Photowalk 04 Jan 2009 — Rose Garden Chandigarh — What a walk it was!!!!
Written by Anurag Bhateja on January 6, 2009 – 8:56 am -That should be called a blast! I was amazed, happy or whatever you want to think! First of all claps to those who really managed to come on single call and reminder for the photowalk. As so many of them wee present I would like to list them first. I am also adding flickr ID and web addresses of the members.
1. Anurag Bhateja – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
2. Noor Sandhu – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
3. Sandeep Gupta – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
4. Ashwini Verma – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
5. Nipun Tantia – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
6. Gangadhar Kamte – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
7. Nishkam Chatrath – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
8. Avi Arora – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
9. Minank – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
10. Raman Sharma – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
11. Kaustabh Ray – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
12. Vivek Bansal – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
13. Varun Bajaj – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
14. Ricky – Flickr – Orkut – Facebook
Ok, now linking is over and lets get back to business! The morning started with a bet between me and Noor that who will reach first! Well I won!!!! hehe… I was to reach late, a bit late, as I had to deliver a CD to client but somehow I mnaged to reach before anyone else! The time was 11:00 AM, (Accidentally I messaged all 11:30 AM which was noticed by Noor and I had to resend message to all!), but I reached 10 minutes before. Getting myself ready was easy as it was not too cold as it was a day before.
After waiting for a while, Vivek ji came and signaled in a very unique manner! He blew horn and flashed head lights and I was like “Is this signal for me or someone else?” I was scratching my head and suddenly a waving hand came out of the car and followed by Vivek ji 
. Oh yes! th signal was for me hehe! He came directly from Sukhna Lake. As he did not have breakfast so we moved to the canteen typo thing in Shanti Kunj to buy something to eat. We were in between of a chat when Raman gave an enterence! “taliyan ek aur aa gaya!”
After some introduction we continued chats. Now the population of photographers was increasing. Kamte came in a while. It was fun all four standing there, having chips and listening to Vivek ji! Then came Noor! I recognized her although her face was covered. Guess how! Come on EYES!!!!! Anyway, after her arrival we all decided to move in. I do not know how many time they all cursed me for setting up meeting place there. They all asked me again and again why not on the main side of Rose Garden. hehe even I do not know!
After we went in and started clicking I was a little worried about rest of the people. I messaged them to inquire where are they but no reply! Anyway, we all started chatting and clicking. Then came Varun Bajaj. I had a chat with him over the phone in morning and he was quite sure that he will come and so he did! The photoshoot kept in going and we all were looking at what camera everyone is having. It was fun to see Pocket cams, Semi DSLR, DSLRs in same photowalk!
After that Nipun and Ricky came. Nipun was there on the last meet and this time he bought his friend Ricky with him. A funky guy who was fun loving by nature. After their arrival we were happy that people are coming. We found children playing, people selling chana and popcorn, flowers, birds, chipmunks and whatever you can think of. After sometime our dear Late Latif Nishkam arrived.
Now the fun part. To everyone I was telling we are in the middle of Rose Garden without noticing that we are on the other end!! That was fun. They all keep on coming till end one by one and then gave a weird look to me. Hehe poor people! After sometime it was the time for the old buddies to come in i.e. Ashwini and Sandeep. They were late as Sandy ji forgot his memory card at home hehe. Anyway, it was good to see them both!
Lastly arrived Avi and Minank. Avi a very good friend of mine and Minank a very good friend of Avi hehe. After intro sessions we all kept on clicking, pulling legs, cracking jokes, getting info on cams and settings and much more. We spotted a father and son team. Clicking them was fun. I must say all members are dedicated towards photography! They do not even think what other photographer is capturing keeping them in frame!
After a while some of us started feeling hungry and over to that, people there in Rose Garden were having loads of home made food items. Whenever we cross a family sitting there the aroma of food was banging the head more and more! As we all decided to move to Citco Food outlet just a road cross, some of us decided to move back to home. Anyway, even after deciding we stil spent some time in garden clicking here and there. A well know photographer from Dainik Bahskar also clicked a group photograph of the whole group.
