How to choose a tripod

Hola amigos, como estas? Now that I have shown off my Spanish skills (thanks to Google Translate), lets get down to business. In this post, I am going to discuss about tripods. Now, when you are just starting out, discussing about a tripod may seem a little odd. In most cases, when you are buying a DSLR, the shop keeper will be more than happy to include a free tripod in the deal to sweeten it a bit.The shop keeper will be happy that he didn't have to reduce the price of the camera and you will also be happy that you have received a tripod for free. It's a win-win situation for both right? WRONG. Before diving into the details, let me inform you at first that those tripods are good for nothing and using them may do more harm than good. At best those el cheapo tripods can be used as flash stands but never ever mount your camera on them. Why you may ask. Read on to find out.

So basically a tripod is for mounting your camera on top of it. The most basic and absolute necessary function of a tripod is holding the camera steady when the shutter is pressed. The aforementioned cheap tripods fail in this very basic function. In most of those tripods, you can visibly see the shake in the tripod when the shutter is pressed. So there goes your photo straight to the trash due to camera shake. Not only that, using those tripods can potentially destroy your camera. Normally those are made of aluminium and are very lightweight and wobbly. If you are not holding them, they can easily topple over and destroy your whole equipment. So, in nutshell, never ever buy cheap tripods, not even one is being given to you free of cost by the seller. Take something else, like a memory card as that will be more useful than these good for nothing trash.

Now since that is out of our way, lets discuss things in detail. You may be surprised to know that how many different kinds of tripods are there in the market. There are the normal tripods that usually come with a Pano head, then there are more professional offerings where the legs and the heads are sold separately, there are carbon fiber tripods which are extremely sturdy and lightweight, there are video tripods which are specifically designed for video cameras and so on. Instead of trying to discuss them all at one go, lets break up the discussion in various parts of the tripod. 

First Impression- Tamron 90mm f2.8 AF Di Sp Macro

Whats up guys? I am a bit excited about this post as this is going to be my first product review post. Recently I was diagnosed with GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and as a result, had to get something to quench my craving. So I got myself a new Macro lens and since I am not at all good in taking macro photographs, I thought of taking some photos of the lens itself and make a new post. But before I begin, I should make this clear that, this is not a detailed, in-depth review of the lens with lots of stats, MTF charts and whatnot. You will find many such reviews online. I am just sharing my first impression as an amateur.

I got myself this lens only a couple of days back. I must thank Mr Prabir Bhattacharyya, a senior photographer, for accompanying me and giving me the final 'push' for buying this piece of glass. (He is a veteran bird photographer. You can take a look at his flickr link here) Though I am not skilled enough yet to take proper macro shots, I still got this lens for using it as a standard portrait/close up lens for taking photos of flower, food etc. (Plus at around 20k, I didn't have much to lose anyway :P ).

How to take sharp pictures

Hello friends. Its been a long while since my last post. In the meantime, I was bed-ridden with Typhoid and those who are unfortunate enough to suffer this horrible disease know fully well how weak it leaves you. It has been almost a month and yet I feel that I am not fully fit. But the show must go on and hence this post. Honestly speaking,  I was kind of getting lost thinking about the subject of my next blog. Then one think stuck my mind, why not write about something which affects the quality of the image a great deal. You must have noticed one aspect in almost every pro level photo. They are sharp. Super sharp to be precise. Open up any fashion magazine and you will be amazed with the amount of sharpness and detail in the images there. Thats one of the key elements that differentiate between images taken by us amateurs and the professionals. Now of course they do not shoot with the likes of Nikon D3300  or Canon 750D with the 18-55 kit lenses, but still, if we keep some important things in mind, we too can take sharp images from the modest gears we own (ok,  not as sharp as the Pros, but lot better than what we generally get).