The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
The Daguerreotype, a photographic process, was first developed by Joseph Nicèphore Nièpce and Louis Daguerre. On January 9, 1839, The French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype process. A few months later, on August 19, 1839, the French government announced the invention as a gift "Free to the World".
According to information I gathered over the net, this is
the reason 19th August is celebrated as ‘World Photography Day”. I
would have been blissfully ignorant of this little detail, as well as the
celebratory day itself, had it not been for an invite which landed in my mail,
for the ‘Google Plus World Photography Day celebration’ held at Tote on the
Turf, at the Mahalakshmi Race Course, Mumbai.
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| A Photographer.... and the other photographers! |
And that is how I found myself, on a manic Monday, at the
Race course, surrounded by fellow bloggers, listening to an animated
conversation on how technology has changed photography!
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| Works of eminent photographers on display at the event |
It has been two days since then, and in this age of technology
and instant posts, this post is sadly delayed. Others who attended the event
have written in detail about the event itself, and the discussions, which is
why I am not going to repeat them, and instead, tell you what I found
interesting –
I am a regular Google user, and as all of you know, my blog
is hosted on Blogger. I, therefore use a lot of Google products, including Google
plus. For my photos, I have been using Picasa, and of late, have found the
change to Google Plus Photos rather disconcerting. My main interest in
attending the event was to check out what GPlus was offering new, and if it
could work for me.
As many of you might already know, G Plus Photos has some
new features, such as Auto Backup, Auto Enhance, Auto Awesome , Auto highlight
and easier photo search.
The first allows an immediate automatic back up of your
photos on your mobile to your G Plus account. This is no use to me at present,
since I don’t have a smartphone L.
The second automatically enhances, or improves your photo
quality (if you want it to, of course!). There isn’t really anything new about
this, except that you can set it so your image gets enhanced without your
working on it.
Auto Highlight, as the name suggests, helps you highlight
certain photos. I have yet to try and see if it helps in any way.
I have yet to try out the easier search mode, but it is the
Auto Awesome feature that actually captured my attention. This one collects
photos clicked almost simultaneously and creates a sort of animated photograph.
It is a simpler version of the Photosphere, and since it isn’t actually a video
or a slideshow, but an animated photo, it is actually easier to use. Besides,
Google Plus picks out the photos itself and does all the work, making it easier
for us!
As someone with a kid, and capturing him on camera all the
time, this is the only feature among all the new ones that actually captured my
attention at the event! Take a look at this animated version of photos I clicked
at a recent wedding when the kids had a ball…. Literally!!! And let me know
what you think!
Thank you, Google Plus India, for inviting me to the event
and giving me some wonderful experiences – listening to experts, interacting
with my peers, and learning something new!
Related Posts by other bloggers who attended the event -
I like this Gif image. this is a good post.
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Thank you.
Deletei also did not knew that 19th August is celebrated as world photography day.
ReplyDeleteso we all learn something new :D
DeleteThis is awesome post about the features Anu!
ReplyDeleteI was also unaware of the World Photography day. I would have attended it, had I been in town.
And I did not participate in that Tanishq contest.... not my cup of tea. :)
I guessed u were out of town, Nisha, when i didnt see u there :D have yet to go through your blog. havent been there in quite a while...
DeleteThe Auto Awesome feature is what caught my attention too. I am going to try out this feature for my Photostory feature and see if it actually works for me.
ReplyDeleteWaiting to see what you come up with, Sudha!
Delete