The Tidy Untidy Staircase

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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A Minimal Art Photograph of a Staircase at Akshay Patra NGO, Jaipur.

I went to Akshay Patra NGO with my relatives one day to visit their Kitchen and understand what they do. They actually provide subsidized meals to many poor people and they feed about 2,00,000 kids everyday across India.

The experience was a thrilling one. On my way, out I saw a huge garden near the exit gate.

From there, while I was waiting for my Cab to arrive, I spotted this beautiful staircase. The fresh Yellow paint got me, though the steps were not that clean and worn out.

This contrast, was the reason I titled the Photograph The Tidy Untidy Staircase.

The Photograph falls under the Minimalism as Simple Geometry category under Minimalist Photography.

This photo might look very simple to Compose but mind you, shooting staircases is not easy. You have plenty to angles to shoot them from and it gets difficult to decide how much to include or what to leave out and still keep it simple.

I took multiple shots, but I chose this one to post here, as this is shot a little Top-Down-ish and slightly from the side.

The shots that I took from the center and straight from the front, turned out to be very flat.

Note: Note how there are Two Stains/Spots in the Staircase on Steps No. 3 and 5 (starting from the left). It is easy to remove these spots during editing, but I have kept them.

There are two ways to look at these Spots.

a) It spoils the frame.
b) It enhances the Art in the frame.

Personally for me, I believe that these spots enhance the frame/ adds interest.

The EXIF Data of the Photo is as follows:

• Camera Model: Canon EOS 6D Mark II
  
  
• Lens: Canon 24-105 mm Prime Lens
  
  
• F-stop: f/8
  
  
• Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-100
  
  
• Focal Length: 64 mm
  
  
• Metering mode: Spot
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual
  
  

Hope you enjoyed the The Tidy Untidy Staircase  Minimalist Photograph.

Thank you for your time. Have a Nice Day !

Stairs and Lines

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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This Sunday I went to Orbit Mall to snap some photographs. This Mall is very near to my house. Well, I would say about 300 meters away. 

I have always gone far away from my house to shoot pictures, so this time I thought why not try a place that is nearby. 

So this mall is almost abandoned now. I remember that a long time ago, I used to go to this place to buy groceries and household items and also to have some nice Chinese food. 

But now, most of the Shops are shut and the only highlight is the Passport Office they shifted here. 

Since I am not the "In your face Photographer", I always ask permission from the mall guard before snapping any pictures. 

The mall guard granted me permission without much resistance. He probably thought I would click some pictures with my cellphone. 

So, I walked inside and took my Canon EOS 6D Mark II out of my Camera Bag. It had the long bulky Canon EOS 100 mm L Series Macro Lens attached to it. 

I took some 5 minutes to take a few test shots. At minute 6, the mall guard approached me and told me its enough for the day.

He probably got scared looking at the Large DSLR that I was shooting with. He thought I was probably a press reporter. 

I told him honestly, I am hobby photographer and I shoot art and that too for myself. 

He kind of went a little soft listening to this. Then I showed him what pictures I actually shot inside the mall aka the test shots.

He was OK then. He said, "Carry on" and left. 

Well, I knew I had hit the jackpot. 

Not because I could take 1000's of pictures, but because there were some fantastic frames that could be crafted. 

I came back with 50 odd shots and about 5 were pretty good to my liking. 

The 10% ratio is decent ;)

I have been shooting monochrome recently and my Instagram Feed is mostly Black and White as of now. 

Therefore, this shot is also in Black and White. 

But, I think that I must post some colored shots soon as well. Stay tuned for them to be posted. 

More on the Shot


As far as this shot goes. This Picture titled "Stairs and Lines" is basically Minimalism as Simple Geometry.

You can see, I used Lines as the only element here and with them I tried to create a unique frame. 

I shot only a part of the Staircase and placed it on the top left of the frame and then placed extra lines (one of which is created by paint on the wall) on the right side. 

