2011 : A New Decade begins

We would like to thank all our participants and friends for your support in 2010, and we hope to be able bring more coaching sessions to you, making the process of learning photography fun.

Tomorrow sparks a new dawn of the next decade. For explorenation in 2011, Andy and I are planning a new series of workshops, with Cuba and Rome for the first half of the year.

Just quickly posting this photograph taken at dawn in Pushkar, at the camel festival, during our recent workshop to Rajasthan. I particularly like the mood and the setting of this image and its depiction. These are camel breeders come together once a year to these barren hills outside Pushkar, about 150 kms north of Jaipur, bringing with them over 30,000 animals, camels and horses too, to trade. Pushkar opened my eyes in many ways, to new experiences only gained through the act of travel and being there. No matter how many guide books I read about the festival, it does not really do it justice. I'm sure for those that came along, it was the same for you, a truly extraordinary experience.

Happy New Year!


Stay focused!

Real Life Series : Anatomy of a Wedding Shoot : Part 2

Last weekend's wedding shoot went as planned despite a wet weather forecast, the rain stayed away. Expect the unexpected, is my motto for situations like these. We did have Plan B, if it did pour, but luckily this wasn't called for and all the guests enjoyed the sombre ceremony and the fabulous reception venue to its full.

I have taken over 1,000 photographs during the day and I am spending a good part of yesterday (Monday - a Bank holiday!) editing and deleting the blurred, shut eyes, or reject images. I had with me a small digicam point and shoot, which helped in getting spontaneous off-takes like the photograph above. Being unobtrusive, I can get very close to the crowd, often mingling up with them, without pointing a huge monstrosity into their faces.

I always look out for children at weddings, as they always lend themselves to great casual images, as they are less self-conscious in front cameras. Attention spans however less than so, if they have to pose for photographs! My eyes have to be everywhere, noticing things and expressions on faces.

The interior of the St Sophia Cathedral was magnificently ornate with icons and colourful mosaic lined images. However, light levels were low, with only daylight coming into the cavernous dome ceiling hall at a very high level, due to the stained glass windows set high up. It was however, manageable without flash, just. I was using settings at ISO800-1000, f4 at 1/30th shutter speeds which is pretty low. The image stabilised lens I was using helped significantly, to obtain photographs without the aid of flashlight, so that I can keep the 'ambient' natural look in my images. In some ceremonies, the priest usually would not allow flash photography or photography at all, but luckily, it was ok here.

The lighting at The Orangery, the venue for the evening reception was also low. I had to use flash with a 'lightsphere' diffuser most of the time. I also shot with natural light using a f1.8 85mm lens which I absolutely love due to its creamy bokeh at low light levels. Colour values are all over the place however, as the interior was floor-lit with yellow spotlights, whilst the remaining daylight (which is captured 'blue') filters in from the huge south facing windows, there were candles on each table also.

Setting the camera to 'Auto White Balance' may not do the trick. I found that the Canon tends to over-saturate the skin tones a touch, and using 'Tungsten' worked out better.

Real Life Series : Anatomy of a Wedding Shoot : Part 1

Maria & Andy : Sunday 25th May

This Sunday, I have the fortunate opportunity to photograph the wedding ceremony and reception of a close friend, Andy (an fellow accomplished photographer) and his charming fiancee, Maria. The religious ceremony will be held at St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral followed by the reception, a short walk away at the equally spectacular The Orangery at Kensington Palace. Both locations will offer a host of viewpoints and vantages for a truly memorable wedding for the couple.

I hope to post about the ins and outs on that day, from the viewpoint of a wedding photographer, the pitfalls to avoid and the preparatory steps that I will take to cover the event. Beginning, last weekend, I met with Charlotte the Events Manager at the Palace who very kindly showed me around the grounds and rooms that we could photograph in case of wet weather, which, having looked at the forecast today, is increasingly likely. Which is a shame as The Orangery has a fantastic ornamental lawn and sunken garden, and at this time of year, is truly an awesome venue outdoors.

I will be using a Canon 5D with just two lenses, a 24mm-105mm F4 and an 85mm F1.8 for head and shoulder portraits, plus a flashgun. Additionally, I will be carrying a small Ricoh GRD2 digicam for the really close group snaps.