[MX6]

@Nimble. Don't know how I missed this thread till now.
Nice photos. And yes, please do join the DSLR bandwagon. I liked the framing in some pics and a p&s doesn't do justice to a budding photographer like you.
And I've been through the motion of heavy eating at my in-laws place. My home it's pretty cool. Eat as you like. No one bothers with have more have more sentences. And wasting food is a strict no for me. So I understand what you underwent there
Looks like they re-imbursed your fuel cost for the trip!

And what have you done to some photos. They look a bit artificial with some image processing.

[nimbleguru]

@MX6 : Thank you very much. you are too kind.

Yes,my fuel cost was covered plus I got my food cost covered too
(Bless the indian tradition)

I'm really sorry. I have to admit , I did go a little overboard with some images.(my wife at one point also noticed this, but I was admant)

But with these point-and-shoot camera's you never know.
You think you've got a good picture but when you see it on a computer, the whole pic would be either underexposed or overexposed.
I was trying to balance these out and went overboard.
Please do bear with me for couple of more pics that is to come yet.

Hopefully, once I get my DSLR i dont have to rely on editing tools

Nikon D3000/ Canon EOS 1000D - are the two entry level camera's that my budget allows as of now.

[MX6]

@Nimble. Who says you don't have to rely on editing tools with DSLRs?

Most of the photos that look terrific here have been edited atleast slightly. Olden days people used to use loads of filters and then do loads of processing in the dark room to get the perfect print. Now it's loads of clicks on various image processing softwares.

I do agree that what you see on your monitor is not what the pic actually should look like.
I showed my kaas photos on my laptop to khoj and they all looked pale and dull. Then I connected my sd card and showed him the same on my lcd tv. It looked like garden of eden!
To upload here, I still do minor touch ups.
There's a separate thread on what DSLR. So have a look before you take a jump.

By the way, waiting for the jog photos and more.

[nimbleguru]

MX6: I did see the DSLR thread. To me every pic there is stunning.
I would need some serious DLSR/photography training to get to that level.

You see, I am an absolute novice in terms of photography. I just go by my instinct.
Example of my novice-ness: Only today I got to know that there is some thing called as "rule of third".Anyways, people like you inspire novice like us

Unfortunately, we did not visit Jog. Did not have the time.

But, here are some more snaps:

Sharavati river valley :







Ganesh festival at my native kumta :






Waiting for comments (good/bad)

Edit: Hurray ! I just became a BHPian !!!

[anandbhat]

Nimbleguru, this is coming pretty nice! even after having driven on this route many times, never stopped to take pictures :( Sharavti view point is an amazing stop over for good photo shoot of the valley...

[raghu230506]

Nimbleguru,

Nice TL and pics too.

OT, Iam planning a visit to Shimoga this weekend, could you let me know the road conditions near Nelamangala? is it better to take Devanahalli road and get connected or normal Nelamangalore road?

How long did it take to reach Shimoga from Bangalore. I would probably start by 4:30 AM on saturday.

[nimbleguru]

@raghu230506 : Nelamangala road is good except for a few patch works.
I started around 5:30 AM and reached around 1:00 (with plenty of stops).
So you do the math

[Googleman]

Nice pictures.

By the way are you obsessed with your car? I am sure you have clicked more which you have not uploaded here

Sharavati river valley looks good. Have you processed the pictures or this is the natural way of it?

[nimbleguru]

@Googleman : I'm not just obessed with my car,but anything that has wheels in general. DUH ! why do you think I joined this forum in first place ?
On a serious note : I usually like to keep my car in the potrait/picture along with the rest of the scenery.

[airguitar]

I hear the nail groaning as it was hit on it's head. Atleast in the initial days of owning a good camera, have seen a lot of folks, incl me, do a nip or tuck ( typically contrast normalizing e.g autocont on Photoshop ). Once you get a hang your success rate at "untouched pictures" improves and some folks get into the purist territory of "it isn't genuine if it's touched".

Has there been a decision yet on the DSLR model ?

Originally Posted by MX6

@Nimble. Who says you don't have to rely on editing tools with DSLRs?

Most of the photos that look terrific here have been edited atleast slightly. Olden days people used to use loads of filters and then do loads of processing in the dark room to get the perfect print. Now it's loads of clicks on various image processing softwares.

[nimbleguru]

@:airguitar : It'll be the usual entry-level DSLR : either Nikon D3000 or Canon EOS 1000D. Both are in my budget of 25K.

[nimbleguru]

First off, sorry that I could not post for a long time.I was down with fever.

Meanwhile, I bought a brand new DSLR Canon EOS 1000D with kit lens from Jayesh Metha for Rs 21,000/- including a free UV filter thrown in.
(yeaaaa for me !!)

Continuing the journey :
Here are some of the picutres from my native kumta.
Since it was the end of monsoon, paddy fields were in full bloom.

[nimbleguru]

Idagunji - is a famous temple (lord ganesh) which is near to my native.
It's kind of customary in our family to get all our new vehicles pooja done at Idagunji at least once. Inevitably I had to take my car (Mom insisted and threatened not to talk to me - rather).

So we went!

To my luck there were some "Yakshagana" artist preparing.
I asked them if i could take some pics and they humbly oblidged:

For those of you who dont know - "Yakshagana" is a form of art something similar to Kathakalli of Kerala.
Yakshagana is more known and practiced in Karnataka (South and North Canara mostly).
For more details check out WiKi.

Boy, what costumes, what makeup ..so colorful, so SHINY !!
Their costume must weigh at least a KG or 2.And to think of it, they have to dance and act wearing this costume. Add to the humid climate of costal Karnataka.

See the colors to believe.

Artist getting ready:

[Rajesh K R]

nice snaps there of the yakshagana troupe getting ready with their colourful costumes !!

I had the oppurtunity to witness a Yakshagana performance by a troupe from Hosanagara and i was greatly amazed at the energy levels of both the actors and the accompanists like the vocalist, the drummer, the cymbalist.

[mallumowgli]

You say you didnt know about 1/3rd rule and you go about click all these photos with wonderful compositions - you must be like abhimanyu . did you climb a tree to get the snap (i think 5th snap) in post #28. Great photos and write up.

The closest cousin for Yakshagan in Kerala would be Chakkiyarkoothu, in my opinion