It is rightly said – “For one’s Imagination, sky is the limit!”
A strike of imagination and our day is transformed into a worthy one. Once the human mind is stretched, it never regains its original boundaries. It is a beautiful monster. If feeded with regular supply of inspiration, it can transform a life. If not, it can ruin one.
I renewed my subscription of Better Photography(BP) magazine yesterday & the BP team member instantly handed me the copy of this month. I placed the copy in my bag & went through my day. In evening as I was waiting for my turn at the dentist, I pulled out the magazine & began flipping. To my uttermost surprise, it had a picture from me in the critique section of the magazine.
This picture was taken by me in 2009 2011 with my compact camera Canon Powershot SX100 IS. I had mailed it to BP somewhere in 2010 May 2011 & it got published in October 2013. It bought a good long smile across my lips. As they say, “better late than never”. If you’ve bought the magazine this month, do check out page no.102 for my photograph in full glory.
Food photography is becoming very popular thanks to mobile phones. Even the rise in keeping fit has pushed people to shoot food & showcase it online. Today I’ll show you how I shot, bhuna bhutta(Roasted Corn). Roasted Corn is a must have during monsoons. It can be had at roadside in India. Its healthy as well as tasty at the same time. The masala & lemon squeezed make it absolutely mouth-watering.
Ever since I undertook the 365 Project, shooting unique shots everyday has become an impulse. I don’t spend hours into thinking the shot to be made each day, but it comes to me naturally(touch wood). If you’ve been following my project, you would be knowing about the shot titled “Food is Ready”. Today, I’ll show you exactly how it was achieved.
EXIF Info:
Shutter Speed : 1/250th
Aperture : f/7.1
ISO : 200
Focal Length : 50mm
Camera & Lens : Canon EOS 60D with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD SP Aspherical
Flash : Vivitar 285HV at Half Power(triggered via wireless flash trigger)
Looking at the shot, you might be fooled into believing its a two light setup but its not. The shot was done using a single speedlite. I used a Vivitar 285HV manual flash. For the shot setup, its nothing but my kitchen platform on which my stove rests. I cleared up utensils lying around the stove so I could setup my tripod & on it the wireless flash receiver(with flash off-course). The flash was covered by a newspaper so the light could not spill in background or cause a glare on the lens and illuminate the pressure cooker sharply from the left side. On the right side of the pressure cooker is a wall which acted as my reflector in this photograph. I sat around two feet away with my camera ready & with the composition I wanted. Just as the whistle of the pressure cooker blew, I took the shot. The first shot had less steam, so I took another a while later & that was the one you’re seeing here.
As for post-processing, its minimal. Just RAW processing in Bibble Labs Pro followed by a greyscale conversion, contrast curve & a slight cropping in GIMP. My desired shot was ready. So before getting another flash, know how much one can do just with a single flash. This is just a simple example.
Getting drenched in rain is one of the best things in life. The feeling is one which cannot be expressed in words nor pictures, one has to just feel it. Still I went ahead & decided to capture it into a photograph.
ShutterTux - Photography & Life! 