Macros......

The wonderfully beautiful world of insects and bugs..... Never expected the small world of insects would be so interesting! There are so many varieties of insects and each one of them have their own unique way of survival. The more I observe these wonderful creatures, the more fascinated I become by these mini-beauties :-)

Here is a collection of macro shots that I shot in the last 6 months. It would be great if someone could identify the names of these insects.

The first two shots are from the Theosophical society and the third one is from my trip to Coimbatore. For those who are interested in the gear and settings used, these were shot using a macro lens adapter called Raynox DCR-250. When mounted along with a zoom lens (I used a 75-300mm lens), this adapter gives some amazing magnification. The only flip side to this adapter is that you need to resort to complete manual focus and the shooting distance should be less than 10cm. Move a bit close or a bit far, the insects would no more be in focus. Getting this close to an insect almost always scares them away and hence a lot of patience is needed while using this combination.

Black & White

Black & white photography.... There is something magical about it that it never ceases to excite me. I am still in the process of learning the nuances of a good B&W edit and these are some of my attempts to learn that art. The first two pictures were taken before the start of the one-day international between India & Westindies that was held at Chepauk sometime ago. The last photo was taken during the first spell of incessant rains that lashed Chennai in the month of November. I wish the photo of the cyclist was a bit more sharp but this is the best that I could manage and had to be content with this. 

Mylai Festival -- Take Two

When the night slowly started settling in and using the 18-55mm lens became a tough proposition, the 50mm prime came to my rescue. There is a definite sharpness to the shots clicked with a prime lens that the other lens surely lack. The 50mm really shines during these night times and it is no exaggeration that without this lens, all the below shots would have been impossible.

(Scroll down to my previous blog for more pictures from the 'Mylai Festival')

Mylai Festival

Last weekend, I had participated in the photowalk organized by PSM and what a wonderful experience it turned out to be. There were close to 35+ photographers who had come for the photoshoot and it was a great learning experience for me. I had the chance to meet it person so many people who I have only heard through emails and flickr ID's.

The theme that our group of four decided to take up was designs and I decided to extend it to 'Shapes' as well. The main idea behind shooting pictures with a theme is that it opens up our eyes and we start 'seeing' things much more clearly. It took me close to 30 minutes before my eyes could start seeing 'shapes'. Given below are some of the shapes that I captured. There are other snaps in which the theme was not met but I nevertheless went ahead and clicked lest I miss those opportunity.

Yelagiri Tour -- Macro World! (Part II)

Some more clicks from Yelagiri.... Canon 100mm Macro lens at work here.

Yelagiri Tour -- Macro World!

Thanks a ton to Guru for lending his 100mm Macro lens to me.... I had one of the best times with this lens.

Kancheepuram -- The Temple town of South

Here are the photos from our trip to Kancheepuram. It is a fascinating place and the architectural marvel of this place is something that needs to be seen to be appreciated. The Ekambareshwarar temple is where I usually find a lot of photographic subjects. The temple is so huge and you even get streaks of light if you go to the temple early in the morning.