Earthquake on 16th April 2013

Experienced another earthquake a short while ago in Gurgaon, just like another earthquake experience earlier. Was on 6th floor and by the time realised and went down the stairs with my colleagues, the tremors had stopped. Did not record the exact time but it was shortly before 4:30 pm on 16th Jan.

Hope everyone around is safe. 

Photographs from a Botanical Garden - 1

One day, I was talking to my little daughter, student of grade 2, and realised that she does not get to see birds and animals in the concrete jungle of metropolitan cities where we live, other than the zoo. She gets very few opportunities to go to rural and natural surroundings and that may not be enough for her to recognise birds, animals, plants and trees, etc. As children, in smaller towns, we were much closer to nature than we are here.

One fine morning in early March, we decided to go for bird-watching at sunrise. I took my daughter along with my cousin and mother-in-law to a nearby botanical garden. It was a pleasant weather, neither hot, nor too cold. Saw a few birds, the names and details of which were given by my cousin who is a research student in Environmental Sciences. However, I enjoyed seeing and taking photographs of some flowers, plants and trees. Posting a few photographs here and more in next email. I have also posted some photographs on my facebook page.

Sunny Orange Flowers

Pretty Pink Flowers

'Holi', the festival of colours was just around the corner.When I see the 'Palash' or 'Flame of the Forest' flowers, they always remind me of the Holi season and how as children we used to try making colours using the flower petals.

The fire red 'Palash' or 'Flame of the Forest' flowers

Photos: © Seema Kumar
Camera: Nikon D5100
Date clicked: 3rd March 2013
http://www.facebook.com/seemakumar13 

Creative Individuals and Their Careers

When we talk about creative individuals and the careers that they pursue, we come across some interesting facts. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, in his book "Creativity- Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention" (pg. 193.) says, ".. creative individuals are usually forced to invent the jobs they will be doing all through their lives. One could not have been a psychoanalyst before Freud, an aeronautical engineer before the Wright brothers, an electrician before Galvani, Volta and Edison, or a radiologist before Rontegen. These individuals not only discovered new ways of thinking and of doing things but also became the first practitioners in the domains they discovered and made it possible for others to have jobs and careers in them." So, "creative individuals don't have careers, they create them".

But what about some of the other professions, which are old. Mihaly writes, "But what about writers, musicians, and artists? These are some of the oldest professions. So it must be wrong to claim that a creative poet creates the role of a poet. Yet there is a very real sense in which actually is true. Each poet, musician, or artist who leaves a mark must find a way to write, compose, or paint line no one has done before. So while the role of artists is an old one, the substance of what they do is unprecedented.

The book is based on 30 years of deep research on the subject of creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, Professor and former Chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. I find this research based book quite enlightening. In fact, this book has motivated me to choose my Ph.D. research topic in the area related to creativity and creative expression of Designers.

This book was written after interviewing a group of ninety-one exceptional individuals. The three main conditions based on which the respondents were selected were:
"The person had to have made a difference to a major domain of culture - one of the sciences, the arts, business, government, or human well-being in general; he or she has to be still actively involved in that domain (or a different one); and he or she had to be at least sixty years old" (in few cases, when circumstances warranted, respondents who were a bit younger were interviewed).

I find this book extremely fascinating, not just because the topic of creativity has been of my interest since many years, but also because like the author himself says, "It is the extraordinary people whose voices fill these pages who tell the story of the unfolding of creativity". When different creative individuals share about their journey, a person interested in exploring creativity would indeed be interested in reading about it. Would like to talk more about this book in some of my later posts.

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"Failure Is Not The Worst Outcome, Mediocrity Is"

Came across an article on http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130129175923-658789-failure-is-not-the-worst-outcome-mediocrity-is which inspired me and thought of sharing.

Inspired by his friend Drew Houston, the founder and CEO of Dropbox, the author Dharmesh Shah talks about why, for startups, the worst is not failing but being stuck in a quagmire of mediocrity. Though few entrepreneurial endeavors are wastes of time, just sub-optimal. Some things to ponder upon are:

"what's worse than failing is going sideways for years and years. The reason mediocrity is worse than failure is very simple: Failure lets you move on, mediocrity stalls you and keeps you from reaching your potential."