After a while we moved to the Citco center and scattered in groups. 2-3 people in one group chatting. I was with Noor, Sandeep with Nishkam and Varun and Avi with Minank. Those were not proper group typo thing as we were together. Do not think that we all never met again lolz. The only thing was there was difference in speed of walking. On the way we met Noor’s friends playing cricket. One of them first spotted Noor and them saw loads of necks with cameras behind her and said “Aa toli kithe Challi?” Hehe toli! (Toli means group of people).
Anyway, the list of order which we gave was:
1. Anurag: Rajma Rice (First order which came on last grr)
2. Noor: Prantha
3. Nishkam: 2 Parantha
4. Varun: Juice (On diet???)
5. Sandeep: Bread Omllette (One of my favs)
6. Avi: Chowmins (hehe accidentally full plate came)
7. Minank: 7 UP (Well I came to know why he is so slim. He do not eat!)
Well as written above, I ordered first and my order came on last and I was too hungry 
. Anyway, after having a foodie time, I came to know how plates are cleaned there and mind you! You will not eat there again if u see that lolz. The time we spent there was full of jokes and leg pulling. I twice or thrice said something about running and when Noor got this really on head she said “Yeh kaun keh raha hai!” hehe people I have some extra pounds on me lolz.
After leaving from there, we clicked some shots. Till time only six of ur were left. Varun also left. We spotted a small family. Poor one. But the faces were too photogenic. We clicked some good pics and then moved to Verka Booth for ice cream! Yum! Ice cream in winters!
After a while Sandeep also went back to home and while moving to wards gate guess what! We left over five, MET GABRU!!!!! Gabru was a small, cute, camera shy PUG!! The Vodafone Dog! Playing with himw as fun and those who left early were really envy after having a look on the photographs in flickr stream!
Anyway, I will add some photographs soon. A bit in hurry at the moment but till then.. Enjoy and make sure those who missed the last meet come for the next!
Tags: Anurag Bhateja, Canon, Chandigarh, CPC, Nikon, Photowalk, Rose Garden, rose garden chandigarh, Shanti Kunj, Sony
Posted in Hangout Time | 3 Comments »
Self Assignment -1 — “30 Mornings At Sukhna Lake”
Written by Anurag Bhateja on December 29, 2008 – 10:47 pm -
Sukhna Lake Chandigarh — An introduction.
Sukhna Lake is a man made lake which came into existence in 1958. It is spread over 3 Sq. Km. The main attraction on the lake are places to sit, food outlets, boating, shikaras, ducks, migratory birds and play area for children. You can also find artists who make portraits etc.
The assignment.
I decided in mid November after Chandigarh Carnival about going on self assignments. After a long break due to fever and weakness, getting back in action on Chandigarh carnival was enough boost for me. The first thing I can think of was Sukhna Lake. So I decided to go there for 30 regular days from 30th Nov 2008 to 29th Dec 2008. But the question was what time? I had never been to the lake for long in early mornings. I decided the timings from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM. As per my thoughts two hours were enough and I was quite right in that.
The Experience.
You can not even imagine how these 30 days were like. I never thought I could have so much fun on single place and so many subjects on single place. Even after 30 days I am feeling like I can go for more 60-100 days!
On the very first day I reached on lake at around 6:40 AM so that I can start on time. I was totally out of knowledge for morning photographs and settings required, so first day was not that good. Although I learnt that coming before 6:55 AM is of no use. On the second day I was very much confident about the time and the things I was looking for. I spent around 1 and half hour over there and got some good shots but still I was not satisfied. I was feeling like these 30 days may get ruined due to lack of knowledge about light and all. As I kept this assignment big time secret, asking an expert was also not possible. The thing is I feel if I tell someone what I am thinking of doing everything gets ruined. Although I know this is an superstitious nature but I have many reasons to believe in this.
