Critical Appreciation – 004

Critical Appreciation – 004

The final pic in the series of which are pics I already commented on Maria Bernadette’s Fb, is |this image of a “fire fighter”. She captioned it as “Fire as weapon” #martialarts #kerala

It reminds me of the fire dance in Hawaiii and other Polynesian or Caribbean countries and cultures. I think you did the right thing by not firing a flash. Many photographers attempt to capture the streaking and light trails of spinning arcs and sparks. It may take more than one viewing to make test shots and to figure which shutter speed works best or to predict the movement. Spinning fire is always dramatic when captured right. Maria’s original pic (lower pic) didn’t capture the motion or dynamism of the “fire fighter”
Remember to always respect or abide by the boundaries set by the performers for safety reasons

My original comment:
“Moving fire is an excellent chance to show dramatic streaking of light. Try a different shutter speed the next time”

I used Photoshop’s motion blur filter to add some trailing to suggest motion (top pic). I didn’t like seeing the static moment of a martial art fighter standing still. The opportunity is rare and I feel it was a missed opportunity. A new subject is always a learning process so better luck next time.

See series 2 and 3 on my Fb or IG.

#tvscapic

Critical Appreciation – 001

Maria Bernadette (https://www.facebook.com/maria.bernadette.92) sent me this message;

“Hi Terrence, I hope this is not too much to ask for. I’ve uploaded some of my photos from Kochi and Munnar. Your comments will be much appreciated and please feel free to criticise as your comments would make me do better the next time”.

I am always hesitant to critic somebody’s work. When I was starting out I used to buy American and British photography magazines in which they had a column in where an expert or panel reviewed pics sent in by willing readers. The expert or panel will explain what he or she liked or didn’t and why. Also suggestions for improvements.

I felt I learned and benefited from it. With that in mind, I asked Maria if I can share the pics and my comments for the benefit of more people. She graciously agreed.

Send me a link or the pic if you wish to participate. It must be yours and not someone else’s. Don’t send a perfect pic just to show off. It is not a contest and done in fun.

Update: Found out the comment don’t show via Fb sharing,

So here it is: “I like that it isn’t overexposed adding to the air of mystery. Also the selective framing and cropping is clever in not revealing all. The trick with this scene is getting the exposure correct. Helps that the speed is slow enough to see the flames blown in the wind.”

#tvscapic

The Migrants.

The common house crows are so hated everywhere because they are intelligent, noisy and invade our environment. They expose our lack of cleanliness and the lack of proper street cleaning and rubbish disposal by local authorities. For exposing their shortcomings and failure to do their jobs, some heartless town halls resort to shooting them.

The intelligent and sociable animals were like “illegal” immigrants. They are native to India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They can now be found all over South East Asia. It was speculated that a colony was brought in by British planters in Carey Island to control agricultural pests. They soon escaped and spread all over Klang Valley. Like an experiment gone wrong, as in the fictional Jurassic Park.

Scientists believe many adventurous crows also hitched a ride on cargo ships and got off at ports such as Port Klang and one of the world’s busiest ports, Singapore, where the stowaways transferred ships or made landfall.

Picture by my dear friend PuiSee Chu (https://www.facebook.com/puisee4) who was also in Kerala, India recently. According to her, the crows were waiting patiently and graciously for unfinished food at an al fresco diner in Cherai Beach Residency Kochi. You can find and see more of the hotel by locating it with Mycen Hotels Search.

See and book the hotel:here: https://www.agoda.com/partners/partnersearch.aspx?cid=1767713&pcs=1&hid=648821

See many hotels in Cochin Kerala here: http://www.mycen.my/cochin-hotel-deals-finder/

I’ll feature more of her Kerala pics which have the viewpoint of a kind, compassionate animal lover..

#crows #cochin #kochi #india #birds #raven

Milestone and Kochi

Milestone and Kochi.

I received my first bookings to India today. Hotels booked were in the cities of Amritsar, New Delhi and Cochin (Kochi). Thank you anonymous stranger/user, whoever you are.

Pictures from my Malaysian friend, the lovely Maria Bernadette on FB (@maria160791 on IG), who coincidentally, is in Cochin or Kochi and the tea valleys of Munnar in Kerala state this moment. She said the monsoon is bearing down hard this time of the year. That makes the landscape more interesting.

Kochi is pronounced as in Co Chee or as in Kuih Kochi. India is such a big and vast country, use the new search at the sidebar to find the cities.

See a mud splashed 3 wheeler taxi in Cochin here:

http://www.mycen.my/cochin-hotel-deals-finder/

#india #kerala #cochin #kochi #munnar #monsoon #mycenhotels #milestone