How to Photograph People - Portraits

Shooting People fall into two categories: portraits and candid. Either can be made with or without your subject's awareness and cooperation. However near or far your subject, however intimate or distant the gaze your camera casts, you always need to keep in mind the elements of composition and the technique that will best help you communicate what you are trying to say. Use the background to your advantage to make the whole picture filled with elements that bring graze and poise. The most common mistake made by photographers is that they are not physically close enough to their subjects. So don't be shy. If you approach people in the right way, they'll usually be happy to have their picture made. In total you have to make sure that the subject is comfortable with you so that you finally get the portraits you wanted of the subject. Always be on the lookout for those moments when a person's character shines though. If you have a formal portrait session with someone, make some frames of him while he straightens his tie or while she brushes her hair before the formal sitting. Walk back to the car with her and shoot her on the street, this will help you have a variety of formal portraits and candid pictures of the subject. The best place to shoot some of the good portraits is use the natural shadows of a tree shade, under a porch, or even better the room where most subjects feel comfortable in. The Shutter speed varies when one uses or not uses a strobe. If you are going to use a strobe it is better to bounce the light source so that the soft light is evenly distributed on the subject body and also the background.

Indoor Portraits
The normal Shutter speeds for indoor with Strobe:
Exposure: 1/125, Aperture f: 8

Without Strobe: (if the room is well lit)
Exposure: 1/15 or 30, Aperture f: 5.6 or 4

Outdoor Portraits

Exposure: 1/ 250, Aperture f: 11

All the above technical details are for ISO 400 ASA.

These pictures of Kris Gopalakrishnan the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Infosys were taken in his office during a exclusive chat with Bangalore Mirror on Tuesday 7th August 2007. Since i had to get some very good pictures of the CEO I had to make him feel comfortable before making sure that he would oblige my demands. And I used the strobe as a bounce light to give me the equal distribution of light.

These above pictures are the Portraits with the subject fully comfortable with the camera lens staring on the face.

The below pictures are the Candid Portraits of People with them not conscious of them being photographed.

These pictures of Kris Gopalkrishnan on the left was taken soon after I had entered his office and the one with the coffee cup was taken during the interview.

These candid portraits of renowned Vocalist Balamurali Krishna were pictured during his interactions with the media on the eve of his performance at the Ramnavami Ugadi Utsav in Bangalore on Tuesday 13th May 2008.

These informal candid portraits of former Miss India and Bollywood actress Neha Dupia was taken during her chat with the media at the launch of the Flying Cats air hostesses set up in Bangalore on Saturday 4th August 2007.

Imrana Mukhtar's Deadly Charm

This story was a sad one after a year of this being published, this same girl was bitten by a deadly cobra and she could not survive the poison gushing through her veins. Imrana was a very brave girl who could handle all kind of poisonous snakes with ease. But thanks to the frenzy media she had to loose her life a year after she held her first solo show in Bhopal on September 29th 2003. This story was published after she gave a special shoot for the Hindustan Times – Bhopal edition and the next year (in 2004) when she was going to hold her second solo show the fotog’s wanted her to hold three king cobra’s together and pose for her, when tragedy struck her. I was not part of the second show, and was very upset when i got the news of her sudden demise, and the undue hunger of the fotog’s which claimed an innocent, youngster’s life. This in a way was her last interview and hence I dedicate this space in memory to "IMRANA MUKTHAR" - the women snake charmer.

It’s difficult to say what is deadlier, her looks or her cobras. The 18-year-old Imrana Mukthar – one of the few women snake charmers in the country – carries both with equal ease. To top it all, she handles her venomous snakes as easily as her duties as an intern nurse at Anushri Nursing Home in Arera Colony here in Bhopal.
The deadliest of snakes dangle around her neck. She holds them as if it were a child’s play. Being related to snake charmers obviously did the trick for her. She took to the snake business some sic years ago and has come a long way, says her Ustad Hakim Babu Bhai. “She knows how to treat herself in case she gets bitten by any kind of snake,” he says with pride.
His understudy wasn’t so deft with deadly cobras to begin with. She used to be very scared of snakes, as any women would be. But after she saw her nine-year-old nephew play with snakes at her sister’s house, she mustered courage to handle non-poisonous snakes to begin with.

