Report on Photowalk & Workshop on World Photography Day at Puttenahalli Lake

In 1826, a French inventor called Nicephore Niepce made the first photograph, using a pewter plate coated with bitumen, and exposing it to the sun over eight hours. In 1829, Niepce and French artist, Louis Daguerre, developed an improved process that came to be known as Daguerreotype. In 1839, the French government purchased the patent from Daguerre. And on August 19th, 1839, the French government released the Daguerreotype photographic process to the public for free. That is why this date is considered the beginning of the era of Photography.

PNLIT celebrated the World Photography Day at Puttenahalli lake by conducting a workshop and photowalk. The event was led by SK Srinivas, who by his own definition, is a serious amateur in photography. He has been a PNLIT volunteer for the last ten years, and has captured many memorable moments at the lake in his camera.

Here is what the participants had to say about him and the photowalk !

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Recently, a friend of mine forwarded the announcement of a Photowalk & Workshop to be conducted at Puttenahalli Lake on Aug 19th. World Photography Day.  I had been looking to attend just such a workshop for many days so I quickly registered for it. Another attraction was that the event conducted by PNLIT was free of cost and open to all!

The photography expert Mr. SK Srinivas (Srini) and PNLIT events coordinator Sapana were cordial and welcoming. Srini began by asking how well each of the participants were acquainted with photography. Most of us were early beginners. We spent a good amount of time learning about the basics of photography and the technicalities of different types of cameras. This was no doubt very useful but it also meant that out of the two hours, the time we got to spend on actually photographing the birds and knowing how to spot them got reduced.

Srini also talked about how human activities are damaging Bangalore lakes, their ecosystems and the fauna dependent on them. We were fortunate to have the right venue for the photo workshop.  Puttenahalli lake, JP Nagar is indeed a "hidden gem" as described by the participants and I fully agree.

We are grateful to Srini and the organisers for this opportunity. I would request him to conduct more photography related events  for participants with different levels of skill. This will help us to become better nature photographers.

-Osama Ansari
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On the occasion of World Photography Day (Aug 19) about 20 of us met at Puttenahalli Lake in JP Nagar 7th phase. The objective was to be given a few basic lessons on photography and how to plan and execute good photos by Mr. SK Srinivas (Srini).

Srini is a photography and wildlife enthusiast and has immense knowledge on cameras, photography and taking great shots.

We were greeted by a light drizzle which would have been otherwise welcome after a long dry spell but threatened to wash out the workshop. Srini started with the history of photography and how it has evolved over the ages from camera obscuras (pinhole cameras) to mirrorless DSLRs. He then explained how good photography is fundamentally about camera optics and explained how to manage trade-offs among aperture size, shutter speed and ISO settings and that practice makes perfect.

We then walked around the lake which was full of water and had plenty of aquatic birds as subjects to practise our newly acquired knowledge and dispersed by about 11 am after a group photo.

-Srivastha Yajaman

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Thank you,

-PNLIT

Pic credits - Arathi Manay

Remembering the Lalbagh Legend - Mr. Vijay Thiruvady

We are deeply saddened to say that in the passing of Mr. Vijay Thiruvady yesterday, 1 Aug.2023, we have lost a dear friend and the city, a renowned botanist and historian.  

We had the good fortune of establishing contact with him sometime in 2013 when Mrs. Shanta Ramachandran gifted us a book, Heritage Trees written by her brother, Vijay Thiruvady. She lived in the vicinity of the lake and was a regular visitor to Puttakere. Later when Mr. T S Srinivasa, one of our tree experts, published a pocket book titled Discover Garden Climbers we thought it would be good to organize a book release function since we were growing climbers at the lake. Mr. Thiruvady readily agreed to do the honours. Photos of this event held in Jan 2018 are attached, link to the report is here. 

Mr. Thiruvady, was Trustee, Bangalore Environment Trust, who conducted Green Heritage Walks in Lalbagh, Imperial Colonial Walks in Cubbon Park and Military Heritage Walks at the MEG&C. His mesmerizing stories and anecdotes made these a memorable experience. Our Editor, Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Kutty who had gone twice on the Green Heritage Walk (which ended with breakfast at MTR), interviewed him for Ripples, our bi-annual newsletter. The Tree Walker appeared in the July 2020 issue. 

For more than 30 years, Mr. Thiruvady had been collecting the letters and documents of his grandfather, Dr K S Krishnan, the renowned physicist who together with CV Raman had discovered the Raman Effect. One of these letters was a signed appeal from Albert Einstein!  Mr Thiruvady sent a photo of this with the news that he had just handed over these memorabilia to NCBS. To hear of his demise only four days later was indeed a big shock. 

Mr. Vijay Thiruvady, 21 July 1941 - 1 Aug. 2023

RIP Sir.

PNLIT Team