Group Photo

Last Sunday I along with my friends Rohit & Dijiraj Conducted a full day Basic photography workshop at Mangalore. it was a great success. Participants were from various fields. All were keen to learn the basics of photography. We covered several fundamental principles during the morning session. After lunch we concentrated on hands on interaction with them. This was our second basic photography workshop conducted under banner of Mangalore Photography Club. We are soon planning to come with an advanced workshop on selected photography topics.

We got a nice coverage in local papers. Here is an link from Mangalore Today.

Since I was busy preparing for the workshop, I was not able to blog for last 2 weeks. I will have a new post soon.

The Photography Workshop on 29th August

I, along with Rohit S.Rao & Dijaraj Nair are conducting our 2nd Basic Photography Workshop on 29th August 2010

If you Love taking pictures with your digital camera? Want to improve your skills, but don’t have a lot of time to spend? How about some straight-to-the-point tips that cut to the chase and show you step by step how to accomplish a task? If that sounds like just what you had in mind, Digital Photography Workshop is just what you need.

Digital Photography Workshop covers important tasks from choosing a camera to making great photos. It also shows you basic operations along with some great tips on Portrait, Landscape, Street and Wildlife photography.

Please inform your friends who are interested in joining this workshop.

You’ll be able to learn:

• What is photography
• The need to take good photos
• Camera from film to digital
• Getting the best out of lenses
• Tripods & other accessories
• How to take a good photographs
• Composition
• Framing
• Lighting
• Point of view
• Getting best out of your camera
• Aperture
• Shutter speed
• ISO
• Basic Post Processing
• Tips on
  • Portrait photography
  • Landscape photography
  • Street photography
  • Wildlife photography
  • Event photography

Date: 29th August 2010, Sunday 10AM – 5PM

Venue: District Small Industries Association (R) Mangalore Hall
Industrial Estate, Yeyyadi, Mangalore 575008

Workshop Fees: Rs 650/- Inclusive of materials & food.

All you need is a keen interest in photography and a camera.

For Further details and registration contact

Dr. Krishna Mohan 98807 44258
Rohit S.Rao 98450 71770
Dijaraj Nair 98452 80852
Email: mangfoto@gmail.com

Yakshagana by Diji (www.dijisworld.com)

As you have seen in this article on copyright infringement, I decided to implement watermarking of all my images which are larger than 500 pixels. I felt the watermarking is justified to solve similar copyright infringement in future. Friend of mine Dijiraj has experienced a bizarre twist on this scenario. A few days ago he was visiting the Chitra Santhe at Bangalore and came across a stand of paintings, being sold as original work of art. The only problem was that the painter had made “faithful” (but unattributed) reproduction in paint of Diji’s photographic image which is shown above. If you have a facebook account you can check the photo of the painting taken at Chitrasanthe by Smrithi Kangovi here. Now image resolution or a watermark wouldn’t make much difference here, a painter could nick a photo at screen resolution. The painter had “stolen” friend’s intellectual property and made it his own by interpreting it in paint. The law apparently sees no problem with this.

The rights of copyright holders need to be protected, but some draconian remedies that have been suggested would create more problems than they would solve.
- Patrick Leahy

By definition a written quote is attributed and hence a context. If it’s not attributed then it’s just theft. Whereas a copied photograph from the net rarely, if ever, attributed properly. We obviously haven’t the time, or the capability, to study all the works of art in the world to check whether this is in fact true so a percentage of people will get away with making rip-offs without being caught.

Philosophically, originality is linked to free will. If we are all beavering away in our own corners, minding our own business, creating for ourselves, then anything we haven’t done personally before, is original. And then there is no reason not to do something that someone else has already done. If however, we are all in it together, then originality is defined with respect to the community. And then, it is up to the individual to be fully aware of what everyone else has ever done.

I fully accept that the theft of images from the net does take place. However there is always the risk that whenever you put your images out there that they might be stolen. Does this mean that we should never show our images on the net or in print? No, of course it doesn’t! What’s the point in making images if we don’t share them? Life is full of risks and this is just one of them. One just needs to take the precautions one sees fit – as long as they fall short of paranoia!

For me, My photograph’s purpose should be (amongst other things!) to uplift, inspire, evoke and enlighten – not simply to make money. Though I do need to pay that bill… So I prefer to have my images without watermarks. So what do you think? Should I keep them or remove them? I want your opinion in this regards before I take a decision regarding watermark.