Elated

Here is another one that i did today..

Munnar (painting)

Just realised how difficult it is to paint a complete landscape in Photoshop..i started off well yesterday,but ran out of paitance today..hats off to those concept artists who endure the whole process days in and days out and finally bring out some thing so amazing..as for me, i would rather stick to my watercolors and brush..phewww..!!!

Sunbath

Beach babe.. ;)

Face

This i did today..he is pretty pissed for some reason..!!

Lady Jaundice

Here is the new one..i am starting to caricature the anatomy..!! I call her "Lady Jaundice" because she is yellow in color.

More drawings..(i am having fun with the doodles..)



here are the roughs

New Drawing

New Drawing..a very rough doodle which i have painted .. :D

well..here is the doodle

New Paintings

I have started enjoying coloring my sketches in Photoshop because here i can use any good doodle done by me on the back of my note book or diary, which i wouldnt upload otherwise..so here is what i have done today..!!





Best Viewed on full Screen .

Female anatomy

Like i mentioned earlier..Female anatomy study..will get better!!

Rough sketches

Rough Sketches..

Alien in Color

After much deliberation i have finally managed to digitally paint one of my drawings..
Finally..!!

Fear...!!

I have tried thematic sketching this time and decided to take up "fear" as my theme for these particular sketches.


My co-blogger and friend Kamal suggested me to make the second drawing look a little more dynamic..so i made few changes to it above and i am posting it again.








best viewed on full screen

more Drawings

Well..Here are few more drawings i did today,I have decided that i will keep studying male Anatomy for next few days and then will start with female Anatomy..and while i am at it, i will keep posting the better sketches on my blog , right now i am using combination of approaches..i have followed Andre Loomis for the Anatomy part of the drawing..but for construction (armature) i am following Burne Hogarth (using boxes and putting them in perspective) i have found this hybrid approach to be very convenient especially for somebody who cant comfortably translate his thoughts on paper through drawings, here ..following this combination, with little bit of planning , you can easily draw the most complicated of foreshortenings.







better viewed when full screen.

Back in Action

Have been hibernating for sometime, there had been lot of stuff i needed to read up cause i was feeling extremly uninspired lately, i have got myself into a habit of buying books and keeping them for a later date for reading, i had been doing this since last one year and didn't read a single book, until i realized the same, and therefore i resolved to take some time off, from my everyday schedule and start reading them..had been doing the same for last 6 months, finished reading "Kite Runner", "Roald Dahl Omnibus", "Styajit Rays :Adventure of Feluda", "www.H.R.Giger.com", "Story by Robert Mckee" and a few others. Now since i am done with them..i am back to my drawing board and here are a few quickies to start with, trust me..this will get better with time.

Sharada (1981) :A Comedy that tries too hard to be a Family Drama

I am sure you guys must be thinking that i have lost it completely, especially because this is going to be the first Mainstream hindi film i am reviewing on this blog..that too from 1981, and its not Sholey either. So what really lead me to make my mind up for reviewing this particular film which people from my generation might have never even heard of.. Honestly, I have no idea, it could be lot of things, maybe starting from- me having absolutely no idea of what i am getting into when i started watching it or the fact that the film was so bad that it was good..you just cant imagine how exhilarated and amused i was when the events started to unfold..i was laughing , choking, throwing up ,sallowing my puke and laughing again and i kept doing the same thing over and over again for the next two hours or so (yes ..even while the songs).

