আমার ছবিও লোকে কেনে!!

শেষ পর্যন্ত একটা ছবি বিক্রি হল! ক্রেতা জনৈক শ্রীলংকান ভদ্রলোক! মজাই তো!

রাতের ঢাকা

বাংলাদেশে এসেই আমার হাত-পা কূটকূট করে। জায়গাটা ফোটুরেদের স্বর্গ বললে খুব বেশী বলা হয়না। আড্ডা মারতে গিয়ে চোখে পড়ল কুপির আলোয় রাতের ঢাকাকে। এই আলোর তুলনা হয়না। এই জিনিস টের পাবার পরে ঘরে থাকা মুস্কিল। কিন্তু ছিনতাই এর ভয়ও ফেলে দেবার মতো না..

শেষমেশ কাল রাতে ক্যামেরা নিয়ে বের হয়েছি, বডিগার্ড হিসেবে একজনকে ভুলিয়ে ভালিয়ে রাজী করিয়ে আনা হয়েছিল। দুইকাপ চা আর আধাপ্যাকেট সিগারেট উড়িয়ে দেবার পরে, ধানমন্ডি থেকে শুরু হল ফটোহান্টিং।

রাতে ছবি তোলার দুইটা সুবিধা। প্রথমটা বলাই হয়েছে, আলো। দ্বিতীয়টা হল, কাজ করা যায় যথাসম্ভব ডিস্ক্রিটলি। ফ্ল্যাশ না জ্বালালে মোটামুটি কোন দৃষ্টি আকর্ষন না করেই কাজ আগানো যায়। কালরাতে আড়াই ঘন্টা ঘোরার ফল কী হয়েছে দেখা যাক। ভাবছি আবার কবে বের হওয়া যায়। যাবে নাকি কেউ সাথে?

১. সিগারেট-ওয়ালা


২. চা-ওয়ালা


৩. বাদাম-ওয়ালা


৪. পিঠা-ওয়ালী


৫. মোবাইল-ওয়ালা

বাহাত্তুরের সংবিধানের স্ক্যানকৃত কপি..

ইদানিং বাহাত্তুরের সংবিধান নিয়ে ব্যাপক শোরগোল শুরু হয়েছে। মা সেদিন দেখি সেই দুর্লভ বস্তুটির প্রথম সংস্করন নিয়ে হাজির। লাল শক্ত মলাটের একটা ঢাউস বই! আহা শিশুরাষ্ট্রের শিশু সংবিধান! তাকে যৌবনে আসার আগেই কাঁটাছেড়া করা হল কতোবার! শোনা গেল আদি অক্ষত সংস্করনটি এখন নাকি আর কোথাও দেখা যায় না। বাড়ি ফিরে আজ তাই ভাবলাম স্ক্যান করে ফ্লিকারে তুলে দিই। কারো খায়েস হলে পড়ে নেবে। যে বিশ্বাস আর স্বপ্ন নিয়ে একটা দেশের জন্ম হয়েছিল, তার ক্রমশ নিবুনিবু হয়ে আসা উষ্ণতা পেতে চাইলে এই ঢাউস বইটার পাতায় হাঁটু গেড়ে কিছুক্ষন বসে থাকা যেতেই পারে..

পড়া যাবে এই লিংক থেকে

১ম সংবিধান নিয়ে কিছু তথ্য
---------------------------------------------------------------
অঙ্গসজ্জাঃ হাশেম খান
লিপিকারঃ এ. কে. এম. আব্দুর রউফ
তত্ত্ববধানঃ জয়নুল আবেদীন
অংকনঃ জুনাবুল ইসলাম, সমরজিৎ রায় চৌধুরী, আবুল বারক আলভী
চামড়ার কাজঃ সৈয়দ শাহ্ আবু শফি
মুদ্রণঃ বাংলাদেশ সরকারী মুদ্রাণালয়
পৃষ্ঠা সংখ্যাঃ ১০৯

দ্রষ্টব্যঃ
১. ফ্লিকারে প্রতিটি ছবির উপরে "All Size" বোতামে ক্লিক করলে বড় করে দেখা যাবে..
২. মিলিয়ে দেখতে চাইলে বর্তমান সংবিধান পাওয়া যাবে এই লিংকে

Google Friendly Sting: "Bangladesh Constitution 1972"

Playing with Infrared Photography...

