Blog has moved ...

The blog is now at:

http://www.photonarration.blogspot.com

&

http://www.holyganges.blogspot.com

The DPW Project

I started a photo-essay on the DPW (Department of Public Works) workers. The essay would ultimately be a photo-documentary. I am very thankful to all the DPW workers and managers , who helped me get started with my project. I am hoping to finish the project by spring of 2010.

Cleaning the Camera Sensor

-Removed the lens and set the camera (EOS 30D and 300D) to "sensor cleaning " mode - locked the mirror up!
-used a free credit card (that come in mails that you are pre-qualified etc etc) and cut it longitudinally like a popsickle stick... (14mm wide- width of the sensor is 15mm);
-wrapped a soft lens cleaning tissue over it, and taped it;
-dipped it in Methanol;
-cleaned the sensor in one stroke ;

-next stroke: another tissue (dipped in methanol)

-finally: using a forceps I picked a piece of tissue, wrapped it around the forceps and taped it, and wiped the sensor (dipped in methanol, of course)

Voila!!

Remembering Mumbai Terror Victims

December 4th, 2008, Worcester, MA: India Society of Worcester organized a candle light vigil for the victims of terror attacks in Mumbai. For more pictures please visit my website at: http://rahulrathi.com/MumbaiVigil/



For details please read the news - Mumbai mourned - on Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Photographer, Indian Wedding Photographer, Hindu Wedding Photographer, Photography, Central Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Wedding, Worcester, New England, Hindu, India, Indian, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Muslim, Mumbai, Terror, Terrorism, Candle Light, Vigil, Worcester Mayor

UPDATE on H4 Documentary

October 21st, 2008, Worcester, MA: UPDATE
I have posted ads looking for people interested in taking part in my documentary across Indian Stores and Restaurants in the Worcester area. The ads would be removed by November 3oth. I am hopeful some people would like to tell their story for a cause.

Photo-Documentary on H4 Visa holders!

September 23rd, 2008, Shrewsbury, MA: My latest photo-documentary would be featuring H4/ dependent visa holders and their spouses in the Massachusetts area. People - especially young women - come to the USA on H4 visas with a dream and it does not take much time before it is shattered when they realize it is hard to survive in this society with no work, especially with the lack of transportation and next to non-existent social networking.

I plan to interview and photo-shoot H4 visa holders and their spouses in Massachusetts, USA to begin with, and if time and resources permit I would try to go to other states that have a sizable Indian population like New Jersey and California.

If you are interested in participating in my documentary or know of anyone who might be interested please email me at rahul@rahulrathi.com or call me at 774-287-4729 for more details.
Photographer, Indian Wedding Photographer, Hindu Wedding Photographer, Photography, Central Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Wedding, Worcester, New England, Hindu, India, Indian, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Muslim,

Joe McNally Workshop: Update

September 9th, 2008, Westford, MA: One of my aims to attend this workshop by Joe McNally was to actually meet him, and yes I did get an opportunity to meet him, not only that I shook hands with him too and also got a picture taken with him...and second aim was to learn how to effectively use the Speedlites. Well, the second aim was not really fulfilled. To begin with Joe demonstrated how to set up a scene using large strobes and give it a natural look, so that people do not say the scene was shot with strobes...boy he's a genius ... then after that we were divided into groups to practice on the models... the whole experience was good but not what I had anticipated. I did shoot some images but I mainly used only one strobe and clicked some pictures (see the slide show). Joe was moving across the house helping everyone set up and shoot. Towards the end of the day, Joe showed us how to use the Speedlites and mimic a scene that was initially lighted by the large strobes. And he did it amazingly well!!


What I learned from the workshop...
-keep things as natural as possible...look for windows in a room, a window frame gives light a natural frame. Even if the strobes are used from outside of the window instead of natural light, the picture would look very natural.
-use of a CTO (color temperature orange) filter over the strobe will give a natural sunlight on a cloudy day
-Clint Eastwood can be lit with car head lights, but a lady needs a soft light for lighting
-if you are bouncing the light off of the ceiling, bounce it straight up and not at an angle (well I need to try ...)
-before you start to shoot, take time to assess the weather, the people (how they are behaving, and take time also to see how to tackle these people), and see how the light is
-take pre-shots to assess the light..the angle intensity etc
-use as much natural light as possible
-Phtography is a business and in this business it's all about CONFIDENCE...if you are not confident at least show you are confident
-If the light is too harsh use blockers...hmm..it's not what I learnt here, but it was in my notes so I wrote it...
-Canon flashes can trigger Nikon flashes optically... (I need to try optically triggering several flashes at one time)
-National Geographic hardly pays anything to its photographers!!!

