Canon 50D

That's the beauty Ashutosh bought.
shoot with a nikon.

Out on a shooting spree

("Sudarshan with his chota pistolet")

So off we set towards the park at St. Egreve and indeed it is a piece of beauty. A photographer dream come true; mountain, lake, clouds, fishermen, ducks, kids, swings, grass. Take a look below. Need I say more?


Usually one associates such places with calm and quiet. But it was even better, it reminded me when it was the last time I heard birds sing. And here they sung together in a chorus and it filled the air from all directions. Sweet harmony. Sweet enough for to practise some yoga.

It's funny how everything hindi word in english gets an extraa 'a'. Yog becomes yoga, ram becomes rama, krishna becomes krishna. No doubt the english love their dentist session.

And then comes a cherubin with her mamie (french for grandmother).

Always remember for the french the kids are always belle or beau (beautiful) and not mignon (cute). Talking of belle it reminds me of the first words in french that I learnt "la belle dame sans merci". It was a poem I read in school. Its interesting to note what are the first words in a foreign language one learns.
A chinese friend learnt "Donnez moi ton argent" (give me your money).
A polish friend learnt "Voulez vous couchez avec moi" (will you sleep with me).
add c'est soir and it becomes a line from Lady Marmalade of Moulin Rouge.

Back to the subject of the paradis for a photographer. I mentioned fishermen (pecheur), however there were more fisherboys. One who caught two fishes while I took the photo.

And the kids love the swing.


And the flowers. I was unknowingly shot by Ashutosh with his chota topp

It rained roses today

Seriously, the first day with my SLR today. Platonic is a relation between man and his camera, so said a great philosopher. Don't show me the finger, I admit I made that up. So it didn't rain roses but it actually rained here in Grenoble today which almost spoilt our first day out. Rain made us shift gear from the bountiful mountains to the centre ville. And we settled to hot cups of espresso and cappuccino which actually make good subjects for photography.

A little more perspective, we are three guys. Numero un, lets call him D300 aka big topp, numero duo, he likes to known as 50D aka he's doesn't care and numero trwa 90D aka the bada pistolet. And they are sitting in a cafe clicking themselves nuts. 50D maintains stoic silence as he obseves big topp and bada pistolet shoot around coffee cups and chairs while people stare.


And all of a sudden the waitress presents herself with the bill. Not for herself you naughty one, it's for the coffee we shoot. After the coffee is strewn down the street, afterall true photographers never drink the coffee they shoot. You don't know that, cha cha cha, you must be a nobody, that's the rule number two in the golden book of photographers. And to further ingrain the importance of rule number two, let me reiterate the rule number six (courtesy the red eye is watching) there is no rule number one.

Gotit.

After downing the coffee we walked to the riverside. Every city has a symbol, agra has its taj mahal, paris la tour eiffel and grenoble has its bulles, bubble shape cable car that leads to bastille.



A more artistic version as shot by 50D with his Fz8 is here



And we head over to 50D's favorite spot. He marks it every time with his .... I am sorry for the dots, please read between the dots (or doigts). He marks it with a photo and nothing more and nothing less.



Ok, we might appear crazy when we are shooting photos, but we just see the world differently. God blessed us all with eyes, but blessed some of us with another pair made of glass and we sometimes like to see the world through the glass. We are different, so please don't stare at us when we seem to be in a kind of trance around a simple leaf.
The journey will continue in the next post.

Bitten by the bug

The camera bug bit me again yesterday and I bought 'the Nikon D300'. Now the story is a long one, short version here. A week long quest for a perfect slr, Canon or Nikon, 50D or D90 went to gutter when I saw the D300 with a massive discount at the local Fnac. I was heavily prejudiced towards the Canon 50D but God bless those guys who decided to discount the piece. After drooling over the camera from far away in the glass enclosure it was held in on Friday and spending a long night on whether should I buy it or hold out another bout of camera owning frenzy?
On saturday morning I dutifully presented myself at Fnac, Victor Hugo and tried both the Nikon and Canon. Now Canon was definitely lighter, it has a nicer feel but my mind was made. The salesperson tried to explain the functions in French, really complicated but I was already sold. Now they wouldn't let me have the cam on credit, I need a 10 year residence permit for that. So thats the way to go, the salary credited in morning is diverted to Fnac. Ouchh. Finally, I was handed over the camera in a grand sac. Big appareil photo, big sac, rigoled the salesperson.

Now there is Ashutosh besides me, shifting and turning. Man, I can see it in his eyes the desire to buy one for himself. He frantically tried to call Virang for possible funding but he's unreachable.
So we leave for home. Camera's unpacked but there's no memory card. Damn Nikon, can't even put a basic memory card, even 16mb (the one supplied with my panasonic) would suffice. So off to Grand Place to search for the card, get one at Darty (long story). While Ashutosh checks out the D90 and 50D at the Fnac here. Now he's totally sold out, he's getting the 50D but credit limit on his card. So back at home to get the cheque book.
And he presents himself dutifully to the salesgirl. She doesn't even attempt to explain him the intricacies of operation, they have the magical sensor which lets them scan when the guy is bitten by the love bug. Sorry, I digressed, a thousand apologies, I mean by the camera bug. So after issuing the cheque, which was faithfully verified by security who wouldn't divulge the algorithm employed in the interest of national security. I swear I have not watched Star gate continuously for 24 hours. Its true, cent pour cent, the security guy disappeared with the cheque for 10 nervous minutes for Ashutosh but he magically reappeared like a gaussian blur effect in PS with a sourire. C'est bon.


("Ashutosh with his topp")

So we are now two happy guys, chirping with their equipments and glass. Glass from the factories of Faridabad, surreptitiously rebranded in names of likes of Nikon, Canon, Leica, etc. and duped to innocent camera buffs for thousands of euros.
Damn it, I miss my pin hole camera. Ok you caught me I was not born in 20s, not the pin hole but I used a convex lens for making one for my science project.