Imrana has put up a solo show at Aish Bagh Stadium encouraging the locals around the area to come and see her handle snakes with ease. She has put up this show with the help of her family members and says, “All the women should take a cue from me and not get afraid of reptiles.”
She plans to hold this show till October 2 and is very happy with the response she received on the first day itself. Imrana says that any snakebite can be cured. “Even a person bitten by a cobra or a padam nag can be saved if he/ she treats self within half hour of the bite,” she says.
She says that snakes have different levels of poison. For instance, a person can survive a ‘Karat’ bite for up to 24 hours and a viper bite up to six days. “So, there is no need to fear these docile reptiles,” she adds.
Snakes o no snakes, one thing is sure. She has gone a step ahead of most men who run away on seeing a snake. She hopes that more women from the City and the Country will follow her by taking care of the reptiles and not killing them.

How tight is security at BIAL?

The story was a dry run to show the security lapse which will man the BIAL when it starts operational fully. This story was discussed with K R Sreenivas the Resident Editor of the Bangalore Mirror, before going through the run. One other person who helped me in this dry run was Somashekar of the Business Line. I thank him for this dry run and for a great favor which we gave to the security to tighten their belts before the real opening of the Bengaluru International Airport.

A lighter, a match box and a stray dog … slipped through the security check during the trail run at the BIA on Friday, 7th March 2008.

It was a trial run for operational readiness among other things at the Bengaluru International Airport on Friday, 7th March 2008. for us, it was also time to test just how water tight the security at our spanking new airport in Devanahalli, which is all set to open on March 30, was. Is it as safe as it is swanky?
So we packed in a Barton and Gustier jack knife, two match boxes and a lighter – some in our pockets and some in the bag that holds our camera. Why did we do it? Since we were informed that despite it being a trial run, security was going to be high and the metal detectors et al were going to be used for security clearance just as it is done in HAL, we had to see for ourselves. Also, what better time to do a reality check!
Result: Our team managed to sneak in a match box, a lighter and even summoned up the courage to smoke inside the apron area as the air force and other trial run planes landed one after the other.

First came the baggage screening. The bag was screened by the CISF and the inspector in charge marked the bag. “Remove the jack knife and give it to me. Take it back on your way out,” he said. We gladly obliged. The match box and the lighter which were also in the bag got through easily.
Next came the body check. They found the match box in my pant pocket and I surrendered it. After that, we took our camera bags into the apron area where the high density fuel tanks and the planes would be parked after touch down. Then, we boarded a double decker bus from which we could take our pictures of the plane movement on the tarmac.
We waited for an appropriate time to shoot our smuggled goods (our editor needs proof!) even as we photographed the arrival of the first Kingfisher plane from Mumbai. Soon after the second one, a 12-seater owned by the Larsen & Toubro United, landed, there was a stray dog running through the apron area even as the jeep was maneuvering the plane tp the parking bay- much to the delight of the photographers and dismay of the CISF personnel manning the area.

This incident emboldened us and we fished out the match box, the cigarette lighter and took some pictures with the first Kingfisher plane in the backdrop. It was time to try out a smoke. A bit of dilly-dallying and we finally decided to light up. Kneeling inside the bus, we managed to smoke peacefully even as the gun-toting CISF personnel patrolled outside.
Four photographers shared the cigarette, but none of us took pictures of each other smoking in the apron area! Clearly the terror trail that runs through Karnataka is yet to make a significant impact in the BIAL airport security measures.

It looks so 'International'

This story which was published in the Bangalore Mirror in March 2008. This story was told me the previous evening itself by K R Sreenivas the RE of BM. He asked me if I could get this reality check story done during my visit to the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). I agreed and the next day noted down all the points which were essential for the story.

It took nearly 90 minutes for the media entourage to reach the Bengaluru International for the Press Club to watch the first touch down of an aircraft at the new airport. Though the journey was a long one, the icing on the cake was the final flight trials conducted by BIAL in a near live environment which saw flights from Kingfisher, Deccan and the Indian Air Force touch down to spectacular landings.

Starting from the Press Club at 7.50 am on the Friday morning, the low traffic flow early in the morning did help. The special entry passes were checked at 9.35 am. Cameras were scanned and security check was completed in a flash for the 80 media persons taken there. The Kingfisher Airbus A320 plane from Mumbai landed at 9.55 am.
The ground staff and even the security guards at the apron area started cheering and clapping as the plane touched the tarmac. A few minutes before the plane appeared on the horizon, everyone went dead silent, watching the plane losing altitude as it approached the runway. Kingfisher Airline flight tested the international arrival process and entered the new airport through the boarding bridge.

