Caution: Cuteness Overload

I am not one of those women who can't stop gushing about the cuteness of a baby.

But seeing this turned me into one of them.

If you're ever having a really crappy day and desperately need to turn that frown into a smile, this is what you need to look at.

Photographer Grace Chon photographed her cute as a cotton ball baby, Jasper and her dog Zoey in many coordinated costumes giving us an amazing photo series that will make you want to reach into your computer and give them all a nice big hug.

And if you think there's nothing cuter than Asian babies, check out former Masterchef winner Adam Liaw's instagram feed. He had dressed his baby up as Pharell, Matt Preston, Salvador Dali and even compared him to a pineapple.

Which is why it's almost upsetting when this chef posts photos of food.

Lost in Maharashtra

On my way back from my trip to Sula Vineyards with the family, we got lost.

One wrong turn + depending on Google maps took us through the countryside of Maharashtra for 2 hours.

There was a point when there were no cars, people, animals or houses in sight.

Just terrible roads surrounded by hills and beauteous fields.

It was dreamy but stressful till we hit the highway.

Here's some of what we saw on the way.

All photos by me.

Got Milk?

I have always been a big fan of milk products.
Not so much with plain milk.

And now on some days I think may be lactose intolerant.
- The days when I'm behaving like a hypochondriac.

Just the sight of milk makes me go Eeeeks!

But then I saw this.

via

What can I say?

You look at something as art and everything changes.

Inspired by vintage pin-up illustrations by Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas etc

Milky pin-ups by London based artist, Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz of AurumLight Studio.

Baden-Württemberg - A Photographic Journey

All photos by me.

Stardust

I've always had this crazy obsession with stars.

I'm not sure what it is about them that fascinates me.

Maybe it's that they're so far away.

And are just so beautiful.

Like jewelry for the night sky.

Living in Bombay, you don't get to see starry starry nights.
You can count the number of stars you see every night.

Unfortunately the twinkle doesn't get past the cloud of pollution.

Which is why I'm always excited to head out of town just to get a glimpse of a starry sky.

A couple of days ago, I got such a chance and decided it was time to finally try to capture it with my DLSR camera.
Because if I shot the night sky with my phone camera or a point and shoot, I would've got a beautiful black photo.

I tried every setting I knew and went through about half an hour of taking some pretty bad photos.

But that changed once I took some help from a friend and Google and got the correct instructions for photographing the night sky.

So here's what you do.

Set it on M [for Manual]

Keep the Shutter open for as long as possible. Mine was set for 30 seconds.

And the ISO should be high. I set it to 6400.

And voila!

Photo by me.

I did get a couple of grainy photos in the beginning (because of the high ISO) and for some reason I wasn't able to adjust the aperture (f). Clearly I still have a long way to go!

But I had so much fun just learning through the whole process.

I didn't have a tripod so I set it on tables or chairs or then tables and chairs.

Till I got tired of doing the whole balancing act and finally just set it flat on the ground with the lens pointing towards the sky.

Sometimes the simplest things work best.

I clicked pictures till my battery finally ran out at 2am.

And had it not run out, I could have been up till sunrise.

I don't know what it is about stars that fascinates me so much.

They're just so beautiful.

Like a freshly baked cake dusted with powdered sugar.

Or maybe it's the amazing fact that we're all made of the same stuff.

We are Stardust.

Photo by me.

I love to look at the stars. Look how they shine for me.

Because when you stare long enough everything twinkles.

But how did the Universe get it's spots?

How did we come into existence?

Why is the entire Universe dark? Even when it has so many stars to light it up.

How big is the universe?

Are we at the centre of it? And does everything revolve around us?

I look up at the sky and see all the constellations - Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion and Cassiopiea (those are the only ones I know).

And when you look at Ursa Major (Big Bear), you see a formation of stars that looks like a big question mark.

It is no wonder then that looking up at the sky leaves us full of questions.

So if you're looking for answers, keep looking at the sky.

Because as they say, 

it's all written in the stars.

Watch all the videos. It's worth you're time. They're pretty amazing!

Here's something for everyone!
Some jewelry, more jewelry and clothing for those who are so obsessed with constellations, they like to wear it.
And an iPhone & iPad App for stargazing enthusiasts.

And an iPad App for children that helps them learn about the Universe. It's always good to start early.

Phoneography

I love photography.
And am constantly buying cameras and camera related stuff I don't need.
Like this.

I wish I could take pictures with my eyes just by blinking.
Maybe it's something you will be able to do with Google Glass.
But guess what Google, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy sort of beat you to it by 18 years.

[See 5.15 minutes into this video.]

Unfortunately for me, I don't have powers like Ethan and Julie and have to master other forms of photography available only to the common man.

via

After having mastered (I'd like to think that I have) photography with:
a DSLR - it makes even bad pictures look great with it's depth-of-field-blurry look.
a regular Point and Shoot - for days when my bag is too small to fit any other camera.
a Lomo - so I can blame all my wonky pictures on the lens.

I'm currently, trying to master iPhone photography.
I am obsessed with instagram and almost love it as much as I love writing my blog.
But, now it's time to move on. To a more advanced level and learn some cool new tricks.
So, I've enrolled in the Photojojo University for Phoneography 101.

It's 2 lessons per week for a month.
With tips and tricks and fun challenges!
Only for $5.

I can't wait for my first lesson tomorrow.
I'm all charged and ready to go click click click.

So here's to me becoming an amazing phone photographer.
Yes, I actually did just say that.

