Power of Photoshop

 The power of Photoshop!!

Final image post processing

     This is how my photo looked before all that editing. So without stalling, lets get to how it all started.

     This was a photo I took a long time back, when I didn't know anything about a DSLR. So I just clicked with whatever setting was in that camera (it wasn't mine).
     The shot was was kinda over exposed with the sky being too flat & colorless for my liking :( 
     So I never even looked twice at this photo. 
     Recently I wanted to try some new methods in Ps using gradients, dodge & burn, smudging, color look up & what not.
     So comes this photo; the sky was a total washout, couldn't salvage anything even though the image was shot in raw.
     So I googled for some good sunset shots & found an awesome one. But the foreground in my original shot was too bright & the hue was not matching with the colorful sky. So played again with hues & contrast in the foreground. 
     It isn't a perfect finish, an experienced eye could spot a truck load of mistakes in my editing. But I kinda lost my patience to do all the finishing touches. 
     I think it came out alright for my first try with all these. Phew, who knew there was so much I could do in Photoshop.
     Well, as the saying goes, what I learnt right now is just a handful.
     Gotta keep learning. Days well spent with a constant dose of learning; medicine, photography, editing, illustration, craft & lots more. 
     So much to learn. So little time....

Original clouds photo from a "Wallpapers site"

     P.S. I don't do these kinda edits in my photos. And I don't ask for Google's help either!! This is all just for fun.

Photo Story 3

     Good evening friends!!

     Today the photo story is about me trying to capture a flying insect for the first time with my DSLR. 

     The actual reason I went to my terrace was to try some bird photography but my concentration was spoilt by these wasps flying around the horseshoe vitex (Vitex negundo) tree. 

     Delta conoideum, the mason wasp.
     This is a mason wasp,so called because it builts its nest using mud. The mud nest which is a shelter for its larva is pot shaped & so it is also known as Potter wasp.

Potter wasp's nest in a citrus tree in my backyard.

     Well, long story short, I've never captured flying insects before & thought I would give a try. There were two of these wasps flying around the tree & I kept clicking, trying a panning shot when these were flying. 

     Mine is just a 120mm lens & I had to be pretty close to get a decent shot. I had to be extra careful not to get stung by those two!!

     There was a time when I got too close to one of these & it flew straight for my hand holding the camera. I got lucky & was able to step back; barely escaping a painful sting.

     I had to click lots of shots as there wasn't much light & I wasn't good at this.

     These are some of my tries in capturing these beautiful insects. I spent well over an hour chasing these around my terrace & got few good shots.

     An hour well spent & got some much needed relaxation (had some adrenaline surging moments but still).

     Time spent with nature is time spent well!!

Photo Story 2

     Common tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius), found relaxing in my garden.

     Hello everyone, Good evening!!
     This was captured from my garden today evening. 
     Around 6PM, I was having tea with my mom & dad, relaxing in our front yard. While enjoying my dad's ginger tea, I was following this tiny one flying around my garden, finally coming to rest on my hibiscus plant. I thought it came for a tiny meal from the hibiscus flowers & will be on its way. 
We were sitting a few feet away chatting & that didn't seem to bother this beautiful bird. It looked like it came there to rest for a while.
     I stood up, went in to get my camera & tried to get near the bird to take photos since I don't have a telephoto lens.
     A brave little one; it was posing for my photographs. I was just a feet away with my scary looking camera gear & this one wasn't afraid even a bit. It was too dark, and I had to resort to using the flash to capture this one; at the same time worried that the flash might scare it. 
     And oh, it proved me wrong & it was like, "Hey girl, will you stop bothering me & let me have some peace. Can't you see that I'm trying to sleep here!!".
     Well, if you grow lots of flowering plants, keep feeding the birds & leaving them water in the harsh summer; even the wild birds might come to relax in your presence. 
     A bit of love from a tiny visitor, happy day indeed.

Photo Story 1

     Hello folks!

     It has been a long time since I posted in my site. Got a bit busy with my work at the hospital. Now that I'm free, I thought of starting a series called "Photo Story".

     I feel that there is a story behind every photo; what goes on through the photographer's mind when they clicked that shot, what made them click it, was it a planned one or just a random click, events leading to the click, what happened later & it goes on...

     I wish I could try to convey at least half of that, so that my click doesn't remain just a photograph but a story in itself etching a memory forever.

Let's start with a click I shot in Adyar, Chennai.

Thiru-Vi-Ka Bridge, Adyar, Chennai

     It was a sweltering summer weekend in April, 2018,, a few weeks after I had bought my first DSLR, Nikon D750. So I thought I would go for a photo-walk; it was just me & my camera.
     My first stop was Chennai snake park, which wasn't a good choice. Maintenance could've been better, had more crocodiles than snakes. Even the crocodile enclosures weren't good, the crocodiles were lethargic & had untreated injuries. Had a few good clicks but I just wanted to get away from there.
     Next was the visit to Guindy national park which was far better maintained than the Snake park. After strolling around, I thought I would get to the Thiru-Vi-Ka bridge in Adyar to photograph sunset over the waters.
     Found the time the sun sets, timed my travel, booked a cab & started from there. One thing that I forgot to take into account was the Chennai traffic. 
     Phew, it took me forever to get there. So as you can guess, I lost the sunset but not my spirit.
     And thus the sunset photography turned into street photography with light trails. It was kinda awkward standing there alone, with my gear photographing the oncoming traffic. I got some weird stares from the passerby but it was worth it in the end. 
     Some beautiful clicks & the joy of travelling alone ♥