Background Bokeh and experiments with natural light

Experiment with setting sun in the background

Bokeh? I always thought it was simple and that you just need to know how to take photographs. And, that knowing basic photography should be enough to create a bokeh effect. Last weekend I was out for some bird photography and noticed during evening that, with the setting sun in the background behind the trees, the light was falling amazingly on our garden trees. I always wanted to experiment with lights trying out the Bokeh effect (Bokeh means out of focus) with light blobs showing in the background. Well, I thought instead of having to set up the tiny Diwali lights background, here was an opportunity to do a similar effect with natural light. 

This bamboo trees with long leaves in the foreground i.e. the subject is about 2-3 meters away from me. In the background of the bunch of bamboo trees is a greenish silhouette of a huge Gulmohar tree full of leaves and only small dots of lights showing up due to the sun behind it. This is very similar to a large background full of tiny bulbs. This Gulmohar tree must be about 60-70 meters away. This is why when I focused on the bamboo tree leaves, the light dots in the background being out of focus appeared with the Bokeh effect.

Nature provides us a lot of opportunities to experiment and take some good pictures. We just need to explore, identify and capture. So whenever possible be in the right place at the right time.

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Oriental Magpie Robin

Oriental Magpie Robin on a Tree Branch

Oriental Magpie Robin. I've always thought of this bird as a corporate bird :-D Yes, because of the way it is colored, it appears as if it has worn a suit. Magpie robins too have a very sweet voice and are found almost anywhere in India. These are very well known as urban garden visitors. Although, in many areas, the number of Magpie Robins is now on a decline and the species is considered as one of "little concern" globally. I would also like to some day photograph the American Robin better known as the thrush. 

Common Tailorbirds

A pair of common Tailorbirds resting under a large leaf

Right since I started looking closely at the birds around our house, I noticed that a couple of Tailorbirds have been visiting our neighbor's garden very frequently. Although I'm not sure why this beauty falls under the common birds category. As do the other birds, Tailorbirds too have a specific time for visit in the morning and in the evening just before the sunset. These tiny birds, mainly feed on insects.

Taiorbirds have bright green upper body and white underparts. I've noticed them easily sit on the most thinnest of the branches very easily. Well they can comfortably do that since they weigh approximately 8-10 grams.

Tailorbirds build their nests by sewing leaves together to form a deep cup like shape with a very small opening. These tiny birds have a beautiful voice and they do make my morning beautiful by singing their amazing songs almost everyday. 

More Information about Tailorbirds can be read here. You can also get some  bird photography tips here.

Sharing some photos of Tailorbirds shot using Canon Powershot SX50 HS.

Bulbul: The singing bird

Red Whiskered Bulbul at Aksa Beach, Malad, Mumbai

Bubul, another exotic looking bird found in a good number in Mumbai's concrete Jungle. Bulbuls are highly vocal with a very sweet voice. Well, at least the three kinds that I've seen do sing well. There is a large variety to this bird with different names such as Finsch's Bulbul, White Throated Bulbul, Puff Throated Bulbul, Brown Eared Bulbul Gray Cheeked Bulbul, White Browed Bulbul, Red Vented Bulbul and many more. You can find more information about this species here.

I've so far only seen 3 of these. Red Whiskered Bulbul, Red Vented Bulbul and White Browed Bulbul. Wish to see more types of Bulbuls soon.

Sharing some photos of Bulbuls, shot using Canon PowerShot SX50 HS.

Rock Dove or Pigeon: Common but Beautiful

Another species found in a large number in Mumbai, but, it's beautiful.

Rock Doves, more commonly known as Pigeons or Rock Pigeons are pale grey birds with black bars on each wing. These birds are very easily seen almost everywhere in the world. To me, these are the birds I practice some bird photography with when I don't get to see any of those exotic and colorful species around. Pigeons are known to stay steady in the same place for a long time and thus very easily photographed. 

It's also absolutely amazing to see them in flight as the way they spread their wings to fly makes them look very beautiful. The white under-wing with a dark thick border gives an awesome look to this bird when in flight. 

We had a pair of pigeons staying in our balcony where the female had laid 2 eggs. We gave them some space to stay till the eggs would hatch but all those days we had a hard time cleaning up the mess.

