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....

just a follow-up.....

09 September 2011
Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

we did a previous session with this family last July..... this isn't just another family.... a very close one; indebted to them for life.... we tried to pay off some of that debt through a short photo session, trying to capture the emotions of an expecting mother..... and it was just a matter of time before the expecting mother's emotions were converted into a mother's emotions.... a couple of months made a real difference in the whole nature of relationship in that family.... it was now a newborn's family....

with the photo subjects changing, we thought of changing the setup as well.... but thinking of the stance of the family from the progressiveness point of view, we decided to stay on the conservative side; not experimenting too much... we kept things simple and mostly straight forward....

we decided to make some exclusive portraits of the Nuzhat, the baby, before taking other photos.... at 24 days, Nuzhat had nothing more to do than to sleep most of the day.... she had a bit of fever during the day, which meant that she was crying most of the day.... as the parents told us, she just calmed down not too long before our arrival and had some badly needed sleep.... now, when we arrived, she was fresh and energetic... but we needed her to sleep to bring out those cool photos.... so, we put all our efforts to put her to sleep again!.... and we were successful.... that said, we completed the job as quickly as possible... used to lights.... one Lastolite 24" Ezybox Hotshoe softbox aimed at a while fabric hanging from the window.... this achieved a complete white backdrop.... a 28" Westcott Apollo softbox acted as the main light.... used a Sigma 150mm macro lens to flatten perspective within the confined room....








Nuzhat had her meal before we could shoot again... and for the shoot with her mom, we used the Apollo as the main light and used the Lastolite as a hair light....





for the last shoot of the day, with the parents, we used one light, the Apollo only.... and used a 34" collapsible reflector from the other side to cut some shadows.....



well, that was a much shorter session than the previous one we did couple of months back.... less complicated.... quick and dirty!

a lot more to come soon enough.....

more food, more lessons....

01 September 2011
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

did I say that we had finished all the food on Eid Day??.... well, we did finish, but they were prepared again... yay!!.... and this time too, I was very active with all those funny-looking fence-like stuff they call lighting gears!!

just thought it might be a good idea to change the perspective a little.... used the same light setup as the previous one, with one Lastoline 24" Ezybox Hotshoe softbox as the main light and a bare YN-560 as a backlight.... just changed the vantage point totally.... wanted to capture the geometry of the food.... actually because of the changed vantage point, the lights were coming from the bottom-right (Lastolite) and from top-left (bare flash)..... the bare flash was set at a distance of around 8-10ft from the dishes and became the edge light... I didn't actually plan for such a change of vantage point, and as a result, didn't have a lotta stuff to fill the frame.... it wasn't really possible to bring the whole two plates in frame (had to crop on left side).... that would've made it even harder to fill the composition and complete the shoot... food photography is more about food styling, so this was a big lesson for me... perhaps next time....




started today's session in a more typical fashion... used a Sigma 150mm macro lens to fill the frame.... the same lighting setup.... the YN-560 inside the Lastolite was triggered with an Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger, while the bare flash was on optical trigger mode (S1)...



the food actually tasted a lot better than it actually looked.... that was the best part of it... :)

more Eid photoshoot to come in a hurry!! :)

heavenly bodies!!

12 August 2011
Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

it was an invasion; well, almost..... we just stormed Sumon Bhai and Lina Apa's home with all those equipment..... it was almost a surprise for the family.... we didn't disclose our intention to them until about an hour or so before our arrival.... it was as natural as it could've been..... and it turned out to be a very entertaining evening....

I had photographed Lina Apa's daughter Naorin several times in the past.... the most memorable was when she was one-week old..... lots of beautiful memories.... but its been a while since I had the opportunity to take some photos of her.... busy times and some less-than-best effort prevented another photo-session with her.... she's definitely one of my most favourite child subjects..... and now after the arrival of her little brother Naqvi, there are more reasons than one to invade their house!!

in a previous post of mine I was talking about being flexible with carrying equipment.... that was a good practice and this time that practice paid dividends.... because of the unique positioning of their house, I had to devise a way to bring as much equipments as it is necessary to complete the job, but within the limits of two bags at best and probably some other stuff hand-held...

with Naqvi, it was difficult considering the limitations that we had to face within their house and also to make the best use of the equipment I had been able to bring.... I decided to put the adorable Naqvi within a pool of white... he was really enjoying his upright position, trying to have a look at everyone around.... I used the Westcott Apollo 28" softbox as the main light and told my wife to hold a YN-560 on top to illuminate the white backdrop.... the backdrop is something that we had managed from their household.... we had to leave the backdrops back at the car for obvious reasons..... I switched to the Sigma 150mm macro lens to be able to shoot a bit wider, blowing the backdrop within putting too much pressure on the YN-560s.... the flashes were already firing at 1/4 power....










and all on a sudden, it was feeding time for Naqvi.... so, we took some opportunity shooting the two other adorable kids circling around us..... Naorin was joined by her cousin Diya in their most beautiful angelic attires.... I had a field day shooting those two..... they had been so expressive, and also old enough to take at least some instructions.... used only one light, the Westcott Apollo 28" softbox and a silver reflector on the opposite side.... switched to the cheap Nikkor 28-80mm lens for this shoot....










