"Crash Course Photography"...... basic photo workshop

05 September 2013
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Idea Workshops announces another basic photo workshop! Our cameras have given us the power to perform miracles; to capture precious moments forever. But a camera is nothing if the knowledge isn't there to back it up. We all take photos while we go out on our vacations. Photos taken during those tours document some of the most enjoyable moments of our lives. We can't say that the photos weren't good enough after we come back! We can't say, "lets do the tour again!" Thus, the only way is to know how to best utilise the camera in hand! This particular workshop, "Crash Course Photography" concentrates on two points: 1. to know the basics of photography, and 2. to understand how to translate that knowledge into great photographs while on travel! This workshop differs from other basic workshops in that it always talk about how you can utilise the camera to take better photos on tour. 

For all the details, go to this link.

the power of umbrellas....

31 May 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

this blog post is about some geeky stuff... so genuine family fun this time.... yea, sorry to disappoint.... but we do have fun of some sort.... the geeky sort.... this blog is more about technical stuff than other things....

today we talk about one of the most common light modifiers... umbrellas.... umbrellas are one of the cheapest light modifiers and easy to carry, which makes umbrellas present in the hands of almost all strobist photogs.... its a no-brainer... you have to have it even if you use it much less often than some of its more illustrious light modifier brothers and sisters... but umbrellas are also some of them most under-utilised pieces of light-modifiers too... may be because its easier to get a better light modifier than trying to squeeze all the juice out of it.... yet, its always worth trying to make the best use of the things you have in your hand... it pushes your creativity and makes you more confident about possible less-than-ideal situations....

to start off, it was our intention to push ourselves... we decided to do exactly what is more difficult to achieve with umbrellas... umbrellas are a nice way to soften light, but a lousy way to control light.... and that where we decided to concentrate our effort... we squeezed the juice out of the umbrellas and made them do the seemingly impossible stuff... some of these lighting scenarios are easier to achieve in a large open space with very poor light conditions... but if we say that you have to achieve these in a more confined space, you have to scratch your head for all the ideas....

we used shoot-through and silver reflective umbrellas for this exercise.... we used go-bo's and also did various combination of the two types of umbrellas.... for one shot we used an extra reflector to throw back some light from below... we could use another umbrella for this as well.... bit can be questioned then, why we would need the umbrella to do it when a reflector can do the job just as nicely... and another umbrella would mean another light as well... anyway, we were happy with the outputs we had been able to squeeze our of the two modifiers.... don't forget to give your feedback on this....

and anyway, we're planning to conduct a workshop shortly on exactly this topic.... how to get the best out of umbrellas... if you feel interested to join, don't forget to leave your feedback here.... and stay tuned for the workshop declaration in our dedicated "Idea Workshops" page:

follow us in Twitter or Facebook to updates about workshop dates and other details...

lots more to come.... :)

put some light on your life.....

19 May 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

it was the first ever Idea Workshop at Idea House.... it was the first "Step into the Light" workshop; a basic workshop on lighting.... we had some great guys there as participants.... we did a lot of experiments and learned all the way.... and more importantly, we had a lotta fun.... it wasn't possible if we didn't have the kind of participatory environment there.... it was important to make mistakes and learn from those.... starting from a perfect world never gives us the feeling of improvement.... and the rationale behind a good lighting setup would've remained hidden.... as such, the learning would've remained incomplete....

we picked the only available flash in our camera bag and took it off camera.... we stared with hard light and tried to erase the misconception that only soft light could produce good images.... we had some great volunteers from our audience.... Hasib, Sunny, Sabbir and Tushar, all were great participants and were ready to feature in front of the camera for the sake of learning... this also showed one very important thingg, and that is, you don't need professional models to produce good pictures.... remember that not all of your subjects have a model look.... and its important that the portrait shows some traits of the subject....

we changed position of light to demonstrate how it changes picture.... we worked on manual settings all the way to show what can be achieved with a little bit of manual control.... we didn't touch the shutter speed and ISO for the whole session.... we only played with aperture and flash power... we even changed our camera and switched to Hasib's D90 to show that cameras didn't matter at all.... then it was the turn of softening the light.... we used a reflector with the flash and then replaced the reflector with a Lastolite 24" Ezybox Hotshoe softbox.... we practiced controlling the light without sacrificing soft light....

