Author: Jawahar

Scientist, hobby photographer and amateur gardener

Photographing Roses

Last week I had this really nice bunch of gold-coloured roses and I wanted to try out my photography skills using a remote flash on commander mode. I placed the flash on the tripod and right angles to the photograph with some interesting results. One of two of these are with the flash on the camera, but can  you tell the difference?

head-on flash
external flash behind roses
external flash behind rose to the right
external flash at right angles to the camera. Light coming from the left.
External flash right angles to camera from left. Longer exposure.
external flash about 45 degrees to camera in a V arrangement

The main advantage I found to having an external remote flash was to be able to play with the colours and backgrounds. No post-processing carried out for any of these pictures. The roses too look different depending on the light source.

What do you think? Click on any image to see a full-size view.

Technical Details:

Nikon D-80 with remote SB-600 speedlight flash in commander mode
105mm f/2.8 Sigma macro lens
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Autumn on the iPhone

The last two days I’ve strolled out at lunch time with just my iPhone. This, of course, is not the best camera in the world but it is handy. Here are a few pictures from the iPhone.

The skies in the picture below were dramatically darker than seen here. I did try to post-process this picture to enhance the black but not too successfully.

The common ivy – possibly the best signal that autumn has arrived. The vibrant reds and oranges highlight and make even the most drab of buildings come to life!!

Ivy adorns a brick garage in the village of Ickleton, Cambridgeshire
Ivy leaf

Other leaves are also changing colour at this time of the year. Soon everything will be barren.

But there is always light at the end of the tunnel 🙂

Footpath between Ickleton and Hinxton villages in Cambridgeshire

All these images were touched-up in the iPhone Snapseed app.

 

Hip, Hip…. Rose..

Rose hip – funny name for the fruit of the rose flower.. As autumn sets in the dog roses are now fruiting in their bright reds and oranges.

I believe rose hips make good herbal tea and have a myriad of medicinal benefits. But I’d rather see them on the plant instead!

Picture taken with an iPhone 4s using camera! app. Edited in the app to add drama and increase contrast. Click on the picture for a larger version.

 

Visakhapatnam – Part 2

I think sunsets are beautiful. They mark the end of a day, promises of rest and a new beginning with dawn the next morning. The geographical location of Visakhapatnam means that sunsets are always on the side away from the sea, and I’ve never been an early riser to capture sunrise on the sea in the morning.

Sunset over Visakhapatnam as seen from Kailasagiri Hill.

The sunset seen from the Kailasagiri Hill in Visakhapatnam was particularly stunning.

Eastern ghats looking north of Visakhapatnam along the Bay of Bengal.

A beach road runs along the coast from Visakhapatnam to Bheemunipatnam for 46km, a stretch of which can be seen in the photograph above. Bheemunipatham has evidence of early Buddhist culture dating back to the 3rd century AD (photographs of Bheemunipatnam in a future post).

Sunset over Visakhapatnam
Palm fronds, sunset and Visakhapatnam

Kailasagiri has huge statues of the hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati and a small mountain railway that offers scenic vistas of Visakhapatnam and the coast north towards Bheemunipatnam. Kailasa or mount Kailash is the abode of Shiva and Parvati according to hindu mythology. One of the mountains in the Himalayan range is the mountain called Kailash (6638 msl).

Shiva and Parvati statues at Kailasagiri, Visakhapatnam

But all good things must come to an end, and it was with a heavy heart that I left this beautiful place. I could not, however, resist taking one last shot of a glorious golden sunset.

 

PS: As always you can click on any of the pictures above to see a full size view.

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Visakhapatnam – Part 1

Visakhapatnam (aka Vizag) is a large coastal city in the eastern coast of India in the state of Andhra Pradesh. I am a frequent visitor to this city as this is where my wife’s family live. Vizag is sandwiched in a narrow strip of land between the bay of bengal and the eastern ghats mountain range that runs along the eastern fringe of India. Here are some pictures from my recent visit earlier this year.

Ramakrishna Beach with Dolphins Nose in the backdrop.

Visakhapatnam is an important port on the east coast of India and is the only natural harbour on the eastern seaboard of the country. Due to its strategic importance, it houses the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

Submarine museum – The INS Kursura in dry dock
INS Kursura – A Kalvari class submarine of the Indian Navy

The eastern ghats on which Visakhapatnam nestles offers beautiful vistas of the sea and the city. Prominent among this are the Kailasagiri Hills, a popular spot for visitors.

A view of Visakhapatnam from Kailasagiri Hills

 

More in Part 2.

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Yellow Rose with dew drop – on black

This lovely photograph is from a close friend of mine who sent it to me a couple of weeks ago. I think this picture covers everything that is beautiful about a rose. I share it here with you with her permission. I have post-processed the picture to get a perfect dark background and remove noise from the photograph.

Begonias – on black

 

A begonia flower. My begonia’s grow from these funny looking corms that I have to dig up every winter after the first frosts and then replant them the next year. These have been going on strong for 3 years now.

The first image was processed in Colour Effex Pro. The bottom image is unprocessed.

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Evening Primrose II – On Black

I went back to my Oenothera plant over the weekend and experimented with my SB600 speedlight in slave mode. These pictures were shot with the external flash roughly at right angles to the camera. The results are interesting!!

I didn’t have to work too hard to get a black background in either of these pictures due to the positioning of the external flash. I also notice that the colours are less harsh now that the light is not parallel to the lens. Compare with the earlier post on the same flowers.
Technical Data

1/160 f/9.0 (Top)
1/200 f/9.0
Nikon D80
105mm f/2.8 Sigma macro lens
SB-600 Speedlight Flash
Post-Processed in Adobe Lightroom 4.1
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Beware – Here be dragon(flies)

Ruddy Darter

Ruddy Darter – is it looking at me?

Common Hawker

Common Hawker

I suppose I was hoping to have identified relatively rare species of these, but as their names suggest, they are both ‘common’! Nevertheless it was great to have had that extra moment to focus on these before they flew away.

For a comprehensive list of dragonflies, please see the British Dragonfly Society webpage.

Technical Data

Panasonic TZ30 Camera on (I'm sorry to say) on iAuto Mode
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