CM YK
CHEAP FLASH DIFFUSERS YOU CAN MAKE • Behind the lens with Chase jarvis
LEARN TO capture SOULFUL portraits • CREATIVE FLASH Techniques • EXCLUSIVE TEST: OLYMPUS E-P2
Better Technique. Better Insight. Better Pictures
Can side profiles be better than frontal portraits? More inside! LEARN TO capture SOULFUL
Portraits PLUS: How to bring out the character of a person without even showing the face
Creative flash techniques for great people pictures
Vol. 13 • No. 7 • December 2009
EXCLUSIVE TESTS Canon EOS 7D Fujifilm S200EXR Sony Cyber-shot TX1 Lensbaby Composer camera REVIEW
Find out if the Canon SX20IS is a recommended buy
World iew e REv exclusiv
Olympus2 Pen E-P d st to rea Be the fir BP! it in
MARKET SENSE
Develop your photo business with effective networking
GREAT MASTERS
Visionary lensman Jagdish Mali’s journey to fame
CM YK
PROFILE
Celebrity photographer Russel Wong on his timeless style
ide 09 Ins 20 Y PO
BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY
www.betterphotography.in
ds ar r Aw fo 009 ies r 2 tr ea en e Y ing Th ll Of Ca her p ra og ot Ph
December 2009 • Rs. 100
December 2009
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SnapShots
GearGuide
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Website of the Month thewellspoint.com
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Look Who’s Shooting Kaushik Chakravorty
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Test
Canon EOS 7D Can this semi-pro camera recapture the market?
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Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR Feels just like a DSLR!
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Sony Cyber-shot DSCTX1 With the new EXR sensor
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Lensbaby Composer Twist and shoot!
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FEATURE
A search for India’s finest wedding photographers For the first time in India
See page no. 50 for details
ON THE COVER
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Olympus PEN E-P2 Is this a refined version of E-P1? Perhaps...
World Exclusive Review
Photograph: Jagdish Mali Design: Pradeep Kumar B Nambiar
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Canon PowerShot SX20IS Was this upgrade necessary?
Inexpensive Flash Diffusers Things you can make at home
InFocus
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BetterPictures
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Shooting Technique
The Power of a Profile How they can be better than frontal portraits
ShowCase
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Profile
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Chase Jarvis The inspiration behind his compelling images
Russel Wong An insight into his timeless style
PhotoFinish
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DIFFERENT STROKES
The Nature of Macro Photography
180 The Power of Networking 182 When We First Looked MARKET SENSE
History of Photography
at Capturing Wider Views The development of panoramic cameras
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Portrait Pictures Without Faces Simple ideas for off-beat pictures In a Flash! Creative techniques for great people pictures
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My Best Shot
Dabboo Ratnani On his favourite shot from his 2007 calendar Great Masters
Jagdish Mali This visionary lensman’s journey to fame
120 S Ganapathi Rao PHOTOFEATURE
Striving to Conserve
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Tips & Tricks
Get sharp pictures using camera phones and more
184 A Battle That is Slowly Story Behind the Picture
Being Won...
Turn to page no. 34 for details
India’s Biggest Photography Awards
Regulars Feedback.............................................................12 PHOTOCRITIQUE................................................... 84 Q & A................................................................... 94 1000 WORDS........................................................ 118 Your Pictures................................................... 124 BP Buyer’s Guide...............................................164
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Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG OS The new Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG OS is a telephoto zoom lens that incorporates OS (Optical Stabiliser) function and is housed in a compact construction. The lens is compatible with both APS-C and full frame cameras. It has a minimum focusing distance of 150cm throughout the entire zoom range and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:3.9. The new lens is equipped with the SLD (Special Low Dispersion) element that helps in reducing lens aberration. It will be available for Sigma, Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony SLRs at GBP 399 (approx. Rs. 31,000)
Ricoh Launches Path-Breaking Interchangeable Sensor Camera, the GXR
Two New Lenses from Olympus
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Olympus has announced two Micro Four Thirds lenses—the M Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 wideangle and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6 superzoom. Both lenses have the ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements to help in suppressing colour aberration particularly at wide-angle focal lengths. These lenses are designed to be used with the cameras that incorporate the Micro Four Thirds System and will be available in the first half of 2010.
