Nomination in Photographer of the Year 2010

Dear friends I am happy to share with you that my image "Over The Clouds" has been shortlisted  in the category "Patterns Of Nature" for Betterphotographer of the Year 2010. Overall 60,000 images were entered in all 8 categories.Total 6 images have been shortlisted in each category. I have participated in all categories with maximum number of images allowed.I will like to share with you the participated images in different categories.

About The Competition:
The Better Photography Photographer of the Year is a much coveted title among photography enthusiasts-from beginners and hobbyists to serious amateurs. The contest has been conducted successfully for four years now, and has seen keen participation from photographers from varied walks of life, across the country. Our participants and winners have been proving that India has a wealth of photographic talent that is just waiting to be recognised. And this year the event goes international. Our finalists - the first-prize winners of the 8 themes will fly to Singapore for a final Face-off contest! The winner of the Face-off will not only win the title of Photographer of the Year 2010.
 

Faces:

All the participated images are street shots, taken in available natural light without any camera/off camera flash. I really enjoy to interact with the people for taking their portraits. I like the way most of them like them being photographed. I like to share the happy moments with them. 

The first photograph is of innocent child with a hand of assurance from her elder sister. This was taken at the checkpost of changu lake near Gangtok. This image has been selected as top 12 runner up for the oakwoods contest "Trust is.." recently. The second image is taken at Maheshwar, India. The young girl was selling flowers on the bank of river Narmada. I like her face with full of character specially the gaze in her eyes. The eyes with mystical confidence. It was a bit difficult to convenience her for getting photographed but finally she did. I really like the way the wind added additional touch in the photograph. Her skin was considerably dry due to cold weather.

The third image was a candid shot taken at vegetable market, Nanded. The senior person was using an empty basket as his hat from protection from the sunlight. I found it really funny & got near to him & keep on shooting, undoubtedly we both enjoyed those moments. The fourth one was of a worker smoking on the bust stop near Annapurna road, Indore.I like the way mustache & hat adding in his overall character. All these faces are really unforgettable for me & the moments I lived with them.It was most difficult for me to choose only 4 images among my personal favorite images. Thanks goes to my IPC (Indore Photographer community) friends for helping me sorting that out.

Man & His Environment:

I submitted all the images taking this challenge as environmental portraits. I am yet not sure whether I took it correctly or not. The first image is of a potter engaged in his work. I like the way I was able to use the graphical shapes & element in composition of the image. The second was taken at Maheshwar while this lady was engrossed in her pray. I like the way the blue color contrast against her red sari. The movement of the water reflected with ripples against her calm composed pose also add something about faith,trust to me.

The Third image is of about sunset & sunset lovers. This was taken at Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh on a sunset point. I thought of capturing the peoples along with sunset using split ND filter adding interesting twist to usual sunset image. The fourth image is of the people from Rabri community. More about in the discussion with the images in "A place called home".

Shadows & Light:

I was very clear about my submissions in this category since I was not having too many distinct images suiting to this topic in my portfolio. The first image "frustration" was taken for my DPChallenge contest with topic "cardboard box". I used only single table lamp for lighting this image with my close friend as model in a big cardboard box. The line of light for me is leaving little way as hope in the overall gritty mood of the image. The second on is newly executed image for this contest with my old concept of "Defeat". The King who had lost his war & a dead pawn near his feat. The standing King shows his character such as confidence as well as courage even in such situation but the pawn can not withstand & it's defeat of his strength & courage. The dead pawn, the light, exposure & long shadows were used to create the atmosphere of defeat, sadness.

The third one is "Painter". She is a painter from The Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre at Darjeeling. I shared some nice moments with her. I asked her about the painted text on windows "Free Tibet" & "Save Tibet". She told me this is in protest of Chinese occupation on Tibet and for the fundamental human rights of Tibetans to be respected. This has been photographed completely natural light. I have to take care for not getting the window in the background overexposing areas. The fourth one is of leaves looking interesting only due to the play of light keeping half side lit by light while other side in shadows.

 

Architecture & Monuments:

Shooting architecture & monuments without loosing interest of viewers I think is a quiet a bit challenging. There are huge chances of having monotonous look & getting a usual record shot of known places. I don't do much on this subject. The first image is taken at Darjeeling "Shanti Stupa" on a misty morning. Actually it may not be visible very well in the small version of it but I like the way I can use the lines of walls & arrows in the bottom pointing/leading towards the statue of Lord Gautama Buddha.A larger version of it can be seen at See on Flickr .

The second & fourth image was taken in photowalk 2010 in Indore on 25th July 2010 organised by IPC.The second image was selected in top 10 Honorable mention images fin this event. In this image slightly distorted reflection of an apartment can be seen in the reflective surface of another building. The third image showing an interior of an old ancient architecture of Rani Rupmati Palace, Mandu. The fourth one show view of the Bombay hospital building taken d A viewpoint through the grid showing symmetry of two buildings.

Patterns Of Nature:

A wide variety of subjects was suitable for this category. The lamp image was taken on the holy river Ganga at Varansi. The touch of sunrise light making the water look as gold & the ripples creating interesting patterns. The web with drops was taken on a misty morning formed on fencing of field. The background bokeh is of crop wheat husks.

 

The Published image along with other Nominations in the Betterphotography Magazine issue January 2011

Over The Clouds shortlisted image

The third one was taken from the flight while traveling from Delhi to Bagdogra in my trip to North East India. I must praise my luck for getting the interesting view of clouds along with the land & space above the clouds.The spider one is macro image showing the details of the spider. I wonder the way the patterns of wood is matching to it's body but the DOF is helping me to get nice contrast for isolating him from the surface.

Waterscape:

It's my favorite subject. I like to shoot the falls, seascapes any images including water.I can spend hours shooting them without getting tired. The first one is of a small stream at Patalpani waterfall & the fourth one is of Tincha fall. Both these falls are from Indore.

The second one is taken at the rock garden of Pelling. The third one is taken on the holy beach of Somnath,Gujrat. Probably it is my the first image which was appreciated in various online contest & forums. It was my very old image taken with point & shoot camera SONY DSC-H2 in 2006. The image of lamp on river was also taken with this camera.


Wildlife:

I was knowing this category is not for me. I feel no shame to admit that I lack the patience to capture the images in this category. I do have very small portfolio with these kind of images. I was also doubting to include the 2nd & third one suits this category or not.

The lion is from the Zoo of Hyderabad, giving me a nice portrait. I feel myself lucky to get the second & third shot with beautiful light & clarity. The fourth one is of Yellow-winged Darter taken during Photograph taken on the Kajligarh outing, Indore conducted by IPC under the inspirational guidance of Upendra Upadhyay. I cropped the wings during capturing the shot to show it's beautiful details.

A Place Called Home:

I was really touched by the the way  these Rabri community people face the hard life.Traditionally they are camel herders. They sell wool and clarified butter to city merchants and manage all money matters.The Rabari men can often be seen roaming the countryside with their droves. They travel hundreds of miles on annual migration routes in search of new pastures to graze their animals.

I shoot their open houses & kitchen. I was sure these may not suit completely to the challenge but all the images were on the same topic showing the open house as per as physical material is concerned but it was nothing less than their emotional bonding among each other. I didn't find any of them lacking love & affection. The various image shows these things, the generation gap & their habits. I wish to highlight the thing that the house without these things is of no use irrespective of how nicely it has been built.

I hope you like the images & story behind them.