The EXIF Data for the Photo is as follows:

• Camera Maker: Canon
  
  
• Camera Model: Canon EOS 6D Mark II
  
  
• Lens: Canon 100 mm Prime Macro L Series Lens
  
  
• F-stop: f/32
  
  
• Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-8000
  
  
• Exposure bias: 0 step
  
  
• Focal Length: 100 mm
  
  
• Metering mode: Spot
  
  
• Flash mode: No flash
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual
  
  
• White Balance: Auto

Hope you enjoyed the Stairs and Lines Minimalist Photograph.

Thank you for your time. Have a Nice Day. !

Staircase Minimal

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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I clicked this Minimalist Photograph at Hawa Mahal, Jaipur (India). If you have not been to this Place, then you must visit it. It is one of the Main Tourist Attractions of the City.

You will find lots of intriguing architecture here. The Ddoors, Windows and the Staircases are just a treat for the eyes. Not to forget the subtle decay and texture on the walls and of course the very beautiful colors. 

Lets quickly take a look at the Highlights of the Shot

• Minimalism Type: Simple Geometry (primarily the lines)
  
• Theme: Minimalism and Architecture
  
• Style: Shooting flat from the front.
  
• Aesthetic Elements:
  
  
  
  • The mysterious Left Turn
     
  • Subtle Texture on the Walls
     
  • Lines: Leading lines on the right and that of the steps
     
  • Decay on the Steps
    

• Camera Used: Canon 600D
  
• Lens Used: Canon 50mm F 1.4 Prime Lens

More Information:

Other than that I would like to mention that, these kind of composition is all about which part of the staircase are you taking the photo from. And how far and close you want to show that in the frame..

Another choice is the decide what kind of depth you want to show..

Consider all these factors when shooting Staircase Minimalism

Hope that you enjoyed the shot.

Take Care !

Have a Good Day :)

Back to Heaven

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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I am doing this post after a long time. I had been busy all this while promoting Minimalist Photography via my Instagram Page LearnMinimalism. I have been working very hard over it for the last few months and now the base work has been completed. Therefore, I have some spare time again to do blog posts. Well, Last week I was out for a photo-walk and I wanted to do a post then but I happen to jam my camera's shutter and had submitted my camera to the service center for repairs. Its only today that I got my camera back with the shutter replaced by a new one. Thankfully I had a few days of warranty left or else I would have had to pay roughly about $100. On my way back from the service center I stopped at a local coffee shop for some test shots. This is one among-st them. The cafe is really beautiful. Its a garden cafe with gravel laid down on the floor, green plants everywhere and some fascinating colors and architecture. Loved their sense of aesthetics. This staircase I spotted at the back of the cafe and what was striking was the two little yellow arcs on the right. In fact there were three of them but I took two for my composition. I titled this "Back to Heaven" as I got that feel the moment I looked at it. Of course, whether I go to Heaven or Hell depends on my Karma but I am so far happy and confident of it, hence the assumption. 

There were many different ways this could be shot but I choose an aperture of about F/8 and focused right on the center pillar of the staircase rail. I wanted the pillar and it edges sharp and the two arcs on the right properly exposed and in focus. I was standing a little to the right of the staircase I was OK to have the steps fall in focus on their own with that aperture setting. I had my 50mm 1.4 pricey prime lens on. I could have also shot this at F/11 is what I realized later. Anyways do let me know your feedback about the shot. Have a nice day.

The Half-way mark

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo by © Prakash Ghai
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One may have any kind of goal or objective in his/her life but it all begins with the first few steps. Generally goals, (I am not talking about dreams here as they are usually vague) are set high and one starts working on them on the premise of hope, optimism and hard-work combined. But what happens with most people is that they work way too hard right at the start and get tired or exhausted by the time they are supposed to reach the "Half Way Mark". 

They end up concluding that the path they chose was wrong and they should try something else. My point here is that one should be patient enough and work at a steady pace until one reaches the Half Way Mark. Because after reaching this point, the goal (depicted by the red square) becomes clearly visible and what needs to be done or how many more stairs to climb to get there becomes clearly visible too (depicted by the number of stairs left to be taken). 