SanDisk CompactFlash Cards Designed for pros, this new series of CompactFlash (CF) cards are capable of offering read and write speeds of up to nearly 90MB/sec and come in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. The company has also launched their line CF and SDHC cards called the Extreme Pro series. The cards offer transfer speeds of up to 60MB/sec and 30 MB/sec respectively and will be available from 8GB to 32GB capacities. They can be used in temperatures ranging from minus 25°C to 85°C. They feature an RTV Silicone coating for added protection against moisture and can withstand drops of up to 9 feet.
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icoh has announced an all-new camera system that takes the concept of using interchangeable lenses and gives it an innovative twist. The Ricoh GXR is more than just an interchangeable lens camera—it uses interchangeable lens/ sensor units. This means that the camera consists of two parts: a shell that consists of the screen, card slot, buttons and flash, and a unit that can be attached to the shell. The unit contains the lens, sensor, shutter and the motors necessary for focus and zoom. This also means that every time you buy a new lens unit, you are virtually buying a new camera system, with a different sensor, image quality and features. These units also make the overall system very compact, and the GXR claims to be the smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera in the world. In theory, the Ricoh GXR is similar to the Minolta Dimage
EX-1500, which was launched in 1998. But then, the Minolta did not have a DSLRsized sensor, and lacked the kind of features that the Ricoh boasts of. Interestingly, different lens units, along with different sensor sizes and sensor types, can also differ on other features, such as image processing, quality, AF speed, continuous shooting speed and video capabilities. The GXR has been announced with two different lens units-the first one has a 12-megapixel APS-C-sized CMOS sensor with a f/2.5 macro lens that gives a field of view similar to a 50mm lens. The other unit uses a 10-megapixel 1/1.7-inch CCD sensor, with a lens that gives a 35mmequivalent focal length of 24-72mm. The Ricoh GXR also boasts of features like a magnesium alloy construction, a 920,000 dot LCD, external flash and a tilt-able electronic viewfinder.
Which of my photographs is my favourite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. Imogen Cunningham (1883–1976) Imogen Cunningham was an American photographer known for her portraits, nudes and plant photography. But it was her keen interest in the human form that got her a job in Vanity Fair, an American magazine on pop culture, fashion and politics. She was also invited by the legendary Ansel Adams to be a part of the faculty of the first fine-art photography department at the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA). Better Photography
Image source: www.photoliaison.com
december 2009
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Eco-friendly Products from Sanyo
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Sanyo Energy Corporation has announced a new line of eco friendly products in India. In the eneloop series the company has included AA-, AAA-, C- and D-sized batteries. This series is based on the eneloop concept of a lifestyle that values reusing and recycling. AA- and AAA- size eneloop batteries are the flagship products from Sanyo and are also known for resistance to ‘overheating’. The batteries are available in various pack options like AA- 2pcs blister card, AA- 4pcs blister card, AAA- 2pcs blister card and AAA- 4pcs blister card. They can be bought at a price of Rs. 450, Rs.730, Rs.390 and Rs.460 respectively. The C- and D-sized eneloop batteries offer anti-bacterial exterior tubes for greater sanitation and cleanliness and can be bought at Rs. 1100 and Rs. 1250 respectively. Sanyo has also launched a Universal Charger that can hold a dozen eneloop rechargeable batteries at the same time. The voltage of each battery is monitored and controlled by a built-in microcomputer to prevent overcharging. It is priced at Rs. 4500.
Casio EX-FH25 The Casio EX-FH25 is a 20x superzoom camera with a 35-mm equivalent focal length of 26-520mm. The main feature of this camera is a new 10.1megapixel backlit CMOS sensor that is supposed to improve image quality at high ISOs. The camera also boasts of features like 40fps continuous shooting of 9-megapixel stills, 720p HD video at 30fps and 1000fps slow-motion video shooting.
Olympus Announces the All New PEN E-P2 B arely four months after the launch of the revolutionary PEN E-P1, Olympus has announced their second Micro Four Thirds camera, the PEN E-P2. The E-P2 is a subtle enhancement over the E-P1. First in the list of new features is an EVF, the lack of which was criticised in the E-P1. The VF-2 external viewfinder is supplied with the camera, and can be attached to a special port behind the hot shoe. The viewfinder has a resolution of 1,440,000 dots and can be moved in a 90-degree angle for exploring different shooting angles and perspectives. Besides this, the E-P2 adds some other features like AF tracking, i-Enhance function for better colours, two new Art Filters and remote slideshow control
through HDMI and added manual functionality in the HD movie mode. The E-P2 is priced at Rs. 54,995 (body only) and Rs. 59,995 for the kit (14–42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED lens or a 17mm f/2.8 lens). Turn to page no. 44 for an exclusive review of this camera.
