How to make a "SubMarino" cocktail drink

The SubMarino 

• the easiest cocktail to make using beer and tequila
• if u like your drink to be bitter, then this one's highly recommended

Serves one

How to Make: 

• Pour the beer into a beer mug or tankard. the beer needs to be chilled. 
• pour the tequila in a shot glass and gently "submerge" the shot glass in the beer mug/tankard

Light Trails in Concert Photography featuring Canon EOS 5D Mark III and Bevar Sea

ISO: 400
Exposure: 2.5 sec
Aperture: 5.6

I recently attended a concert in Bengalooru , India on the 31st of March 2012 with 4 top bands dishing out music from death metal to stoner doom and old school.  The bands that performed that night were

• Shepherd (Doom from Bangalore)
• Dhwesha (old school death metal from Bangalore)
• Albatross ( Horror metal band from Mumbai)
• Bevar Sea (Beer soaked stoner doom from Bangalore)

and to my luck , this would be the first gig in India to be covered using the Canon EOS 5D Mark III.

i decided to get creative with the pics here as the venue was really small and crammed. there was no stage for the musicians and the audience was 2 feet away from the band. to make things worse, most photographers who turned up to cover the event were pretty much disappointed coz the lighting was abysmal.

Simple tips to Frames within Frames In Photography

Simple tips to Frames within Frames In Photography

From creative pics II

Model: Canon EOS 60D

ISO: 3200

Exposure: 1/80 sec

Aperture: 4.0

Focal Length: 50mm

Flash Used: No

First let me ask myself some questions about framing and for your convenience , i shall answer them as well..

what is framing?

Its a simple technique in photography where the subject grabs immediate attention by the viewer

Why is framing done?

So that ur images look cool and different from the ordinary

How is framing done?

presence of mind and a good subject tops the list

Types of framing

2 important ones are portrait framing and object framing.

What ees Frames within Frames?

as the name suggests its "Frames within a frame". it could be a reflection of a mirror, books in a shelf, photo of a window or wall clock or just about anything.

Munz and Nirmal Visit my place

My good friend Munz along with Nithil Nirmal had come to my place yesterday, the 20th Of November 2011.

Munz is like the rock star of photography and Nithil owns the first photography studio back in Kannur called Minerva Studios which was started by his grand father 85 years back!!

had an amazing time, Munz got to experiment with his newly purchased 7D camera and we took a lot of indoor , outdoor, telephoto and landscape pics

posting some of my fav photos from yesterday

Canon 60D

Glass - EF 70 to 200 mm f 2.8 L IS II USM

Aperture - f 4

Shutter - 1/40

ISO - 400

Focal Length - 168 mm

Flash - speedlite 580 EX II, bounced off ceiling

From november 20, 2011 munz and nirmal flats visit

Tips to Taking Candid Shots at Weddings

Tips to Taking Candid Shots at Weddings by Pritham D'Souza

From Candid Photography at Weddings

Its a never ending headache for a photographer to carry the right lens at weddings. a few of them depend on a general walk around lens like EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS lens which is an excellent choice offering group shots and even medium telephoto range to capture those precious moments.

for the others, there's the always dependable EF 70 to 200 mm f 2.8 L IS II which renders sharp images even at very low light and is a super fast lens with wide aperture of 2.8

i did the right thing and carried both of them and used them extensively at a wedding i covered few months back.

below are some photos i clicked using EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS USM lens

Lightning Photography simple tips

Lightning Photography simple tips by Pritham D'Souza

From lightning

Here's another Lightning shot added to the millions of Lightning shots thats available on the internet...i took this pic last night (October 25, 2011) from my apartments in Mangalore, India. its not supposed to be raining this time of the year, however one needs to make most of the situation and stop cribbing.

decided to try out Lightning shots....

ok i still dont have a tripod and sooo had to use a table and stool and kept the camera in various positions before i got a chance to release the shutter.

its not really about speed here. capturing Lightning shots is made easy using a very very slow shutter also known as long exposures. If u have a DSLR or a good digital camera with manual controls, u must have seen the mode dial which shows "bulb" option.

How to get good Slow Shutter Shots and Switching off Image Stabilization when using a Tripod

How to get good Slow Shutter Shots and Switching off Image Stabilization when using a Tripod by Pritham D'Souza

From Club Mahindra Goa

I clicked this pic when i was holidaying in Goa at Club Mahindra Beach Resort and this was the best time to experiment with slow shutter.

notice how the water is giving a silky smooth effect which only adds to the uniqueness of the photo.

i achieved this using the following steps

Katpady Village shot using ND filter on canon EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS wide angle

Katpady Village shot using ND filter on canon EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS wide angle

From katpady in pics

Katpady is a tiny village hamlet near Udupi in Karnatata and its also the ancestral home of my future In Laws.

the name is Tulu language means "Kattu Paadi" which in english translates to "Tie it down"

i have no idea what needs to be tied down and where, but it was another great day to shoot photos with my canon 60D along with EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L is glass with ND4X filter.

