Spring is in the Air

I love spring.

Vibrant colors, fresh air, great lighting on a clear day...it's every photographer's dream. These are some of the tulips that were planted in my front yard this year. I wanted to make the image seem endless so I used a very shallow depth of field. Great colors in this one.

Waking Tulip

I took this one at 7:00 am on a saturday morning. I think the tulip and I were both half asleep through this one, so I had to shoot 4-5 shots to make sure I was able to capture the tulip's waking state.

I love how prominent the texture of the petals are. It makes you want to just reach out and touch it.

Loki (The Norse God of Mischief)

This is my new Kawasaki Ninja 650R. (I named the bike Loki, after the Scandinavian god of mischief)

I wanted to capture the feeling I get right before I go out riding on a perfect summer day. I took this one when doing a pre-ride inspection before heading out for a 150 mile ride.

The bike was parked in my garage and just waiting for me to warm her up.

I love the diffused lighting in the shot.

Diya

I think this one would make an excellent Greeting Card/Post Card for Diwali.

Initially, I attempted to take this picture using a flash, but the flash just made the picture seem as though it was overexposed. So I went ahead and began taking different shots with varying ISO levels since it was a very low-light setting.

The higher ISO settings seem to work better, but the shot wasn't quite where I wanted it.
(the reddish/orange tint in the shot overwhelmed the subject)

After trying out a couple more combinations, I think I found my sweet spot.
I decided to drop ISO, increase aperture, and slow down the shutter a bit.

I'm glad it turned out the way it did. The available light made for a great shot..

Children's Gym

Took this one at a Children's Gym in Loudoun County, VA.

It was early in the morning and I was barely awake when taking most of these shots, so I had to take quite a few to capture the moment in the way that I wanted to. I think this one captured the moment exceptionally well.

It was the girl's first time at a children's gym and she was very shy of joining the other kids in Calisthenics.

Her cousins were playing in the gym and she kept saying that she wanted to go play with them, but whenever her aunt would take her into the gym, she would come running out first chance that she got.

I took this one at the very second that she overcame her shyness and started following the Calisthenics instructor's excercises..

Havan

A Havan is a sacred ritual in Hinduism that involves a fire ceremony. It is a ritual of sacrifice made to the Hindu god of fire, Agni.

Hindu belief is that lighting the sacred fire will help rid your home and family of evil spirits. It is a very common ceremony amongst Hindu families.

This picture was taken at such a Havan. I love the colors and tones in this capture.

The sacred fire almost looks surreal..

Marigold/Daffodil

I love the way this one turned out..

I went up to NYC for a business/valentines day trip this year and room service brought up my grilled salmon with a beautiful arrangement of flowers.

I called the concierge and was told that the flowers brought up to my room were a rare blend species of Marigold/Daffodil.

I took a few shots using the standard background but something just didn't feel right.So I dropped my jacket behind the subject and went crazy with shutter speed/aperture combos.

The result was much better than I had hoped for. I've always heard that fresh flowers are always a pleasure to photograph (especially in macro photography) because of their vibrance, fine detail, and vivid colors.

I guess I got to experience this first hand this time..