It took another 10 minutes for the plane to be guided by the apron control jeeps to its parking bay. Halfway through to the parking bay, the plane was given a welcome shower by two panther special fire fighter trucks.
At 10.20 am, the second plane, a 12 seater Larsen and Turbo, touched ground. Then it was the turn of Indian Air Force’s heavy transporter to burn the tarmac. In quick succession, another Air Force plane and a Simplify Deccan plane touched ground around 10 minutes after 11 am. Passengers from the flight which took off from HAL airport, traveled in a spanking new airport bus and arrived at the terminal, as apart of the trail for the domestic arrival process. The final landing of the morning was another Air force plane.

Throughout the landings, dust bowls hovered around the runway and the apron area. As photographers clicked on in a frenzy, a stray dog which perhaps had VIP entrance ran across the apron area as the Larsen and Turbo plane was being led to the parking bay. As we came back towards the baggage claim area, sniffer dogs were resting after a not-too-hard morning’s work.
Suresh Bathija, a travel agent who was on the special first flight from Mumbai, said, “This airport is awesome. It is swankier and bigger than HAL airport. But my only problem is the distance my clients have to travel to the city. Otherwise this airport has the potential to become the best airport in the country. I wish we could have such a swanky airport in Mumbai.”

The kingfisher plane which landed first was also the first to take off from the new airport. But it took off only at 1.25 pm instead of the earlier announced 12 pm.
A passenger who arrived on the Deccan flight said that the airport looked spectacular from the air and on arrival, he was very impressed with the whole building. “It looks so international, the city needs this,” he said.
The journey back to the Press Club from the airport took exactly 2.35 hours. Close to 400 people participated in the trial run at the new airport.

Tip for Rain Photography

Most photographers prefer not to venture out in rain to get a perfect picture, all to keep their equipments safe. Well one should know that ‘rain photography’, is one of the best to get good images if exposed well.


I tried to catch the movement of the women as well as get the rain drops (top Left),
In the next picture I wanted to get some close up of the drops of water (top)
and in this 1991 photo taken on M G Road for Times of India showing the water drops on top a car bonnet (left).



In this picture taken in Bhopal during the tribal protest against the Digvijay Singh Government their was a downpour which was relenting to go, and I wanted to shoot a image to show only the umbrellas from a height. So I climbed this 12 floor residential building to get this image for the Hindustan Times - Bhopal Edition, which got a display of six columns on the front page.


TIP: Use the low lighting condition to your advantage and lessen the shutter speed using aperture priority mode. Always try and get a dark background, and use a zoom lens rather than a wide lens. The zoom lens will help you to capture the water droplets and also give the field of depth which is required for any good rain pictures.

Shutter Speed bracket: s 1/ 30 or s 1/60 Aperture bracket: f: 8 or f: 11


The family running in the rain was taken at f:8 with 1/60 of second (top left), the girl on the bike was at f:11 with 1/60 of a second and the last picture was taken at f:11 with a shutter speed of 1/15 of second.

Note: all the pictures were taken with a 70 -200 mm, f:2.8 lens.




http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnabangalore/epapermain.aspx?queryed=7&eddate=7%2f25%2f2009

The link above is the page in DNA- Bangalore where the tips are given.

3,000 women tie ‘rakhis’ to their brothers in jail

This was one of my first stories for the Hindustan Times – Bhopal Edition, in August 2001. This piece happened when a fellow fotog in Bhopal told me during our daily morning discussion that the jail will be a good place to visit to witness and take unusual images of the Rakshabandhan celebrations. This triggered my inquisitiveness and I went along with him just to shoot pictures but only to end up with a good human interest story. The story was published in the Hindustan Times – Bhopal Live pages on the 12th of August 2001. I followed it up in 2002 too, with a similar theme but with a difference. The link to that story is given below.