Heard a lot about IR photography but never had the chance to play as the filters are expensive and not easily available. A few months back I came across with a few sellers in Hong Kong who offers really good price for different kind of filters. So I decided to give it a go..

IR photography can be done in 2 ways. You can either modify your DSLR or use a filter. If you modify your DSLR, you can use normal shutter speed to take IR photos. But the con is, your camera sensor will never be able to take normal pictures again. Obviously, I was not eager to screw my 5DMKII, hence placed an order for an 720nm NIR filter. No, its not a HOYA RM72. That bloody thing costs like USD170!!!! The one I ordered is manufactured by BONDS Camera and costs only USD23...

After two long weeks, the filter finally reached my mail box... Ahhhhhh....

I wanted to use it with my Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L which has a 77mm thread. Since the filter is a bit thick, I could see some vignette around the corner.

Anyway, screwing on the filter I rushed to take some shots. And when I looked into the preview pics, I got very disappointed.

They looked something like this..


I knew IR will make the green trees look white and sky would turn dark. The picture above, was no way near to the desired effect. So I got suspicious. I turned on the LIVE VIEW mode on 5DMKII and used a TV remote to beam into the lens. I knew, all DSLR sensors can see IR light, but the good ones strongly reduce the intake so that colors remain natural. In 5DMKII, the beam looked very very deemed. That means 5DMKII has a strong protection against IR. To confirm this, I did the same test with Canon S2IS. Voilla!! the beam looked significantly brighter.

So I tried shooting again. This time with my S2IS..

Here's the picture without IR filter

Settings: F/4, 1/800 Sec, ISO 50

Here's the picture with IR filter

Settings: F/4, 5 sec, ISO 50

But you will not get that kind of image with IR filter right away. You have to go to Photoshop and need to do channel mixing.
[See this video on channel mixing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_rNR5f0qVU]

Once channel mixing is done, you will end up with a dreamy image. Since IR is not like visible light, the shadows and reflections are different. Trees become white, Sky becomes darker.. This kind of effects are hard to manipulate in Photoshop as a different kind of optics is in play here.

I am pretty excited with the thing and think you guys will find it interesting as well..

If you want to buy the filter, go to this link
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350206877052

And those who want to read more, try the link below:
www.lifepixel.com/digital-infrared/instructions.html


Happy Clicking!!

Jungle-o-Graphy!!

My buddy Chris often invites me to join him to hunt wild boars in the palm plantation near the forest reserve. Hunting is mostly illegal, especially if you use a rambo-type cross bow and having no permit. So I had to skip the invitations. Realizing my discomfort last night he offered me, again, to join him. Except this time he'd just show me around and keep away for hunting.

It rained heavily yesterday and usually after a heavy rain fall animals come out from their hide-out to search for food. And this was why Chris was so eager to check out things last night. I was quite excited as Chris told me that there was a good chance to spot wide tapirs.

I decided to take two fast lenses 35 f/1.4 and 135 f/2.0. Unfortunately none of them could focus in the dark. So we came up with our own focusing technique. We had an Eveready heavy duty flash light with us. In order to focus, Chris used to put the beam on the target and I used focus using AF. The moment AF was done, I'd set to MF and start hitting the shutter button. I started with ISO 6400, but soon realized i need to hit it to the max. So for the first time for a serious shoot-out I dared to set the ISO to 25600.. And how was the result?


Chris leading the way Taken at ISO 25,600 (Heavily post-processed)


Lousy.. But at least I could take hand-held shots while trekking through the thick palm plantation.

We search around till 3:30am and then we gave up. Except a few wild boar tracks and night calls from a jungle fowl there were really nothing to see or hear.

Before leaving took this long exposure shot.. Looks like day-light isn't it? Look carefully and you can see the stars


A few lessons learned from this trip.

