Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar

Title: Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar
Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar @ http://saveourtigers.com/

3ifactory's first photoride to St.Thomas Mount

First things first… 

What is a Photoride??

You would have obviously heard of photo walks…

A Photo walk is an event in which group of photographers meet at a particular place and take photos while walking around that place… pictures of a particular road, street….goes on like that. A photo-walk can be classified under street photography…

Why Photoride? Why not a Photo walk?

We would surely have photo-walks in the near future… but my opinion is photo-walks are only for cities. You can't have a photo-walk in mountains, hills, beaches etc

We love to travel in our bikes and would love to go on long trips and love photography… combine everything and you get a “PHOTORIDE”!!! :P

Photoride’s exact definition is taking photographs while riding, but we have used the term in a different way defining something different… kindly excuse us….


3ifactory’s first photoride:

         Ever since we started 3ifactory way back in November 2007 we wanted to organize photo-walks, but back then we had just our mobile phones to shoot so we didn’t make them as big events… it would just be the three of us - Vishwaant,Zreej and me.

Date:Jan 10th 2010
Purpose: Our first official photoride
Place: St.Thomas Mount,Chennai
People:
1)   Sreejith
2)   Shiva Vishwanathan
3)   Rajesh
4)   Vishwaant
5)   Hari
6)   Kaushik and
7)   Aako Shiva

I don’t want to give a boring lecture about what we did or what we learnt.
I would just give a overview about what happened in bits and pieces.

How to get there:

From Kathipara bridge take the route which leads to porur… once you cross the bridge there will be a blue colored sign board saying that it’s the way to St.Thomas Mount… Take a left there. There are two options to go to the top:
1)   You can walk through the steps (takes about 15-20 mins)
2)   Ride to the top (little bit lengthy route)

We chose to ride since it’s a photoride :P (mokka) you need to drive through the defense quarters and there will be a play ground and a small blue sign board saying that it’s the way to the Shrine… take a right there and drive for 15 mins and you will be reach the top!!

What we did and what we learnt:

Took some long exposure shots, bokeh shots, light painting shots, candid shots, some portraits and photos of the shrine as such….

Vishwaant who always act as if he is a pro was giving out valuable tips (WTF!!) about photography… :P manasula periya photographer nu nenappu aana oru photo kuda urupadiya edukka theriyathu..Canon 500d vachu epo paarthalum scene poda vendiyathu!!

Sreejith who is a real ace in photography was the one who gave really useful tips and tricks involved with photography… thanks dude… its great to have you around.

Shiva V and Rajesh being newbies were exploring their new cameras by taking different shots and occasionally getting help from others.. thanks a lotguys… for joining the trip. Hope you guys join us for many more such trips.

Kaushik the budding photographer was giving out nice ideas to take photos with different angles with wonderful subjects… and yeah though he had just a sony ericsson... he was putting it to work by taking lots of shots.

Hari the Nari came late…but brought his awesome Nikon D90 and Sreej was busy exploring hari’ cam.

Yours truly was all over st.thomas mount taking photos almost of everything there :D

Overall it was an awesome trip and we had tremendous fun… learning and taking photographs is one thing… but having fun while doing all this is totally different…
did we have fun? Hell Yeah!! lotsa fun!!

Thanks to the amazing group who were always teasing each other (teasing vishwaant and hari in particular) :P helping out each other… totally awesome… totally totally awesome :D

Seri da mokka shiva...enough of your mokkai....Where are the  pictures?
:P :P :P

Yeah yeah I have uploaded select pictures into my picasa… will add some more when I get the pictures from others too

>> Link to pictures taken in St.Thomas Mount

I have not uploaded certain pictures… need to do some post processing and you can check them out in my “Shivz Photography” album in few days :D

Mokkai:

Any Trip starts with a T and ends with Tea.. We all reached the ground around 7:30 pm, had tea and escaped….

P.S: Will update u babout the next photoride  soon… having few places in my mind… pachamalai, tada, mudhaliyar kuppam and karikaatu kuppam.

Lets see!!

Travel Bugs!!

 “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

       Last weekend had an interesting discussion with my friends... We were just back from a one day trip to Yelagiri and we were discussing how awesome the trip was and gradually the discussion went on to whether we will be going on such trips, once we get married :P
One wise man (Thats me :D) suggested that we go to all the interesting places before marriage and have the most amazing, fun filled tours along with friends instead of nagging wives (Comedy panna koodathu.. ipave sollitaen) :P

We are all around 24+ now and we might have only around 2 or 3 years before we all get married and after that we will not be having that much time to hang out with friends...

So we all decided that in the next two to three years we must go to all the important places in india...

Ashwin compiled a list too and here is the complete list of the places that we plan to cover... one place in a month... by that calculation we would have covered about 24 - 36 places before we get married... he he :D

Pretty good right?

