So innocent... yet so deep

So innocent... yet so deep, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

My adorable niece Garima with another pose for the camera. She's now 2.5 years old.

Scarf and composition set up with help of my brother.

Thanks to Saras for the title :-)

End of the world

End of the world, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

And it was cold! :-)

Creating miniatures - pseudo tilt shift

Creating miniatures - pseudo tilt shift, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

Came across an interesting photography technique called Tilt-shifting sometime back. You can read about it on Wikipedia.

Although I have never seen or used a tilt-shift lens, I went on to create the above 'fake' tilt-shift photo in under a minute! And you can do so too. It's very very simple and you need to know only Photoshop basics. Find out about it on my Blog here.

Serendipity

Serendipity, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

Larger looks so much better!

Another random shot from somewhere in the outskirts of Kathmandu valley. Came across this place while on the way to Dakshin Kali, which is about 45 mins from Kathmandu. It's always a good idea to stay alert and look out for subjects or landscapes to photograph when traveling. Never know what might show up when.

Evolution

Evolution, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

Quite an unusual composition at the beach.

The last kid is on a surfboard and the middle one's pulling him using a rope.

Take off

Take off, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

After almost 80 failed attempts, I was happy to finally get this shot. Now if only the beetle was a little more sharp...

More about my pursuit to capture this photo here.

No beetle was harmed while taking this photo ;-)

Curious soul

Curious soul, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

She was trying her best to hide herself from the camera by moving in and out a dark corridor. But once in a while she looked outside and I was able to get few shots like this one. She was in her school uniform, ready to go to school.

Shot at Khokana locality, Kathmandu.

Golden dreams

Golden dreams, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

This shot turned out to be pretty good considering the fact that I was not looking through the viewfinder when it was captured! Since it was too bright to look at the sun directly though the camera, I just pointed to the west to take a 'test' shot. Apparently it was my lucky day, and I ended up with this image.

Of course the original photo wasn't that great, as you might have guessed. A crop and few color tweaks in Lightroom resulted in this image - which has turned out to be a good desktop wallpaper item ;-)

Old habits

Old habits, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

He gave me a curious look as I pointed the camera towards him.

Clicked during Indra Jatra festival in Kathmandu.

Hey! You!!

Hey! You!!, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

She was happily playing with her friend before she noticed me pointing (the rather long) 70-300mm lens at her. I wasn't expecting her to point a finger at me or something. It was spontaneous, and that's what I'm liking about clicking photos on the streets.

I've been doing a bit of street photography lately. So far I've learned that, people can give you unpredictable looks when they notice you pointing the camera towards them. And there is that moment - that moment when they look at the lens for the first time. Blink and you miss it!

Where the mind is at peace

Where the mind is at peace, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

Few days back my friend Suzon took me to this place near the locality of Khokana(I'm not able to find the exact name of the place, even on Google maps). There are fields, endless rice fields everywhere you look around the place.

I was surprised to find such a place so close to Kathmandu. It took us just about 30 mins from the city to reach here. I'd give anything to get away from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets of Kathmandu. And this was the perfect place to be.

I will be coming to place in the years to come. It is just a matter of time when this place will be turned into a concrete jungle. And that day this image will no longer be labeled Green day.

Note: Was able to track down this location on Google maps. Here it is.

BCAM

BCAM, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

Excerpt from the Picnik blog:

For every pink pic added to the group, their parent company Yahoo! will donate one Euro to Breast Cancer charities across Europe! So send your pink pic to Pink 2008

This photo doesn not qualify for the group as it's not completely pink, but that don't matter - this is to spread the awareness. You can learn more about the whole thing here.

5 photos I've submitted to the group

Lonely days

Lonely days, originally uploaded by Digital Monk.

An elderly lady leaning on the corridor wall inside a house in the village of Khokana, Kathmandu. This is a crop of a much bigger image.

I am not dead.

Dead?! Not at all. In fact I've been rocking! So much so that I did not invest any time into writing a post in a long time.

As life passes by, you come to realize many things - about yourself and the world around you. I've come to a realization that that I am not a good blogger. I do not get a kick out of writing paragraphs after paragraps just to discuss about things or to express my feelings. Yes, once in a while that urge kicks in, but it never lasts long.

On the other hand, I've also realized that I prefer other means for expression - pictures, videos, IM and such things that do not require for you to read or write too much stuff. Thus you may not find new things in this blog that frequently but you will notice that my Flickr page is updated very regularly(almost on a daily basis at times).

So yes, the past couple of month this blog has been almost dead. I struggle hard to write new blog entries... and what's fun in doing something if you have to force yourself into doing it :-) But I'm glad to say that I will be updating my Flickr page so so often. I PhotoBlog very frequently, and that is something I love to do.

My Flickr photostream is also accessible directly from : www.prakaz.com

the Iphone, Unpacking

It's been about a month since I got an iPhone. It's absolutely lovable. No doubt, it's the coolest portable gadget(and phone) I ever owned yet.

When I decided to get one, It wasn't out in the UK, so I had to order it from the US through ebay(paying ridiculous customs charge). Nevertheless, no regrets.
The phone, iPod, youtube, internet, cool applications... and what not, all in one device, is worth every penny.

The iPhone came locked to AT&T sim card and could be used only in the US. Any iPhone has to be *unlocked* first to be used with GSM sim cards around the world. Since I got the phone, I've learned a thing or two about hacking the iPhone (and even helped a friend get his phone unlocked). It's no big deal really. The *real* iPhone hackers have done all the hard work and written applications to unlock the phone. One just has to follow the instructions(carefully).

It may be a while when the iPhone is out for sale in India and other Asian countries. So if you want to use it in any other country other than where the iPhone is officially out(US and UK as of this writing) unlocking it is the only way to go.

I took this short video when unpacking an iPhone(the 2nd one I unpacked). Thought it might be of interest to some people(I watch unpacking of gadget's video on youtube myself!). Here it is... a cheesy video :-)