Before (and after) sunset

I have become real good at capturing sunset shots it seems. Repeated experimentation and trial & error, and here is the result of some of that (I am sure gazillion people used done the same techniques before, but even Christopher Columbus must have been mighty thrilled discovering America when the Vikings had already done so).

1. 1/100s, f8.0, ISO 200, Cloudy White balance

This one is my favorite. Zoom right into the sun in aperture priority with a high aperture and meter for exposure. Cloudy white balance works best just before and after sunset (Sunshine is preferable before that). If the camera has AF lock, keep the focus locked, zoom out and click. Or what I did was switch to manual, increased f but used the camera recommended exposure time. Thats why the photo looks darker than it really was.

2. 0.3s, f6.3, ISO 200, Cloudy White balance

All exactly the same as the previous photo, but metered by zooming into the point where the sun had just set. Of course, reduced light means longer exposure time. (2) was taken 25 minutes after (1) from exactly the same point.

3. 0.4s, f6.3, ISO 200, Tungsten White balance

Taken more than half an hour after sunset. I figured the colour temperature of the late twilight light was similar to tungsten light (I later learned it is not actually) so tried taking this one with tungsten white balance but surprisingly the sea is in a very genuine shade of deep blue, which is what I wanted to capture in the first place.

4. 1/125s, f8.0, ISO 100, Daylight White balance

Nothing special, except that I used high DOF so that the waves, sun and sky were all in focus. I guess this photo should have been taken in ISO 200, lots of time to try that.

PS: All photos were taken in the same place, but at various times of day (and tide)
PPS: As always, no digital modification whatsoever.

Royal Challenge

Some quick thoughts on Bangalore Royal Challengers.

1. If this was a first class premier league and not a T20 one, Bangalore would have begun as outright favorites.

2. The name "Bangalore Royal Challengers" is pretty shady. I'm glad they didn't call it "Bengaluru Royal Challengers", which sounds shadier.

3. Bangalore did reasonably well to buy 6 foreigners and no more as opposed to the big spenders who went with 7 or 8, and almost seemed to forget the 'not more than 4 foreigners in the starting 11' rule while bidding. Of course, this means that Chanderpaul and Cameron White will still be spending a lot of time warming that bench.

4. To bring a footballing analogy into this (Damn, I seem to do a lot of this), I think Bangalore Royal Challengers will begin the IPL like Liverpool in the EPL. Lots of talent but will eventually falter to the "big" 3.

5. Bangalore Royal Challengers will arguably boast the best bowling line-up in the IPL- assuming of course that the usual starting line-up is Zaheer Khan, Kumble, Steyn, Bracken, Praveen Kumar.

6. The batting on the other hand, while being stodgy, is not exactly what I'd call swashbuckling. I worry for Bangalore Royal Challengers in all those big run chases.

7. Skimpy does a detailed job of analyzing possible starting elevens for all teams. In addition, I think Dravid will bat in the top 3. I don't see the point in him batting anywhere lower for a T20.

Notes from a small town

Notes from travel in 'off the beaten track' Gujarat will follow in a deserving blog post(s) of its own. This is just on "life" in a small town.

Okay, maybe town is not the accurate demographic identifier, but I am unsure what to term a settlement where you can drive from one end to the other before reaching 3rd gear.*

Mithapur essentially consists of a soda ash plant and the township which feeds it. Nothing more, nothing less. That's why it's very difficult to answer "So what's new ?" when such a question is addressed to you in Mithapur. I mean, there is only so much that can change with soda ash.

The problem, when you live in such a small township, is your life becomes as predictable as the chemical formula of soda ash. And then there is the local telephone directory, which contains gems such as "Upper brine filtration", "Ammonium chloride line B", "Main bicarbonate office" amongst other such nettlesome memories from inorganic chemistry.

It appears that I have picked up 3 "Gujarati" words- Kem cho, BSE and Sensex. It also appears that using these 3 in conjunction with each other is enough to convey anything here.

