Fartash Photography Newsletter
Issue 4
Dear Reader
This month’s Fartash Photography newsletter highlights articles on lighting in Macro Photography, Profile of an Indian Photographer, Picasso’s Blue Period, Photoshop skills, and photography knowledge; we’re starting a new column this month by Fartash Barvarz on International Photography Competitions which I believe it will be very motivating and practical. Share your thoughts about editorial, community, photography, and anything in between on the fartashphoto.com . Enjoy the Fourth issue of our newsletter! Sincerely, Managing Editor
A Millimeter Closer – Lighting in Macro Photography
Neutral Lighting The problem of sufficiently and evenly lighting the subject can be difficult to overcome. Often you're close to subject and if shooting insects, it is not like they all like the bright light and hang out in the bright sunshine. Best way to achieve suitable is using Tripod (or monopod). It helps you to capture your tiny subject with longer shutter speed and thinner aperture. they have some disadvantages for sure, like they're not easy to handle specially in insect photography, most of times you should be really quick. I think this will be a matter of personal choice. Increasing ISO is an useful option you have to overcome low lighting, it helps you to increase shutter speed ,preventing shake and aperture num to have a thicker depth of field. using the lowest ISO setting possible will reduce the amount of noise and create a higher quality print. Increasing ISO on new generations’ DSLRs are much more practical these days because how Canon,Nikon Manufactures try to solve the problems about the amount of noise.
Flash Lighting When you use a macro lens, one of the important problems you will have is getting sufficient light .whatever you do to increase the magnification will tend to reduce the amount of incoming light. this makes sense ,since you're taking photo of a smaller part of the world, and the total amount of light it reflects is constant, so less of that light reaches the sensor. Some manufactures produce flash rings especially for macro photography, they hook to the end of the lens, so they're automatically right out there near your subject. These ring flashes are the best choice for macro photography. An early choice you'll be faced with is whether or not to use a flash, insect photographers tend to be very polarized between those who insists on taking photos with available light, and those who use flash almost all of their photos. There are a few souls who make an effort to balance available light and flash, but they're definitely in a minority.
Eastern Arts - Profile of an Indian Photographer
I have been looking at a lot of profiles of well known Indian photographers but there was one in particular that caught my attention. Kalyan Varma is an award winning wildlife photographer and film maker originally from Vizag now settled in Bangalore, India. Kalyan is a mechanical engineer by qualification. He worked for a few years with a dot-com company taking care of application security when he finally bid farewell to the company in the year 2004. It all started when he wanted to take a break and work for a few months as a Naturalist with Jungle Lodges at BR hills – Karnataka, India and here he is today – a wildlife photographer and a film maker. Kalyan spent many months in the jungle and in his website he wrote, “These have been the best times of my life. I've seen tigers hunt in middle of the night, a few metres from me, stared leopards in the eye, spent hours with herds of elephants, and spent time learning jungle lore from the local tribal’s and forest guards. You really have to be there to experience that life”. Towards the end of 2005, he won the Sanctuary Wildlife photographer of the year award. His BR hills photographs were exhibited to President of India Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Kalyan worked with BBC Natural History unit via Icon films for more than a year in the Western Ghats. His work has appeared in many publications worldwide, including National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Sanctuary Asia, Maxim (you heard it right) and other magazines, and also various Biological Science text books. Kalyan is an active member in the setting up MigrantWatch, Restoration websites and natural history databases besides that he is also a founding member of India Nature Watch, an online community which hosts the largest number of wildlife photographs in Asia. He has also done a number of road shows, photography slideshows and exhibition to spread the message of conservation. Some of his work has been used in different ways like books and posters on the Western Ghats and the northeast India to spread rainforest education setup in Valparai, in the plantation area within the Anamalai Tiger Reserve. Kalyan is active in the Linux and open source community in India, and applies his knowledge of FOSS to bring technology benefits to wildlife conservation projects. In 2008, he was invited to deliver the closing keynote at FOSS.IN in 2008. He regularly shares his knowledge of photography through lectures and workshops on digital photography and wildlife photography. Currently he is a freelance wildlife photographer, filmmaker, naturalist, and a natural history consultant. He specialises in natural history and conservation subjects and work with organisations like Icon Films, BBC Natural History Unit and non-profit organisations like Nature Conservation Foundation. Written by Pearl Rynjah
