Old House, Matheran.

My obsession with this place continues. Every time I visit I have to click one photo. This is November 2007.

Vidyanagari Campus - mid 70's

Photo by my dad and my photography guru, the adventurous VSR.

Harihareshwar etc.

It was good to be away from the city after a long time. I was feeling quite dead. So when the trip was proposed, I was ready. My car was in the garage, so had to borrow my brother's Honda city. It was fun driving. The company was good. The places we went through were refreshing.

We decided that we will go via Diveagar to Shrivardhan. This would mean a detour on a very bad road. But having passed through these lands on our bike trip, I knew it would be worth it. It was.

We reached Harihareshwar late. The MTDC was full. But between Percy and Harsh, they acquired accommodation for us. It was pretty good. We headed for dinner of fish in the local style.

Next morning I could not get up early, but Percy and Ipshita went roaming the land. After a breakfast we headed for the beach. It was so beautifully serene. I wish I could have stayed there for a few more days. Me and Percy walked to the other end while the others enjoyed the crystal clear waters and the white sands.

Lunch with our hosts, again of fish. Then on the way back to reality.

Our lives have become such a circus. Of running about. Of doing who knows what and to what end. Of chasing a life with the hope of a nicer future. This is the time of plenty. The food and shelter is there. But everyone is still looking for something ... else. It's such a circular thing that it becomes funny. The good part of it is that such occasions as ones describe above become all the more desired and enjoyable. I think we have psyched ourselves into such an hyper-excited lifestyle that we yearn and desperately strive to live these moments to the fullest. Experience.




Harihareshwar beach. 180 deg panorama



on the road to Harihareshwar



the state highway to shriwardhan



the road from Diveagar to Shriwardhan






Annie on an isolated beach



Suru trees on the beach. They are beautiful.



seaside



At Shrivardhan for tea.



Dinner at Harihareshwar



Harihareshwar beach.



Beach view from the other end.



Annesha and Ipshita



Place where we stayed



Road to Bagmandla



On the road from Bagmandla to Shrivardhan.



harihareshwar beach


Note: All photos taken with the Kodak V705 or Panasonic GS320 cameras.

Photos by Percy (Sony W55)


on the way to Shrivardhan



post lunch at Diveagar



On the way to Shrivardhan from Diveagar



early morning



batata



the travelers



me

danger

a dangerous thing

Past: Vidyanagari Campus

Photo by Vijay Rao

The Vidyanagari Campus of the University of Mumbai in the MID-80's. Photo taken from the water tower by my adventurous father. He had done a similar stunt sometimes in the mid 70's too.

How different was the whole world at that time. I remember the first time I had come to this place (before we actually shifted) was to see the Haley's comet. The program was held on top of the Library building. The campus seemed so huge at that time... or even later when we played chor-poolice all over the place in our summer vacations.

Bike Ride

view from Charu's house

Rode 150km to Dehu Village to attend a 13^th day ritual of Charu's dad. This is the view from Charu's house.  Start's right from his varenda.  Looks peaceful.  But peace always needs a price to be payed.  Met people I have not in a long time.  Remembered days long gone when everything was different.  I have spent a lot of time with Charu in those days.  I remember us collecting 10 bucks to fill petrol in Ganesh kaka's kinetic and then going on till it ran out.  Then pushing it back home.  I remember us sitting out whole summer afternoon's at Durga tekdi in the shade of some obscure spot.  Watching the arid surrounding country and having arbit talk. Of us drinking cheap brandy in matka water in his house when the family went out.  Simple peanuts were the only chakna we had.

Digital Landscapes and Contrast Masking

This short essay is inspired by one of my flickr friends who goes by the nick Patryaa. He is a trekker and his very nice panoramic photo of Pratapgad made me want to see if I can make its digital form slightly better.


Original Photo

What we observe from this photo is that the dynamic range of the light on this occasion is very large. There are the clouds and even though they dont look that bright to the human eye, they are very bright as compared to the scene below which is in the shadows. This range cannot be captured directly on film or by digital sensor (though digital sensor does a better job at it - it has a lot more shadow detail than film). What one has to do in such a situation is to shoot for the highlight - do not have burned pixels. They are irrecoverable and photo is wasted. Patryaa has done a good job at keeping the highlights. Now e need to flatten the contrast of this image so that the shadows, which are very dense, come out a bit. In traditional photography it would mean dodging the shadows. In digital photo editing, we achieve this (with far greater control than traditional dodging) using a technique called Contrast Masking.

First let us correct the level by applying a gamma to bring out the shadows. (This is by moving the middle marker in a levels control panel)


Photo with Levels correction applied


Then we apply a contrast mask to the shadows.
For this:

1. Select the shadows using the 'select' tool.
   
2. Copy the selection to different layer and name it "Contrast Mask - Shadows" and select it.
   
3. Desaturte
   
4. Invert
   
5. Now change blend mode to "Overlay".
   
6. Apply Gaussian blur. Try different strengths from 25-50. You will have different effect depending on your image dimensions. Use your judgment to choose a value which 'looks' the best and least affects surrounding areas.
   
7. Change the opacity of the layer to about 70% (or any other sane value you like) so that there is subtleness in the effect
   

Photo with Contrast Mask applied to the shadows

Now our layers correction had affected the highlights. So apply a contrast mask to the them. Follow the same steps as above except select the highlights instead of shadows.


Photo with additional Contrast Mask applied to the highlights


The thing to remember about digital photo editing and post processing is that we have to be subtle. Manipulations which completely change the 'light' or the 'feel' or the 'truth' of the photo end up creating 'digital art' not photographs.

These kind of techniques become quite important when one uses digital sensors. For example the shadow detail which can be recovered from digital sensor photos is greater than what is possible from film.

Into the Mist

dynax 5, 24mm.

Reality is often snapshots of a foggy landscape.

Walking Matheran

it was afternoon - heavy top light. we walked a lot. nice and quite. no agenda. no destination. no nothing.




That is me photographing the previous photo. Taken by Percy. I had to wear the freaking raincoat to protect the camera - it rained randomly and frequently. The others, Chavri and Aniket watch bemused...

amboli waterfall

A quick charcoal sketch from a photo I clicked when I visited.

DP's

DP's, originally uploaded by quasi's mobile.

Testing from the phone.

---- 
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

experimental faces

Faces, faces and faces. They surround us. They talk to us. They define a dimension of the world we live in which we cannot live without. Some experimental faces at 37mm.




Atle


Chota


Choti


Rupesh


Percy


Dinya


me (photo by Dinya)


Note: All photos taken with the SE k790i phone camera.

wait

Dynax 5, 50mm. Matheran, May 2007


the paint withers, the strength wanes, the soul holding on - waiting for someone to open.

kadi

Dynax 5. 50/1.4.

A brass protector. A solid piece of the door. The door is a solid piece of the house. The kadi gives the door the strength. The door gives the house the strength. Interlocking units of life ...

Cleartrip 1'st Anniversary

Last friday we had our Cleartrip 1'st Anniversary party ! Elvis and BG got jacked, we had to carry them home. :) Peeyush and tyo liked all the chicks. Shot and Sanil sizzled the dance floor .. good fun, in all!