You don't just take out the camera, click a button and make a picture!

You don't just take out the camera, click a button and make a picture! A good amount of thought process has been spent on making on this one.

EXIF: F/7.1 1/400 ISO1600 300mm Canon550D. 
I wanted to remove the background an put the emphasis on the flower and I had a 70-300mm mounted on my camera. So I just zoomed to the 300mm side and focused on the flower. I wanted the thread like fine web to be in focus as well. So I stopped down the aperture a little bit to F/7.1. There wasn't much light. So I had to raise the ISO to 1600 so that I could expose @ 1/400 and thereby reasonably prevent camera shake blur. And Voila!

And what made me click this one? Do you see those fine threads of a spider web. Don't they look like holding the flower from falling?? That's my perspective.

Have a nice day.

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What I'd Learnt From The Nursing Class

Let me get straight to the point.

I was taking a class on anti-epileptic agents for the nursing students in my college. I made sure I used simpler parlance to communicate medical terms so that everyone would understand the concept behind whatever I said. I tried my best to make it an interesting discussion. I used some "Nursing points" to highlight the role of nurses in the healthcare.

Halfway through the class, I felt the initial enthusiasm slowly die. So I took a little break from the boring Pharmacology content and spoke a little about the importance of nurses in the healthcare system, hoping that it would make them feel more important and would motivate them. But what I could fell is that most of them didn't realize that nursing was an important part of the health care system. Well, I have seen grumpy & arrogant nurses, sweet & pleasant ones too... Whatever, I have always had this opinion: Nursing is at the heart of the health care. Nurses and even doctors are supposed to provide this nursing care to patients.

And then, I asked an offbeat question. I asked how many of them had taken up nursing willingly and how many had come just because of their parents' coercion. I was quite shocked when a good majority of the class, like a mummy come up to life from the dead, raised their voices to admit parental coercion as the cause for their career choice. Their voices resounded of pent up anger, frustration and resentment. That was quite awkward. I shifted back and continued Pharmacology till the end and bid good-bye.

What I've learnt:

• Most nurses may not know or may not feel the importance of nursing. We NEED TO MAKE THEM FEEL IMPORTANT.

• Parental coercion (I am sorry if it sounds arrogant) still seems to be a major factor that decides career choice. 

Some Quotes:

(Image source: http://blog.chamberlain.edu)

A Glimpse Into A Minature World

 A Macro lens is required to take highly magnified images and macro photography poses its own challenges to the photographer. Now that a macro lens from Canon costs more that 40k, I got myself a macro filter five days back for around 300 bucks and tried my luck on macro photography. Here are some of my first shots...

1. Magical Lights
Here is a twig which is illuminated from the first rays of the morning sun. The flare from the macro filters add to the magic of the moment.

 2. A Fly
Here is a fly seated on a leaf after a sumptuous meal. I am thankful because it kept hoping from flower to flower. As it sat down, I took a shot.

3. A Fly on A Flower

4. A Coloured Insect. 
Probably a good camouflage.

5. A Drip of Pure Joy
Caught a water drop before it could fall.

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Read more on Synaptic Sparks: 7 Random Photo Thoughts on LOVE !

A Disappointing Morning...

After a night that crushed my soul,

The incessant pain I clearly remember,

Woke up from a disturbed slumber, 

Hoping the dawn would find me whole.

Alas, the sun's still not up,

There's no magic in my morning cup,

No roses are in bloom,

The winds move swiftly with arid gloom.

I hear no little birds nor their sweet voice,

Vacuous songs could still make any soul rejoice.

Oh you arrogant morn!

You brought me nothing but left me to mourn?

Who will hold me when I feel so torn,

My heart hardened like corn?

I try so hard to fake a smile.

Alone I shall trod, at least a mile.

Aren't my days all numbered?

At the end, I shall no longer be remembered?

Whom am I trying so hard to impress,

When no one shall be my side when I lay in distress?

I shall walk alone

In the rain, with all the pain,

I shall sing a song and never let out a moan.

World Photographers Day

Today, August 19 is the World Photographers' Day. Photographers make the world even more beautiful by their creativity. You may be an amateur, hobbyist photographer or a serious professional. Whoever you are, you deserve to know that your creativity makes the world more beautiful, changes perspectives, puts a smile on people and so much more...