"Pursue something so important that even if you fail, the world is better off with you having tried." - an idea that Tim O'Reilly planted in the author's head.

"It's hard to give up something you've toiled away at. It's hard to all of a sudden admit "you know, my friends may have been right..." It's hard, because we're human and we become emotionally attached to the things we build. Particularly things we've had to defend against the cold, hard world. Things we've had to nurture and defend. Things that in some ways define our identity. I have no brilliant insights other than: Be honest with yourself and be mindful of your opportunity cost. Life is short. We have a limited amount of time to achieve our potential."

How to Save PowerPoint as High Resolution JPEG Image

I was making a PowerPoint presentation with multiple images and wanted to save ecach slide as JPEG image. However, after going to 'save as' and choosing JPEG format, I got slides saved as images but they were not hgh resolution, though the images used in the PowerPoint were of higher resolution.

When I searched google how to save PowerPoint as high resolution jpeg images, I came across these links and were really helpful:

• Save PowerPoint Slides as 300 DPI High Resolution Image Files :- the pictorial description was very helpful.
• Conversion of a PowerPoint to a JPEG With a High Resolution :- the step by step description on this page was very useful

Thanks to google and the above links for solving my problem.

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Significance of Digital Platform in Apparel Product Development for Exports - Research Paper

My paper titled “Significance of Digital Platform in Apparel Product Development for Exports” has been published in JM INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH, Vol.- 2 ISSUE - 6, NOVEMBER, 2012. Pg. No. 407-424 and is available online on http://jmijp.com/volume_journals/1347586662jmijmr-nov.pdf (Pg. No. 407-424 mentioned at the bottom but pg 33-50 in the downloaded PDF).

JM INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH,
Vol.- 2 ISSUE - 6, NOVEMBER, 2012.
Digital image of journal's Front Cover.

JM INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH,
Vol.- 2 ISSUE - 6, NOVEMBER, 2012.
Digital image of journal's Back Cover.

Given below is the abstract of the paper:

Abstract : Among the many challenges that the apparel export industry faces in 

this era of increased global competition, one is the increasing pressure on 

manufacturers to reduce new product development cost and turnaround time 

while increasing the number of options and reducing the quantum of errors at the 

sampling stage. This study aims to bring forth the changing reality of the product 

development process. It focuses on the emergence of virtual product development, 

the integration of digital platform and virtual prototyping in the apparel industry 

and the possible significant impact it can have in the process of apparel product 

development for exports to help in meeting these challenges. The objectives of this 

study are to to study the current scenario in the apparel export industry in India 

regarding the extent of usage of digital platform in the process of apparel product 

development for exports; and to study the emergence of virtual product 

development in the apparel industry and illustrate  the significant results those 

have been achieved by integrating digital platform and software in the process of 

apparel product development.  

Keywords: 

Digital platform, Product development, Apparel Product Development for 

exports, Virtual prototyping, Virtual Product Development

The other way to access the journal is after logging in on http://www.jmijmr.com 

OR directly go to  http://www.jmijmr.com/journals/view_latest_update/34

Go to the end of this page link after logging in:

JMA.V-1492

JMIJMR-NOVEMBER, 2012

2

6

Readmore >>

Click on read more and click Book - 1

Volume Journal - 1

Book1

Hope you share your feedback and comments after reading the paper. 

'Seema Kumar's' Facebook Page

I have a Facebook page now- http://www.facebook.com/seemakumar13. I was very reluctant to join facebook in the first place. It was a school time friend of mine who insisted that I join and the only thing that lured me to join FB was to find and get in touch with some of my good old school friends who were out of touch. When I passed out of school, we did not have e-mail IDs. Some friendships survived through letter-writing and some friends who were not active letter writers got lost. 

Medium: Pen and ink on paper
(It is an old drawing which has been scanned,
therefore the  ageing shows on paper)

I did join FB and I do have a Facebook page now. When I started the page, under 'Artist, Band or Public Figure', surprisingly, there was no option for a 'Designer'. So the best option I could choose was 'Artist', and the top of Seema Kumar's Facebook Page reads: 

"Professionally a Knitwear/ Fashion Designer, an Artist at heart and Writer for the soul."

