After “Indecent” Reel, Strict Norms For Photography In Gwalior. (Representational)

Gwalior:

Authorities in Gwalior district on Saturday banned shooting of reels, photography and videography at public places and structures of historical importance, the move coming after a video of a woman dancing to a Hindi film song at the collectorate in Gwalior surfaced on social media.

Those violating the prohibitory order, issued by Collector Ruchika Chouhan under section 163 of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), would face action under Bharartiya Nyay Sanhita section 223 and other provisions of cyber laws, an official said.

In the order, Ms Chouhan said several persons and organizations are shooting, making videos, reels and taking photographs at historical buildings, railway stations, bus stands, government offices, other public places and parks in the district without prior information and permission.

“These activities have nothing to do with the beautification of historical buildings and areas or their historical background; rather, to gain quick and cheap popularity, photography and reels showing indecent behaviour are made and widely publicised on electronic media and social media,” the order stated.

“A live example of this has come to light from the reel filmed on the stairs of the Collector’s Office building, against which many individuals and organizations have submitted memorandums expressing their displeasure. Such activities are tarnishing the image of Gwalior district and it has become necessary to put an immediate stop to such activities,” the order added.

Those wanting to shoot at such places will need to get written permission from the department or authority concerned and must present it before the superintendent of police (SP) and area’s sub divisional magistrate (SDM) three-days prior to the shoot, the order said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

HELENA, Mont. – Elbie Wood has done lots of aviation photography over the years, but the Horse Gulch fire may be the most aerial firefighting aircraft she’s seen in one place.

“This fire is obviously particularly close to water and particularly close to the fire base here at the airport. So, the action has been fast, you know, sometimes these scooper and tankers have to fly such a far distance in between every drop,”Wood said. 

In some of the night photos she’s taken, lights from houses can be seen. 

“There’s campgrounds and homes and all kinds of things in the way. And I’ve had several people commenting on some of the photos where they’re dropping the retardant and dropping the water kind of outside what looks like the parameter of where the fire is burning,” Wood said.

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When it comes to scenes with high-contrast lighting, your camera’s sensor struggles to capture the details of both the foreground subject and the background. Despite what one of the commonly taught rules in photography says, intentionally blowing out shadows can benefit your image. Here, you need to go against the grain and remember that not every element of an image needs to contain information.

By exposing the sky, the viewer’s attention is drawn toward its details, without being distracted by the lackluster foreground that adds little and may prove to be a hindrance. Underexposing the subject integrates into the scene, with only the outlines of the houses visible, creating a silhouette while adding an extra layer of depth and interest.

To capture scenes such as this, we must bear three things in mind. Firstly, the timing is crucial – sunrise and sunset often produce dramatic backdrops, but even harsh midday sun can work if it is hidden behind the subject you are trying to capture. Secondly, selecting the right subject is key, so choose ones with distinctive shapes or outlines, such as trees, houses or even humans.

Finally, it is crucial to keep the sun’s position in mind. To create a silhouette, you need to shoot into the sun. At midday, when the sun is at its highest, light illuminates the subject from many angles but when the sun is low at sunset or sunrise, an elevated perspective such as a window on the second floor offers the best angle to create a true black silhouette in front of a colorful sky.

Before and after

Shooting steps

1. Shoot in M

When trying to create silhouettes, it’s important to switch to manual mode. In automatic mode, the camera will try to optimize the exposure for the scene, searching for details in the dark elements and making it a challenge to get true black pixels.

2. Deactivate functions

Some cameras have modes that create a balanced exposure for all elements. To produce deep black pixels, disable these settings. For Nikon users, it’s called Active D-Lighting; Canon’s is Auto Lighting Optimizer; and Sony’s is DRO.

3. Attach a polarizer

A polarizing filter boosts the saturation in a scene but it also reduces the amount of light reaching the sensor. This tool isn’t ideal for low-light conditions, so this stage is optional, but it can be useful when shooting in harsh lighting conditions.

4. Select Spot Metering Mode

Metering from the brightest element is best to achieve balanced background exposure. Take the meter reading from the sky and not from the sun as this leads to underexposed results where it is not wanted – in this case, in the sky.

5. Set the focus

In low-light conditions, your camera’s autofocus can struggle to achieve a precise focus. If this is the case, disable the autofocus function and focus manually on the subject. Focus on the edges of the subject’s silhouette to make it easier.

6. Overview and fine tune

Pay attention to the histogram and zoom in on both the sky and the silhouette. Experiment with exposure, reducing it by one or two stops until the silhouettes are a deep black – this way, you will better understand the technique.

More tutorials 

Film photography has a certain allure. It’s drawn many, despite seeming like a hassle, time-consuming, and expensive. Curious to see if the effort, cost, and hassle are worth it, one photographer decided to dive into the analog journey.

