No place to call home

No place to call home, originally uploaded by s34rch.

A homeless man in a subway train.They spent the night in the heated train compartments to escape the chill outside.

In focus

In focus, originally uploaded by s34rch.

Thats a friend of mine 'P' who was visiting me last week.We were in the subway which was completely empty except the two of us.I was experimenting my newly acquired 14-54mm zuiko lenses and I thank 'P' for being so patient

The Holga effect

A place called home, originally uploaded by s34rch.

Holga is the name of a camera brand.No its not an SLR or a high end digital camera. On the contrary its a medium format toy camera produced by a Chinese company which goes by the same name.It usually sells for around $15 to $20.
One characteristic of a Holga is its signature image vignetting. But people have used this flaw to their own advantage.
Follow the link to see pictures on flickr taken with a Holga

flickr Holga

I see you

I see you, originally uploaded by s34rch.

Think its time I post this.I didnt do any post processing for this image. It was difficult getting this shot as this bloke never sat still.I dont have an external flash so couldnt increase the shutter speed beyond a certain threshold.

bored..

bored, originally uploaded by s34rch.

Took this picture at the Bronx zoo.I wasn't planning to upload it till today when I started fiddling with it.
This image is an HDR which has been generated using a single RAW file.I used 3 exposure steps of 2 each to get the effects

Mars for Martians!

Came across this image while stumbling :-).Hope I am not violating any copyrights here.

The perfect sky

My last photograph for this month. Will be gone on a vacation next week. I will be uploading photographs which I have taken earlier, nothing new till I get back.

The orange sky

My first real HDR.Shot this picture with 7 different exposure settings and then generated an HDR out of them.
It was late in the afternoon and I was sitting at home waiting for the sunset.I happened to glance at the sky through my bedroom window, when I saw this amazing cloud formation.Took my camera and ran to a Yatch docking lot nearby for this shot.

freebird

over the top, originally uploaded by s34rch.

Took this picture at the bronx zoo. This little winged fella gave me a hard time photographing it.It was flying around freely as it would ve in the wild.Don't know the name of this guy as it hardly showed its face.

the ripple effect

the ripple effect, originally uploaded by s34rch.

The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos^[1]), the archetypal "wild duck" and probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand (where it is currently the most common duck species), and Australia. It is strongly migratory in the northern parts of its breeding range, and winters farther south. For example, in North America it winters south to Mexico, but also regularly strays into Central America and the Caribbean between September and May^[2].

The bengal tiger

The bengal tiger, originally uploaded by s34rch.

The Bengal Tiger or Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris or Panthera tigris bengalensis) is a subspecies of tiger primarily found in Bangladesh, India and also in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and in southern Tibet.^[1] It is the second largest and the most common tiger subspecies, and lives in a variety of habitats, including grasslands, subtropical and tropical rainforests, scrub forests, wet and dry deciduous forests and mangroves. It is the national animal of India and Bangladesh.

its got the look

its got the look, originally uploaded by s34rch.

I forgot to tag this guy and now I dunno which species it belongs to.If anyone one of my readers(dunno if I have any) happens to know about this dude then please let me know.

My Kit

Thats what I carry with me. Olympus E-510 DSLR a ZUIKO 14-54mm wide anlge lens and a ZUIKO 70-300mm telephoto.
Getting the 300mm lens was a tough job.Supposedly its sold out everywhere.Somehow managed to lay my hands on one.Yesterday I tested the inbuilt image stabilization feature of my SLR with this lens.It worked pretty well.

The lens seemed too big for hand held photography and I think I should use a tripod with this one.Though this lens is lighter than its competitors, but still its heavier than the camera itself. Will do a field test on it tomorrow.

My First HDR

This is my first shot at HDR.Used 5 exposure settings, steps of 2 and then merged them using Photomatix.
Let me explain what HDR is. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range.It is a technique which allows a greater range of dynamic exposures than the normal digital imaging techniques.

To create an HDR image you have to take 5 to 7 shots of the same object with varying exposure settings.The f number should be the same for all those shots else each image will have a varying depth of field.Then the images should be merged using an HDR tool.I use photomatix.The tool will automatically merge the images and create an HDR out of them. After that you can go for tonemapping to get the desired effects.

Shimmering rays

Shimmering rays, originally uploaded by s34rch.

0.005 sec (1/200),f/5.6,48 mm

One of the first shots with my E 510.Did some touch ups in adobe light room.

NOIR

At the bar..., originally uploaded by s34rch.

0.2 sec (1/5),f/3.5,54 mm,ISO 1600
Wanted to create a noir look and feel.Took the ISO to the extreme which resulted in some noise.

souron's eye

f/3.5,0.167 sec (1/6),25 mm,ISO 800

Saw it at the Ulysses lounge.Looked interesting to me.

The trinity church nyc

0.25 sec (1/4),f/3.5,54 mm,ISO 100

If you have seen the movie "National Treasure"(the old one), then you would recognize this church.Its right across wallst. Havent read up about it yet, but will do soon and post it here.

At the bar

0.167 sec (1/6),f/3.5,41 mm,ISO 800

One of the new shots with my Zuiko 14-54mm lens.

Missed the train

Point and shoot,0.125 sec (1/8),5.8 mm,f/2.8, ISO 100

Or the train missed me... Shot with my point and shoot camera at the NYC subway station(Cant recollect which station). B and me were returning from the Les Paul show at around 1 am in the morning , the station was empty and we were sitting on the platform.

Latest update,someone told me that this picture made it to the explore 500 in flickr but I never got to see it.

C's not for Claustrophobia

0.033 sec (1/30),f/4,40 mm,ISO 100

Shot at the Christopher street PATH station.This locality in downtown NYC is associated with the Gay movement of the 70s.You can see a lot of gay bars and clubs around here( if that interests anyone ;-))

contrasts

55 mm f/7.1 1/20 sec
Shot it from my apartment's parking lot.These buildings are in shambles ; colors faded and unoccupied since a long time.
They look as if they are haunted .I took the picture in B&W to give it a gloomy and eerie look.