Winners of National Photo Contest Announced D evendra, Ratlam won the first prize in the Black and White section of the 22nd National Photo Contest based on the theme Badhte Kadam: A Vision of Hope. Organised by the Photo Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, this contest aims to encourage the photographers countrywide to participate so that they can be given due recognition. This year a total of 1575 entries were
received from 391 photographers. The competition was judged by G V Mukherjee, Jyoti Bhatt, Debatosh Sengupta and T Narayan. The second and third prizes in the B&W category were won by Santosh Kumar, Midnapur and Dibyendu Dey Choudhary, Kolkata respectively. The winners in the Colour section were Narayan D, Baroda, Pabesh Chaurasia, Indore and Syamal Das, Kolkata.
Casio EX-FC150 The Casio EX-FC150 is another camera that features a 10.1-megapixel backlit CMOS sensor. The camera has 5x optical zoom, an ISO range of 1003200, sensor-shift IS. The EX-FC150 can also record 720p HD video at 30fps and 1000fps slow-motion video.
Hasselblad H3DII-39 MS This Multi-Shot (MS) version of the H3DII-50 medium-format camera is available with 39 or 50 million pixel sensors that capture the tiniest details with clarity. It can also capture four shots in a row, by moving the sensor by one pixel between each shot to record full RGB values at each position. This new camera costs Euro 23,000 (approx. Rs.16,00,000). Better Photography
Santosh Kumar
This photograph by Santosh Kumar Jana from Midnapur won the 2nd Prize in the B&W Section of the National Photo Contest
Devendra
Titled Empowering village, this photograph by Devendra from Ratlam won the 1st Prize in the B&W Section of the 22nd National Photo Contest. december 2009
GearGuide How We Test Product Categorisation We first segregate products into categories for the purpose of equitability in testing. The DSLR is divided into entrylevel, semi-professional and professional categories. For compacts, we distinguish between advanced and basic compact cameras. Similarly, we also test consumer and pro lenses, flashguns, printers, and other photographic equipment, gear and accessories.
The Process We primarily test for features, performance, build, ergonomics, warranty and support. While this remains constant, the weightage we give to these parameter differs from category to category, because different types of consumers have diverse expectations from products.
Final Ratings Under each main parameter, we 40 list out hundreds of individual variables (for eg. colour accuracy for individual colours in different lighting, individual features, dynamic range, center-to-edge definition, light fall-off, etc.) against which we either give points or simply mark ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Thus, we arrive at a score for that parameter, and then, the final score, denoted as a percentage. Additionally, based on the current pricing of a product, a star rating for ‘Value for Money’ is considered. Value for Money does not affect the final percentage, because prices for products change constantly.
Our Seals of Approval Any product that scores 80% or higher in individual tests gets ‘BP Recommended’—a seal test of approval from our team. In comparison tests, we also tag products as ‘BP Best Performer’ and ‘BP Best Value for Money’.
BP Excellence Awards At the end of the calendar year, the five highest rated products in each category automatically gets nominated for the ‘Better Photography Excellence Awards’. A panel of experts then decide the winners. This is BP’s recognition of the very best products launched in the course of the year, and the companies that made them. Better Photography
test
Canon EOS 7D
The Return of the King
Canon’s latest APS-C sized sensor camera has been long overdue. Shridhar Kunte tests the EOS 7D to see if this new camera will race past its competition to take the top spot.
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anon has always had the upper hand when it comes to the megapixel count in full-frame or cropped-sensor DSLRs. However, in the recent past they have lagged behind on other parameters like ergonomics, metering and autofocus. With the arrival of the Canon EOS 7D, it seems like Canon has decided to overcome its shortcomings and add a few
new tricks. The question remains: will the Canon EOS 7D be able to put its nose in the front and take the top podium post in the race of non-full frame cameras?
Features The Canon EOS 7D is equipped with a new 18-megapixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor. While a lot of people have speculated that 18 megapixels is too high a resolution December 2009
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Olympus PEN E-P2
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Features Performance Build Quality Ergonomics Warranty & Support Better Photography
The E-P2 has finally arrived, boasting a slightly updated avatar from the E-P1 and a sophisticated black-silver colour. Sneha Ullal finds out if the newer PEN takes it a notch higher and addresses the minor issues in the award-winning E-P1.
