Cherry trees in blossom in the tea estate at Temi, Sikkim, India.
Waves and algae, Sea beach at Pondicherry.
Mountain vista in afternoon light, Sikkim, India
A cold winter afternoon at the high altitudes, Zuluk, Sikkim, India
Mountain slopes with wild blooms, Zuluk, Sikkim, India
A central square at dusk at the ancient city of Mysore, India
Early morning at the Promenade, Pondicherry - an erstwhile French colony in India.
A painterly afternoon scene somewhere near Mysore, India.
A transmission tower in the town of Gangtok in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, India
Evening crowd at my neighborhood beach, Chennai, India
A cactus bloom, Kalimpong, India
Indian tortoise shell butterfly, Kalimpong, India
I discovered the wide aspect ratio used by the Hasselblad XPan at 65:24 while doing and reading about panoramic photography. As I have been shooting in 16:9, almost exclusively, for a few years now, I thought of doing some images in the extra-wide XPan aspect ratio to see how it suited images of various genres and to experience the challenges in composition. Here is a collection of 12 images ranging from landscapes to nature close-ups and urban scenes.
To achieve this extra wide aspect ratio, images were either cropped in-camera/post-capture or stitching of multiple images was employed. A small paper cut-out superimposed on the LCD screen helps to frame the right composition at the time of capture. The disadvantage of this method is the loss of pixels that are cropped out. The multi-shot stitching method yields bigger prints at the cost of a less precise composition at the time of capture.
These images have been made over a period of 6 months in various locations across India including the cities of Chennai, Mysore, Pondicherry and the Himalayan foot hills at Kalimpong or the state of Sikkim. All images are captured using a Nikon or Sony digital camera system.
Thanks for looking in. Your feedback would be most appreciated.
