काही चारोळ्या - २



काही चारोळ्या - २

  




अबोल  स्तब्ध दगडात
उमलली फुले दोन
गळ्यातल्या गाठीभेटी
हेच दोघांचे स्वप्न रोज !





कालची रात्र जागून गेली !

करते अजुनी तितकेच प्रेम
म्हणुन काळजी आहे तुझी
वाटु दे नको माझे सर्व क्षेम
कालची रात्र जागून गेली !



A gift to Purvee on her birthday !


A gift to Purvee on her birthday !


I attempted a photo- mixing few years back on her first birthday as a gift to Purvee. Purvee is daughter of my Friend Jitendra Satija (then research scholar at IIT Bombay).




प्रारब्ध


प्रारब्ध 


उधळून प्रारब्ध जीवन शांत झाले
Source : http://meganrichard.com
तटावरल्या विचारांना लोटुन नेले. 

हवी कशाला साथ रातराणीची
फुलांनी आयुष्य टोचून झाले. 

रात्रीच्या गर्भात दु:खाची  पडछाया
स्तब्ध नि:शब्द काया वर खुळी माया. 

पडसादांचे राज्य खुळावले मन
माझी ही प्रतारणा दुखावले मन.


निजशील शांत झालास मुक्त
कसली भिती पुढे अंधाराचे राज्य. 

होतास जीवनात चाचपडत,
आता दिव्य मरणात तीच अवस्था


 

Black and white photos - II


More black and white photos  - II


See set of black and white photos posted earlier here.


Prolonged exposure of small streams Place: Rajmachi, Raigad (Maharashtra)

Hindu marriages are full of rituals. In this photo, father-in-law washes the legs of bride-groom.

Powai lake on the banks of which IIT Bombay is located. Hiranandani can be seen on the backdrops !

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Courtship of doves behind bathroom window !


Splashing waves !


Collection of dramatic flower macros - II

 

Collection of dramatic flower macros - II

  In continuation with my earlier post, Dramatic flower macros, here I post another set of images. Getting closer to the flower with a true macro lens, absolutely changes the scene. Low depth of field, color gradients, minimalism, unseen elements, unusual angles and magnification of objects adds the characteristic macro effect to the photograph !























Camera settings for capturing sea waves


Camera settings for capturing sea waves


Mode of operation:

I prefer to set camera in either manual or aperture priority mode. One should be careful about light when choosing aperture and shutter speed settings with manual mode. If the combo needs to be fixed, exposure compensation can be useful. Aperture mode avoids most of the jargon as choosing shutter speed, it automatically fixes shutter speed which is good enough.

Shutter speed

Shutter speed must be high to freeze the moments of splashing. Speed faster that 1/1000 s is sufficient. Sometimes the light is too strong and shutter speed reaches to 1/3200 or more. This is the reason why morning time around 8 AM to 9 AM is preferable, specially considering light conditions.

Use of 300 mm to catch splash center

Aperture

Aperture can be around 8. Aperture priority is best choice, works sufficiently well. As light is ample, shutter speed never falls below required.

Lens

18-55 Kit lens is usually serves the purpose. To shoot the center of the flash (close-up), lens more than 200 mm is required.

Accessories:

To decrease the light sometimes ND filter can be used. CPL filter may be used to increase blue gradient in the background of the wave.




काही चारोळ्या - 1


काही चारोळ्या  - १

खळी

अवीट मिठीची गोडी
आणीक गालावरली खळी
लाजलीस सखे अशी तू
स्मित ओठी अवखळी !


मेघदूत 

हा सह्याद्री नसता तर
कदाचीत वारे देशावर पोचले असते
या ढगांनी माझे विचार
तुझ्या अंगणी ओतले असते !



हार-जीत 

ही माझी जीत नव्हती, 
ती एक हार होती .
आता ही सवय मोडायची होती,
कारण ही लढाई शेवटची होती !
 

व्यक्त 

केसांच्या बटांना थोडे रुळु दे
गालावरच्या खळीला मग हसू दे !
प्रेमात आपल्या तोच वसंत येऊ दे
जपलेल्या भावनांना ओठी बोलू दे !


शक्य असेल तर …. 

जमलं तर  एवढं करत जा
अधून मधून हसत जा
बाकी कुणाकडे नाही पण ….
निदान माझ्याकडे बघत जा ! 


Vivid Konkan - V


Vivid Konkan - V


Some photographs from the storage - taken long time back .......Now a memory refreshing job by posting them for you all ! Enjoy !


Konkan Railway is the next identity of the region after Alphonso mangoes. After rainy season its all picturesque out of the window !

Temples in the villages - a place to spent silent evening ! Shown here is a temple built on rock in the river-stream bed. Place: Tonde, near Ratnagiri.

The river-stream bed in which temple is situated. Place: Tonde, near Ratnagiri.

Small streams sprouting every where after the rains !

Fog in the valleys adds dramatic effect to the sunrise ! Place: Nivali ghat, Ratnagiri

Rivers, a source of fish. Now a days these beds are infamous for sand-mining. Place: On the cost of Goa and Maharashtra

Bridges on the rivers now connect even the remote part to the main cities. Life of common villager is now much changed. Place: Rai-bhatgaon, Ratnagiri

While travelling on bike, such stream on road side in the dark jungle is my preferred place to halt for sometime. 


Coconut palms and sea-face, an obvious combination. Konkan is no option.

Reflections of palm trees in the calm river. Place: Ukshi, Sangameshwar.



श्रावण मास

 

 श्रावण मास 


मावळतीच्या रंगात रंगुनी,
Source: http://kleckser.files.wordpress.com/
आल्या श्रावण धारा,
तृणफुले चिंब ओलावली,
झाली पावन धरा !

