Photography Today

Most people today own a digital camera. The superfluous number of models on the market has made photography a hobby and activity that is no longer restricted to the professional. Further, with social networking websites and the online world, digital photos are easily shared and stored. But as with most technological developments that signify a departure from traditional or longstanding practices, a dialogue has emerged as to the benefits of digital versus film photography. The portability and ease of the digital camera makes it a more popular amateur photography option. However for professionals, there is still an argument as to the merits of both film and digital photographic cameras, with both versions still in use today. Here’s a quick rundown of the advantages of both digital and film photography.

Advantages of digital photography

Instant review of pictures. Digital cameras allow photographers to assess the lighting and composition of their work immediately after taking a photograph. If need be, they can simply recapture the image.

Fewer ongoing costs. Once a digital camera has been purchased, it costs very little to take, and store, hundreds or even thousands of digital photographs.

Various functions and settings. Digital cameras can be used to capture videos as well as photographs, and there are a number of settings through which the photographs can be taken, such as sepia and black and white.

Metadata. Digital cameras are embedded with metadata. The time, date and model of camera are all recorded with the image and form part of the image’s memory.

Digital manipulation. Once a digital photograph has been transferred from the camera to the computer, it is easy to digitally manipulate, retouch or affect the image.

Advantages of film photography

Better to capture detail. Film photography can pick up and capture greater variations between light and dark, making black and white film photography preferable to digital.

Photo quality. Film cameras produce photographs with higher definition than digital photography. For larger photographic prints, film cameras produce much higher definition and clarity than their digital counterparts.

Cost. For amateur or hobby photographers, digital cameras are affordable, easy to use and perfect for capturing special moments. For the professional, however, quality film cameras are significantly cheaper than their digital counterparts. Furthermore, because new digital models are continuously hitting the market, digital cameras tend to lose value rather quickly while film cameras usually retain their value over the years.

Aesthetics and tradition. Many photographers vouch for an aesthetic quality to film photography that cannot be replicated by digital cameras. Such advocates are also often drawn to the tradition and history of film photography.

There are pros and cons to both film and digital photography. For many photographers, however, the final decision rests on their personal style and their budget. Or, many dabble in a little bit of both! To find out more about photography and the differences between digital and film, there is a range of photography courses available. If you don’t have time to attend classes, it is possible to study via distance education and learn the ins-and-outs of the trade on your own time

The Rare Breed

Every person is like I am - I vote,i.e. when I am not busy with election duty and can't cast my vote due to my govt.-sponsored job.Why is it so? Well sorry to say it - we all vote (elect)politicians.So,you would ask,what is so special with it?Well,I think that they belong to a special breed.One eminent personality(British?) had said ages ago that"politics is the last refuge of scoundrels".
But I find that all that has changed - politics isn't the last but it is the first refuge of scoundrels.The Oxford Learner's dictionary defines that a scoundrel is one who is "a person who has no moral principal and no conscience, a villain".Period.
So,what is it that we actually do?IN the third world countries it is really very bad,actually worse than that of the first and second world countries.But,there are no good or bad politicians.Why?It's because we don't have a choice.We have to vote for some candidate,whatever that means.And what happens to our vote?Some scoundrel gets elected and gets the authority to rule us for the next four or five years.
I don't intend to say that all politicians are teribble.there are always exceptions - and they prove a rule - that there are a few hundred real imposters or good actors who are,as is known to us,good actors.So good they are as actors that they are actually liked by all and sundry.You see,we actually elected them.This goes on.The vicious cycle - get elected,share the loot,bag the loaves and fishes of office - and come back to the voters at the fag end of the term.It's marginally different in the developed nations.
It doesn't matter whether these nations need a saviour.No amount of underdevelopment will move these heinous creatures.They are after the gold.It's the best 'get rich quick'schemethat is available to all.Who knows,if I get a chance to contest elections,I too will become one of these scoundrels.No doubt about that.
Is there any way out?I don't think so.There's no doubt that all countries need good rulers,good quality representatives.But as long as there is no check or safeguard,HEAVEN help us.
So,Dear GOD,help us.Amen. http://www.labnol.org/india-blogs/indian-bloggers.html">Best Blogs