then Naqvi was back.... he was in full energy!!.... this time, decided to use the top view to give him enough space..... he was so happy.... and when Naorin joined him on, it was another great frame..... used a Lastolite 24" Ezybox Hotshoe softbox as the main light from top; my wife holding it and the Wescott 28" Apollo producing the edge and fill from the bottom right on the frame.....





then switched to the previous setup once again..... the one-light solution.... even though I didn't bring a black backdrop, the Wescott Apollo did a great job with controlling and shaping light..... the 34" collapsible reflector (silver side) was used on the other side to wipe off some shadows..... Naqvi went to sleep, but we continued out shoot.... we evolved from the lovely frame with Naqvi and his mom..... then we added his dad in the frame..... and found out that there was enough space in the frame to add Naorin as well..... it became the picture of the whole family..... but I had used only one light!!.... greatly enjoyed the shoot!!











before we knew, it was quite late..... we didn't think that the shoot would take that long.... but ultimately the outputs justified the delays.... the family was very happy and so were we.... it was a superb day with some heavenly bodies!!

more to come soon.....

defiance.......

04 March 2011
Golapganj, Sylhet, Bangladesh

one of the first attempts to do some shooting at Golapganj was to use the World Cup Cricket theme.... anyway, by the time we could get geared up, the match between Bangladesh and West Indies had already begun.... and the way the match progressed, our mood to do some pretty shooting vanished without a trace..... the little buddies toiled hard to decorate themselves in green and red..... but unfortunately, they were disappointed in a very big way..... I needed to do something to cheer them up.... and if I say that I also wanted myself to find some fresh air, I wouldn't be lying....

I wanted to portray a defiant mood after a great debacle.... I knew that one match isn't the end of the game for us.... and it is our team that we are supporting, not someone else's..... and while you support your team, you gotta know that its your team whether they play well or not.... you just have to live with it and be positive.... be hopeful..... because hope is the thing that keeps us alive..... hope is the thing that makes us sit in front of the TV even after a great debacle..... we don't always say that in words, but deep in our minds we're always hopeful; we're always defiant.....


model: meem
Nikon D700 + Sigma APO 150mm f2.8 EX DG HSM Macro
one SB-900, camera right, on voice-activated lightstand (proma) triggered with Elinchrom Skyport shooting through a shoot-through umbrella
one SB-900 on ground behind subject triggered with Elinchrom Skyport

a night of disaster!!

12 October 2010
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

my family being away, I took the chance..... sat down in the evening with some unfinished work that are usually kept on the shelf....... Lamisa is usually too interested in anything that her Dad uses; so, it becomes impossible to work..... anyway, finished some work on the 4'x4' panel..... broke it down to 2ft size pieces for better transportability.... the work went on without a hitch..... until....

I got a plan.... wanted to have a real feeling with something I have always thought, but never executed..... making a big soft-box..... or at least, making something that would behave like a 4'x4' softbox..... just a day back I bought some black fabric to be use as flags..... I actually cut them in a way that they can cover a whole 4'x4' panel's rim.... that gave me the opportunity to potentially have a 4'x4' softbox.... I also wanted to use the concept of Westcott Apollo 50-inch softbox to make the best use of one light, especially its a small light.....

used a silver reflector umbrella to act as the reflector for the light.... the light then would fall on the 4'x4' panel..... and the gap between the silver umbrella and the panel would be covered in black fabric..... thats it!!..... sounds simple; yet, its execution was nothing other than trouble.... I learned quite a few things at the end of an exhausting night's effort.....

the equipment continued to malfunction until I was able to pack the last bit of it..... it was a disastrous night!!..... I thought of making at least one picture that would at least keep a record of what the whole set-up was capable of..... and at point, even that single shot seemed improbable...... anyway, I was able to shoot some example shots...... ahhhhh!!

almost everything backfired on me..... the silver umbrella fell off with the flash out of the flash holder and got damaged...... I replaced the umbrella with a second one (thanks God, I had two!!)..... need to repair the umbrella..... the whole setup with the three stands and booms almost came down on its own weight..... the addition of the umbrella and the black fabric seemed too much..... the DIY umbrella adapter god damaged and needs a replacement!! .... and lastly, the thread inside the panel pipes malfunctioned!!.... need to do the whole threading again, may be with an elastic this time......

many many lessons.... I'm still making sense of all those learning..... it was a disaster, but at the same time, it was great lesson..... this would prepare me for the coming shoot....

the only shot I was able to make...... the results were decent.... a one-light setup that pulled this off only because it turned into a very big light source....



Camera Info:
Nikon D700 + Sigma APO 150mm f2.8 EX DG HSM Macro + Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger
f6.3, 1/125sec, ISO100
Strobist info:
1 SB-900 @ 1/4 power; shooting into a silver reflector umbrella, bouncing light into a 4'x4' diffusion panel, skirted by black fabric cutting off light; triggered by Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger; all the things kept over the object to be photographed using three improvised boom stands.
Object placed on white paper; another white paper on camera right to reduce shadows.

