My Top10 Photography Lessons

Lessons I have learned along the way; wish I actually practise them.

10. Focus (no pun intended) on an area of photography that matches your interest and temperament. At the same time, you need to have some idea of the subject.

9. know thy equipment. know it's limitation. either work around it or get something that meets the demand of your photographic need.

8. get the best equipment you can afford. at least invest in a tripod and a speedlight.

7. join a club. subscribe to few magazines (at least go and read them at a local library.) study other people's work, making a note of what you like and what you didn't.

6. share your work and seek feedback. participate in competitions.

5. charge for your photography. if you do it for free, at least let them know how much they saved. so people will not take your time and talent for granted.

4. tell a story through your lens. viewer must be able to identify with your subject or theme easily.

3. your picture need to be at technically perfect - sharp focus, correct exposure

2. pay attention to the composition. It is an art

1. shoot. shoot. shoot. there is no substitute for taking lot of pictures.

So Hard to Part

Finally, the 17 year old relationship came to an end. He was gone, rather taken away, when I returned from work today. It felt strange to return home today. A strange emptiness.

Over the past three years, he was primarily relegated to the reserve bench. And he accepted it ungrudingly. His utility was gone, but unlike a pro-team owner, I was unable to trade him. Afterall, he was my companion for so long. Loyalty still carries some meaning in my world! Plus, it was hard for me to pull the trigger till this point.

He was witness of my many escapades, sharing many a road experience. He witnessed me forging a special friendship with Tony. He was there when Tracy arrived for the first time in the US, when she learned driving and when we left NC. So when I drove into the driveway this evening, I felt a sudden void. The Legacy was no more.

For the last 3 years, he made his presence known silently at least twice daily. Our relationship had withered, reduced to these ocassional greetings exchange. Then why was I so sad with his departure? Afterall it was my decision to let the old go to make room for the new. So why this pain? I suddenly realized that we don't do so well with loss, separation, and death.

When you are not here

When you are not here --
No thundering sound
can silence my pain.
My timid desire longs
to hold you in my arms
a moment longer.

I know you are out where:
ocean meets the sky
clouds caress the mountain
kids run after drifting kites
autumn leaves keep you warm
dew cleanses you in the morn
birds come to sing for you
starry night blankets you.

I know you are out somewhere,
you are present everywhere
But why aren't you with me?

Each passing day laments
your not being near.
Each moment of joy and sorrow
reminds me you are not here.
Life without you is in vain
unless I'm with you again

Questions

I wonder why
beneath the mountain so still
simmer a bubbling spring of lava
while deep down the stormy sea a calm
mirrors the still deadness
of an impending storm.

I wonder why
it rains in excess in Cherapunji
while Gobi-Sahara laments in anguish -
not a single drop in sight.

I wonder when and how
this strange dichotomy in nature
and the divide in the physial world
got into our lives and society.

Note: Cherapunji is a place in Meghalaya, India with the highest rainfall in the world.

The Alphabet Book for the Splinternet Age

The days of A for Apple (actually now it's a new apple from Steve Jobs), B for Ball is gone. Kids are exposed to new things in this info age. Here's to the post-internet age splintered by electronic devices, smart phones, etc.

A App
B Blog
C Chat
D Digital
E e-bay
F Facebook
G Google
H html
I iPhone
J Java
K Kindle
L LinkedIn
M Mint
N Netbook
O Orkut
P Paypal
Q Quicken
R RSS
S SMS
T Twitter
U URL
V Viral
W Wiki
X XBox
Y YouTube
Z Zynga

He is not here

I whisper his name
but he heeds not.
Could he be afar!
I call out loud
but still no reply.

May be he hears
but responds not.
may be he responds
but I don't hear -
a numbing pain impairs
me momentarily.

Unsatisfied longing
fosters deep emptiness.
A wailing echoes through
the vast, empty field,
searching in vain.

The long drawn silence
finally reminds me-
He is not here.
He is not here.

I wonder why

In the dead of the night
clamoring footsteps,
gun shells break the silence.
air strikes, rockets
light up the night sky.

The world watches the
might of the military -
while kids become orphans,
widows and mothers 
left to weep.

In the dead of the night
while the other world sleeps
I wonder why? why?

