10 April 2010
Baliatii Palace, Saturia, Manikganj, Bangladesh
after the huge success of the first photowalk at Baliati, most of us were looking for another opportunity; especially the ones who missed it the first time..... we proposed 10th as a tentative date for the repeat tour..... but as it closed in on the 10th, the enthusiasm got lost a bit through the clutters...... this required a shake-up.... decided to give it a last minute effort to boost the chances of a photowalk... and people responded..... they all had been as hungry as me to go out and have some exercise with the camera..... for me, after an unusually busy week, it was a gift from heavens!!
we ultimately needed to take two vehicles to transport the whole group there.... more than 15 actually showed up, which was quite a contrast from the thought of previous night that we would cancel the tour if we managed only around 4-5 people.... late night entrants made the tour possible and the news in the morning surprised everyone!...... thanks to Shudipto for arranging the transport and a big thanks to Tinku Bhai for lighting up the tour with his presence..... Kamal also deserved thanks for managing the small details..... and thanks to everyone for making this a reality....
though the planned start of the tour was at 10:30AM, it took almost 11:00AM to get a real start.... our previous experience told us that it would take around two-and-a-half hours to get there.... but this time we took our own vehicles, which ensured that we were there by around a couple of hours' time.....
it was sapping heat.... and just like the earlier visit, the building looked washed in harsh sunlight.... but we knew exactly what we were after..... harsh sunlight was not going to hinder our effort in any way..... we took some rest and regained our strengths..... some of us also enjoyed a nice bath in tube-well water.... Tinku Bhai and Juthy Apa brought the lifeline for us, cool water bottle in a big cold box.... that brought our energies up to a level when we could spread out in search of some cool portraiture.....
I started to reconnoiter the place for some suitable settings, and found some..... there was no shortage of models among us; so it was just a matter of time to make some images..... it was a "studiowalk" on a grand scale!!
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: dipa
D700 + Sigma APO 150mm f2.8 EX DG HSM Macro
f5, 1/30sec, hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info: SB-900 on left with warm gel, TTL mode (on human tripod) triggered by SU-800
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: biju
D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f6.3, 1/400sec, hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info: SB-900 on left, TTL mode, shooting through white shoot-through umbrella (on human tripod) triggered by SU-800
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: biju
D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f6.3, 1/640sec, hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info: SB-900 x 2 on left, TTL mode, (on human tripod) triggered by SU-800
we went on shooting until around 3:30-3:40PM, when our energies reached the minimum..... Tinku Bhai and Kamal ensured that we did not get dehydrated by arranging the lunch quickly.... its wasn't the usual lunch... this lunch was Tinku Bhai's specialty..... we enjoyed this simple, but great meal under the shadows of the palace arches.... it was a lunch with some historic touch!!
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: nurur
D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f6.3, 1/400sec, hand-held, ISO 200
with reflector on left as fill light (on human tripod)
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: sadia
D700 + Nikkor AF 50mm f1.4D
f6.3, 1/100sec, hand-held, ISO 200
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: juthy
D700 + Nikkor AF 50mm f1.4D
f6.3, 1/80sec, hand-held, ISO 200
anyway, beefed up, we started to roll once again..... light was falling fast; so, we had to move quickly.... my aim was to stay outdoors and do all the shooting in the wide open spaces in the back of the palace.... the palace is huge.... there are just too many bends and spaces here and there.... if someone's not focused, it can cause a whole lot of walking without any substantial achievement in shooting....
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: biju
D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f5.6, 1/1000sec, hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info: SB-900 x 2 on left, TTL mode, (on tripod) triggered by SU-800
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: biju
D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f5.6, 1/1000sec, hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info: SB-900 x 2 on left, TTL mode, (on tripod) triggered by SU-800
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: biju & kamal
D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f3.5, 1/1,250sec, hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info: SB-900 x 2; one on left and one on right, TTL mode, (on tripod) triggered by SU-800
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
model: biju & kamal
D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f5, 1/800sec, hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info: SB-900 x 2 one on left and one on right, TTL mode, (on tripod) triggered by SU-800
the day ended with some real excitement with high-speed shooting.... Biju, later joined by Kamal, kept us motivated with all the cool moves, even in such sapping heat... it was a learning for all of us, as we made them do the moves many times over just to get the perfect one.....
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| From Baliati Portraiture, April 2010 |
The Koba Squad!!
D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f7.1, 1/80sec, hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info: SB-900 x 2 and SB-800+SB-600; two on left and two on right (all on tripod), SB-600 on ground resting on 4'x4' white diffuser right on camera; TTL mode, triggered by SU-800
the last shot of the day was a group portrait.... my plan was to illuminate the groups separately from the background...... it took some tweaking with the light settings and also, setup of the group to come up with an acceptable shot.... it was a tough one and a big learning........ it wasn't perfect, but was enough to make us grin......... we were off for Dhaka... it was almost 7:00PM when our engines started...
the return journey wasn't an exciting one, but wasn't too boring either.... we had a nice time even after a tough day.... we were able to reach Dhaka in just over a couple of hours' time....
it was another cool outing at a cool place.... this place doesn't cease to produce excitement for us.... I'm sure we have too much to explore there even after a couple of visits....... the next planned outing there is on 1st of May.... I'm sure there would be more than just a few to attend the event....
for more pics from the same venture, please visit the following link:
Baliati Portraiture, April 2010
