Self Portrait - Month January

Watching the World pass by
Focal length: 50mm
Shutter speed: 1/60
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/1.8

From my post on 10 goals for 2010, you would have read that I wanted to do some self portraits as a goal for this year. I set a simple goal of attempting 12 self portraits -one for each month so its easy to stick to and get some good results. It definitely isn't as big as the 365/ 52 pics goals that people usually set, but I feel that if i set that big of a goal I would be redundant with ideas and go crazy.
The idea for this picture had been going through my head for a while but I finally got the guts and motivation to take it. I took this at my lovely house with my lovely dogs- Place I Love. I interpret this photo as looking out at the world and watching time pass by- just the phase I'm going through. So enjoy and look forward to your interpretation! :)

10 Goals for the Year 2010

After doing a Year highlight of 2009 for the first post of this year I have kept wanting to do this post- A post of Goals for this year. here are the top 10 i came up with and its all related to photography!

1. First, Learn Better Photography. I want to awe you guys with each picture I upload, just like the ones I get awed! Check out my favs on my flickr.

2. Learn Photoshop. Although I'm not a big fan of manipulating photos and haven't used it in any of my pictures so far, I really would like to learn it well. The last time I really used it was when I was a photojournalist for my school newspaper.

3. Build a good Portfolio. Right now I have a very small portfolio and its very basic but this next few months, I would like to schedule some models and photograph some ideas. So if your around SoCal (southern California, USA) area and would like to be my model so you can build your portfolio and I can build mine, email me so we can schedule a date: meerasphotography@gmail.com.

4. Launch a Website! This one is actually a biggie! I want to start a website so you don't have to come to my blog and scroll to see the pictures everytime. A better presentation of my work. :)

5. Create self-portraits- This is just a year goal in general. I don't think I have the patience to do the 365 or 52 project so just going to do 12 for each month. So decided to this simple version so its easier for me to stick to the goal! :)

6. Work with studio equipments. Its definitely something I really want to get my hands on- Studio lighting with Umbrellas and Soft boxes.

7. Do more Darkroom. I love film photography and with the recent vintage collection I would really like to develop and print my own film. Ive lost touch...so need to get back to it!

8. Get Clients. This basically means that I'm looking for a job. :)

9. Travel more. I love to see new places and explore. This year Im going to jump on all the opportunities to travel. yeah...cant wait!

10. Reach out to more people. I'm really thankful for the few that stop by and comment. It really does keep me going. So now the goal is to reach out to more people! If your one of those who stop by please leave comments. Thanks in advance! :)

A Vintage Love

I have had a recent love for Vintage Cameras. Call me crazy for going backwards in time but the old dust on the camera is something I find sweet and intriguing. Its fun to see what people worked with back then and see how all they had to work with was light and shutter speed based on the winding lever/crank camera. No Batteries, No Presets, and No AUTOMATIC MODE! Crazies!

Rolleiflex TLR Automat Model 3

Focal length: 75mm
Shutter speed: 1 - 1/500 sec
Aperture: f/22- f/3.5

So I have been using 120 medium format film (color and b&w), but still have to get it developed which is a process on its own since there aren't much film developers around. And even if they are around, its too expensive. But it has been a fun way to explore and actually learn the basic concepts of Photography, which is lost in these days cameras!

Yasica A TLR
Focal length: 80mm
Shutter speed: 1 - 1/500 sec & Bulb
Aperture: f/22- f/3.5

A Little about the cameras:
The Rolleiflex Automat TLR Camera was made sometime between October 1945 to September 1949. The Focal length is set at 75mm, but a person can move closer or further from the subject as they like. The Shutter speed moves from 1 to 1/500 secs and the Aperture range is f/22- f/3.5. The camera has Franke & Heidecke - compur-rapid controls with Zeiss Jena Tessar taking lens.
The Yashica A TLR medium format camera was made from 1958 until 1969. It has Yashikor lens. It has limited shutter speed and the film has to be advanced manually. As stated below the picture: Focal length is set at 80mm, Shutter speed: 1 - 1/500 sec with a bulb mode setting, and the Aperture moves from f/22 to f/3.5.

