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We are moving to a new blog integrated with photoduniya.com

Ranjay Mitra — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:16:52 +0000

We are now integrated with our website, photoduniya.com. We have moved over to http://www.photoduniya.com/. Although we shall keep this blog up and running, most of the future posts will be on the Photoduniya Blog.

Please take a moment to view the new site and let us know your feedback.

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/

African wildlife films – masterpieces from the Jouberts

Ranjay Mitra — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:42:07 +0000

The Joubert family has settled in Botswan to film and photograph the African Wildlife in it’s natural environment. Giving up a luxurious city life, they have been working for the National Geographic for over 15 years now. And they have produced some marvelous films over the time.

Stalking the big cats on their jeep and following the faint sounds that could only be picked up by an expert, they have captured primitive hunts and predatory behaviors. Derreck mans the movie camera while Beverly works the sounds. And while she is not on her usual role, she captures the moments in her still camera.

While each of these videos will show the passion and compassion of the film makers, it will also be an immense tutorial on various aspects of wildlife photography for all.

Alan Rabinowitz & his Search of the Jaguar

Ranjay Mitra — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:06:38 +0000

Mr. Rabinowitz of the WCS, New York, has been fighting his personal battle to save the wild habitats of the Jaguars. The “necklace” as it is called, is a strip of of green forest nearing Panama in South America that has been very crucial to the successful revival of the Jaguar population.
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As for the video, its am amazing 90 minutes if you are interested in film making, photography, traveling or saving the wildlife, and the delicate eco-system. But more than just that, it re-instates in us the feeling of worthy selflessness and the incredible strength one needs to have to stand up for a cause. Jane Goodall, who made a strong forte in my heart by moving into social oblivion, and so has Alan Rabinowitz.
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The National Geographic documentary, In Search of the Jaguar, gives us a tiny glimpse into the life of Mr. Rabinowitz as well as his eternal struggle to save the Jaguars. If you would like to help Wildlife Conservation Society please call or visit their website.

How to take pictures while driving, with your Nikon

Ranjay Mitra — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:49:24 +0000

Since I posted my pictures from the cross country drive from California to New York New England, many of you have asked me how to take such pictures, what did I use and similar questions. Before I begin to explain, I must say that such photography is risky. You would be traveling at high speeds and all your attention should be on the road. So I would not recommend it to you, unless you are in the passenger seat or in the navigator’s seat.

Taking pictures while driving at high speeds is very similar to taking the picture of a deer running very fast from where you are standing. I have used three techniques for all those pictures.

1) For pictures where I did not have something in front of me to lock-focus, I set the focus manually at infinity, and set the shutter speed at over 100 for most of them.

2) For pictures where I had an object in front of me, like a vehicle or a sign post or a high land, I locked-focus and took the picture.

3) For pictures of landscapes, I again set the focus at infinity and shot through the wind shield.

All the pictures are taken through the windshield, with the camera held up high enough to avoid the bonnet. Note that none of those pictures have been cropped (they have been re-sized for sharing over the internet). So did I miss any shot? Yes, certainly. There is a certain amount of unpredictability with taking these sort of pictures. But since I have been doing it for long, I could get 8 or more good pictures from 10 gates.

The camera was Nikon D200 and I had used a wide angle lenses from 17 mm all though 120 mm. The higher the focal length, the better the composition and lesser chance of getting your car’s bonnet in the frame. But that also increases the chances of camera shake. You got to do the balance somewhere in between.

Since they were all taken from behind the windscreen, I did not use any flashlight. The ISO was held between 100 & 200 so as to get sufficient resolution in case I needed to crop.

New Nikon lenses – PMA 2008

Ranjay Mitra — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:06:17 +0000

Its been a week since the PMA 2008 and the news of Nikon’s new camera and lenses have already flooded the markets. The new D60, another 10 megapixels digital camera for the amateurs, with in-camera photo editing capabilities and an auto dust cleaner. Priced at about US 700.00 dollars for the camera it is on the higher end for the amateurs.

Along with that Nikon also rolled out 3 new lenses. Though the new VR tele lenses (500mm et all) are yet to hit the shelves in US, the new ones probably will be retailed sometime in June or July 2008.

The AF-S DX Nikkor 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens – this is a G lens, which makes it usable only on the electronic cameras. The focal range is very attractive for street shots and travel photography. And then there is the AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED is more of a close up lens, but the specifications say that the nearest focus point is 0.6 feet – and that isn’t quite attractive. But if you’re using a 1.5x crop camera, you could still get a good magnification for the distance. This is again a G lens, which makes it quite difficult to use on the manual cameras.

I would be very interested in the PC-E NIKKOR 24mm f/3.5D ED lens. With its tilt shift capability and the wide angle is a good make. Although,if you’re using a low end camera with a 1.5x crop, you will not benefit from the wide angle (effective focal length on a D200 or a D300 is 36mm). But put it on a D2X or a D3 and you have some powerful composition at hand! It is nice though that Nikon has relaunched the Perspective control lens again. The 85 mm PC lens is still available, and this is a welcome addition for the serious photographers.

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.

New Nikon Tele VR Lenses – affordability vs quality vs weight

Ranjay Mitra — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:31:57 +0000

From: Photoduniya.com

Note:
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We are now integrated with our website, photoduniya.com. We have moved over to http://www.photoduniya.com/photography-blog/. Although we shall keep this blog up and running, most of the future posts will be on the Photoduniya Blog.

Please take a moment to view the new site and let us know your feedback.

Nikon had announced the launch of the Telephoto VR lenses late last year. The Nikon 600 mm f/4 AF-VR (estimated street price USD 9,500) and the Nikon 500 mm f/4 AF-VR (estimated street price USD 7,900) were announced late last year by Nikon and are yet to hit the market. It had always been a question as to whether one needs a VR with these long lenses for an additional price of between USD 500 to USD 700 and an increased weight of the lens. But looking into the way Nikon is trying to get into the Canon sports market, probably the thought is that many of these “nature” & “field” lenses would now be used in the sports arena easily.

