My "star" adventure

[The project was to tell a college or high school event using the transparency (cartoon image).]

If I ask you “how many have seen stars?” pretty much all of you would raise your hands. But, “how many of you have seen stars during the day time and that too within hands reach?”

Well, during my freshman year at college I had that opportunity, which also taught me to take calculated risks rather than jumping off the cliff without a parachute. It’s sometime in 1994, the year I went to GCT, one of the prestigious institutions in my native state, to get my bachelors degree in engineering. As the college was not close to my home, I stayed in the dorm. Dorm life was full of adventures, but fun with several friends around and not much responsibility. I had a friend named THICK. Thick and I were from same native place and went to school together. However, thick was allotted a different room in the dorm. Thick’s roommate was Strong, who is 6 feet two with well built body and exercises regularly. On the other hand, thick was 5 – 10 with moderately built body and does exercise now and then, as he was studious.

Thick and strong always gets into debate as “who is stronger?” On one fine day they ended up with a challenge that whoever lifts the heaviest object would be declared as stronger. Strong lifted 20 lbs, thick lifted 40. Strong did 60 and thick did 80 – during the process he was gaining over confidence. They didn’t have weight greater than 80 lbs. I was the only one who was close to 100 lbs – others were much heavier. They asked whether they can lift and hold for some time to prove who is stronger. I agreed. What can I say; college life is full of adventures isn’t it? We were so involved that we didn’t even bother to keep soft items such as pillow on the floor. It’s right time to note that, unlike carpet floors here, floors in India are as hard as rock. As there was nothing to hold in my upper body, they decided to lift me standing upside down, so that they can hold my hip bone for grip. Strong lifted me and held for 15 seconds and slowly placed me on the ground. Now, it’s thick’s turn. He lifted me and held for 10 seconds, he was tightened the grip and held for 15, 20, 25 and then boom. He dropped me from almost 2 feet and my head banged on the floor. I don’t know what they saw, but I saw colorful stars & dollars within hands reach.

[PS: Shown below is the scanned copy of the cartoon image I drew.]

Pictures that Pop

[The project was to deliver the same speech by all of us. Requirement is to use the transparency.]

How many of us have taken pictures that tell a story or intrigue the viewer? Well, no worries for those who didn’t raise their hands. Three simple tricks that I’ll be sharing for next few minutes would enable you to become a better photographer. Professionals use these tricks to make their “pictures pop.” Who knows, your pictures might be worthy to publish in some of the hottest magazines and you may be featured as the best photographer of the year :-).

Trick #1: Position your subject using the "Rule of thirds" – move your subject off center. Partition your picture into thirds and move your subject from the middle partition to either the left or right/ top or bottom. Moving your focal point incorporates more of the surroundings in an interactive way. And, don't feel like you must have your entire subject in the picture. Sometimes what you don't show is as important as what you do show.

Trick #2: Leverage Lighting – Shoot during the magical hours: an hour after sunrise or an hour before sundown where the shadows are long and colors are vibrant. Incorporate reflections and shadows to give your shots extra dimension. You can also, bring out colors using polarization. If your camera does not have polarization, shoot through your sunglasses!

Trick #3: Incorporate vertical lines – A wall edge, doorways, stairs, trees, a waterfall, a sidewalk or road leading away, all add perspective and draw the viewer in. Incorporate where possible. At the edge of your photo, these lines will help to "frame" your subject.

Now I am going to show a “pop star” picture that pops! The subject is moved off the center; lighting, though artificial, is used to create shadows that give additional dimension; and staircase is used to frame the subject.




People say a good picture is worth a thousand words. Following these tips on offsetting your subject, lighting and vertical lines will transform your pictures from snapshots to stories. Be a director, don't take pictures; make them!