Picture this, Inder (jitender) is a hard working and god fearing simpleton who lives with his mother and works for Lalima Lipsticks. His mother is a conservative and over protective person, who has seen some really difficult times owing to the early demise of her husband. Inder, due to his hard work soon starts to climb the corporate ladder and becomes the favorite of his Chairman Mr.Kohili (Madan Puri) who looks at him as a prospective son in law. Jagdish (Jagdeep) is Inder's hyperactive and street smart secretary who believes in getting promoted by hook or by crook. In an important meeting with the companies agents Jadish offers female escorts in order to entertain the clients, All the agents get drunk including Inder (first time for him) and indulge in a night of debauchery leaving Inder estranged with a woman called Sharada(Rameshwari) who is a rookie in the profession (First time for her too).. Inder who is completly drunk and overly emotional by now and Sharda who has already declined a advance made by one of the agents ,strike a conversation leading to some of the most hilarious lines in the history of Indian Cinema :

Inder : Chi..tum aisa kam kyon karti ho ?
Sharda : Kyonki mai aanath hoon ..aur ek anath ladki ke duniya fayada uthati hai
Inder : Kyaaah... tum Anath Ho..!!?? ( Bursts into tears) Mai tumhara dard samajh Sakta hoon..!

and the Conversation leads to Inder getting married to Sharda in the same hotel while the rest of the escorts and the agents plays best men and brides maid respectively.(of which Inder has no memory of the next morning..of course, he was drunk..wasnt he!!)

Shit hits the fan when Mr.Kohili meets Inders mother and tells her his intention of getting his daughter married to her son..for which the mother readily agrees cause after all he is the Chairman who has recently promoted her son, a conversation that leads to the second most hilarious line in the history of Indian Cinema:

Mr Kohili : Mai AApko Inder ke promotion ke liye Mubarak baad dena Chahata tha
Mother : Promotion..!! MAtlab pagar me sau ek rupiyaa to badega na..??
Mr:Kohili : SAu Ek Rupiyaa nahin ..pure Derh Hazaar , Ab Inder ki Pagar poorey teen Hazaar ho gayi hai
Mother : (Gasps in Disbelief) Hai raam..Itney Paise hum Rakhheygey kahan..!!??

whats follows is a completly bizarre set of events which includes fixing grill on the windows, scheme of a murder, attempted poisoning,suicidal mother, a wife who is a absolute pile on,a VAT 69 scotch whiskey that looks like Rum, a dream sequence which goes too far, regular trips between Pune and Mumbai (both of whom seems to be in a different time zone in 1981.),an overly long horse leash (100 yards at least.), a Blackmailer getting Blackmailed and One Final showdown in Haridwaar. Oh yes in the middle of all that ..you also have Raj Babbar in a "blink and you miss" appearance.

Most of time me and Chetan( My Ex Girlfrnd and my Present Roomie) were baffled and perplexed cause we were not able to figure ,if the director (Lekh Tondon) intended to make this a comedy or a family drama..then Chetan pointed out that since the scenes in which i was laughing hardest had a low and extremly sad background score ..it must be family drama..!! Its just that the socio economical and cultural changes in past 26 years have turned it into one of the best comedies of present time.

I was lucky enough to watch it on Television, but its a rare film cause there is nothing written about it over the internet as well..therefore i wasnt able to get the film poster from anywhere. But try not missing this little gem from 1981 if you get a chance today..especially if you enjoyed reading this review and have a similar sense of humor like mine.

In a flurry of recent remakes i guess this film has a lot of potential , only if Mr.David Dhawan is listening..!!

The Missing Link...

Need I say more...

Bucknorism

Buknorism : an extremly fatal condition leading to loss of hearing, vision and responses to stimuli ,that occurs because of being exposed to severe environments of profanity and excessive aggression. Symptoms usually includes perennial precipitation and recurring loss of body fluids





Amit ,my colleague at work made a very interesting observation about the way India played in Sydney, he stated that without prejudice this is the best performance given by India ever in any test match because against all odds they were actually able to play the game till the fifth day..but then playing against Australia is never easy who have just proved they are world champions not just in cricket but every thing else as well ;)


(Nigger is sometimes used amongst working class Australians, when used in a casual sense between friends or work colleagues of both white and mixed race. )

the reason i mention this is in the given context is because i dont want the cartoon to be misconstrued as racial and derogatory in any manner.

press pressure

I had been following a story doing rounds in tabloids regarding two NRI ladies getting molested in Mumbai on the eve of the new year, at Juhu..It has been a sad incident, but what has been more saddening is the voyeuristic attitude of two photographers who where there from the time the whole scuffle started..its unfortunate to see the media exploiting somebodies personal tragedy for there own gain and TRPs.


