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....

on the stage, after a while....

 21 January, 2012
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

its been a while since I had been active blogging.... in fact, not just blogging, all activities took a dive south with my health condition.... thanks to Almighty, I'm now on a fast recovery trail.... it feels great to be back again.... anyway, back to work....

went to Rajshahi for a few days in January.... and that opened some opportunities for doing something different.... its been a while since I had taken my camera to a wedding..... so, it was time to revive the memories.... in fact, last time I did any kind of wedding portrait, I wasn't even a strobist!.... so, playing the role of a strobist in a wedding ceremony was something new for me.... its not something that I would on any given day..... not my job, for sure.... ceremonies in Bangladesh are just too typical to allow anything atypical.... we, in fact, had to push quite a bit to get these pictures done.....

it was the wedding of one of the closest cousins of my wife.... so, it was more like a wedding present to carry all that photo gear there.... we needed to convince both the parties to buy that little bit of time for an exclusive photoshoot of the bride and the groom.... the bargain worked out well enough.... the conditions weren't ideal, as we had to work with less than ideal stuff.... carried only two flashes to Rajshahi; so, had to deal with that.... I guess needed 3 or 4 lights there.... anyway, you just have to work with whatever is available in your hands at that moment.... there's no point talking about ideal scenarios....

we wanted to get one official portrait, and some jolly moments with the ring as well.... used two lights (as there was no more flashes).... the main light was a YN-560 inside a Lastolite 24" Ezybox Hotshoe softbox.... and the second light was a backlight; another YN-560.... both the flashes were triggered using Elinchrom Skyport... couldn't rely on optical trigger for one flash, as there were other people there with cameras.... used a Sigma 150mm lens (on D700) to flatten perspective.... it really was necessary, as the backdrop was pretty much widespread and multiple colours; making it hard to adjust in any kind of framing....

there was a big challenge placing the softbox, as the groom was wearing fancy glasses with a parabolic design.... that made me put the main light in places where didn't want to.... and as I didn't have a third light, cutting shadows became an issue...

did some more exclusive portraiture at Rajshashi with the bride, which I hope to cover in another detailed blog post..... so, stay tuned....

a lot more coming up....

playing with gels.....

07 September 2011
Rajshahi, Bangladesh


this is the last strobist blog post on the Rajshahi tour.... have tried a lot of things on this tour.... though limited by the things I could carry, I had enough to experiment more than once.... the only thing that I needed was time.... on our last day at Rajshahi, we didn't have a lot of flexibility with time.... it was evening before we could finally make some photos.... Lamisa put on her glittering Jaipuri dress, which brought ideas..... Proma's room was well-decorated and had some traditional stuff.... so, I decided to blend those items with Lamisa's dress.... to achieve that, I needed extreme control of light.... I didn't want a washout.... but at the same time, I wanted some drama to go with the dress and posture..... enter the red gel filter.... I placed an SB-900 with a red gel on it outside the window on a Phottix lightstand, which added some drama and filled up a rather dull portion of the white wall... the main light was a 24" Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe softbox.... my wife held it for me almost parallel to the ground to reduce light spill..... and finally I held a 34" collapsible reflector in front of me to fill up some of the shadows on Lamisa's face....








the second setup was a bit different and again went with Lamisa's attire.... the bright yellow dress she was wearing, went well with a contrasty blue backdrop.... used a blue gel on an SB-900 to throw light on the back wall.... and changed the direction of the Lastolite softbox.... I didn't want any light from the main light source to ruin the contrast of the background... used a reflector in front to throw back some light, as the softbox was virtually behind the subject.... it was a really difficult shoot as Lamisa became impatient and didn't give us enough time to correct any errors!... used Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers for the shoot, as one of the flashes was outside the room, beyond sight....









thats the last of the blogs from Rajshahi..... but did a lot more shooting during the holidays.... so, more coming up.....

Puthia rediscovered.....

