Down Goes the Sun
Av: F/3.5; Tv: 1/1000s; f: 72mm (35mm-equiv: 454 mm)
I love taking sunset snaps – no particular reason – I just like the colors that are formed during sunset. As a result, you might see a lot of sunset snaps in this blog going forward 
Some comments about this particular snap:
- Whenever I see this snap, I wonder whether I was a minute too late in clicking it. Whether I would have got more colors had I taken the photo slightly earlier. But on second thoughts; it probably would have been difficult to avoid overexposure in that case
- I liked the effect of the clouds just above the sun. I can only imagine how it would have looked had the “line” of cloud appeared right over the sun!
- I tried to process this photo to remove the “numbness” immediately surrounding the sun. It however had undesirable side effects – so stuck to the original pic.
- I do not have a UV filter on my lens. I have read contradicting reports about the potential damage to the sensor if the sun is photographed directly like this. What are your experiences regarding this?
By the way, I also have a couple of snaps of the reflection of the sunset in the river (which brings water into the picture – a perfect ingredient for good sunset photos!). Will reserve that for a later post.
Lonely Coffee Cherry
Coffee Cherry
Tv: 1/400 s; Av: F/4.5; f: 6 mm (35mm-equiv: 38 mm)
Post-processing using Picasa (I’m feeling lucky)
This picture was shot at my native village where coffee cherries were being dried prior to extracting the coffee bean. Here are more details of coffee processing.
Some of the things I like about this photo:
- This snap is an example of how the rule-of-thirds could be used to create a visually pleasing effect. This snap might not have been as pleasing had the coffee cherry been smack in the center of the snap!
- I liked the shadow effect to some extent.
- The depth-of-field is just right. The subject itself, and the area immediately surrounding it; is in focus. There is that gradual loss of focus as you move away from the main subject.
Having said that, here are some flip-sides of this snap:
- Camera-shake – Even though I was shooting at 1/400s, and I was making good use of the “flip-and-rotate”-able LCD screen on my camera; I was still not able to fully eliminate the camera shake. My unbalanced posture, and the camera position (with the lens just inches from the ground) dint help either. However, I think I could have gotten the perfect still hand, had I tried a bit more.
- Shadow angle - yes; the same shadow effect which I liked is also a negative for this snap. If you notice, some part of the cherry is under its own shadow! I somehow feel if I had shot this thing from the other side, I would have got the shadow effect; minus the darkening of the subject itself.
- Size reference – It would have been nice if I had placed some other object unobtrusively in the picture (perhaps a flower), to give viewers an idea of the size of the subject. There are people who thought this thing was a dried coconut!
Readers’ comments are welcome as always!