http://shivselvan.blogspot.com/2009/06/love-binds-within-prison-walls.html

It was a rare happy moment for the central Jail inmates on the outskirts of the City today. And an air of festivity pervaded the environs of the jail. The occasion was the festival of Rakshabandhan.
More than 3,000 women from all over the State had lined up outside the gates with rakhis in hand and love for their brothers in their hearts. The social status of the brothers hardly seemed to have had any effect on their sisterly love.
A more emotional scene was inside the jail as love transcended religion and the Muslim inmates of the jail were tied rakhis by the sisters of Hindu inmates thus making it a unique celebration of communal harmony with in the four walls of the prison.
The scene was totally emotion-choked for the jail inmates as well as the jail authorities as they watched sisters weeping and hugging their brothers before performing the traditional ‘bhai pooja’, and tying the rakhis.
The jail authorities, like every year, had made arrangements for the visiting family members by laying down rows of mats for performing the traditional rakhi tying ritual, followed by a hearty home made meal. The walls of the jails were choc a bloc with color papers and banners, which were put up by the inmates to welcome their sisters on this annual occasion.
Inmates who had no visitors were moved with tears were rakhis were tied on their fellow inmates.
The women inmates were also given the opportunity to participate on the joyous occasion with rakhis given by the jail staff to tie to the visiting brothers. One of the women inmates said that she is very happy today to see her brother who did not visit her for the past three years.

Some of the male inmates wept with joy on seeing their young children, saying that they had a waited eagerly for one year to see their children’s growth.
Rampyare an inmate said that he was so happy on seeing his three-year-old daughter talk to him of various things that she had been doing along with her mother and grandfather back in the village.
Various lady visitors belonging to the Muslim community wept with joy on seeing the sisters and relatives of Hindu inmates tie rakhis of their husband’s wrists.
Visiting relatives were given 15 minutes to meet their brothers, with each batch of 50 being allowed at one time inside the jail premises, said the jailer Purshotam Somkuwar, adding that they had to be very careful that no untoward incident occurred.
This anxiety of the jail authorities to avoid any untoward incident went misplaced as many misdemeanors were farthest from the minds of inmates today. All they had in mind was to enjoy the 15 minutes to the maximum with their relatives.
After all the relatives had left their brothers back within the four walls of the prison the inmates were thoroughly being frisked, their tiffin boxes and other pooja items checked before being handed back to them.
For at last today the sisters had lined up the jail premises to see their brothers rather than the condemned criminals.

Mavalli Tiffin Rooms - MTR

These pictures below were taken by me during an special interview with Hemamalini Maiya - Chairman of the Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR), during my stint with Bangalore Mirror in 2007-2008. The Interview was being done by an old colleague who had earlier worked with me during my stint with the Times of India - Bangalore edition from 1986 to 1993. So during the process of the interview I asked this charming lady who now runs the family run business if it was possible to shoot pictures of the place she obliged but quickly added that expect for the kitchen you shoot anywhere you want to. Since i had little time to shoot these images, I asked Maiya to sit in one of the rooms along with her customers in the backdrop so that I could get a good picture. After that I went about picturing the images which I needed for the paper the next morning.

Hemamalini Maiya - Chairman of the Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR)

The Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) that dishes up staple South Indian breakfast (tiffin) to thousands of people every day. MTR has literally millions of fans like me, just for the taste and cleanliness that the second best is not even close to it.
Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, is a 'pure' vegetarian cuisine, which has been the pride of Bangalore and more so for the southerners for over 83 years now. Situated on Lalbagh Road, and very close to the Lalbagh gardens, the doors of this small vegetarian restaurant always opens for serpentine queues of joggers, walkers and the regulars waiting for their breakfast of mouth watering delicious Idli's, Dosas, Uppittu and Kesari Baath and hot piping coffee.

A view from one room to another room (left), as a group enjoys privacy during their group lunch (right).

Housed in a small old building MTR does not have the ambiance and décor that today's restaurant have to attract customers. MTR, in fact does not need to attract customers as managing their customers have been a big task for the staff. People wait for a couple of hours on a typical Saturday or Sunday just to get a table although the restaurant has three floors to serve. The ground floor is primarily for those "On the Go" customers who would want to get a quick bite or just coffee and tea. The first floor is where you register and wait for your turn for them to call you when the table is ready. The dining area is mainly for families & ladies where the interiors, the lights and fixtures, fading black & white photographs donning the walls remind one of the pre independence era. The service and treatment rendered is commendable by the waiters, who typically wear a shirt and a dhoti folded in half. Even more commendable is that they do not accept a TIP.

The Uppama plate which is a specialty at the MTR (left), and the Poori - Sag which is another treat for breakfast and evening tiffin (right).

