hints, allegations and things left unsaid...
Abandoned Homes
Here are two of the recent pictures that I had clicked at Talakad (a small village about 400 KM away from Bangalore).
The first one was particularly hard to capture. I stumbled upon the cob-web during the course of my early morning saunter – that was easy, what was tough was to get my camera to focus on it. Most digital cameras, with their auto-focus, don’t like being told where the focus should be. It kept getting “locked” on to the green leafy background; totally ignoring the cob-web. Fortunately, the sun was rising right behind and its golden, morning rays illuminated each strand of the derelict cob-web evenly, making my job a tad simpler. After a few attempts, I heard the magical “click” sound capture a memorable (?) snap. The spider in the center was probably dead or had perhaps grown too old to bother mending its abode. The area around the spider, does look like a glass smashed by a speeding bullet (you’ll probably need to see the picture in full resolution to debate that observation. Do that anyways, because for some reason the slender filaments of cobweb look jagged in this low-res version :-)).
The second snap was a breeze. All I had to do was compose the shot patiently. Digital camera and patience? Allow me to explain. I haven’t invested a single penny on my camera and have been content with the 16 MB memory that had originally come with it – which roughly translates into 25-30 pictures, a trifle miserly if you are out on a trek for an entire day. On the flip-side, the limitation has resulted in some positive ramifications (mostly behavioral changes) that I am gradually realizing. I’ve grown prudent in what I click. While it has earned me a bad reputation of clicking more inanimate/inhuman subjects than humans, what I click is usually worth keeping around on my hard-disk. The second outcome has been patience. I don’t mind standing and waiting for 10 minutes if that is what it would take to get me the shot I am looking for. A bad shot is a lot when 25 is all you’ve got. So yes, I’ve evolved means of dealing with the measly 16 MB limit. The shortcoming that I am running into now (and haven’t been able to figure ways of tackling it) is shorter battery life. Waiting too long to compose a shot causes an enormous drain on the camera’s battery, which now runs out in fewer shots than average. Coming back to the picture; these are abandoned nests of the weaver birds hanging delicately from the branches of an old willow by the bank of calm Cauvery river backwaters.
The first one was particularly hard to capture. I stumbled upon the cob-web during the course of my early morning saunter – that was easy, what was tough was to get my camera to focus on it. Most digital cameras, with their auto-focus, don’t like being told where the focus should be. It kept getting “locked” on to the green leafy background; totally ignoring the cob-web. Fortunately, the sun was rising right behind and its golden, morning rays illuminated each strand of the derelict cob-web evenly, making my job a tad simpler. After a few attempts, I heard the magical “click” sound capture a memorable (?) snap. The spider in the center was probably dead or had perhaps grown too old to bother mending its abode. The area around the spider, does look like a glass smashed by a speeding bullet (you’ll probably need to see the picture in full resolution to debate that observation. Do that anyways, because for some reason the slender filaments of cobweb look jagged in this low-res version :-)).
The second snap was a breeze. All I had to do was compose the shot patiently. Digital camera and patience? Allow me to explain. I haven’t invested a single penny on my camera and have been content with the 16 MB memory that had originally come with it – which roughly translates into 25-30 pictures, a trifle miserly if you are out on a trek for an entire day. On the flip-side, the limitation has resulted in some positive ramifications (mostly behavioral changes) that I am gradually realizing. I’ve grown prudent in what I click. While it has earned me a bad reputation of clicking more inanimate/inhuman subjects than humans, what I click is usually worth keeping around on my hard-disk. The second outcome has been patience. I don’t mind standing and waiting for 10 minutes if that is what it would take to get me the shot I am looking for. A bad shot is a lot when 25 is all you’ve got. So yes, I’ve evolved means of dealing with the measly 16 MB limit. The shortcoming that I am running into now (and haven’t been able to figure ways of tackling it) is shorter battery life. Waiting too long to compose a shot causes an enormous drain on the camera’s battery, which now runs out in fewer shots than average. Coming back to the picture; these are abandoned nests of the weaver birds hanging delicately from the branches of an old willow by the bank of calm Cauvery river backwaters.
posted: 27.1.04
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