a turning point.........

04 September 2010
TTL Photowalk at a Jute Mill in Narayanganj, Bangladesh

one of my most important photowalks..... not just because I haven't been at a jute mill before, but because I took my photography to a whole new direction with this tour..... the strobist effort that I had been pursuing in recent times brought me to the ultimate utilisation of strobes..... in a documentary role.....

the moment i thought about the place, I knew that it would be a very poorly-lit area.... and it would be difficult to get a proper exposure, especially if I am trying to take a portrait...... this was exactly the kind of situation where a strobe could become the difference between a picture a no-picture..... and I was glad that I dragged my heavy bag over there..... and I was blessed by the help other extended to me..... mostly Zaim and Nasif.... they helped me too much really..... it was sapping heat, yet they voluntarily wanted to work as a voice-activated-light-stand (VAL)...... others also helped me at times, especially Newaz and Sureed....

I mostly used a single SB-900, sometimes through a white shoot-through umbrella (for portraits) and sometimes bare (for place lighting)..... I also took a small tripod to work as a light-stand...... a second SB-900 was resting in my bag..... the SU-800 that I used for triggering was disappointing..... it missed trigger almost too many times..... and lastly, it failed totally with the expiry of the battery, right when I stopped a worker to take his portrait!!..... I learned a lesson here..... I quickly replaced the SU-800 with the built-in commander of the D700.... it worked.... the SU-800 battery came alive again after a while and continued to use it....... and then I switched to Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers.... I wanted the versatility of TTL settings, which prevented me from starting with the Elinchroms.... but now I was forced to...... the SU-800 failed on quite a few occasions.... one of the reasons can be that the unit's battery was at its last position.... may be the power required for a decent signal wasn't there..... anyway, a back-up in the form of the built-in flash commander of the D700 and the Elinchrom saved me..... I could continue the way I wanted it....

this tour was a turning point for me..... its for sure that I wouldn't leave home without a strobist system if I think that there might be a situation where I might need it....

hope to publish a blog-post on my travel blog soon enough.....


face of the Golden Fibre........01


an exhausted worker; a tired face; a dedicated father; a hard-working citizen...... its the sweat on these bodies that made jute 'Golden Fibre' of Bangladesh...... the industry dipped hard; but is showing all signs of making a comeback..... Gold will be Gold again......

Strobist info: 1 SB-900 shot TTL through a white shoot-through umbrella held by a voice-activated-light-stand (Zaim) on camera right; triggered by built-in flash of Nikon D700 (as the battery in my SU-800 ran out at the worst possible moment!)




face of the Golden Fibre........02

the look on the face of these jute workers tell the story of jute..... the lines on their face describe the history of the industry....... and the sweat on their metaled body tell the story of their life....... its the face of the 'Golden Fibre' of Bangladesh

Strobist info: 1 SB-900 shot TTL through a white shoot-through umbrella held by a voice-activated-light-stand (Zaim) on camera right; triggered by SU-800