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he rumours have finally been laid to rest, and it looks like a legend did get a makeover. Early last month, the Olympus E-P2 made a splashing (albeit surprising) entry in the camera market worldwide. This has led many to wonder why the ‘upgrade’, barely four months since the EISA Camera of the Year 2009–10 award-
winner and the ‘legend’ we were referring to, E-P1, was launched. Even here at the BP office, the memories of us reviewing and shooting with the E-P1 are still fresh in our minds. The super compact metal body with its irresistible vintage feel, blew us away with its excellent image quality. When the E-P2 first arrived, the first things we noticed were its new December 2009
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Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
An Upgrade Too Soon?
Shridhar Kunte reviews the new PowerShot SX20 IS, to see how different it is from its predecessor the SX10 IS that was launched only a year ago.
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hen we tested the Canon SX10 IS in February, we loved it for many reasons: the big zoom, excellent colour reproduction and good noise control, to mention a few. This is why, the release of its upgrade—the SX20 IS—seems to be a bit too early. Moreover, both cameras look the same! As it landed on our test bench, I could not help but wonder how relevant this upgrade is, and whether it will match up to or maybe even perform better than the SX10 IS.
Features Both the SX10 IS and SX20 IS feature a 20x optical zoom (28–560mm). However,
the newer SX20 IS boasts a 12MP resolution (10MP in the SX10 IS), and the inclusion of a Smart Auto mode that utilises Servo AF/AE to trace moving subjects, Scene Detection and Face Detection functions. Apart from the standard P, M, Av and Tv modes, the SX20 IS offers 22 pre-defined shooting options including Fireworks, Night Portrait and 0cm (zero cm) Macro that lets you capture subjects at 1:1 magnification. Each of these modes is supported by iSAPS (intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology—a scene recognition system that scours through an internal database of the EXIF data of more than a thousand
What’s in the box • PowerShot SX20 IS camera • Neck strap • Lens hood • Lens cap • 4 AA-sized batteries • USB interface cable • A/V cable • Software CD-ROM • Warranty card • Instruction manual december 2009
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Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR
The DSLR Experience Raj Lalwani tests the Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR-an advanced compact camera that handles just like a DSLR-to see if it is as good as its predecessor, the S100fs. Weightage of parameters 10% 20% 15% 15%
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he first superzoom camera I had ever used was the Fujifilm FinePix S100fs. With an excellent zoom range, a chunky body and producing excellent quality images, it felt great. Now, despite having used and tested so many other superzoom cameras, I still remember the Fujifilm fondly. The impressive body design, superb handling and manual zoom lens made me feel that I was actually using an SLR. Cut to the present, I was quite excited when the Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR arrived in our office. After all, this camera replaces the S100fs as Fujifilm’s high-end
RAW-shooting advanced compact camera. Considering the fact that this new camera also comes with EXR technology , my expectations from it were quite high.
Features The Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR is a 12-megapixel camera that retains the 14.3x optical zoom that was there in its predecessor. However, while the previous camera had an effective focal length of 28–400mm, the S200EXR is not as wide—it has an effective focal length of 30.5436mm. The headline feature of the camera, of course, is the integration of the December 2009
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1
A Beacon in Low Light
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The TX1 comes with the new Exmor R sensor that enables the camera to shoot in low light. Neha Mutreja tests it in some tricky light situations.
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ony Cyber-shot cameras have the knack of turning anyone into a photographer, mainly because of their innovative, easy-to-use shooting features. This August, Sony announced another Cyber-shot camera—the DSC-TX1—that incorporates the Sony’s Exmor R sensor, a backilluminated sensor designed to overcome the challenge of shooting in low light and some unique shooting modes. We find out how the camera performs by testing it in challenging situations.
Features The TX1 is a 10.2-megapixel camera that comes with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens and 4x optical zoom (35–140mm). Unlike conventional CMOS sensors, its Exmor R back-illuminated sensor has photo diodes placed immediately behind the microlenses and mosaic filter. This helps to capture images even when the light is very
dim. The Exmor R sensor is combined with the BIONZ processor that helps maintain noise control and colour balance. Also, the camera can perform burst shooting at up to 10fps at full resolution. Some of Sony’s proprietary shooting modes like Sweep Panorama, Anti-Motion Blur and Handheld Twilight modes, which were first seen in the superzoom Cybershot HX1, have also been included in this compact camera. The Anti-Motion Blur mode captures six images in succession and combines them to give one sharp and detailed image. The Handheld Twilight mode can capture images in low light, without placing the camera on a tripod. Here too, six images are taken and stacked to form one clear image with the least possible noise. Arguably the most ingenious shooting mode is the Sweep Panorama, where the camera shoots frames continuously while you simply sweep the camera from side to side, or up to down.