Now it's time to keep experimenting with light... :o)


Photographer, Indian Wedding Photographer, Hindu Wedding Photographer, Photography, Central Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Wedding, Worcester, New England, Hindu, India, Indian, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Muslim,

Joe McNally - Lecture and Workshop

August 20th, 2008, Shrewsbury, MA: CIPNE has invited legendary photographer Joe McNally to give a talk which is open to all, and a hands-on Workshop for CIPNE members. The whole program runs from 8th of September till the 10th.

This would be my second time listening to Joe, but first time attending his workshop. Like him I want to specialize in using only the Speedlites and not rely on the big strobes that are not that easy to carry around. I am hoping to learn a lot from Joe McNally. Thanks CIPNE!!

Links:
Joe's Website
His talk at Google
His Blog

Photographer, Indian Wedding Photographer, Hindu Wedding Photographer, Photography, Central Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Wedding, Worcester, New England, Hindu, India, Indian, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Muslim,

Jen and Brian Wedding Multimedia

If you can't see "Click to play" please right click on the video and click Play
July 31st, 2008, Shrewsbury, MA: Here's the multimedia that I have made for Jen and Brian as a gift to them. The music in the background was requested by Jen and Brian, and believe me none of us has any intention of infringing any copyright issues. Nevertheless, if anyone feels we have inadvertently gone against the copyright laws please do let me know.
Photographer, Indian Wedding Photographer, Hindu Wedding Photographer, Photography, Central Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Wedding, Worcester, New England, Hindu, India, Indian, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Muslim,

Rembrandt lighting/ Worcester Art Museum

June 17th, 2008, Shrewsbury, MA: On June 15th my wife Tripti and I, with our friends - Jeroen and Margaretha - went to the Worcester Art Museum. It's a nice museum and the best thing is that it is small and not crowded at all. While looking at some Dutch paintings I came across this painting by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn which reminded me of learning about Rembrandt Lighting at school. It was so evident in the painting the triangle of light under one eye formed by the light falling on the nose at an angle.

Rembrandt lighting in photography is a lighting technique that is sometimes used in studio portraiture. The key in Rembrandt lighting is creating the triangle or diamond shape of light underneath the eye. One side of the face is lit well from the main light source while the other side of the face uses the interaction of shadows and light, also known as chiaroscuro, to create this geometric form on the face. The triangle should be no longer than the nose and no wider than the eye. Rembrandt lighting is a combination of short and butterfly lighting-- and as such it is actually the eye closest to the camera (on the broad side of the face) that should have the triangle of light. The narrow side is illuminated. This technique may be achieved subtly or very dramatically by altering the distance between subject and lights and relative strengths of main and fill lights. It is a common photography technique.

Dutch Art Painting, Jeroen, Margaretha, Rahul, Rembrandt Lighting, Tripti, Worcester Art Museum, Indian, Wedding, Photographer, Worcester, Massachusetts
Source: Wikipedia

Also see this YouTube video by Photoshopmama

Jen and Brian's Wedding. CONGRATS !!

Here's a brief slide show of Jen and Brian's wedding. I intend to come up with a small photo-documentary of their wedding as a gift to them. There are more images from the wedding which I will post online only after Jen and Brian have seen them. :o). Once finished, and if Jen and Brian agree, I will post the wedding photo-documentary online too.



May 31st, 2008 Hanson, MA: The day was perfect for shooting, overcast sky and no sun...was it great for a wedding?? I am not sure...but hey it did not rain, and that's what is more important...rather MOST important! The wedding was held at Camp Kiwanee, in the town of Hanson. The camp is nestled in the woods and it had a beautiful rustic look.

It was a very different wedding compared to the ones I have been to before. It was very casual, and there were hundreds of children...well not 100s, but many! There was no stress anywhere! :o) It was a lot of fun to shoot this wedding.

Brian, Camp, Colby, Hanson, India, Indian, Jen, Kiwanee, Massachusetts, Photographer, Photography, Wedding, wedding, Worcester, New England, Hindu, India, Indian, Muslim, Shrewsbury, Boston

Cornell Capa Dies at the age of 90

Legendary photographer Cornell Capa died on May 23, he was 90 years old. Please view Cornell Capa's collection at the Magnum Website.

While reading the news on the AOL website (ref) I came to know that Cornell is credited to have coined the term "Concerned Photographer" to define the concept of using the craft to illuminate humanitarian issues . Then I tried searching the term itself on Google and came across a wonderful site promoting concerned photographers. It is also called The Concerned Photographer .

In the same news article were comments of some readers referring to Cornell Capa's demise. Two struck me and I am taking liberty to post them on my blog.

