:: Whats in Store - 2008? ::

Whats in Store for you in 2008?
1. 2008 - International Year of Sanitation.
Proper sanitation: It’s a seemingly mundane thing that most people in the developed world take for granted. But at least 2.6 billion people – some 41 percent of the global population - do not have access to latrines or any sort of basic sanitation facilities. As a result millions suffer from a wide range of preventable illnesses, such as diarrhoea, which claim thousands of lives each day, primarily young children.

Improving access to sanitation is a good investment because:
a. Sanitation is vital for human health,
b. Sanitation generates economic benefits,
c. Sanitation contributes to dignity and social development
d. Sanitation helps the environment
e. Improving sanitation is achievable!
To put the spotlight on this issue the UN General Assembly declared the year 2008 the

International Year of Sanitation. The goal is to raise awareness and to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015.
Source: http://esa.un.org/iys/

2. 2008 - Year of the Frog.
In 2008, AArk will lead zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums in a globally coordinated public awareness campaign “The Year of the Frog.”

The main goal of this campaign is to generate public awareness and understanding of the amphibian extinction crisis which represents the greatest species conservation challenge in the history of humanity.
Source: www.amphibianark.org

3. 2008: Year of Information Overload?
Interruptions aren't merely annoying; they're also bad for productivity. And when you multiply the interruptions made possible by email, phone calls, text messages, and Twitters across the entire US, the result is lost productivity on a massive scale: $650 billion in a single year.

That's according to research firm Basex, which chose "information overload" as its 2008 "Problem of the Year." Failure to solve the problem will lead to "reduced productivity and throttled innovation." The situation is dire enough that Intel's Nathan Zeldes estimates "the impact of information overload on each knowledge worker at up to eight hours a week."

This is hardly a news flash, of course. Multitasking has long been recognized to have deleterious effects on productivity. The great irony is that multitasking is meant to improve productivity, but the human brain turns out to be bad at rapid task switching. The Atlantic ran a lengthy piece on the false promise of multitasking in its November edition (subscribers only), using as one of its epigraphs a line by Publilius Syrus: "To do two things at once is to do neither."
Source:http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071226-interruptions-info-overload-cost-us-economy-650-billion.html

4. 2008: Year Of The Location Based Services?
Americans are buying global positioning systems (GPS) for their cars in large numbers, reports AdAge. The NPD Group says that revenues are up 214% and GPS unit sales up a whopping 488% over last year.

The M&A activity in the sector is on an upswing, and the primary driver being location-based and mapping services on the mobile phones, the latest being NXP Semiconductors’ $85 million buyout of GloNav.

As new network-enabled Dash devices and more mobile phones come to market in 2008, next 12 months will see an upswing in news and noise around location-based services.
Source: http://gigaom.com/2007/12/24/2008-year-of-the-location-based-services/

5. 2008: The Year of Micro
This was an exciting year in online technology. If you look at it from a 10,000 foot view, humans are really still blazing a trail on how to utilize this relatively new medium, the Internet. Perhaps it’s obvious but I believe 2008 is really the year that applications and strategies go Micro.

The evolution of the social web (Web 2.0) is now moving rapidly into new, targeted territory. The massive, one-fits-all solution will be evolving to provide you with the right connections to the right people and the right content… at the right time.
Source: http://www.douglaskarr.com/2007/12/26/2008-year-predictions/

6. 2008: International Year of the Potato.
The year 2008 has been declared the International Year of the Potato by the United Nations, noting that the potato is a staple food in the diet of the world’s population, and affirming the need to focus world attention on the role that the potato can play in providing food security and eradicating poverty. Food and Agriculture Organization is invited to facilitate its implementation.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Year_of_the_Potato

Now... Turning to my 2008....
7. 2008: Year of Empowerment in Photography.
I have declared this year as an Year of Empowperment in Photography for myself , considering the FACT of pursuing photography seriously from the serious hobby
photographer status.

Having said this as the vision, here are the missions to be accomplished.
1. Learn the MATHS of the aperture / shutter better.
2. Look for more contacts in the photography world, get to MEET more Pros and wanna be pros.
3. Organise a SOLO Exhibition in Bangalore in the next 6-8 months.
4. Work HARD to make all the above possible.


