Guruprasath had asked me to write a little bit about the technical (and other) aspects of photography. Fifteen years ago I used to publish my pictures regularly, and was never without a loaded camera (Nikon FM2 or Pentax Spotmatic) shooting usually on Tri X 400asa b/w film (the standard choice of most photojournalists those days). I switched to digital just three years ago, and I must confess it was a huge struggle that left me wondering at times. I completely endorse the huge advantages that this format offers, but I must outline a few critical issues that I am only now being able to resolve.
Firstly, color accuracy. With digital cameras, this is not only related to correct exposure but also to color temperature/ white balance. In layman’s terms, a digital sensor perceives white as grey, and one ends up compensating to ensure accuracy of various colors according to their predominance in the frame. Secondly, digital images seem to lack the crispness and depth that film could achieve very easily; one needs to be a bit more careful in altering one’s visual/vertical perspective (a technique propagated by some Japanese graphic designers) to give better clues about the spatial relationships between different objects in your frame.
Third, and most irritating — in digital photography one is necessarily blind at the moment of exposure; meaning that one must anticipate the moment and click a fraction of a second ahead of the intended frame! This is something I am still struggling to come to terms with, though I have many friends who feel that 6fps with a motor drive would ensure one captures the moment!
That said, my passion for photography is consonant with, or should I say complementary to, my spiritual pursuit. My advance course teacher, the amazing Philip Fraser (have you heard his flute playing?) used to admire photographs because they were an attempt to freeze a moment for eternity, something that would appear to be the very antithesis of what we teach!
Secondly, Guruji had once suggested to me that instead of listening to a lot of music to improve as a musician, one may be better served by looking at architecture, paintings or photographs — a sort of cross-training of creativity. Its something that I have greatly benefited from, with the end result that different passions of mine in turn fuel and replenish each other. Is it possible that we could taste with our eyes, hear with our heart, feel through smell and so on? I feel that this is a wonderful step towards sublimating the sensory functions and eventually resting in the deepest core of our Being — the source of thought, creativity, knowledge, peace.
Jai Gurudev
PS: I try to keep my camera equipment as simple as possible — currently a Canon EOS 400D with a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 lens ( I do have a Canon 70-200 f4 L IS USM lens for special occasions!) — with a BG3 battery grip and a 4gb card. I make minimal corrections to my images (color balance, sharpening etc) in iPhoto itself, and do not use Photoshop (yet)
It’s really informative and nice one bhaiya…! as always
by reading your this blog i remember one experience with my parents, my parents are in london some time back they were coming from london and asked me that if they want some thing from there (as i am famous in my family for asking some thing which not normal (for them..ofcourse..!),)
yes i want some thing, i need a camera, they said ok which one…!?
i asked for SLR nikon’s she said ok, they went to store and asked for it…! as people at that shope knows my mom and when she asked for that camera, they said is your son changing your profession..? she said why, now people at shope said cause only professional people are using those one…!
and my mom was in little delima and she didnt bring it…!..:( and when she came we laugh like anything…..it was fun, now i have to buy it on my own…so sad….Cheers!!
Jai Gurudev
tht was vey informative… though not all was my cup of tea… :-)))
thanx n jai gurudev…
Nice tech info about photography, bhaiya.
Thanks a ton for sharing Guruji’s tip about ‘cross-training of creativity’.
Jai Gurudev!
Tushar
Parth there are several very affordable entry-level DSLRs available nowadays, some as low as $500. You have to decide at what level you wish to pursue any interest — equipment can be upgraded as your ability improves. There are several online sites which offer the latest models and reviews — Google them and learn more.
JGD
Vikram
Jai Gurudev
Nice to hear things that sounds familiar at times 🙂
Can you also throw some light on critical aspects of certain pictures which so far has been the challenging one for you?
Thanks for sharing this one after a long time (!!)
Guru
Well my dad says that the picture is always there; its your skill as a photographer to see it, and your luck to capture it! I’m a great votary of journalistic “street” photography (Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank) and have been waiting for an affordable Leica-esque camera to be invented (their M8 is v expensive); looks like Panasonic has finally done it with the new Lumix LX3!
Do check it out.
Namaste Bahaiyya,
Guruji’s tip on cross-training of one’s senses, I’m sure will definately benefit the musician in me!
Thank you for sharing it with us!
Jai Gurudev!