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Stillness


When I take a picture, I usually go through a set of predictable phases.

“What a shot!” is the first congratulatory phase, which usually is the result of previewing the picture on the tiny LCD screen on the camera. Oblivious of the shot’s obvious shortcomings, I administer myself several pats on the back (of an entirely metaphorical sort only).

Then comes the shot’s first test – it is downloaded and viewed on a bigger 12” laptop LCD. “Hmmm… so what’s the big deal here” is what this phase is called. It lasts several minutes, during which about 40% of the unfortunate shots are deleted.

As days progress by, my respect for a few more shots falls below that critical threshold which allows them their lease of space on my hard disk. The phase comes in several sub-varieties such as “What a terrible shot”, “What a horrible composition”, “Can’t you hold the camera straight”, “What’s that tree doing in your frame”, “Steady dude! Steady! Hold it steady!!!!” The ones that survive now either have modicum of merit or demonstrate potential for digital resuscitation.

And at last follows the “I hate myself” phase – which although lasts for a few moments, yet takes the heaviest toll. At the end of it fewer than 20% of the original pictures survive.

On browsing some months later, I often think that I had been too lenient with ones I didn’t delete.

Now the shot posted here is over three months old and is precisely the kind that makes me wonder – “What was I thinking?” However, this one still escaped being axed because I thought that it was a decent “balanced” composition. Yes, there are things about this shot that make me cringe, and yet for some reasons I have now posted it.
posted: 23.10.05

3 Comments

If there was no motorbike in this pic, there would have been a poem instead of a write-up...

By Blogger Ink Spill, at 23.10.05  



Well, i often go through "is it the camera or me?" phase.

Apparently, all these phases come "free" with the equipment we buy :D

By Blogger Sharath MS, at 23.10.05  



Perhaps.. but if there was no bike, there would probably have been no picture either. The folks on the bike for some reasons remind of Commander Keen!

Well Sharath, if the picture looks good, it's you if not it's the camera :-)

By Blogger Deepak, at 25.10.05  


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