Life, The Universe and Everything: February 2009

There is plenty going on in the photography world of egm. Thanks to the month of photography, a forum arose that enables photographers to meet twice a month to do nothing but talk photography. Initially we had no defined structure, but now there are the beginnings of one. The best thing out of all this is the critiquing of photos that happens during the meetings. What a way to grow as a photographer when your work is put under scrutiny. As someone pointed out, you need a thick skin, since people will tell it like it is. But more than just telling it like it is, they will also point out how you could have done things different to produce an image that communicates better your vision. You can also push back as a photographer, since you might have chosen to approach the photography a certain way based on certain criteria. If you share this with your critique audience and they get your point by looking at the picture, then you will have communicated your vision. There are exciting times ahead, with the month of photography coming up in June that we have to prepare for. There are also hopefully going to be photography excursions, some of them weekend long.

The other day I went through my Google Reader and found I had blogs I hadn't read in eons. Thanks to the hectic schedule I've had, there was little time for much else. I am just now getting to work on the second to last album from a December wedding I covered. Considering it takes almost 3 days to work on each album, and counting the other jobs in between that I have coming in, getting the time to sit down and read blogs was really impossible to do. And so I have been reduced to just skimming through them rather quickly, making the odd comment here and there if I find something striking.

Right now what forms the bulk of my reading is Strobist. Like this guy did last year, I have decided to dedicate 2009 to learning all I can about light. And how to control it. Isn't photography painting with light after all? I feel that I have quite a bit I need to master when it comes to light. I have an idea of how to take pictures, but when I think about it deeply after an honest assessment, I feel that most of the times I am probably lucky. I do not have an intuitive feel to light. I cannot get consistent images. By December 2009, I hope I shall be able to percieve light in a whole different light (ouch! :) ). David Hobby who is the guy behind Strobist captures very well what my goal is in his introduction to the second level of lighting tutorials he has written with the following:

But some among you will find that having the techniques under your belt will free you so that you are capable of doing just about anything you want to do with light.

I do not spend a lot of time dissecting technique when I shoot. I don't think of light in terms of f-stops and shutter speeds any more. Lighting ratios are gone, too. Inverse square rule - never much fun to begin with - is history.

Now, I think of light in the same way that I think about music: Genre. Style. Volume. Ensemble. Mood.

Or sometimes I think of light in terms more like food: Flavor, spice. complexity, simplicity. Do I follow the recipe, or do I ditch it and improvise?

It is a wonderful thing, this here interwebs (TFC '08). Anything you want to learn you can from it. If you are patient. And willing to put in the time and effort. The resource DH has at Strobist is something I would definitely not mind paying money for. Yet it's there for free. I'd be a big fool not to capitalise on this!

Apart from Strobist, the other site I shall spend quite a bit of time on is Luminous Landscape. They have everything on landscape photography, which is my passion. I hope someday to be good enough at it that I can liv off of selling fine art prints of landscape photos of Kenya. With that, I have decided that the other thing I need to read up on is the physical geography of Kenya. I read some place that to succeed as a photographer, you need to know not just the technique and artistic side of photography, but you also have to know your subject well. You have to have such a depth of knowledge in your subject that it becomes second nature to you, thereby giving you a better insight on it and how best to capture it on camera. Any of the photography greats in whatever genre are people that have studied their subjects to great depth. Unfortunately for me, I have yet to come across a descent book on Kenya's physical geography. If anyone knows of a place I can get one, please let me know. My next stops are the department of Geography at UoN and the Kenya National Library. Hopefully they will be able to guide me.

As I work on developing my landscape photography, weddings

and other events

continue to earn my bread and butter. I came across a great post that discusses the cost of doing business. This is the initial post, with this one looking at it from a slightly different angle. He also provides this link that helps you calculate the cost. Though it's been formatted to accept only dollars, I just put in the numerical amount in Kenya shillings disregarding the dollar signs. It is pretty nifty.

These should be enough links for the time being. Have a great day!

Want more?

These are the last few pictures from Zanzibar. The bulk of those I took shall be put on the Bunduz gallery soon.

Apparently we were very lucky to catch sight of these dolphins. In total we saw 5 of them. We were told that you can go to view them and not catch sight of any at all. So to have seen 5, that was a real treat.

There was an abundance of cats in Stone Town. Some like this one were rather freaky!

Public TV redefined.

Real life Discovery Channel.

Christians form just 3% of the population in Zanzibar. Hindus also are at 3%. The rest is Muslim. This was the first church built in Zanzibar.

One of the many mosques there...

What Ramon want's to be when he grows up.

Shisha time!

In a comfortable setting.

Beautiful effects of light.

Market scenes.

Finally, a view of one of the narrow streets of Stone Town.