decay of the urban type

Originally uploaded by DraconianRain

We build dreams in houses we know

With the light coming through

The small shaded window



With duo toned, textured walls that radiate liaisons

Of those who have been there

For countless generations



The damp that creeps in through the old moss covered ceiling

Ladens the air heavy

With a moist dull feeling



The old gate with a creaking, faulty, oil painted hinge

Is wilting on its own

with a soft rusty brown tinge



The paint that chips off flaky and dry

Exposes the bare bricks

Makes my heart cry



The old cracked and crooked pipes plead

As they are let open into the hollow paving

Let out to bleed



The drama of the urban decay within me

Unfolds and divulges the vile side

But I let it be



But you, my friend, should find the sky so vast

That sights itself through the little window

And get away from the ominous past…


unlike those, who build houses in dreams they know....

Power cuts are delightful things. They make me do the most unexpected things at the most unexpected times. I was pondering about why I had lost the will to sketch lately, and found no answers.
But then, at work the other day, along came a power cut, and the first 3 point perspective sketch I have ever made. Thanks MSEB, for giving me my own special power cut time for doing some magical things!

Once upon a time, there lived a poet called Mr Robert Frost. If he were still alive, we'd remember him for this:

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I...
I took the one less traveled by,
But the friggin' bastards paved it too.... "

Sad world we are leaving for our kids...

nostalgia

Happiness lies mostly in little things. I lost people who gave me happiness in small things. But I haven't lost their memories. They will always remain. Their pictures are still so fresh in mind. I pray I never forget them.

Things couldn't have got any worse...

Till the Heavens opened up, and God said "Oh... I hate you Meghana!"

Bokeh blah blah....

One fine December day, when I saw that my Flickr contact Satya!!! posted a pic taken through his lensbaby... I wanted a similar pic too!
As always, I lacked funds and all, so a few months later, decided to make this little attachment in the homemade holga-esq lens that I had made a few weeks earlier.

So how does it work?
The shape of the bokeh is the shape of the aperture. So, if the aperture is hexagonal, the bokeh is hexagonal... and if the shape of the aperture is heart shaped, or star shaped... then, the bokeh is a heart or a star respectively... Thanks to Ashwin for the simple explanation, which got me thinking and eventually come up with this...

How did I do it?
I took my holga/Lens baby (homemade) and on the inside of the lens, placed a circular cutout of black tinted paper with a cutout in the desired shape in the centre of the disc...
so, the aperture (opening for light) is between the glass and the sensor, nearer the glass rather than the sensor, and not floating about...

A little observation:
for objects close by, the bokeh formed is inverted... eg: if you place the heart straight on the lens, on the image, the bokeh of the shape of the heart appears inverted.
... so, place the aperture shape upside down if the shape is not symmetrical and the object is very near...
So, there... I have custom bokeh... for almost no cost... except for the 8 bucks I spent on the fresh sheet of black tinted paper, of which I hardly used about 1/50th...
I'm now going to experiment with more shapes, types of bokeh shots with this lens. Wow! Just when I was despairing that i have finally run out of ideas... It couldn't have come at a better time...
try this, have fun, experiment and do post in your feedback if any...

PS: Music facilitated the making of this ... so don't forget... put of your fav music full blast!

sketching away...

I haven't sketched for a long time. The last sketch I made was this incomplete one a month back at CDSA while Anita Ma'am was sharing some f her wisdom with us... which I don't remember at all...
So, I wonder when I will end up sketching again...

This is a job for... someone else...

there must be something wrong with myself... when will i realise that?

lassie

lassie
Originally uploaded by DraconianRain

Don't give her any coffee please, she gets high...
Somebody run quickly and get her some chai

the blue Corsair like head-style on the pretty head...
big pretty Deadlights looking away to the side instead...

she started talking bilge... some body sound the din...
The lassies going Addled, tie her up to the belaying pin!

with long slender fingers she stifles a little sly laugh...
what do i do Me bucko, she's is a rum little thing by half!

who gave her Grog, grub and gun (canon) in her hand...
now she looks like a pirate's favourite Wench ... Begad!!

Look at her through my spyglass, she's looking high...
now she covers her face, she's feeling shy...

-------------------------Cap'n DraconianRain (You savvy?!)

My tribute to Sanjeev Kapoor!

