PIXETRA CLUB’s FOTO-GURU CLASSROOM IN THE OUTDOORS is coming to Kochi in the third weekend of September. Learn to take photos without a lot of technical equipment and without spending a lot of time setting up the shot. Capture some wonderful slices of candid life!

Novice to advanced photo-enthusiasts, new-camera owners, experienced shooters, all levels of amateur photographers are quaranteed to have fun.

Tucked in the coconut groves of a unique Kerala village, Kuzhuppilly Beach House promises nature, backwaters, beaches, ample seafood & local people.

The class is structured to help a novice photographer understand step-by-step the theory & practise of taking great outdoor photos.

For more details click here.

The July 22, 09 solar eclipse is one photo event that just did not live up to our expectations - no one’s fault. The monsoons and the early morning time did not help. There are several lovely images. But when it comes to that much anticipated dramatic captures, there’s a general feeling is of disappointment. No Baily’s beads, no crimson-colored chromosphere shots, no photos of prominences. Nonetheless, the century’s longest solar eclipse was a great photo-op for photo-journalists world over:

The Boston Globe Newspaper has put together a wonderful gallery of photos in their ‘The Big Picture’ site. To see the full gallery click here.

33 excellent shots - PC users push F11 for full screen. Enjoy.

Daniel was born in England, raised in Southern California. He has been shooting for 34 years, 18 professionally. Based in Aspen, Colorado for the past 11 years. He shoots advertising, stock, editorial and fine art. Not content to just document the outdoors, he makes the activities and environments he shoots part of his life. As such, he has have climbed all 54 of the Colorado “Fourteeners” and Mt. Rainier. He uses a variety of formats including Nikon for digital, Leica, Nikon, Hasselblad in 6×6 and panoramic 35mm for film. When asked to describe himself he will often say, “I don’t shoot for a living, I simply live what Sam Abell calls “The Photographic Life”.

What draws you to do outdoor photography? Which came first, your interest in the outdoors, or your interest in photography?

To read the full interview and profile, click here.

Make sure to check out Daniel’s gallery page.

Nicolas Chorier is a Frenchman who specializes in “kite photography”. His new book Kite’s Eye View: India Between Earth and Sky, is published by Roli Books.

Chorier makes 40-sq-foot kites from siliconised nylon and carbon or fibreglass rods. The camera sits in a cradle on a line beneath the kite, and can be raised to 1,000ft (300m). Chorier says lower altitudes are “more interesting”. He uses a Canon 5D camera and the whole rig can weigh about 2kg, with lens and extra battery. The camera cradle operates by remote control and can achieve a 360-degree rotation and 90-degree tilt. Using an air-to-ground video link to provides real-time monitoring on a portable TV for accurate framing. “Once I feel my kite flying nicely, I rig up my camera on the line about 100 feet below the kite.” Kite and camera can then be flown up to the required height. Chorier carries the remote control on his shoulder and the video monitor around his neck. He walks and raises and lowers the kite for shooting angles. “Sometimes the kite comes down, but as the sail of the kite is big, it parachutes or glides down slowly. I have lost one camera, dropping it in the Yamuna river behind the Taj Mahal,” says Chorier. “I have shot thousands of pictures above India. I love India, its sounds, smells, colours, people. Shooting India is so rewarding to my senses,” Chorier says.

See the full text and gallery at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/south_asia_
india0_a_kite0s_eye_view/html/1.stm
TFS, Raghuram Ashok

A Kite's Eye View

I love the ‘challenges’ at dpreview. This recent one has the most interesting entries I’ve seen a long time - funny, creative and technically super shots too.

http://www.dpreview.com/challenges/Challenge.aspx?ID=2008

I’ve learnt a lot and even honed my vision by looking at photos a lot. In this context I enjoyed some of the forum posts in the same website:

Read on:

Hello everyone,
I’ve started to use the dpreview Challenges, to develop a better eye and give myself a goal to improve my photography… one thing that I really think is worthwhile, is to step through every image in a Challenge, honestly rating each image in accordance with my personal quality scale…
Casting a lot of votes isn’t ‘mental’ … I believe that it’s a major part of getting value out of the Challenges… because when the Challenge voting is complete, here’s the tip - go back and in the top left of the screen, sort the images on ‘My Votes’…

see the full discussion at
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=32415536

Photography Challenges

Carrie Sandoval has been photographing babies for six years, and she has attracted quite a following. It’s easy to see why: her photos are composed with an almost magical attention to organic form, light and simplicity.