Art has been my passion since childhood, but did not get any formal art eductaion till I was a student of Bachelor of Arts (Hons.). Am a Graduate with Drawing and Painting (Honours) and English (subsidiary subject) and Master of Design (M.Des.) from National Institute of Fashion Technology (India). Professionally speaking, I am a Knitwear Designer.

The term 'Artist' has a broad meaning. I call myself an Artist, not just because I draw and paint (which I do, of course), but because Art is my passion since childhood, art in different forms. I design, I write, I like to give shape to imagination in different forms. I love to create, like all artists do – be it a garden patch, make the best out of waste materials, draw, paint, design, stitch, take photographs, juggle with words to create prose and poetry. No, I am not a master at all of these or any of these. Yet, I cannot imagine my existence without being a part of all these, actively or passively.

I create something as a mother, homemaker, employee, teacher, freelancer, entrepreneur and a social human being. I enjoy creating or doing something that is worthwhile and necessary even if that may be the most mundane of tasks and not considered the most ‘artistic’ of pursuits. For me, that is another form of art in our day to day life :)

The great master has said: 

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” 

― Leonardo da Vinci

I have my website and my blogs - English Blog and Hindi Blog. At one point of time, Blogs were good enough for sharing things, I think now its the Facebook page. 

Do visit my Facebook page, have a look and if you like the page, do not hesitate to click 'Like' and let me know your valuable feedback and comments.

Rural Sunrise: Photo by Seema Kumar

Rural Sunrise

Foggy Dawn - this is just before sunrise

What a wonderful experience to see the dawn and the sunrise, which we people living in cities miss ! Some time back I had gone to my native village, just for a day. I wanted to experience the peaceful sunrise in rural settings, the sun rising from beyond the mango orchards and the fields. I woke up early morning, at dawn and captured a few moments at dawn. I did not have SLR camera at that time, yet I just wanted to capture the mood of daybreak. Though these photographs are nothing as compared to the breathtaking view and the feeling of morning freshness that I experienced there, posting a few photographs here.  

Sunrise 

It was winter and foggy and I can still feel the cool morning breeze when I think about that morning. Wish we  had such mornings, the dawn and sunrise views even in the cities and not just the view of the buildings and the  reflected sunlight from glass windowpanes.

Sunrise - beyond the trees

All Photos © Seema Kumar

Camera Model: DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA

* The photos posted here may not be of the original resolution. The resolution may have been reduced while uploading. 

Film 'WITH LOVE, DELHI!' releasing in select theaters on 16th December 2011

Theatrical release of the film WITH LOVE, DELHI! on 16th December 2011 in select cities of India in the 1st week, more centers should add from next Friday. 

Timings in select theaters for the film WITH LOVE, DELHI! given below: 

1. New Delhi, DELHI

• PVR Select City Walk (10am)
• DT Vasant Kunj (3.55pm)

2. Gurgaon, HARYANA

• PVR Ambience (10am)

3. Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA

• PVR Phoenix, Lower Parel (9am)
• Movietime, Goregaon (8.30pm)

4. Kota, RAJASTHAN

• INOX (11.30am)

5. Indore, M.P.
(Not Available)

6. Ahmedabad, GUJARAT
(Not Available)

7. Surat, GUJARAT
(Not Available)

8. Rajkot and various cities of Gujarat
(Not Available)

Film 'With Love, Delhi!' - An intelligent thriller by IITians

There is difficulty even in getting theaters with sensible cinema like this one - we can just hope and pray that people come to know about this move, go and see this movie and love this film, recommend to friends and family and make this a big hit at these places. This will then automatically get all major cities of India for release in 2nd week, thanks in advance :)

Keep checking this blog for updates on the film WITH LOVE, DELHI! 

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/withlovedelhi
Website: www.withlovedelhi.com

Dezinspire: An Exhibition by B.A. – Apparel Design and Merchandising Department of IAM

You all are cordially invited to Dezinspire – An Exhibition by B.A. – Apparel Design and Merchandising Department of IAM.

Logo Design by: Ms. Seema Kumar & Ms. Shalini Sharma
© Institute of Apparel Management

· Venue : Lynx 1 and 2, Ground Floor, Apparel House, Institutional Area, Sector - 44, Gurgaon - 122003.

