HDR Photography - My First attempt on - Lepakshi monolitic Nagalinga

HDR is not a greatest art to master until you know what it is.

There are a number of sites that could help you learn HDR. In simple steps, you just get an HDR generated by an image taken with more than one exposure, Darker, medium tone, and lighter. You could use a stitching tool to Stitch them together into a single photo, or use Adobe Photoshop to generate HDR or Use Windows Live Photo Gallery to Fuse the Photo, or use very high-end software for creating HDR. I used wiki to understand it.

You could find minute differences with how each software works and gets you the pics. but you would have to choose the best one to put up on your album.

I was inspired by the below picture of the Lepakshi Sculpture:

This was a HDR, you could see the best lighting against all the locations. I took my Bike to a ride to Sri Virabhadra Temple, Lepakshi (Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border) from Bangalore. It was a decent ride with my cousin Balaji. We shared the ride in order to ensure that we do not get tired.

Reaching there I first found the below sign board that let me take many photos at the temple without paying for my own photography.

I, first used the stitch method to get the below images converted to Stitched HDR:

 

This gave me the image Stitched Image: 

Monolitic Nagalinga - Stitched Image 

The Main Images were next Fused with the below Images:

The Fused Image was generated using Windows Live Photo Gallery Editor Console:

Monolitic Nagalinga Fused

Finally I used Adobe Photoshop to generate the HDR with all the Original images that included the below one as well.

HDR Result is:

Lepakshi monolitic Nagalinga HDR

Ah.. Please note, the Light on the serpent head is not from any additional effects. That was the natural light source for the Mother Earth, it was the SUN who helped me a lot in getting these photos, and posts on the blog.

I remember, this is my second post that I have typed for long time. My vocabulary is not too good. I rarely post as well. but hope this is something that could help out people in their photographic skills as well.

Further if you are in India, or you'll be in India. Please visit Lepakshi, this Structure is said to be built by one great Sculptor, who had nothing to do while his beloved mother was preparing food from him. He thought Idle mind is Devil's workshop, so the Sculptor carved this marvelous stone serpent with Siva-linga in the middle. His mother was astonished at the ability of her son and exclaimed against this. Alas! the was a crack created in the Snake's body. We could even today recognize that there was a crack on the body of the Snake on this statue if carefully observed (they have been patched up by cement like material).

This was a story I heard from my beloved Grand Mother. There is an inscription (mostly in Telugu if I had observed that properly) along one of the sides of the Prakaram of the temple, this was not exactly read by me, possibly that would have mentioned the actual story. 

Find Lepakshi on Google Maps here.

Indian e - Post Office

ePostOffice

Electronic Post Office!!


The government could have kept it as Virtual Post Office instead of Electronic Post Office







I had not thought about this concept earlier, but was amazed when I Saw ePostOffice for the first Time.
Indian Post Office has already come up with such a website. Philatelists - you have a great time purchasing stamps from here, the office is virtual, you have information desk, IMO desk, Philately desk, you could place orders from online using Debit and Credit Cards as well.

Check in https://www.epostoffice.gov.in/

It also has easy registration.
This is a good start for ePostOffice, still a long way to go.
The site has some UI corrections to be done, hope they ll be fixed soon.

I have purchased the Stamps from here, they were sent in speed post in decent time. The PO charges for the Speed post from you during the payment itself. So it is better you place a bulk order. Further the associated Gateway Bank also charges against the transactions, but this is not a large amount, you could get that by not having an ice-cream or a coffee.

Philately Section

Office View

Office Navigation

13-Year-Old Looks at Trees, Makes Solar Power Breakthrough - Technology - The Atlantic Wire

13-Year-Old Looks at Trees, Makes Solar Power Breakthrough - Technology - The Atlantic Wire
Aidan Dwyer did a much better job on his 7th grade science project than any of us. While on a wintertime hike in the Catskills, he noticed the branches of trees held a spiral pattern as they ascended. He wondered if that could possibly serve some purpose, looked into it, and learned about the Fibonacci sequence, which is a mathematical way of describing a spiral. Then he studied tree branches more closely and found their leaves adhered to the sequence. Then he figured out that if he arranged solar panels the way an oak tree arranged its leaves, they were 20 to 50 percent more efficient than the standard straight-line solar arrays. That is why the American Museum of Natural History gave him a Young Naturalist award, and published his findings on its website. His write-up concludes:


The tree design takes up less room than flat-panel arrays and works in spots that don't have a full southern view. It collects more sunlight in winter. Shade and bad weather like snow don't hurt it because the panels are not flat. It even looks nicer because it looks like a tree. A design like this may work better in urban areas where space and direct sunlight can be hard to find.

