Lets talk through Photographs

See on Flickr for a better view

I took this photograph at Lakeside, IITB. I like to capture static frames. When you just sit at a place, let your mind loose, enjoy the silence. It shows ‘growing old’ in a very positive manner. Not for the death but for the life you have lived. For all the stories and adventures lived. This song My Way sung by Frank Sinatra just says everything I want to say by this photograph.

“And now, the end is here 
And so I face the final curtain 
My friend, I’ll say it clear 
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain 
I’ve lived a life that’s full 
I traveled each and ev’ry highway 
And more, much more than this, I did it my way 

Regrets, I’ve had a few 
But then again, too few to mention 
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption 
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway 
And more, much more than this, I did it my way 

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew 
When I bit off more than I could chew 
But through it all, when there was doubt 
I ate it up and spit it out 
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way 

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried 
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing 
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing 
To think I did all that 
And may I say, not in a shy way, 
“Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way” 

For what is a man, what has he got? 
If not himself, then he has naught 
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels 
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way! 

Yes, it was my way”

I have decided to start again my old style of showing how a photograph is made.

1. I observed this old man sitting near the lake, just lost in his thoughts. I took the initial trial photograph to see the exposure and the make up for the difference between what you see in Camera and what appears to your eyes.

2. The contrast was good but the highlights appeared too much washed out. So I removed the sky by changing the vantage point.

3. It was better than previous one but not something which stands out. So I decided to make use of some surrounding features. I clicked one frame using a tree to make a frame and another one through the grass.

4. I liked the one taken though grass. The placing of grass on right side was intentional to balance the weight of the photograph. The use of grass led to a new idea of clicking through a lower angle showing more of the out of focus grass.

5. After editing it in Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5, adding some textures, I got my final photograph.

I also edited one other photograph as it was also impactful.