Debopriyo's Pictures

Calcutta Trams | Experiments with the Nikon 18-200 VR

ddatta — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:47:45 +0000

6.00 pm at the Park Street – AJC Bose crossing in Calcutta. All of a sudden, two trams come barreling out of the traffic at the red light and continue their journey onwards, down Park Street.

Started in Calcutta in 1880, its been over 125 years that trams have been plying in Calcutta. Now, they are a dying breed, losing out in competition with buses and other forms of vehicular traffic.

Shot from the front seat of my car. Nikon D300 and Nikon 18-200 VR @ 200 ASA, 18mm and 1.0s at f5.6.

Yellow Marigold

ddatta — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:33:57 +0000

A yellow marigold in the winter morning light.

Shot on the Nikon D300 and the Micro Nikkor 60mm AFD.

Times have changed !

ddatta — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:10:44 +0000

We have rung out the old year and ushered in the new.

I was going through my pictures last night and came across the pictures of my trip to Egypt in 2008. Tahrir Square – at that time – was a quaint old square, smack in front of the Egyptian Museum. People came, sat and saw the world go by.

Never did we expect that the people’s revolution with its epicenter at the same Tahrir Square would force Hosni Mubarak out of power in 2011. Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters there, intensified pressure on president Hosni Mubarak to step down. The square – according to the media – was flooded with an estimated 500,000 Egyptians clamouring for change.

We were not destined to see history in the making. May be it was better that way. The picture last night brought memories flooding back.

Tahrir Square circa May 2008

The world has changed since then. Starting with the Tunisia, we have seen revolutions across across Africa and the middle east. Whether the regime changes will work out for the better or the countries make a slow descend into a quagmire – only time will tell.

As conflicts rage on and with a few more wars on the anvil, how the world shapes up in the new year remains to be seen.

Anyway, lets wish the best for everyone. . .

Here’s to wishing all my dear readers a very happy new year.

Cheers,

Honey Bees : Micro Nikkor 60mm AFD

ddatta — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:04:15 +0000

The winter flowers has blossomed on the terrace. Unlike earlier years, there seems to be a profusion of honey bees busy collecting sap from the flowers.

I was really surprised at how sharp the 60mm AFD is.

The photos below have been taken with the Nikon D300 and the micro nikkor 60mm AFD.

200 ASA f6.7 1/500s

Perfectly formed. One wing fits perfectly over the other !

200 ASA f6.7 1/250s

200 ASA f6.7 1/350s

200 ASA f6.7 1/250s

Portrait

ddatta — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:23:42 +0000

A long discussion with two of my closest childhood friends post the Christmas lunch. The discussion centered around photography.

This photo was taken in ambient light with the D300 and the Nikon 18-70mm at 70mm at f4.5 and 1600 ASA.

Light and Dark

ddatta — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:00:27 +0000

Ringo (Dec 2011) on the bed. 12 C is too cold for him.

Shot in available light with the micro Nikkor 60 mm and the Nikon D300 at f3.2 and 1/45s.

Monochrome

ddatta — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:26:38 +0000

Poinsettia on the terrace.

Nikon D300 | Micro Nikkor 60mm AFD

The Jazz Concert – Some new pictures

ddatta — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:52:57 +0000

Some new pictures from last week’s concert at Dalhousie Institute.

Monojit Datta of Los Amigos during the concert on Day 1 of the Congo Square and DI Jazz Fest 2011.

Shot with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 50mm f1.4 @ f2 and 3200 ASA.

Cropped shot of Izaline Calister during the sound check before the concert.

Shot with the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 85mm f1.8 @ f2 and 800 ASA.

Jazz @ DI : Day 3

ddatta — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:29:03 +0000

The day 3 of the Congo Square & DI Jazz Fest 2011 had the Karnataka College of Percussion with Ramamani and TAS Mani teamed up with BuJazzO (a 21 piece youth jazz orchestra from Germany) to present a mix of Carnatic music and jazz fusion.

Out of the compositions played, City Life (written by Louis Banks) was brilliant. The encore with chants of Govinda Jaye Jaye with sax and trumpets made an intriguing sound-scape.

I’m afraid that the pictures are not up to the mark. I was down with a severe cold and had an extremely runny nose and a pre-concert double shot of brandy with warm water was of no help at all.

The shots were predominantly taken with the Nikon 85mm f1.8 on the Nikon D300 along with a few shots taken with the Nikon 18-70mm.

Jazz @ DI: Day 2

ddatta — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 10:43:22 +0000

The second day of the Congo Square and the DI Jazz Fest 2011 turned out to be a wonderful evening. Old friends, good jazz (though Prasanna’s music sounded more like heavy metal sometimes) and great food.

The plus point about concert photography is that one finds a first row seat and stays put there and that is exactly what I did.

I stuck to the trusted Nikon 85mm f1.8 with the Nikon D300. The light was not at all conducive to any sort of zooms except very fast zooms, which I don’t have.

All pictures shot at 1600 ASA (very few at 400 ASA) and at f2 at shutter speeds between 1/45s and 1/250s.

The show started with Izaline Calister and her Trio with Latin Jazz & Caribbean music with Izaline Calister (Curacao/Netherlands) on Vocals, Yelman Aponte (Venezuela) on Bass, Enrique Firpi (Italy) on Drums and Marc Bischoff (Netherlands) on the Piano.

Her music – a mix of folk, jazz and Afro-Caribbean music – sung in a language called Papiementu was too good. She urged the audience to sing and dance along with her and soon the patrons were on their feet dancing and singing with her.

The next act was by the Prasanna and Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music Faculty in Concert with Prasanna (India) with Guitars/Vocals, Lara Bello (Spain) with Vocals and Derek Nievergelt (USA) on the Bass and Dafnis Prieto (Cuba) on the Drums.