Tokina AT-X 828 AF Pro 80-200mm f/2.8

My new lens, actually I was saving to buy its Nikon counterpart but my patience ran out and the 'Sonu Nigam' concert came up. This lens seemed like a good compromise and the internet was full of good reviews of it.
Before I narrate my experience with it, let me say this, it’s not magic and its very heavy.
I have a Nikon 50mm f/1.8F lens so I know what a f/1.8 and f/2.8 aperture feels like in terms of lights but some how after reading on the internet over and over again that it works very well in low light, I lost my own perception of low light. So here it is, it works great in low light but you’ll still have to open the window curtains when chasing a toddler with this lens and wait for harsh stage lighting to capture a very energetic performer.
The lens is very heavy and you’ll need a tripod/monopod for best results and you might want to skip your upper body strength training routine as you’ll plenty of exercise carrying this lens around…
That said, it still is a very good lens, without it I couldn’t have imagined taking pictures in a concert without flash. Not all the pictures turned out great, cause well, at maximum zoom, the lens was very sensitive to movement and at times there was two year old sitting in my lap when I tried to take the shots and of course the fact that my subject kept jumping up and down didn’t help either. We were in the 8th row from the stage which was excellent for watching concert but a little tough for taking pictures.

Anyways, here are some captures and now I have my eyes set for AF 18-70 f/2.8F, cause with this lens I have to stand very far from the subject, and my little subjects have a tendency to start running towards me as soon as they see me with the camera, with the words… ‘Let me see…’ trying to peek into the LCD of the camera.

Here's a picture before I removed the curtain from the window


And this is after the curtain was removed... I think my lens did a mighty job considering its weight and the fact that I was crawling on the ground behind a two year old.


Notice the very unforgiving shallow depth of field... In the first picture the focus is on my neck and the face seems so blurry and then notice the second picture.


This is a picture taken from the 8th row from the stage which was quite far for no flash and no tripod photography but I think I got some good shots...

Pictures from Sonu Nigam Concert...

I know it took me awfully long to post these pictures but now they are here...
Starting with my most favorite picture that I took that night
















This was the first time that I pre-planned my camera equipment for a concert but I think it was so worth it. The pictures could have been better but my subject was very energetic, almost as energetic as my two year old. But if he didn't display all that energy that night it wouldn't have been so memorable so I'll setlle for a very good concert and not so good pictures...
I hope you enjoy them too!

I am on a roll...

Well, not really but compared to last few months, these few pages seem like a good progress...
A couple of months ago, my friend and I got together for a scrap afternoon. It was a lot of fun but both of us didn't get much done. The first two pages are from that afternoon

Happy 4th Birthday...


Bonding



I tried several techniques but nothing was inspiring to create, no new magazine, no new product, even web surfing. Well then, I got some pictures from my florida trip printed and put them in a display album up on my dresser, my daughters loved it and browsed through it every day. And those moment every evening inspired me to create these pages while the stories are still fresh in my memory and details crisp...

ANJALI (we visited our old time friend in florida)


A Day on the beach (multi picture, simple layout)

KARVA CHAUTH 2009

Today is that day when I forgo food and water in the name of love for my husband and praying for his longevity and in turn making him feel very guilty. I agree with him totally, it is just so much more pressure on him, to remember yet another day in the calendar and have to be nice and express thankfulness for my presence because I fasted for him as if the rest of the days don’t count. I understand that these types of traditions are nothing but cultural remnants of an extremely male dominated society but I still follow it.

And I don’t really know why, why do I need to go through this set pattern of displaying love for my husband but I do, may be cause I am a rule following kind of a person. I don’t try to break them unless somebody is forcing me to follow them without logic (not that there is much logic to this fasting day)and then I would go off on a tangent; left to my own devices, I’d probably just follow the bee- line. Not that every body follows rules all the time or that it’s a bad thing to follow rules. But its part of my tradition and so I am following it, although it has already modified in several ways. I have blended the traditions that my mom and mom-in-law follow and developed something that works with my life style and my preferences.

I think I have talked about it before but most likely the new rice crop must hit the markets at this time and so rice is used for making offering for the god, just like in spring for ‘holi’ the offerings are made with wheat.
So the most coveted dish of this festival is the lentil dumplings, my mom makes them with wheat flour and my mom-in-law makes them with rice flour and I make them both. The sweet for the occasion is rice laddu (balls), my mom grinds fresh rice and adds clarified butter and powdered sugar and makes the laddus, I just buy the ready-made rice floor and mix it with condensed milk and they turn out just as good. I shared this recipe with my sister-in-law and my brother thinks they are yummier too.
Hey! If it’s easier and yummier, its a win-win, I am not going to let that go.
Another modernization that I have done to this fast is, I don’t spend the day in the kitchen like the previous generation, I grind my lentils and day in advance and check out the moon rise time from the NASA website, so that I am ready to break my fast as soon as that creamy little satellite decides to show up. And there are those days when I have to assume that glow in the sky hiding behind the clouds is the moon and offer water to it and break my fast. Lets hope today is not one of those days…

So ladies, ‘happy karva chauth’ and happy fasting, I hope that today out of all the other days you all feel like the most special wife on the face of this other and think that your fasting was worth it.

Happy Birthday Gandhi Ji

Thank you Google for a sweet reminder...