The War of USA

22:26 | TOPICS I was thinking about the topic that I would write on today;but, so far none has crossed my mind.I don't know what to do.How do I write without something concrete in my mind?Just kidding,I intend to write on a topic which has gone out of fashion recently,especially after the swearing in of Barrack Obama - Uncle Sam bashing.Poor George W.Bush - one feels for him even though he doesn't do the same and never did anyway for anybody - had to bear the brunt of all sorts of sarcasm,ridicule,satire,comments and what not.Just for the sake of his level of governance or the lack of it. The first scene that comes to mind is 'MY PET GOAT' - HE WAS LISTENING TO AND WENT ON LISTENING to the rhyme even after he was informed about the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center.We all remember the expression on his face,courtesy TV channels. Next comes his funny,perhaps hilarious theories and speeches on terrorists.He,with his sidekick Blair,invented the WMDs and dethroned Saddam Hussein.Iraq was a peaceful country,well as peaceful as others in the Gulf.Many are ruled by despots.Saddam was one of them. It may appear that Junior Bush was trying to finish his father's unfinished agenda - the removal of Saddam which wasn't done in 1991 Gulf War.Whatever be the reason,he ,like many of his predecessors,chose to send in US troops to Iraq.The result is for us to see - no WMDs were found,Mr.Sidekick Tony Blair lost his job,the US lost hundreds of soldiers and are fighting an increasingly losing war that seems to go on and on.Finally,Mr.Obama is trying to negotiate a face-saving withdrawal within a year. The legacy of the cold war continues to haunt the US.Its foreign policy - of attacking certain countries - overtly or covertly, has cost it and will continue to cost it and those countries which are attacked.The CIA and its counterpart in some other countries,is ruining world peace.As a result,thousands of innocent lives are being lost.Can anyone forget how the US armed the Anti-Soviet mujahadeen in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan?Its effect is being felt even now.Many other proxy wars were fought in some countries of Africa and Central America,to remove communist governments.The list is endless.The UN is a stooge.It can do nothing. One knows what needs to be done but not how to go about it.All one can do is pray to the Almighty.Amen.

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A Bolt From The blue

Today's armed attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team has shocked one and all.Imagine a team going in a omnibus to play a cricket match and suddenly sourrounded by well-armed gunmen.These miscreants begin to fire at the team.A few players are injured.Five cops are killed.We see TV shots of the gunmen,armed to the teeth with assault rifles and grenades,running around with ease.Kudos to the cops who made the supreme sacrifice to prevent a mayhem.
First and foremost,it reminds one of 1972 Munich Olympics,when Palestinian gunmen took 16 sportsmen hostage and later flew out with them.They were killed without any resistance.There was no way in which they could have been saved.The Israeli athletes were unlucky.
Back to Lahore.The policemen who made the supreme sacrifice deserve a salute of the highest degree.They prevented the killing of the Sri Lankan players with the bravery of the highest order.Its true that a few Sri Lankan players were shot.But the timely action of the cops prevented more casualties.Otherwise,this day,the 3rd of March,2009 would have become the worst day in the sporting history of the world.Just imagine the headlines the following day in the press - "Sri Lankan cricket team gunned down"
God bless the cops.Their heroics will not go unsung.They deserve posthumous medals for their bravery and their sense of obligation.The world SALUTES them.Best Blogs

