Dome Versus Flying Birds

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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Black and White Minimal Art photograph of the Dome of Albert Hall Museum Jaipur against the sky, with birds flying across.

Albert Hall Jaipur Museum is a great place to shoot flying birds. You go there anytime of the day and you can spot birds flying across the sky. Whenever I go there I get really tempted to shoot them.

Sure a lot of shots might get cliched but a subtle variation here and there always works.

As you can see in the composition above, I have placed the Dome of the Museum right in the center of the frame, but at the bottom, following the rule of thirds.

Then, I waited for the birds to fly in the frame. I stood there for 5 minutes and took multiple shots.

While editing, I added some Vignetting to the photograph and I cut down on some exposure to get a dark effect in the photograph.

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/7.1
  
  
• Shutter Speed: 1/1250 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-800
  
  
• Focal Length: 105 mm
  
  
• Metering mode: Spot
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual
  
  

Hope you enjoyed the Dome Versus Flying Birds Minimalist Photograph.

Thank you for your time. Have a Nice Day !

Birds and Patterned Side Rail - 2 Minimalist Photographs

Minimalism as Less Elements

Minimalist Shot 1

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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Black and White Minimal Art Photograph of Birds Sitting on the Patterned Side Rail of a wall at Diggi Palace Jaipur.

These pictures were taken during the Jaipur Literature Festival 2019. I had my Canon EOS 6D Mark II full frame Camera with me that day. 

I was waiting for a friend of mine to join me for a session. While I was waiting, I spotted these birds on the Patterned Side Rails of the wall near me. I was at a distance but that was not an issue, as I had the Telephoto 24-105 mm Lens with me. I zoomed a bit to captured these, and that you can see in the EXIF Data provided below. One of these shots were taken at 91 mm and the other one at 70 mm. On most occasions, I only put up a single shot from the series ie the best one, but here, I decided to put two. 

The EXIF Data of Shot 1 is as follows:

• Camera Model: Canon EOS 6D Mark II
  
  
• Lens: Canon 24-105 mm Prime Lens
  
  
• F-stop: f/16
  
  
• Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-2500
  
  
• Focal Length: 91 mm
  
  
• Metering mode: Spot
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual

Minimalist Shot 2

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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The EXIF Data of Shot 2 is as follows:

• Camera Model: Canon EOS 6D Mark II
  
  
• Lens: Canon 24-105 mm Prime Lens
  
  
• F-stop: f/16
  
  
• Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-1250
  
  
• Focal Length: 70 mm
  
  
• Metering mode: Spot
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual

Hope you enjoyed the Birds and Patterned Side Rail  Minimalist Photographs.

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

Pigeon passing by a fence

Minimalism as in Small Objects

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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A Pigeon passing by a metal fence at Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur.

First, I composed the Zigzag Fence for the frame. Then I waited for the pigeon to walk into my frame near the "Rule of Thirds" area, in one of the inverted V's made by the fence.

During editing, I measured the crop required at both ends of the frame for the fence, to further enhance the symmetrical alignment.

As far as the Minimalism Classification goes, this Minimalist Photo falls under the Minimalism as in Small Objects category. 

The Small Object being the Pigeon (main subject).

The EXIF Data for the Photograph is below:

• Camera Maker: Canon
  
  
• Camera Model: Canon EOS 6D Mark II
  
  
• 
  
  Lens: Canon 24-105 mm L Series Kit Lens
  
  
• F-stop: f/22
  
  
• Exposure time: 1/320 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-3200
  
  
• Exposure bias: 0 step
  
  
• Focal Length: 105 mm
  
  
• Max aperture: 4
  
  
• Metering mode: Spot
  
  
• Flash mode: No flash
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual
  
  
• White Balance: Auto

Thank You, Have a Good Day.

Flying Crow Vs Street Lamp

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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This is a Look-Up / Looking-Up Minimal Shot of a Bird Flying across a Street Lamp near Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur. 

This is the third shot from the same spot/location/set-up. 

An earlier shot that was posted in the blog-post The Black Crow, had a similar setup but a different editing style.