·  Date : 7^th and 8^th  December 2011.

Invitation card for - Dezinspire

Dezinspire evolves from the words ‘Design’ and ‘Inspire’. 

Designs originate from inspiration. Inspiration is the fuel for new designs and creative exploration. The importance of inspiration for design cannot be denied by any designer. We can take inspiration from anywhere and everywhere – our surroundings, nature, society, culture, past, present, future expectations and aspirations. Inspiration leads us to imaginative exploration, continued innovation and unbound creativity.  

Dezinspire is an exhibition presented by B.A. – Apparel Design and Merchandising department of Institute of Apparel Management. The aim of this exhibition is to showcase students’ work inspired from different themes. Dezinspire also intends to bring out that hidden artist, that designer, that creative individual which exists within each individual in some form or the other.

Dezinspire 2011 showcases wok inspired from the past, from the moods and colours of history. Students explore the history of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Rococo, Baroque, Colourful 60s, Hip-Hop, Disco and take inspiration from there to be interpreted into different ideas and mediums. These inspirations are transformed into designs, artwork, material explorations, fashion, etc. Dezinspire 2011 presents creations in the form of art, design, photography and fashion from aspiring designers and budding creative professionals. Creativity is not limited by boundaries or mediums and you can experience the same during this exhibition.

Please circulate the invitation to your family, friends and acquaintances. Look forward to your presence at Dezinspire.

Film WITH LOVE, DELHI! releasing in theaters across India on 16th December 2011

Am very happy to share here that the film WITH LOVE, DELHI! is releasing in theaters across India on 16th December, 2011. My last post had talked about the movie in more detail about the making of the movie, the cast and crew, etc. Visit www.withlovedelhi.com to see the music video, 1st look trailer, synopsis and other info for the same.

In this post, I am very happy to share the music video of the film WITH LOVE, DELHI!. Do have a look and leave your valuable feedback and comments about the song and the movie. We look forward to see you in theaters on 16th December, 2011, watching the movie.

You can also click directly on the YouTube link to see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BScWH074eq8

Credits and Info for the music video of the film WITH LOVE, DELHI!:

• Director - Ashutosh Matela
• Music Director - Sanjoy Chowdhury
• Lyrics - Amitabh Varma
• Singers - Shaan & Sarika Lal
• Actors - Ashish Lal & Apurva Lamba
• DOP - Premanand
• Choreographers - Gaurav Ahlawat & Amit Verlani (Danz N Buzz)
• Art Director - Sunil Chhabra
• VFX Team - Rashmi Ranjan, Rohit Sharma & Varun Chakrabarty
• 3D Animators - Rohit Gururani & Abhinav Sharma
• Costume Designer/ Fashion Stylist: Seema Kumar (yes, this is me!)
• Banner - RedMat Reves Films Pvt. Ltd.

Related web-links:
1. http://www.withlovedelhi.com - Official Website
2. http://www.facebook.com/withlovedelhi - Facebook Page
3. http://www.youtube.com/withlovedelhi - Youtube Channel

4. http://redlal.blogspot.com/ - Blog on the struggles three middle class guys, with not a single contact in Bollywood, had to face to make this film WITH LOVE, DELHI!: Ashish Lal (IIT Delhi grad & theater/film actor), Ashutosh Matela (IIT Delhi grad & Director) and Manav Vigg (C.A. & Producer).

Film WITH LOVE, DELHI! - an intelligent thriller by IITians

It is a proud and emotional moment for me when I present on my blog the first look trailer of the movie WITH LOVE, DELHI! - an intelligent thriller by IITians. It is a production of RedMat Reves Films Pvt. Ltd. The making of this movie is a dream come true for the whole team (including me), people who come from simple middle class family, but who dared to work towards big dreams - dreams do come true and as a team we did it. Now eagerly waiting for the release and its success. Do have a look at the trailer and leave your comments on the link, and please share with others if you like it .. we look forward to your support. 

What is my role in the movie ? I am the Costume Designer cum Fashion Stylist. It is a great feeling to see one's name on the movie poster: Costume Designer - Seema Kumar . More about my story later on, here we talk about the movie and the team. 