Anyways, sharing some photos of this beautiful looking but very common bird:

Aksa Beach: People, Water, Sand and Reflections

You saw in one of my earlier posts, the birds at Aksa beach located in Malad, Mumbai. Best option if you are looking for beaches in and around mumbai. This post is more about the people at the beach, the sand, the water... well all in all the beach itself. Since it was a Sunday a lot of people were present at the beach with small kids playing in the sand and water and a little older kids playing cricket on the beach. There was also a small group, assuming they were from a Photography institute or a workshop with 2 models dressed for Indian Classical dance form called Bharatnatyam. The two models were posing and the photographers with the camera were experimenting with their cameras taking shots at various angles and perspectives. Well, my friend Bharat and I too tried to click a few snaps albeit without any permission from the group (Read the disclaimer below). 

We also noticed that despite many warnings and drowning incidences, some people just don't understand and go for swimming. If you googled for Aksa beach and reached this blog post, please do make note that Aksa is one of the MOST DANGEROUS beaches for swimming so even if you do enter the water, don't go too far. The sand keeps on shifting and the currents are very strong.

Disclaimer: Photographs of people on this blog post are shot with no intention of using them commercially. The same can be removed upon request.

A boy playing at Aksa beach

Blogger showing only one post on home page

Are you one of those bloggers feeling troubled by the auto pagination happening on blogger. Something that you are unaware about? When you set the No. of posts to be shown on blogger settings as 8 or 10, seldom did you know that blogger may want to show only 2-3 posts or may be even 1 post due to the fact that your posts are long and may require usage of a lot more resources of Google Servers than what a single blog should be doing. Well you can read more information here.

Let me quickly get to the solution to this that I could find out. When you are writing a post in the blogger post composer you will see an option called "Insert Jump Break". Refer to the graphic below:

See the Red Marked areas for reference. Top button is for "Insert jump break"

Birds in Mumbai: Part 1

Most commonly found but exotic looking bird in Mumbai. My Favorite

I've been trying my hand on Bird Photography since past few weekends after I got my Canon SX50 HS Camera. Most of it was done near my house in Deonar, Mumbai, Maharashtra. Some were captured at a Park in Vashi, New Mumbai and the rest were found at Aksa Beach Mumbai. More information and Pictures below:

Bird Photography at Aksa Beach

Aksa is a popular beach and a picnic / vacation spot in Aksa village at Malad, Mumbai. When my parents first took me to this beach, it used to be very clean and least visited with a variety of snails and shells found here. It's not the same anymore but it's still a good picnic spot for weekends.

With many private cottages, hotels and resorts, Aksa is a popular weekend destination with youngsters.

Warning: From swimming point of view, this beach isn't safe as there have been many drowning incidences. Strong currents and shifting sand make the beach dangerous.

Last weekend my friend Bharat and I visited the small forest-like area at the shore of Aksa / Dana Paani beaches. I could catch a glimpse of birds like White-throated Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper, Red-whiskered Bulbul, White-browed Bulbul, Asiatic Koel and few more whose names I’m still searching. Sharing the photos of these birds below.

Asiatic Koel, Male

Crows: They're everywhere

Common crow. A bird species that some people find ugly are very easily seen just about anywhere. Common Raven, Australian Raven and Carrion crows are few types of crows that mostly feed on dead animals. Crows in East Asia are supposed to symbolize good luck. It has been found recently that crows are capable of tool construction as well as tool use and they are now among the worlds most intelligent animals with brain size (in proportion to the body size) as large as apes. More Info about Crows.

In our colony a whole community of these noisy creatures, start their day almost as early as 3:00 AM in the morning and go on till 7:30 PM in the evening. And its not just one of them making noise, it’s a whole group. There won't be a single moment in the day when you wouldn't hear a crow croak loudly near you. Well to me, when I don't see too many other species of birds around, I can just practice bird photography clicking a few snaps of these easily found birds :-)

Umm... I need a passport sized photo....

Indian Rose Ringed Parakeet

Oops... you caught me... Umm... want some?

Indian Rose Ringed Parakeet, a beautiful but noisy bird. We often see these in our garden as we have got an Almond tree (Indian Almond scientifically known as Terminalia Catappa) very close to our house. The parrots visit the tree almost every day during the morning for fruits. Their presence has never gone unnoticed as these birds really make a lot of noise. However, due to the large green leaves it is usually very difficult to trace the exact location of the bird, on the tree. However, I have often got a very clear view of where exactly the birds were and have been able to click some shots using the 50x optical zoom of Canon SX50 HS. Sharing some of the shots below. If you are an expert bird watcher, do let me know if these are female or Juvenile Parakeets. The difference between the male and female that I know is the presence of dark ring in the neck region of the Male. However, since even the Juveniles don't have the ring it is difficult for me to tell for sure whether these are females or Juveniles :-) 

May be you can help?