Hot shots!
June 10th, 2004 | Published in Photography | 16 Comments
Since I’m planning to take photography a little more seriously, I signed up with the Bangalore Shutterbugs (group of photography enthusiasts) and attended my first meeting this Sunday.
Went along with Arun and met lot of enthusiastic budding photographers including Shankar, Lavannya and Renith amongst others.
Prabu (aka floatingcreeper.org and a former blogger) also joined in, and after knowing his online persona for a while, got to finally meet him in person. Found out that we both work in the same company. I was thrilled since that gives me one more person to have chai/caaffee with during breaks :)
While my first idea was to buy a digital, I’ve decided to invest in an SLR instead. That will allow me to fiddle around and learn the finer points of photography, which a point and shoot digital will now allow. Once I master the basics, I hope I can then go on to invest in a good digital camera.
The theme for this time’s contest was Urban Life and members showed their entries and talked about the background, how they took the photographs, etc.
It was a pretty interesting experience.
Meanwhile, I decided to take some personal inputs from Arun, who uses a Canon EOS 300 and Prabu who uses a Nikon F65. It turned into a heated Canon vs Nikon debate and I nearly thought they would come to blows ;)
But, they were really helpful, giving me lots of fundas about exposures, apertures, UI issues, DOF, continuous focus, IR ports, USM/SWM, so on and so forth. At the end of it, I was none too wiser. But, still determined to make this difficult choice pretty soon!
In the evening, both of them invited me to join them for some night photography at the Vidhan Soudha. It was a beautiful evening. There were faint traces of pink in the sky creating a really interesting effect behind the monument’s domes. Sadly, the lights were not on that evening.
Both of them tinkered with their respective cameras while I tried and put in my ‘expert’ touch. Prabu’s camera nearly toppled over once (he would probably never talk to me if I had damaged his equipment) but it was saved in time.
We had several passerbys stop and ask questions. One particular gentleman went a step further and even pointed out compositions (despite the fact that he doesn’t actually know much about photography). Some people wanted to look through the camera lens to see what we were upto.
Just when we were about to pack up, Prabu discovered the shot of the day (or should I say night). I can’t really describe the shot, but if it does come out well, I’ll definitely put it up here. And Prabu promises to walk upside down on his head for two minutes if he gets what he wanted!
Discovered yummy fruit salad at a place called Tindi Bidi (aka Market Street) near Lal Bagh. It was nearly midnight and probably the only place open in Bangalore.
Turned out to be the best fruit salad I’ve had in while!
(I had fiddled around with Arun’s camera when we went to the 13th floor. Here are the results! Well, what did you expect? I’m still learning ;)
June 10th, 2004 at 5:33 pm (#)
Nice picsss.. 13th floor ? The Pub or Ebony … Try zero G on Residency road at night. The view from their open air bar of Vidhan Soudha is the best i have ever seen. Expecting more goodie pics in here .. :-)
Cheers–
PS — dont get into a Canon vs Nikon fight. No one ever wins that battle ;-) I am a hardcore Canon guy –but more so because of the cost of Nikon cameras and accessories :(
June 10th, 2004 at 7:48 pm (#)
It was Ebony. Zero G? Must try it sometime. Am thinking of putting up a dedicated photo log, in fact!
Yes, I’m beginning to realise that it’s probably more about the costs. They are terribly expensive if you want to update and the lens — phew! I can imagine hours of overtime and even that won’t get me the moolah :-)
June 11th, 2004 at 5:20 am (#)
hi anita,
follow your blog regularly, esp since you moved to bangalore :-)
i am writing to ask if you could add a blog i came across today — http://bangalorebuzz.blogspot.com to your IBL directory. as a bangalorean living abroad and longing for the smells and sounds of the city, this blog was a revelation.
cheers / yogi
PS: i am in now way related to the author of that blog, just thought it deserves a bigger audience. and you of course maintain the best list of indian blogs there is.
June 11th, 2004 at 7:41 am (#)
Hi Anita…glad to see you finding your feet in Bangalore and beginning to like it too! Miss Bangalore every now and then from here in Chennai; but your blogs make up for it. Nice pics of the Vidhana Soudha..did you know they are building an identical one next door? I believe it is going to be called South Block. I’ll stand corrected, though! :)
June 11th, 2004 at 11:52 am (#)
love ya Viggeeee… :)
Do you own an SLR? Last time you were holding a powershot..
June 11th, 2004 at 12:29 pm (#)
i liked the vidhana soudha capture from the 13th floor..didnt know b’lore’s greenery cd look so captivatingly beautiful (in the heart of the city where there is a constant battle between smoke n the lungs:-)
good try…
June 11th, 2004 at 8:34 pm (#)
Here is a link that would tell you the other side of the story.
http://ruggedsam.rediffblogs.com/
Having lived in Delhi,Bombay,Calcutta and Bangalore before I cant just understand why the so called tech-hub is so hyped up. Mosquitoes, power failures and water shortages are the only thing I can remember, and this was just 2 years ago. Bangalore has years of catching up to do. Cant remain too smug about a bunch of tech companies moving in there.
June 12th, 2004 at 1:30 am (#)
Anita –see where this conversation is going .. If one is into photography all we need is a trigger to go on and on — ;-)
Arun — yes — i have an SLR too — It is a Canon Rebel XS … Have spend god knows how many rolls and money on trying the various shots i wanted to “perfect” –Then realised a digital camera made more economic sense to start with — SLR is a good thing to graduate too — What do you think …??
Cheerios
June 12th, 2004 at 3:26 pm (#)
Kaizad: Don’t all cities have an ugly face? I think in Bangalore its mainly the pathetic condition of the roads. And the autowallahs! It’s growing like crazy, but unfortunately the infrastructure is just not equipped to take care of the growth. I had gone down Banerghatta Road today and was amazed to see such huge developments but the worst road I have seen in a while!
Vasu: Cost is definitely an issue and even Niokonians agree that the equipment and accessories are a major drain on one’s finances. So, I’m giving it a good thought. I have one BIG expense to get over. Hopefully, next month I can settle on the camera!
Vignesh: I know. You should have seen Arun and Prabu furiously sending me pros and cons of their respective cameras! :0)
You’re welcome Rohit! Unfortunately, I’m always running behind :)
June 13th, 2004 at 12:23 am (#)
canon, canon, canon!!! i think cat people should go for a canon!!
by the way, i have a canon rebel g, since 7 long years( handed down by my benevolent big brother when he bought himself a canon elan 2), not a spot of trouble and i still wouldnt want to trade it for any of the latest cameras…
February 10th, 2005 at 2:26 pm (#)
Hi,
Nice photos. I have a few at http://www.vinayahs.com. Personally I use a Nikon F65 and a Canon Power Shot A95.
March 31st, 2005 at 3:54 pm (#)
I reside in Bangalore & am interested in learning photography.
Can one of you suggest where & whom should I contact for the same?
Suyog
April 26th, 2005 at 7:26 pm (#)
Hi,
I am wanting make photography as a hobby.….…
Anyone suggest where should i start. I am at bangalore.
Thankx
– Ashok –
November 2nd, 2006 at 5:19 pm (#)
Hi,
Arpita here,i am a interior designer.I have a passion to learn wildlife photography,it would be helpful if you teach me or refer me to a person can teach me…. please do te needful asap…
Regards,
Arpita
March 6th, 2007 at 10:09 am (#)
Hi,
I just bought Nikon coolpix P3 and I have started loving photography since then, but I just dont have my basics clear. I would like to learn Photography, how can I do that ? Please help.
Regards
Jignesh.
June 11th, 2010 at 9:49 pm (#)
street pg is always fun!