ढगात दडले गुढसें काही
शोधीत वारा निघाला
सप्तरंगाच्या कमानीखाली
झंकार विसावला !

पर्जन्यारूप मेघरूप सूर्य ,
सोबत रुपेरी छटा,
आक्रंदीले आकाश मेघांनी ,
श्रावण हा हवासा !








पाणी नियोजन

पाणी नियोजन 



पाणीच पाणी चहुकडे, गेले नियोजन कुणीकडे  !

आहेत योजना बहुत, परंतु थांबा थोडे,
गिरवीत आहोत नियोजनांचे जुनेच धडे !

तहानल्या शेतीला झाले पाण्याचे वावडे. 
कल्पनांच्या जगात नुसतेच कागदांचे सडे.

कुठेतरी पूर, कुठेतरी अपुरं , काय करू आम्ही वेडे ?
पाणीच पाणी चहुकडे, गेले नियोजन कुणीकडे ?


नद्या जोडणी, प्रकल्प धरणे आहेत शब्दांचे बुडबुडे,
उज्वल भारताच्या भविष्यावरी का हे पाण्याचे शिंतोडे ?

पाणी अडवा, पाणी जिरवा, पाणी साठवा, लावा झाडे,
होईल पाणी चहुकडे, होईल जेव्हा नियोजन सर्वकडे !

पाणीच पाणी चहुकडे, गेले नियोजन कुणीकडे  ?

Giant Redeye - Gangara thyrsis


Giant Redeye - Gangara thyrsis

Gangara thyrsis thyrsis Fabricius, 1775 – Oriental Giant Redeye


Collage of Giant red eye (freshly emerged)




















The first record in Mumbai Region:

Egg of Giant redeye on coconut leaf
One fine morning, around 7 AM, I was roaming in medical gardens at IIT Bombay looking if I could get some good photographs of flowers and basking butterflies. Ambiance was cool and cheering, sun-light slowly rising. However, butterfly activity was low and hardly I could find any butterfly fluttering. Unable to click a decent photo is pathetic and frustrating situation for a photographer. Long wait starts breaking the patience and mind starts planning to return to home. To my experience, at this precise stage photographer discovers something un-usual.  The find hold photographer, cheer him up and boosts the moral. Another hour or two is added to the trek till next breaking point arises. This morning was not different from such many experience I had. I decided to have a last look around and return to home. There it was, appeared suddenly on flower some 6 feet away from me. Something bigger than skipper and was surely not a moth. After allowing hardly two snaps, the object flew away so fast that I couldn't track it. Thankfully, I succeeded in shooting a reasonable good record-photograph. To my surprise, snap was the first photographic evidence of recent time   of Giant Redeye (GRE) in Mumbai region

Importance of record shot:

I have developed a habit of always shooting a record-snap before shooting good snap, to avoid any kind of embarrassment. Record-snap should be enough for identification of the object. Immediately on returning home, I referred few books and websites, specie I recorded surely was GRE. Still, I could not believe what I found because of two reasons: No body has ever reported GRE from Mumbai in recent time and I was amateur. Some experts need to confirm it and for that I decided to publish it on Facebook. Issac Kihimkar, immediately identified and confirmed GRE and went further to congratulate me for first photographic record. Interestingly, after me reporting the image, many butterfly-enthusiast found and photographed GRE all-over Mumbai. Next year, plenty  of caterpillars were discovered and life-cycle record was completed.

Habits of GRE:

Caterpillar and pupa of GRE
GRE, is one of the large skippers and no doubt a swift flier. It has large abdomen and wing span about 75 mm. This specie is active just after dawn and before dusk. Individual is so sensitive to light that after eclosion carried in controlled environment, responds to the switching of artificial light source. Long proboscis enables it to nectar on the common flowers with long pollen tubes. When not is use, proboscis is wound in circular fashion and is  an appealing object to shoot. 


Early stages:

GRE lays characteristic vase shaped eggs on coconut palm trees. Caterpillar with red colored body marks, has cotton thread like  a loose shaggy filamentous clothing which is actually pure wax excreted. Caterpillar wounds the flaps of coconut leave and creates a shell. If cat is present in the shell, it responds tapping on the shell by shaking its body. Caterpillar grows up-to 2 inches and then forms pupa inside the shell. Redeye appears in the pupa stage and further becomes a feature. 

Composition: Portrait or landscape?


Composition: Horizontal or vertical?

A particular foremost dilemma in shooting snap is: Should I shoot portrait composition or landscape configuration. This suspicion arises in the premature phase of learning photography. This is not at all a bad question, rather indication that one is learning truly and intriguingly. Portrait composition means photo is vertically shot, where height is more compared to width. Landscape composition contradicts the portrait mode in dimensions. Aspect ratio of photograph depends on ultimate use of photo, category of photography practiced and of course the personal taste. Here I am listing the advantages and preferred use of both the types.

Use of landscape composition:

  • When the width of object is more than height e.g. A car, range of mountains
  • Used for landscape, documentary kind of photography
  • Used when a large space in front of object is to be kept vacant
  • 8 out of 10 photos are shot in landscape mode




Use of portrait composition:

  •  When the height of object is more than width e.g. Close-up portrait, building
  • Used for portraits, book-covers, subject has vertical shape
  • Generally speaking, in outdoor photo shoot, sky forms the major of the background.


Let me remind again, these two formats can be interchanged depending upon the personal taste and there is no fix rule ! As I have demonstrated with a photo, same scenery is shot using both format. Portrait type can be used fr any book cover while landscape mode is usual and obvious shot. Here is one more example of portrait-landscape interchange: