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 )