So lets have a sea of change in everyone of us,in the next 12 months. All the BEST. Let's jointly welcome 2008.

~ peevee.

:: New Year Again: My Resolutions ::

I have been tagged by Kuttibalu to list my new year resolution.

The Wikipedia and other online dictionaries explains New Year Resolutions... as...
A New Year's Resolution is a commitment that I make to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day and remain until the set goal has been achieved, although many resolutions go unachieved year after year and are often broken fairly shortly after they are set, over a period of time.

It is just an example of the rolling forecast-method of planning. So, the plans are established at regular short or medium-term time intervals, when only a rough long-term plan exists. So... I believe, every resolution should have a rough long-term plan (vision) to take it forward by various Missions.

1. I DONT Drink / Smoke... so no resolution to quit drinking / smoking.
2. I DONT eat Non-Veg, by choice, so no turnback.
3. Im NOT fat... and Im NOT thin... So no need of for Gymnasium, my regular walks help me maintain.
4. Im NOT Lazy...and i sleeps less than 6 hrs a day, where is the neccesity for a wake up early resolution?

So.. this year too.. I actually dont have any resolutions.. but hell a lot of BIG wishes, apart from few small ones.
Few BIG ONES to quote here...
1. Medical Students must accept to go to villages, as a part of their course curriculum. Bouquet to Dr.anbumani Ramdoss.
2. Indian parents must understand the neccesity of having ONLY one child. We could not achieve this for the lasr 24 yrs, after the 20point plans by Mrs.IndiraGandhi.
3. Software Companies must stop paying the FRESHERS, hell a lot of Money, which for sure kills the value of MONEY.
4. Srilankan Government must give way to a separate Tamil state for LTTEs, during the reigns of Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Few SMALL ONES to quote here..
1. Wanna do a solo photo exhibition on or before August 15th 2008.
2. Need to add an SB800 Flash to my Nikon Kitty.
3. Have a Dr. instead of Mr. before my name (too much? and is not possible in 1 year!)
4. Wanna capture the whole south India, through my third eye. (hope im not copying from kuttibalu!)

So... lemme hope for the BEST... All the best for you guys TOO..

~ peevee.

:: Laksha Deepam ::

One of the important form of worship is prayer to a lamp, to the flame or Jyothi, instead of a Vigraha or a picture, worshiping it as a form of the Deity of their choice.Vedas say that God exists in the five elements. Aagama Sasthra and Bhootha Suddhi Manthra say that God manifests in Sky[Space] as Sound, in Air as Sound and Sense of Touch, in Fire as Sound, Sense and Shape of things, in Water as Sound, Sense, Shape and Taste of objects, in Earth as Sound, Sense, Shape, Taste and Smell. As light or fire, the Deepa Jyothi represent one of the five elements as a manifestation of God.

Many people perform prayer rituals to the lamp, "Deepa Jyothi" as an alternative to the traditional Vigraha worship of the devotional path. There is a practice of offering prayers to Sri Ganesha, Durga, Devi, Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Ayyappan and many other forms of Deities in the form of Jyothi in a Deepa pooja.

The following pictures were shot at Kodanda Rama temple at Bangalore. 1,00,000 Lamps were lit as a part of the annual procession.




~ peevee.
TEXT COURTESY: REDBULL

:: H D R ::

HDR Images (High Dynamic Range Images) were originally developed for use with purely computer-generated images. Later, methods were developed to produce a high dynamic range image from a set of photographs taken with a range of exposures. With the rising popularity of digital cameras and easy-to-use desktop software, the term "HDR" is now popularly used to refer to the process of tone mapping together with bracketed exposures of normal digital images, giving the end result a high, often exaggerated dynamic range. This composite technique is different from, and generally of lower quality than, the production of an image from a single exposure of a sensor that has a native high dynamic range.

Though i have shot a lot of bracketed images quite a long time back, have not processed them then. Recently, got an opportunity to process my first ever HDR, after the trip to Bekal Fort Beach.

