Arati, Situation is well captured her. I think to my taste much reduced contrast will make easy on eyes and halo around birds will go away. And grain and dust spots add to the image to bring that mood. Thank you for shring

intriguing capture, arati. like the way sepia 'n grains adds to the mood 'n the event. simply great.

regards.

I agree with Shankar fully on his suggestions. Grains are fine for me but am not too sure of the dust spots, by the way how did you manage to get so much dust on the sensor ? I remember having a discussion with Shankar during the trip on ISO. We both felt that during twilight or very early morning bumping up the ISO for more light and contrast kills the image actually....that twilight effect is lost or the very early morning soft feel is lost. I saw a makhna walking behind the trees in mota saal where it nearly blended with the darkness, it nearly blended with the trees as well, nearly zero contrast situation, am sure even a year ago, I wouldn't have tried making an image, but I loved the blend so much this time. I did not bump up the ISO and carried on shooting, accepting everything in the visual to portray the feel of the beginning of the night....THEIR TIME I thought . We might not be able to see them well in such conditions, but life in the wild is so active after dusk, it all seems so normal for them, I wanted to make an image of that. I have tried a few shots and will share soon if possible. From those thoughts in mind, I absolutely understand why you did not wish to even clean the sensor dust also, but after a lot of thoughts I felt that the dust if removed might not take away anything from the image Arati.....see am already feeling that am forcing my thoughts on you , no you need not follow, just a suggestion. But the most important aspect in this image is keep the vultures more blended with the background sky....I think that will create magic to this image. Good, good and very good . This image is just so natural......

Shankar, Nevil, Nilanjan-da,
your comments are invaluable! thanks a bunch. overwhelmed by the response to this image... and i tried to rework the image.
better? lesser contrast? i realized that these grains are very sensitive to even slight changes in contrast .... so not sure i achieved what you guys are suggesting. Do let me know.
[there are sooo many dust spots, too many to remove - yes, N-da, my sensor was a mess. took it into the Nikon shop today and got it cleaned.]
thanks,
A

I did not remove the grains and dust, which were also testimony to the decaying state of my lens after the crazy dust storm in dhikala

I was wondering how you might have got those dust spot like grains! Very prudent decision to leave them as is on the lens !! Those bigger spots add to the aged look for my taste buds. May be a bit of reduction in density of the grains would add (not sure) ?

Much better now ....

Lovely work Arati.. Grains, dust spots - the image can't do without them

Thanks Ganesh, Nilanjan-da, Radha.

Ganesh, expect an email now with two technical queries, please
A

Sure, if that is related to density of the grains then softwares like (for ex. Nik's) lets you control the grain size and its amount - that is what I meant.

One question was related to that ganesh - primarily because i had not *added* any grains - so unsure of how to control the density (will explain in the email) ...

thanks,
A

arati...i took a long time to comment ...as i need to distill my mixed perceptions...
itry to resist the urge of emotional connect , being freinds...favouring my critique..and tried to be objective as best in my capacity

my first reaction was...arati..can get away with murder!!!dust spots ,grains..haloes..and then one digs deeper..at the intent..

the impact of this image..is its so radically strong, u have included " no.no s"( dust spots ,smudges smears). and used it to your advantage in ur creative mode of communication of the essence of death n decay, by conveying the context and manipulating the relationships among the content elements of this frame, dust. grain, dead tree,vultures....very. very unique.

its intriguing to see the language..ur artistic vocabulary and artistic grammar used , lending it fine nuances, style and character,and the addition of your lyrical style of writing, lifts an image further to create a message , a mood...which may have been not perceived in totality. by all..( as veiwer perceptions are subjective)

why does this image resonate......i think its the CONTRAST, used as a creative mode of communication, which is meaningfull,and best understood by how it contrasts with generally understood REFERENCE POINTS.... here i see vultures , symbols of death.CONTRASTED ...with our mental reference points of life..regeneration...hope.. and neat clean picture perfect images .
ur images are thoroughly enjoyable ..ur lyrical style of writing ..complete the whole experience. amazed.

Nilanjan,
As we discussed, I am not a fan of high ISO. I would like to relate the light sensitiveness to our eyes. In photography I would like to represent the situation what our eyes can see (i mean in terms of brightness in the subject that's see by the eyes). A twilight or dawn shot in 50 ISO or 100 ISO much different (closure to reality) than shot in 1600 ISO or something. Yes I know we loose control over shutter speed but we have to find a way to overcome that (other than pumping the ISO). It's just my thinking and my way .

Neelu,
Thanks for your honest distilling of how you processed this image. My intention was exactly that: to reflect so many cues to death and decay that were there in that scene, and yet the hope of life and the fact that even though Vultures are associated with death, they are beautiful, alive, lovely creatures - and the one with open wings depicted "movement and life."

Yes, the grains were a bonus - i did not add them, they were there!! horribly there and yet, it felt right.
thanks for your thoughtful comments, truly and fully appreciated.
A

Shankar, Nilanjan-da,
you both bring up such good points here. I have created an image in the early morning - when i heard furious trumpeting and i ran out to see what was going on, on the river bed. One elephant was chasing a herd... from the distance it was difficult to tell. but i had the same thought as you guys.

i captured the image at 200 ISO ... sacrificing a lot due to my own ineptness... but having it now as it was seen then. it is really an interesting exercise... to allow an honest capture - honest to the scene. Going to do more of it.