photography 20

There are some standard enhancements that I apply to my photos consistently: auto-levels, increase saturation, increase sharpness, etc. I’d also read that Flickr sharpens uploads (at least, the resized ones) so that they look better. So last week, I took 100 of my photos and created 4 versions of each image: The base image itself (example) A sharpened version (example). I used a sharpening factor of 200% A saturated version (example). I used a saturation factor of 125% An auto-levelled version (example) I created a test asking people to compare these. The differences between these are not always noticeable when placed side-by-side, so the test flashed two images at the same place. ...

It began in our second year at IIT Madras (1993). Shiuli Ganguly was an M.Sc. mathematics student, and Anand Thomas Lee was my classmate. And Lee (along with a lot of other people) had a rather high opinion of the lady in question. (He still maintains it. I got a mail in December 1996 saying that he’d tracked her down). However, the same opinion was not held of my computer abilities (understandably so). He bet that there was no conceivable way I could get a photo of Lee and his sweetheart together - by means fair or otherwise. Actually, I lost the bet due to the time constraint, but I did have my revenge. ...

I left my camera near the window of my office at Canary Wharf in time lapse mode on a cloudy day. The video is playing at 60 times normal speed. Check out the related time lapse videos. They're stunning. With this one, you can figure out which firms work till late in the night. Comments Sumit Dhar 27 Nov 2008 6:27 am: Hey Anand, Did you require some additional equipment to take snaps at particular intervals? Cheers, D. S Anand 27 Nov 2008 6:58 am: Nope – my Canon IXUS 70 has a time-lapse mode. I just placed the camera on the floor and let it do it’s job for an hour :-) Balaji 10 Feb 2009 7:53 pm: Really nice Anand… Fantastic to know that this can be done by a normal user too…

This is the park in front of my office in the evening. Fog completely covered London this week. Visibility: 200 ft. Hypnotic.

xRez has some stunning, large (gigapixel-sized) panoramas that you can zoom into using the Google Maps interface. It’s similar to the Gigapixel project, I think.

Comments Chitra 14 Dec 2006 2:51 am: Hmmm…very busy view…. Anamika 12 Feb 2012 10:35 am: Oru yenthiratha pola ada ingey ulla vaalkai Ithu yengey poi solla, manam ishtapada villai Nam oora pola ooru illai…!

Based on advice from Thomas Knoll, Michael suggests overexposing digital camera shots. This is because the on the CCD of digital cameras, the bright tones have the highest colour resolution. So you can darken images later and retain the colours well, but you can’t brighten without losing data.

Digital photography how-to. Comments Dhar 8 Sep 2006 6:09 am: In addition to the link you have given, do check out Photonhead for tips, tricks and tutorials on Digital Photography. Incidentally, I have recently started shooting again and a few of the shots I have taken are available here.

Your camera does not matter. “All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE.”

Sparkler art. Long exposure photos on Flickr with a sparkler. via Dhar

Kids with cameras. Give cameras to kids. Train them a bit. See what they see. Comments Dhar 8 Mar 2005 9:02 am: Not relevant to this post, but I see from the fiction collection you read a lot of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. But I did not find the “Song of Fire and Ice” in your list. If you are interested, I have a copy. (Oh, those Russians) Sathish 8 Mar 2005 11:21 am: Dhar, I was also thinking of that.. I am currently reading the last part of it.. It is excellent. and thanx for your list.. I got some links to read from them

The Mumbai Bloggers’ Meet photos are online. Comments Mumbai Man 3 Dec 2006 10:57 pm: try this http://mumbainews.wordpress.com/2006/08/30/local-trains-time-table/

2002 in pictures – links on MetaFilter.

I just furnished my kitchen. While my aspiration levels were high, I ended up with this. Mind you, the photo makes the kitchen look a lot better than it really is.

Update: There used to be an unflattering (Photoshopped) picture of Amitabh Mall here. It’s been taken down on request. I got a digital camera. Here’s a snap from it. Now, you may be wondering why the snap looks bad. That’s not true. Meet Amitabh, friend and colleague. Looks a little different. Unfortunately balding early. After all, he’s a consultant. Currently unsatisfied with the object of his attention (either the food or me) to the extreme. Following a unique love-life model.

I just bought a Fuji Finepix 2600. Should be getting it in a month.

PhotoSIG: a community of photographers.

Finally managed to put a decent photo of myself on my home page. (OK, “decent” is a matter of opinion.)

A photographic blog. Lots of similar stuff at mirror project, lightningfield. Incredible! What’ll people think up of next?

I’ve replaced my old photo (left) with this new one (right). Yes, I know. I’m growing younger by the day.