The Inflection Point

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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Each loop of the Rusted iron chain here represents "An unsuccessful attempt to succeed in life." Some people do not have much luck by their side. They keep failing in whatever they do. If you carefully observe there are 11 loops or 11 attempts or 11 new ventures an individual tried, starting from the top all of which are in focus. But, the vision blurs out from the 12th one signifying that unlucky person is now tired and completely exhausted from a series of failures. He has reached The Inflection Point, from where everything has started to look blurry. There is loss of hope, lack of self belief and complete loss of faith in god. What should such a broken person do ? Give up? or still Carry on? Isn't there a limit to anything ? How strong could one be or rather act?

Composition 

This is an extreme low angle close-up shot with my 50 mm Canon 1.4 prime lens that I recently bought. Results of this lens are way better than my previous 50 mm 1.8 Canon prime lens. While composing I kept my aperture at F/7 and the focus point around the beginning 1/3rd of the frame to try and get most things sharp. Following rule of thirds was a little tricky and I don't like center splits, so I placed the diagonal line formed by the rusted chain a little off-center and biased towards left.

Whenever it rains

Minimalism as Low Detail

Photo by © Prakash Ghai

Rains generally make everyone smile, uplift people's mood and bring in a sense of love and romance. The feeling is indeed very special. But, for people who have had a fight with their loved one or for some reason or the other are away from the one whom they really care for, rains remind them of their loneliness. It reminds them that, neither they are "able to express their love" nor "they are able to get back any in return". It is even worse for people who are single, not because they did not get any proposals of friendships but because "they could never find anyone who could ever understand them". They are still waiting for the companionship of that special someone with whom they can walk hand-in-hand and get drenched. On the contrary, the lucky ones get to celebrate this gift of mother nature. They go out on long drives, eat out, party. Well plenty of options for them. 

Composition

I was out on a photo-walk with a good old friend of mine and while on my way back when I had given up all hopes of taking some good shots due to the heavy shower, I spotted this. Two traffic lights next to each other. The yellow one was continuously blinking and I had to wait for the other to turn green. The red you see next to the green comes from the brake lights of the cars passing by and the big patch of yellow on the top left are the bright yellow overhead lights meant to illuminate the crossing. The composition and the Minimalism Type: Low Detail is self-explanatory.  

PS: For me this is a rare shot as I had to bend on my knees and I am very lazy.

A New Relationship

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo by © Prakash Ghai
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When a new person enters your life and you realize that he/she could be that one person you were waiting for. You tend to make more room in your heart for that person. But, it is to be seen over time as to how much space that person actually occupies.

The leaves of the plant just entering the frame is that special person, with whom you begin A New Relationship. The shadow of the leaves is your estimation of the initial space that person may occupy in your heart, and the extra space or negative space hints at the scope of that relationship. To shoot this, I moved out one afternoon on my bike at around 4 pm. The temperature was 42 degrees Celsius. This is pretty normal for North India, as May and June are peak summer months. I did go out in such heat on purpose as, I get a lot of light and shadow combination shots this time, and people are generally in their houses sleeping, so you can shoot with no one getting offended. This was shot zoomed in with a 55-250 mm lens, with sweat flowing down to my neck. Don't get confused by the shadow while applying the rule of thirds. Always apply it on the main (real) subject and let the shadow take its place. If the shadow is getting cropped, rearrange the shot. I shot for about an hour and to avoid getting ill with the heat I drank not one but two soft drinks. I generally avoid aerated beverages but the shop where I had stopped did not have any mineral water with them and I had no energy left to go find it at another shop.

Well, Minimalism calls for sacrifices and I did my bit.