Baliati Palace, Baliati, Saturia, Manikganj, Bangladesh
we were almost dying to make yet another visit there....two visits in recent times couldn't quench my thirst...... it was the same for most others as well..... the place is full of fun and it has become almost mandatory for most of us to find a way of the ever-tiring Dhaka City.... there were almost too many signing up for this recurring, but interesting venture...... we were calculating a total of almost 100 people... but as we've seen in the past, 100% presence usually doesn't happen.... eventually, the total number of below 100, but it was the largest photowalk ever organised by TTL.... it was a great effort from the organisers of this wonderful group....
though 9:30AM was supposed to be the original starting time from Farm Gate, it was not until around 10:00AM, when one of the two buses picked me up from near my home.... but we were never in a hurry..... it wasn't a plan to catch the morning light.... so, a more leisurely start wouldn't have hurt anyone.... the journey was a pleasure, meeting so many new faces.... though the weather was relentlessly warm, it couldn't weaken our spirit.... we had too much hope in front us to make us feel tired!
anyway, it was almost 12:30PM when we ultimately reached Baliati Palace gate.... it was a Saturday, which happens to be an off-day for the sight-seeing there... but we've done it in the past, and have done it this time as well..... our previous relationship with the palace guards paid off.....
for those who went there for the first time, it was time for discovery...... and for the others, it was time for invention..... the limitless bends and rooms there hold so much potential for cool portraiture that it becomes almost overwhelming for anyone to select a few places to settle down..... the last time, I shot mostly outside the palace..... this time, my aim was to shoot inside, utilising the texture, and play of lights and shadows there.....
my first experiment was to utilise the door openings to create sort of a cookie.... the outside sunlight was never enough to make these cookie prominent.... so, I set up a flash outside the door to create slanted late afternoon sunlight inside the room..... once with the help of Monir Bhai, I was able to make the theme work, I looked for a subject to fulfill the picture.... called Munmun from ground floor to be a model for the photograph...... and the great Faisal Bhai volunteered to control the flash..... I had to use radio triggers to make the flash work, as my camera didn't have any visual connection with the flash.... after quite a few efforts, we were able to create at least one decent picture.... after this, I tried to improve upon this shot...... more opportunities came by and Faisal Bhai was again there to help me out..... Lina became our model this time, though being with us for the first time in a PW.... the session was a learning for all of us...... I was happy that I was able to create what I had set out to achieve..... now, the rest of the pictures would be bonuses....
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| From Baliati Portraiture Session 2, Manikganj, May 2010 |
model: munmun
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f5.6, 1/6sec hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info:
One SB-900 outside the door with warm gel filter on voice-activated tripod (Faisal Bhai); full power; manual mode; triggered by Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger.
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| From Baliati Portraiture Session 2, Manikganj, May 2010 |
model: lina
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f5.6, 1/4sec hand-held, ISO 200
Strobist info:
One SB-900 outside the door with warm gel filter on voice-activated tripod (Faisal Bhai); full power; manual mode; triggered by Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger.
we found Avik Bhai after a while...... and his comeback from Malaysia was the reason for this particular date for the PW..... he featured in some nice available light shots..... harsh sunlight coming through big windows reflected from the floor created a nice fill-light on the textured wall..... and that was that....
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| From Baliati Portraiture Session 2, Manikganj, May 2010 |
model: biju, picklu, avikbangalee
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D
f5.6, 1/6sec hand-held, ISO 200
after a cozy lunch, we posed for a group shot..... Avik Bhai became the organiser of this tough task..... making that many people listen was something.... but we ended up with a shot that proved the size of the group..... after the group photo-session, we continued shooting.... I, along with some others shot some portraits in front of the main building..... the sun was barely there, I used available light for some shots inside the arches...... the arches acted as giant softboxes..... it was natural light at its best!!
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| From Baliati Portraiture Session 2, Manikganj, May 2010 |
model: hameem
Nikon D700 + Sigma APO 150mm f2.8 EX DG HSM Macro
f3, 1/320sec, ISO 200
then I switched on my new home-made gadget, the diffuser-cum-reflector..... it was made barely the night before..... and I was just itching to make use of it.... I played the assistant for a while to make this new thing useful.... the fabric gave just enough light to be a reflector, but it certainly was far from being an efficient design..... its off-white silk fabric produced a slightly warmish tone.... but wind was constantly blowing it away and we had a hard time holding it....
when the sun went away, it was time for the strobe to come to the scene once again..... I had a plan to illuminate at least half-body...... and to achieve that, I set up an SB-900 to shoot into the reflector...... two of our friends made the cumbersome reflector work...... it wasn't throwing up enough power, so, we had to bring it as close to he subject as possible..... but because of the stairs, we couldn't position the reflector above the head of the subject...... the light source was from somewhat below for all shots, which didn't really please me..... I had been planning for a boom for some time, but haven't really found a portable solution to it so far..... a boom would've helped for sure..... anyway, we shot away quite a few frames with quite a few models out there..... experimenting all the way.... I switched to 150mm lens to flatten perspective..... that allowed me to cover a very small background and still fill the frame in a full-body shot.... use of a big aperture let me reduce ambient light, underexposing the context a little.... the fill-light from the SB-900-reflector combination illumined the subjects just enough and separated them from the underexposed background..... at least, that was the idea.....
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| From Baliati Portraiture Session 2, Manikganj, May 2010 |
model: biju and hameem
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 50mm f1.4D
f4, 1/600sec, ISO 200
Strobist info:
One SB-900 on camera right on tripod shooting into a 4'x4' home-made reflector, hand-held by two friends; TTL mode; triggered by SU-800 on camera.
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| From Baliati Portraiture Session 2, Manikganj, May 2010 |
model: shabbir ferdous
Nikon D700 + Sigma APO 150mm f2.8 EX DG HSM Macro
f3.2, 1/1,000sec, ISO 200
Strobist info:
One SB-900 on camera right on tripod shooting into a 4'x4' home-made reflector, hand-held by two friends; TTL mode; triggered by SU-800 on camera.
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| From Baliati Portraiture Session 2, Manikganj, May 2010 |
model: biju
Nikon D700 + Sigma APO 150mm f2.8 EX DG HSM Macro
f3.2, 1/1,000sec, ISO 200
Strobist info:
One SB-900 on camera right on tripod shooting into a 4'x4' home-made reflector, hand-held by two friends; TTL mode; triggered by SU-800 on camera.
although we planned to leave the place by around 4:00, it wasn't until around 5:15PM when we finally drove off...... we packed our gears almost in a hurry, utilising every minute we could..... and yes, every minute was a learning.....
it was no short of a great tour...... it wasn't just a huge group, it was a huge entertainment..... a refreshing break from the hectic life.... and as I said many times, the place simply couldn't satisfy me..... there are simply too many bends left undiscovered for me.... I would spare no effort revisiting there until I've touched all the shadows in all the rooms and alleyways......
please don't forget to visit the whole gallery:
Baliati Portraiture Session 2, Manikganj, May 2010