Before i go on to that list, let me list down the places we have already seen (just for the record :P)

Places Visited already:

1) Mahabalipuram

2) Kovalam (entire ecr comes under this)

3) Yelagiri

4) Bangalore

5) Kerala (Munnar, Allepey, Cochin)

6) Hyderabad

7) Tirupathi (:P)

8) Kumbakonam, Trichy and Thanjavur

9) Pondicherry

10) Pulicat Lake

Places to visit in the next two years:

1. Goa
2. Vaalpaarai
3. Ooty
4. Pulicat Lake
5. Kaanchipuram
6. Madurai
7. Coimbatore
   
8. Topslip
9. Yercaud
10. Wayanaud
11. Coorg
12. Jog Falls
13. Tada Falls
14. Rameshwaram
15. Kanyakumari
16. Chidambaram -&- Pichavaram lake
    
17. Siruvani
18. Hogenakkal
19. Kodaikanal
20. Mudumalai
21. Lakshwadeep
22. Mysore
23. Mumbai
24. Pune - Lonavla
25. Ajantha Ellora
26. Mangalore
27. Rajasthan
28. Shimla, Kulu Manali
29. Darjeeling
30. Delhi, Agra, Mathura, Vaishnodevi, Haridwar
31. Leh, Ladakh, Srinagar.
32. Mt.Everest :P (the ultimate comedy in the list)
33. Gingee Fort
34. Andaman & nicobar
35. Wildlife sanctuaries in india
36. Vaishno Devi (Jammu)
37. Kedarnath
38. Badrinath & Gangotri 
39. Thiruvannamalai & Parvatha malai
    

If you know any other interesting place... do let us know it will be really helpful for us...

Cheers!!

 “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

P.S: Edit on 5th Jan, 2009: Adding new places with inputs from my friends Hari, Cowmaa and Reso --> Thanks a lot guys, for suggesting new and exciting places :)

My only Resolution for 2010!

Jan 1rst, 2010. I gotta get in shape. Too much sitting has ruined my body. Too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on there will be 50 pushups each morning, 50 pullups. There will be no more pills, no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body. From now on will be total organization. Every muscle must be tight.
- Taxi Driver

Shivz Photography!

Photography??

Camera??

When was i first introduced into this wonderful world???
Had to think about that today and i recollected when i first saw a camera.

1992 - I was studying 2nd standard and my uncle had come home to visit us and he brought a Kodak camera with him. Like any other 2nd standard kid i was fascinated seeing a camera for the first time. Kept on pestering my uncle to allow me to take a shot but he never allowed me to even touch the cam he he :)

1992 - 2005 - Occasionally handled the camera during family functions but will be allowed to just press the shutter.. didn't have much of a chance to explore the camera

2005 - Advaitha - a one day workshop which our IT department organizes every year- My friend Prabhu gave me a camera (a film roll cam) and asked me to take some shots throughout the day. Boy that was really exciting.. took 33 shots totally and i took shots in all possible angles... i was really happy the other day... Seeing me take photos, another friend Agila handed over her digicam and asked me to take some photos...wow... this was going to be the exciting day of my life :D

But, I did two wonderful things that fateful day:

Screwup1:
1) I opened my friend Prabhu's cam in broad sunlight to take out the film roll... (Crime no:1) :P As you would have guessed when processed everything was white... (That's what my friend told me, he didn't even bring the processed photos)
Screwup2:
2) I didn't use flash in the digi cam (Agila's cam) and all the photos were pitch dark |
Total black & white :P இதுக்கு பேரு தான் Black & White photoso :P :P :P Almost all my friends were furious and even today they will tease me for this :P

Alright i learnt my lessons and didn't go near any cam for some time... But being the Aarva kolaru i am i couldn't leave it just like that... I shouldn't be that bad in photography ,so i learnt few basic things from net and was somewhat okay in taking photos... moved to digital cameras and then to handy cams... and all this time i started liking what i was doing... started to develop a passion towards photography ...

2007:

Joined HP.. Met two amazingly talented guys - Vishwaant and Zreejith. Vishwaant excels in photography, flash designing and site designing while Zreejith is an amazing artist and an amazing photographer. We used to discuss a lot about designing. We were asked to do lot of movies, presentations and posters for organizational activities and while doing this we used to discuss a lot about various creative designs....the more i discussed with them the more i learnt.

Coming to the exact point when my life turned... we went to Yelagiri for a short vacation and Vishwaant was taking photographs as usual with unusual angles... i and Vivek (My "thedal" hero) wanted to tease him, so we took Dominic's (another friend of mine - "DOSAVATHARAM "hero) camera mobile (Nokia n73) and went wherever Vishwaant went. If he was trying to shoot a flower we will go before he does and we would take the photo from the same angle... we had a nice time teasing him this way... But he was really nice to us and taught few things about taking proper photos... Vishwaant wanted to take a silhouette of Vivek jumping but he was not able to get any decent shot after lot of tries....... he left and started shooting some other poochi, poo whatever... Now yours truly wanted to try his hand in photography, wanted to tease Vishwaant that he can take the shot which Vishwaant couldn't ... i asked vivek to jump as high as he can and after few attempts i got the desired shot... it was not that great and all but personally i felt like as if i achieved something great...