Comment - 1) Big deal! Just some guy with a camera. Anyone can take a picture, it take no extraordinary skill to push a button. Photographers are so overrated.

My response is that I don't blame this gentleman, in fact most people think that way. No wonder why people do not want to pay photographers these days!

Comment - 2) I'M REMINDED BY A PIECE OF ADVICE WHICH I RECEIVED ONCE. . . IT WAS THIS: DO "ONE" THING, . . BE THE VERY BEST AT IT, . . AND NEVER QUIT DOING IT . . .

If anyone has a concern on my reporting this please feel free to email me.

Carolyn and Matt's Wedding!

On May 10th 2008 Asad and I shot Carolyn and Matt's wedding. Here are some pictures that I snapped!



Asad Butt, Carolyn, Matt, Wedding, Montville, New Jersey, Wedding, Indian, India, Pakistan, Hindu, Muslim, Shaadi, Nikah, Massachusetts, Photographer, Photography, Wedding, wedding, Worcester, New England, Hindu, India, Indian, Muslim, Shrewsbury, Boston

My Talk at Boston Photography Center, April 9th 2008

I was invited by the Boston Photography Center to give a talk about my project in New Orleans. The talk was held at New England School of Photography (NESOP) on 9th of April, 2008. (Click for the link)

It being my first ever photography related seminar (I have given several as a scientist) I was a bit nervous, yet very excited. I got some great advice and help in preparing for the talk from my wife Tripti, Alan, Randy, Aimee, Julie, Liz and Cary.

I reached NESOP at 7:35 pm after spending 15 minutes looking for a parking...it was also a RED SOX match that day...! I found a spot in BU's student residential complex (10 min walking distance from NESOP). NESOP is definitely at a nice location on Com Ave! That's all I can say about it for now...anyways...I met Benjamin there…, one of the members at the BPC...he was the first one to be there and I was the second… we talked for a while till Benafsheh (Founder and President of BPC) came with Katherine (another member). B, as she is mostly called, was coming directly from Santa Fe after a month log trip. She did look exhausted, but still had so much energy in her... :o)

We waited for a little while and when the attendance was around 30 ish we started. I had to use one of the laptops from NESOP, it was a mac, I guess was an old mac, and my fancy wireless presenter did not work on that mac...guess the two were not compatible! Bloody mac!! Anyway... I used the arrow keys on the mac...(wow so many macs…).

I started… talked a little about my background as a scientist, then about the practicum module at the CDIA and why I chose to go to New Orleans to do my practicum. The talk went on for about over an hour… and it went pretty well… Cary had advised me to make sure that I take my audience to New Orleans for that one hour that I am talking…and I could see from the faces in the audience that I did manage to follow Cary’s advice…I felt I succeeded in taking them to New Orleans for that one hour …people in the audience were frustrated to see the destruction and that not much has been done to get the gulf coast back to normalcy, even two years after the hurricane! I received very positive feedback from the audience after the talk and also through emails and on the BPC's Meetup site. Overall it was a very nice and satisfying experience…my first talk as a photographer!

Bruce Davidson Seminar organized by CIPNE

On March 24th I attended a talk by Bruce Davidson which was organized by CIPNE .

I asked him about earning all the while being an Editorial/Documentary style photographer in this present age. To this he said, "Editorial photography is a tough field, so ... earn as a waiter ... but stick to photography as your passion and do not migrate away from your dream, stick to your dream!"

Other advice he gave:
- Keep a 5x7 album of your work with you all the time! Show it to people when you are shooting on the streets. This comes in handy if you approach them to get permission or if they approach you, just to prove that you are a photographer and mean no harm!

- Does he ask his subjects before he shoots them? He follows three rules in the following order: 1) Ask for permission and shoot, 2) Shoot first and then tell, 3) Shoot and run away :o)

-Procrastinate only those things that you want done desperately for the next day! (I guess that advice came from his wife to him).

-Keep a small and easy to read card to get model releases!

His all time favorite photographer: Sally Mann

To know more about Bruce Davidson please read this wonderful article in Wikipedia.

WACOM Bamboo Tablet!!

Using Photoshop a lot? Tired of using a mouse? Get a WACOM tablet!! I know it is expensive, but hey! why not try the less expensive one. Don't buy expensive WACOM intuos but you can afford a WACOM Bamboo for $60.00 at AMAZON!
I bought the smallest and the cheapest possible tablet. I am sure it must lack several options available in the intuos model, but are they worth an extra $250.00?? Well I am in the trial mode right now and will update the blog once I know more about it :o)

Update, June 6th 2008: All I can say is, it serves the purpose! And that too very cheap! I can do all the stuff I wanted to do in Photoshop using Bamboo. The pen is pressure sensitive. It's great for Dodge and Burn, and also for extracting! It has only 4 customizable buttons but thats not a big problem. It's great for the price! The two buttons on the pen itself are not of much use...maybe they are to some people but I found them a bit cumbersome to use. I use it along with the mouse, back and fourth...to some it might be a problem, but even in the larger WACOM tablet you get a mouse which you got to use.