06 September 2011
Puthia Palace
Puthia, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

its been a while since I last visited Puthia in May 2008.... the beauty of the ancient architecture there amazed me and also left me in sort of a shock!.... I knew I was gonna go there once again... but couldn't manage the time to actually do it... pushed by my in-laws, this time I was finally able to make my second visit there.... and what better way to go there than to take my in-laws there, most of whom had not seen the place.... I had documented the place before with the help of Mr. Biswanath Das..... I have the intention of doing some more work there.... but with the family with you, its time to do something different... just as I did at Rani Bhabani's Palace, I worked with portraits within the ancient settings.... we were already a bit tired from the day-long tour.... so, we kept the number of pictures within some sort of a control....

we met the second caretaker there who helped us look at all the major buildings, starting from the One-Quarter Estate (Char-Ana Estate), down to the magnificent Anhik Temple, and the great Govinda Temple alongside the main palace.... the light inside the One-Quarter Estate was excellent, which made me bring out the camera and do some portraiture there..... we stayed for a while at the Govinda Temple, and also at the Rani Ghat in front of a big water-tank... the last leg of the journey obviously ended at the magnificent Shiv Temple.... we met the two caretakers together there.... met Mr. Biswanath there after more than three years, but he was able to recognise me, which was a good feeling....

my feel for the place deepened with the changes I've observed there.... may be I would write on that in a separate blog..... but this tour definitely encouraged me to plan another visit there with some specific aims.....

blogging from the Rajshahi tour hasn't finished yet... more coming up.... :)

making day.....

05 September 2011
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

the first day at Rajshahi.... its been almost a year since the last tour of Rajshahi..... the day was quite eventful as we had already explored the bank of the Padma and some other nice places on the outskirts of the City.... now it was time to do something different in the evening.... with the sun down, we had to adapt.... I had brought minimal equipment on this tour, so I needed to improvise for everything.... and as I'm virtually without any editing platform, most of the posts here are to done with minimal PP work... anyway, lets get to the shoot.....

Proma's well-decorated room brought the idea of some environmental portraits.... the show-pieces on the wall, tables and floor caught my eyes and gave me thought that I must have some photos here.... the room is supposed to look best in early morning daylight conditions..... but it was evening; no sunlight.... and the room doesn't  really receive direct sun..... so, I had to tweak something to make it look like a day shoot.... I put an SB-900 with a warm gel filter in the hands of an assistant (Shoma) outside the window and used a 24" Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe softbox as a fill light from the right with another SB-900 inside (on Manfrotto monopod, held by my wife).... both the flashes were triggered by Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers....

the result was some kind of a moody picture with lots elements and warmth.... my subject was also full of expressions and ideas, which made my work easier.... the space inside the room and outside the window were causing a bit of inconvenience, but thats something expected on different locations.... the walls need to be corrected a bit in PP.... it would've been nice if I could set the softbox on the left of the frame, making it look more natural.... but that would've meant changing the whole frame.... didn't wanna do that though.... anyway, the shoot went on smoothly, more or less....

more to come from the tour.....

daylight plus one.....

05 September 2011
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

on the first day of our Rajshahi tour, we had the opportunity to visit the bank of the Padma only for a short period of time.... we went on a nice visit on the outskirts of the city, from where it took almost too long to reach the Padma.... yet, we rushed and had been able to extract at least several shots out of the almost missed opportunity..... the sky was superb and produced that dramatic backdrop you always dream about.... we actually missed the best colours as we had to pack several minutes earlier than ideal because of security concerns... we could see the western skies go red while we were going back..... I used a single light source and mixed it with a dramatic sunset backdrop.... there was hardly any daylight, but whatever was left of it, was enough to encourage us to shoot.... I only had to provide some fill....

I had been privileged with some basic help, which isn't easy to find.... I had enough assistance for the one light I was using to augment the sun; well, if there was any left of it.... used a single SB-900 flash inside a 24" Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe softbox, triggered by an Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger.... the softbox was mounted on top of a Manfrotto monopod, which was held by several of my kins in turn.... had to change the settings quickly to adjust to the changing light situation...

some key lessons learned from this.....

lesson 1: show up early..... yea, I knew this all along, but rediscovered this once again.... we were too late to reach and setup.... the sun was already on its way down when we had our first shot.... most shots were done after the sun had actually set....




lesson 2: don't waste time.... when you are shooting against the clock, you keep your experiments to the minimum.... look for the one shot that you this should be the winner.... reduce the time between changes of subjects and changes of settings to the minimum.... I kept the settings simple, with one light.... I had prefabricated most stuff to save time during preparations.....