1. Even if it feels heavy do carry your tripod. Otherwise you will miss really beautiful shots. :(

2. If you plan a trip inside deep vegetation, do carry a monopod and use it like a walking stick. It prevents you from sleeping, drive away animals and remove things from a safe distance (Not to mention nice steady shots)

3. ISO 25,600 might sound sexy but it sucks big time. But if used carefully can help you take shots which is no way possible.

4. Big and fast Zoom lenses are ideal for trips like this. I missed the chance to photograph an owl as I was changing my lens

The Beggars Chicken

I was going through Facebook, suddenly a message from Faz, asking me if I was interested to join them in the "Beggar's Chicken" quest. "Beggar's Chicken" ? Yep, its a famous Chinese dish and not a very common item in the regular menu. Being a foodie, I had no reason to say no.. :)

The place is located near Jugra Hill, Banting. At a first glance it would look like a typical chinese street-side restaurant. But you can't just hop in and start ordering. If you want to enjoy the dish you need to order two days back. Thanks to our buddy Chris Kok, things were arranged without a hitch.

While Faz and Chris were busy finalizing the orders, Ripi and I were busy taking random shots here and there. After waiting for some time, the dish finally came. Honestly, it didn't look that sexy and actually tasted like.... err.. Chicken... what else-aa? We were told that the chickens were covered with clay and slow-roasted with herbs and spices. This sounds great but I don't think this effort yielded enough return on the taste..

Anyway, it was a great dine-out adventure... Wish we had more outings like this..

Field Test of the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

When you need to test a good camera or a telephoto, try shooting birds. Birds require very high shutter speed and fast focus. So if your gears are not good enough you'll end up with lousy photos.

After buying the 100-400mm, I went to Zoo Negara for the 4th time. Zoo Negara is a poorly maintained zoo. But they have a bunch of painted storks and they were ideal for testing my lens. It seems that the lens is sharp enough. But it is slow, so I had to often push the ISO to 3200. 5D's ISO 3200 is way better than that of the 40D I had. Still its grainy, and grain removal causes a picture to lose sharpness.

Anyway, so far the lens seems good, a bit heavy though. Have to go to Fraser Hill to try again... Seriously thinking about buying a 2x Extender.

The Funambulist of Batu Caves..

The Funambulist of Batu Caves..
Originally uploaded by Arup / অরূপ

Finally bought the famous/infamous Canon EF 100-400mm. Its the only affordable 400mm lens L lens with IS. Although its an "L", its no way close to my beloved 135mm f/2L. Some CA is noticable at the long end. I am worried because of the push-pull zoom design. Rumor has it, the lens behaves like a dust pump when pushed and pulled.. Let's see what happens..

Cracking the HDR Secret

Went to Morib beach with my PSPJ friends. I hated Morib last time. So when Ripi sent out the invite, I was not very excited. But then he told me that they'll try to explore the fishing village and that's considered as a interesting subject location. So I went, late by an hour. It was the same old place. Thanks to the recent hazy weather, the whole place looked dull. Around 6:30 they decided to explore the Jugra Hill, to capture sunset. This time, thanks to the cloudy horizon, shots again came very dull. So we headed back to Morib and had our group dinner before starting for KL.

Although the trip was boring, I accidentally cracked the secret of great looking HDR imaging. Ahh! Finally.. No grains nor hallows, colors are well balanced. And the picture is sharp with no artifacts.. Is my new "5D Mark II" the culprit? Hmm..

Scott Kelby's 2nd Worldwide Photo Walk

Scott Kelby is a popular author of Photoshop books and training materials. Last year, he came up with the idea of having a worldwide photowalk. A photowalk is more like a social event, where a group of photographers gather and take pictures while following a particular route. It's nothing new. But the initiative to make it a global event helped Kebly's photowalk to draw significant attention from everywhere.

18th July was the date. KLickr group was the organzier for Kuala Lumpur. We started from Chow Kit LRT station. It was a huge gang (30+ I beileve). Although the whole idea of the photowalk was to enjoy and take photos, it became a very tiring task as it was quite hot as well as humid today.

I managed to come up with one ok kinda shot.. :(