DISCLAIMER: The image was taken from WACOM website. If it infringes any copyright laws please let me know and I will remove it.

Basics on Matboards

Getting your picture matted is kind of expensive. So why not buy your own mat boards and cut for yourself and also for your clients. Buy a Logan Mat Cutter ($50-$75 on eBay or Craigs list or look for AC Moore/ Michale's Coupons). Matboard sheets can be bought at lightimpressions.com or your local Art and Craft store...even at AC Moore.

Now what type of mats should be bought?

Mats are mainly of two kinds- paper mats and rag (cotton) mats. Paper mats are "Acid treated but have Lignin" and Rag mats are "Acid and Lignin Free". Many shops advertise their paper mats to be Acid free, but they are not...they are "acid treated", which in fact means these mats are neutralized for pH. So, eventually there would be acid which could well seep into your pictures and destroy them. Lignin leads to yellowing of the mat with age (ref). The rag mats on the other hand are acid and lignin free.

Rag mats are more expensive but they are worth it! You will find cheaper options on eBay but ... you might lose your pictures or your clients :D

So when you go to buy a mat ask if it is a rag mat or paper mat! Mats usually have a different color core (i.e. the center of the mat that is visible when it is bevel cut). But if it is a 100% rag mat it cannot have a different core color. So what sellers do is they use a high quality mat paper on the top and bottom and core is that of rag and all components of these matboards are buffered, 100% acid and lignin-free. (Comments and corrections are welcome).

Following is a comment from Randy Armor, which I am putting here itself as it is very important for anyone to read along with my post.

Great post, Rahul. I would just add that any mat serves two very important purposes: it eliminates direct handling of a print, and, in a frame, it creates an airspace between the print and the inside of the glass. If the surface of a print comes in contact with glass, eventually it will be damaged by condensation. Also, while using conservation materials like rag board is excellent professional practice, remember that the quality of the paper that you print on is equally important, if not more so. Most coated (glossy or luster) papers are not archival, and have the same longevity issues that non acid-free mat board has. And if your printer uses dye-based inks instead of pigments, your prints may be far less stable than even the worst mat board. If you are going to the expense of using good framing materials, go to wilhelm-research.com to learn about the best archival papers and inks.

Photoshop

In these pictures, the one on the left is the original and one on right is with Photoshop tricks. I have removed the background, made a new digital backdrop and also done some skin retouching...of course the hardest part was the background extraction!

Relief Spark

I was in New Orleans in December of 07 to produce a multimedia documentary for Relief Spark, a non-profit that helps and supports other non-profits in the area towards rebuilding of New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina struck in the area over two years ago!!

Canon introduces two new lenses at PMA 2008

EF 200mm f/2.0 L IS USM

EF 800mm f/5.6 L IS USM

The lenses were launched on January 23rd, 2008. Canon is exhibiting the lenses at PMA 2008in Las Vegas. For details about the lenses visit the Canon site.

Fun way to learn Photoshop!! :o)

Thanks to Leah LaRiccia for sending this link.

"YOU SUCK AT PHOTOSHOP"! It's created by MyDamnChannel .

Not only does it teach you basics of Photoshop, but at the same time it is hilarious! It's really a fun way to learn... :o)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

As more episodes would be created by MyDamnChannel's Donnie (I guess), I will post them here. HAPPY PHOTOSHOPPING...oops Photoshop is not a VERB (Sorry Brian). :o)

You would require Devanagri fonts on your system to read this post!

बाबा नीम करोरी के आशीर्वाद से मैं प्रोफेशनल फोटोग्राफी के कोर्स से graduate

कर गया. 

मुझ को बौस्ट्न विश्व विद्यालय ने Brandon Hom अवार्ड से सम्मानित भी किया.

जय कैंची बाबा!

Canon 450D/XSi

Canon anounces 450D/XSi. A successor to its prosumer range of cameras , the 300D, 350D and the 400D/XTi. It would however be available not before April of 2008.

Its major features include Canon's EOS Integrated Cleaning System, Live View Function, DIGIC III Image Processor, and 12.2-megapixel CMOS sensor. It also has Multi-shot self timer mode.
(For more detailed review please visit dpreviews )