Starting as a small Brahmin's Café, MTR has always been one of the city's hottest eating spots. It has a reputation for savory food and high standards of hygiene and cleanliness. The greatest quality of MTR is their uncompromising Quality over the years. When price controls were imposed during the Emergency in 1975 MTR had to down their shutters not wanting to compromise on the quality over the price. MTR preferred to lose business rather than compromise on quality. This quality is maintained even today. In 1951, MTR was one of the first Indian restaurants to introduce steam sterilization, enhancing its reputation for cleanliness. MTR which has been a household name in Bangalore for over 80 years now has several products ranging from a variety of vegetarian snack foods and chips, soups, frozen foods, ready-to-eat meals, spices powders, pickles, vermicelli, and over 30 varieties of ice cream and ice cream cones.

The special Rava Iddly, with the mint leaf chuttni (left), and the delicious flat Jamun with the rass (right).

While a food junkie like me would endure anything for a breakfast at MTR, not to be missed is the five-course vegetarian meal at Rs.75.00. Starting with a glass of grape juice in a small silver "tumbler", they serve Dosas, chappathis, Curries, Bisibele Baath, Rice, Sweets like Obbattu with ghee on it and a lot more that keeps coming one after the other. One of the sweets available at MTR is the Chandrahara, which has no parallel. The Thali is served on a Silver Plate, which is continuously replenished by the waiters. MTR is probably the only place where the waiters literally force you to eat the food.

The combo picture showing the Poori, Jamun, Uppama, Rava Iddli which is a all famous tiffin at the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (left).

MTR Foods Ltd., which is one of India's leading purveyors of packaged foods also exports canned foods, Ready to Eat Foods and spices to the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and other Asian countries. The latest addition to the MTR Group is the "Namma MTR" chain of Retail stores opened in Bangalore and Dubai showcasing their range of products and also offers variety of fast foods.

The MTR's Special Plain and Masala Dosa with the mint chuttni (left) and the full meal plate with all the different variety of vegetable preparations (right).

The Rava Idli, which is one of the favourite breakfast dishes of south India, was invented by MTR. The discovery channel featured MTR on their show when they did a special on Indian food specialties. MTR received the Rotary Award for its quality and hygiene and was also recognized as the best South Indian Tiffin restaurant.

Carving and shaping for Diwali

This piece along with the pictures were done in a two hour period after a advertisement which was to be filled in this space fell through and the RE asked me to quickly think of an Photo Medley. After a lot of thought I came about this idea since I see these clay workers toiling every day on my way to the office. So rushed to the place which a large number of this craftsmen community has named the ‘Prajapati’ in Bhopal on 22nd October, 2002. This was published the next day in the Hindustan Times – Bhopal Edition.

Giving final touches to the lamps (left), a lot of labour goes for the earthen look that wins clients aplenty (right).

Come October, the City market is flooded with earthen lamps and Lakshmi idols in myriad shapes and sizes. It’s during this season that the Prajapati community gets busy with mud and clay. This community which for generations has mastered the art of making Lakshmi idols and earthen lamps are small in number but enough to serve the City’s demands so much so that their clientele range from far flung cities throughout the state and elsewhere, too.
This community became popular in the early 20th century when Ram Prasad Gajapati Prajapati was awarded for Lakshmi idol carvings by the then ruler of Bhopal. More Prajapatis came to the City and started this handy job which lasts only for a couple of months or so.

Rekha Prajapati with her son Gajnand completing the colour work of the idols at their home in Nehru Nagar (left), Ram Dayal Prajapati takes his lamps for heating them under fire (right).

There are two different sects among them – one making the earthen lamps and the other that makes the Lakshmi Idols. The community is spread all over the City from Bairagarh to Mangalwara; from Arera Colony to Nehru Nagar.
What is unique about their idols? Sharp features, interesting color combination says Muni Prajapati, the granddaughter of Gajapati while the great grandson Uma Shankar Prajapati, who has a masters degree in science, says that for want of any good jobs he helps his mother during these months. He also added that the community has ventured into making Durga, Ganesh idols apart from the original Lakshmi idols and lamps.

Sunita Prajapati works on the Lakshmi idols (left), Uma Shankar, a masters degree holder, arranging the idols to help his mother (right).

The Lakshmi idols cost around Rs 15- 25 a piece while the lamps would cost between Rs 175 – 200 per thousand pieces. When Kailash Prajapati from Mangalwara was asked about the profitability of their vocation he insisted that if the buyers are happy during Diwali then they are happy, too. Gain or no gain, thanks to this community, the city definitely gains with several houses worshipping idols shaped by them and lit up with earthen lamps that have been their creations for several decades.

Naresh Prajapati adding colour to the idols (left), Muni Prajapati working at her house in Nehru Nagar (right).