Here are a few inspiring quotes on Photography:

You don’t take a photograph, you make it. – Ansel Adams

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. – Ansel Adams

If your photos aren’t good enough, then you’re not close enough. – Robert Capa

It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter. – Alfred Eisenstaedt

I love the people I photograph. I mean, they’re my friends. I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all, yet through my images I live with them. – Bruce Gilden

Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. – Imogen Cunningham

In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality. – Alfred Stieglitz

Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase. – Percy W. Harris

I am not interested in rules or conventions. Photography is not a sport. — Bill Brandt

It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are. – Paul Caponigro

Of course it’s all luck. – Henri Cartier-Bresson

What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce. ― Karl Lagerfeld

A lot of photographers think that if they buy a better camera they’ll be able to take better photographs. A better camera won’t do a thing for you if you don’t have anything in your head or in your heart. – Arnold Newman

If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff. – Jim Richardson

It can be a trap of the photographer to think that his or her best pictures were the ones that were hardest to get. – Timothy Allen

Even though fixed in time, a photograph evokes as much feeling as that which comes from music or dance. Whatever the mode – from the snapshot to the decisive moment to multi-media montage – the intent and purpose of photography is to render in visual terms feelings and experiences that often elude the ability of words to describe. In any case, the eyes have it, and the imagination will always soar farther than was expected. – Ralph Gibson

The best images are the ones that retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of times they are viewed. — Anne Geddes

To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them. – Elliott Erwitt

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
― Ansel Adams

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”
― Marc Riboud

Wish you all the fun!

Do follow me @ My Photography Page, Flickr

Read more on Synaptic Sparks: Top 10 reasons Why You should Marry a Photographer

Troubles & Tribulations of a 24-Year Old Bachelor!

It had dawned just like any another day. Nothing was too special nor too tragic about the day that it was worth any iota of my remembrance. Until...

"Don't give up hope. Everything will be all right, things will change for the better"

"What's wrong? You know you can discuss freely, right?"

What's wrong? Why is everyone acting so weird? I pondered. "Nothing", I murmured back.

I fell exhausted on my bed, my thoughts still researching what had called for such exaggerated concern all of a sudden. My curiosity only grew more and finally deciding to know the reason, I stormed out of my room and asked her. Momentarily taking her eyes off the computer screen, she looked at me over her glasses and answered me in gestures by stroking her chin I mimicked the same and my hands could feel the coarse bristles of overgrown hair on my beard. 

Phew... My dear God, why is it that I am always lazy and slack when I don't get things done in time but when I don't get a shave on time and grow a beard it becomes a quintessence of depression and love failure. This was not the sole occurrence of such demeanour, I realize that I've been facing certain troubles which I could say are rather peculiar to my present status: A Bachelor!

The other day, I was about to put a whole gulab jamun into my mouth. I was holding it in my hand. The sweet jaggery was almost dripping. It was looking so delicious and my mouth had already started watering. Ah...that happy reunion, that fleeting sweet love affair that was about to happen then was aberrantly broken off by an offbeat question from some nonchalant voice from behind.

"When are you getting married?"

I turned around and the gulab jamun clutched in my hand was carefully snatched. And before I could make a move or open my mouth, that slender figure disappeared amongst the crowd. I did not complain because it was a marriage reception that I was attending. I could get more gulab jamuns, as much as it pleased me. But that question put me out of mood for food.

I lay awake in my bed that night pondering over that disturbing question. "When will I get married?" I kept asking myself. Normally I wouldn't let such thoughts disturb me. But then, recently I had developed such anuptaphobia that I had asked such questions to myself several times before. All of my anuptaphobia stems from the fact that I live in an environment where love is just trampled over by the self-centred, the self-indulgent and the proud. No day ever passes without the sad story of the unfortunate love failures, marriages in shambles and desperate singles.

I have received so much advice so far that I can almost write a "How to find a girl for marriage" book out of it. Some excerpts...

"Keep searching. Keep trying. You'll will surely hit"

"Go girl hunting yaar, you're wasting your time"

"Get yourself registered in a matrimonial and find a girl soon, isn't it getting late?"

