PhotoDuniya » Art

Studio Portraits & Using Props to Make Better Portraits – Pipes & Cigars

Ranjay Mitra — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 04:21:03 +0000

Although I am more of an outdoor photographer, shooting indoors with models & props could be lot of fun. We used props from military clothes, renaissance dress & armours but they are very costly. Most of the time we had to do with simple props like fancy hats, pipes & cigars
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Pipes & Cigars put on a very sombre make up & coupled with un-brushed shoulder length hair, could provide a very promising model.

In this image, Ed, who happens to be an extremely good photographer himself, posed for the club’s “hands on” night. It was the evening where we all had to try different images with all available models & props.

Ed, to put on a more realistic look of a medieval scholar used a pipe, but on hindsight, a cigar would have gone well along too.

Cigars have a been the prime prop of many of the interesting shot of Hollywood & French movies, but setting up a model with a smoking cigar isn’t easy.

The smoke has to be right, the light has to be positioned right so as not to reflect too much & the wind should be mild enough to provide a smooth wave instead of a blur.

Use of reflectors & dark background slides for these types of shots are essential. The white smoke show better on a dark background. In similar lines, a black & white image turns out better instead of color.

This one is taken with a medium lens on Nikon F-100 film camera. The original shot was on Fujichrome & later desaturated in Photoshop.

Street dance, music and roller skating in Central Park

Ranjay Mitra — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:07:30 +0000

The spring is beginning to bring the revelers out. People grouped at the South Western part of Central park to play music, dance and roller skate. The sun was shining bright but the chill in the air could not do much to dampen the spirit of the revelers.

The picture is taken on hand held Nikon D200 with a wide angle lens.

Street musicians from Peru – the Spirit of the Andes

Ranjay Mitra — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:49:46 +0000

Espiritu Andino is a lively band and a group of enthusiastic street music players from Peru. Their music comes from the land of the Andes. And the pipes, the pans, the flutes and the percussion is so well orchestrated that you could give them a top 10 for their performance.

Following my experience in San Francisco in documenting Street Musicians, I have started a similar project in New York City too. While most of the usual musicians are still playing in the subways, this group was one of the few that added a nice flavor to the city.

The image is taken on hand held Nikon D200. I did not use flash which could have distracted the musicians.

New York City souvenirs – blue umbrellas with NYC skyline

Ranjay Mitra — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:41:17 +0000

Souvenirs in the form of blue umbrellas with a plastic handle and a picture of New York City skyline are sold along the Times Square. They are five dollars a piece and offers no guarantee to protect you from the rain or the sun, or to last a long time.

The hawker refused to be photographed, so I was just content with taking the pictures of his road side wooden stall. The picture is taken on hand held Nikon D200 without flash.

journalimage.com Launched for street documentary

Ranjay Mitra — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:35:02 +0000

.We have finally launched journalimage.com, a website & blog specifically for street candid pictures and documentaries. After having your trust & readership for almost two years, your constant feedback, suggestions for more concentrated street photography and encouragement have convinced us to move ahead with journalimage.com.

We hope to present candid street pictures, stories, techniques and documentaries from New York City, San Francisco, Boston & Chicago among other cities & metros of US. As in the past, we will also run street projects including street artists, street musicians, body art, street fairs & portraits on journalimage.com..

Please update your bookmark with journalimage.com. The feeds are available on http://journalimage.com/feed/

Small Photography Business – a new blog

Ranjay Mitra — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:26:54 +0000

The pressing need to help fellow photographers succeed in a small photography business made me start a new blog. I have gone through a similar phase quite early in my career in photography and I thought I could help answer many of the questions that keep coming my way.

You could read the new blog here and email me your suggestions and questions.

Northern California – Legend of the Big Foot

Ranjay Mitra — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 01:55:33 +0000

PhotoDuniya » Art

Studio Portraits & Using Props to Make Better Portraits – Pipes & Cigars

Street dance, music and roller skating in Central Park

Street musicians from Peru – the Spirit of the Andes

New York City souvenirs – blue umbrellas with NYC skyline

journalimage.com Launched for street documentary

Small Photography Business – a new blog

Northern California – Legend of the Big Foot

San Francisco street musician – Carols in French

San Francisco street candid – Keyboard player Jacob

San Francisco street musician – saxophone player Henri

San Francisco street musician – Mitchel singing the carols

Street Candid Photgraphy – Buddha on Sale

Street Musician – Old Chinatown of Los Angeles

Street Musicians – Mickey Bridges in Hollywood

San Francisco street musician – Nate

San Francisco street musician – ehru player Xuan

San Francisco street musician – Henri

San Francisco street musician – Doctor Sparkles

San Francisco Street Musicians – Henri

San Francisco Street Musicians – James

San Francisco street musician – Heidi

San Francisco street fair – Folsom Street

Street candids from Castro Street Fair 2007

San Francisco street portraits – Folsom Fair

San Francisco street musicians – PO