Karjat - the photo failures

Getting out of the city can be a bit of a pain in the nethers but it's worth it to put the smog and smells behind you for a bit.

I went on my annual trip to Karjat to help build houses for a Habitat for Humanity project - I can call it annual because it's the second year I've done it. Here's the proof from last year. To be absolutely honest the students did the building and I did the wandering around with the camera capturing them mixing concrete and slapping on paint.

I broke off from the arduous task of taking pictures of students to take a few pictures of other things.  I've recently been reading various "how to be an awesome photographer" articles and sites and thought it would be a good chance to put some of the lessons into practice.

"Look for colour contrasts and textural interest to create stunning abstracts"

I interpreted this as "watch paint dry". This didn't really work but the paint dried very quickly so I wandered off to see other things.

  Every "guide to great photography" will tell you that you should always try to frame your subjects.

 A good piece of advice but also try to keep them in focus, above and below look ok in this small format but if  you saw the originals in full size  - not so good.  Really not so good at all! 

The "guide to being a kickass photographer"  tells you to look for textural interest and repeating patterns to create interesting images.

    So long as you think a sack with a hole in it covering a window counts as an "interesting image".

Always crop off the head of the bullock to create an interesting shot and don't forget to include a great big white arrow pointing at the bullock in case anyone missed it. Or as "how to click better clicks" says. Pay attention to the background!

Despite the bodged photographs it was a good day and I learned a lot about picture taking, mostly that I have to do a lot more of it.  



 

Diwali Break

I'm a big fan of cultural tourism.  At least I used to be, these days it's getting more and more obvious that I am just a big fan of sitting on my bum reading.

I packed the camera, an extra lens, a laptop a pile of books and a overly ambitious list of things to do on the Diwali break and settled myself into a beach hut with a pretty little sit-out area.  The camera got one half hearted outing.  The laptop remained in the case and the books got devoured.

I spent quite a lot of time watching a shell on a string sway in the gentle breeze and the most energetic thing I did was walk the beach early in the morning choosing somewhere for lunch later in the day.

It was bloody brilliant.

Brand Banditry

  I delight in the misappropriation of brand names and really like pedicures.  I got to indulge in both in one go recently.  I was tickled from the tips of my toes all the way up to my business teacher head.