Apr 3 - B for Bokeh #AtoZChallenge

B is for Bokeh. It is pronounced booke, boo as in bow and ke as in kettle. Bokeh is derived from a Japanese word boke which means blur. In photography, bokeh is the affect of the blur that is created in parts of the image that are out of focus. There are many definitions to bokeh and one of them is "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light". Visual affects of a bokeh depends largely on type of lens and it's fastness.

Most common examples of bokeh are holiday lights where out of focus area forms bubbles or circles. My first image doesn't have any circle/bubbles in the out of focus parts of the image but it does have a nice blur. Not sure if this is a good bokeh or a bad bokeh. By the way, cherry blossoms are just beginning to blossom in Central Park and this year they are late. Looking forward to my walks in the park when the blossoms are in full bloom.

Below are more examples of bokeh from the archives, though non with holiday lights :(

This image is from last May. Natural light coming through the leaves created a bokeh effect, white circles.

This image is from 2015 summer

All the above images are with Sony Mark 3 Rx 100. As mentioned above, the shape and size of bokeh depends on the lens used. A prime lens is usually recommended and mode of shooting should either be manual or aperture priority. Always try to use an aperture of 2.8 or below. The below image is from my food blog, I shot with my Nikon 5100 using a 50mm prime lens f/1.8. Here I used an aperture or f stop of 3.5. You can see some white circles on the left top corner and in the center right of the image. Below image is also an example of B for backlight, where the source of light is behind the subject.

Camera: Sony Mark 3 RX 100
Picture of the day in 2013: Bridges
Picture of the day in 2012: Grass
Picture of the day in 2011: Tax documents

Apr 1 - A for Abstract #AtoZChallenge

For the past three years, every year I did a month long cooking marathon in April with my blogging group. Last year our theme was A-Z cooking, hence joined A-Z challenge as well. Even this year, by blogging group is doing A-Z baking challenge but I decided to sit out. However, I did not feel like skipping A-Z challenge and was planning to do this challenge despite skipping the baking marathon. However, I got distracted with lot of other stuff and did not prepare for this challenge. I was unsure if I can participate with very little preparation. I almost drop the idea of doing this challenge however, I could not resist. Here I am, un-prepared with no proper list and no scheduled posts. Well, isn't it lot more challenging and fun doing a challenge with no planning what so ever? So here I am, jumping into the challenge in the last minute! Wish me luck and hope to finish it to the end.

Since this is a photo blog, the theme is obviously photography. I shall try to focus on different types of photography in an alphabetical order.

A is for abstract photography. It is difficult to define abstract photography. Just like abstract art, abstract photography is way of expressing ideas using lines, patterns, textures, colors and more. The subject in the photos are often out of focus or details are deliberately eliminated to intrigue the viewer. There is no right and wrong way to photograph abstract photos and if the viewer says wow, that is a beautiful photo! What is it? Then you have succeeded in taking an abstract photo! And I hope succeeded as well! :)

Update - I first picked the above image but now I like the below one as well. The second looks more abstract than the first. So posting this as well.

Camera: Sony RX 100 iii
Picture of the day in 2015: Food
Picture of the day in 2012: Frame
Picture of the day in 2011: Playing cards

Mar 18 - GapStow Bridge

Gapstow bridge in March.
Camera: Sony RX 100 iii
Picture of the day in 2012: Abstract
Picture of the day in 2011: Spring is almost here

Mar 11 - Green Cupakes

Green velvet cupcakes for cooking blog. Will update the recipe soon. Recipe updated.
Camera: Nikon 5100
Picture of the day in 2016: B&W Photography
Picture of the day in 2012: Path
Picture of the day in 2011: Signs of spring

Mar 8 - Black & White, random click on Union Sqaure

Another random click on Union Square.
Camera: Sony RX100 iii
Picture of the day in 2014: White on white
Picture of the day in 2012: Art
Picture of the day in 2011: Random click

Mar 7 - Black & White, Union Sqaure

Union square subway station entrance on 14th street.
Camera: Sony RX 100 iii
Picture of the day in 2014: Food styling: sweet
Picture of the day in 2012: Rain
Picture of the day in 2011: Reflection

Feb 28 - Gapstow Bridge

Gapstow bridge for the month of February.
Camera: Sony RX iii
Picture of the day in 2013: Symmetry
Picture of the day in 2012: Flower
Picture of the day in 2011: Leftovers

Feb 22 - Still Life, Satsumas

This image is from last month. I had some issues with my photo editing software for the past few weeks. Now that is resolved, trying to get back to my routine and update this blog more often.
Camera: Nikon 5100
Picture of the day in 2015: Local vegetable market
Picture of the day in 2012: Basket of potatoes
Picture of the day in 2011: Seals in the park

Jan 24 - Fusion Indian Dessert

This is a fusion Indian dessert where gulab jamun, a popular Indian sweet is served with custard. Recipe coming up on my food blog in couple of days on the blog.
Camera: Nikon 5100
Picture of the day in 2015: Dusk
Picture of the day in 2014: Food Styling
Picture of the day in 2012: Morning
Picture of the day in 2011: Moon this morning

Jan 22 - Gapstow Bridge

Hello everyone, wish you all a happy new year!! I know I am late in wishing you all. This blog as been silent for sometime and may continue to be so as I am not very not motivated to take any pictures. However, I shall try to update the space, whenever possible.
Though I have not posted my Gapstow bridge pictures for the last two months, I did take them and will try to update them soon and yes, I am still doing the seasons of Gapstow Bridge project. I took my last month's picture very late and delayed taking this month's picture as I wanted to give some gap between the two photos. This is this month's picture.
Camera: Sony RX100 iii
Picture of the day in 2015: Decorated pots
Picture of the day in 2013: Looking Through
Picture of the day in 2012: Symmetry
Picture of the day in 2011: Spring??