The most breathtaking panorama

Browsing though the web , i found these rare n breathtaking panoramas

Earth from the edge of space!

more details here: http://www.airpano.com/360Degree-VirtualTour.php?3D=Stratosphere

Mount Everest

More details : http://www.airpano.com/360Degree-VirtualTour.php?3D=Everest-Nepal

Great Scene.. isn't it?

HDR: High Dynamic Range Photography

Dynamic Range refers to the range of light intensities that can be accommodated by vision, ie the various lights and darks that can be viewed simultaneously. Dynamic range is an everyday phenomenon: when you enter a dark room from a well lit room- your eyes goes blackout for a moment. As a photographer, the problem of Dynamic range really comes in picture when you're shooting in very bright or very dark surrounding. For a matter of fact, the dynamic range of human eye is 10,000:1 (our eye can distinguish 10,000 different intensities of light at the same time); a DSLR has a dynamic range of around 400:1 (which is much much lower than our eyes) and the monitor/ printed photograph has further low dynamic range than rest. In other words, our eyes can accommodate up to 18 stops of light, whereas a digital camera can accommodate up to 10-12 stops and monitor/ printed photograph can accommodate even less. 

To further simplify your concept, I am posting some of my photographs that I took in an auditorium last night.  3 photos were taken from the same nodal point in different exposures(-2. 0, +2). Finally they were combined to produce the final high dynamic range photograph.

The most commonly used and the most popular HDR softwares  are:

• Adobe Photoshop(File>>Automate>> Merge to HDR Pro)
• Photomatrix Pro (Software site: www.HDRsoft.com)

For more insights into the concept you can refer to: http://www.stuckincustoms.com/hdr-tutorial/

for any other queries or suggestions, just reply back or mail to jishnuclicks@gmail.com

Making a 360 degree panorama

So after quite a gap, I'm back with my tutorials... and I swear its just got better. Today I'm going to teach you how to shoot and stitch a professional quality 360 degree panorama and all you need is a digital camera(any digital camera with manual settings) The best thing about this tutorial is that you can apply the same techniques with any digital camera you have and for any number of photos(you can combine 100's of photos), and create panoramas as big as gigapixel. A tripod is naturally preferred, but you can always find a way around it(if u you don't have a tripod, check out this link: http://www.philohome.com/tripod/shooting.htm ).  

To start off with here are the basic equipment you need:

1.  Digital Camera (in manual mode)
2.  Tripod
3.  Compass (to know the directions esp useful when you're planning to upload your work on the web)

Software required:

1. Adobe Photoshop: No photo is complete without photoshop, but the truth is that photoshop cannot stitch a 360 degree panorama. We need photoshop to clean up and refine the stitched panorama we get from
2. AutoPano Giga: Its gotta be the best panorama stitching software currently available in market (though many claim PTGUI as an equally good software stitching software, but APG's simple user interface and ease of use makes it my personal favourite). As the name suggests, the software can even be used to stitch very high resolution images(gigapixel images). For more details about the software , check out their website: http://www.kolor.com 
3. KRpano tools: these are small tools and droplets which are helping to automatically prepare the panoramic images for viewing and making them ready-to-use. It also incorporates the krpano Viewer, which is a small and very flexible high-performance viewer for all kind of panoramic images and interactive virtual tours. For details and download check their website:  http://krpano.com/

The A to Z of panorama shooting and editing has been explained in the following 2 videos, the first one I found in the net (the one I watched while learning panorama shooting). Though it explains both shooting and stitching part, but I rather want you to follow the 2nd video( the one I prepared, after dealing with all sorts of problems in the previous workflows).

Once you've created your panorama, you can be uploaded to  www.360cities.net . But keep in mind that for free account users, the site accepts panos of resolution of 6000x3000, 8000x4000 or maximum 9256x4628 only. 