Processing HDRs is actually as simple as 1...2...3 points...
1. Open 3 bracketed images in PSCS2 / PSCS3 / Photomatix.
2. Merge them after aligning
3. Tone mapping and save as JPEG.

My first image here.....


I'm not sure about more HDRs coming from my NIKON TOY.
Comments and Critics... expected as usual..

~ peevee.

:: Yakshagana ::

Yakshagana is a traditional theater form combining dance, music, spoken word, costume-makeup, and stage technique with a distinct style and form. It is a theater form mainly prevalent in the coastal districts and adjacent areas, in Karnataka. It is closely connected with other forms prevailing in other parts of Karnataka, and its neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Maharastra. We used to call this in TAMILNADU as THERU KOOTHU(தெருக்கூத்து) - Performance on the roadside.

Got a lovely opportunity to shoot the back stage during one of the yakshagana performances at Mangalore, Karnataka. These artists perform for more than 20 years and for many of them, this is the only avenue for food. Every team will have some artists performing regularly as women artists / comedian or Villian.

Few of my pictures here...






~ peevee.

:: Tabebuia Impetiginosa ::

Tabebuia impetiginosa or pink lapacho is a native Bignoniaceae tree of America, distributed from northern Mexico south to northern Argentina. It is a common tree in Argentina's northeastern region, as well as in southeastern Bolivia.

No idea when and how we got this species in India. It flowers between July and December, before the new leaves appear. Lapacho flower is large, tubular shaped, its corolla is often pink or magenta, though exceptionally seen white, about 2 inches long.

We are lucky enough to capture them in action today... Hope you guys too like this.




~ peevee.

:: Christian wedding ::

The Christian views of marriage historically have regarded marriage as ordained by God for the lifelong union of a man and a woman. This foundational principle was first articulated biblically in Genesis 2:24. Later, Jesus set forth his basic position on marriage by bringing together two important passages from Genesis (1:27; 2:7–25). He pointed to the completion of the creation — "male and female he created them." Then he described marriage as a relationship, a union, so intimate and real that "the two become one flesh." As persons, husband and wife are of equal value. In truth, they are one.

In Roman Catholicism, the Church teaches that marriage is God's doing: "God himself is the author of marriage," which is his way of showing love for those he created. I happened to attaned one of such RC marriages.. the couples entering into a mixed marriage are allowed to marry in a Catholic church provided they have embraced the following principles:
1. They have chosen to marry of their own accord with no external pressure
2. They intend to remain together for life
3. They intend to be faithful to each other
4. They intend to have children if the bride is of childbearing age

Then comes the exchange of rings and the Sacramental bread and wine, wishes and photo sessions.


I really enjoyed my time, understanding the process, as i was attending a christian wedding for the first time.

~ peevee.

:: Memories ::

We met this granny (very sorry.. missed her name) in her small 10x20ft house cum floor mill in Begur village. She must be more than 60 yrs old and carrying memories of her sister, who is now in the US. Ya.. She is holding a photoframe, which was shot some 35 yrs ago, which showcases her sister in class 8 and all her sister's friends and teachers.

This Granny is waiting for her sister, who is coming in JUNE 2008, and invited us as well to meet HER.





I wish and pray GOD to keep her MEMORIES alive...

~ peevee.

:: Begur ::

Begur, which forms a part of South Bangalore, was also known as Behur, Veppur, Bempur. Some records refer to Begur as Bhaskaraksetra and an Agrahara. The Karnataka State Bangalore District Gazet-teer mentions this place as a pre-historic site since fields full of ash pits containing centuries-old bones and pottery pieces were found. There is an interesting Panchalinga monument (890 AD) belonging to the Ganga period here. But the general tendency to whitewash the outer walls, colourfully paint the deities in front of the temple in Eastman colour or concretise the exterior, takes away the antiquity and the old world charm of monuments, especially temples.

This temple is under renovation/beautification now... with the raised funds from public and goverment as well.

One of my pictures....




More about this temple at....
http://www.puzha.com/puzha/selfpublish/1092802792.html
http://www.deccanherald.com/Archives/oct31/spt8.asp


~ peevee.