The story of my photos with truth III

Self potraits are some of the most difficult to take- because you cant look through the lens while posing for the camera- its all a matter of chance, you think.
But not so- it needs some practise, and some trials that produce errors, but once you get the feel of it, you'll be clicking away all day at your face in different poses.
Although any digital camera would serve this prupose, the best way to do this is using the cell camera as it can be held without any shakes with just one hand, while you put on a smile for the camera.
Beware- you are supposed to take relaxed picture of your face- not contortions of it while you concentrate hard on taking the picture- so just keep calm, soon you'll get into the groove.
It would take atleast 3 to 8 takes to get an idea of the right distance from your face as well as the angle for a cool shot.
Also take into account the power of your flash- if the mobile phone camera is too close it would expose your face to extreme light that would distort your natural complexion as well add some unwanted effects like red eye. And although red eye can be removed using Photoshop, some other effects are permanent, and computer modifications of this image makes it too artificial- you wouldn't recognise yourself.
Here're some pics I took using the mobile camera:

The story of my photos with truth II

My favorite subject has always been, and (until the time I find my dream girl), always will be Nature. And what better place than Manali to revel in the beautiful paintings of the Divine Artist?

My trip (with college mates) to North India was a grand success- in every aspect I would say. Except the fact that we missed out on the famous Rock Garden of Chandigarh (it was dusk when we reached there, but the light was quite bad). Anyway- it was a paradise for photography, with photo moments dime a dozene, especially in Manali where we were treated to landscapes of breathtaking beauty.

Here are some of those I had the honour of capturing.

Note how the subject is centred and shown only upto the lower thighs. This allows you to show more of the taller objects behind him and it gives the subject the look of a native. The subject merges with the landscape, with authentic articles (the snow boulder) in his hands, it is the perfect postcard picture.

An accidental snapshot, but nevertheless, it produces a nice effect. The green grass that almost covers the picture with the solitary trees provide the right setting to shift attention to the subject. And the subject himself is in an unusual pose (actually it is not one- I was just signalling the photographer to stop. The subject is I)

Now this is another excellent example of how a landscape shot ought to be taken. The hills are preceded by the countryside houses, flanked by barren trees awaiting spring (it was winter when I took this photo), and the solitary, "floating" tree at the top right corner for perception of distance- so that you can easily place as to which object is at what distance from the observer.
Also there is no specific emphasis on a specific subject.