it was then the turn of controlling the light even further.... we introduced a grid spot and changed the whole context.... we also played with the shadows as well, not forgetting that shadows can give mood to a picture....

before we switched to the last part, we also experimented with a reflector as a second light source.... we tried to soften the light by eliminating some of the shadows... the last part of the experimentation was with gels... we created a colourful backdrop and only worked with silhouette.... we wish we had more time with gels to play with... but at least we had some time with it.... all the while, we didn't switch from our basic theme of sticking to one speedlite, and also keeping it practical for most kind of shoots.... we didn't want to indulge in learning things that would never 'see the light'....

during the whole session, our setup was a D700 + Nikkor 85mm f1.8 lens and a D90 + Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens.... flash was a single YN-560; trigger was an Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger.... we had great assistants among our participants who acted as voice-activated-lightstands (VALs).... that also gave the participants an understanding of light placements.... we used different grip equipment to help with light placement....

depending of the feedback of the participants, we may consider lengthening the workshop time by some hours to have more time behind some more setups and also to introduce some practice shots from the participants.... we may also have another session like this in the near future depending on our reader feedback.... lets see where it goes....

stay tuned for a lot more.... :)

switch to the dedicated "Idea Workshops" page:

Idea Workshop: "Step into the Light"

13 May 2012
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Idea Workshop
"Step into the Light"

Ideas_R_Bulletproof wishes to announce its first ever workshop on photography! Due to growing interest in artificial lighting among the young photographers of Bangladesh, we had been keeping a close watch on the numerous requests from your end. We made it a priority and finally came up with the idea of the first ever "Idea Workshop". This particular workshop, "Step into the Light" concentrates on the power of one small speedlite in your camera bag that can change your photography forever!

We kept an eye on recent photography workshops in this sector and decided to concentrate on the most essential parts of it. Cutting short the theoretical part of it, we bolstered practical demonstration. We are not in favour of a lesson that gets lost with time. So, maximum effort would be made to learn things that are 'actually' possible to practice on a day-to-day basis. Complex theories with little chance of implementation under most practical conditions would take a back seat. The concentration of this lighting workshop would be on 'portraiture'.

The workshop would cover the following generic topics:
-Understand light
-Utilise lights available in your camera bag
-Take your flash off camera
-Where do I put my light?
-Control the quality of light
-Control the spread of light
-Balance flash with ambient light
-Add colour to your photos

The workshop would also require participants to have knowledge on basics of photography. E.g. exposure (aperture/shutter speed/ISO), basic camera controls, etc. It would be highly recommended to watch the video podcasts from Ideas_R_Bulletproof on basics of lighting (links are given below). This would help quicker understanding and also save time to concentrate on more practical demonstrations.
Speedlite basics: TTL or Manual Flash?
How speedlites can change your photography
Four ways to trigger your flash off camera
Optical triggers for off-camera flashes
Built-in flash as trigger for off-camera flashes
Control light with a snoot

Additional knowledge on lighting is not necessary. But it would be appreciated if participants have their queries (if any) listed out for discussion during the session. It is not mandatory for participants to bring their camera or flash. But it would not be discouraged, as this would help to clear confusion (if any).

-The first session of this workshop was on 19 May 2012 (Saturday) at 3:30PM BST. Stay tuned for the second session of the same workshop.
-The venue of the workshop would be Idea House. For more details, call use at +880-1711055524.
-The time of the workshop should be about 6 (six) hours.
-The fee for this session would be BDT 3,500/-
-A maximum of 4 (four) participants would be allowed for the first session. The first four persons booking would be the participants in this session. In case you miss this session, please do inform us; we would be happy to conduct more such sessions.
- To book participation in the upcoming sessions, please keep an eye on our updates on Twitter or Facebook.
- For payment instructions, please call: +880-1711055524
- Fees are non-refundable.
- A participant can give a replacement participant in case a last minute inconvenience puts him/her out of the session. No additional fees for the replacement participant would be charged.
-Participants are requested to be on time, keeping respect for others' time.