What’s in the box • DSC TX1 camera • Camera strap • Instruction manual • Li-ion battery • USB cable • Warranty card december 2009
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Lensbaby Composer
Let’s Do The Twist Raj Lalwani twists the barrel of the Lensbaby Composer to test whether this specialeffects lens is as crazy as it claims to be.
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nter into the big bad world of image quality. We spend hours fretting over the right camera, worrying about megapixels, dynamic range and noise. Sharpness becomes the most important thing in our lives and we wish to buy lenses that do not show any fringing, flare or any other optical defects. That is why it is so refreshing to see a product that makes use of certain imperfections to make beautiful, artistic images. Lensbaby, who had introduced their first special-effects lens in 2004, has now brought out the new Composer. The brand has barely entered the Indian market, but there is no doubting its popularity. When the Composer first
arrived in our office our entire team was huddled around it, wondering what it looked like and wanting to be the first ones to use it. The ‘Lensbaby effect’ of having extreme shallow depth-of-field and painting-like images is something that a lot of us in the team enjoy, and we were curious to see whether this latest product can overcome the shortcomings of its predecessors.
The Charm of Manual The Lensbaby is available in almost every possible camera mount including Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony and Samsung. We tested the Canon version, by using it on the cropped-sensor EOS 30D and the full-frame EOS 1Ds Mark December 2009
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Better Photography
December 2009
Shooting technique
Shooting technique
Tips & Tricks
Portrait Pictures Without Faces! Ideas for off-beat shots
In a Flash! Creative tricks for great people shots
How to get sharp pictures with a camera phone and more
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The Power of a Profile Ekta Gulechha reveals how you can create character-revealing profiles that can be more beautiful and effective than complete facial portraits. Photographs by Shiresh R Karrale.
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ost of us would instantly relate a person’s identity to their face. Even in portrait photography, we usually consider the entire face. We have seen or captured portraits highlighting the unique features or expressions that tell us so much about the individual’s personality. However, it is also possible to tell the viewer something December 2009
about the subject, without revealing the complete face. Have you ever considered shooting just one side of the subject’s face as a portrait? Such one-sided, or more correctly, ‘profile’ photographs can exude a timeless grace and beauty that can be lacking even in a portrait that shows the entire face. Read the following simple techniques that you can try out when shooting profiles.
Hindustani classical music vocalist Shubha Mudgal, in a contemplative mood. Even simple profile shots can convey great emotions. Exposure: 1/60sec at f/14 (ISO 100) Better Photography
Sho ot ing T echniq ue
Adding a sense of place is an effective method of portraying a subject’s personality. Despite not showing the monk’s face, the picture tells you about where he lives, and his relation to his space. Exposure: 1/1600sec at f/10 (ISO 400)
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Ritesh Uttamchandani
Portrait Pictures Without Faces!
Have you considered taking portraits without including the entire face? Amit Sheokhand reveals how easy and fun it can be to practise this off-beat kind of portraiture.
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ne would define a portrait as a photograph of a person captured in a studio or taken candidly in their surroundings. But have you thought about shooting portraits without capturing the entire face—or not including it in the frame at all? It might sound absurd; however such portraits can actually be quite fun to create! The challenge lies in portraying the subject’s Better Photography
persona well enough, without letting the viewer see him or her. Here are some basic ideas you can try out while attempting this kind of ‘no face’ portrait photography.
Shoot Silhouettes The outline or silhouette of a person can be captured creatively as great portraits! However, you will need to consider a few things like the intensity of the light source December 2009
Sho o t ing T echnique
and the subject’s posture. Whether you are shooting in a studio or outdoors, let your subject stand directly in front of the light source, so that their silhouette is clearly visible and recognisable. Ask your subject to give their most comfortable pose, or even one that matches their personality. For instance, if your subject is a great dancer then request them to give their favourite dance pose! You can ask them to try a variety of poses, and keep shooting till you are satisfied with the end results.
Frame Only One Feature Silhouettes can be an effective tool to tell a story about a person without showing their face. Body language in a silhouette needs to be extremely expressive to convey the mood. Exposure: 1/250sec at f/3.5 (ISO 125)
Even if you frame just one unique element or feature, it can be enough to drive the viewer’s imagination and make them wonder who the subject could be. Capture only one part of the face that is instantly relatable to the person—it could be an ornate ear-piercing or even a forehead with a big red bindi. Similarly, framing just the delicate feet of a woman, a man’s naked
torso or the tiny, tightly-closed fists of a newborn can tell the viewer so much about the subject.
