Monday, August 21, 2017

Phonix, AZ, the eclipse


The eclipse starts

AS usual I wanted to capture the eclipse once again, no matter how much of it was visible to me, and what do u know the one day that has to cloud up in Arizona desert is today, but disappointing not withstanding, I was glad for the ability to make a more evocative image of the eclipse then juts a record shot of the inverted moon on the sun n I had a lovely opportunity to do so as the eclipse went in and out of the clouds, Monitoring my set up on a 4k, video camera that was next to me, I was kind of clued in to when to attempt my shot

For the technically curious  
Iso 100
Shutter – 3200 – 4000 th of a second
F-stop, 22- to 32

ND was 4 and 2 polarizer stacked up.

Sorry but NO , sony lenses are no where near Pro quality and needs to be nixed, Back to Canon glasses fro me, sorry Sony almost bought a few sony lenses, BUT NO NO NO, they dont quiet cut it, well there you have it, NIKON and Canon glasses are still better for stills compared to SONY,




Sunday, August 13, 2017

Opportunism or just plain corrupt OR,


I started on a trip today the 13th Aug. 2017,  

The fists ride to the nearest station was on a taxi, which charged me Rs 10 more, then the rate. I PAID the extra 10.

THEN I ASKED FOR SERVICE OF A PORTER (COOLIE) I knew the rate for the porter was Rs 50 per trip, I offered Rs 100, and he upped his rate to 150, as I declined and he followed to bargain with me, I finally paid him Rs 80. (I saved 20)

Watched a kid in the station begging, and while I thought about him and his situation, watched a lovely young girl buy him some food, he ate a bit and left the rest, n was back to begging (I doubt that money will do him much good, maybe buy him trouble- gambling, drinking, smoking, girls, his life for him to do as he does. Age no bar, am I being too liberal? )


Boarded the train, watched a couple gush over there kid, and the wife still was taken in with the husband and not just the kid, the man was just starting to turn into his manly self ordering and planning his wife’s life how and what she should do, n she was agreeing on some and not on other, as his macho self played out, he started to occupy more of the space on the berth he was sharing with his wife and kid, and his size doubled, he needed more space around him, n his leg, arms started to accidently hit me and almost hit my mom without an apology for his behavior, finally his leg was resting on my lap almost,    a Tea vendor was handy as I drank a bit and used the rest to wash his trouser ( accidentally ) , he got the drift I though, as I profusely apologized.
Few minutes on he was back to the same game, n this time an accidental meeting with my boot, did help reduce his need for space, another accidental body slam into his solar plexus got the message through, finally
The trip ended and I was back in Kolkata station

Once again a porter (coolie) I offered him 50 we agreed to 80, and was a long walk, paid him an extra 20. Managed to walk through touts and taxi drivers who were very worried for my safety and very curious how much I was willing to pay for my next trip to destination, promising cheap rates and all that, finally I was in a cab, that I had prepaid to take me to my destination, enrooted he told me, as I had decided to keep a bag on the seat, I would have to pay him extra as it was against the rule of KP (Kolkata Police)
On further query how it worked he informed me, that I would not get to know even, the cop would notice it and ask for his license and fine him (case khabo – in Bengali)
On asking what section of law is applied for the same, he promised on Lord Vishwakarma the God of All things mechanical, that he was telling the truth.

SO it seems like I met people who are working and poor are all corrupt, or opportunists trying to make more money, by bending the law







Monday, August 7, 2017

Serendipity, brother and sister on rakshabandhan day

The brother

As I am preparing for a shoot on a film about Jamshedpur, I am scouting for locations and stories places that stir my soul, and places that have stirred the soul of Jamshedpuria’ans

I was driving to catch a sunset, as I drove to my sunset point by a river confluence I was aware of the improbability of getting a interesting image looking at the sky that was overcast, the hopeful voice in my said- “ keep driving you will be rewarded” and so I did an 10 minutes later even as I saw a relatively boring sky, I decided to hang out and try for some images



The river and boat always makes for nice images


 Of other subjects then what I had intended, a few shots of kids at play later, I spied a girl that I was curious about, she was different, as I was wondering how to get her to agree to be photographed by me, a guy came up n wanted to make a few images of me, I gave in, n we bonded over his images of me, n then it turned out the girl is yellow was his sister, 

The sister



"rakshabandhan day,  brother sister ,,, Needless to say it was a opportunity that was not to be squandered and another serendipity moment in my life as I made a few images of the girl in fading light  ending the evening with the Moonrise, a full moon on the rakshabandhan evening



Moonrise

The photo gods have been kind once more

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Do you dare ?

The mind is silent, nothing disturbs one, the self and satisfaction to be with self is ultimate
The man/ women learns to love ones own company
The world the weather nothing disturbs and the intellect opens as the mind is in the state of satva                      



The world and the man / women is one, all secrets of the world revealed