See more photos at my flickr collection.

As a year end special photo printing service Zoomin had a great “Deal of the Day”. I took advantage of the offer and got some shots printed to evaluate the quality and service offered by them. First set of prints came in a bit delayed thanks to the mega response they had to the special offers, but I am pretty happy with the results.

I could have done better on the high ISO shots – but then sometimes all that noise in the photo gives it a great effect. Hopefully I should be getting some more prints for the long pending coffee table photo book I have been planing.

So if you’re looking for a good online photo printing service, do check out Zoomin.

• Online photo uploads means you can do them at your convenient time [they also have a import from flickr option]
• Shipping charges for most of the smaller sizes is per order and not per print.
• They also have a metallic print option besides the regular Glossy and Matt.
• If you have the imint card – you can earn & burn points.
• You can even have the photos shipped to another address besides yours. Surprise the family and friends.

Happy printing!

The pace was manic at the Mumbai Photo Marathon in April 2007. Advertising executive Kapil Bhatia and his friend Nirav Mehta decided that the city needed a photo-walk on the lines of those held in Germany and the US. Twenty-five photographers made their way from Juhu to Dadar’s flower market, Siddhivinayak Temple, Haji Ali, Fountain and Kala Ghoda before winding up at the Gateway of India, taking pictures along the way. “We started off with a big blooper,” Bhatia recalled. “We decided to shoot sunrise at Juhu Beach, but once we reached Vile Parle we were like, ‘Where the fuck is the sun?’ Nobody figured that it doesn’t rise in the west.” The rest of the trip passed without more embarrassment, prompting Bhatia and Mehta plan to host another marathon after this year’s monsoon.

Click here to read full article

And while you are at Time Out, you must check out their cover story on Breakfast in Mumbai. There is an exhaustive list of all the places you can enjoy the first meal of the day. Only problem – got to be up early on Sundays to be able to experience them.

Browse more of my photos at flickr.

A few lessons from the photo activity I learnt that day:

1. Keep your eyes open for the little things happening around you besides the big Ganpati show – people are in various forms and expressions. Try to capture them.
2. Police is a big problem, so try and make friends with the volunteers – which is very tough, I would say.
3. Zoom lens is a must – carry the biggest you can manage in those large crowds.
4. Talk to your subject, there is nothing better than having them look into the camera for some really good mood shots.

See more photos at the flickr set.

It’s a great “hand extension” as defined in one of the TV reviews displayed at the website.  I am thinking of putting this on the top of my shopping list and may even skip the tripod which I have been thinking of buying all this while. Quik Pod also supports DSLR cameras.