switch to the dedicated "Idea Workshops" page:

About us....

the story of "Ideas R Bulletproof"....

where the term(s) came from....
the term(s) "Ideas are bulletproof" came from a movie named "V for Vendetta" where the chief character utters these words while heavily wounded, but before he kills the villain.... he died, but his ideas lived on through his followers....

who we are....
we're a husband and wife photography team based out of Dhaka, Bangladesh..... Aniqa is the creative director, and Sharif is the photographer....we aim to show our countrymen what family moments they are missing today..... we took the challenge of creating a type of photography market here in Bangladesh that most people are not even aware of.... we do not just want to take photos of people..... we want to capture moments and give an experience to people.... an experience they will talk about for decades.... we are not a typical photography studio.....

how it all started....
me (Sharif) had been a travel photographer and blogger for the last seven years, and she (Aniqa) had been a homemaker for the last six years..... our real inspiration behind this specific venture came around four-and-a-half years ago from the birth of our daughter Lamisa.... this ground-breaking event provided a different dimension to our photography.... this provided not just the motivation to document the most transient part of Lamisa's childhood, but also opened up the opportunity to learn portrait photography, especially the art of lighting.... a huge amount of study and practice provided us the technical knowhow needed to think ahead.... we were also lucky enough to be blessed with a child like Lamisa, who constantly provided us an excuse to shoot photos.... but to make sure that this regular shoot didn't get boring over time, we decided to innovate.... regular brainstorming ensued and that resulted in images that we only dreamed about.... the images had always been there, we just needed to dig them out....

my passion for photography took over when my long-standing corporate job started to take the life away from me.... my mind started to question whether my private life was being eaten by the very job that was supposed to help me sustain....ideas rolled; plans unfolded; decisions stamped.... and here we are.... to prove a point or two....

our uniqueness.....
our edge is our ideas..... we do not want two photoshoots to look the same.... and to make sure of that, we customise our ideas based on the people we would do the photos for.... their characters and relationship stories would give us the ideas to make the photos stand out of the crowd....we talk to our clients first, which help us to cook the ideas....

if you're bored watching the same types of family photographs and looking for a break, you've come to the right place....

 


update(s).....
we have evolved since we started this business venture.... we have diversified our efforts and at the same time, developed our core competencies....
a) blogging: we are still the blogger that we always had been, but now, with more vigour.... though we haven't maintained our travel blog for long, we kept up with the portrait lighting blog; developed another blog in Wordpress to talk about photography in general where we have several contributors; we also kept up the updates on our 'daily' (well, almost) blog at Tumblr.....
b) workshops: we added training ventures to our portfolio as we had received many requests for photography and lighting workshops..... updates on Idea Workshops would be found here.....we're also involved with organisations like Through the Lens: Bangladesh and Counter Foto in the photography-related workshop and training ventures.....
c) fine art prints: we brought all our fine art travel photography under one banner - Desherchobi Prints.... and you can get updates on those here.....
d) food photography: this is our latest venture.... we're currently developing this venture (Dhakai Menu) along with some of our core competencies.... to get updates on this, please visit this link....
e) Facebook: we would love to have you with us as we put regular updates our work in Facebook.... you can find updates on our portrait photography (Ideas_R_Bulletproof) venture here.... and our food photography (Dhakai Menu) venture here....
f) Twitter: you can follow us on Twitter to get regular updates on our activities....
g) Youtube: we started a video podcast series in Youtube, which hasn't seen a lotta updates since around early 2013.... but we hope to resume this series as we see fit....
h) commercial photography: this is a new venture of ours..... not publishing any link right now.... but anyone interested can contact us at: +880-1711-055524
i) consultancy:  this is one of our oldest competencies..... concentration area is marketing research.... we do research design, advise clients based on acquired data and also work with organisations and professionals to develop human resources in the field of marketing research.....  again, not posting any link right now....but anyone interested can contact us at: +880-1711-055524