Shooting Landscapes with an ND filter and 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS wide angle Lens

Shooting Landscapes with an ND filter and 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS wide angle Lens

From mother nature father nothing 2

The view from my place here in Mangalore is absolutely stunning. I live at probably the highest elevation, and i can see the Arabian Sea just outside my window.

The golden hour in the evening is when the rays of the sun start to give a fantastic orange and red discharge and it looks really great esp if one shoots with ND Filters.

Black and White Photography at Concerts with Canon EF 24 to 105 mm f4 L IS lens

Black and White Photography at Concerts with Canon EF 24 to 105 mm f4 L IS lens

From kryptos at Impending doom

Black and White photography is by far my favorite when compared to color photography. u really cant go wrong with B&W pics and when the exposure is bang on , the photos look the best and very dramatic.

I attended a gig in Bangalore called Impending Doom and wanted to experiment with my newly acquired Canon EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS USM glass. i had previously used the lens , extensively to cover a 3 day wedding ceremony and it perfectly complimented the Canon 580 exII speedlite. but this event was way way tougher to capture

some of the constraints of shooting i faced were

The Down Troddence and Cypher 16 gig review

The Down Troddence and Cypher 16 gig review

I have been friends with rocker Munz from his Kannur based contemporary metal band The Down Troddence for sometime now, but never had the opportunity to see them live. So when they came down to Bangalore to perform , i jumped at the chance to meet them and also check them out live.

after the usual meet and greet, i was told that the concert would be starting a bit late. and no bands were allowed to do a sound check. and when i got there at around 5pm, i could see only about 10 guys present, which included the bouncer, the organizer and TDT the band. hmmm

From people at the gig at kyra, 23 sept 2011

soooo about 45 minutes later, the first band takes stage.

Mehandi designs captured using Canon 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS lens

From mehandi

My first Mehandi shoot. For those of u who dunno what it means, here is what wiki says " Weddings in the India can often be long ritualistic and elaborate affairs with many pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding ceremonies. The occasion of Mehndi ceremony is often one of the most important pre-wedding rituals especially for the bride. It is a fun filled ritual, which is celebrated mainly by the bride's family. Different regions of the country celebrate the ritual in a different way according to their own marriage customs, rituals, and culture. Mehndi ceremonies take place outside the India amongst the Indian community and places like Birmingham in the UK are such known hotspots for lavish Mehndi celebrations.

The ceremony is mainly held at the bride's house or at a banquet hall on the eve of the marriage ceremony or few days before the marriage. Generally the bride and groom attend the event together and on the occasion a professional henna artist or a relative applies mehndi to the bride's hands and feet the designs are very intricate. Often hidden within the mehndi pattern the name or initials of the groom are applied. The event generally has a celebratory festival feel to it with the women dancing and singing traditional songs and the girls wearing vivid colours such as hot pink and yellow, often if the bride to be wishes to tease her future groom she will make him wear purple."

Now that we know what it means now, here are some moments i captured at my friends Mehandi ceremony

gear used Canon 60D + EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS USM glass + Canon Speedlite 580EX II

and to get better results i bounced the flash of the ceiling.

Brahmin Wedding Rituals Explained with Photos

A series of 19 photos explaining the rituals involved in Brahmin weddings.

1. Vratham
2. Janavasam
3. Upanayanam
4. Gowri Pooja
5. Kasi Yatra (Pilgrimage to Kasi)
6. Oonchal
7. Kanya Danam
8. Sumuhurtam (The Auspicious Moment)
9. Malai Mathal
10. Kankana Dhaarana
11. Mangalya Dharanam
12. Binding in Thread
13. Talambralu (Rice and Petal Shower)
14. Paani Graharam
15. Saptha Padhi
16. Pradhana Homam
17. Treading on Grindstone
18. Laaja Homam
19. Finale

I definitely would have missed a few rituals in the middle or even at the end, but i have tried my best to explain why the whole wedding ceremony takes a few hours to finish.

From Typical South Indian Brahmin Wedding

The marriage ceremonies begin with vratham performed separately by the bride and the groom. For the bride, it means the tying of the kappu, the holy thread on her wrists, which is meant to ward off all evil sprits. It symbolizes a kind of protective armor for the bride

Portrait and Wedding close ups

My first attempt at taking wedding candid portraits... sounds pretty weird to have the words portraits and candid in the same sentence. but thats exactly what i did.

equipped with my newly acquired EF 24 to 105 mm 4L IS lens and Canon speedlite 580EX II, the results were much better than i expected.