Back to the town itself, it is christened "Mithapur", The people who created Gujarati language were the original ones with a sense of humor, since meethu in Gujarat means both sweet and salt. If you're wondering how does someone distinguish between "This food is too salty" and "this food is too sweet", all I can say is that there is no such thing as "too much sweet" in Gujarati cuisine.

And then there are the drastic changes to my dietary patterns. Good changes (if you're speaking from my mom's brahminical point of view). Basically Gujarat is to non-vegetarianism what Pol Pot was to Cambodian human rights. And the place I live in currently is not just Gujarat, but Saurashtra, which is the Gujarat of Gujarat. I do feel bad for all that coastline lying wasted here; there are just unmitigated opportunities for some 'Mahesh Lunch Home' level seafood (meanwhile makes mental note of what the first place I will go to after returning to Mumbai).

On the other hand, this place is great fun, and an extremely welcome change from Mumbai and its local trains. More on that later.

* The original use of this expression, I believe, was used by my dad to describe Singapore. But in this case, I am not even exaggerating.

Why did the nilgai cross the road?

Can anybody tell me what this animal is? It strutted with a substantial aplomb as I was trying to make my way on the same road that it was on. Even when a Komodo dragon did the same act on me in Indonesia, I could at least identify the aforementioned specimen of fauna. But I am rather embarrassed to admit that I have absolutely no idea what this organism is.

Is it a
a) cow
b) horse
c) deer
d) mule
e) donkey
f) nilgai
g) none of the above ?

The only thing I know about the animal is that it is rather camera shy and the 12x optical zoom my camera boasts needed to be used in all its glory, to capture even this.

Lights, camera, action

Two photos I took last weekend which merit a mention here. Both are taken from 26 storeys high, and have absolutely no tampering from picasa/photoshop etc.

Night skyline in Bombay. Wide angle, ISO 400, 1.6 seconds exposure, f/8 aperture, cloudy white balance.

Sunset in Bombay. ISO 200, 1/5 second exposure, f/8 aperture, manual white balance (which accounts for the extra brilliant reds).

On the road again

This post is being composed on a highway from Jamnagar to Okha. The roads are, as Monsieur Modi promised, excellent. I am en route to a place called Mithapur in Gujarat. Now most Indians would translate Mithapur as "sweet town", but apparently in Gujew, it means "salt town".

Not that I have any issues with a place being named "salt town". In fact, the last time I had been to one, it was called Salzburg, Austria. But this salt town I am told, does not boast of Alpine scenery, nor was the Sound of Music shot there.

However, it is a quaint little coastal hamlet boasting of several deserted beaches in its vicinity. More travelogues promised over the next 7 weeks of my life, which will be spent in the aforementioned hamlet.

Club Futebol de Manchester Unido ?

I foresee interesting times for ManU. For one, there are 4 players currently in the squad who are native Portuguese speakers- Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani (Portugal), Anderson (Brazil), and Manucho (Angola), plus a fifth in the youth team- Evandro de Carvalho Brandao (Portugal), another striker. Add to that Carlos Tevez who is Argentinian (and Spanish is for the better part, mutually intelligible with Portuguese).

Summer transfer rumors notwithstanding, Miguel Veloso, also Portuguese, is a very likely ManU transfer target this summer. Potentially, we could have a situation next season where the entire midfield (Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson, Veloso) and the forwards (Tevez, Manucho) can all communicate to each other in Portuguese. Of course, that makes it difficult for the English speaking minority to communicate to the Portuguese speaking attackers. Essentially a very similar situation to Arsenal (French) and Liverpool (Spanish).

The way ManU are playing right now, who's complaining of the Portuguese connection?

Though I do foresee a potentially interesting fallout of this come 2010 when it seems Fergie might actually retire finally. Jose Mourinho for the manager post, anyone ?

Update: In the dying hours of the transfer window, ManU signed Brazilian teenager Rodrigo Possebon from Inter. I wonder how that escaped the radar of the footballing world. Another Portuguese speaking footballer in the kitty. No wonder Carlos Queiroz is more at home in Manchester than Madrid.