Anyway, moving onto third day, I became very sure what I have to do to get good and clear shots as accidentally I know the desired settings for aperture and shutter. Clicking against sun and getting typical yellow background and silhouette is really like living in heaven. I also had some very funny experience with ducks on third day. I was sitting there enjoying clicking some ducks. One of them was eating the pieces of roti lying just next to me. While going back she hit my foot and almost fell on the next stair. She quacked loudly and looked at me. I don’t know why, I said Sorry. But that arrogant duck (I am using this as it was not my mistake. I didn’t even moved a cm), opened her wings and hit me really hard. I was like “Oh my God! She hit me without any reason!” I was so shocked that I missed the shot in which you might have a look how egoist these ducks can become!
Fourth day was a blessing for me. I came to know about the fact that clicking against Sun in different manners can give me superb shots. Till fourth day, people around there were not habitual of me and kept on giving me weird looks. The experimenting with Sun kept on moving on some more days. Still I was hesitant to click faces of people as I have never been to a place like this.
But the hesitation completely disappeared on the sixth day. I clicked some good photographs of people doing exercise there. All the time I kept in mind that I have to keep on experimenting on different kind of shots. On seventh day, some very great shots were captured in my cam. It was God’s blessing that I went every spot right on time. On day 6th I saw duck fight while I was giving them bread to eat. I was not able to click as it was my rule to first give bread to ducks followed by “Surya Namaskar” and then I get my cam in action. I wished I could get a shot like this. Guess what! I GOT THEM THE NEXT DAY!!!!
I find many people who do not believe in God but I think that was my dedication for work due to which God made some really good shots for me. I still do not believe what all I got!!! Anyway, another thing which got clear in my mind was “The Rule of Thirds”. Till date I was not very sure about what exactly it is but during the assignment I did some pretty good experiment in that too.
Another thing which fascinated me was chipmunks. It was like I can not complete my day without their photographs. Bread for ducks and Bajra for birds and chipmunks became a part of my gear. There were five chipmunks near the police quarter at lake. I don’t know how these little cuties are so daring! I regularly sat near the place where I put the Bajra to them to eat. They do not have any hesitation in coming near me and eating the food. Some of the pics were so interesting which I also posted n flickr profile. I say them fighting and kissing too!
There is a banyan tree on the lake which is HUGE. I also tried some shots in which sun was behind it. All came good. There are also some flowers which are full of dew drops. Amazing colors they have! I don’t know why that tower made me fall in love with it! (Hey I have no plans to go there and commit suicide ). I tried my best to manage some shots in which I got people, chipmunks, flowers, birds, along with the tower. It was really hard as camera I am using is not good in focusing as fast as DLSR. But hey it can give too good results!
On day 10th, I again feel now what to click? I got so disappointed with myself that I sat on a stair and tried really hard something to click. Unbelievably, I got some good frames of flying birds! A very famous photographer who is also a friend told me that clicking flying bird in perfect frame is almost impossible for amateurs like me when he was showing me some photographs he clicked in a temple. As he is too experienced, I was not sure if I can get some good shots of flying birds. But hey! God is for everyone. 10th day was dedicated to flying birds
11th day bought a delight for me as I found a cute artist making drawing of the lake early morning. She was too busy in her work that I watched her for a while, clicked a pic and moved. Day 12 was full of macro experiments. Next day I found a cup placed on the lake side. I sat down and managed to get sun exactly on the top making a cup full of sun . The experimenting goes on and on everyday but some standard clicks like silhouette, ducks and chipmunks were my favourite models.
Day 16 was a big time fun. I found a green color bottle on the lake. Playing with it along with Sun was totally amazing experience for me. 17th day God fulfilled one more wish by filling the blues with greys! There were clouds. Too good patterns! On the same day two of my friends were there which was a shock cum surprise for me.
Flying birds, running people, jumping chipmunks, people who sing but have worst voice ever thought, people giving bread to ducks, etc were a common stuff for me. But sometimes these common things became very unusual especially when I spotted a pair of chipmunks kissing or I managed to find spider webs full of dew drops.
