Hiranandani Gardens, Powai

Hiranandani Gardens, Powai

Kaladarshan 2010

Kaladarshan 2010

Lounge of Convocation Hall @ IIT Bombay

- Organised every year

- Exhibits include photos, paintings, sculptures etc.

- Contribution from faculty staff and students

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).

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 !

Logo of Marathi Sanskrutik Mandal , IIT Bombay

Logo of Marathi Sanskrutik Mandal , IIT Bombay

This logo was designed by me for Marathi Sanskrutik Mandal (Marathi Cultural Association). Association formed by IIT Bombay students, staff, and faculty is a club to celebrate Maharashtrian festivals, literature and many more. 

6 Posters creating energy and environment awareness

5 Posters creating energy and environment awareness

Over utilization becomes wastage most of the time. These wastage can be avoided with by attaining to small things. Earlier I have written about how some small measures can be taken to save the energy and ultimately protect the environment.  These posts can be read here:

Save water - Its precious!

 9 Simple ways to save energy

Under utilization of resources can also be dangerous, as it's also a kind of wastage. My essay on 'India's biggest problem: Under utilization of resources' can be read here.

Below are some of posters designed by me, long back in 2007. These were displayed at Cool summer fest 2007 ( Global warming vs youthful innovation). It was India's first symposium cum technical festival on solution for global warming. Even was organised by Research Scholars' forum (IIT Bombay) and Sustainable youth. 

Black and White

Black and White

Powai Lake as seen from IIT Bombay

Some stunning HDR images with D7000

Some stunning HDR images with D7000

 

Frame the photo !

Frame the photo 

One of the attractive composition technique in the photography is to 'frame the photo'. Framing can be achieved by capturing the scene through a window made by natural or artificial objects, such  as sky from the window, view through a hole. Any object with void in it can also become a frame for the photograph. To list a few: iron gate, tree branches, doors and windows etc. Some creative frames might be the broken mirror, hand arrangements. 

Amber fort, Jaipur.

Fundamentally whenever you conceal an object with the help of other objects, the focus of the viewer is taken directly to the main subject of the photo. These objects may not necessarily be with hard boundaries. For example, if a person is shot in the crowd and crowd part of the photo is blurred then this image can also be called as framed photo. Pattern within a pattern is also framing technique by default. 

Below are three examples where I have used 'frame the photo' technique. I shot water-pot framed by a door using a minimalism approach. This image was taken at Amber fort, Jaipur. It show-cases a small part of sky, placed at 1/3rd position at right top corner. As the sky color contrasts with the frame-color strongly, it may become the point of attraction or distraction, left it to the viewer. For me main attraction remains as the water pot placed outside the room. Characteristics I liked the most about the photo is the light condition. It was about 4 PM when the sun was making perfect angle to illuminate the objects and blacken the frame. 


In the second image, I have captured hostel no. 12 from the hostel no 13 gallery. Photo was then converted to black and white. The frame creates a natural effect. Viewer feels if he would have been in cameraman's place, he would have seen exact frame with his naked eyes. 

Third image was taken during my visit to 'Elephanta caves' near Mumbai. A girl seating on a stone and praying was photographed by her parents. The entrance to the cave is used as the frame. Again the contrast in the color of clothes and the color of the cave leads the viewer to the object of interest.

IIT Hostel-14

Couple shooting their child at Elephanta caves, Mumbai

Nature @ IITB – Conservation program

Nature @ IITB – Conservation program

IITBombay campus hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna on the campus. The major reasons for sustained wild life on campus are the location and healthy eco-system. The 550 acre campus boundaries are shared with Sanjay Gandhi National park and Powai Lake. Campus is full of variety of climbers, shrubs and plants. Some patches of the campus are still away from human indulgence. All this is the right mixture for wild life to sustain for years.  In recent time, vegetated land is being utilized to erect infrastructure to meet the increased student intake. This has partly destroyed the natural eco-system in some part of the campus, especially in old medical garden. Also, many activities and policies are unknowingly followed, which may add to the harm done to the nature around the campus.

Commander

In order to save the wild life in the campus, a conservation program was drafted by some nature enthusiast on the campus; the preliminary group includes Prof. M.B. Patil (Electrical department), Krishnapriya, Paresh Kale (Research scholar, ESE Dept), Abhay Soman, Swapnil Lokhande (Research scholar, Mathematics Dept) and Yugbala. The group is concerned with the conservation, documentation and awareness related issues regarding wild-life on the campus. Group has agreed on some critical issues to be sorted out to make this program successful. The details of which are:

Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore)

A very easy for ID butterfly. As name suggests, wings are 'tawny' colored with black spots on it. Another characteristics is lazy flight, bit of like sailing - fluttering combination. Lot many specimens can be seen around its host plant passiflora sp. Host plant is a climber, flowers throughout the year. Tawny coster lays eggs in large batches, typically between 20 to 100. Caterpillar is tawny-reddish color, and has spines allover the body. Appearance is similar to pansy caterpillars. I brought one batch for observation consisted of 50+ eggs. Here are some observations:

Photographing Odissi Performances

Photographing Odissi Performances

Just few days before I had brought new lens Nikkor 105 IF-ED macro lens. Luckily for me a mail came about Leena Mohanty going to perform Odissi as a part of a conference FIRE-2011 organised at IIT Bombay. I thought the dance program is good opportunity to test the lens, specially at aperture full open (f 2.8).

Flowering Trees - Cannon Ball Tree ( नागचाफा / कैलासपती)

 

Flower of Canon Ball Tree

Bunch of flowers and fruit string

Second in the flowering Tree series, is the post on "canon ball tree". It is listed as rare tree and flower in India [1]. It grows up-to 80 ft high and flowers in around December. Flower has six petals. Reddish inside and yellowish outside. Tremendously aromatic and smell can be felt strongly in near-by area. Inside structure is horizontal "U" shape. This inner structure is the reason it is offered to Lord Shiva and hence name in Marathi, as some thinks.

This Brazilian native takes its English name due to characteristic canon-ball like shape of its fruits. Fruits have rusty colored hard shell and are heavy. Number of fruits are connected in string and tree bears them directly to the trunk. The Cannonball Tree possesses antibiotic, anti-fungal, antiseptic and analgesic qualities [2] and hence used for medical purpose.

Quick Facts:
Common Name: Canon Ball Tree
Botanical Name: Couroupita guianensis
Family: Barringtonia
Marathi Name: कैलासपती / नागचाफा/ नागलिंग
Location on campus: Only one in parking lot near staff club.

Flower close-up

Ref:

1. http://www.flowersofindia.in/catalog/slides/Cannon%20Ball%20Tree.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couroupita_guianensis