The photographs would have worked as an evidence against the perpetrators even if they have not been circulated all over the media. Off late you can easily see that free and fair journalism has become a story of the past. The Media is starting to take sides and that day is not far when for the sake of sensationalizing journalism they would become a party to an act that may lead to a news report..





so on a less serious note, here is my take at our Media :

Rejoicing 2008

Rejoicing 2008, originally uploaded by aroop_d.

A very happy and prosperous new year to all the readers..i will try to be more regular with my posts this year unlike the last year where i had been on and off..!!

Have an Amazing year Ahead.. Cheers!!

Camera Confusion..!!

The eternal discussion of digital vs Film camera continues and it has now taken shape of a debate as most of the popular manufacturer of popular film camera have decided to completely replace there assembly line with Digital camera, Nikon is already doing away with its Film SLR and completely replacing it with the new breed of DSLR , thankfully you will still be able to use old Nikon lens kits with the DSLR but then you will need to manually focus as Nikon D40,D40x and D50 doesn't have a motor built in the camera body and instead they rely on lenses with inbuilt motor to Auto focus. Minolta has been bought over by Sony and Canon has also pretty much given up on manufacturing Film SLR's and like Olympus they are only producing compact film cameras and every thing else have gone digital, so what does a photography enthusiast do in such case, where does he/her start..when to upgrade and upgrade to what..I will try and answer such issues in the rest of the article.

lets first Categorize the users

1. A person trying to upgrade from a Film compact Camera to a Film SLR or Digital Compact or DSLR :

Since the above user is fresh into photography as he is still using a Compact film camera..I think its more advisable for him to go in for a Digital Compact Camera..with a budget of around Rs 7000 you can easily buy a Digital Camera with 3-4x zoom (28-55 mm) or (28-70mm) also before buying they must check what all features the camera offers , usually in this kind of budget you can easily find camera with aperture priority or shutter priority which gets you pretty close to shooting the picture for your self and not letting the camera's Auto mode shoot it for you, another thing that can be checked is exposure..from shortest to longest..usually in the above budget it ranges from 1/2000 of sec to 8-10 sec (long exposure). Most people who buy camera usually don't explore there cameras and keep using it like a regular point and shoot not realizing that there camera is capable of much more than that.
I think a Canon powershot A460 or A550 is a good example of such Camera..which is cheap ,very compact and yet very capable..another example is Samsung D430.


Canon A460


Canon Powershot A550




2. A person trying to upgrade from a Film SLR to Compact Digital Camera or DSLR:

This is the category where there is the biggest confusion specially because people using a FilmSLR would never prefer to downgrade themselves to Compact Digital and so the only option they look at is a DSLR, which is actually because of there ignorance and lack of research..the Compact Digital Cameras don't always mean a point and shoot Camera, there are lot of high end compact camera (which are priced much lesser than DSLR) who are as capable as a entry level DSLR and sometimes even better..best Example is an Olympus SP550 UZ its a compact camera which gives you a 18x zoom that is 27mm to (hold your breath)500mm, they give you a complete manual mode,also gives a shutter and aperture priority mode, Video Capture at 640*480@30fps,image stabilization,ISO from as low as 50 to as high as 5000 and is able to Shoot in RAW format and all this costs you around Rs.16500, another option is my personal favorite FujiFilm FinePix S9600 which doesn't has a zoom of Olympus SP550 and only has a 28-300 mm Zoom (which is pretty good if you compare it with any DSLR cause you will need at least two separate lens kits to get that range) besides its a very sturdy Camera and looks and feels just like a DSLR, one of the thing I really like about this piece is that it has a manual zoom so every time you want to zoom in you can rotate your lens just like in SLR's and zoom into a subject instead of toggling buttons and a snout sticking out in front of the camera (which also eventually spoils the motor of the camera) you can manually focus with this once as well also that it provides a aperture range from f2.8 to f11 ( which is as good as a Entry level DSLR) and has 9.1 Megapixel with RAW output..the fact that you have the range of 28-300mm at your disposal (leaves hardly anything left out until you want to do a intergalactic photo shoot) there is nothing you cant shoot with this baby..this is almost a DSLR the only reason it doesn't completely crosses over is just because it has a fixed lens. Smartly priced at around Rs.22000 which is the same as Nikon D40 (but you will need to buy the telephoto lens separately which will cost you extra Rs 12000.) Its one of the best buys available in the market for someone who is trying to upgrade to some serious photography.



