the K.A.K. story..... part 3

31 March 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

read the first part of the blog here....
and the second part here...

did we mention how much fun we had during the photo-session with KAK?.... can't say enough of that.... really!.... and the fun only got more concentrated when we introduced the other protagonists.... the characters who now play a very important role in the composition and relationship of KAK.... the whole story now became fluid and interesting.... the pictures speak for themselves...

the idea was to show the evolution of the group.... though the group is still known as KAK, it really showed something like KAKTP!!.... well, once you introduce people like that in your inner circle, things change forever and you have to live it, and more importantly, evolve.... and that evolution also indicated to changes in future... since we shared the images in Facebook, a lot of debate started among the friends community, and why not?.... everybody loves evolution!! :)

we introduced quite a bit of light without creating a washout... two softboxes on both sides (one 24" Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe and one 24" Shashinki softbox).... two more lights on both sides with grid-spots working as edge lights... one more light in front, bouncing off a silver reflector to act as a low fill.... a total of five lights... all small lights... four YN-560s and a Nikon SB-900.... camera was a Nikon D700 with a 28-80mm lens and trigger was an Elinchrom Skyport on two flashes... the others were all in optical trigger mode...

a lot more coming up.... stay tuned... :)
 

the drama that was always there.... part 4

10 March 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

for an intro on the session, please visit the first part of this blog....
also, have a look at the second part of the blog here....
the third part of the blog is here....

Pretty and Kamal are one of the most interesting couples we have had the chance to do a photosession with... as usual, we were thinking of building a story around them... a story that they live through everyday... we thought of bringing that story out within a dramatic context... the story would remain the same, but the screenplay would be from a drama series of some sort...

we wanted to bring out some usual happening in day-to-day life... so, we concentrated on one specific kind of conflict... a conflict that not only created distance, but also closed the gap quite quickly... every relationship has conflict... and its the wonderful way of chemistry that always finds a way to glue them together... every conflict ends up with a stronger will to get closer... that common theme of couples is portrayed here by a specific story of these two... and of course, presented in a dramatic way....

in the previous episode, we showed how Pretty comes up with her revenge after Kamal takes pleasure in his own indulgence!!....  this time we dramatise something more common.... they were both very spontaneous with their expressions.... it had to be, as it was the story of their own life.... so, it came almost naturally.... we just put them in a dramatic context to bring some action in it...

we kept the lighting as simple as possible.... we didn't want a wash of light, as we were after some uniqueness of the two characters... there had to be two sides of the characters... so, we kept a play of light and shadow on their faces.... two softboxes on two sides (one Lastolite Ezybox 24" Hotshoe and one Shashinki 24").... they were placed in a way so that the background doesn't get washed and there still remains some contrast in the image... two YN-560 flashes did the job in the two softboxes... 28-80mm lens was on the D700 and the trigger was an Elinchrom Skyport on one of the YN flashes... the other one was on optical trigger....

stay tuned for lots more... :)

the drama that was always there.... part 3

10 March 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

for an intro on the session, please visit the first part of this blog....
also, have a look at the second part of the blog here....

Pretty and Kamal are one of the most interesting couples we have had the chance to do a photosession with... as usual, we were thinking of building a story around them... a story that they live through everyday... we thought of bringing that story out within a dramatic context... the story would remain the same, but the screenplay would be from a drama series of some sort...

while playing with the contrasts, we decided to go with some unique liking and disliking... that uniqueness is what defines relationships among couples.... each couple is different and each couple have their own little story..... people may say that such stories are common... hmm... are they?.... probably they are common... but when you combine all those stories we begin to realise how unique each relationship is... its not that easy to bring out the uniqueness in each relationship... and thats why when you succeed in doing it, the satisfaction is so much more.... not just for the photographer, also for the protagonists.... they begin to understand that they are protagonists in their own drama!!

in the previous episode, we showed how Kamal was indulging in his own world.... this time, Pretty comes up with her revenge!!.... well, sort of.... she knows what puts Kamal off.... they were both very spontaneous with their expressions.... it had to be, as it was the story of their own life.... so, it came almost naturally.... we just put them in a dramatic context to bring some action in it...

we kept the lighting as simple as possible.... we didn't want a wash of light, as we were after some uniqueness of two characters... there had to be two sides of the characters... so, we kept a play of light and shadow on their faces.... two softboxes on two sides (one Lastolite Ezybox 24" Hotshoe and one Shashinki 24").... they were placed in a way so that the background doesn't get washed and there still remains some contrast in the image... two YN-560 flashes did the job in the two softboxes... 28-80mm lens was on the D700 and the trigger was an Elinchrom Skyport on one of the YN flashes... the other one was on optical trigger....

stay tuned for the rest of the story... :)

the drama that was always there.... part 2

10 March 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

for an intro on the session, please visit the first part of this blog....

