Ely Catherdral is a towering structure that can be seen for miles around the fens! Photographed in natural light at ISO 100, f/7.1, 54 second exposure with a Nikon 35mm lens on a D7000.

Bougainvillea – up close and personal

A cheery tropical bougainvillea lights up an otherwise dull, cold and rainy day here in Cambridge!

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Bougainvillea. Click on the photograph for a larger version on Flickr
Technical Details:
Nikon D7000 with 105mm f/2.8 Sigma Macro lens and extension tubes
f/18, 3.3 seconds, ISO 100
Processed in Adobe Lightroom

Ely Cathedral on Christmas Night

This is a photograph of the historic Ely cathedral on christmas day. 3 pictures are exposures between 14 and 52 seconds were bracketed to produce this picture.

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Click on the photograph for a larger version on flickr.

 Processed in Adobe Lightroom and Photomatix Pro.

 

Star Gazing!

The Jantar-Mantar is a cluster of 18th century astronomical instruments that formed an observatory for observing the celestial skies in Delhi. These were built by the Maharajah of Jaipur Jai Singh II. Today these buildings sit as an ochre and green oasis in the centre of New Delhi.

The photo below is that of the Ram Yantra, a cylindrical building that is used to measure the movement of stars.

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Inside the Ram Yantra – a star observatory at the 18th century Jantar Mantar complex in New Delhi. Click on photograph for a larger version on Flickr.
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Respect the thorns..

He who wants a rose must respect the thorn – Persian Proverb

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Click on the photograph for a larger version on Flickr

Such a simple proverb but with such deep meaning!

Photographed in 2009 at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, a property of the National Trust.

 

Begonia (at length)

Lacking any suitable objects to photograph today, I turned to the Begonia plant on the kitchen sill. These photographs all use long exposures (up to 50 seconds) and no flash, using nothing but ambient kitchen light.

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f/11 19 seconds. Click on the photograph to see a larger version on Flickr.
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f/16 22 seconds. Click on photograph for a larger version in Flickr
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f/16 40 seconds. Click on photograph for a larger version.
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f/16 50 seconds. 32mm extension tube used. Click on photograph for a larger version on Flickr.

 

The idea behind these photographs were ostensibly to test out the new shutter release cable I purchased a few days ago. I was also experimenting with the use of cool white LED lights and their effect on the overall white balance of the photographs.

Technical Details:
Nikon D7000 with Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro lens
ISO 100
Processed in Adobe Lightroom 5.3
Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with Giotto MH5011 head
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Winter Rose

It is a sign of the mild winter here in Cambridge so far. I photographed this rose in my garden over the weekend (14 December, 2013). It is rather strange to see a bright rose at this time of the year, and therefore merits a blog post of its own!

A rose in winter!!
A rose in winter!! Click on picture for a larger image..

Three-shot bracketed HDR processed in Photomatix and Adobe Lightroom.