N sided polygons

A pentagon that slowly moved to a Triangle..

One of my teachers was saying "we should all take pictures of us doing Yoga from angles that we don't see in the mirror. It will tell you a lot about what you think you are doing vs. what you are actually doing!"

"Be careful, you might not like what you see" was the message.

Photography and Yoga.. two things close to the heart.. coming together for a greater good?

Why not?

Was showing kids how "pentagon" and "triangle" are not the same thing. I used to do the Triangle pose like a pentagon till three years ago. Then Jim Kallet came and showed me how to sit down properly in this pose.

Later Michelle made a dancing reference and it got better.

Three months back Fire taught me a few things about locking legs.. as well as how to tilt my head before moving my arms and how to twist my head to get my profile to the mirror in the Triangle pose. The idea was to get my chin to the shoulder (I was doing cheek to shoulder).

This is a lot better than the version from 4 years ago but... 

 

I used to think in class that the profile of my face was visible to the mirror.. It is not! Still have to turn my face further up and to my left. 

My right thumb sticks out. It is supposed to be touching the rest of the fingers. 

Shoulders are supposed to be in one line and I thought they were in one line. They are not.

This is a real lifelong process of course correction. Will use this as a reference picture and see how it changes next year same time.

The little one took a video of my balancing stick. My knee is at 150 degrees. Definitely not even close to 180! My body is like a table top, but with a bent leg. Have to get it at least a little closer before posting a picture or video. 

By the way THE TRIANGLE ? it is the space between my thighs, forearm and body.. That gap should be a BIG triangle, preferably a right angled one... 

There is a lot of time to get there.

Navrathri 2015

Golu 2015 went by fast. We are done with the Saraswati pooja already. Tomorrow is "learning day". Time flies!

This year was probably the most hectic Navarathri season in recent times as there was only one weekend to visit our friends golus! We did the best we could from a scheduling stand point.

The photos of the golus are still being processed.. but as usual, here are some backyard shots and "out takes" courtesy of the quirky Jr. 

 Jr. was "humoring" me with Yoga poses .. 

Was tempted to say "switch your right hand the other way.. remember  mama give me money!".. instead, decided to just enjoy the moment and keep clicking. The girl seems to be bow legged just like daddy.. seems to put all her weight on the outer edge of her feet. It took me a year to stay flat footed on this pose.. where were we? These days I cannot stay on the same train of thought for more than 30 words. Backyard pictures.. that was the topic!

Usually we get at least three sets of pictures.. this year we got only two. 

Also Jr. had to go to a dance performance which lasted all of 5 minutes . There was 30 minutes for make up, 45 mintues driving.. have informed the family that going forward they have to submit an ROI spreadsheet and I will review it before going to such "performances".

Remember this Photoshop masterpiece from three years ago? 

Tried to recreate it this year. But got only 4 kids this year instead of the 6. There is still time. If they pose for me tomorrow in another set of fancy clothes just for the photo, we can make a "teen saal baad" (three years later) collage. 

On the plus side, my photoshop skills are still intact. Took me all of 20 minutes to get this picture done. Three years ago, it took me hours. 

Wishing everyone a great closure to Navrathri celebrations. Tomorrow is Vijaya Dasami. A day to start learning new things and a very special day for arts and crafts.. Maybe I will pick up my guitar and play Stairway to Heaven.. who knows. 

Given I am cranky as hell last few weeks, it is time to surprise myself and the family!

Boston in HDR.. and a few other shots

As most of you know, every trip presents subjects that are amenable to HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing. HDR does not appeal to everyone. In our house Jr. and my mom appreciate it. They think it brings things closer to "3D" or realistic view of detail. My wife and the little one think it looks too "made up" or artificial. 

To each his own. Nevertheless, here are some HDR pictures from the Boston trip..

but first, pictures of two plants that we don't see on California parks.. these two were on the sides of every walkway in the lighthouse parks.. 

This one reminded me of egg plant.. 

Clouds make a big difference on HDR shots of buildings. Not much luck this time.. 

another tip to self and others.. you get great shots in HDR just before sunrise or just after sunset.. 

A little movement of some folks and cars makes for better HDR.. 

Before I turn this post into a full blown "how not to do HDR".. this one was taken from a moving boat.. er.. moving duck.. that creates a better effect also.. 

City skylines will work only with clouds. Still worth a try, no?

Loved the Yacht's in the water. 

This shot had clouds.. but instead of trying Tone mapped HDR, I should have shot multiple exposures on this one and combined them into a single image. 

Same here.. but the trees made up for it..

Brick buildings really work for HDR.. 

as do Flags and really old stone buildings and shiny statues..

Photography is a continuous improvement project. You take the pictures, you process them a month later, try to connect your thought when taking the picture to what you are doing at post processing and hope to connect the right dots in your brain to get the result you were hoping for a month ago. 

The good thing is, you always learn from your shots and apply it another time. Some of these photos stand out in a black background. Have to figure out how to change background color for select posts on squarespace. 

On the plus side, almost felt like I was in Boston yesterday while going through the photographs.