Sanatan John Howchin's Photography

Saraswati Sculptor - Navadwip WEST BENGAL

2009-02-09T16:47:00.002Z

Location
Navadwip,
West Bengal,
India

Taken on
February 1 2008

Using
Nikon D50 + Nikon 18-55mm afs

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 18mm

Saraswati
(pronounced sar-as-vati) is the Hindu Goddess of music, knowledge and the arts.

This photograph was taken the day before Saraswati Puja which is a Hindu festival celebrating the Goddess Saraswati.

They make Saraswati deities out of the mud from the river Ganga or Ganges. These deities are then given ceremoniously back to the the river Ganga.

Many Hindus pray for knowledge from Saraswati, particularily on the day of Saraswati Puja held once a year.

Konark Sun Temple

2009-02-06T00:01:00.005Z

In December 2008 whilst on one of my trips around India I spent some time staying in the coastal city of Puri in the state of Orissa. It was from here that I made several trips (about 40kms north) up the coast to the town of Konark.

Travel By Motorbike!
It is relatively easy to rent a motorbike in India. All I had to do was tell the man renting out the bikes that I had an English bike license (I didn't actually show this to him), tell him where I was staying (I had no proof of this) and leave him my passport whilst I had his bike. Not hard at all. To top it all off because of the exchange rate from pounds to rupees it cost me about £5 (about 400rs) to rent the 125cc bike for the day and give it back to him with the same amount of fuel in the tank. I love India.
The road north from Puri is very good (for an Indian road) and the bike ride was perfect. There is no better way to get around in India.

Temple
The main attraction in Konark is the 13th century Sun Temple which is built from black granite by King Narasimhadeva (AD 1236-1264)and is now a world heritage site. The Temple is ornately carved and takes the form of a chariot. This chariot is drawn by seven horses on twelve pairs of wheels. It is the chariot of Surya (the Sun God).

There was some renovation of the temple taking place whilst i was there and the outer perimeter is lined with some of the original stone building blocks. These have been placed all the way around in rows. You can see this in my photograph of the Sun Temple below.

The Sun Temple
I was walking around the Temple to try and gain an interesting view point as I didn't just want to walk away with a generic shot from the front. I was trying to make just one compositionally pleasing photograph that summed up the whole mood of the area.

This photograph works compositionally because of the framing created by the trees at the top and the way the gap in the old stone carvings leads your eye toward the temple. This image demonstrates the rule of thirds quite well. The main focal point is the top of the temple which is situated in the upper left third of the image.

I purposely included the old stone carvings from the temple in the foreground because they are the original brickwork. I feel the image would be incomplete without these. I also positioned my self so I could see a passage out through the top of he trees. This is symbolic of the spirituality of the temple and it's relationship to the heaven's and the sun up above.

Location
Konark, State of Orissa, India

Taken on
December 12 2008 at 3.36pm

Using
Nikon D200 + Nikon 18-55mm afs

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/250
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 200

Feb 2nd 2009 Record Snow Day for the UK

2009-02-04T16:07:00.004Z

Welcome to the first entry of my new blog.
I will just start off by posting some of my photography from Feb 2nd 2009.

This is the most snow the UK has seen for a long time and so I jumped at the opportunity to take my camera out in the snow. The weather was overcast the whole day and pretty much snowing the whole time. I just decided to go for a walk in a near by field bordering woodland.

It was pretty cold and I was thankful of my fingerless gloves (to allow fiddling with my camera), my long-johns and waterproof boots and trousers. Not to mention a huge coat and a hat.

Why am I telling you all this?
Well because I wouldn't have been able to get all these photographs. I stayed out for a good two hours rolling about in the snow looking for good angles to shoot from. Without all the warm clothing i would have gone home long before. I also didn't bother with a tripod as i knew this would be fiddly in the snow with strong winds. Plus everything was bright white so hand held exposures weren't a problem.

Here are some of my favorite images from the day. Except for the last photograph which was taken the next morning when the sun came out and melted away most of the snow.

Snowy Branches

Location
Croxley Green, Hertforshire, England

Taken on
February 2, 2009 at 11.29am GMT

Using
Nikon D200 + Nikon 80-200mm 2.8 afd

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/125
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 80mm
ISO: 200

Dead Tree in Snow

Location
Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, England

Taken on
February 2, 2009 at 12.50pm GMT

Using
Nikon D200 + Nikon 18-55mm afs

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/80
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 200

Little and Big

Location
Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, England

Taken on
February 2, 2009 at 12.34pm GMT

Using
Nikon D200 + Nikon 18-55mm afs

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/125
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200

Standing Out

Location
Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, England

Taken on
February 2, 2009 at 12.36pm GMT

Using
Nikon D200 + Nikon 18-55mm afs

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/125
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 200

High-Vis Jogging

Location
Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, England

Taken on
February 2, 2009 at 1.03pm GMT

Using
Nikon D200 + Nikon 18-55mm afs

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/13
Focal Length: 55mm
ISO: 200

Snowy Trunks

Location
Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, England

Taken on
February 2, 2009 at 1.18pm GMT

Using
Nikon D200 + Nikon 18-55mm afs

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/40
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 200

Sunny and Snowy

Location
Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, England

Taken on
February 3, 2009 at 10.30am GMT

Using
Nikon D200 + Nikon 18-55mm afs

Tech
Hand held
Exposure: 1/80
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 200

All the photographs I have posted here were over exposed at least +1 stop according to the cameras meter. If you don't do this then the cameras meter will end up making the white snow look grey as it is overwhelmed by all the white.

I almost always shoot in jpeg and try to get the image as best I can in camera. I rarely do any more than a little levels adjustments on photoshop in post shoot. This gives me more time with my camera and doing other stuff than converting tones of RAW files all day long in front of the computer screen. In fact I have decided that I have enough time to set up this blog. I bet i wouldn't if I were shooting RAW all the time.