Having said that, the 2 other lenses that automatically come into the discussion are the Nikon 400 mm f/2.8 AF (street price of USD 7,000) and the Sigma 500 mm f/4.5 AF (street price of USD 4,200). Nikon would definitely discontinue the non-VR versions of all the lenses that are already made with VR. The Nikon 500 mm f/4 (non-VR) had been a favorite of most of the nature photographers and had performed superbly for ages would be gone in a few months of time.

Personally, since I do not do sports, I have not much use of the VR in these tele lenses. That leaves the proposition for the Sigma 500 mm f/4.5 AF extremely enticing, especially if I weigh the positive price and the weight factors to the only negative brand factor. But a difference of USD 4,000 does a lot of justification for a small time photographer like me! The reviews had been excellent over years together. And apart from the Service related cribbing that many people reported as a pain point with Sigma, there have been no complaints on the quality or the operations of this lens.

The other brand lens that appears very enticing at least from the price point of view now is the Nikon 200 – 400 mm f/4 G-AFS which comes with a VR for a price of USD 5,100. I have recently sold my very favorite Nikon FM 3A and probably would not have much need of the “D” versions anyway. The Nikon F5 and the Nikon D200 works superbly with the Nikon 200 – 400 mm f/4 G-AFS VR. The zooming ability of this lens, for my needs, out-weighs the benefits of the 500 mm prime.

I have thought of the Sigmonster (Sigma 300 – 800 mm f/5.6) for over a year now. It is probably an excellent value for the money (for a price of USD 7,000) but since I have started doing a lot of streets now, I have to finally get this lens off my mind for good!

Tips & Suggestions for a long haul drive

Ranjay Mitra — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:58:18 +0000

From: photoduniya.com

It is extremely nice to hear a lot of interest within my readers to drive similar distances cross country. I am constantly being asked for any suggestion that could help in such a drive. I have updated the Travel section of photoduniya.com with as much of information as possible and I will jot the main points again here:

This is our second cross country drive. We had most of our lessons on the first. And we also had a growing interest to do this trip again from the first drive!

Travel for the fun of it. Look out, enjoy the beauty outside and take in as much as you can of the region you are traveling through. We took diversions, we stayed additional days in places we wanted to see in winter and we stopped where we wanted to spend a moment longer.
Prepare your vehicle – oil change, tire pressure and the electrical circuits are absolutely necessary if you are traveling through a wide range of climatic conditions. Our car was practically new in this drive, with almost new tires and yet we had situations where the pressure faltered, where the grip wasn’t as good. I have never changed a tire before! Never. And all I am good at with my car is either driving it or re-fuelling it. And thank god, we did not run into issues.
Our off road SUV – Nissan Xterra

If you are planning to drive in the winter, you could have very difficult roads. So keeping to 1 or 2 interstate highways for the most part of the journey helps. The image below shows a spot on Interstate I-80 which was completely icy and the snow had not been cleared for quite some time.

Icy patches on I-80

Carry extra wind shield fluid in the car. We faced a situation where we had used up all the fuild by the afternoon and it started snowing in the evening when we suddenly heard the fluid motor burring! We had run out of fuild on a winding dark narrow mountainous stretch close to Reno, Nevada.
Keep water, fruit juice and dry food in the car. Water and the juice is to keep your body hydrated while on the wheels. The food is primarily for emergencies and will also help you to keep your stomach from running completely empty. Driving with an empty stomach could lead to fatal accidents.
Keep one map & a torch lamp in the car. We used a five dollar Mapquest map book bought from Walmart. It helped us on course corrections for all closed highways and byways. We used a ten dollar maglite torch lamp from REI.
Dont push your body or your vehicle to its limits. You are traveling to see and enjoy. So relax! Keep ample time in your hand to stop for some coffee and breathe in the fresh air!
Keep in touch with a friend or a relative. For the most part, we had our family friend watch over us during the journey. They would call us and make sure that we were all right. We had also taken their help on navigation and weather information.
While driving, know for sure that many other people on the road should not even be behind the wheels in the first place! So do not tempt or be tempted to exceed speed or do anything unusual or illegal. There would only be a few drivers along the way who are driving for several days at a stretch for several thousand miles. This is not a competition to reach first – this is probably a once in a life time opportunity to see the country in its natural best. So keep your focus.
Last but not the least, enjoy the drive. Look out, stop to take some pictures or to exchange some greetings with the local people – you may never meet them again!

If you are planning to travel cross country we wish you good luck and hope you have a memorable trip. Do share your trip experience so that we could also plan something similar on a new route!

Cross Country Drive from California to New York – Day 10 Danbury, CT

Ranjay Mitra — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:17:41 +0000

From: photoduniya.com

We concluded our coast to coast drive from California on the West to New York in the East today at about 6:30 PM Eastern Time clocking 3425 miles on the odometer. It is the tenth day of our trip and we drove the last 400 miles from Pennsylvania to Connecticut in about 6 hours.

Hermitage, PA to Danbury, CT @ photoduniya.com

The day was mostly cloudy with snow dust blowing mildly but the wind was low and even though there were mild drizzle along the way, the drive had been mostly good. The I-84 Est that we followed into New York and Connecticut badly needs repair in many places in Pennsylvania and New York. There are numerous potholes, with the concrete coming off in several places that slowed us down quite a bit.

Pennsylvania landscape on I-80 @ photoduniya.com

The images on this journey are taken mostly while driving on hand held Nikon D200. More on the trip will come up later on the Travel section of photoduniya.com.