Video #1   Shooting a panorama


Video #2  Post Production Techniques


Best of luck for your panoramic exploration and do please share your experiences with me. Or if you  have any query, feel free to ask it here or mail me at jishnuclicks@gmail.com

T Shirt designing: Tips

After facing quite a lot of criticism over the previous design, I made sure that I covered all the shortcomings of the previous design and created this one. This is my 4th T Shirt design, so now I roughly know how to approach and what to expect it in its final output. Knowledge of Corel Draw is recommended coz the final design is made in Corel Draw. Even if you don't (like me!), you can create your design in Photoshop/Paint Shop Pro and hand over the design to the printer. Make sure you follow these basic things while designing:

• Mind your colors: remember that you have only limited color palettes at your disposal. Shades of similar color might not get printed exactly the way you want it to be. So use contrasting and bright colors for your designs. Also the printer would charge you additional cost for every color you use in your prints (irrespective of the print area of that color). So I would suggest you to limit the use of colors in your design to 1 or 2 colors and use them in a contrasting manner to get the best look for your design.
• Make a big picture: If your design has plenty of graphics, make sure your file dimension is big enough so that you get best resolution while printing. For example: 4000x4000 pixels @ 200dpi would give you a good sharp output without any need for upsampling your image.
• T shirt color: Always the first thing to consider while designing is the color of the T shirt coz it would act as the background color for your design. Though you can choose a Shirt of any color which is available in the market, but if you're confused over the best color to select, then better go for white, grey or black. They  are the universal colors and by universal I mean they're the best for all practical purposes and suits on all skin tones.
• Positioning of your design: Make sure you place your main subject/highlight to the 'chest' (thats coz people have this tendency to place the design at the tummy, never do it.)

However these are just some guidelines and the final look you your shirt would depend on your sense of design and etiquette. If you have any queries or suggestions, feel free to express your thoughts here itself or mail me at jishnuclicks@gmail.com

Photo Market in Delhi...

For those seeking best deals and varieties in  photographic equipment in Delhi, this is the place to look out- Chandni Chowk photo market. I've attached a map locating the best deal shops in their respective category. They've been selected on my own personal experience.Its only after 3 visits and a comprehensive search of the whole market that I chose these shops. Memory cards, card readers, chargers and batteries are found in almost all shops and at same wholesale rate. Almost every item is sold at wholesale rate except tripod, so no point bargaining on those items.

Some shops to specially look out for:

1. Digital Point: they deal in cameras, lens, polarisers, filters, studio lights, tripods etc. Contact Mr. Kunal Magan @ 9810208094 before a visit. A 10 min chat with this expert shopkeeper can prove really helpful in you selecting the best accessories for ur photographic style.
2. Standard Album company: A one stop shop for all ur print paper and cartridge needs. They had some cartridges which were available nowhere else in the market. Contact Mr Bhushan Kumar @ 9312606852, 9311106852, 9873063047
3. Vardhaman Traders: they had a great variety of camera pouches and bags; and i'm sure they have one for ur cam as well. Contact Mr. Vinod Jain @ 9811109449
4. Khanna & Co.: specialists in photo frames and I just loved the variety and designs of their frames. Contact Mr. Rahul Khanna @ 9350910011

I think that pretty much sums up almost all ur photographic needs,however if you still have any doubts or queries, do feel free to ask them here at my blog or mail me at: jishnuclicks@gmail.com

Some panos of my school...

Project KPS: was undertaken on 19th Feb 2012(Kerala School Grand Fete day)

Special thanks to my buddies- Gaurav Kumar for lending me some of his equipments and Sooraj V Nair for assisting me in the project... It took around three months and lot of headache to finish the project

School Inside

Kerala School inside in New Delhi

School Entrance

Kerala School Entrance in New Delhi


School Canteen

Kerala School canteen side in New Delhi


SMS Marg(Road that leads to school)

Srimant Madhavrao Scindia Marg in New Delhi

On top of the world

Ok, so it was my first experience on air... and so was the first experience of aerial photography. Taking pics from the sky is an all different feeling and so is the photography technique. Most of the times, you're hovering over the blanket of clouds with blue sky above. Also a thing ti note is the fact that there's a lot of white all around and so is the light reflection. Clicking pics of cloud in auto mode can be a daunting task since the camera wont be able to find much contract in the pic, so manual focus would serve much better. Also make sure that the exposure is kept kept down by a couple of stops. 

Regarding the usage of camera on flight- I went through many discussion forums and websites and found that there is absolutely no harm in using camera on planes. Take as many photos as you wish but make sure you don't disturb the people around you!