Of Friends

Friends are for real.Even if you meet them after 15 years.They still have the affection.It's like a real company.Long lost friends are like old wine,they get better with age.They go out of their way to help you.
But why am I writing about long lost friends?It's simple.I relocated.And at the age of 35,it's a cumbersome process to make new friends.At this age,only one's colleagues are one's true friends.Because they stay with us all day.Working and spending time together sure makes for some friendship.Thus,one's colleagues are the only friends one has.And if they are kindhearted,then God bless them.They will go out of their way to help you.
My past has a somewhat exciting phase about female friends.There were scores of girlfriends.I was so accustomed to their company.It made me feel on top of the world,at that time.Now,in a new town,I don't have even one.I don't intend to profess that I am a lady killer of some sort.But it's a fact that I had a lot of female friends,more than male friends.
With increasing age,that has stopped altogether.I no longer enjoy the attention of ladies,young and not so young.Moreover,my spending less time out in the pubs has also taken it's toll.I have become a loner in some way or the other.
How do I get rid of this problem?I intend to start dating again.Ours being a commuter town,it becomes empty during office hours,one has to set a perfect time in order to meet sweet ladies.So I will get back to my earlier form I guess sooner or later.It hurts when one sees a pretty thing go past by in the company of some other guy.Isn't it disgusting?
So I have made up my mind to try seriously to restore the whale of a time I had.
Lastly,I need God's blessings.://www.labnol.org/india-blogs/indian-bloggers.html">Best Blogs
Amen.

Just days?

Destiny is the ruler of all human beings.No doubt about it.Otherwise,why do we fall prey to certain situations always?It's like a vicious cycle.One can't avoid it.We pretend that we don't bother about it but all the same we go through it,suck it hook,line and sinker.We don't know of any other option.Its like a roller coaster ride - there are ups and downs.Just as the people riding the roller coaster scream out of fear due the drop in altitude or the rise,for that matter,the drop;we somehow adapt to it.Same is the case with human beings;they gradually adjust to it.
Let's think of the hundreds of people worldwide who are losing their jobs.The recession has turned them into have nots overnight.They don't know how they will lead their lifestyle in the next few months.How will they make both ends meet?Gone are the secure lifestyles.Now it's more a case of making both ends meet.Among these people,those living in countries like USA with a social security system are much better of.They don't have to bother about certain things.
But not every country has a social security system as superb as that of USA.In some countries,none exist,e.g.,in India,where I know for certain that many would go without many dear habits for the sake of losing their jobs.
So as I was saying,Destiny or the unforseen is like a leveller - a great leveller.It sort of brings people,at least some,down to the earth.And who do we blame for it?Destiny itself.It was etched in the future of a person.It had to happen.
And how does a person with a negative destiny bear it ouit?Don't worry folks,one just has to clench one's teeth and bear it.For better times will come.That';s for certain.It's nice to know that that the bad days are passing away."If winter is here,can spring be far behind?"
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Down But Not Out

So,the ad and search giant did not approve my application.In any case that had to happen.I was not in touch with the latest rules that had been framed."No Indirect Website URLs"One has to have an URL of one's own as it appears.I don't so I get the boot.Enough punishment for not keeping in touch with the revised rules even though I surf the Internet for 2 to 3 hours daily.So what do I do next?Search the web for a few sites that host blogs.The problem is that these blogs are more of an"senior aunty-type".They have funny rules.One says,"ours is not the place where you can write whatever you like,you have to follow our rules for ,let alone writing,even writing the title".It seems they are in the grasp of advertisers who make them follow whatever they say and want."Yes Sir, we will comply with whatever you command,your wish is our command,etc.
So I had enough of that and left it far behind.NO more writing for sites who have funny rules.Better to get a domain and publish a blog everyday or so.But it can wait.I want to polish my writing skills for a while and then get a domain.This will not only help me to write better and of far superior quality but also milk the creative juices that I had in the past(25 years back)I have lost my ability to write( of a superior quality) due to the fact that I have lost my touch with my literary roots.I did what no one should - stop writing,even if for practice.
So friends and foes,I will be back with a new blog - complete with domain names,et al,but only after I learn again some of what I had done in the past - write good literal English.And believe me,I was not, after all a bad student.My teachers were fond of me for my style of writing.Due to the lack of writing,my style has gotten - how do I tell about it - pedestrian.How much time does it take to polish one's skills?One or two months at the mosrt.Then I will write again and try to become a perfect blogger - one who has a lot of fans.
Adieu.<://www.labnol.org/india-blogs/indian-bloggers.html">Best Blogs