Olympus SP 550 Uz

Fuji finepix S9600

You can also look at Panasonic DMC- FZ30, Sony Cybershot DSC H70 or Canon Powershot S 5is


3. A person trying to upgrade from a Compact Digital to a Film SLR or a DSLR :

This is a tricky one..the biggest paradox here is the general misconception that Digital camera only upgrades to another Digital Camera and can not upgrade to a Film Camera..which isn't quite true,Digital and Film camera both take pictures, in Film SLR there is a cost of a film roll but then the Camera bodies are really cheap and also lets not forget that you get to click slides through a film SLR which gives you a resolution which is more than 10 times that of a DSLR with the highest Megapixel.
Since in Film SLR there isn't a CCD and the picture get imprinted on a negative, you are able to easily point the camera directly towards a high powered light source and click a picture, if you do the same with you DSLR, you will end up damaging your CCD..also the fact that DSLR camera are mostly integrated circuits and micro chips , makes them even more susceptible to damages due to dust, moisture and shock..Film SLR instead are cheap and mostly mechanical (gears and pulleys) so they might rust but will still keep working under very hard conditions.
The only thing that turns the table around drastically in favor of DSLR is Replaybility ie ability to view the image the moment you click it..while in Film SLR you will first need for your roll to get over, then give it for developing and only after that you can view the pictures that you have clicked. This one obvious point which actually seems to work in favor of a digital SLR sometimes works against it..!! Let me Explain :
Say you are a hobbyist and you buy your self a Digital SLR, its very easy for a person starting with photography to get overwhelmed by feature rich camera with an Artificial intelligence, that he disregards to most common things ie Shutter and Aperture (trust me lot of people prefer using ISO settings instead of adjusting the shutter in low light conditions and eventually they end up getting images which looks good on the LCD of the Camera but once you transfer it to a computer..it looks grainy and noisy..therefore the DSLR increases the learning curve. A Film SLR instead, is a rather simple assembly..a Exposure Knob and a Aperture Setting and then that green and red light signal showing when the image is getting rightly exposed, that blinks inside your view finder (light meter) and that's that. Even the fact there are exhibitions and competitions that asks you to submit negatives and slides of you photograph (in order to make sure the picture isn't post processed using Photoshop or any other photo editing software.) makes a Film SLR a viable purchase.
But the biggest factor is the cost..as more and more DSLR are being pumped into the market, the second hand market of Film SLR is showing tremendous growth, now a second hand SLR is easily available for Rs.7000 to 10,000 and telephoto lenses are available in the range of Rs 3000 to 7000. which combined is cheaper than most of the Compact Digital Camera available with 3 or 4 x zoom and around 6 Megapixel. Which is nothing compared to a 35 mm film (its the same size of film that you watch in the theater, the image that you see on the screen is the resolution your film camera is able to shoot at.)

My honest suggestion is if you really want to take up photography as a hobby and learn with what all a SLR Camera can do..get your self a Film SLR instead of DSLR and make sure the lenses you are buying with it have a common mount..so that when you buy a DSLR later you can use the same lenses. you will need to do a bit of research for this..from what I have gathered
All the Nikkor lenses can be used with any Nikon DSLR but there wont be a Auto Focus and you will need to Manually focus.
All Canon lenses also go with Canon DSLR
Most of the Tamron Lenses goes with Pentex
Sigma Lenses goes with Olympus and Nikon mounts but again in Nikon you will need to Manually focus.