Coming to you from Rick Bebbington, this engaging video explores the realities of shooting on film. Bebbington discusses his Praktica TL1000, a fully manual SLR with a built-in exposure meter. He also talks about his Olympus XA2 point-and-shoot. Both cameras, bought cheaply, presented an intriguing entry into the world of film. The Praktica TL1000 came with a 50mm f/1.8 lens, offering a versatile range for various shooting conditions.

Bebbington needed film, so he opted for Kodak Portra 160, Kodak Gold, and Ilford HP5. Each film stock offers unique characteristics. Portra 160 is known for its pastel colors, making it ideal for colorful scenes. Kodak Gold works well in sunny conditions, while Ilford HP5, a black-and-white film, provides excellent results in clear weather. However, these films cost nearly as much as the cameras themselves, adding to the expense.

Using these film cameras in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks was an adventure. Bebbington discovered his Praktica TL1000 didn’t have any film in it after shooting for a while, a frustrating but educational experience. The Olympus XA2 also lacked film. Despite these setbacks, he pressed on, determined to capture images on the remaining film.

The process of shooting on film slowed Bebbington down, making each shot more intentional. Knowing each shot costs money, you naturally think more about composition and timing. This deliberate approach contrasted sharply with the rapid-fire nature of digital photography. It brought a novel, fulfilling experience that he enjoyed, even without knowing how the images would turn out.

Bebbington finished his rolls in Denver’s colorful Five Points neighborhood, providing a stark contrast to the landscapes he had been shooting. He navigated the challenges of airport security with film, avoiding potential damage from x-ray machines. Developing and scanning the film took a couple of weeks, a waiting period that added to the anticipation.

Upon receiving the developed film, Bebbington was delighted with the results. The character of the Ilford HP5 stood out, offering a unique aesthetic he appreciated. Although some shots had issues with focus or composition, the overall experience was rewarding. Comparing the film shots with digital versions highlighted the distinctiveness of each medium. While the film added a certain character, the essence of photography—subject and composition—remained central.

The journey taught Bebbington that film photography, while more deliberate and slower, offers a unique sense of accomplishment. Each shot becomes a testament to careful planning and execution. Despite the costs and challenges, the joy of shooting on film and the unique results it produces make it worth pursuing. Bebbington plans to continue exploring film, testing different stocks, and refining his technique. The low entry cost of film cameras, combined with the fulfilling experience, makes this analog adventure worthwhile. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Bebbington.

There has been a discussion, ever since the first color film canister rolled off the production line, about whether black and white is more timeless than color. If you asked me that 10 years ago, when I was knee-deep in several of the best Nikon cameras of the time, only shooting color, I would have said: “Of course not, we all see in color.” 

However, now I’m a bit older – and maybe wiser? I have fallen in love with black and white photography for that “timeless look” and it looks like something different in a world full of color. I now shoot 95% of my work in black and white. Because of the process, it helped save my best DSLR in my kit, the Nikon D800 from the scrap heap and became a camera that I truly enjoy using again.

Now before anyone starts, I understand this is not a “true” monochrome shooting experience, which would see a camera have its Bayer filter removed. My black and white settings are just a jpeg preset – but with a twist!

I have always been a big advocate of using Kelvin white balance settings to get the sharpest images possible, but I have always set my own image profile settings to in camera.  – and these two combined give me a look I truly wanted for my black and white photography.

I understand these are just jpeg settings, but if you get it right in-camera then you have no editing to do later. That’s a win-win in my book. It also made me take this now 12-year-old camera back out of retirement, rather than ending up on the scrap heap, or worse the dreaded display shelf! Sorry to my first Nikon D2H that’s currently on the said shelf all battered and bruised as a display trophy of my photography career.

Since moving to the Leica M-system, my trusty Nikon D800 that travelled the world with me hadn’t been picked up in over two years.

While I say it is saved from the scrap heap, I have had a habit of keeping all my old cameras until they don’t turn on anymore. Like the Nikon D1 I have. Yes, I still have the very first Nikon digital camera ever made. I can’t even use it as I’ve no battery charger to charge the battery anymore. It’s 25 years old and I still haven’t thrown it away yet!

But switching my D800 into a B&W image preset of my own making (adjusting contrast, grain, saturation, and sharpness from the original Mochochrome setting built into the Nikon D800) made me want to pick up this clunky DSLR more. Now I’m pleased to say that it’s in a constant rotation of cameras I go out to use on a weekly basis.

So let this be a lesson to all, if you have cameras of yester-year lying around why not take them out of retirement and use them for something you never used to shoot them for, or simply start shooting in black and white as I did – it’s a very surreal experience, enjoying equipment that you had long forgotten about and finding new use for it.

