[WE] Perception

Whatever I do, work, any activity, focus on my hobbies, there's always a tad bit of passion involved, sometimes it even takes full control of the wheel.

However, all this passion and motivation runs out fast, and even if it doesn't run out, you should expect a lot of volatility from time to time. Yet, as you can see on my account description/bio, it goes...

"play with passion, or don't play at all"

With passion comes practice, repetition, a bit of planning too. A fair bit of effort goes into most of it, whether it be an important task at the office or any hobby of mine.

But there's one hobby of mine which probably has taken the least amount of effort and planning, and photography fits that category quite well I'd say.

I am no photographer and I surely don't have anything close to a proper camera or setup, but I am sharp-sighted; I know my angles, I recognize moments worth capturing, and I appreciate the aesthetics even in the most random-est things and places.

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It started at a young age with those older film cameras, the usual Nikons, Kodaks and Canons. Holding the camera in odd angles, capturing photos of random objects and animals, I was good at spotting things, but not so good with my angles then. In no time we went from those classic film cameras to the digital ones, digital cameras were fun and all, but then came the big ole smartphones, where you could capture, edit and upload in that one single device.

My father used to love taking pictures, candid moments and group photos mostly. He loved photography and capturing such moments WAYY more than I ever will. I guess a bit of his love for photography rubbed off on me at that age, and now I find myself incapable of resisting the urge to randomly bring out my phone and start clicking random objects, structures, humans and animals.

I probably like to capture moments of animals the most, if they're calm enough, then you can expect some really amazing shots. 60% of the images in my gallery are of animals, the second is probably random structures and outdoor scenery.

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Portrait shots aren't my thing, but some candid shots are just natural if timed right. The best portraits are always candid, that's the case when I look at my gallery at least. I just can't do justice to a "forced" pose, to me it just feels "fake".

For portraits lighting matters the most I'd say, for the bokeh and for the details to pop out at least. Lighting from above helps the most in such cases; as you can see, some of these you can't even tell if they've been taken on a phone or a proper camera, just because of the downward facing lighting.

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I live in one of the busiest and congested cities in the world, so the photography options for cars and street photography are always high.

Whether it be a pretty car parked on the side or zooming by, maybe a rickshaw pedaling away, it's all here.

Taking random shots of random people is a tough one though, even if the moment may look good, people just don't like having phones/cameras being pointed at them.

Scenic areas though, they don't mind being captured in a frame; they'll happily pose for you, proudly show off their features and assets. Sadly, with the lifestyle I live and where I live, it's not possible to find such scenic spots too often. When you're on vacation once or twice in a year, only then you might witness a bit of nature and its beauty, happily posing away for you.

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Animals are shy, my species too, and scenic areas are rare, but there's also the little things; pretty flowers, a bit of food-porn, shooting some of my "gadgets" and thingamajigs under the bright room lights every now and then.

The effort here is just in maintaining proper angles and distance, which is mostly just point and shoot for such smartphones. The tough part is in editing, correcting the lighting and colors is what takes time, especially when you have a huge pile of photos stored in your device.

I like to take my time with these edits, as long as I don't find the perfect settings, I'll keep on tweaking and turning, no matter how long it takes.

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ᴵᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵒᵛᵉʳᵃˡˡ ᶜᵒⁿᵗᵉⁿᵗ ᵃʳᵉ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ ᵘⁿˡᵉˢˢ ᶦᵗ'ˢ ᵐᵉⁿᵗᶦᵒⁿᵉᵈ

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This is probably the only category which is always readily available, also the most underrated; random structures and work of aesthetic architecture is what I'm talking about. There's no shortage of aesthetically pleasing buildings and décor around these parts, they're found in the most random areas and angles, which most people pay absolutely no attention to.

But I see beauty in these random angles, structures, attachments and pillars. No wonder I have so many of these in my gallery.

Even though every other hobby of mine has gone through some intense practice sessions and planning for me to get better; photography didn't take as much effort, it all came naturally, with time. The passion and love for photography will always be there, and hopefully one day I'll be able to upgrade to a proper camera and won't have to rely on a smartphone.

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We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone – Katie Thurmes

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• I've used some of these photos in some of my previous posts. I thought I'd use them here again, just to show a few examples of what I see, what I like to keep in my storage drives, and in my memories too.

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