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photograph doon Sandip Puran Singh
Founder of SUSWA, an NGO working along the northern boundary of Rajaji National Park. He’s also an avid bird watcher and an amateur aturalist working on the Doon valley.
Just as a subject needs to be seen in a particular way for color photography, so shooting in mono-chrome needs another very different visual approach. Professional photographers dislike having to shoot color and black and white on the same assignment because the two disciplines are so different. I for one mostly convert after looking at the finished product
the most dominant side branches stood out like giant limbs while a pale morning sky with a hint of clouds formed the back drop. It is essential to ignore the color content of the subject when shooting in monochrome and learn to look only at the tonal graduation it possesses. Color can be a real red herring because it can mask the tones of a scene. A still life of a single red apple in basket full of green ones, for instance, would look quite striking because of the contrast in color, yet in monochrome the red apple would hardly be distinguishable from the green ones. In the next issue I will describe the steps that we can take using editing software’s to make striking monochrome images which depend on elements such as shape, form, texture and pattern for the production of eye catching photograph.
photographing doon
regular feature
ways to
thesongriver
oaktree This picture was taken during autumn on a trip to Kanatal. We had spent the night at Karan Singha’s ‘Hazara height’ orchard resort which is on top of a ridge. The next morning was as usual soft with dew quoting the country side as we set out towards the Saklani farm. I had already taken a no. of photographs of the Himalayas when the sun began to warm the air and the dew started to melt. As we walked past the densely forested path and descended towards the Northern face a light mist drifted up the valley and as I reached the bottom this beautiful Oak Tree emerged leaning out from the hill side. Old and stately it stood silent as a monarch surveying its domain. The mountain side lay to its left and I used a long focus lens to isolate the tree and frame the image so that the trunk and
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ExpressionS AUGUST 2011
The song river as it meanders past Satya Narayan to meet the Ganges is a delight to look at the through the seasons. My visit to Haridwar on an assignment to provide visual material for geography – ‘Exploring the Doon’ required of me to look at various geographical landmarks of this part of the Doon valley. It was a clear day as I stood on the old derelict bridge spanning the river facing west this beautiful view of a gentle song snaking its way past the bridge came into view. The sedge flat on the right bank formed the fore-ground while the Shivalik forests formed the back-ground making it a complete picture. All I needed to do was to compose and make a appropriate frame.
AUGUST 2011
ExpressionS
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