A Light Within

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AratiRao
A Light Within
As dark waters lapped an inky lullaby, the night descended hood-like around me. The rhythm stirred metaphorical parallels with life. Routine, Darkness, Despair, Doubt...

And then from deep within, a dancing light ... Change!
Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:45 am
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--
~ Arati Rao ~
http://www.aratirao.com


AratiRao  Joined CNP On 08 Sep 2011    Total Image posts 118    -   Total Image Comments 504    -   Image Post to Comment Ratio 1:4    -   Image Comment Density 80     -     Total Forum Posts 86

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Commentby Ganesh H Shankar on Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:30 am

Is that firefly ? Can you tell us a bit more Arati ?

--
Ganesh H. Shankar
Wishing you best light,

Image
Fine Art Nature Photography

Commentby AratiRao on Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:39 am

Yes, ganesh ... a lone firefly in the dead of night in the middle of a lake. the boat was rocking and this image was a prayer. 4 second exposure at ISO 200. went wide (18mm) so i let the firefly light-paint where it flew in my frame. i had the time and opportunity to make just one image. this was it :)

--
~ Arati Rao ~
http://www.aratirao.com



» Last edited by AratiRao on Fri Oct 21, 2011 12:26 pm; edited 1 time in total

Commentby Ganesh H Shankar on Fri Oct 21, 2011 12:44 pm

I thought it is path of a firefly, but I felt that feeble light can't leave a trace on the sensor even at high ISOs. I am further surprised by 200 iso. I think I am under estimating the intensity of those twinkles.

Love the dance of poetic light, as you aptly mentioned lullaby for sure. 18mm was the perfect choice there - amount of dark space all around looks perfect for my taste buds. Excellent image over all.
Reminds me for some reason it is small world ride I had long back at Disney...

--
Ganesh H. Shankar
Wishing you best light,

Image
Fine Art Nature Photography



» Last edited by Ganesh H Shankar on Fri Oct 21, 2011 6:50 pm; edited 2 times in total

Commentby nirlep on Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:36 pm

Hi Arati,
The image is as poetic as your description. How life punctuates the prosaic into poetic! The glow is cool earthy and lyrical. Happy diwali!
Thanks for sharing

Commentby Nilanjan Das on Fri Oct 21, 2011 5:38 pm

And not only that, you had them in perfect focus from a rocking boat in pitch dark, My God !!! I am impressed, I must say, probably I would have failed to even have it in such sharp focus. The glowing of the fly at specific intervals and the subtle trail, all makes it so special. For some people, it does not matter what make of camera and lens they carry :-), you throw them just anywhere and this is what they can come back with. You know once in a forest in North Bengal, I had the chance to witness a couple of forest trees getting lit up by millions and millions of firefly. I never used to make images then, very early days, must be some 20-25 years ago, but I remember every bit of it. That was something which I would never forget, probably this too would be in my mind for a long long time. I think you are much better talent than so many of us here, I have seen only two other people making images so easily, one would be Nirlep and the other Nirvair. I must add your name to the list. Thanks Arati....

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Nilanjan Das Photography

Commentby ramesh_adkoli on Fri Oct 21, 2011 6:54 pm

What an image, Arati! Fantastic execution. That choice of focal length 18mm was the key to get it in sharp focus in spite of the wide open lens. Enjoyed both the image and the words that go with it. TFS.

Commentby Nevil Zaveri on Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:59 pm

indeed, very poetic, arati ... as she dance with joy. fascinating, all the way!

regards.

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Image
http://www.nevilzaveri.com/

Commentby jayesh joshi on Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:33 am

Love the dancing trail !

I must add that it is not easy to capture it on CCD,atleast for me....Remember
spending few hours in the middle of the jungle to capture thousands of flies litting up a tree....tried all possible techniques i know without getting a single decent image....

Commentby AratiRao on Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:08 am

Ganesh, Ramesh, Jayesh, Nilanjan-da
the night was very dark - no ambient light at all - maybe that helped pop the bioluminescence. i had focused on the general plane where i was seeing the firefly... no tripod, i had nothing - so put it on self-timer and took a chance. i checked, my aperture is at f3.5!! as i was telling Nilanjan-da yesterday, this shot - like many of mine are - is *pure luck*! i had no second chance for another exposure - and frankly, i would not know what to do differently! not very disciplined, i am shooting from the gut, and really need to add knowledge about technique. in difficult situations, i am stuck. *sheepish* so, lots to learn :)

nevil, nirlep, so many of your images and images here on CNP are so poetic. it is soul-food and great stuff.

thank you all for your lovely encouragement,
Arati

--
~ Arati Rao ~
http://www.aratirao.com

Commentby Nilanjan Das on Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:25 pm

Ok Arati :-), let's have another deal :-). I can give you whatever technical knowledge I have but I want to take away your luck, done ???? lol. There was a time when my camera used to wobble on the head, I did not have any clue about exposure, practically nothing I knew. But, those were the days when things used to happen around me :-), a tiger jumped at my gypsy, I saw four tigers sitting on a sambhar which was not dead yet and CSK lifting snakes in hand shaking distance, and many such very small and subtle things which makes life so special. As I grew stronger with technique, somehow nothing happens around me anymore. Now am technically dependent on making images where I break the technical laws of photography. Am not trying to demean techniques here at all, I wish I can simple pick up a lens in hand and shoot, period. In the trade off, I need more luck and I need to see more than being left out undecided on 5 different kinds of lens and 200 technical stuff to follow, in this trade off, I will not complain if I can make an image of a life time which has scopes of improvement than making an excellent image with perfect exposure, technical excellence flowing from corner to corner but no one would remember even for a day. Hope I could explain.... Guys am sorry if I offended anyone's thoughts, wrote a few lines from my GUT FEELINGS after a long time :-).

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Nilanjan Das Photography

Commentby Samyak on Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:59 pm

no one would have shot fireflies like this, arati. Wonderful execution of an idea. The words are as poetic to go with the image as the flow in the image.
TFS.

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regards,
~Samyak.
http://www.samyakkaninde.com

Commentby AratiRao on Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:33 am

hahaha, nilanjan-da i know what you mean :)
Samyak: thanks. glad you liked it!

happy diwali to all. may you have a safe, calm and refreshing few days ahead (i know that's a wish!!)
:)a

--
~ Arati Rao ~
http://www.aratirao.com

Commentby Manoj on Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:40 am

wow Aarti ISO 200, here in Midwest US there are thousands of fireflies which light up during summer months, I could capture the light only at ISO 3200 ..Good job with this one

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Manoj Vallati Photography