I have mentioned in my earlier post that its not that difficult getting bird in your picture intentionally. 

As you can see in the earlier photograph The Black Crow, this crow is the same as the Crow that you see sitting on top of the street lamp.

This was Shot one frame earlier, while the Crow was still Mid-air, trying to make its journey to the lamp.

Minimalism Category 

I mostly categorize such photos under the Minimalism as Less Elements category which is quite apparently visible here as to why I did so. 

This photograph took a lot of editing to be frank and the key here was the right amount and style of cropping, or else I would have spoiled the picture. 

I also corrected a small tilt in the photograph which I identified by the tilted lamp pole (not any longer visible). 

Also, since I already posted two shots from the same place, it was a tough call to post another one here, as I try to post different shots every post. 

But, since I love Street Lamps and Birds, so I posted this and do not feel guilty for doing so :)

Have you clicked any similar shots?

If so, do share them with me !

Thanks and Regards

Prakash Ghai

Sitting Vs Flying Bird

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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The above Minimalist Photograph of the Sitting Vs Flying Bird was shot near Ravindra Manch, Jaipur - India.

I was there in the parking lot. I had just parked my scooter and I was supposed to proceed for  the Jaipur Art Summit.

I looked over my right shoulder and I saw some birds flying across the sky, especially over the street lamps.

Then, one of the birds aka a Pigeon came and sat on top of one of the Street Lamps. I got interested, right away.

But, I did not want to shoot the Vanilla shot of just the bird sitting on the lamp and nothing else in the scene. Therefore, as a first step I included another Street Lamp in the shot.

OK, so now I had two Street lamps in my frame and a pigeon sitting on one of them.

About 6 months ago I had taken a Mobile Photograph of a group of birds sitting on the wire Vs a group of birds flying across the sky (opposites). That was not a timed shot, rather it was a gift from mother nature. But, I wasn't happy with myself as I wanted a similar shot from a DSLR Camera.

So, this was my chance, and this time I waited for the right moment to create the shot.

I switched my view from the View Finder of the camera to the LCD Screen. Then I moved the focus point on the pigeon sitting on the first street lamp, pressed the shutter button half-way and then waited for more birds to come into my frame.

Initially, a group of birds flew in, but the shape of each bird flying past did not came out the way I wanted, so I disregarded those shots.

I knew I did not have much time as the resting pigeon might fly away any moment.

I waited 30 more seconds and this time I got this lone Black Bird enter my frame and this time I was happy with the shape of her open wings.

So now We know how I created this composition in a Step-wise, Staggered manner. 

First one Street Lamp, Later that lamp with a Bird sitting on it, and then another Street Lamp and finally a Black Bird flying across.

Now that we have talked about the composition part, lets also quickly check the Minimalism Classification. 

The Photo falls under the Minimalism as Less Elements category of Minimalist Photography.

The Only elements being, just the Birds and the Lamps.

Hope you enjoyed the shot.

Stay tuned for more.

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Pigeon and its Shadow

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai

A Minimalist Photograph of a Pigeon sitting high up on a Red wall with his shadow being caste behind him, at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur

Minimalism Type: Minimalism as Less Elements

• Photography Style: Looking up

• Color Palette: Red and Blue  

• Camera Used: Canon 600D

• Shot Location: Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur

    

Aesthetic Elements: 

a) Red Wall

b) Blue Sky

c) Light and Shadow aka Natures Art at Play

d) Real World vs Shadow World comparison

e) Lines

f) Negative Space

Major Reason to Shoot:

I wanted to show the Comparison between the Real world being i.e. The Pigeon Versus its Shadow,  being caste right behind it, in this Minimalist Photograph.

To achieve this, I moved to my left so that I could place the shadow on the bottom left of the frame and the Pigeon on the Top right.

This movement also helped me to place Negative Space correctly and to put both my Primary Subject ie. the Pigeon and my Secondary or Complimentary subject aka the Pigeons shadow, on the Rule of Thirds quadrant in the 3x3 Grid camera grid overlay.

Hope that you enjoyed the Minimalist Shot of the Pigeon and its Shadow. 

