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 K.A.K. story..... part 1

31 March 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

the original proposal for this photo-session came from Kamrul, an old photographer buddy of mine... a very popular photographer among the online photographers' community here in Bangladesh.... the basic idea of this photo-shoot was to highlight the exclusive friendship of Kamrul, Arif and Kamal... K.A.K., which is what they choose to call themselves... ("kak" in Bangla means "crow")... these three friends had a lotta photos taken as they're part of a pretty large photography group... so, it was a real challenge to do a photo-shoot that would not just tell a story of relationship, but would be different from all others photographs of theirs previously taken...


with Arif and Kamal already married, and Kamrul still being single, the story had some twists and turns that were dramatic in themselves... but we had to figure out where to start and where to finish up... we had a lotta brainstorming before we touched the camera... practicality prevented some of the photos... but that also opened the opportunity to tell an even better story...

every story has a start... and to start with, we decided to concentrate on the very backbone of their relationship... photography.... photography is the thing that brought them together and made them bosom friends... this friendship is a lot different from friendships that start in student life... having found one another during a more matured period of their lives, their story had more matured thoughts... anyway, their closeness was carried on by social networking.... that networking included physical hangouts, web chat, and mobile chat.... another very important thing that brought them on the same level field was their professional backgrounds.... they all work in the field of information technology.... that made it much easier for them to integrate different technological advances and put them to use....

to show this base of their friendship, we decided to make a photo that would not just show photography as the real base, it should also show their tech savviness and networking skills... this called for a complex lighting scenario.... we used a total of six lights for this one.... three YN-560 flashes were hidden on each of their laps which illuminated their faces and resembled the lights coming out their electronic gadgets... a fourth flash, a Nikon SB-900 was on top with grid-spot to put a focus light on the camera... we needed some fill light, as some details needed to been seen as well... the devices in their hands and also the networking cables coming out of their devices and joining up with the camera needed to be seen properly.... fill light was given by an Elinchrom Ranger RX + 100cm Rotalux "Deep Octa" unit on camera left and a fifth speedlite, a YN-560 was on camera right bouncing from white wall... the fill flashes reduced contrast to some extent.... camera was D700 with 28-80mm lens.... one Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger was used... all the other flashes were in optical trigger mode...

stay tuned for much more... :)

under the Minar....

The Making of TTL Group Shot at Shaheed Minar
17 March 2012
Central Shaheed Minar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

TTL's (Through the Lens: Bangladesh group of Flickr) group shoot right before the Bangladesh in Frames (BIF) exhibit has become something of a yearly event for the last several years now... its an event that produces a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of expectation... last year's shoot at Martyred Intellectuals Monument was a big success and created expectations for this year.... its never an easy job to handle that many people for a single shot... there isn't anything called perfect that you can achieve from such a shoot... usually you end up being happy with something that is workable... and because of the involvement of so many people, luck plays a important part as well... meticulous preparation leaves less to luck and can make the shoot look more an outcome of planning... that was ultimately the aim, but there are always some things that just don't go according to plan.... and you have work around it... thats the reality... always...

anyway, the shoot's original idea came from Avik Bhai (Avikbangalee)... he devised the the idea of shooting in front of the Central Shaheed Minar... we were to illuminate the Minar with light in low light conditions and bring everyone's face out in the dark with another source of light... that source of light would probably be candles.... so, candles in the foreground in everyone's hands and flash on the Minar... some drama it is... but it had its inherent challenges...

I paid a visit to the Central Shaheed Minar couple of days ahead of the shoot to do some feasibility study.... the main problem there was getting a formal permission... I went there on a Thursday and the crowd there was appreciable... Saturday (shooting day) was likely to attract even more people... and the more people there, the harder it would be to get a cleared ground.... and without a formal approval, people are not likely hear us... there weren't any big shooting challenges though... the only challenge came from the big lights there on the sides.... the lights may cause flare on the lens if they somehow end up in the frame's corners...the lights were possible to be kept out through composition though.... if the group was positioned in the centre, right in front of the Minar, it would be much easier to avoid the lights... but if we wanted to be a bit creative and shoot from a corner, there were possibilities of getting the lights in the frame... because of the stairs in the front of the Minar, use of some sort of ladder was a must to get a bit higher vantage point.... on the shooting day, we decided to shoot from a corner, which also presented with a higher vantage point... and with the ladder on top of the position, it was even higher.... this corner position allowed us to use some creative composition, using some designs (Alpona) on the ground that were drawn during last 21st February, International Mother Language Day...

