OCTOBER 30, 2016

Gear: Nikon D5300, 35mm f/1.8g Nikkor lens

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year. It is one of the major festivals of Hinduism. it spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, outside doors and windows, around temples and other buildings. Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate, and decorate their homes and offices. On Diwali night, people dress up, light up diyas (lamps and candles) inside and outside their home, participate in family prayers typically to Lakshmi – the goddess of fertility and prosperity. After prayers, fireworks follow. It is so amazing to spend hours watching the sky lightened up with vivid colors.

This Diwali in 2016, instead of burning firecrackers, I tried my hands on capturing lights through the lens. It was wonderful to see the lights in a complete different angle.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 100, 1/60 at f/2.0

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/13 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 100, 1/10 at f/2.0

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/40 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/60 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/60 at f/1.8

Same composition with longer exposure

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/15 at f/1.8

Same composition with more diyas on the flame. Did you notice the yellow lights crossing each other? A magnificent capture due to longer exposure.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/15 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/15 at f/1.8

All lights setup, let’s click again.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/25 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/25 at f/1.8

Same shoot, this time in blue-ish and shorter exposure.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/50 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/50 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/400 at f/1.8

Same composition, bit underexposed

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/1250 at f/1.8

More underexposed

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/2500 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/50 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/2500 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/800 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/200 at f/1.8

I didn’t fire flash to shoot any of the pics shared above. No water was used to capture reflection.

Copyright © 2016, Aashish Barnwal,  All rights reserved.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

Gear: Nikon D5300, 18-55 mm Kit lens, 35mm f/1.8g Nikkor lens

Ganesh chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is an Indian festival that marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha. This auspicious festival is observed in the month of Bhadra (mid August-mid September) according to the Hindu calendar. Ganesha, the elephant-headed God is the symbolization of good fortune who provides prosperity, fortune & success and  travels on a mouse. As per Hindu mythology, he is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

Dhoolpet in Hyderabad is quite an attraction for Ganesha statues. An array of Ganeshas varying from size as small as the palm of a child to that of a big cupboard. The place appears more fascinating and marvelously beautiful in the incandescent light. I got an opportunity to capture the beauty through the lens.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/80 at f/1.8

Ganman, A unique combination of Ganesha and Hanuman  Observe the epic mountain lifted by the hand on left and Gada in the hand on right. There is a mythology that when Hanuman was asked to pick up some herbs from a mountain, unable to identify the right herbs, he delivered the entire mountain in the battle-field.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/80 at f/1.8

The color saturation in this picture just came out perfect. Bright gleaming colors and well distributed hue is eye soothing.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 200, 1/200 at f/1.8

A street photography is incomplete if it doesn’t portray a story or is emotionless. A boy carrying Ganesha for sell.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/80 at f/1.8

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/80 at f/1.8

A two dimensional array of Ganeshas.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/80 at f/1.8

I tried to give a different angle to the above shot and it changed to something like this:

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/80 at f/1.8

Fascinating huge build, looking as if it is touching the sky when taken from sitting on the ground.

35mm f/1.8, ISO 250, 1/80 at f/1.8

As you might have observed, I never changed aperture of the lens while shooting, although I was shooting in full manual mode. I focused on experimenting with shutter speed and ISO while keeping the aperture at max.

Copyright © 2016, Aashish Barnwal,  All rights reserved.