Ashwini Bhatia

Seven Ways of Looking at Birds

I was first attracted to birds when I moved to Dharamshala in 1997. I remember being woken up every morning by the song of a blue whistling thrush (I didn’t identify it then). Slowly, as I settled in, I started recognising a few of the most common species of birds such as magpies, barbets, woodpeckers, … Continue reading →

Moonpeak Magazine No. 4

Photography course: portraits

The second workshop of the current course focused on portraiture, with an early morning session at the McLeodganj main square. Students Ian Bell and Christina Julius and instructors Angus and Ashwini photographed chai sellers, bread vendors, porters, students waiting for the school bus, and other characters to be found at this busy spot. The work is … Continue reading →

Photography course: field trip to Church of St. John in the Wilderness

Classic camera: mid-1950s Certo Six

  To make pictures with Certo Six, pictured above, use this simple process; Point your camera at the subject of your choice, decide what to include in the frame, use a hand-held light meter to determine settings for correct settings on your camera, do a mental calculation to change the suggested settings according to the … Continue reading →

Shooting by candlelight

There have been several candlelight vigils in Dharamshala marking a series of recent self-immolations in Tibet to protest Chinese rule. Covering these events presents particular challenges to the photographer. Here is some advice on how to photograph under such low light conditions.   Use fast lenses preferably with maximum apertures of f1.8 or larger. Usually … Continue reading →

Ramlila

Ramlila or the story of Ram is enacted each year in India for 10 days ending on the Hindu festival Dussehra, when large effigies of the demon king Ravan, his son and his brother are burnt depicting victory of good over evil. This year I went backstage in Dharamshala to photograph the artists. Ashwini Bhatia

Moonpeak Magazine No. 3

Moonpeak Magazine No. 2

Why you don’t need an SLR to take great pictures

MIRRORLESS IMAGES For almost a decade, the digital SLR has been king. But while the current offerings from Nikon, Canon and Sony are almighty machines, the convergence of format has tended to constrain style. Pictures made with the same kind of camera will all, to some degree, look a bit the same. Here and in … Continue reading →