safe shot at 5:39PM

the other thing that played a very important part on the shooting day was weather.... it already rained before the shoot and threatened to wash it away while we were shooting.... in fact, we were just about lucky as heavens broke down the moment we packed things up!!... the weather dictated the duration of the shoot.... because of the time constraints set by weather, we went for the safe shots at the start... just available light... f9 for depth and shutter between 1/60 and 1/160sec.... pushed the ISO with consent from Avik Bhai, as the light was really low to start with.... he was going to be end user of the photo, as the huge banner to be produced in front of Drik Gallery for the exhibit was to be ultimate outcome of this shoot, and Avik Bhai was to be the editing guru for that... we shot at 1600 ISO.... and got at least something if it rained off completely...

 second shot at 5:56PM

as rain stayed off after the safe shot, we went for the second try.... we used a similar setup as that of last year's.... one big light illuminating the group and the Minar to be illuminated only by ambient light, which was by then pretty low.... one Elinchrom Ranger RX unit was the main light for this... f11 aperture, shutter varied between 1/60 and 1/20sec.... because of the use of flash, we could bring down ISO to 250...

 final shot at 6:26PM

with the second shot done, we could go for the ultimate idea... the one with candles... it was difficult still, as it was windy, but it wasn't raining as yet... although there was lightning around... it went dark enough to light the candles... this time we moved the Ranger unit to the back and illuminated the Minar with it in 'full power'.... yep, that it... all 1,100w/s of it!!... the group was illuminated by six speedlites (4 x YN-560 + 2 x SB-900)... now, why use speedlights when you have two candles in everyone's hands?.... well, this picture was to be printed really big... sharpness was critical... if we exposed for the candles, there was a possibility that candle lights on the faces would make the faces blurry.... it not physically possible for 60+ people to stay absolutely still for a period longer than 1/15sec... so, we decided to expose for the flash keeping just a bit of exposure from the candles... f10, ISO 100.... it was possible to bring out the faces more in post production, but the image wouldn't lose sharpness in that case...

final output.... edited by Avikbangalee

we used Elinchrom Skyport trigger for the shoot... one receiver was with the Ranger unit... and two with two speedlights... the other four speedlights were in optical trigger mode, taking orders from the other flashes.... Avik Bhai's name doesn't need mentioning as he was co-producer of the shoot... big thanks to Shudipto, Kamal, Tahmid, Hameem and others for helping with the shoot in many ways.... Nasif gets all the credit for the BTS video shooting... and how can I not thank everyone else for their patience and enthusiasm?.... it was the spirit of TTL that lived through.... it rained heavily right after the shoot... in fact, it was already raining when we were packing things up.... we needed some hands to keep the equipment safe....it was a great experience... and was lots of fun....



don't forget to enjoy the BTS video... lots more blog posts coming.... stay tuned....

once in a while....

22 October 2011
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

motherhood is a once in a while thing for most.... its one of those extraordinary times when a person discovers the biggest gift she got from her creator.... these extraordinary times last for a short while and leave a deep impression.... on last Saturday, we were after some moments that would live in memory and leave a deep impression....







huge thanks to Sadia Sharmin.... Sadia, a very accomplished artist, is one of those people who own the frame.... she had displayed her works of art in well-publicised exhibit... and to aid our effort even further, her exhibit was all about her experiences during her first-time pregnancy.... artists are great subjects with their creations.... they easily create a bonding between the photograph and the viewer.... its almost like subjects within subjects.... their creations not just characterise their creators, but also help the viewer to find the very purpose of the photograph.... its only been a day since I had a first ever session with an artist... now, I have two experiences.... and they are both unique....





as an artist, Sadia's creative help made our photo-shoot doubly effective.... she was full of ideas... her perception about framing and lighting made the session so much easier for us.... and how can I ever forget to give huge thanks to Firoze Bhai for making the couple shots so much more intimate.... their first child, Israar, was a bit on the edge at times, but he was managed, mainly by his Dad.... the group shot was very challenging... it wasn't the perfect one, but it was satisfactory in the end considering the 'availability' of Israar....













on the technical end, the first setup (first three pics) was based on two lights.... control of light was the key here... I used an arch between two rooms to control the spill of light on the back wall... Elinchrom Ranger + 120cm x 50cm Simpex softbox was the key light.... SB-900 + Westcott Apollo 28" softbox was the edge light....

the second setup (next two pics) was a bit more challenging.... used the Ranger as the key light and used an SB-900 with a grid-spot... the photo with Sadia and Israar was done almost instantaneously... and as Israar was much more difficult to manage, I just clicked away as the chance arrived....

the third setup (next six images) was much simpler.... two lights on two sides... Ranger + 120cm x 50cm softbox and SB-900 + Westcott Apollo 28" softbox... the third shot in this setup was the result of the SB-900 not coping up.... it was an accidental discovery, more or less... but the shadows and contrasts created by the one-light setup gave the whole thing a different mood....

much much more to come....

arts and artist....

