Pray for me Brother!
FREE SOFTWARE FOR RAW FILE VIEWING
In what format do you shoot pictures? RAW or JPEG? I think most serious photographers out there shoot in RAW. I personally choose the RAW format over JPEG. I think JPEG are for kids, hehe 
Well, that’s not my point. RAW contains a HUGE amount of light information when compared to a JPEG. So, when you are back from the field and are going through all of your shots, which software do you generally use to view and/or quickly select the keepers? For years, I have used Adobe Lightroom, Bridge and other such softwares and I have been very happy with those. Lightroom has the benefit of working with ‘Collections‘ where you can easily group pictures from different trips into smart folders (but hey, let’s not talk about Lightroom here. I will save it for later!)
Recently I came across this wonderful piece of free software called FastStone Image Viewer and I must say I am impressed. It can open any RAW file (be it NEF, CR2, ORF, DNG or whatever!) And, it isn’t like Picasa that it will automatically change its colour-tone (I think this has been a long pending problem with Picasa). If you haven’t used FastStone earlier, I recommend you at least try it once. (Hey, it’s Free! What do you have to lose?) Click here to get it now. Moreover, it fills the whole screen with the image and when you hover your mouse to the ends of the screen you can see the metadata and all such essential information.
PRAY FOR ME BROTHER
I will dedicate this post to the recent school shootings in Connecticut, US. How many of you have listened to the Oscar-winning musician A.R. Rahman’s song called “Pray For me Brother” (If you haven’t, just click on the link and listen to it. It’s melodious.) Sometimes I am worried if we humans have lost faith and compassion in ourselves.
Earlier this year, I met a photographer-friend from Nova Scotia who was here for a Discovery Channel project. It was his first time in India. What he told really touched me. He spoke of his extraordinary interactions with the common people and how humble and compassionate they were. No matter how much they had, they always had a smile on their face and tried their best to help him and he was moved by that. Whenever I look at this picture, I can sense what he meant. Every time I passed by this lady, she had a gentle smile and always wished the best for you. Such a beautiful soul!
Interestingly, people who pray have open and calm, smiling face, it is clear that thanks to the help of God. More interesting is the fact that some people are the same face, even if they do not pray. Perhaps God lives in their hearts?
Lovely!
it captured the essence or the poor. nice pic
For editing your photos in RAW I would suggest using Darktable. It is a free open source photo editor similar to Lightroom. Works on all platforms.
That is a wonderful song, thanks for the link!
Oh! I dance with the song while boiling an egg today. Many wonderful moments to explore with you in your B-(eautiful)-LOGGING.
Hahahaha…so sweet of you, Jane!
Today you’re boiling an egg, someday we will dance together with this same song over a BBQ
Great song, Ankur! Thanks, too, for liking one of my recent posts “Infrared”. Will come back a and visit soon.
Thank you for visiting my blog, and leading me to yours! I like the way you weave photos and words into one enriched story. This is a stunning photo, and it illustrates exactly the point your new Nova Scotia friend was making. (Now I’ll give you a cultural extra: a nickname for someone from Nova Scotia is “a Bluenoser,” in memory of the famed N.S. fishing boat The Bluenose, which was a fishing and racing schooner that for 18 years straight early in the 20th c. won the international Fishermen’s Trophy, a race for working boats not rich men’s toys. No wonder she’s been celebrated on our coinage, and in song!).
Oh, thank you so much for the Cultural Cue. Ehh, I missed calling him ‘The Blue-nosed Pinocchio’ hehe
Maybe next time.
Your blog is really wonderful. I loved reading it!
I listen to A.R Rahman Music way before today, he’s inspiring, his music touch beyond culture! Thank’s for sharing this. I like the photo U’ve taken! Once again… Greetings and thank you for visiting me