Weekly Photo Challenge: Merge

Photography is all about light and capturing its interaction with objects around us. So essentially when we take a photo, we try merging light with the object of our fascination. For this week’s theme, I tried doing something different, mixing elements of light with some everyday decoration pieces and an empty bottle of maple syrup. What came out was dramatic and mesmerizing, almost what you’d see while hallucinating. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Hallucinations

 

Light Painting Basics

Over the years, especially with the advancement in digital imaging, I have seen some amazing photographs using lights as paintbrushes on very high shutter speeds. This was my first formal trial (with a DSLR) and I thought the results could have been better, had my daughter not been chasing me around while I was ‘painting’ with light. Anyways, the photos below shows how easily one can coordinate his/her movements to make interesting effects. If you own a DSLR camera, you can have fun with these techniques too in just a few simple steps:

1. Get a hold of some LED or Laser lights; these seem to work best as the light emitted from these is relatively focused on one point. Having said that, I suggest you try using some other light sources, like toys, to get some really interesting outputs.
2. Set your DSLR camera to Shutter Priority mode (S mode), and choose a shutter speed; you may need to experiment a little with the speeds depending on what you are trying to paint, but generally, anything between 10″ and 30″ should do the trick. Remember: the higher the shutter speed, the more time you get to paint on one exposure.
3. Set up your camera right in front of a dark wall, and take a test shot with the room lights open to gauge the ‘canvas’ area that you’ll be getting to do the painting.
4. Turn off all the lights in your room; stand in front of a relatively dark wall, if possible, so as to eliminate any light bouncing back from it.
5. Press the shutter release button, run and take position in front of the camera.
6. Paint your heart out till you hear the shutter close again, signified by a barely audible click.

It was about 12 am when I started and I went through with it even though I could see my wife’s angry gaze piercing through me. So naturally, I wanted to write ‘I love you’ for this test to show my wife that I loved her more than I loved my camera. Then midway through the shoot, I decided it was more interesting to draw a heart and write the word ‘love’ in the center. I took these four photos in sequence at shutter speeds between 10 and 15 seconds, and the end-result was not bad at all, given that it was my first time (kind of). Enjoy!

First Attempt

Second Attempt

Third Attempt

Fourth Attempt

Here are a few other images I have done using my Nikon D7000 DSLR as well as my trusty old Cybershot DSC-W130, and they were creating using some of my daughter’s toys.

Outta Control

One of my daughter’s favorite toys – may it rest in peace (or should I say ‘pieces’?)

Cacophony

 

Fun With Lightroom’s HSL and Split Toning Features

Original Image

I have been using Adobe Lightroom for over a year now and the software never ceases to amaze me. At times, I just find myself opening random images to see how tweaking various settings affects my photo. HSL (short for Hue, Saturation and Luminosity) and Split Toning are perhaps my two most favorite tools and you will shortly see why.

In layman’s terms, think of HSL and Split Toning as something you do to recolor your images, increase the strength of some colors, and desaturate others. All I can say is that these features are a lot of fun. I don’t want to bore you with all the technical mumbo-jumbo, so even if you are an amateur wishing to digitally enhance your photos, Adobe Lightroom is the software to have. The learning curve is pretty steep (please take the literal meaning of this phrase i.e. easy to learn) so you should be up and running as soon as you install it.

Without further ado, here are a few examples. Hope they please your eyes. Enjoy!

Decreased saturation on yellow-green-orange components

Split-toning for a more dramatic effect

Desaturating everything but Aqua

Note: The image was taken at Wafi Mall, Dubai, UAE using a mere Sony Cybershot DSC-W130, which, by the way, is a great camera for beginners.

 

Color me Purple

My camera seems to have a mind of its own. Every time I try photographing purple objects, it turns them into a weird blue shade, which is kind of cool, but it’s nowhere near purple. In situations like these, I resort to Lightroom to readjust the hues, so that my purples stay purple. Since I wanted to highlight these beautiful flowers, I tried de-saturating the rest of the colors; the resultant is shown above!

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.0 is a magnificent tool for amateur as well as professional photo editors and if you are serious about photography, it sure is a must-have!

 

WeldonMoms’ Chocolate Festival 2011

“Hello Everyone! My name’s Yousuf and I am a Chocoholic. I have been sober for three whole days now, give or take a few hours, but the craving keeps getting worse. Thinking straight seems like a chore. Everywhere I look, I see naked chocolate bars waiting to be devoured. The seats in the bus, the ice cubes in my drink, the brown furniture in my room, everything reminds me of chocolate. Time is a healer, or so I’ve heard people say; but in this particular instance, every second I stay away from it is more painful than the last one. Must…….. have……. chocolate……”

I dread seeing myself like this and that’s the reason I stay away from Chocoholics Anonymous or any other cocoa-abolishing movement for that matter. Interestingly though, there are people who actually celebrate their love for chocolate and support chronic chocoholics like me (we never give up now, do we?); the 3^rd Annual WeldonMoms Chocolate Festival 2011 is testimony to such communities. In a rare moment of calmness, the otherwise self-proclaimed tornado named Anila Weldon (founder of WeldonMoms) came up with idea to gather like-minded people in one place and celebrate her love for chocolate, along with all the feelings associated with it. The first two productions were such a huge hit that she just had to do it again; only this time, it’s bigger, better and full of fun activities designed around this brown confectionery.

This year’s festival shall showcase some of the most talented chocolate fans from across Karachi. So to truly make this festival a sight for sore eyes, WeldonMoms has teamed up with students from The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, who’ll be showcasing their passion for the dark side through brilliant works of art including Chocolate Paintings, Chocolate Sculptures, and a Cocoa-Collage; better watch out Picasso!

Apart from being good recreation for the entertainment starved Karachiites, this will be a golden chance for them to Compete in the Chocolate-Challenge™ (yes, it’s trade-marked), with their best cocoa-based creation; Cakes, Desserts, Truffles, Brownies, Mousse, Fondue, Cookies, Muffins, Cup Cakes, Home-made Chocolates are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Since each contest yields prizes for the winners, this one’s no exception.  Celebrity Chefs and Popular Cooking Experts will judge participant entries based on creativity, use of chocolate, presentation and taste, and unleash a hoard of prizes for the winners.

Other attractions at the Festival include special chocolate hand and foot massages, a creative corner for kids to learn the art of making edible crafts (sugar flowers, cup-cake decoration, etc.) and an all-you-can-eat chocolate fountain. If this doesn’t get you drooling, nothing will; it’s one family event you shouldn’t miss for the world!

For further details, please visit the event page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=162204937164065

About WeldonMoms: Targeting the progressive women of Karachi, especially those juggling between career, home-making and motherhood, WeldonMoms® (www.weldonmoms.com) is a support group for mothers, new mothers, and moms-to-be whose aim is to facilitate, empower and support women during the transition to parenthood.

Hope to see you all there!

Cheers,
Yousuf

p.s. Calorie-conscious people and anorexics are strictly not allowed!