Use Meaningful Props Does your subject love playing the sitar? Then framing just their fingers gently strumming the sitar’s strings can make a beautiful portrait. Having your subject pose with their favourite accessory or prop can reveal a lot about themselves. Shooting only a singer’s mouth and hands holding a microphone or a writer writing with an ink pen on a note-pad can tell us so much about the subject’s profession or interests. Even simple things like bold nail paint, jewellery, clothes and shoes one wears can effectively tell the viewer about their age, gender and personality.
Capturing just one feature of your subject can be enough to make your viewer wonder who the person could be.
Focus on the Body Language A person’s body language simply refers to their postures that tell us about a certain
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In a Flash!
Samira Pillai shows you how you can use an external flashgun to liven up your people photographs, almost instantly, by using simple yet effective techniques.
Better Photography
December 2009
Sho o t ing T echnique
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hen you use a flash for shooting portraits of people, do you find yourself bothered by the harsh and unflattering light? Next time, instead of using a direct flash, take it off the camera, place it on one side of your subject and then take a shot. You will notice that the light is directional. Change its position again, take it further away from your subject and take another shot. Bounce the light off a ceiling or add a diffuser on the flash head. You will notice a world of difference in how December 2009
A Nikon SB-800 was put behind a white umbrella (at camera right) in Remote mode, to serve as fill light. The exposure was set for the brightest part of the cloudy sky. Exposure: 1/8sec at f/8 (ISO 200) Better Photography
Abhijit Bhatlekar
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Profile
ShowCase
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This image of Jackie Chan was shot in Hong Kong, just after a shoot of the actor’s miniature action figure. “I had a very classic Hollywood look for Jackie in mind… almost like a Marlon Brando portrait!,” Russel elaborates. Better Photography
December 2009
Profile
Great Masters
Photo feature
Chase Jarvis On the inspirations behind his compelling images
Jagdish Mali This visionary lensman’s journey to fame
S GanapathiProfile Rao Striving to Conserve Water
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Simply Russel
Russel Wong
• With 17 Time magazine covers to his credit, Russel believes that it is the soul in his photographs that brings him success. • He is one of the most profiled photographers in Singapore and Asia and has also been voted as one Asian personality to look out for in the this millennium.
Samira Pillai discovers how celebrity photographer Russel Wong became the ‘Richard Avedon of Asia’.
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atching him work in his studio on a television program, I could not help but be fascinated by the world of celebrity photographer Russel Wong. His portraits of every familiar face on screen—Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Aishwarya Rai— elicited a ‘wow’. It was not as much about the familiarity of who, but rather how different they looked from their on-screen personas. I simply had to find out more about this talented photographer.
“Shoes For Shots” Russel’s initiation into the world of photography actually began with his interest in sports. During his studies at the University of Oregon, he spent a lot of his
time at the runners’ trails near the university. Using a low-end 35mm Topcon camera, he began shooting at the trails. This is where he photographed British middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe. In 1979, Nike offered him a pair of running shoes in exchange for this photograph and thus the “shoes-forshots” arrangement came to be. Russel continued using this arrangement primarily because he never received an official press pass from the company. Lack of proper credentials also led to him being turned down a job with The Oregon Daily Emerald. So Russel struck a friendship with one of the marshals to gain entry from the corner of a stadium in Oregon—and he did this for almost three years. During this time he managed to shoot sport luminaries like Carl Lewis, Mary Decker and John McEnroe.
Time-ly Achievement Russel Wong has the distinction of being one of the elite few whose photographs have been featured on the cover of Time magazine. He is also the first Singaporean to break into the difficult Hollywood movie industry.
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Prof i l e
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• A self-taught professional photographer, Chase is based in Seattle, US and Paris, France. • He has shot many ad campaigns for brands like Reebok, Apple Computers, Volvo and Mountain Dew. • Before owning a photo studio, Chase had a painting studio. He derives most of his inspiration from 50–70s New York pop artists like Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko and Jim Dine.
Chase-ing the Moment World-renowned photographer Chase Jarvis speaks about the inspirations behind his compelling yet fresh photography to Rochelle Jobard.
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ake one look at a Chase Jarvis photograph, and it will seem as if you have experienced that moment either in real life or in a dream. That is essentially why he loves photography. “It is all about the people and sparking an emotional connect,” he says. A highly commended advertising, sports, Better Photography
lifestyle and popular culture photographer, Chase describes his work as “stylised authenticity”—which means that he infuses his style into every moment he captures.