Random collection from facebook

Waiting at sfo airport
Delta misplaced my booking.
Do I have to be at court?
Come over I'll be cooking.

When at gym, give me a holler
Got a Google Wave to spare?
Everything in general-
Nothing left to repair.

Been through a lot lately
Are these real or fake?
I'm not feeling guilty
Decide now what to take.

It's all over now -
A lovely evening in Paris
Just found a pink cow.
Another gloomy day in Memphis

Wanderlust

From an enchanted land 
to the roof of the world, 
From land of the rising sun
to the dark of a deep cavern. 

How badly I love to travel 

And at God's creation marvel.
From point to point as I go 

So many things I'd love to do. 

From taking a polar dip 

to jumping off a cliff - 

From floating on a lily pad 

to sleeping on desert sand.
Travel I must to a new place

Explore the bounty of God's grace 

Catch a star or the northern light 

Read the news on a solstice night 

Enjoy nature's touch in pretty flowers 

Or drench fully in Amazonian showers
I like to meet people, make new friends 

Learn from them, pick up new trends 

More we differ, 

more alike we are 

in heritage and harmony, 

in love and fear. 

On roads less travelled, 

paved or gravel 

So many more places I got to travel.

Brown nose to avoid the pinkslip?

During this trying times one may wonder if brown nosing can help one avoid the pink slip. Well if you think this article is about how to avoid being fired, no this is not the place. But I got your attention. Didn't I?

This is a listing about how common place is color associated in the corporate lingo. Here are few examples:
Blueprint
White wash
White knight
Pink slip
Brown nose
Brown bag
Red flag
Red herring
Green signal
Go green
Black mail
Black and white thinking
Gray thinking
Silver bullet
Golden parachute
Purple blood

Does 2x2 work?

If you subscribe to the skill-will matrix, it will say that your role as a manager is to move your employees to the NE corner of the matrix where the employee is highly able and willing to do the job and, once you got an employee there, to stay out of his/her way.

But does the skill-will matrix work? I think not. I think there is an important element missing in the approach. Consider this. Have you ever had an employee who is highly motivated (Willing)and skilled (Able) but is suddenly not performing as expected? What happened here? The difference is Engagement. I think it is not only important to have Able and Willing employees but it is necessary to keep them Engaged. We miss the best of performance of so many qualified people because we fail to engage them in the right way.

This is what I call the power of AWE - able, willing and engaged. So next time you think you have moved the employee up the ability-willingness continuum, ask yourself if you are doing enough to keep them engaged. Believe it the result will be much better than just staying out of the way of the able-willing employee as this famous 2x2 matrix suggests.

These waves

It pains to see these
break incessantly
like our human dreams -
as if that's one true reality
in this world so uncertain,
to submit at the shore
of our timid desire
with no chance to fulfill.
Right here this moment
and gone the very next.

But then,
in this surf-chain
I see unending hopes
of human spirit --
right when one breaks,
a new wave begins
its march towards the shore
of human aspiration.

As if nothing happened,
it whispers at the impending bank;
in silent defiance,
declares its indomitable color --
"I won't give up,
I won't give up."

Miraflores, Lima, Peru
February 20, 2010

14 years - wedding anniversary card

Part I
Fourteen years ago,
between my past & you
I chose you.
Between freedom & bondage
between destiny and duty
I chose you -
my inspiration and console
in success and failure.

Through last fourteen years -
you've been my anchor, my beacon,
my guard against slips.
Tolerating my impulse and oddity,
you walked with me
in love and lament,
in hope and longing.
For fourteen long years
you are my love,
my companion,
mother of my li'l angel.

For the next fourteen and next,
between my future & you
I chose you.

Part II
Today - I want to say
in as many ways
I love you.

Aqui te amo
Je t'aime
Ich liebe dich
Tomai bhalobasi khub
Ti amo
Ik hou van jou
Pyaar karta hu -

I love you
now and forever.

An idea without resource

An idea without resource
is like a:
musician without groove
painter without canvas
mother without child -
aching pang of creation,
deep yearning for fruition.


An idea without a resource
is like a:
leader without followers
cargoship without port
orator without platform -
immense potential,
a load, a message to deliver.

An idea without resource
is just that.
An idea in waiting!