21 October 2011
Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh

the type of portrait that I like most is probably environmental portrait... I almost invariably get attracted to the environment that somehow defines the subject... its one of the easier ways to talk about a person.... sure it gets complicated sometimes, and sometimes it isn't even possible... but I do look for an environment around a person.... almost always....

I've always wanted to photograph artists.... I tend to get fascinated by their ways of thinking... their eyes are not like others.... its almost like an extra sensory perception.... and not being in contact with a lot of artists, I grew an interest of photographing artists.... several months back, I got to know that one of my young colleagues possesses the unique abilities of an artist... the moment I learned about his special skills, I decided to photograph him....



but deciding to photograph and actually doing it turned out to be quite far from each other.... it took several months to finally reach an agreement on a specific date and time.... in fact, it was instigated by the coming departure of one of our esteemed colleagues for a far-away country.... Riad, my young colleague, is also a great cook... he decided to invite some of our co-workers to taste his superb dishes.... I gave my consent without a delay... well, not for the feast though... rather I took the opportunity to have the portrait session that we had been planning for so long.... and reaching there, I discovered that his multi-talented hands.... the steaks were awesome!!



I instantly got stirred by the disorganised nature of his room.... there's an absent-mindedness about him... his mind doesn't live in this world for the whole day for sure... the arts hanging and lying around his room instantly catches attention of a visitor... heavily inspired by comic books and characters, his works carry marks of his individuality and uniqueness.... not being an art critic myself I only took note of his philosophies behind some of his most favourite works... I somehow enjoyed that session even though I couldn't relate to all the words he uttered!... its the honesty with which he described and critiqued his own works that fascinated me...



anyway, the portrait session was not too simple, but not that complex either.... it was evening and the sun was down.... so, there was no question of using ambient light..... used a Westcott Apollo 28" softbox as the main light with an SB-900 inside.... another SB-900 was with a grid-spot, illuminating the art-cluttered wall.... used a Nikkor 20mm lens to bring all of that environment in the frame....

I tried to keep the whole shoot as representative as possible... moved around a few things including covering up an air-conditioner unit with an art-piece... also photographed Riad with his unfinished works.... doing some final retouch.... with the same setup.... in the same way and place where he actually does it.... the whole shoot was done within a very short time.... its only the setup that took a bit of time... big thanks to Riad for the lovely evening.... and also for being so spontaneous with the session.... his enthusiasm in explaining his works gave me cues about arranging the frame and lighting...

a lot more to come....

perfect memories in an imperfect world.... part one

15 October 2011
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

on assignment.... my photog buddy Arif came into our makeshift studio with his life-partner Tajia.... it was a session long planned for.... and thank God that it finally worked for all of us.... we had been in contact for the last several days to make this session as relevant as possible.... our idea was to make sure that the photos represent the people and their relationship..... not just in a literal sense, but also in the world of symbolism and emotional attachment.... the pictures had to talk.... a set of formal portraits are good to remember after years, but a set of memories are so much more.... and thats what we had been aiming for....

this required a lotta teamwork... both the subjects were involved in the planning and the shoot.... and our three-member shooting team (my wife, the Creative Director; me, the photog and Lamisa, the cheerleader!!) was also busy setting things up.... we also wanted to make sure that the overall shoot wasn't just a set of photos to remember, it was more of an experience.... we had a lotta fun....

Arif and Tajia are a wonderful couple.... just got married recently.... made for each other.... but you have to talk to them to find out what glues them together.... its one of those unsolved mysteries of God that keeps millions of couples around the world together under the same roof.... no relationship is a perfect relationship.... every relationship revolves around a "chemistry" that mixes the contrasts and commonalities, and brings balance.... we were trying to show that same "chemistry" between our two lovely subjects....






I would try to publish the whole story in parts, as it would become a bit too big for one post.... and would also put a lotta pressure on me to publish.... this first part of the shoot concentrates on some of the contrasts and common interests of the couple.... and as said before, not just in a literal sense.... we were in the process of creating a drama, which wouldn't just be of interest to the couple, but to others as well.... and also tried to keep the symbolism to its limits....






as per the tech stuff is concerned, the ones with the blue tone was the more difficult of the two setups.... used a blue gel filter on an SB-900, bounced from a white paper pasted to the dumb monitor, which symbolized a TV.... another light was a YN-560 shooting through a Lastolite 24" Ezybox Hotshoe softbox, which was the key light, hanging from a Manfrotto monopod, held by my wife... used a 20mm lens to bring all of that in the frame and to create a perspective..... the second setup was a simple one with the Lastolite softbox as the only light source... used a 70-210mm lens to shoot those.... trigger was Elinchrom Skyport, and optical trigger for one light when two lights were used....








the expressions in the images surpassed my expectations, really.... you never know what you are capable of doing, until you really do it... and Arif and Tajia proved exactly that.... a simple thanks to them wouldn't be enough....

anyway, more coming up in a hurry.... stay tuned for the other parts....

the shower flick continues!!