So what we learn here is that we should never take a call on something before we reach the half way mark. 

Getting back to the Mini-tutorial part of the photo. This is Minimalism as Less Elements. Some of you may argue that the geometry is spread out evenly and the shot is a little too detailed. But here I have inferred the Staircase in totality as one elements and the red square as a supporting side element. This might also fall under the category  Minimalism as Simple Geometry as there are a lot of lines and basic geometric shapes in the shot. Shooting this fully sharp from front to back required a high aperture and I shot it around F 8.0. Remember to keep your focus point roughly at 1/3rd of the total distance/depth of the frame to get everything mostly in focus. I kept the focus point on the left, between the 2nd and 3rd zigzag. Hope you enjoyed the shot and I send you all seasons greetings all the way from Jaipur- India. 

PS: Don;t forget to check out my new venture on Instagram the "Learn Minimalism" and the hashtag that I started there  #LearnMinimalism

By using the hashtag you too can take part in the Minimalist Photography Contest. The page has more than 43,000 followers and about 2,30,000 photos in the hashtag and growing. A lot of effort has been put in to promote and spread Minimalism in Photography on a global level. This lesser known genre deserves to be spread and "I am doing my bit for it."

Mysterious Staircase

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai

I have posted many photos of Jantar Mantar before and I must have been there to shoot Minimalist Photos for about 8-10 times already. But the place is so filled with geometry that whenever I go there I am able to find newer shots. This one below was a result of me being lazy and for I was carrying a zoom lens. It was hot and sunny and I thought rather than going close towards the staircase to shoot, let me try the shot from distance for a change. Distance is an important aspect in minimalism. It makes your subject look small and Minimalistic and that is ideal. You can also shoot at 18mm with your regular kit lens to achieve similar results. As for me, I was zoomed in as usual with my 55-250mm zoom lens.

Now coming back to the shot, since I was far away from my subject I could include an extra element in my frame i.e the black door. The curved arcs of the door juxtaposed nicely with the straight lines of the staircase. Such a contrast brought in the much needed Art Effect. A quick reminder, make sure you make your staircases disappear towards the end to add mystery. I turned this into monochrome as architectural shots in black and white exposes the geometry and shapes well. Color generally distracts the eye.  Do share links of your black and white Minimalistic shots in comments.

Happy Clicking.

A call from the Unknown

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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A Minimalist Photo of the Entrance Stairs of Hawa Mahal Jaipur, one of the best tourist attractions of the city.

When you are out for a walk alone, sometimes you get lost in thoughts and become blank after a few minutes. And then there is a sudden connect with the unknown. You feel as if someone is calling you. Not by your name but through an unspoken language, probably through the vibes. You get confused and for a moment you think you are either dreaming or have lost touch with reality. On the other hand you feel,  this is where I belong. In the state of nothingness, in this disconnect with the real (unreal) world. For a moment you don't feel your body, you forget about your identity and your surroundings. You feel as if you are the light, the energy, or one of those invisible particles that binds "space" together.  This experience, is what I call as "A Call from the Unknown". I have had many such experiences, but till date I am clueless as to why they happen. If you have had any such experiences please do share them in the comments. In the image above, I have used a disappearing staircase, which aptly represents The Unknown. As whenever you see such a staircase you feel as if its calling you. It wants to take you somewhere. A place where you came from, a place where you truly belong.

Composition

The photo falls under the Minimalism as Simple Geometry category. To begin with, I moved to my left, went down on my knees and took a few shots from a very low angle. I re-framed and made sure that I clipped the staircase nicely, so as to make it disappear in the frame. Bending down on my knees was quite an exercise. I am a lazy photographer so that was probably equal to a week's exercise in the gym. The shadows were of great help. Those 4 little right angled triangles that you see on edge of the steps came from that and of course the vertical lines got highlighted as bold characters.

2nd Shot of the same subject 

• Six Steps