Put Your Finger On It

There are many henna art stalls at the Deepavali Bazaar in Little India Klang. This little girl was waiting for the dye to dry while her mother gets her’s done. When the focus point is off-center, I normally use the 4-way pad to shift the AF square in the viewfinder of the OM-D. For this shot, I used ‘tap focus’ on the LCD screen instead.

Where there is cluttered background, you may want switch to Aperture Priority mode and drop the aperture to a bigger opening (smaller f number). I selected f3.5 on the 12-50mm kit lens. It provided the subtle change of focus starting from the hand to the blurred fluorescent lights. The shallower depth-of-field ‘lifted’ her hand from the background but is still clear enough for the viewver to make out the activity behind.

If you have a camera that can control the aperture, put your finger on it. Use it subtly.

Put Your Finger On It

The Parrot Astrologer

Continuing my special coverage of Deepavali 2012. Little India Klang was an explosion of colours, scents and sounds today. The narrow five-foot ways were chock-full of festive  cakes, clothes and wares spilling from the shops. Add rain to it and there were charming subjects for the camera at every turn.

Hidden by the bustle of the bazaar, were two little uncaged birds sitting on the floor. Both were unperturbed by the horde of shoppers milling around them. After an interesting chat with their palmist-owner from India, I asked permission to photograph one of the parakeets up-close. Surprisingly, the fortune-telling bird didn’t flinch even when I held the ultrawide angle lens a couple inches away. We were fated to meet 🙂

Parrot astrology is popular in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.

The Parrot Astrologer

Henna Hands

Deepavali (or Diwali) is around the corner! These two beautiful artists proudly display each other’s masterpiece in Little India Kuala Lumpur (Brickfields). The upcoming Hindu Festival of Lights is celebrated as a public holiday in Malaysia next week.

Today is the brightest, sunniest afternoon since the festive bazaar began a week ago. Photographed with the Olympus OM-D and the Panasonic Lumix 7-14mm lens.

Henna Hands