JYOTISH DUTTA

This July, 2017 I made another trip to Dzukou Valley, Nagaland. Unlike last year, I travelled very light this year, only a backpack with a small sleeping bag and a set of fresh clothes, sealed in zip bags . Photography gear wise, I was carrying my 5D mkII, canon 70-200mm f4, and the Fuji x100. For protection from rain I relied on my rain poncho.  And that just about it.  It took us 3 and a half hours from Vishwama to reach the basecamp in Dzukou valley. We spent 2 nights up there.  It rained most of the time with temperatures ranging between 18-20 Degrees at night. The weather in Dzukou has always been unpredictable, changing every few minutes. The only photographic opportunity we got was when the rain stopped. A gust of wind thinned the cloud cover enveloping the valley, allowing for the sun rays to diffuse through and lite up, rather selectively, the crests and troughs that comprise Dzukou. This time however I found plastics eve...

Off late I have become increasing fond of 'Blurs'. I have been practicing a technique popularly known as 'Shutter Drag' to create impressions such as below. Now, there are so many things to consider viz ideal shutter speed, DOF, flash, pleasing background and also importantly the speed at which I pan the camera with respect to the subject. All these factors need to be in 'sync' for a pleasing impression. But the funny part is that I have absolutely no control as to how the final picture would look like. And this uncertainity or the lack of control, I guess, is what makes the process of creating these impressions so enjoyable.

"A picture is the expression of an impression. If the beautiful were not in us, how would we ever recognize it?" --- Ernst Haas