After having received their wedding slideshows, the DVDs containing high-resolution versions of photographs and their coffee-table album, the couple and I then discuss about possible framing choices for photographs they would like to hang around. Some move into new homes, and look forward to have elegant color schemes to house those photographs in.

I help in the selection of the right frame styles and colors, matting and their textures and different mat and frame dimensions by sending across images that correspond to the finished product placed over their wall color under simulated display lighting. This act’s as a guide when placing their order.

There’s no need to play around with mat and frame corners at the workshop, nor do the guesswork of how different color choices would appear against the walls. Three or less concentric mat surfaces – rectangular or oval – could be specified, along with their color, texture, thickness and bevel angles (the angle with which a mat opening meet with the layer below). The color and thickness of the outer frame could be specified as well. After a chosen photograph is inserted at the center, the entire construction could be placed over a given wall color under particular ambient lighting conditions to judge its impact. The following are a few examples.

The below shows a typical photograph that’s framed, with the various components named.

The following images show photographs that are framed variously and displayed against walls of different colors.

And, the following sequence has the same photograph framed identically in 4 different lighting conditions:

Daylight:

Fluorescent:

Halogen:

Mixed (that is, a blend of the above 3 types of light sources):

Wedding and Reception at Bangalore

Late December 2010

Here are three more favorites from the same wedding as the past two posts. The Christian ceremony was held at the huge Our Lady of Lourde’s Church and the Hindu one at the impressive Satya Sai Samskrutha Sadanam, both of them in Bangalore. The bride and groom have requested anonymity apart from these five photographs, and I would like to be respectful of it. I have chosen these pictures from the Christian section of the wedding, as there are plenty of those from traditional Hindu weddings around this blog.

As is my wont, all of them were taken under available lighting conditions, but a heavy dose of incandescent light from the videographer formed a component of it at times. It’s especially difficult to work around the altar with such light, as the source would be too close to the subjects causing any tonal variations on their faces or light colored dresses to be blown into regions of pale and blocky washes of yellow or white. In deference to the sanctity of the occasion, I cannot prod the videographer to dial down the intensity with a diffuser. The only option I have in such situations is to accept the harshness of such light and work with it.

I had a great time at this service. The bridesmaids looked gorgeous in their luminous red gowns; the radiant bride and groom delivered a textbook ceremony and their parents were classy enough to wrap every offering to their guests with lustrous paper and ribbons. The number and length of the ceremonies ensured that I work through about three times as many photographs as a typical wedding, and the bride was remarkably patient with me while I pushed all of the post-processing over the finish line. It’s a great pleasure to interact and work with such sensitive people.

A conversation in Great Britain, frozen in time for over 400 years.

The Bard’s been resting at that Holy Trinity Church for a while now. Stratford-upon-Avon needs to be visited to experience it’s historical importance.

In this interview, Tim Ferriss has the following to say:

“Converting your own passions into a job is the fastest method for eliminating any passion you once had.”

I think the above is true when you define a job as something that Michael Gerber talks about: one that you have to keep doing it, doing it, doing it day in and day out, with all the other associated chores that go with it. You don’t have a job, the job has you. And it has you trapped and bored.

So, what do you do?

Po Bronson might help us a bit. He says “…avoiding crap shouldn’t be the objective in finding the right work. The right question is, How can I find something that moves my heart, so that the inevitable crap storm is bearable?”

And, how do you make it bearable?

Umair Haque may have the answer. In his post on How to Build a Next-Gen Business Now, he lays out five steps to build such a business. The final step is:

“This final step - rediscovering meaning in the work we do – isn’t just the most difficult to come to grips with. It’s also the most critical – because though the other steps are necessary, they’re not sufficient. Without a deeply felt – and a powerfully lived – sense of meaning, every business will devolve to what the investment banks became: machines engineered with relentless precision to destroy long-run value, often implosively so.”

So, that’s that then. It’s the meaning one derives from one’s work that’s the source of fulfillment. A job that’s satisfying and fulfilling is the thing we need to strive for.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has written a book about the topic. Guy Kawasaki too says the same thing in his famous book, “The Art of the Start“:

“There really is only one question you should ask yourself before starting any new venture:

Do I want to make meaning?

Meaning is not about money, power, or prestige. It’s not even about creating a fun place to work. Among the meanings of “meaning” are to

• Make the world a better place.
• Increase the quality of life.
• Right a terrible wrong.
• Prevent the end of something good.”

So, let’s all go into the world and make some meaning.