Tag: india09

Head in the Black & White Clouds

The top of a cloud in black & white

I mentioned in a previous Black & White photo post that while I love the aesthetic I’d never done much of it, i.e. I’d never bothered to process my (colour) digital pictures into adequate black & white photos. But now that I’ve hit upon a method whose results I like, expect a lot more black & white posts on this blog!

Today I’m presenting 5 shots taken mostly during my last India trip (except the first, which was taken in Khor Fakkan). I hope you like ’em, and if you’d like to find out how I did them, do check back here in a few days when I’ll put up a tutorial on how to convert images to B&W using the GIMP. (You can follow the site’s RSS feed, and me on twitter).

The central column of a cement factory against thick rain clouds, in black & white
Khor Fakkan

A bank of thick clouds over Bengaluru in black & white
Bengaluru

A tangled electric pole against rain clouds in Navi Mumbai in black and white
Navi Mumbai

A tree stump in Borivali National Park, Mumbai, overlooked by the Kanheri caves, under a cloudy sky in black and white
Borivali National Park, near Kanheri Caves

Clouds reflected in the water at Lal Bagh, Bengaluru, in black and white
Lal Bagh, Bengaluru

Remember to come back to the journal in a few days to catch the tutorial!

V

Black & White in the Streets of Bombay

men drinking tea near a roadside barber
Been back from my India vacation for a fortnight now, and only now getting round to sorting through the pictures I took. I didn’t do as much street photography as I would like — I’m still not comfortable taking pictures like that — but I did manage more than I ever have, and I think I am starting to come out of my shell. Unfortunately it will be several months before I can practice the form again.

Another thing I haven’t done in a long while is take Black & White photos. I love them, but other than a few experiments with my brother’s camera when he was in college, and then a few shots when we first got a digicam, I have never tried it. Another problem I’ve tried to overcome, and I hope you like these….

the railway building
a corner of Bombay University
A traffic cop at Haji Ali crossroads
Dabbawalas converse under a footbridge at Charni Road
A wall filled with torn posters near Marine Lines
Fishing boats and people take in the sunset near Backbay bus depot

Townie to Burbie



Took the excellent BRTS bus all the way from Rajabhai Tower to Thane. Excellent ride, but I wish I had the SLR on me to pull off quicker shots. I’m far too shy about using my camera in public, though (it’s a necessary precaution when I’m in a more restrictive place like Dubai).

V

A Grand Day Out in the Natural Beauty of Dharavi

leaf growing out of the grille of an abandoned ambassador car
Quick: what is the first think you think of when I say the word ‘Dharavi‘?

Slums. Squalor. Crowds. That movie that everyone was talking about a while back…

Of all the answers you came up with, I doubt that Nature Sanctuary was one of them. But that is indeed what you will find in Dharavi, smack dab in the middle of Mumbai.

Mahim Nature Park (also called Maharashtra Nature Park) is confusingly not in Mahim as most people define it, but sits unassumingly opposite the Dharavi Bus Depot, a five minute rickshaw ride from Sion Circle. Most people have probably never heard of it because you can’t find a single swing-set, merry-go-round or snack stall inside. You will however find plenty of twisting pathways and dense foliage, countless species of plants, flowers, and bugs, all for a meagre Rs.5 entry fee.

It’s a no-frills slice of nature, and a photographer’s dream. Fantastic for a shutterbug’s Sunday out, and a great roadtest for a new camera or lens. I took my Pentax K200D out with me on its first real shakedown, and once again I am reminded that isn’t the camera that needs improvement, it’s my photography skills!

Still, out of the nearly 400 pictures I took on Sunday, quite a few didn’t suck. And here they are:

brick pathway through shallow ditch
young peepal leaves growing out of the bark of a large tree
macro of a caterpillar on a mostly-eaten leaf
large leaves catch the sun and a few raindrops
twisting brick pathway through the foliage, strewn with moss and leaves
a sprig of dry leaves resting on fresh ones
more young leaves of a creeper
old rubber slipper
parijat flower on ground
several parijat flowers
closed flowerbud of a gourd plant
dragonfly
spider versus camera lens
bees feed on the nectar of flowers
sunlight pokes through the thick canopy and hits two young leaves
another mossy, twisting pathway
blue flowers

I had a blast that day despite the heat and humidity, and highly recommend it to any nature lovers & photographers in Mumbai.

V