film photography

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This weekend, I was reviewing some old film scans, and this specific image made me pause. I made this in 2018 with my Mamiya 6 (with a 50mm equivalent lens.) I used Kodak Portra 400 film.

It was around this time, my photographic eye started to develop. I started eliminating the excess from my frames and using the negative space as an element of the image itself.

Still, I have not been back to this location — Lake Merced — for morning photography in a while. It might be time for another visit. I wonder how I will treat this location after three years. I might also want to use a longer lens this time around.

November 15, 2021. San Francisco

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The Cameras I used on my Ladakh Adventure

  • iPhone XS Max.
  • Leica M-A with a Leica f2/50mm Summicron.
  • Nikon D850 along with Nikon f 2.8 24-70 and Nikon 2.8 70-200 lenses.

I had initially planned to bring along a Leica TL2 with an f1.4/50mm (equivalent) Summilux, but somehow that didn’t work out, and at the very last minute, I decided to rent a Nikon kit from a camera rental operation in Bangalore. Continue reading “The Cameras I used on my Ladakh Adventure”

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Confluence

One of the most magical sights — at least for me — is the confluence of Rivers Indus and Zanskar. The two rivers have very distinct colors, whether you are looking down from the mountain road that hugs the mountain on its side, or right from the beach. And I am not the first one to stop and take photos at this spot. It is a tourist haunt, and perhaps that is why it was a challenge to find new perspectives and give my spin on this spot. Continue reading “Confluence”
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Gateway to Heaven: Ladakh

Photography oriented trips are a visual Marathon. You are always on the move; your eyes are still looking, scanning, cataloging and telling your brain what a photo worth making is. I usually drive around with a local and then stop at a location that clicks. Pun intended! And then I would spend either minutes or hours at a location, and work it.

But after a while, your eyes start to tire, and you stop looking. It usually happens on the last day and today was no different. Luckily, Arun Bhat, who helped organize this trip and our man-Friday, karma, were there to push me. “Why don’t we drive up to Tanglangla,” and stop along the way and look at some Monasteries,” Arun had suggested. The drive to the second highest motorable pass in the world (maybe) is beautiful, and with early snows coming, the roads are going to be empty and pass through a beautiful landscape, worth looking and not just photographing.  Continue reading “Gateway to Heaven: Ladakh”