Among the festivals of September, the most colourful is Onam, celebrated by Malayalis across the globe. It is a festival where we find colours in Rangolis, floral decorations and in Onam Sadya- the feast. 

Onam is a harvest festival that falls in the Malayali month of ‘Chingam’, which is between the months of August and September. It is celebrated over a period of ten days, which culminates with a grand celebration on the last day, which this year falls on Friday- Sep 9th. The festival also marks the annual visit of the Asura King Mahabali ..

Archhana Kombrabail takes us on a vibrant journey through the various Rangolis they do at home during Onam. She says ” most families create rangoli with flowers, and these take shape over a period of 10days, with a layer being added each day”.

Here are some of the rangolis she had done with her family in their Pune home…

“Travelling has been a passion of mine, but it is only in the past few years that I have managed to make a few personal trips, journeys. And every destination is a new experience, adding to the life lessons, giving me a new lease on life”, shares Mukesh Tanwani, an IT professional from Bangalore..

I enjoy taking pictures of just about everything I see around me -Nature, people, Birds, flightless birds and others in between. During a recent vacation, I captured these myriad moments around a park.

This is a shot of the pretty yellow flower with a few drops of water still resting on the petals. The morning breeze brushed past the trees, tingling the petals. I decided to shoot only a portion of the flower in the frame, adding to the mystery, while enhancing its beauty!

The red and white of the flower caught my eye, and I had to capture the flower in my camera. The red shone against the white, with each of the petals in different patterns- some blossomed, while others were just uncurling. Almost like a child waking up in the morning…

The rose bud, the yellow and orange against the green of the leaf was beautiful against the sun’s rays. It stood tall in the plant beating the other roses and buds as if it was racing towards the sky. I stood still as if any movement could set off a breeze or alter the way the bud stood. This is one photograph I am quite proud of, the way the leaves, the petals look, the details visible on the photograph!

Looking forward to my next trip.. Wonder where the road takes me…

No matter if one is an amateur photographer or a professional shooter, shooting colorful flowers is something everyone loves to do. Flowers are quite beautiful and colorful that anyone can take a stunning image of a flower. The following are some of the techniques to be followed while capturing the colors of a flower, says Chennai based photographer Ratzzz

Depth of field: This is a simple technique to make the flower stand out from its background. Position the flower in such a way that the color of the flower stands out from the rest of its environment. Creating a brilliant bokeh of the leaves behind the flowers usually does the magic.

Angle: If there is a flower, already it must have been clicked thousand times. So click the flower at an angle that you won’t normally click at. The resulting composition will be brilliant and stunning.

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Neutralize the background: Flowers are so colorful and vivid that a black or background will make it look more scintillating. Hold a black paper, board or a plain cloth behind the flower and shoot with available light.

Accessorize: Like any other form of photography, flowers are beautiful when accessorized. Here the accessories are the dew drops. You can create artificial dew by spraying some water over the flowers before shooting.

Abstract: Go extra close and focus on parts of flowers rather than the whole flower. These images acquire an abstract quality. Look out for different patterns, textures and contrasting colors.

Light: Flowers look their best in the available light in their environment. Try to avoid flash or any kind of external lighting to the maximum extent. Try to compose your image in a way that you use the available light in best possible way.

One of the basic tips is to shoot the flowers in full manual mode or in “aperture priority” as it will give you maximum control in Depth of Field.