With Love, Delhi! - an intelligent thriller by IITians
(click on the poster image to enlarge)

USP of Cast & Crew

Introducing Ashish Lal and Pariva Pranati as the lead pair, this film has its Lead Actor, Producers, Director and Writers engineers from IIT Delhi who have joined hands with some of the most talented Bollywood cast and crew viz. Padma Shri Tom Alter (2008 - for his distinguished contribution in the field of Arts), National Award Winner Seema Biswas (1996 - for Shekhar Kapur's "Bandit Queen"), veteran Kiran Kumar, National Award Winner Cameraman S.Sriram (2000 - for his film "Blindfolded"), Filmfare & Star Screen Awards Winner Editor Namarata Rao (2011 - for Love Sex Aur Dhokha & Band Baaja Baaraat respectively), a veteran music scholar Music Director Sanjoy Chowdhury and an experienced Associate Producer Ravi Sarin (2011 - awarded Best Line Producer of Delhi).

The Story Behind the Curtains

Have you seen the 3 Idiots? Are they Aamir Khan (after engineering from a top institute, teaches kids in Ladakh), Sharman Joshi (after engineering does job on his own terms) and Madhavan (after engineering opts for wildlife photography)? Yes, but that's in reel life, in real life they're Ashish Lal (Engineer from IIT Delhi - now a Film Actor), Ashutosh Matela (Engineer from IIT Delhi - now a Film Director) and Manav Vigg (Chartered Accountant - now a Film Producer)!

These 3 Idiots, sar se paun tak shudh middle class, with not a single contact in Bollywood (didn't know even a spot boy :( ), have made a full length commercial feature film: WITH LOVE, DELHI!, a suspense thriller cum romance Bollywood film. Arranging crores to match the standards of a good Bollywood film was possible only through scores and scores of friends and relatives who supported them, some with 50k to some with 20lacs but each to the best of their financial abilities. Who says people don't support, especially not financially, for passionate dreams of others, they do!

With the financial support of so many friends and relatives, a humble attempt has been made to create a quality film with a sensible and entertaining storyline. The immense support from friends and family have made this film possible and we look forward to your support to make it a huge success :) 

P.S. - Related web links

• Movie Website - http://www.withlovedelhi.com/
• Link to Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/withlovedelhi
• Youtube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/withlovedelhi
• Blog on how 3 middle class guys managed to make the movie - http://redlal.blogspot.com/ 
• Twitter account - http://twitter.com/#!/RedLal
• Click here to read what media has been telling about this movie. 

Durga Pooja 2011

This year Durga Pooja for us was very quiet. We did go to see Durga Pooja on the day of Vijayadashmi. But there was no celebration, just a lot of reflection on the questions of life and death. Also reflection on topics related to life and living.. like survival, struggle, change, happiness, attitude of gratitude, and many more things related to life and beyond life. Maybe time will answer many questions.

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

Summer Workshops at IAM, 2011

As the summer vacation starts, it is time to be busy with summer camps and workshops. The school students get busy with summer camps and there are short-term workshops for professionals as well as youngesters who would like to utilise their time fruitfully learning some new things and developing some new skills. 

Like last year's short term programmes, 2010, even this year, I am conducting some workshops and short-term programmes at IAM, Gurgaon. 

Course Code	Title	Duration	Dates	Time
005	Graphic Design for T-Shirts & Casual Garments	1 week	11th July - 15th July 2011	10:00 am - 01:00 pm
004	Technical Sketches and Tech-pack Development for Apparel	1 week	25th July - 29th July 2011	10:00 am - 01:00 pm

In "Technical Sketches and Tech-pack Development for Apparel", the students / participants will learn to develop and prepare garment specifications for production. They will gain an understanding of the product and  technical specifications that need to go into new product development for garments like garment sketches, measurements, construction details, colour combos, trims and lebelling, placements of trims, embellishments, etc. Basically a student will learn to communicate his/ her ideas about garment design to make a sample or for manufacturing. 

In "Graphic Design for T-Shirts & Casual Garments", the students / participants will learn to create graphic designs to be used as prints and embroidery on T-shirts and casual garments. There would be hand-on exercises to create theme based vector graphics (using softwares like Corel Draw) where the students will  learn to understand, identify, and apply basic design principles and create graphics for T-shirts and casual garments. By the end of the workshop, we will come out with some 'real' work. 