Then and Now Born on 18 July 1971, Chase inherited his first camera from his grandfather. At 35, December 2009
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A modern dancer does an acrobatic manoeuvre in a desert in Dubai. December 2009
Better Photography
Jagdish Mali The multi-talented Jagdish Mali is best known for bringing about a refreshing visual change in the Indian movie magazines especially in the 90s. Neha Mutreja spoke to the visionary about his experiences in the Indian world of glamour.
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This profile shot of Sachin Tendulkar was taken about 18 years ago, when he had just begun making his mark in the world of cricket. It was shot for a popular common-interest magazine in the 80s.
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orn on 18 January 1954, Jagdish Mali spent a freespirited childhood, without a keen interest in school and studies. The one thing that he dedicated his whole heart and soul into was building a career as a professional photographer. As a result, he became one of the biggest Indian names in the glamour and commercial photography business, and he is also credited for introducing unique and fresh visuals to Indian movie magazines. His success
story begins with chance visit to a Bollywood movie set...
First Taste of Success One summer vacation, when Jagdish was only 16 years old, a friend took him to a location where a big-budget Bollywood movie was being filmed. There, he was introduced to the director, who offered him a job to keep track of the continuity of the scenes. Jagdish readily took it up, but struggled to keep up and eventually lost interest. But he thought about working on something else—photographing the sprawling movie set. His father owned a Mamiya camera that he would use for practice. One day, while he was strolling about the sets, he approached upcoming actress Jaya Bhaduri (now Bachchan), and asked if he could take a few photographs of her. “The next day I took my camera along and finished a roll of film shooting Jayaji,” Jagdish remembers. “It took me a week to develop the images, and the results amazed me!” All the images that Jagdish had shot were perfectly exposed. His father, a painter at The Times of India, was able to show them to B K Karanjia, the then editor of Filmfare, through a common friend. Karanjia was amazed at the photographs and readily published them in the magazine. “When I saw them in Filmfare, I knew that my journey towards becoming a professional photographer had just begun.”
Career Development After his images were published in Filmfare, Jagdish decided to learn the Better Photography
“ I admit I made some mistakes at the beginning, but then I realised that I wanted to be someone worth looking up to. So I learnt from those mistakes and moved on.” December 2009
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technicalities so that he could capture better images. He joined the IndoAmerican Society in Mumbai, where he enrolled into a few photography courses. “I continued doing portfolios, magazines shoots and posters for about ten years. December 2009
I also made some good friends in the film industry.” While Jagdish continued to develop his career, he had no clue that the media too was taking notice and appreciating his work. Cine Blitz, a popular Bollywood
Rekha has been one of the most photogenic and proactive actresses that Jagdish has worked with.
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History
John R Connon
When We First Looked at Capturing Wider Views 182
Taken in 1890, this panoramic print of men standing on a ferry looking at the Brooklyn Bridge was one of the oldest black and white ones by John Connon—the inventor of the cycloramic panoramic camera.
Amit Sheokand takes a look back at the invention, use and development of panoramic cameras that were invented sometime in the 1840s.
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hortly after photography was invented in 1839, artists and photographers expressed a desire to capture overviews of cities and landscapes. Such elongated fields-of-view, popularly called panoramic photography, first appeared in Europe in the 1840s. The term ‘panorama’, however, was already in existence. It was invented by an American painter named George Barker in the 1790s and originally meant “a distant, allencompassing view from a vantage point”.
Historic Importance of Panoramas George Barnard, a photographer during the American Civil War in the 1860s, was known for his panoramas of fortifications and terrain, which were valued by engineers, generals, and artists. Later on, the panoramic camera was also used to capture the development of cities and industrial enterprises, and also to record wars. Better Photography
Firsts in Panoramic Cameras After Europe, America too started making panoramic cameras around the 1850s. Though it is not clear as to who invented the first one, the first patent for a panoramic camera was filed in Austria in 1843 by Joseph Puchberger, a pharmacist and photographer. This camera used daguerreotype plates ranging from 19 to 24 inches in size. It had a ‘swing lens’, which would pivots around an axis of rotation to cover a 150° view. A more successful panoramic camera was assembled in the following year by Friedrich von Martens, a German photographer. The Megaskop camera he built had the crucial set gears that offered a relatively
steady panning speed. The invention of flexible film in 1888 led to a revolution in photography even in the creation of panoramic images. Taking advantage of the growing popularity of the panoramic camera, many big manufacturers of that time introduced panoramic film cameras like the Cylindrograph, Wonder Panoramic, Pantascopic and Cyclo-Pan.