Ms. Sandoval, who is based in San Diego, specializes in photographing newborns, although she shoots children of all ages. She got her start in 2002 with she bought a D.S.L.R. to capture her own children, then a 3-year-old and 10-month-old twins. Next she began snapping shots of other children at play groups, and soon parents began asking her to photograph their children.

I asked Ms. Sandoval for some of her tips on taking great photos of babies. Here’s what she had to say.

Q: What shooting mode — manual, aperture, auto — do you use for babies?

Read it fully:
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/how-to-take-better-baby-photos/?ex=1263355200&en=11d729cd3a0dd246&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=TE-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M106-ROS-0709-PH&WT.mc_ev=click

Dont miss the artist’s website: http://www.capturedbycarrie.com/

Calm Sleep

 

With the smell of Hyderabadi biriyani fresh in my nostrils, I would like to introduce you to a feast of a different nature. The city of pearls saw some rare gems being photographed right off the streets recently.

The pixetra club held a weekend workshop for it’s members last weekend. Roaming the streets of the city on Saturday, the enthusiastic club members clicked away to glory. The results were a veritable feast for the eyes. To whet your appetites, we have some shots of the members clicking away. But we would like to start showcasing the work of our enthusiastic club members here. Ace lensman Sethu is sifting through all the shots taken at Hyderabad. Once he decides on his favorites, I promise to display them here for you. 

So keep coming back to this buffet table. For now, here are the starters I promised before. 

Bon Apetit.

Well they came, they HDRI’d (new word that shows that I did not attend the classes) and they had only good things to say. Here is a sampling:

It was a fun filled weekend. The class was wonderful! For me, mission accomplished.
- Vidyadutt Pillai from Coimbatore

Great class & hospitality. Thanks for treating me as an equal even though I was less informed on the subject.
- Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim from Kochi

Nuff said. Here are the pics

Keep those shutter fingers busy till next time.

Thus sang Guns n Roses back in the day. We at pixetra club are singing the same tune now. What is this pray tell? Oh well, when one is creatively challenged, one falls back on the wisdom of old. Especially the one that goes - A picture is worth a 1000 words. So please click on the image (read picture) below and discover all about our GnR phase.

And as luck would have it, Word Press picks just this time to go on the blink and I cannot upload images. But no worries do check out the whole event at our Facebook page here (even the image!) 

Watch out for those creepy crawlies and shoot them right between the eyes (with your cameras of course!)

Until next time…

Does this sound hi tech? complicated? not something that you can understand?

Well it ain’t that difficult let me assure you, once you know how. What HDR is, is the technique of using ordinary point and shoot or SLRs to shoot several exposures of the same subject and mapping the exposures to make a stunning composite.

There! that does not seem too tough now does it? And all you regulars just guessed correct. Foto Guru classes are back with HDRI at our Kadavanthara, Kochi store on Jan 10th and 11th. So what will you get for your buck? Here goes:

The light control tools:

The three main tools viz aperture/ shutter speed/ ISO rating. The effect each tool has in controlling light. And the effects that each produce on the final image.

Depth of Field:
What is depth of field - making it work for you. How to use selective focus.

Digital Photography Overview:

What’s the difference between film and digital. Is one better (we might be able to lay this one to rest. Finally!)? What are the truths and the myths about digital?

File Formats:

TIFF/ JPEG/ BMP/ RAW - what is the meaning of all this? Which format is better to shoot? What does jpeg or tiff compression do to image files?

Shooting RAW vs JPEGs:

Is one better than the other? What is digital workflow?

Composition tips:

Composition rules - learn them and learn to break them. Includes an outdoor shooting session with your instructor. Followed by a detailed review of your photos! Learn from your mistakes and those of your classmates.

And finally HDRI:

The theory behind high-dynamic range. How to capture multiple exposures. How to use software to create HDR. How to render using tone-mapping.

Costs (no free lunches in this world): 

HDRI class only (2 half-days): pixetra club members: Rs. 750/- ; non members: Rs. 1000/-
HDRI with Basics of Photography (2 full days):  pixetra club members: Rs. 1400/- ; non members: Rs. 1850/-

Yes! club members are privileged folk at pixetra. Join up here and be one of them.

If all of this sounds right up your alley, then register online here or call Judy @ 0-93873 17792 or email us at club@pixetra.com. Please book your spot now!!

Happy HDRI to you! Ciao