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Since I’m used to making manual adjustments to my camera to satisfy my vision for the images that I create, I’ve occasionally caught myself wanting the same flexibility in my phone. A little adjustment to shutter-speed here to capture light trails, a wider aperture for shallower depth of field, and a lower ISO to have as little noise in the image as possible, and I would definitely end up using my mobile camera more. So when Little Black Book Delhi got in touch with me to do a photo-essay for them, using the new HTC One A9 mobile, which has native manual controls built into the camera app (in its Pro mode) AND shoots in RAW, my curiosity was piqued, and I went gallivanting about the Delhi NCR region, testing the abilities of the camera.

I’m aware of the fact that there have been mobile cameras before this that shoot in RAW and offer manual controls as well, and that there are apps which enable this functionality, but I’ve never had a chance to use them.
I had developed an interest in street art and graffiti in Hong Kong, which is where I first got my hands on a DSLR camera. And with organizations like StArtIndia, street art is gaining popularity in the country, which is something that gives me a lot of joy. The WIP Show at the Container Depot in Tughlakabad was something to be experienced first-hand, because photos don’t do it justice. Here are a few photos I took with the HTC One A9 there.

I was very pleased with the minimum focusing distance of the mobile camera, because I could get very close to the subject (almost touching it!) without losing focus, and enabling me to create a more exaggerated composition for dramatic effect. Apart from this, I took multiple panorama shots to do justice to some of the artworks which were inside containers.

The Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal

Well, the people who built this place spent a mind-boggling 7 billion rupees ($113 million) on it. In a country like India, in my personal opinion, this money could have been put to much better use elsewhere (schools and public healthcare for starters), but hey, I’m not here to talk about that.

The lights inside the monument were off when I went in, and though there was natural light coming in through the skylights, it wasn’t very bright. I slowed down the shutter-speed to gather more light for the camera, and I was concerned about introducing camera-shake into the pictures. But I was pleasantly surprised! The image stabilization kicked in and did its job, and I got sharp photos. If you look carefully at the full length photo of the statues, you can see a blurred figure of a man walking out of the frame to the left. The statues, however, are sharp, in spite of the fact that this was a handheld photo.

The Buddha Jayanti Park

A quiet, green expanse, with lots of geese to keep you company, near the statue of the Buddha. Also, fun fact, I saw a goose attack a fellow goose and hold it underwater for a long time. That was a bit traumatic, and so I kept my distance from the birds.

Majnu Ka Tila

I love this place! I went there with plans to get a bellyful of Tibetan food at a restaurant that I’ve been haunting since my college days, but I was foiled by my own timing. It was Losar (Tibetan New Year) and all the restaurants and cafes were closed. Much disappoint. But it was a pleasure to see many people dressed up in traditional clothes. The little square outside the temple there has always been a wonderful place to people-watch, and that’s what I did this time around too. It also warmed my heart to see many Tibetan children, dressed up in their traditional finery, playing with a bunch of less-privileged little ones.