calm, but not quiet......

15 October 2010
Rajshahi, Bangladesh

not a stranger to Rajshahi anymore.... just came here and started to rediscover..... always loved the calm nature of the city...... but as usual, this is a city of festivals during Durga Puja.... the Puja is usually celebrated in grand style here, traditionally..... there are celebrations literally on the streets.... I just had a short stroll during the evening with my uncle and was able to visit quite a few Puja Mandap within about one-and-a-half hours..... actually arrived a bit late for the day's (Ashtami) celebrations..... but took the idea of the celebrations on the coming day (Nobomi)..... took a few snaps as a souvenir....

this was again a strobist effort.... I got great help from my uncle, who's really a great guy and very friendly....




some of us never try to find the meaning of devotion in their lives..... on the other hand, some of us spend their whole lives trying to find the meaning of it..... and to the rest, these two groups become the words in the definition of devotion......

Strobist info: 1 Nikon SB-900 shooting TTL, on camera right, shooting through a white shoot-through umbrella on voice-activated lightstand (my uncle); triggered by SU-800 on camera.

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.

no time for formalities.....

11 October 2010
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

you know, there's some times when you tend to forget all those formalities and get down to business..... there was food and they were staring at me..... I was frozen for a moment, not sure what to do.... considering the fact that everyone was so hungry and the food would surely lose its taste if left on the table for too long..... I got the kick when my wife pushed me to pick up the camera while she put some other things in the oven.....

that was that...... brought a couple of tripods and a couple of flashes along with a shoot-through umbrella.... the photo-session was short, but yummy, and so was the session of transferring those yummies to where they belonged, stomach.... :)









Camera info:
Nikon D700 + Nikkor AF 50mm f1.4D + SU-800 TTL trigger
f2.2-2.5, 1/125sec, ISO 100
Strobist info:
1 Nikon SB-900 @1/128 power; on tripod; shooting from camera left in front of subject; through a white shoot-through umbrella;
1 Nikon SB-900 @1/64 power; on tripod; shooting from behind the table