Nature's Nuggets - Camouflage

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I am glad you guys brought up the 2/3 rule because Jim Krause does mention it in his book Photo Idea Index and I think its a great rule to work with too since it does make for more interesting shots. Sometimes keeping a subject in the center is just plain and mediocre. It must have been in my subconcious when I took the previous shot and also this one. Thanks for your comments. In this pic I was tracking this humming bird with my camera and it flew into a shrub where it was making its nest. Once it entered the bush I just couldn't find it in my camera frame. It was so well hidden. I guess it had to be since it was in a place where it would be raising little humming birds and should be as safe as possible. Finally after searching for 15 minutes I finally found it in my frame. I had thought of making the shot a focal B/W but that sort of takes away the sense of how well the bird was camouflaged. So even though its a busy shot and doesn't make the main subject stand out that's kind of what I was going for anyways.

Nature's Nuggets - Which way did the Cat go?

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The first pic of this series. When I took the pic the sparrow sat there and kept looking left and right which inspired the title. Sam thanks for bringing to my notice that people cannot read my mind.. he he so here's why I kept the sparrow on the left side of the frame.

1. It is apparent in the picture that the sparrow is the subject matter so I didn't "have to" put it in the center to show that it was the subject.

2. The bird is looking left so by keeping it on the left and not showing what it's looking at I could essentially say what it was looking at (a cat in this instance) even though actually it was looking at nothing in particular.

3. And last since the bird was looking left I wanted to place it near the edge of the frame so that it seemed as if it was actually looking "outside" the frame. That didn't come out too well but that was the idea.

End of Days - Floating on Glass

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Thanks everyone for all your comments. I really appreciate everyone taking time to write a few encouraging words.. This is the last pic of this series. I posted this one before too but I felt it deserved a place in this category. It was taken one evening at a lagoon near my apartment. The next series is

Nature's Nuggets

End of Days - Mi Casa es Su Casa

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(My house is your house)

I wanted to capture the sun shining its final rays over the house on the left but the lighting wasn't right. The bright sun forced the shutter speed to be high causing the house to be under exposed. The sunset however was beautiful. And how I wished that was my house. And if I didn't get the title right let me know... my spanish is rustic

End of Days - Flying into Apocalypse

This pic was my attempt at capturing the sun full on. I waited for 10 minutes for a bird to fly through my shot. It just felt empty without a flying bird. What do you say Sam? Isn't it really similar to the pic on your blog?

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End of Days - Warm Brushstrokes

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End of Days - Celestial Artistry

The first pic of this week's theme. This picture was taken on a road trip I took to Big Sur State park. I was afraid the clouds at the horizon would mask the beautiful sunset but they just gave it their own brush stroke.
Its when you see such beautiful works of nature that you tend you question who or what is behind all this? You realize your place in the grand scheme of things and see how you are but a tiny speck in this beautiful Celestial Artistry.

Sepia Dreams - Entre Vous

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The end of a busy week brings an end to this week's theme

Sepia Dreams

This is the last pic of the theme taken at a friend's apartment complex. Though slightly blurred I felt a little sepia would bring out the shades... ha that's a paradox.... A new week and a new theme... Coming up....

End of Days

Sepia Dreams - Walk the walk

Copyright Palak Chokshi 2005

Sepia Dreams - Electrical Super Highway

Sepia Dreams - Leisure

Wish I could be sitting on that bench right now... its been a hectic week at work and this picture reminds me of carefree days I had when I took this pic.

Sepia Dreams - Down the Drain

The original blue tint in the original picture wasn't bringing out the essence of the subject. The lighting was really low as it was way past sunset. Making it sepia in my opinion makes it well defined.

Sepia Dreams - Here Kitty Kitty

With this post I have decided to put a thematic twist to my blog. This week's theme will be sepia. The cat in the picture got almost lost in the wall background in the original picture but when I turned it to sepia I could see its outline better. Besides the colors were shades of brown and dark green anyways so I decided to turn it to sepia.

Migration

I took this picture for two reasons. First the contrast of the orange clouds with the blue looked beautiful and also the shape of the migrating birds looked so similar to the cloud formation. 

Lamps

This is a picture of a bridge near my apartment. I've become enamored with night shots and I tried hard to get the whole bridge but for that I would have had to wade into the lagoon. It feels like the street lights are the reason for the orange glow in the sky and that's why I took this picture. 

Marry Me

This picture is one of the entries in a photo contest by Shutterfly. Please click here to vote for it if you like it. Thanks.

Lighthouse

The most brightly lit house on the block no doubt. It looked so cheerful compared to the dark serene apartments in the background. I had to place the camera on a wall to steady it because there was actually very little light except from the house. The perfectly still waters of the lagoon were great for capturing reflections. 

Waiting

I was out for a walk one evening and as by now you must already know, I carry my camera with me wherever I can, I came across this bridge and it looked so symmetrical. The street lamps formed a passage of sorts. The empty road adds to the feeling of waiting shown by the person standing under the bus stop sign.