Israelity

On holiday I am a moment-capturing maniac.
I enjoy taking photos of just about anything.
Here are some random photos from my travels around Israel.

Is it a flower? Or food? It's Chili pots.

When stores expand in Tel Aviv, they don't start chains. They just spill onto the street.

Tents on the street in Tel Aviv - an innovative way to bring down rent.

(Something we couldn't dream of doing in Bombay).

Advertising/ a joke/ Tel Aviv's version of Shaadi.com on Ben Yehuda street.

The award for the cutest little kitten and puppy in Israel goes to:

A painted building wall giving the illusion of people in windows in Jerusalem.

Body Shop's evil twin in Israel. Also called Body Shop.

Tel Aviv - so inviting.

And people don't believe in brands.

Something that looked like french fries growing on Bat Yam beach.

Kwality Wall's ice-cream in Jerusalem. Felt good to see a familiar logo after seeing too much Hebrew.

And then I saw the Himalaya store in Tel Aviv and felt so at home.

And found an Indian flag.

A penguin outside a restaurant in Nahariya. I couldn't understand why.

A shop selling curios?

An Army advert at the train station. How cute is he?

You don't mess with the Zohan.

The luck that carried me through my trip.

Except while playing pool.

And then I came home after being hypnotised at the airport by a man who juggled for an hour.

Back to Bombay. Back to Reality.

Thank You #16

Inspired by thxthxthx.

Concept, photo & design by me. 

Click click

Camera cookies by Manjar.

I've been trying to practise my photography with my awesome crew (family).
And somehow my house has turned into my photo studio and we've sort of run out of locations.
Doing recce generally takes about 2 minutes.
But, I enjoy it all the same.

Here are a bunch of pictures that I love by different photographers.


A picture is worth a thousands words.
But, don't worry I'll keep it short.

The pictures have nothing in common really, so I've created a connecting theme. Let's just call it My Tips for a great day.

There's something to learn from every picture. It's all about how you look at it. Or in this case, how I look at it.

Do the walk of life.

Youcantbeserious.

Have a nothing is impossible attitude. Defy gravity.

by Lauren Randolph.

Finish what you started. Enjoy your meals.

by Stacey Newgent.

Be lame. Bring out the child in you.

Back to the future.

Party with P.Diddy. Yes we can.

Awesome People hanging out together.

Look at the stars. I'm sure your day will be truly out of this world.

Astronomy Photo of the Day

And maybe tomorrow you can go to the beach. And reflect on the awesomeness that we call life.

by Kunal Gagwani.

Happy almost weekend.

Flower girl

Incase you were wondering how the flower in yesterday's post appeared out of nowhere, here's a little sneak peek into the shoot.

The mystery begins...

And then there was a hand.

And a head. 

Oh wait, that's my grandmother.

You've got to love her enthusiasm.


P.S: Notice the changing backgrounds.

All photos by Akshaya.

Blurry Vision

My last post was about seeing things as pixels.

This one is just plain blurry.

I found an interesting picture and fell in love with it.

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One evening, I tried to recreate it.
I was teaching my sister, Akshaya how to handle an slr camera. Mainly how to focus, get a blurry background, go flower shopping and end up capturing amazing pictures like me.

photo by Akshaya.

Honestly, I've reached the neither-good-nor-bad level of photography.
It's tough to remember everything I've learnt everytime I want to take a picture. This is how I cheat.
I plan on roaming with this stuck to my forehead for a while.

via

Say Cheese

I have recently been trying to learn some serious photography from a friend.

Why? Well, I'm sort of an SLR Virgin.

And I think it would be interesting + I can jazz up the blog a little more + I got a fancy new camera for my birthday holding which makes me feel powerful. Powerful enough to pull off an evil laugh.

What is learning serious photography?

For me, it's basically learning how to use the manual features.
I constantly get tempted to slide the circular button to automatic but then stop myself for the fear of being a complete failure.

Since I hate failing at anything I decided to ask my friend to teach me some photography.

The friend was Kunal.
I've known him since 2004 which makes me wonder why I only recently started troubling him to teach me photography. He is a Graphic designer just like me but I think photography is his true love.

Since he is an artist, yes he can draw, but like me he hates being asked the one question we get asked by every person - Can you draw me? Like a portrait?
Umm.. I'd rather be at the dentist's clinic.
And Kunal? Well, cartoons are his specialty.

My first lesson:
It was on the weekend before Kunal's friend was directing a play for which he was making some props.
So when I went like a good student to learn photography for the first time, I was made to inhale white spray paint which was meant only for the wooden box in the room. This resulted in me looking like a dog, sticking my head out of the window for a very long time.

The paint gave delicate-me a cold and blocked the newly understood information from reaching my brain. But I will give it credit for having given me very good sleep that night.

The class only really lasted about 10 minutes since I'm a student who gets distracted very easily.

The rest of the time was spent in watching funny videos on youtube and me boring him with the unending stories of my life.

This happened twice.

And also involved a visit to the nearby petrol pump to pickup jim-jam biscuits and other such treats.

I am still learning. My photos are pretty bad. I've got a lot of practicing to do.

But till then have a look at Kunal's pictures.
He shoots with a Nikon D90 (but recommends a Canon).

It's the world through his lens.

I really love this series of photos he shot recently while traveling.
It's like he managed to make the sky, the sea and even some monuments pose for his pictures and Say Cheese.
Now you know why I get a huge complex when I take pictures with him.


Didn't get your fill?
Then have a look at Kunal's flickr page.
Looking forward to his website.


All pictures by Kunal Gagwani.