Save your food - Stop the BRAI Bill

Save your food - Stop the BRAI Bill

The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) bill can be tabled anytime in this monsoon session of the Parliament. The bill will form a body which will single-handedly clear cultivation of GM crops in the country.

By being secretive, the government is only creating more suspicionabout the intention of the bill. Public opposition made the Karnataka government ban field trials of GM crops in the state recently. Now we need to get the national government to stop this bill.

You should ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop this bill.

Nithin Prabhakar: Art of HDR photography..

Nithin Prabhakar: Art of HDR photography..: "View Larger Map


location:chengannur"

What is science?- its all about science

What is science?- its all about science

When did science begin? Perhaps when early humans, more than a million years ago, picked up rocks and chipped them to form stone tools. Someone tried several different kinds of rocks. She or he noticed that a particular type of rock produced a cleaner, sharper edge than the other types. This was one of the first trial-and-error series of experiments. Gradually other kinds of rocks were tested and found to be even better. Materials scientist do the same today, formulating the latest metal alloys and tailor-made composits for special purposes.

SAVE TREES - TELL YOUR FRIENDS

Tell Your Friends

While Bangalore is fighting for its trees, the country risks losing its forests.

As a Fool for Forests you understand the need to keep our forests safe. More and more people standing up for the forests will help strengthen the movement to stop rampant deforestation.

So, don’t forget to ask your friends and family to become Fools for Forests like you. By filling out the form below you will send the message to the contacts in your address book that you select. Spread the word and get as many people as possible to take action.

Enter the name of your friends and family here to send them an invite.

Enter your friends' email IDs:

• Email 1
• Email 2
• Email 3
• Email 4
• Email 5

+Add another friend

[ I want to import my address book ]

She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for.

Spread the word - Stop Genetically-modified crops and save your food!

Spread the word - Stop Genetically-modified crops and save your food!

Mr. Amrit Gowda is a farmer in a village in Bijapur, Karnataka. American seed giant Monsanto used this unsuspecting farmer's land to produce genetically modified corn seeds,^[1] which have still not been assessed for safety in our country.

A Greenpeace team along with a television news channel caught Monsanto violating all safety norms important to keep our food supply and environment safe from such experiments.^[2] Genetically contaminated seeds threaten our food safety and security. Studies have shown that these crops also pose a threat to the environment and the health of those who consume it.^[3]

In spite of all this the state government has allowed such field trials. This will contaminate other crops grown in the state and the health of those who consume them later. We need to tell Chief Minister Yeddyurappa to stop giving permissions for such field trials and uphold the health of the people and the environment in the state.

Ask the Chief Minister to stop all field trials in Karnataka.

The petition says: Mr. Chief Minister, do not allow field trials of genetically modified crops in Karnataka.

The petition signatures will be delivered to the CM. Strong public opposition to the introduction of the genetically contaminated Bt brinjal resulted in a moratorium on its release last year.^[4] We can do this again. A lot of people asking the CM of Karnataka to say no to field trials of genetically contaminated crops will put pressure on him to act.

Minister of environment, Jairam Ramesh has given state governments the right to allow or refuse permissions for field trials.^[5] States like Kerala, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh ^[6] have already said no to the field trials of genetically contaminated crops.

Our food and health are at stake again. The state government needs to put the interest of its people before those of the multinational corporations. Ask CM Yeddyurappa to keep our food safe now!

Thanks a billion!

Shivani Shah,
Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner,
Greenpeace India.

P.S. Want to support our campaigns? We don't take money from any corporation, government or political party! We never have, and we never will. Do help Greenpeace remain fiercely and proudly independent. Click here to chip in.

---

1. Monsanto accused of violating bio-safety rules, The Hindu, July 4, 2011
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2159367.ece

2. Surreptitious GM crop trials see new calls for ban, Deccan Chronicle, July 4, 2011
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/surreptitious-gm-crop-trials-see-new-calls-ban-714

3. GM food, potential threat to fertility: New study. Will Dr. Ramadoss act now?, Greenpeace, November 14, 2008
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/news/gm-food-potential-threat-to-f/

4. India says no to Bt brinjal, for now, rediff.com, February 9, 2010
http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/feb/09/india-says-no-to-bt-brinjal-for-now.htm

5. No GM crop trials without states' consent: Jairam Ramesh, in.msn.com, March 9, 2011
http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5012255

6. Madhya Pradesh bans trial of Genetically Modified crops in state, post.jagran.com, April 29, 2011
http://post.jagran.com/madhya-pradesh-bans-trial-of-genetically-modified-crops-in-state-1304076805-1

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