I am just 24 years old. Some feel it's too early (for marriage), some, too late. To be frank, I keep oscillating between the two like a disturbed pendulum pushed by people on either sides. There are times when I simply don't care and there are times when I am totally bothered and apprehensive. The fact is I do believe in a God and I know things will go on well for me. But then, God helps those who help themselves. There is a fine line between when you should be patient and hopeful and when you should take a step of action, a leap, courageously. And this fine faint line is seen by a wisdom which I am in desperate need right now.

The Heart vs. Brain Battle

Dear Heart,

You have been bestowed with the gift of automaticity. Kindly remember, you have no right of autonomy. Don't decide upon matters without my consent and get into deep trouble.

Take care,

Brain.

Dear Brain,

You may have control over every other dumb things out there but not on me. You keep thinking too much and too long and you keep judging everyone. Life is just too short and I cannot be waiting for your order that keeps delaying as doubts keep flooding you. Life is all about do or die. Life is about being daring. Life is about keeping hopes high. Haven't you heard of "matters of the heart"? So kindly leave them to me.

Beating for you,

Heart.

Dear Heart,

Don't be too stupid. There's no way of staying away from judging people. You do it all the time. You judge people to be too good and get hopelessly hurt every time. Don't ever question of my authority, you bloody fool. When you are sick and can beat no more, people will throw you away and replace you. But if I am gone, you'll start rotting right away! Last time you made a rash decision and you put us all in deep trouble. You kept pounding so hard and left me no time to think. You almost broke the rib cage. And then you get badly hurt and go fluttering like a flag. You've gone too frail to do any more leaps. Everything you do is almost mindless, because you fail to get counsel from me. Stop taking us on roller coaster rides and bring no more devastation upon us.

Get lost,

Brain

Brain,

Go to hell.

- Heart

Respected members of my body,

This is to notify you of a mutiny that has broken out amongst us. Hereby, I command you not to take orders from the heart. He has become too autonomous. He keeps taking rash decisions and hopes too high. Remember the last time he got hurt and left some of you bleeding, crying and groaning and in lots of pain? Remember how we were sleepless and burnt ourselves mourning along with that fool. So, from now on, wait for my order. I may tarry a bit, but I shall weigh the risks and benefits fairly in the light of all the experiences gained. I shall also act in accordance with the advice of those aged brains with more experience & wisdom. I am not saying that I would defer from taking up challenges, that I shall not love or hope etc. No. I shall do them diligently. I shall also plan for rescue measures beforehand if one of our steps had to fail, so that we can bounce back and not be knocked out, cold & hurt. I expect your full cooperation.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Brain.

P.S. Dear stomach, butterflies can’t enter you. Please stop bothering me with that. It’s just a silly trick that the heart plays on you. And dear eyes, don’t lose control and follow that girl the moment you see her. Last time you did and the forehead hit a lamp post. He’s been complaining all day to me. Behave yourselves.

[This is just a funny take on the heart-brain battle. There is no imitation or mockery of anyone's personal matters. Any references to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.]

Read more on Synaptic Sparks: The Ethics of Love

Moods on A Rainy Day

Here are some of the photos I captured on a rainy day and my perspectives on them.

1. Refreshing

 2. A Sign of Hope

3. Purity

 

4. Desolation

5. Safe & Secure

6. Precarious 

7. Togetherness 

8. Lonely but still happy

My photography Page: https://www.facebook.com/Abialbonpaul.photos

The Warmth of Tender Love

The 9th August, 2013. Today. I would consider it one of the luckiest days of my life. It's Ramazan, a festive of our Muslim friends and I happen to be at home today. It's been raining continuously since yesterday evening. Morning, I woke up early and was wandering around through the garden that surrounds my house on all sides. My dad was already there and he had spotted something. It was a cute little living thing, drenched completely in rain and very cold. It couldn't move. As my father lifted it in his hands, it showed no signs of resistance. My sister saw the cute little bird and wanted it in her hands...

Initially she was a bit unhappy with us meddling with her. However, as we held her in our warm soft hands, she seemed to enjoy our company. My sister stroked it lovingly.

Then I took her in my hands and put some of my photography skills to use. 

You can view my photography page here.

Then we dried her as gently as possible, gently stroking her and blowing warm air over her. She was thoroughly comfortable with it. We warped her with a warm casing and she slept off in the warmth of it.

She's asleep now as I write this. When she's warm and ready, she'll fly off out of the window and she will be gone for ever. I hope she'll always remember the warmth of our love.