Pretty and Kamal are one of the most interesting couples we have had the chance to do a photosession with... as usual, we were thinking of building a story around them... a story that they live through everyday... we thought of bringing that story out within a dramatic context... the story would remain the same, but the screenplay would be from a drama series of some sort...

one of the first stories that emerged from the couple was their love-hate relationship with certain objects and habits... every relationship has its contrasts... and sometimes the contrasts are so stark that its hard to believe that the relationship actually exists... but we tend to forget that the contrasts show the real strength of the bonding.... a bonding that is strong that despite all those contrasts, love prevails....

anyway, actually it doesn't really require any description for a series like this one.... the visuals are strong enough to understand what goes on in their minds.... Pretty and Kamal both were very spontaneous with their expressions.... it had to be, as it was the story of their own life.... so, it came almost naturally.... we just put them in a dramatic context to bring some action in it...

lighting was critical here... there had to be two layers of lighting here, as the subjects had a fair bit of gap between them.... used the 28-80mm lens (on D700) for convenience here... and was shooting between 35mm and 40mm.... this focal length gave a chance to use perspective to bring out the drama.... two softboxes (Lastolite Ezybox 24" Hotshoe and Shashinki 24") were used for the two subjects, both camera left... a YN-560 flash in each of them.... Elinchrom Ranger RX system played a secondary role as an edge-light with a grid spot... also camera left... a single YN-560 with blue gel and grid spot was on the other side to provide edge light for the subject in front of the camera... Elinchrom Skyport was the trigger used here on the Ranger unit... other flashes were on optical trigger mode...

thats it... hope to publish the rest of the story ASAP.... stay tuned... :)

the drama that was always there.... part 1

10 March 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Pretty and Kamal are one of the most interesting couples we have had the chance to do a photosession with... as usual, we were thinking of building a story around them... a story that they live through everyday... we thought of bringing that story out within a dramatic context... the story would remain the same, but the screenplay would be from a drama series of some sort...

Kamal had been a friend for long.... an old photo-buddy with whom I had many a great moments... and Pretty had become a very close friend of my family through their unique family photo-session... a very couple, we knew we would be able to make some great photos with them... as we were thinking of making drama, we decided to start off with a picture that put them in a dramatic context.... it was to be more like a formal photo, but we thought it would be nice to add a pinch of difference...

so, rather than setting a clean frame, we purposefully made the scene a bit complex... more like the set of a TV drama/movie... we left a big light in the frame with barn doors attached... and also left some of the studio stuff around the corners of the frame.... lighting was critical... we didn't want a flood of light, which would've been enough to undo all the effort that went in to design the set... a total of six lights (1 x Elinchrom Ranger RX, 4 x YN-560, 1 x SB-900) were used in this shot... two lights on camera left in two softboxes ( Lastolite Ezybox 24" Hotshoe & Shashinki 24").... Kamal and Pretty were in different height, thats why one softbox for each of them... one light with grid spot giving Pretty a hair light.... one light on Kamal from camera right to provide an edge light.... one light with blue gel and grid spot on the backdrop to add some drama.... the blue light went through some studio rigging, producing a bit of effect like 'cookies'.... and lastly, the big Elinchrom Ranger RX unit in the frame with barn doors to symbolise a movie setting.... just one Elinchrom Skyport trigger was used here... all other flashes were in optical trigger mode...

a lot more coming up... the story of Pretty and Kamal has just started... :)

back to the big whites.....

10 February 2012
Dhaka, Bangladesh

if you had been following our blog, you probably know how Tahani smashed that pile of cream!!.... well, that wasn't the end of the session for her though.... we also wanted some photos of one-year-old Tahani in her playing mood with her own possessions... one very important part of Tahani's session was that she was able to walk, with some help, of course.... we wanted to make sure that particular skill didn't get missed out, as that was actually one of the most important traits of her age....

Tahani was quite at home with her toys.... and she wasn't put off by all that photoshoot arrangements.... that was a huge plus.... but we did have to give way to her to get some rest mid way during the session.... and that rest allowed us to finish the session on a really successful note... Tahani was truly amazing... she was really expressive and spontaneous.... we just ensured that she was within the frame, as that became bit of an issue for some moments.... but we were able to handle that with ease with the help of Tahani's parents, who had been really wonderful....

now the boring technical bit.... for this whole session, we wanted to have a high-key sort of lighting.... no clutter.... hadn't shot on white backdrops for some time.... it was nice to be back to the big whites!!..... for this to work, we set two lights aiming at the white backdrop..... the YN-560s were inside the softboxes without their diffusion covers (a Lastolite 24" Ezybox Hotshoe and a Westcott 28" Apollo).... the softboxes ensured an even flow of light without falling on our little subject.... and key light was a third YN-560 flash inside a Shashinki 24" softbox.... one Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger was used on one flash and the others were in optical trigger (S1) mode.... the whole shoot was done with a 50mm f1.4 lens on a D700.... took the risk and shot in a fairly shallow DoF (f2.8-f3.2) to get a good enough recycle time with the flashes.... that put a challenge on getting a proper focus, as Tahani wasn't really in her static mood... but it turned out fine, especially because the faster recycle allowed for more moments to be captured...

a lot more to come.....

three lights and a bit of bokeh....