I highly recommend it. It has kept my Nikon D800 alive 12 years on, and sparked a new interest in my photography, winning all around in my book, and best of all it didn’t cost me a single penny to do!

For some wildlife photographers, the thrill of travelling to exotic, far-flung locations and tracking down rare species is what keeps the magic alive. But for Sam Rusu, who moved to the UK in 2015, magical moments can be found in the everyday, the commonplace, the closer to home, the unexpected and unplanned; a robin perching in the garden, or a chance encounter in a London park with a kestrel. 

“I focus on representing scenes that are usually hard to reproduce, capturing those ethereal moments. The technological tools are the brushes that I use to illuminate the surreal elements of nature,” he says. Sam uses the creative and mindful act of photography to relax and escape from what he calls “The madness of adulthood”. He loves to revisit species regularly to improve his images, and has recently started teaching others how to hone their skills.

Samuel Rusu is a wildlife photographer based in Basingstoke, UK. He specializes in bird photography, his favorite creature being the barn owl, but his portfolio includes a varied menagerie of British wildlife. Sam is also a videographer – his Canon EOS R5 being the perfect hybrid companion – and he creates bespoke content for clients and short adverts for social media.

A longer version of this interview originally appeared in Issue 205 of Photo Plus magazine. Click the link below to see our latest special subscription deal!

Take up an up-close and personal experience.

Alaskan brown bears ain’t nothing to mess with. These are massive bears, reaching weights well over 1,000 pounds, all while standing over 8 feet tall. These beasts live in harsh areas, but are well fed with the abundance of food on Alaska’s coasts.

Often times, even though they are massive killers, they leave people alone because they are so well fed with the abundance of salmon, berries and other creatures around there. But that doesn’t mean you want to get that close to one of these killers.

Unless you are a wildlife photographer like this guy, looking for the best shot possible.

Isaac Spotts, a Wyoming wildlife photographer, was out in Alaska looking for some brown bears and he certainly found one.

He describes the events best himself, immediately following the wild encounter.

“We just had something absolutely crazy happen. We’re in Alaska, filming brown bears and we had a curious, younger bear come up to us in a playful way.

And she got within 7 feet of us, and she stood up on her hind legs.

She’s a young bear, but she’s still a big, big animal. Over 6 feet tall, she stood up and she swiped in the air, as like a ‘hey, take that’.

My heart is still pounding.”

I bet it is still pounding, you can’t get any more close than that without some crazy things happening.

The video from the pooja ceremony of Mammootty Kampany’s next film, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, has gone viral on social media. In the video, Mammootty is seen calling a young man carrying a camera over to him and speaking to him. The young man, meanwhile, seeks the blessings of the screen icon by touching his feet. Since then, social media has been curious to know who that young man is. Ajith Kumar PS, the still photographer of the movie, was clearly excited when his idol called to congratulate him.

Ajith has assisted Naveen Murali, who worked as the still photographer on films produced by Mammootty Kampany. The production house invited Ajith to work as the main photographer on their latest project. He is thrilled to make his debut as an independent still photographer in the industry through a Gautham Menon film produced by Mammootty Kampany. Ajith told Manorama Online that photography is his passion, and he got this amazing opportunity with the support and guidance of Aroma Mohan, Naveen Murali, George, and Sunil Singh.

“This is the first movie I am working on as an independent still photographer. The title of the movie has not been announced yet. I have assisted Naveen Murali, who was the still photographer on films like ‘Rorschach,’ ‘Christopher,’ ‘Kannur Squad,’ and ‘Bramayugam,’ which starred Mammootty sir in lead roles. When this movie was announced, Mammootty Kampany’s production controller Aroma Mohan, Mammootty sir’s manager George, and line producer Sunil called me and asked me to join the crew as the still photographer. Mammootty sir knew me because I had assisted on a few of his movies. When he saw me during the pooja, he called me over. I told him that it was my first film as an independent still photographer. He said, ‘Oh, are you doing this one? Let it be a success!’ He shook my hand and blessed me. The video of me speaking to Mammootty sir and seeking his blessing has now gone viral on social media,” says Ajith.

Having completed a course in photography, Ajith also updates his skills by watching YouTube videos. Even though photography is his passion, he has assisted veterans like Naveen Murali and Sreenath Unnikrishnan to learn more. “For a newcomer like me, it is a great achievement to start off through a movie starring Mammootty sir. Mammootty Kampany took the initiative to offer me this opportunity. This is Gautham Menon sir’s first movie in Malayalam. I am grateful to Mammootty Kampany for giving me this chance,” notes Ajith.

The pictures taken by Ajith during the pooja have gone viral. One particular image of Mammootty captured by Ajith has even been celebrated by Bollywood media.