Dashboard : “Chrysanthemum in Shower”

- Dashboard -

“Chrysanthemum in Shower”

Sometimes luck favors us and as a result we get unusual photographs. This time I am before you with such image. I was on a shoot of Chrysanthemum flowers in the garden of a reputed school of Bareilly, i.e., GRM School. I, along with my few friends was invited there by the director of the school to photograph the pretty flowers.  This orange-colour Chrysanthemum drew my attention due to its shape. I decided to capture it. I rested my camera on tripod, put a black background behind the flower and composed the image. The sun light was touching the petals from slight behind. However flower looked a bit dry. Therefore I requested the gardener to shower a little amount of water over flower through spray gun so that it may look fresh. He started doing this gently, and this was a chance that I looked at the flower through the view finder at the same time. I was surprised to see the prospect. The shower against the dark background was adding drama to the scene. I, without delay clicked a few frames. This is one of them.

I used a Nikon D-90 camera with a Tamron 70-300 mm lens to click this image. The aperture was fixed at f-8 and the shutter speed was 1/1250 sec. ISO was set at 250.

Concluding words:

1. We should always use tripod while clicking flowers.

2. Use of dark background helps the flower to emerge out strongly.

3. We should use small aperture in order to get all parts of flower in focus.

4. Shower of water seems dramatic against dark background and particularly when the sun light is coming from behind/little behind.

(I’m thankful to my friend, Mr. Rajesh Agarwal-Jolly for giving me the opportunity of photographing the flowers in his school’s garden)

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

 

My View -- Significant Places: Surroudings Matter

-My View-

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Significant Places:

Surroudings Matter

Our country is rich in so many important places. We feel disappointed when we watch disturbing objects, such as electric wires and poles around such places. These objects ruin the beauty of the place and on the other hand hinder our visualization. Here is an example of Anasakti Ashram of Kausani (Uttarakhand). This is a calm and valued place where Mahatma Gandhi spent his some days and wrote his commentary of “Anashkti Yog”. I witnessed disturbing electric wires and poles at this place which could not be avoided while clicking this photograph. Later I removed these objects in photo editing software and the image looked quite different. I have done this with the aim of giving a message - if concerned authority had placed these wires somewhere else, I would have enjoyed being at this place with a different feel. Although the value of any such place lies in its historical importance, the beautiful surrounding of the place is equally important.

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

- Photo Feature - “Horses Compete at Chaubari”

- Photo Feature -

Horses Compete at Chaubari

Kartik Poornima is a holy occasion for Hindus in India. According to the Hindu Mythology this is considered to be the day of Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Angira and Lord Sun. There is a tradition to take bath in the holy river, Ganga on this particular day. This festival is celebrated at Chaubari Village of District Bareilly of Western U.P (India) annually at grand level. This village is situated very close to the river Ramganga. A big fair takes place at Chaubari on the occasion of Kartik Poornima. A number of activities take place in this fair. Horse race is one of them. In fact this race is a type of demonstration of the ability of horses. The horse-sellers come to this fair from different parts of the region. They try their best to show the skills of their horses. The buyers watch the race attentively and the horses which are found best are sold at high prices. Like previous years, this year also the fair was organised with enthusiasm. Horse-race was the center of attraction for visitors.

(The images of this event, presented here, were taken with a Nikon D-90 camera at shutter speed priority mode (at 1/1000 sec.). The lens was 18-105 mm (Nikon). ISO of the camera was set at 500.)

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma