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Rebooting with W80

Whoa! When was it that i scribbled something on this blog? Seems ages. Lets simply blame my laziness and brush it under the carpet.

My tryst with Digital Photography began around a year back in December. My first Camera was - well, "was" because it no longer exists with me.

So my First Camera was a nice Ultra Compact Sony Cybershot DSC W80 - a 7.2MP, 3X zoom. I am sure more serious enthusiasts would wish I was more precise in the Focal range than simply saying 3X. The fact is, I never knew about it when I had the digicam or about its use. The focal range and aperture range etched on the lens barrel never aroused much interest since the camera was a completly automatic. I remember visiting help sites like http://www.dpreview.com for information on DOF, aperture, shutter speed, metering etc but since I never could put many of them to use in the W80 camera, they simply became jargon.

The camera functioned industriously calculating and metering successfully the scene and giving me comfortable ShutterSpeed-aperture value settings. I simply played with the ISO, to some extent the focal range like 1m,3m,5m and infinity and meter choice ie. matrix, centre and spot.

My knowledge about general rules in photography was limited to Rule of thirds and composition and a few others. Still, some pics came exceptionally well. Lets just say, the camera, light conditions and luck came together nicely. Macro was my favourite and I had a serious fetish for insect macro photography. Some of my macros suffered from highlight blown up and over exposure but some came exceptionally well.

The W80 suffered the usual common minimal defects like purple fringing in bright edges/corners, little barreling but not much to create trouble. The pictures were always sharp (almost) in normal light scenes. The image stabiliser was exceptionally effective and the flash did wonders. Under dim light, the situations were never easy. I found it exceptionally troublesome to extract good average pictures in National auditorium under pitch darkness during the annual College festival. Being on the last row, with occasional on-stage light made things worse. Long Focal length, pitch darkness and no tripod meant the pics were dismal. However the camera excelled under the Sun giving nice pics.

Unfortunately, the Golden run ended soon as the camera got stolen. Only the pics were left with me. The W80 didnt make me realise the av-tv-dof things but left a deep unsatisfied passion for photography.

These are my favourites from the W80.

This was taken in Goa during the BE Final year class unofficial trip to Goa.

Well this is luck and prompt clicking which gave this shot. However the expressions are something one has no control in. It comes naturally.

This was clicked in Kerala on my previous visit. My aim was to capture the flowing river diagonally to the maximum I can with the temple on its bank. The boat was unexpected but adds to the beauty.

Indian Places - Goa 1

Sun Setting Over the Horizon at Dona Paula, Goa, India!

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Industrial Trip
Location
Goa, India.
Duration
4 days.
Journey
Indian Konkan Railway Mandovi Express-II Class Chair Seats
C.S.T., Mumbai (Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus) to Thiviam, Goa
and Madgaon, Goa to C.S.T.
Primary Objective
Visit and study Chemical Industries
Secondary Objective
Relax, rejuvenate and freshen up

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Very few would like to believe that Goa can be a destination for Industrial visit!
Well, We do!

This year in early spring we were lucky enough to visit Goa under Industrial Visit program which is compulsory for every Semester VI Chemical engineering student. Man, A few days away from the Hustle and Bustle of city! Who can avoid such an offer! Almost the entire class grabbed the opportunity with both hands ! The Trip was planned to stir a change and rejuvenate ourselves apart from visiting Chemical Industries and getting an exposure of the industries.

We had decided to travel to Goa by train as it was economical and fun filled! After all, we would be plying by Konkan Railway which goes parallel to the Sahyadri Ranges or the West Indian Coast. Our II class Chair tickets were confirmed and the train name was Mandovi Express and starts early in the morning from CST. Under Student's concession plan of Indian Railway, our tickets were very cheap. Most of us decided to board the train at CST (VT) as it is easier and convenient to arrive at for the majority. Many in the group decided against sleeping the previous night as they feared they would not get up on time! Most of reached the station early enough. However the train was rescheduled to an hour later much to our dismay. However this served as boon for some who otherwise wouldn't have made it ! Though we had booked for chair seats the train had regular sleepers converted into chairs. (Simply make more number of people sit on the sleepers instead of the regular 3). Still better than the regular Chair Seats!

I was very much excited about the trip for many reasons! This was my second visit of Goa and also a well deserved break from daily routine. This was a very good opportunity to test my brand new Sony Cybershot DSCW80 Digital Camera and above all chance to visit Chemical Industries.

The Train slowly gathered pace and with that the daily crowded Mumbai Local Trains were fading away from memory for a few days!