That photo changed my life... compelled me to seriously consider photography as a hobby....

Sony Ericsson k850i:
Having decided to pursue photography as a hobby i was unsure whether to get a digicam... i had money to buy either a good mobile or a digital camera..It was November 2007 and Sony ericsson had launched a 5mpx mobile phone called Sony Ericsson k850i. Bought it. Shot hella lotta photos and i was accepted as a somewhat better photographer :) That's my story... now comes the anti-climax... few weeks back my mobile crashed (for the fifth time) and i was told it was not repairable. I was totally depressed. Almost 99% of photographs that i had taken was taken with my k850... i was really sad.. i know its just a mobile but still... somehow i was not able to take the shock....

November 10, 2009:

My birthday.. my best friend Archana took me to camera citi and said that she will get a new sony digi cam for me for 8k as a bday gift. My sis - Abi had promised to get me a new mobile for 5k. i was in no mood to get a new mobile.. i wanted a cam and a good cam.. i got 13k. now... called up my friend and philosopher Vishwaant for suggestions related to digicams... he advised me to put some more money and get a compact camera.. compacts are like higher end versions of digi cam... so i thought i can put 5k extra and get a compact... again vishwaant advised me to also look out for a second hand DSLR... getting a DSLR has always been a dream for me... for anyone interested in photography - the DSLR is the ultimate thing to have... so here i was searching for good deals in second hand DSLR's.

Then some of my friends suggested me to get a first hand DSLR from US since it would be cheap. So i did a small research on entry level dslrs... i had to shell out some extra money but i was happy that i was closer to realising my dream. Finally i zeroed in on Nikon D3000 - a pretty good entry level DSLR. My friend Shankaranarayan who was in US, bought it for me and i received it few weeks back... thanks a lot shankar... without you it would have been really difficult for me. Billion thanks for archie, Million thanks for my loving sis abirami :) and Trillion thanks to all my friends who always support me for all the stupid things that i do :D Okay let me wrap up this post quickly....

Today, its almost 2 years since i started taking photographs and every photo has taught me something new... every photo gives a new life for me.. and today i am moving to the next level.. the level where i could play with my DSLR and compete with professionals.... It has been an amazing journey so far and i know for sure that it will be even more amazing in the coming years... i have got lots, lots and lots of friends through my photography... Things are looking far more better now... i am getting new offers from various people requesting to use my photos in their websites.. other interesting projects are in pipeline through 3ifactory design studio.

These are exciting times... and i want to thank all my well-wishers, my friends, my critics... everyone who has viewed my photos even once... Without all your encouragement and support i wouldn't have come so far... Hope i get your constant support as i move into the next level with the help of my DSLR!!

The first day of "Shivz Photography" - i dunno how i can thank you all... planning to get some more amazing photos.. that will be the best way to express my thankfulness :D



P.S: For a long time i have been wanting to make a short film related to photography.. hope i make it soon... might be in 2010.

P.P.S: Whenever you are free check out my portfolio and provide your critiques and suggestions :D

http://3ifactory.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shivaj/show/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shivaj/
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/shivaj/popular-interesting/


Yours Truly,
Shiva

பூமியில் வானவில் - 7 (குழந்தையர் தினம்!)

பூமியில் வானவில் - 6 (என்னவள்!!)

பூமியில் வானவில் - 5 (மழை காதல்!!)

பூமியில் வானவில் - 4 (நிழல் காதல்)

Kuru Kuru Kangalile (ARR's soundtrack for Couples Retreat)

ARR's soundtrack for the Hollywood Movie "Couples Retreat", fell in love with this song as soon as i heard it the first time... As i type this i had listened to this song 50 times... will keep listening to it :)

Here's the video:



And here's the lyrics to sing along :)

Love you Rahman as always :D

குறு குறு கண்களிலே . ..
எனை அவள் வென்றாலே...
குறு குறு கண்களிலே
எனை அவள் வென்றாலே...

இதோ இதோ
அவள் எனை
பதம் பார்க்கிறாள்!

இதோ இதோ
அவள் எனை
பதம் பார்க்கிறாள்!

சிறு சிறு பெண்ணிலவே
என் துணை ஆவாளோ...
சிறு சிறு பெண்ணிலவே
என் பசி தீர்பாலோ...

இதோ இதோ
அவள் எனை
பதம் பார்க்கிறாள்!

இதோ இதோ
அவள் எனை
பதம் பார்க்கிறாள்!