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Black Crow

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai

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Here we have a Black Crow sitting on top of a Street Lamp.

This is the second shot from the same place i.e Albert Hall Jaipur, that I am posting here. 

The earlier posted shot was in the landscape format. 

The other difference between the two Minimalist shots is that here the Bird / Black Crow is sitting on top of the Street Lamp, whereas in the other shot, the Bird is seen flying across the Street Lamp. 

Here is the link to the shot that I had posted earlier: 

• Bird Vs Street Lamp

Please Note: Both Shots Fall under the Minimalism as Less Elements Category.

The Photo Settings, editing style is nearly the same, even the Exif Data is very similar.

Let me know in the comments below, which one of the Two Minimalist Photographs / Shots did you find better and Why?

Reflection of Two Pigeons in a Water Puddle

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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Looks like this is shot on the beach right? 

Well, there is no beach in my City, Jaipur. Its just that one can pull off such shots by finding puddles of water post rains. That is exactly what I did. 

I found this large puddle of water at SMS Stadium, Jaipur. 

There was a lot of clutter being reflected in the puddle. I took a full 360 degree view and walked around the entire puddle to find interesting reflections. 

I spotted a reflection of a Street Lamp to begin with and within in a few seconds, these two Love Birds/Pigeons Flew onto the Water Puddle. 

There is an Old Zen Saying that says "When the student is ready, the master appears."

If one relates that to Photography it could mean "When the Photographer is ready, the subject appears."

Yes, indeed The Subject appeared when I was ready. It has happened with me a lot of times before.

Once I had my subject ready, I decided to shoot this in the Vertical/ Portrait mode. That helped me remove some unwanted elements from the frame. I also cropped this photograph to further reduce clutter. 

Why I liked the subject despite being very common? was because these birds signify Relationship /Companionship / Love. That was the first appeal. The second was their reflection in water. 

In the Minimalist Composition above, I have also left a lot of Negative Space and followed the obvious Rule of Thirds. 

One important point to note is that, here we have 3 shades or 3 tones of color i.e Light / Medium / Dark. That really pops a Black and White Photograph.

The same principle is followed in Pencil Shading.

The 3 Light/ Medium and Dark tones are the basics of Pencil Shading. I did learn a bit about it last year.

Hope that you enjoyed the Black and White Minimalist Photograph of the Reflection of Two Pigeons above :)

...and the Minimalist or rather maybe not so Minimalist Description.

See you next time. 

Bye !

Love Arranged By Nature

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo by © Prakash Ghai
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They met by accident in a lonesome by lane of a busy street. The moment he saw her, he knew she was very fragile and required immense care. He too was fragile as his relationships in the past had not worked out. They met again but very little words were exchanged between them. There was a lot of eye contact. Their souls had identified each other by now and they both felt a connection. The more they spoke to each other over the next few days and months the more they got closer and found how similar they were in so many ways. Their choice of clothes, music, food, view on life, on art were just the same. They were both surprised to learn it. They realized that their bond was really strong and there was no need to say those magical three words "I love you", remaining silent was sufficient.

They could read and communicate with each other using their minds. All was going good but then there was a problem. A very big problem. The problem was, how could all be pre-decided and fixed beforehand? How could it be possible that they both found exactly the kind of person they were looking for, for over a decade? It was unbelievable for both. And so, doubts crept in. The relationship therefore was still hidden from others and not made public, which is depicted here by the "Shadow" of two birds, rather than their real word image. Their Love was arranged by Nature and therefore, they wanted to wait for more signs, more time in the relationship to be really sure before making a public announcement of their love.

Composition

In the shot below, I used my usual Canon 55-250mm lens and did some contrast and color adjustment in an editing software. At first, I was shooting the real world image of the birds but then to their left, I spotted their shadow being cast and therefore I changed my shot.

Of course the rule of thirds has been followed here by placing a) The minimal sky on he top and b) the bird on extreme top right. I could have avoided the black bar below but again it adds to the image. It kind of balances the vast space yellow covers in the frame and compliments the little blue sky by contrasting to it. And there you have it a Minimalist Photo of two birds in love.