30 September 2011
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

yea, sure.... why not?.... promised three separate posts, right?.... this is only the second one.... so, bear with it..... last time we placed the bathtub in a way so that we get a front-on view.... that helped us to shoot vertically... this time, we were placing the tub sideways, requiring a horizontal frame.... this didn't cause a lotta problems, but we had to make sure that there was enough light on our subject Lamisa and there was enough DoF for a sharp image all through.....







I was not overly happy with the light setup of the previous shoot.... the 1/4 power setting on the "forest of lights" wasn't really giving the opportunity to shoot quickly.... I wanted the shoot to go even faster.... some of the moments came for such a transient moment, that you simply had to shoot whether your flashes are fully ready or not... that time, the time lag was really killing me.... so, this time, I really created "The Forest"..... yea, this is what I would call it from now on..... 6 flashes (six flashes?? are you nuts??)...... (4xYN-560 + 2xSB-900) shooting through a 4'x'4' diffusion panel, placed on lightstands and tripods.... this allowed me to dial the power down to 1/8 power, which substantially increased the shooting speed....







the other light was the same "Lazy Light".... I love this light.... this combo, along with "The Forest", allowed me to bring the aperture down to f11.... a lotta effort for such a small feat!!.... whoosh!!..... thats what happens when you want to take it from 90% complete to 95% complete.....











so.... was this the perfect setup for the shoot?.... not even close!!.... ha ha.... not even close??.... what do you mean?? not even close??..... after this much effort you say its not even close??.... yea, it is.... believe me!!..... this time, I got a bit more excited and pressed by shutter a bit more frequently.... and guess what, the unbelievable thing happened.... the Elinchrom Ranger system took a pause!!... yes it did.... it was shooting close to 1/3 power.... and I was shooting shooting frantically.... it did shoot continually, but it required a bit of pause after several back-to-back shots.... this is something I've never faced before.... there were several blank frames as a result of that.... and there's something in the corner of my mind that says, "well, I know there were some great moments in those blank ones!!"..... hmm.... perhaps; perhaps not.... you'll never know....



anyway, I was happy with the shoot..... we again had a great deal of fun.... it was challenging, as is every shoot with a preschooler.... keeping the attention of the child is such a tough ask and also, bringing that expression from the child..... my wife and me work together and make this happen.... keeping Lamisa out of this, as she is the client!! :)

the third part of this shower flick is coming up in a flash!!

more of a matter of time....

10 September 2011
Uttara, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Siffat and Arafat had been great friend of us for a long time...... very frank and opinionated.... and couple of great brains as well.... brilliant students and great friends to us and to each other..... we had been planning this session for quite a while.... ever since we learned the news of Siffat, we we looking forward to this day..... two brilliant brains were bringing another brilliant brain to this earth.... so, it was more a matter of time..... once we were able to manage some holidays, it was set....






the idea was to do some individual frames for Siffat and then to do some couples shoot.... also thought about some conceptual stuff, if possible.... we traveled light for some reason.... so, we needed to be sure what we would do.... we didn't take a black backdrop, so, we needed to improvise for that.... but we did take a white backdrop, which we hung from a window.... a 28" Westcott Apollo and 24" Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe softbox went with us as the main light.... also took a couple of extra lights to light the backdrop.... all in all, 4 speedlites (2x SB-900 and 2x YN-560)... used only one set of Elinchrom Skyport as the trigger and receiver, and the rest of the flashes were in optical trigger more (SB-900 in SU-4 mode and YN-560 in S1 mode)....









the white backdrop stuff were shot with 2 YN-560s on the ground lighting up the backdrop... the Westcott Apollo was the main light for most shots... the Elinchrom Skyport was inside it as its design implied that the flash had to be inside the softbox.... optical trigger modes don't work with it.... when I used a black background, used a second light in a Lastolite 24" Ezybox as hair light.... that was mounted on a Manfrotto monopod and hand-held (sometimes by my wife, and other times by Arafat... volunteering!!).... for the couples shoot with white backdrop, used two softboxes from two sides to illuminate both the subjects.....









the SB-900s go into hibernation, which causes problems regularly.... I have to see whether there is a mechanism to turn off the hibernation thing.... the YN-560s are much better as dumb flashes.... SB-900, as it seems, is too smart for dumb photogs like me!!.... the room was a perfect one for photography.... it was long and helped me to which to a longer lens (70-210mm).... that, in turn, helped me to reduce the required size of the backdrop....

anyway, a lot more coming up in a flash!!