Vivitar 3800 N Film SLR


4. Why to buy a DSLR at all.

Interestingly if I go with my above arguments then there is actually no need for anybody to buy a DSLR , but there is..for everybody who wants to take photography seriously and wants there camera to do more for them. Even in my past argument I have stated that the Digital compact that comes closest to being a DSLR is Fuji Finepix with fixed lens of 28-300 mm, but then there is a 10mm wide angle lens available and a 500mm Zoom lens available , and in order to use those you would need a DSLR. there is no denying that the image quality of DSLR is a notch better than a compact digital camera and when it comes to making prints a shot taken from a DSLR would provide better results compared to a Compact Digital Camera.
What's really important for one to understand is the resolution of there camera..a entry level DSLR like a Nikon D40 gives you a 6.1 Megapixel or a Canon EOS D30 with 4 Megapixel which is much lesser than that of a Fuji FinePix S9600 (Compact Digital Camera) which gives you a resolution of 9 Megapixel and still carries the same price tag and tends to be cheaper if you intend to buy a Nikon D40 with a telephoto lens kit ,which will then cost Rs.22000 (Camerabody and 18-55 mm lens) +Rs 11000 (Telephoto Lens 50mm-200mm) . If you really need a DSLR , then don't mind spending a little more and buying a Nikon D40x or an Olympus E410 or Canon 40 D all of them gives you a 10 Megapixel resolution , so even if you decide to shoot in really low light using a ISO setting which is above 400 and then decide to make prints of 4 X 6 ,the results will be pretty decent.
Another thing that you need to keep in mind is the purpose you will be using your Camera for ie if you intend to do extensive night photography, then many of the above Entry level DSLR don't offer you a cable release socket (although they have a 'b' exposure) instead they allow you to use a remote which you need to buy separately and it costs much more than a cable release does. On the positive side , all the above DSLR gives you a long Exposure of 30 sec's, but if you want to go beyond that..be ready to spend extra money and buy a remote control that is sold seperately.

Nikon D40 x
Olympus Evolt 410


I would conclude by saying that its a good idea to have you DSLR as your second Camera which you use along with either a Compact Digital Camera or a SLR, and if you have decided to buy a DSLR then try not to compromise with the Entry level DSLR and spend a little more and buy something that is probably mid range if you dont have enough money then wait till you have the budget, because there is nothing worse than spending a lot of money and then being unsatisfied with the product..I would suggest an Olympus E 410 ( I know Nikon and Canon are more popular names but Olympus scores above them when it comes to features and that too for the same price.) Also remember one thing, its not the Camera that makes good picture..its the person taking those snaps.

Points to Remember while buying a high End Digital Camera (Compact or DSLR)

• Does the camera shoots the RAW format.
• How many Megapixel ( the more the merrier)
• The lens ( how wide is it and how much can it zoom)
• The aperture in Wide and Tele mode (the bigger the aperture ie lesser Value, the shallower Depth of field -for eg at wide angle a f2.8 will be better than f4 and at Telephoto an f 4 will be better than a f 5.6.
• the Dynamic range of Exposure ie bigger the range the better the camera
• what is the longest Exposure that the camera can shoot in usually ranges from 8 secs to 30 secs
• Does the Camera have a bulb exposure
• ISO range
• Availability of lens kits in case of DSLR ( the price and how easily are they available)
• Image Stabilization ( in the case come compact cameras with nice Zoom).
• Navigation is over rated..as you get used to the camera ..it becomes easier for you to navigate through the controls , so don't be taken in by some one who compares Camera based on Navigation
• Image Quality ( are you happy with what you see)- for this you can do a following test..select all the camera you are interested in and put them on Auto mode and then click the same subject with all of them, once you have taken the picture..start zooming into it and go all the way till the end, now compare the images for noise and loss and color..the more saturated colors and the less noise the better the image quality.
  

Indian Call Center

Came across this video on Internet..a very interesting tongue in cheek take on Indian Call Center..watch at your own peril..and try not to choke yourself laughing