I am eagerly looking forward to conduct these workshops. 

For More details, one can visit Certificate Programmes in Fashion Designing on http://iamindia.in/ or contact:

Manka  - 0124-2708242, manka@iamindia.in

Neha - 0124-2708240, nehasikka@iamindia.in

Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week

This time I went with my students to attend a Fashion Show at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The photo here is from one of the shows on 8th April 2011.

Five Years of Blogging and 'Seema's Corner'

Seema's Corner completed 5 years on 20th January, 2011. My first post was a few lines about my daughter 6 days before her first birthday and hoping that she was with me. The heading was 'How I Wish' and was written when she was away from me for a few months even before she was a year old. I was working and due to some sudden circumstances, there was no one to take care of her when I was in office, so I had to send her to my parents to take care of her. As any parent would know, it is not easy to be away from a child who is just a few months old. So my first post on my blog was thus inspired by motherhood and influenced by love as well as pain.

Seema's Corner still writes 'In the land of thoughts, dreams, wishes and introspection.'

I have already mentioned in the post One year of blogging... one year of 'Seema's Corner' what went behind starting this blog. Today, I only want to thank and express my gratitude towards all those friends whom I have come to known during these five years because of this blog or because of blogging; towards all those people who have read my blog, given me their time, comments, suggestions and helped me grow and evolve as an individual; towards all those friends who are still unknown faces, whom I have never met but who have enriched my life and thoughts in many ways; towards my old friends and family members who have been by my side always, in all good and bad times, and have been a part of 'Seema's Corner'.

Now before this starts looking like a 'Thank You' note, all I want to say is that the posts on the last 5 years have been quite random. Hopefully, along with the random topics, photographs, etc. I would start posting on some other topics pertaining to my subject and research areas as well. Do keep checking :)

Earthquake on 19th Jan 2011

I just felt the tremors. Yes, it was an earthquake !! It was a little before 2 a.m. on 19th Jan. in the Delhi region. By the time I could go out of the house with my daughter, who was sleeping, it was over. I do not know yet where was the epicenter and what effect this earthquake has had. However, it did last for a few seconds. Hope all is well.

My Experience at the Photography Workshop at National Institute of Design

This post has been in my draft folder for too long now and I could not have let 2010 pass without posting this. So here it is...


Always Carry Your Camera, a workshop on basic photography by Dr. Deepak John Mathew from 8^th to 12^th March 2010 was organised at National Institute of Design, Paldi, Ahmedabad. I was sponsored by Institute of Apparel Management, Gurgaon, to attend this workshop.

Photography has been an area of great interest for me. However, I could not even call it a hobby till the time digital cameras became prevalent as photography was a very expensive hobby when you only had film cameras. In 2005, my younger sister living in US gifted me a digital camera ‘Kodak EasyShare DX6490’. That is when I really started taking photographs as a hobby. Someone at NID was rightly telling that since the time digital cameras have come, everyone has become a photographer :D . Yes, I did have interest in photography, and I did take a lot of photographs intending to capture some moments as per my own understanding about art and design; elements and principles of design and composition, but I did not have any formal training or education in photography. When I heard about this photography workshop at NID, it seemed to be a good opportunity to really ‘learn’ about photography. I am thankful to IAM for providing me the opportunity to attend this workshop and learn about photography.

DAY 1 :– 8th March, 2010

The workshop started with the registration process. During registration, we got a welcome kit comprising of a bag, notebook, reading material, brochures, etc. 

 Registration and distribution of welcome kit

On the first day, we got information about some different types of cameras, learnt basics about a camera, parts of a camera like aperture, shutter, etc. and how a photograph is taken. We also had demonstrations of some different types of cameras and lenses. Dr. Mathew was amazing and all the participants seemed to like him and his style of conducting the workshop.

 Demonstration of different types of cameras

The second half of the day was mainly on ‘Elements and Principles of Design’ taken by Mr. Anil Sharma. We were told that the next day when we go on field trip to Modera and Patan, we should take photographs to demonstrate ‘Rhythm’, ‘Harmony’, ‘Balance’ and ‘Contrast’ and there would be a presentation the day after that where we will present 5 photos under each of these categories.