10 February 2012
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Tahani just turned one and it was time for us to prepare.... this strobist assignment had its own challenges and uniqueness.... we prepared ourselves for a cake-smashing event... each one-year-old has his/her own style when it comes to handling a big pile of creamy yummies!!... and we knew that Tahani would have her own style as well... and while Tahani was thinking in her mind what on earth was going on in their house, we proceeded with the set-up!!....

anyway, Tahani didn't get her excitement going at first.... she was more like at a loss.... but after a bit of encouragement from her parents, she got herself going..... and once she proceeded with it, there was no stopping her!!.... before the session was over, she had cream all over her body.... but it was fun like no other.... she had a field day with her freedom.... it was her day and there was nobody to stop her!!

big thanks to Tahani's parents who showed all the enthusiasm and spontaneity to make this session happen.... I was still a bit out of sorts from the prolonged illness... but didn't want the moment to slip away.... that child would have these pictures as a treasure for the rest of her life.... so, I decided to give priority to things that should get priority.... and we are glad that we did....

now the boring tech stuff..... we wanted an illuminated backdrop, but didn't want it absolutely washed out.... there had to be some degree of separation between the backdrop elements and our little subject... the first separation was provided by the aperture; as we used a pretty wide aperture with the 50mm lens on D700.... f3.2 created just enough DoF to put backdrop elements out of focus, yet keeping enough in focus to let us know what they were.... and the second separation was provided by those subdued lights.... two lights on the backdrop.... two YN-560 flashes in two softboxes (Lastolite 24" Ezybox Hotshoe and Westcott 28" Apollo).... kept the diffusion on the softboxes to keep harshness away.... the bokeh on the elements needed to be as soft as possible.... using a second light on the backdrop also had the aim of eliminating shadows, which might have made the bokeh a bit harsher and more prominent than desired....

the main light was another YN-560 in a Shashinki 24" softbox.... used only one Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger to trigger one flash.... the others were in optical trigger (S1) mode.... the room had a lot of light, but not enough to give it a good direction... so, we couldn't shoot in available light, rather needed to bring the available light down..... 1/200sec shutter solved most of the problems, although some remained....

a second part of this shoot is coming up..... so, stay tuned!!

just a couple of lights and a lot of improvisation....

20-21 January 2012
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

we were traveling to Rajshahi to attend the wedding of one of my close in-laws.... if you had been following our blog of late, you probably know this from the earlier blog post.... apart from some exclusive portrait of the couple during the event, we were aiming for some exclusive portraits of the bride.... portraits that most of the time get missed out in Bangladeshi weddings....

we went to Rajshahi with the minimum amount of equipment for portraiture.... two small flashes (YN-560) and a softbox (Lastolite 24" Ezybox Hotshoe).... we had a small program at the bride's home the day before the real event... so, we did some run-and-gun type portraits during the event.... we couldn't make everyone wait.... so, had to do it the quickest way possible.... I decided to use the 85mm lens for some shallow DoF.... @f2.8, it was really shallow... and in fact, I had work hard to keep my focus in the right place.... and this became even more complicated once I found out that the bride's room was reflecting too much light out of the white walls even when I was using the softbox.... I wanted the backdrop darkened out.... so, had to move up to the program stage on the roof to get the portraits done.... and there were lots of lights on that stage!!..... we made the lights (all the lights) go out!!.... yes, people were in complete darkness, literally!!.... and thank God that my D700 came with something called "focus assist"..... using that, I was able to focus in absolute darkness.... now the backdrop disappeared almost completely.... the whole session (from the start of the shoot in the bride's room to the finishing of the shoot on the rooftop) was done within 14 minutes!!.... and even for that wait, some words had to be swallowed by us..... never had the time to set up a backlight, which could've added a nice separation from the black backdrop.... anyway, sometimes you just have to live with what you have....

after the wedding day couple portraits, we had some time left..... it was late at night, but there was time.... just because according to the event agreement, the bride was coming back home.... another event would be there for the groom to take the bride with him.... anyway, that left us with another opportunity to do some more exclusive portraits..... we were particularly aiming to utilise the nice personal room of the bride, who had a bit of creative touch in her decorations.... in 2010, I had already had the opportunity to use her room for some portraits of her and also took some portraits of Lamisa there using some gel filters... so, it would've been just unfair if we felt too tired at the end of the day....

that said, we setup our lights in a hurry and went down to work.... but this time, that one softbox won't be enough, as the aim was to bring some elements in the room as well..... yet, we didn't want the whole room washed in light, which would've made it really dull.... to make it happen, we put up a YN-560 on camera left (the softbox was on camera right) and aimed it straight towards the white ceiling.... had to be careful though, as the walls weren't completely white.... on a D700, it was a 28-80mm lens... shooting @f8...

we got lucky with the expressions of the bride... she was very spontaneous and needed little instructions.... it was another short, but pleasant portrait session.... the best part of this late-night photoshoot was that we had a lot of fun.... the earlier two sessions were far from fun.... we were literally on the run.... a positive break is always welcome....

a lot more to come....