Art & Science - Not different (Udaipur)

As I travel around in this life, people ask - what is the difference between art & science? Which one should I go for?

For most people they seem to be different paths.

For me like most things in this world, this is just another facet of all prevailing duality. Two sides of the same coin.

The real question is not how they are different. But how their difference can be united to achieve stellar results.

Let's break it down with an example. A pencil and a paper.
The knowledge of how to make a mark with a pencil on paper is science.
The knowledge of how to make that mark beautiful is art.

Now if you are asked to make a mark and then later make that beautiful without help of both paths.
You might now ask, why should I be bothered with such trivial information. My answer will be to shift our perspective to a more important question.

We should be asking what difference can we make with art & science, not what is the difference between them.
As earlier this thought came through a meeting during my visit to Udaipur, Rajasthan. I met Mr. Kailash Jinger, who is an artist known for his work on mewar style of painting. He is the chief artist working in Udaipur City Palace and has done a lot of commissioned work on many buildings in and around Udaipur. In his free time he teaches mewar art to mortal beings.
As an artist he could also have been intrigued by the question of difference between art & science. Instead he chose to ask what difference can he make. And the answer he found, started with his own house. He initially started painting his house with the idea of making it a showcase for mewar art. And what a splendid work he has done. Every corner of his house is a testimony of what he is and what mewar art means to him. He has already spent a lot of money and his time (around 6/7 years) into it.

On his roof top, watching the city from above. He said - "You know I did all this, but something was missing. Majorly because whenever I use to come home, everything was beautiful, except the street leading to it It  was littered with garbage, spit and pee. I decided why not extend the art on street and see if people respond positively!". So he took up the challenge and spent time beautifying the street. It took him around 2 years with his own money and the job was completed. People stopped throwing garbage, spiting or peeing on beautiful piece of art. It slowly gained momentum and now the street is part of heritage walk in Udaipur, with government also putting it's clout behind.

So what was I left with? Obviously I secured a promise to live with him next time I go to Udaipur. That will help me more detailed documentation of his thoughts and work. But I decided till that time, at least I can spread his message to whoever wants to listen.

The real question is not what the differences are, but what can be achieved by unification of those differences.
What will you be doing or have done, let's pour it out in the comments section.

Light - Camera - Practice. Chasing Light.

In my last post I talked about – photography is all about chasing light. That does not mean, we need to run after street lights, tails lamps etc. Chasing light for us photographers means understanding light.

Hold on! You said you will make us a better photographer and now you are turning us into physicists.
Not exactly, we don’t need to understand photon and stuff. We just to understand the basic and how it effects a photograph.

So let’s go back to school and recap how we see things.
Light from a source, reflected by an object is captured by our eye.

 Now we add in a camera in front of the eye and the scene is recorded on device sensor.

So let’s first understand the major factors to consider and then we will see through some examples to put theory into practical perspective.

Source – Natural vs. Artificial light- For us natural light source is sun during the day and moon at night. Artificial light is anything from candles to bulbs to external flashes.
Understanding the source is important as it will help you determine the overall mood and other aspects of a photograph. And there is no good or bad light source. If you ask a landscape photographer, he will tell you natural light is the best. If you ask the same question to a studio portrait photographer, he will swear by artificial light.

Direction of light- The second thing to consider is the direction of light. It simply means at what angle the light is being reflected towards the camera.

Color Temperature – What! Colors don’t have temperature. I agree. But just to remember there are warm colors and cool colors. Just imagine a color and if it makes you feel cold it is the cold color and vice versa. Imagine color blue and immediately your mind perceives sky, water bodies and make your feel cold and relaxed. Whereas shades of red/orange will make you feel warm because your mind associate those colors with warm things like fire or sun.

Enough of text, now let’s get to examples and dissect them to understand lighting in each situation.
(Disclaimer – I shoot exclusively with available light, if you are looking for advice on external flashes and lighting systems, I am not the correct guy to follow)

Natural Light

Here you can see that the light is natural (from sun), being blocked by something which is allowing partial light to fall through, coming from top left direction.

Artificial Light

 Here the light source is in front (candle), with light being reflected by the metallic surface.

Light Direction One

Here the light source is again in the front.

Here the light source is on top with beamed light falling on the subject.

Here the light source is coming from top right, as you can make out from the direction of shadows. The intensity of light is also hard and close to subject, which you can make out as the bell on right got more light than the left one.

Leaving three four images for you guys to dissect in comment section. Give it a try will be a good exercise.

What is Photography Blog Post - Click Here
Learn to see like camera Blog Post - Click Here

Boats

Ruins

Durga Puja

Golden Temple

5 ways to enjoy Indian Railways

Illustration for Indian Railways

If you are reading this, you have decided to travel in India. And the best way to do so is through Indian Railways. You might have heard a lot of bad things about it, however I will skip them. I will rather share some tips that have worked for me well during my travels and make yours enjoyable too. As always advice is suit to taste. If you find another way, please share. It might help a lot of people.

1.       Plan Early – Though the population has grown, Railways hasn’t kept up with the pace. Hence the trick is to plan early. You generally will get tickets 60 days in advance, which will allow you to get a seat of your choice in a train of your choice. Also look at the calendar for any major Indian festival, which are rush period. Avoid summer holidays too. (May - June)

2.       Choice of Train – If your budget allows then go for these three trains – Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi. These are the trains that mostly run on time and are given preference in terms of route clearance. Avoid any trains with ‘Special’ on it, they run very late. Train numbers starting with ‘11***’ & ‘12***’ are better ones.

3.       Choice of food – Avoid non-vegetarian food. You can always have them once you reach your destination. In case the train does not have pantry car, go with packed food like biscuits and cakes. If possible, try IRCTC restaurants on stations.

4.       Choice of berth – For a solo traveler, upper berth works fine. No disturbance like lower berth. Read a book or listen to music and doze off. For twin travelers, side upper + side lower should be worth. Two berth system, no third person to share. Families, I wish you luck, if you figure out a way, please share.

5.       Washroom worries – My rule wake up earlier than others and you will get a clean & empty washroom. You can complete your sleep a little later, when everyone is holding breath for their turn.

Do you have more tips to share about Indian Railways?