A 360° View The first camera capable of taking 360° panoramic pictures was built by British inventor M Garella. First introduced in England in 1865, this camera used a fangoverned clockwork to rotate the lens. The Rochester Panoramic Camera Company (later a part of Eastman Kodak Co) used a similar design in 1904, and as a result, rolled out the Cirkut Number 10 and Number 16 cameras. These cameras were originally made to take pictures of large groups of people and some are in use even today! Each has a spring-wound clockwork that rotates the camera and automatically advance the film inside the camera.
Panoramic Cameras for the Masses The first mass-produced American panoramic camera, the Al-Vista, was December 2009
H i sto ry
Panoramic Cameras Through the Years Cycloramic Camera Year: 1887 introduced in 1898. A year later, Eastman Kodak introduced the #4 Kodak Panoram camera, which proved to be popular amongst amateur photographers. The mass-produced panoramic cameras used a roll of film and did not require a tripod. They had a swinging lens, produced images measuring up to 12 inches and gave a 180° field-of-view. These cameras gained popularity as the development of film was easy and the negatives could be used for enlargements as well as contact printing. They were commonly used by photographers to shoot wedding parties, religious festivities, beauty contests and other social events.
Development through the Years The development of technology saw more and more companies producing panoramic cameras. Companies like Hasselblad, Fuji, Linhoff, Kodak manufactured and perfected such cameras along the years. Furthermore, with the advent of the digital age, producing panoramic images was no longer limited to the cameras. Photographers can now ‘stitch’ images to create panoramic pictures, with the help of image-editing software. Some cameras todays even have built- in software that can capture panoramas by capturing upto three shots consecutively multiple shots. Additionally, companies like Gigapan, Panoscan, SLiVR and Spheron have manufactured various cameras and accessories, thereby contributing to developing the interest in panoramic photography. Among the latest inventions, the handheld Seitz 6*17 is the first and only camera of its kind till date. and it can create 160MP images!
The term ‘panorama’, coined by American painter George Barker, originally meant “a distant, allencompassing view from a vantage point.” December 2009
Panoramas in Contemporary Times Many contemporary artists who use the camera have created panoramic images to express current issues. Photographers such as Josef Koudelka, Mark Klett, Naoya Hatakeyama, Raghu Rai and Lois Connor have incorporated aspects of panoramic photography into their work, and it has become much more widely known as a genre. This wide format continues to thrive and contemporary photographers can choose between traditional panoramic cameras and highly engineered versions.
This whole circuit panoramic camera was invented by John Connon and was fitted with a lens of fixed focus. The film travelled between two rollers while the camera was turned by hand on the optical centre of the lens.
Bell Panorama Year: 1908
The Bell Panorama was invented by Isaac A Bell. This stationary wide angle type camera could make a standard picture of 3.5 X 5.5-inch size as well as panoramic pictures of 3.5 X 11.5-inch on a standard 122 roll film.
3A Kodak Panoram Year: 1926
This swing-lens 3A Kodak Panoram was announced by the Eastman Kodak Co. (of Rochester, NY). It made a 120 degree 3-1/4” X 10-3/8” picture on standard 122 roll film, and was patented by William A Riddell in 1926.
Widelux 35mm F6 Year: 1959
Also based on the swing-lens principle, the Widelux 35mm Model F6 was released by the Panon Camera Co Ltd of Japan. It gave a 140° field-of-view and made 25 X 60mm negatives.
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Linhof Technorama 612 Year: 1976
The Linhof Technorama 612 PC is a fixed camera that was first manufactured and rolled out in Germany. It is still used by many photographers and takes 6 X 12 cm pictures on 120 roll film.
Widelux 1500 Year: 1987
The Widelux 1500 made by Panon Camera Shoko Co of Japan offers a 150° field-of-view and is a 120 roll film swing lens camera that takes 50 X 122 mm images.
Hasselblad X-pan Year: 1996
The dual-format X-pan was Hasselblad’s first camera to use 35mm film. Built with a rubber-covered titanium and aluminium body, they were designed as a coupled rangefinder camera with interchangeable, compact lenses.
Seitz 6*17 Year: 2006
One of the first companies to make a digital panoramic camera, Seitz released this model in 2006. The company took pride in producing the first and the only 6 X 17 format digital camera, which produces 160MP images.
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