-Dashboard- Newly Wed

-Dashboard-

Newly Wed

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During my visit to Kolkata (India) in January-2016, I was strolling on the bank of River Hooghly one morning. I met a newly wedded couple there with an elder woman, probably the mother of bridegroom. They had come here to perform some rituals, and seemed to have profound faith in their culture. I felt deep respect for them and wished to click some pictures. They did not oppose.  Out of the clicked frames, I personally like this picture a lot. I love the way; the post wedding rituals are being performed.  

--Pankaj Sharma

-Youth Gallery- In Love with Nature and Travel Photography: Trikansh Sharma

 -Youth Gallery-   
 In Love with Nature and Travel Photography

Trikansh Sharma

Trikansh Sharma is a promising photo artist from Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) India.   He is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree in computer applications. He had interest in photography since his childhood days.  He decided to pursue his hobby seriously in 2016 and purchased a Canon 1300D SLR camera with kit lens. Then after he started photography wholeheartedly, and after a phase of time he found himself deeply inclined towards nature & travel photography. He admits that the company of senior photography enthusiasts motivated him to do more and more in the field of creativity. In addition, the internet has helped him a lot in understanding the fundamentals of good pictures as he thinks. From 2017 onwards he started doing nature & wildlife photography more dedicatedly.  He began spending lots of time at one location in search of good pictures. He thinks that he is not a self taught photographer; he is learning photography from everywhere, and from everyone who is a true art lover.  Now photography has become his passion.  Many of his pictures have been awarded and recognized by reputed platforms like National Geographic.

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

-Dashboard- Devotee

-Dashboard-

Devotee

Sometimes a few people leave deep impact on our mind and soul. It was on the occasion of Holi, the festival of colours, I was in Barsana, in February, 2018. Barsana is associated with Goddess Radha.  The celebration of Holi starts a few days prior to the actual festival here. On one morning I was in Radha Rani Temple which is situated at a hill. After visiting this temple I went to another important temple which is located nearby. The whole atmosphere was full of divinity there. I met a lady in the campus of that temple who was sitting close to the sculpture of Lord Krishna. She was in deep meditation of her beloved God. The matchless dedication of the lady towards Lord Krishna, the colours of Holi smeared on the sculpture of Lord and the historic architecture all around, fascinated me intensely. I clicked a few pictures. Here is one of them.

I used a Canon EOS 6D Camera with a Tokina 17-35 mm lens. The exposure was: f 11 at 1/1250 sec.

ISO was set at 8000.

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

My View: Black and White Photography As I Experience

-My View-

Black and White Photography 
As I Experience

Black and White photography is a fine medium of expression. This medium fascinates me for below mentioned reasons:

• The impact of light and shadow is often greater in black and white photographs as compared to that in coloured photographs. However, by ensuring adequate amount of light while photographing, we can have excellent results in colour medium as well.

• In this genre of photography, a lot more attention is provided to the subject. The subject in black and white medium seems more effective than that in colour medium. As colours often (not always) become more prominent than the subject.

• I love the play of grey tones in B&W images. A picture with maximum tones between black and white is always impactful. The images created by great masters with maximum grey shades in them have always fascinated me.

• The mood and emotion is rather captured more powerfully through black and white medium. A black and white picture can portray a story of sentiments quite effectively.

• Few subjects, like street life, architectures, portraits etc. look fairly impactful to me in black and white medium.

--Pankaj Sharma

-Profile- Expressing himself through Photography and Literature : Dr. Lovelesh Dutt

-Profile-

Expressing himself through Photography and Literature

Dr. Lovelesh Dutt

Born on 24 September, 1976 in Bareilly (India), Dr. Lovelesh Dutt is a multifaceted human being. He is a writer of high repute and on the other hand a promising photo artist. As literature and photography, both are mediums of expression, Dr. Lovelesh Dutt conveys his emotions well in both genres. As a writer he has to his credit a number of Hindi poems, stories and edited magazines/books. He has got many prestigious honours and awards in the field of literature. As a photo artist he is well known for his creative pictures of scenic places and human beings. He is fond of travelling and loves clicking places in their true manner. His photographs have been exhibited in several reputed exhibitions. Many of his pictures have been awarded in the exhibitions at national level.   

-Dr. Pankaj Sharma

Tutorial : Macro Photography By Satpal Singh

-Tutorial- 
Macro Photography

(Here is a tutorial about Macro Photography by Mr. Satpal Singh, a promising wildlife photographer. He is Panasonic Lumix Camera Ambassador and has a number of awards at International level. His photographs have been exhibited and published world-wide.)
Macro Photography is one of the popular and challenging genres of Nature Photography today. This ia all about keen observation, vision and dedication. 
Here are a few points which must be kept in mind while taking macro images:

 1- It is not necessary to have an expensive photography kit.  To start we just need an entry level DSLR with a macro lens.

 2- If budget is an issue, macro photography can be started with any normal lens and a kit of close-up filters & extension tubes.

 3- Monsoon & post monsoon season (before winter) is best time for insect photography.  In this period of time thousands of species of insects complete their life cycle and offer many opportunities to a nature photographer for excellent pictures.  

 4- Morning & evening sun light is always ideal to get colourful, soft, warm & balanced tone images. 

5- A Led light or a dedicated ring flash will be very helpful on cloudy days & when our subject is in shade.

 6- Role of Aperture always plays a vital role in macro photography. (A) We can use a bigger (smaller in number) aperture to get clear & out of focus background. (B) If we are working in a condition where we need good depth of field to get all parts of the subject sharp we should use smaller (bigger number) aperture. 

7- Safe shutter speed:  Subject’s movement & camera shake is a big problem in macro photography. To overcome this problem we have to use a safe/high shutter speed such as 1/ 250 sec. or above.

 8- We can use a reflector to redirect light towards our subject if we need.

9- Focus:  (1) We have to focus at the eyes of our subject. If eyes are not sharp, image is not considered good.  (2) Manual Versus Auto Focus: * Manual focus is often the effective way to get the most important part of an object sharp. As we often click macro objects in dull light, it can be difficult for our camera to auto focus – so we should choose manual option of focusing. * When we click moving objects,  manual focusing  is not possible.  Here auto focusing is only option.

 10- We have to go on the eye level:  In macro work it is strongly recommended to go parallel to your subject. Doing such can totally change the perspective of an image. 

 11- We should avoid dresses of bright colours and wear green, navy, brown & non-alarming colors. Bright colours disturb small creatures.

 12- We have to avoid using perfumes, hair oils and creams that have fragrance. Insects are more sensitive than us.