Lamisa's possessions, part 1

18-19 May 2010
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

too lazy I always had been and had really felt this in my bones this time round.... my daughter is growing out of her possessions and I'm yet to finish my job.... I'm lazy indeed!!

I took this project back in May this year and wanted to shoot the things before they faded away in memory..... and I think I already let a lot of that go away..... I will never be able to forgive myself for that..... anyway, I'm trying to revive this project and really want to pursue this time.... lets see, what happens....

these are some of the shoots from last May.....





















Nikon D700 + Sigma APO 150mm f2.8 EX DG HSM Macro
1/100s, f3.2-5.6, ISO 200
Nikon SB-900 on camera shooting TTL, bounced off white ceiling

Cafe Higin second session, June 2010

18 June 2010
Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

the assignment at Savar continued at Rashed's place...... last week, I enjoyed the food photography that I did for the for the first time...... it was a day of learning and enjoyment...... this time round, it wasn't different either...... the only thing that differed this time was the approach I took for the work.... last time, I was concentrating on close-up shots and avoiding whole frames because of the lack of suitable backgrounds...... I was prepared this time for doing it on at least some decent backdrop...... I didn't have anything with me that could produce that white blown-out background..... a seamless white kind of thing was needed...... Rashed couldn't manage a white cloth, or a decent table-cloth, but he was good enough to produce a couple of art-paper sheets within a very short time..... the whole process made me loss almost a couple of hours...... there was also a problem with the stock situation at the shop...... but I was just able to manage the whole thing within an acceptable time.......

last time, I was only using one strobe and ambient light....... this time round, I knew I couldn't manage a white seamless without several lights...... so, from the start, I set up all my lights, switching them on and off, and changing positions, as required..... mainly the dishes that required more space, were causing trouble..... there was no way to do those shots completely excluding the background..........

I'm still trying to grasp the best ways to shoot drinks/glasses..... water-drops on the cool glasses and reflections on those are specialties..... also, the difficulty of shooting several types of foods, which require different kinds of exposure values.... I was also limited by the capability of my hardware a little bit....



I used a couple of SB-900s, one SB-600 flashes.... they were placed on tripods and tables and triggered via SU-800 IR trigger on my D700..... two of the flashes had a shoot-through umbrella on them and one had a home-made 2'x2' diffuser set in front of it....... I cut the ambient light completely with a shutter speed of 1/125sec or 1/100 sec....... I chose apertures ranging between f8 and f20...... the depth was needed; as I was shooting whole dishes; and sometimes combos, where a larger space was covered by the dishes..... I chose to use 2/3 lights as needed and also, varied flash power quite a lot.......

other practical challenges were there that were my learning..... it all started almost 2 hrs late, which pushed me to perform within a reasonable time.... food items had to shot within a specific time limit, otherwise the food loses its colour or texture or freshness....... each of the food items had their own challenges..... I had to change settings constantly to cope with those challenges..... the SU-800 saved so much of the time and effort that it now seems almost a must for complex situations indoors, and even outdoors.....

I still have some work to do at Cafe Higin..... its branding and promo would require more involvement from me..... and its expansion may also call for my services....





















to view the whole gallery, please visit the following link:
Experiment at Cafe Higin

Experiment at Cafe Higin, June 2010

11 June 2010

it was a nice opportunity given by my trusted friend Rashed..... he needed some photos for his newly founded restaurant, and I needed some practice...... it all turned out to be a nice bit of experience..... it was not just work, in the end..... our families also had a nice time during the day..... the children especially, had a great day, which made us happy..... it was a particularly warm day, and the weather was accentuated by frequent load-shedding by the electricity department......

Cafe Higin's aim was more to attract the customers, rather than just giving a glimpse of whats on offer.... this aim made us switch from whole dishes to close-ups..... I was never in doubt about what lens I would be using once we decided to go close.... the Sigma APO 150mm f2.8 EX DG Macro....... my trusted horse..... it puts most of the background out of focus, thus makes framing so much easier.... I shot a lotta apertures to adjust to different light and depth requirements.... used most apertures between f4.5 and f16.....

it was daytime, so I used the natural light coming through the huge glass window, acting as a big softbox..... I kept the natural light as backlight, not only to blow out the background, but also to give that glossy edge on the yummy items.... I quickly knew that I needed another light source as fill light in front of the food items...... an SB-900 with a shoot-through umbrella did the job for me...... I used the SU-800 as trigger..... I was shooting indoors, so not issues with using IR triggers..... it surely is much more convenient than radio triggers.....

using the ambient light was a bit of a pain though, requiring much lower shutter speeds (1/15-1/40sec).... had to depend on a tripod to keep the camera stable..... for some shots, I also brought out a second flash to give rim light, but that didn't come out to be very prominent.... there were quite a few items that we couldn't do because of unavailability and time shortage...... so, another session is required to complete the job.....