lesson 3: look for the opportunity..... it was a very public place... and there were so many people going about the place that it was pretty difficult to compose.... I had to persuade quite a few onlookers to step out of the frame.... had to wait for the best moments when the background cleared.... it was difficult to get the best combination of expression, composition and moments.... so, it was sort of a compromise all along....



lesson 4: have patience.... we did miss the best colours.... we left too early.... I was ruining the fact that we left 5 minutes too early.... I knew that in sunset shooting, you should wait for a while to let the colours have a chance.... but I had little chance with everyone around me clamouring about security.....



it was a nice day's shooting though with some good memories... these shots are almost straight out of the camera with very little adjustment.... I guess most of my posts from Rajshahi would look like this.... a lot more coming up, including the evening strobist venture.....

a day of goodbye........

17 October 2010
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

my busy days at Rajshahi were about to end.... a sad time actually, since we had such a wonderful time with the family and the life here in this city is so different from the busy and dirty Dhaka.... would've stayed back if I could.... the hospitality and friendliness of the in-laws were truly amazing.... this tour would surely remain in memory.....

we didn't have any program for the day, as we were to start our journey by train in the afternoon by around 4:00PM..... I planned some shoots at home with my "available" models.... there were quite a few and they were very much willing to give their time.....

I made some serious error regarding ISO settings.... the night before, I was shooting at Puja Mandap with available light, using auto ISO.... forgot to change the setting next day for Elinchrom Skyport.... I now know that once the Elinchrom is on top of the camera, the camera doesn't know that flash is being used, thats why the camera starts to set ISO level considering available light only...... a big lesson for me..... of course, with the SU-800 on the camera, the camera shoots at the lowest ISO unless told specifically to change ISO....


model: bornona
Camera info:
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D + Elincrom Skyport radio trigger
f18, 1/200sec,ISO6400 (didn't notice it was at that level!! :O)
Strobist info:
1 SB-900 with warm gel filter, on improvised boom stand, around 8-9ft high, around 15-20ft away, triggered with Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger


model: niloy
Camera info:
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 70-210mm f4-5.6D + Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger
105mm, f8, 1/200sec. ISO 6400 (didn't notice it was at that level!! :O)
Strobist info:
1 SB-900 shooting through a 2'x2' diffusion panel, held overhead with the help of three improvised booms, triggered by Elinchrom Skyport
1 SB-900 with warm gel, on tripod behind subject, triggered in SU-4 mode (optical trigger from the other strobe)
1 white reflector held below the subject's face clipped to the boom stand


the last shot was a group shot..... I had planned so much for this.... the rooftop was a superb place for this.... but the weather simple wasn't helping us..... it rained quite a bit and made me set-up everything indoors..... was quite a bit cramped up within the room, trying to cover so many faces at the same time and getting to light everyone's face properly..... I wish I could be in the group shot, along with my child.... but it wasn't to be..... a better weather might've give this better opportunity....


Camera info:
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D + SU-800 TTL trigger
f8, 1/125sec, ISO200 (auto ISO chose the lowest setting)
Strobist info:
1 SB-900 overhead, shooting through a 4'x4' diffusion panel, all held by three improvised boom stands
1 SB-900 from right in front, on table, shooting through a 4'x4' diffusion panel, parked on the floor almost vertical
Editing:
used the lens correction feature in Photoshop CS3 to correct distortion created by 20mmm wide angle lens


same setting as above, but no need for perspective correction

anyway, it was the end of a lovely time...... and it also reminded me of what is to expect within a day..... office, that is!!! :(

Durga Nobomi.....

16 October 2010
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

was having a very busy day at Rajshahi..... went to the Silk Village during the day and then made it to the Durga Puja celebrations in the evening..... me and my uncle had planned this depending on the info received from priests the day earlier.... we were planning to catch the Arti, which was supposed to happen sometime around 8:00PM.... we also had a dilemma of some sort with the time we could spend there.... we had a family dinner almost coinciding with this event.... so, we had to cut short our venture by some margin...... still managed to get enough time to visit two separate Puja Mandaps....

had a glimpse of Arti at both the places.... used a flash in one of the Mandaps to accentuate the lighting at the scene a little..... my uncle was to the rescue once again..... a very friendly guy indeed..... and we forgot our age differences for a while.... he also enjoyed the experience, as I guessed.... used the SU-800 as trigger, as I didn't have the choice of changing power in the remote flash..... at the other Mandap, I was relying completely on the ISO performance of my D700....... took as many shots as I could and filled the card..... it was a rather short venture, but an enjoyable one.....

the silkworms!!