These webs with droplets were also a blessing for me. Although I didn’t get the desired result but clicking such a thing on a day when I thought today is no photo day, was a big time surprise. The reason of no photo day was fog. HUGE SHEET OF FOG covering lake.
25th to 28th day were full of small experiments and repeated shots of many places. I found one couple sitting very beautifully there. Also a bird couple kissing . The biggest surprise came in form of a baby duck on 29th day. Oh she was too cute!
Last day as too much fog was there I was not able to click many shots. But overall the experimental assignment went too good and I am looking forward to continue this for more days on some other place.
Here are the stats:
Total Photographs Clicked: 4000+
Total Photographs selected: 700+
Total Expenditure on the assignment: Come on this is priceless 
I want to make some points clear about the lake.
1. If you go early in the morning say 8:00 AM, you will find lake totally clean. But in evening it’s full of litter. If you really want to know how it becomes so clean every single morning, then go to the lake and see those 10 people cleaning whole path early from 6:00 AM. Once you see them you will feel shame on yourself if you have ever littered on the lake.
2. Never try to scare the ducks. They are there for the beauty of the lake and not for playing. Feed them only what you can think of eating. Please do not throw stuff which is not edible like old rotis full of fungus (Yes, some jerk tried to feed them with such stuff also. Unfortunate but bitter truth.)
3. Please try to use dustbin as keeping the lake clean is our duty.
Always:
1. Carry your litter to the garbage can.
2. Appreciate the work of people there.
P.S. If you want to enjoy clicking, wake up early and go on the lake. Going after 8:00 AM will make you miss many shots. The sound of trumpet can not be heard coming out of Raj Bhawan if you can not go at the time of sunrise!
I am soon adding more photographs and shopping cart where my photographs can be bought for commercial purpose.
Till then ENJOY THE PHOTOGRAPHS.
Tags: Baby Duck, Bajra, birds, Boat, Bread, Canon, Chandigarh, chipmunk, Dew Drops, duck fight, ducks, Early Morning, Exercise, Flowers, Fog, Friends, Fun, India, Jog, Jogging, lake, Mornings, myna, pigeon, plants, Powershot, S5IS, Shikara, sukhna, sukhna lake, Sukhna Lake Chandigarh, Sun, Surya Namaskar, Walk, water
Posted in Photography Assignments | 16 Comments »
How To Add Embedded Copyright To An Image
Written by Anurag Bhateja on August 4, 2008 – 3:55 pm -All photographers are aware of getting their images used over the internet. One of the recent case I saw is this http://flickr.com/photos/twilightfairy/2720464496/ . Now getting a copyright written on image will make it a bit safer. The easiest way is to write the name somewhere on the picture but to get it embedded you need to know a bit of photo editting softwares like Photoshop. Now after giving final touch to your image in photoshop follow the following steps to give a good � to your image.
1. From toolbox under text “Horizontal Type Mask Tool” or “Vertical Type Mask Tool”.
2. Click on the Image to write text. The screen will get red and you can the blinking cursor on the screen. Now write the phrase like “� Anurag Bhateja” (To get � press Alt+0169 (Numeric pad in normal keyboard and Alt+fn+mjo9 on laptop keyboard. mjo9 makes 0169 from numeric pad.)
3. Now click on move tool from tool box.You will see space selected in shape of text.
4. Now press ctrl+c or copy from edit menu. The press ctrl+v or paste from edit menu.
5. You will see a new layer there. Now to that layer click on “Add a layer style” >> “Bevel and emboss”. Settings to Style: emboss, Technique:smooth, depth:1000%, Size:0, soften:0. Press OK. If you want to give outer glow its a good choice also with bevel and emboss.
6. Upload to your favorite photo sharing site like flickr and enjoy.
Tags: Beautiful Flower, Big Flower, Canon, canon powershot s5is, Canon S5IS, Flower, Macro, Manual Mode, Photography Tips and Tricks, Pink Flower, Super Macro, Tips for photographers, tutorial
Posted in Photographs Clicked By me, Photography Tips and Tricks, Tutorials | 5 Comments »