In the God's own country...

Visit to homeland is always a special one... more so when its  the 'God's own country'. I can proudly tell you that I belong to Kerala- the place of great culture, wonderful people and lush greenery everywhere you go. Though I am very excited about my photographic works in Kerala , but let me tell you that my brief visit to Kerala was a consequence of my grandma's sustained illness(she passed away the very night we reached her). May her soul rest in peace, n I must admit she was a very lucky person indeed to have spend her last moments with all her children and grandchildren near her. Coming back to the topic, what made the whole journey more worthwhile were my cousins and their lively presence all throughout my journey. Though it was unbearably hot n humid most of the days, which I suppose was the reason for my camera malfunctioning many a times. But as you can see(and I hope you liked a few) I somehow managed to get some good snaps.

My Kerala visit lasted for 2 weeks from 9th of April to 23rd.

colorful bangles

my sweet heart sis

little dude

sunset in palakkad

frozen with time

Jack fruit

Manali 360 degree

Its gotta be the toughest panorama I've ever created. To create this photographic piece at 5300m altitude above the sea level with the tough cold climate and steep breeze was no small achievement. What made it more difficult was the load I was carrying - my photographic equipments and the tripod. I would've dearly loved to take a panorama on top of that cliff, but the conditions there were so extreme(esp the winds) that I had to fulfill myself with this work only. Special thanks to the new editing tool I learnt - KR pano tools- without which I couldn't have finished the work!

Gulaba-camp, Near Manali in Asia

Photographing the light- tips

The trick to take a sharp and correctly illuminated photo of a lamp is by adjusting the metering mode to spot metering(by default its set as evaluative or center average). This metering mode helps to get the most out of your little bright areas in the photo and make all the rest as pure black. Secondly- the most fundamental thing while taking photos in dark(which I shouldn't even be reminding u guys)- Keep the camera on a steady base- a tripod or a tabletop. Simple truth is that we just can't take a great shot in dark without camera shake. Keeping these little tips in mind before taking the photo can save lots of time in Photoshop! 

Chk out my panos

Find all my pano works here : http://www.360cities.net/profile/jishnu2602 

Kerala School rear side 360 view...

1st Night Pano...

This is my 1st shot with a tripod(thanks to my frnd Gaurav, who was generous enough to lend his tripod for a couple of days). Also this is my 1st Night pano.... something which I was a bit uncertain in the beginning(night photography itself is a big challenging deal, leave alone panorama making!), but the final image was more pleasing than expected... Special thanks the my buddy Shiljith for accompanying me in the project  Cheers!

MIG Ground in New Delhi

The power of photoshop

Yes its true that you need a good camera and a quality lens to get that breathtaking pic you always dreamt of... But thanks to Photoshop, you can do magic with even those not so good pics u took(even the pics taken with an ordinary mobile cam). This image was actually taken by my friend Satheesh in Kerala with his Samsung Galaxy phone. Actual pic was quite washed out and boring, but after some photoshopping it really looks fab.. 

Breaking the GigaPixel barrier Part-1

Working on a Gigapixel project is quite an excitement as well as a headache. the later because of my resource crunch- a tiny little Canon A580 camera, pretty old firmware(camera software), a tripod(or the lack of it) and the most important thing- the PC graphics handling capacity. Infact- Cost is always the biggest limiting concern to any photographer... I take respite by the fact that the tiny digi I own today I far better than the ones used by the professionals some 10-15years back. Gladly, everything's pretty much planned out and I hope the results are pleasing.. 

Black n white bosoms

Rather than going for the conventional shoot n upload thing, I tried to get a bit cheeky this time. A bit of photoshop, n think it resounds much more emotions than it had earlier... Happy Valentine's day to all... 

My first VR panorama Image published in google earth

Uploaded at 360cities.net and approved by the admins. It was a big project indeed and needed a lot of pre and post processing to get the desired output. This panorama was created by stitching 39 different shots covering most of the horizon and lower portions(Since the sky was pretty much uniform, i didnt bother to take much pis of the sky) 

Joggers Park, Mayur Vihar-3 in New Delhi