16 October 2010
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

had a nice day at the Silk Village at Rajshahi..... haven't visited the silk producing facilities before.... and I was a bit surprised to see easy access with a camera.... actually they do appreciate documentation there, as it helps to promote the industry....

its one of those weird, but interesting experiences, seeing all those worms creeping over and under.... I would've loved to have a macro lens with me to do the job.... but in absence of that, I concentrated on some environmental documentation.... wasn't my intention to make a photo-story out of this, but certainly it was an eye-opener in many respects..... something that might just give that push one day.... :)

learned quite a few things.... its interesting to know that we grow these creepy-crawlies ourselves rather than trying to use some sorta bug-spray!!..... its a weird world!!.... you never know what can give you what.... nothing in this world is without a reason.... they all have their uses.... these bugs come to this world for a mere 45 days!!.... and within these 45 days, they give us 500 yards of silk!!!.... unbelievable, isn't it??.....

I used a single SB-900 with a shoot-through white umbrella for the shoots.... the light was on VALs (acted by my wife and alternatively my sister-in-law).... trigger was with Elinchrom Skport radio trigger..... didn't want to take any chances with SU-800, in case I ran into some out-of-line-of-sight lighting requirements....

my thanks goes to Sapura Silk for letting us shoot there and also thanks to the employees there for their generosity.... special thanks to Ms. Naznin for explaining everything in so much detail....


a very short life they have.... they hatch to mate and produce the eggs..... after that, they die...



the eggs hatch and produce the worms that take around a month to grow up.....



a whole garden of plants just to feed the worms.....



constant monitoring is important to make sure that the worms do not reach their maturity in the inappropriate place....



their colour says when they are ready to start making their cocoon....



the worms are then placed in a maze-like place where they cover themselves with the cocoon..... and that where the silk comes from.....



the worms are then killed and the cocoons boiled to get the silk.....



then the silk is readied for the next processing.........



raw silk has quite a colour.......



the silk then goes through various machines to be ready for commercial use....

dragging shutter.........

15 October 2010
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

I actually started to like the city the moment I stepped there..... Rajshahi doesn't have the hustle and bustle of busy and polluted Dhaka.... it may not have all the facilities that you get in Dhaka, but who says you will need all of those there?.... its a much more peaceful city..... and city that makes one from Dhaka stay there.... anyway, I started to plan things right after my arrival there.... even though my arrival was a bit later than we planned, my wife made sure that things went as smoothly as possible..... it was a very hectic first evening at Rajshahi.... but a really enjoyable one....

we arranged for a sort of a barbecue on the roof at the dead of night.... and while that was going on, we did some sort of a night-time portraiture there.... the idea was to give sort of an environmental feel to the picture, rather than making a bland portrait..... I had quite a few subjects for the night, as my in-laws were really appreciating the slow and geeky effort!!..... they stayed with me even though the last shot was not finished before 2:08 AM!!


model: proma


model: upoma


I dragged shutter to include the lights in the distance and their reflections on the water-tank right beside..... an this long shutter also brought a fluorescent light in the back window come into play..... I also faced a tungsten light on the roof, which showed up as a result of the long exposure... this was adding some ghost to the image.... so, I replaced it with a flash with warm gel..... also added a hair light, which wasn't placed properly enough to really make an impact.... the key light was in an improvised 2'x2' softbox on overhead booms.... the whole setup was clumsy, but it worked..... couldn't get enough space to place a reflector under the subject..... and didn't have a fourth flash to use as fill from below.... relocating the hair light to be used as a fill light didn't really materialize.... anyway, it needs a bit of touching to reduce the shadows now....

could've done the whole thing through some composite image..... combining several shots..... well, thats not actually my job..... I just want this done in go or I won't do it at all.....

Camera info:
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 20mm f2.8D + SU-800 TTL trigger; on tripod
f11, 20sec, ISO200
Strobist info:
1 SB-900 in an improvised 2'x2' softbox overhead subject; held with the help of improvised booms.
1 SB-600 on tripod as hair light behind subject.
1 SB-900 on tripod with warm gel filter behind subject on camera right