Water Reflection Of Garden Lamps At The Akshardham Temple, Jaipur

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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A few days back, I went to The Akshardham Temple, Jaipur with my mother and her sister. I had recommended this place to them. The architecture here, is quite intriguing and the place also has a well-maintained garden right opposite the temple stairs. 

We arrived a little early, at about 5.40 pm. I inquired with the gatekeeper about what time does the Main Aarti ( prayer) takes place everyday. He told us that there are Two Aarti's (prayers), one at 7 pm and the other one at 8 pm. 

We had plenty of time, so we decided to take a walk in the garden and took some casual cellphone pictures. It was still only 6.15 pm and we had plenty of time left for the Main Prayer to begin. 

There is a small eating place inside the vicinity, towards the right of the Temple. We decided to have our evening snacks there to kill some more time. I had been to this Temple before. So, I knew there was another place right below the Main Temple, where worship takes place. 

I told my mother while we were eating, that I shall quickly go and check, if that portion of the temple is still open like last time. 

While I was on my way, I spotted this water puddle, but to my disappointment I could not see a decent reflection in it. I proceeded to the place downstairs. 

On my way back, I again had a look at this water puddle from a distance. This time, I could see the reflection of a palm tree placed in the garden, in it. Right behind the Tree, there was this beautiful lamp that you see in the reflection. So, I became both curious and excited. I wanted to find out whether with my feet movement, I'd be able to get the reflection of that Garden Lamp in the water puddle. 

After a lot of adjustment and bending and trying to look with one eye closed, I finally found the reflection of the Garden Lamp being casted in the water puddle. I did not had the camera with me that point of time. It was on the table at which I was having my evening snack with my mother.

Since light had started to fade fast, I knew I had little time to go back, bring the camera, punch in the settings and Click the photo. So, I rushed to get my camera back and finally took this shot.

Initially, I tried using a faster shutter speed and a lower ISO, but that did not work well as the light was fading. 

Therefore, I switched to the following EXIF settings:

• ISO speed: ISO-400
• Exposure time: 1/100 sec
• F-stop: f/3.5
• Exposure bias: 0 step

 

Lets also talk about the Classification:

The Photo falls under the Minimalism as Less Elements Category of "Minimalist Photography". 

The main elements being: 

a) The Floor

b) The Water Reflection Of Garden Lamps.

Also, there is plenty of negative space in the frame which adds to the beauty. 

Please Note: I have flipped the photo upside-down to make it more appealing. Reflection Photos generally are taken straight first to adjust for rule of thirds and to balance the composition. Later, they are Flipped. It may sound a little tricky, but you will get it right with some practice. 

To get a clearer idea of what I mean, turn your cellphone upside down. If, you are viewing this picture via the computer, then right click, and "Save Photo" and then Flip it.

OK, I am done for the day. 

Hope to see you soon.

The Blue Square

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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A Lookup Minimalist Photograph of a Blue Square within a Yellow Wall.

As you can see above this Minimalist Photo is all about "The Blue Square" aka a Simple Geometric Shape. Squares are my favorite shape when it comes to Minimalism as Simple Geometry. 

Here, you can see a Blue Square. And I hope one day, I collect as many different colored Squares as I can. Ok, lets talk more about the Composition of the Minimalist Photograph.

Shall I? or it is very obvious?

This Photograph was taken right outside the exit gate of Jantar Mantar Jaipur. As you can see, I have used a lot of Negative Space in the photograph. I filled that space with the Blue Sky, and placed my subject at the extreme bottom right. 

This, is a perfect example of both: Minimalism as Less Elements and Minimalism as Simple Geometry Photography. It is a matter of choice as to which head you want to categorize this Minimalist Photograph under. 

This style of looking up in the sky and shooting is called Look-up or Looking-Up Photography. 

By that logic this is a Look-up Minimalist Photograph. Look-up Photography is really very interesting especially when it involves shooting Minimal Art. 

You wont find it out, until you try  Look-up Minimalist Photography yourself. Trust me, the results are going to impress you.  

If you have had clicked any Look-up Photos or Look-up Minimalist Photographs, make sure to leave a link to that Photograph below. It would be nice to have a look at your Creativity.

Don't worry about not having a zoom lens etc. I took this Photograph from a Canon 50mm Prime Lens. You can even try using the wide angle Mobile Phone Camera Lens, to Explore your Creativity.

Happy Clicking !

One Way Traffic Sign

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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I spotted this One Way Traffic Sign right in front of Jantar Mantar (Jaipur) entrance gate. 

I parked my bike under the sign and this was the first shot of my Minimalist Photography photo-walk today. I mostly take photos from my standard Canon DSLR Kit, but this particular shot was taken by my Samsung Galaxy S6 SmartPhone Camera. 

The reason why I chose to take this picture via my cellphone and not via the DSLR was simple. I needed a wide angle lens to achieve the kind of composition I had planned in my mind. The subject was way too close and I had my Canon 50mm prime 1.4 lens on, on my DSLR. I do not own a wide angle lens. If I had one, I would have used that. 

More on the Minimalist Composition

As you can see, I am right under The One Way Traffic Sign. I was looking at it at an elevation of approximately 70 degrees. I bent down on my knees to begin with, but that wasn't sufficient. So I decided to sit on the road. Trust me, it was fun. More so, because the people around started to observe me. I am sure they were all wondering... What was so special about this Traffic Sign? that they had missed and I did not.

Anyways, lets get back to the Minimalist Photograph.  I took about three shots from my Cellphone and finally I was happy with one. Usually, I edit cellphone Minimalist shots with the Phone's default editing app. But, this photo, I transferred from my cellphone to my Laptop and then edited it. I did so to better enhance the contrast and the overall saturation. A hint of sharpness too, was added. 

The Classification: The photo falls under Minimalism as Less Elements category.

The Less Elements being the following:-

1st Element: Blue Sky

2nd Element: One Way Traffic Sign

3rd Element: Yellow Wall

Hope you enjoyed the Shot. 

Don't forget to follow Traffic Rules ! 

Drive Safe.

Tapering In

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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A Minimalist Photo of Architectural lines formation tapering towards the end, on a Textured Pink Indian Wall Near Govind Devji Temple Jaipur.

Seasons Greetings to all :)

It has been a while since I last updated the blog. To be frank, I was on a break. Now, I feel better, both physically and mentally. While on the break, I spent most of my time meeting my friends and talking to them about spiritualism and philosophy. But, lets keep that aside for the moment. I shall do a post later on those topics.

Well, what you see above, in the Minimalist Photograph is basically "Architectural Lines Tapering in" towards the end.

This place is near the Govind Devji temple, Jaipur. I had been to this place before in the past but this time I wanted to shoot something completely different. So, instead of taking the picture from the front or from a 45 degree side angle, I went really up close to the side of the wall this time. I was nearly touching it. This helped me to Taper the Two Big Lines in the frame.

The first one being, The Zigzag Line on the top, and the second one, created the beautiful  right angled triangle at the bottom. The extreme side angle view, helped me to make these lines converge and also to create a lot of depth in the frame.

The Classification:

The photo falls under the Minimalism as Simple Geometry category of Minimalist Photography. The Simple Geometry being "Just the intention to show lines in the frame".

Hope you enjoyed the shot. Have a great Evening / Night / Day :)

More Pink Minimalism Shot Below:

 

• Clay Pot

   

• Pink Staircase 

   

• Brass Water Tap on Pink Indian Wall with Subtle Texture

   

• Electric Meter Surrounded by Pink