From a distance !

I was on a walk and sighted two birds far away, one perched on a tree and another in a bush! I did not have a telephoto lens with me at that time. 

They are still sights that capture attention and make us stare at them! They initiated a meditative mood within me!

They live away from human habitation and make the wild richer with their presence. In fact they make us learn about living in tune with the ambience of nature! They use nature but never exploit it

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

With or without Tripoid!

I have often wondered whether a  tripod is essential for use of telephoto lenses. 

I looked at the several photos I took of this bird without a tripod. All the pictures do not have the details of the bird, except for the open beaks which suggest that it might be singing ! Unless one is exceptional with a steady hand it is more or less clear that tripod is valuable. In this case it was difficult to capture some details due to poor light conditions. So I ended up using the auto mode with image stabilisation!

With the advent of mirrorless micro four third SLR cameras and lenses, the weight of the equipment has been halved, so also the clarity and details of the target! Since I use one of them for the last one year, the photography has become more easy and I am redeeming the lost pleasure. However the full frame camera cannot be substituted. It would remain as the leader in art photography!

If we were to leave behind the technical application of the photography, what came home to me from the pictures of this bird is its location on the top of a tall teak  tree, which is about 200 feet high. The bird is on a slender twig and appears to be positioned precariously and yet singing!

Yesterday was a difficult day with some disturbing experiences which bothered Anna and myself. It looked as if there is no end to the sorrowful experiences.

So When I reviewed these photos and saw the bird singing, I felt revived to some extent. 

Life is for singing! Life is for Learning! Life is for Living!  

There is plentiful joyful and fulfilling experiences and the sorrowful experiences cannot drown all of them!

It is a message of hope and consolation! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Sighting a Magpie Robin !

This is the firs sighting of a Magpie Robin in our garden during this season! It remained alert in this posture for less than a minute, before it flew away to a tall bushy tree in the garden!

Of all the birds I enjoy taking pictures of Magpie Robins, because  I found that they remained stationary in one place for at least few seconds!

They are beautiful birds to look at! If they are in a pair it is a delight to watch them and listen to sing to each other! They are also an example in caring!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Shoot and bud!

This is one of the oldest digital photographs I have which was taken with a 4 pixel compact Canon camera about 15 years ago! It is also one of my favourite pictures because it offers a promise in two ways- the shoot and the bud! 

The leaf symbolises the life that is already manifest. The bud symbolises all that is yet to come!

For the last 51 days since the 500 and 1000 rupees notes were declared non-legal tender in India, people who transacted their business in cash have had an intensely harrowing time. Although it was meant to curtail the black money in circulation, I wonder whether the leaders responsible for this decision have foreseen the agony it would push people into!

So we are in a difficult season economically and politically! There is anxiety and distress! So the new year  does not seem to bring in a respite or relief for many in rural India!

I too have felt disturbed over the lack of sensitivity of our leaders to do enough to address this distressing situation!

So for me, this photograph brings me a gentle reminder of the hope that we are called to live with even in difficult times!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

4. Memorable photographs-2016-surprise !

Morning scene in our garden !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Black and white!

Thanks to the soft ware access most of us have in our computers, we can make the colour photograph into a black and white frame! Although it wont't be the same as shooting in black and white mode, it nevertheless reminds us about what we are missing by abdicating black and white photography altogether.

I got introduced to photography when the colour photography was replacing black and white! So I did not have a good exposure to study the richness of the black and white photography. 

Recently, in most international magazines there would be some black and white photographs to tell us something about its richness in tertian aspect.

One aspect I have begun to appreciate is the special texture it provides to human faces! It brings out human face in a unique way especially the mood and emotion if they are just subtle! The colours subdue them sometimes because in the blend of colours some details are masked!

I have begun to experiment with black and white frames by using the soft ware to compare the differences in colour and black and white! It is fascinating hobby to enhance visual observational skills!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)