We were also asked to go in the library and spend our evening there as the library is open till 9:00pm. I am willing to spend my time in the library anytime. So I went to the library after the session was over. NID has a very good and big library of which I could hardly see browse through even a small part. I left the library a little before 9:00pm and walked to my hotel room and had my dinner there.

In spite of a long day which started very early, I was still excited about the next day’s field trip. I should have been very tired. But surprisingly, though I was somewhat sleepy, I was not tired. I woke up several times in the night to check the time because I did not want to miss the 6:00 am bus leaving from NID for the field trip like I had missed the 6:00 am flight to Ahmedabad and had to take the next flight. Even in just one day, I had learnt so much and enjoyed my learning experience at NID that I was glad I had taken the right decision to take another flight in the morning.

DAY 2 – 9th March, 2010

The day started early. Before 6:00am I was standing at NID gate. It was still dark and 2-3 participants were already there. By 6:00am most of the participants started coming in. Few did not turn up. However, the bus left for Modera Sun Temple around 6:20am. By the time we reached there, it was already daylight, so we could not see the temple at sunrise. We took several photographs of Modera Sun Temple. Also had breakfast there and left for Patan. 

  Photoshoot at Rani Ki Vav

At Patan, we went to ‘Rani ki vav’. The place was amazing in terms of archeology. A real finding. Took a lot of photographs there, too. I do not have a SLR camera but I got one from NID to take photographs and that was when I first handled a Nikon Digital SLR. After using that camera, of course my own camera seemed outdated ! We came back around 5:00 pm and went to the computer lab to sort our photographs and keep them ready for the next day’s presentation. 

DAY 3 – 10^th March, 2010

We learnt how to sort and categorise our photos in Adobe ‘Bridge’. We also refreshed the basics of digital photography in the first half.

In the second half, we all presented our selected photographs from the field trip. We got feedback from Dr. Mathew and other participants. After the feedback, a lot of concepts were clearer. I could see a lot of flaws in my own photographs now and also how those flaws could have been avoided in many cases.

The evening was spent in group interaction over coffee and dinner. The plan for next day was to meet at 6:30 am at NID gate and go for another morning trip to ‘Sarkhej ka Roja’.

DAY 4 – 11^th March, 2010

We left for ‘Sarkhej ka Roza’ from NID gate at 6:30 am. We reached there before sunrise, went around that area and took photographs.

The whole day was spent in the Studio where we learnt about different equipments in a studio and about studio lighting. Potraits and objects were shot using different studio lights. 

 Shooting Potraits in the Studio

 Shooting Objects in the Studio 

At the end of the day there was a brief discussion on ethical practices in photography and Intellectual Property Rights. Stock photos and building a portfolio was also discussed.

In the evening, after the session was over, we went to see an exhibition of photographs at ‘Gupha’ near the University.

DAY 5 – 12^th March, 2010

The workshop group went for ‘Heritage Walk’. We were walked through old Ahmedabad starting from Swaminarayan Mandir, Kalupur, and ending at ‘Jumi Masjid’. In between we covered two Jain Temples as well.

We had a session on word and image association before lunch. The session was based on how images and words are associated. We saw some examples of images being used with words in advertisements. The session was quite interesting and informative. 

After lunch, two digital photographs per participant were printed in the NID lab and were displayed as an exhibition. We saw the digital printing taking place and we all put up the exhibition of photographs.

After this there was a valedictory session, feedback was taken regarding the workshop, and participation certificates were distributed. 

The workshop ended with this. The IPP team promised to send us the CD of photographs taken by their photographer (which they did send and the photographs used here are also from the photographs in that CD). Overall, the participants appreciated the workshop. It was a very good learning experience for me. The arrangements and management of the workshop was appreciable. We all looked forward to attending other photography workshops scheduled in the coming months, like the workshop on object photography, architectural photography, and other such workshops.

Participants of the workshop along with the faculty and organizers (IPP) at the end of the workshop

As this post is already too long, I shall write another post for some more photos taken during the workshop... or just post the photos.

Wish you a very happy and memorable year, 2011.