Mumbai - Millions of Identities

Hi Guys/Gurls,
I am on a vacation. It started on 24th March 1815 HRS when I started from office. I have roughly 14 days and my plan is as follows:
Bangalore > Mumbai > Pune > Mumbai > Dhenkanal(Orissa) > Bangalore

The whole time I'll be either on a bus or train, so travelling/commuting itself will be taking some time. Today is 26th March, Friday, I've reached Bombay. Last night after reaching I went online to check my mails and facebook, then spoke with Twinkle(my sis) over the phone for sometime and then dozed off as I was tired. Few photos during my trip from Bangalore to Mumbai...

me:) Got the crew cut done just before leaving.....The Summer Look :p

I like this photograph. You can see the expression of the driver in the front glass.

Colors n Light

My Bus.....First Halt in the morning for breakfast, before Pune..

Saw this prototype being road tested, near Pune. It was from Tata Motors I guess..

Abhi came at around 11, we had dinner together. Apart from roti sabji, one special dish I had, Vada-Pao(Oriya Defn: Vada=Alu Chop+Pao=Bread Piece). It was yum and it's quite famous in Maharashtra. Dinner was quite filling, after that I went to sleep(yeah...again!), before which we caught up on many things, which we used to do n talk about while we were stayin together in bangalore.....finally don't remember when I slept off.

Right now sitting at Abhi's place and writing this post:) Abhi had to go to office(against his wishes I feel) as some urgent work has come up, he'll be back soon. I got up quite late as my body was a bit achy due to the 18 hrs bus ride(mind you a multi axle a/c Volvo may not be as comfy as some of you might be thinking). After a good nap, now am all fresh n ready to roll(alas no bikes in sight:p, hope aunty doesn't get to see this post, as the word "BIKE" might cause an alarm :p). Had a breakfast once I was up, which was almost noon. One thing was on my mind to kick off my Mumbai shoot with some subject. Well.....a couple of cute things were fooling around the house...Yep Cats:) Abhi is a true animal lover, having lived with him for 3 years I could say that....Seeing his love for the our neighbor's cat(Her name was 'Pussy' :p, I told him not to call her by that name, as I wasn't quite comfortable hearing that...lol). There are around 5 kittens(I guess) in this house. Don't ask me their names now, am bad at it(neither I recognize them by face, as they all look the same), except the dark knight(I call him by this name). I already loved the lighting in the house and I was bit clear what I want from the pictures....Soft and Natural Light, mostly window lighting and some good expressions, as cats are quite curious and playful. Being an outsider, it'll be quite a task to capture these without making them conscious(same happens to people during candid photography). Am in the process....I'll keep you all posted through this blog......

the very first photo I took. As you can see, she's hiding behind that wooden chair..

thank god, she didn't move after seeing the camera:)

dark knight:)

Biju, the name of the Kitten.

I will make sure that You be part of this journey... Have a great day n Keep Clicking... :)

Loadza Luv,

Sid

My Flickr Page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sid_heart19

Few Pics from Flickr

Falling in Love with the Beautiful Species

D3000 Mini Review - The Purchase

Hi Readers/Photographers/Friends,
I was just going through CNet product video-review of Canon S90, before recommending to a friend, when I felt like checking D3000 review video(which I had seen many times earlier before
purchasing the cam). It is quite mediocre in terms of reviewer interest(may be thats what they call as professionalism i.e. doing things to the point that you loose interest and people look at you with high respect. Good if that's what you wanted:p). I thought of posting a short reader review in order to guide potential buyers like me, who could get an idea of the post purchase experience. Well I did post a review. As am going to write the review anyways, why not share it with my beloved reader here as well.....

1. Rate this product:

2. One-line summary:
Commendable Beginner's Nikon (Sturdy enough for my adventure trips)

3. Pros:

• Build quality(Sturdy and feels perfect in hand)
• 11 point AF system (cool to track moving objects)
• Ownership Feel/Brand Reputation(No worries for compatibility with 3rd party accessory/lenses)
• Nikkor 18-55 Kit lens (picture quality is good)
• VR (though it's built into the kit lens) allows shooting low light scenes without a tripod(as am new and don't carry a tripod most of the time:P)

4. Cons:

• Lack of dedicated buttons to alter settings on the fly(i.e. without getting into menu! psst..it's usually found in high-end DSLRs)
• No exposure bracketing(haven't used it yet)
• Nikkor lenses/accessories are expensive(compared to Canon)
• Live view (personally I never felt the need)
• Camera's picture saving time is slow(when 'Active D-lighting' is ON, so in order to have a faster response switch this feature off, when not required!)

Bottom-line summary:

Hi,
Am Sidharth, 25yrs old, a software engineer by profession. I love taking photographs and have mostly used point and shoot. I decided to go for my first SLR in december 2009 and after a lot of research/hands on, I zeroed in, on the D3000. I had 2 options(out of the recommended brands):
a) Canon 1000D(a yr old model but feature rich)
b) Nikon D3000, latest offering, but with less frills
My requirements which lead me to Nikon's this model are as follows:
1. I do long motorcycle rides(http://iluvriding.blogspot.com), and these are the times I would be capturing the places, experiences,etc.. so my cam needs to be reliable and sturdy, so that I can carry it without much fuss/extra attention
2. I wanted to carry it all the time, so the one I feel most comfortable(out of the 2), would be my choice, and it was D3000, the weight, size and sturdiness got me hooked.
3. During my early stint with photography , I have read many books and knew enough concepts/theory that most professionals should be aware of, so all I needed was a reliable(dependable) device with manual mode. Frills(live view, video,etc) doesn't impress me much anyways, at least not at the cost of build quality.
4. I liked the brand Nikon, since I was a kid
5. I had read in a site the advantage of having a Nikon(or Canon) is on special situations an accessory can be rented(i.e no compatibility issues), in any corner of the world

The End

Hope you found it useful, and my experience will support you in making a decision for your first DSLR. Last but not the least, O'ways (read it with li'l British accent) remember:

"It's never the paint brush, but the artist who creates a masterpiece!"
- Sid:)