Monday, March 23, 2009

oOo - A photographer's eye


oOo, originally uploaded by Davide Cherubini.

If you read my last post, you'll remember about my photo-walk in Old Delhi with some photography enthusiasts. Well something happened.

I was loaded with the minimum in terms of equipment - Nikon D40x with kit lens (18-55 mm). Others had better lenses, or cameras, and one guy was even carrying a tripod (though he never used it). As expected talk turned to equipment once, with someone saying how Canon lenses are the best etc. I didn't contribute to the discussion, because even though discussing equipment and gadgets excites me a lot, photography is an expensive hobby, and I've even met someone once who had an annual budget of Rs 2,00,000 for photography stuff.

While all this talk was going around, I was still thinking about how bad I had fared in terms of good shots that day, and none of it was because I lacked good equipment (OK, a high aperture zoom lens would have been awesome, but mostly it was my inability to compose nicely). I was mentally arguing this person that when I see a photograph, I can never say "Oh this would have been better if it was shot with a Canon instead of Sigma lens".

And then I came across this photograph of parked bikes. Look at the entire photostream of Davide Cherubini, and watch how he can take so many creative shots of "just bikes". We exchanged comments, and in his words:

"...fully agree with you, eye and composition first equipment after."
This reinforced what I had been thinking. I am not limited in my capabilities because I carry around a kit lens. Nobody is. I can take really awesome shots like this one with the lens I carry - that's what I intend to do.

By the way, this photograph made it to Flickr's homepage. Way to go, Davide!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Rediscovering Delhi – Part 2: Chandni Chowk

Today I got my first shot at street photography during a photo-walk in Chandni Chowk (yup, Delhi-6). Someone at our online photography club suggested it, and early Sunday morning I headed to the nearest Metro Station on my bike.

I have to admit – street photography is not really my thing. Carrying a bag and a DSLR camera and shooting some beggar, I commanded so much attention I felt as if I’m some strange creature from outer space. I know I should have ignored them, but I couldn’t, and the result was a set of uninspiring photographs.

Gali Parathe WaliUninviting view of the famous Gali Parathe Wali

On the other hand, I befriended a bunch of photography enthusiasts, and happened to finally walk around in Old Delhi after a long long gap.

Made in ChinaMade in China: I can’t explain what that expression is.

Being early Sunday morning meant the markets were closed, but it certainly didn’t mean fewer people on the roads. Most of the activity stemmed from the religious buildings – the Gurudwara (Sheeshganj), temple and mosque (Jama Masjid). A huge queue of destitute men waited for the food distributed outside the Gurudwara, amusing themselves at our expense.

Missed the train With bag and baggage – did he miss the train?

The lanes so narrow that I collided with a hawker (on foot!), old houses in a variety of colours, the hit song “masakkali” playing in the air, it was overall a great experience. No wonder Puraani Dilli is the favourite muse of a lot of bloggers and travel writers.

DSC_0019 Wired: Its scary how close the transmission wires are to the houses.

One thing is clear, I’ll be making at least one more such trip before it gets too hot to walk. Destination? Not decided. And next time maybe I’ll carry a point and shoot :)

Breakfast? “Are you from TV?” That’s what they all thought!

I understand the shots aren’t great, but comments on this post are most welcome.