Carnation <3

This Holiday

This holiday- Winter 09-10, my fam, the dogs and I headed to the famous national park: Yosemite! We love this place because its close by to our town and the views are spectacular. Its definitely a winter wonderland with all the snow on the beautiful mountains. Being in SoCal we don't get snowed in like the east coast. Instead we have to head for highlands like Yosemite Mountains to get the snow action. This place is also dog-friendly, which is rare to find among the national parks. So our dogs, Lotus(Maltese) and Amigo(Beagle), go on all hikes with us and love to jump in the snow. Its definitely a fun family trip for us.
So enuf said...here are some pictures from this trip. There was definitely less snow than last year (less rain this year) and so you can see lot of difference in my pictures from last December and I def did not own a Canon classic 5D back then :P - Yosemite Winter 08-09.

Focal length: 100mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20.0

Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20.0

Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/20.0

Focal length: 70mm
Shutter speed: 1/20
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/19.9

Focal length: 100mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/19.9

Focal length: 40mm
Shutter speed: 1.3secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/19.9

Focal length: 65mm
Shutter speed: 6secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/22.6

Focal length: 105mm
Shutter speed: 0.4secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/22.6

Focal length: 32mm
Shutter speed: 1/20
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/8.0

Focal length: 50mm
Shutter speed: 0.8secs
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/12.9

Year highlights of 2009!

This past year - 2009- has been an incredible year with lots of changes for my life and my family. Crazy and Great changes. Yesterday, I just finished up my last post of the year and decided to just go back and read some of my old posts. I decided to use the first day of this year to reflect on the past and compile the highlights from this past year 2009:


1. The start of this blog - I hadn't given much thought into it last year but decided to start a blog because I wanted to share my interest in photography. Didn't know i would love blogging and getting response. It was one year ago, exactly today that I started with a post on who I got inspired by: My Heroes
2. Getting my Canon 5D - I had a Canon XTi before but when I got my 5D I was just the happiest person on earth. I had dreamt of having this camera and it happened this year! Its not MarkII but Im happy with the classic because of its beautiful picture quality and the raw manual camera-like feel. thanks ma! :)
3. Traveling to National Parks in U.S. - i love traveling and love to go to national parks. i usually hike and try to find different places to take pictures. its also fun to meet other photographers at these nature spots and see what cameras & lenses they are using.
4. Getting my Portrait lens and Telephoto lens - a lens just improves ur perspective. For any occasion or festival, I stick to asking for lenses or money to save (lol...im poor btw). and so i save up the money to buy them plus my mom once again is super sweet in supporting me!
5. Trip to India - I got to take my Canon 5D to a beautiful country full of colors and culture. Plenty of incredible landscape, architecture, and people to photograph.
6. Buying my Flickr pro account - I know this is cheesy but im always on Flickr and looking through numerous photos and hoping others are looking through mine. When i got my pro account I felt like I was in a new club with the pros. ;) I try to post at least one pic a day and stumble through all my friends.
7. First photo shoot with my Brother - he was amazing and ready to do whatever. it was really nice since i was in trial with him. I think I learnt the most from this shoot especially on how to instruct a model - a key to this industry.
8. Winning EarthShots.org - It might not be a big deal for some people but I think earthshots.org is a really nice website with an amazing collection of photography. And to be part of that collection was like a step towards becoming a professional.
9. Photo assistant job with a pro photographer - Working for a Fashion/Glamour photographer and one that was really nice since it was my first time was a great experience. I will never forget it!
10. Internship with YMCA - Im just so happy about this last great thing I got in 2009. An actual job with a huge company! and my boss is super sweet and super friendly. Im so thankful for this job.


If one year can do all these changes...i am really looking forward to what this next year has for me and for us! :)