One fine march morning (today), I had a sudden inspiration to cook, and soon enough a set of Sanjeev Kapoor recipes was handed over to me unceremoniously...
I remembered all the great cooks I have known... My mum, my Grand mum, Sanjeev Kapoor, Revati, Harshad and Vinay, and Philipp... wow quiet a list... so where did I fit in? and why was I doing it? Irrespective of that...
I started scanning through for a good, easy, least taxing vegetarian something to cook up in the shortest possible time.
I chose to make gobhi musallam ... since the gobhi was already there in the refrigerator!
And with a few tips from mom, I made something really really nice!
It was quiet a treat!

I'm not an instinctive cook... can't improvise much, but what I can do is cook by the book! Sometimes, that helps too...

And I understand what Philipp believed in... Cooking is the ultimate relaxing therapy! Only, I like to be on the other side savouring, in the end, the lovely instinctive delicacies arising from a series of unfortunate events throughout the course of the day...! especially when there are people like him cooking!

Samba Pa Ti

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Its probably the greatest ever slow Santana rock ballad.... Its got a very lovely lazy beat, and the guitar solo and the delay and all is just too magical!
Takes me to another level altogether. I listened to it so much in Auroville... it takes me back there. especially after dark. The first few days when I was finding myself there, without finding the ones I knew before. It was some experience when I visited Philipp and Dhilshath's house for the first time, just on my second day there... Thank god for friends... I could never have found my way through those dark wooded roads...
I remember the first rain there... the lovely smell of the damp read earth... and I wondered what would happen in Monsoons... I loved the rain, till I got stuck in the middle of nowhere when the heavens really poured their rage out...
The lazy afternoons waiting for teatime, the little bench we sat on chatting, the nights in the little vault, the late card sessions on the kitchen vault terrace...
The lovely midnight rides the woods of Auroville in complete darkness...
I remember the eclipse I saw from the Aspiration bench close to 2 AM... the time I spent with my guitar in my little hut, the mindless nights at the beach, hearing the waves roar and splash on the shores, getting drenched in them, not worrying about the sand and salt in my hair, skin and clothes... not worrying about falling sick... not worrying about anyone else... the deep sea swimming, in clear but profound waters
and then mindlessly falling in love... The scorpion stung, with a gleam in his eye, and left such a sublime longing as the song leaves...

DASHED STAR TRAILS - FUN!!

I was really frustrated in the evening yesterday. Was discussing generally with Ashwin about things one could possibly do. And he suggested an hour long exposure ... And he's the lucky guy to have a remote release... I don't have one. Last time I tried a star trail, I had jammed the shutter button of the FM2 for 75 mins. That was easy since it was a manual camera. This is hard since it's digital... and all e electronics make me a nervous wreck! But hey, what the hell! It's my camera! I can do what I want with it! I had the idea of jamming the button with some tape and I tried that, but that wouldn't work, till Mr. topper - Ramit gave me the idea of Jamming the button with tape and a little folded piece of paper between the tape and the button. Risky, it is... and that I got to know only later ... But ignorance is bliss, and I was blissfully ignorant which resulted in this pic.
So I decided to charge my camera's battery fully. And I remembered a technique I had read about last year where could play around with star trails. If the lens is covered for a min or two ever five minutes during the entire period of exposure. This gives breaks in the light trail and the line appears dashed.
This was just the time to try it out! So I set out to my terrace with my camera, battery fully charged and lens cap and tripod and my music! So set up the cam and all, and set up the tape and the timer started... took off the lens cap and was walking around in circles on my terrace while it was exposing... 10 mins into the exp... i heard the dreadful sound... the tape gave away... and the pic didnt expose for as long as I wanted it to... But, i was on it again in no time. after a few failed attempts (5 of them) i finally got a good hold with the tape! and the star trail lasted for 49 mins 38 seconds. during the exposure, I was covering the lens with the lens cap every 5 mins for every 2 mins, and hence the dashed line!
There are a few irregularities in the trails due to lack of concentration towards the timings on my part, but it's ok... the first try...
The camera took about an hour for the noise reduction process for the image, and i was getting impatient... but when I saw the final image... I was pretty thrilled!!
I see two dust spots in the image, and can't help it because I play around with the cam so much. changing lenses... the new lens might not be totally dustproof... but the XTi's sensor vibration dust removal thingy helps... like it has so many times before...
I love my cam! And I love making new photos with it!

it RAINED for ME...

it RAINED for ME...
Originally uploaded by DraconianRain

What is it, with the rain and love, lost.... ?