Picasso's Blue Period
Experience teaches us that individual colors result in particular moods … In order to experience fully the individual sufficient effects, one must surround one’s eye completely with one color, for example placing oneself in a room of one color, or looking through a colored glass … Blue glass shows us objects in a sad light. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1810
In their use if a single color, Picasso’s blue paintings are unique in art history. Picasso’s blue paintings form an interrelated group. They were painted within a short period and resemble each other not only in color but also in theme, mood and pattern. at the height of the blue period even the faces of the figures have a bluish shimmer. These works have a dreamlike character. The images no longer bear any resemblance to reality; they are, in fact, turned away from reality .Instead of depicting everyday situations, they formulate a poetic message. La Vie, 1902 - Oil on Canvas 196.5X128.5cm – Cleveland, The Cleveland, Museum of Art Picasso’s Famous painting La Vie (Life) a title not in fact given to the work by Picasso himself. A naked couple clings to each other on the left-hand side of the picture; the man is pointing to the mother in blue cloak, who is holding her sleeping child in her arms. They look at each other in silence. What does the young man mean by his gesture? In the preliminary studies the man had Picasso’s own features, and the room was the artist’s studio. In the final version the figures are shown in an indefinable space, and the man now resembles Picasso’s dead friend, Casagemas. In the background we recognize two pictures with crouching figured, huddled together, shivering and in despair. The most important work of his blue period, this large painting is the essence of this phase in Picasso’s development.
The Encounter (Two Sisters), 1902 - Oil on Canvas 152X100cm – St.Petersburg, Hermitage Two Women meet an incline their heads toward each other. The closed lines formed by their heads seem to screen them from the outside world. The child carried by one of the women is hardly noticeable, just one little hand extending from the mother’s garment.
Celestina, 1902 - Oil on Canvas 81X60cm – Paris, Musée Picasso Celestina is a superb example of this feeling and of the style in which it found its form: this portrait of an old one-eyed woman, dressed in somber color, achieves, thanks to the simplicity of its color and the economy of its line.
Old Guitar-Player, 1903 - Oil on Canvas 121.3X82.5cm – Chicago (Right-lower), The Art Institute of Chicago "The Old Guitar Player" is believed by many to be Picasso's most well-known work from this period. The painting currently resides in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago. "The Old Guitar Player" is believed to portray Senor Sebastian Mazzarella, a blind artist who became Picasso's mentor during the early part of his career in Madrid. It's of interest to note that a vague image of a woman's face and legs can be seen when the painting is viewed up close, indicating that Picasso painted "The Old Guitar Player" over top of an earlier, unfinished painting.
Self-Portrait with Coat, 1901/02 - Oil on Canvas 81X60cm – Paris, Musée Picasso A self-portrait Picasso painted in the winter of 1901/1902 captures the mood. It is as if Dostoyevsky's novels, Nietzsche's ideas and the theories of Mikhail Bakunin had stood godfather to the painting.
Woman with Crossed Arms, 1902- Oil on Canvas 60X81cm – New York (Right-upper), Gertrude Stein Sold at Christie's in the fall of 2001 The identity of the woman in the painting is unknown; the inspiration for the Picasso Blue Period came from the tragic suicide of his friend and roommate Carlos Casagemas. Only 19 years old at the age of his death, the young Picasso then went through a 3 year period in which all of his paintings were awash with blue shades suggesting the misery and sorrow of his subjects.
Website Review
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Call for entries
The Magnum Expression Award Magnum “Expression” grant is a program established by Magnum Photos in the effort to help raise awareness and inspire change through projects which use photography as an expressive medium. Final submission acceptance: September 30, 2009. http://expression.magnumphotos.com/
International Photography Awards 2009 The International Photography Awards conducts an annual competition for professional, non- professional, and student photographers on a global scale, creating one of the most ambitious and formidable competition in the photography world today .Prizes: International Photographer of the Year $10,000 cash prize - Sponsored by AtEdge Discovery of the Year Award $5,000 cash prize - Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year Award $5000 cash prize2009 competition now accepting entries .deadline: may 28, 2009. http://www.photoawards.com/en/
Black and White Spider AwardsCelebrating its 5th year, Black and White Spider Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence in black and white photography. Black and White Spider Awards is open to professional and amateur photographers shooting in all forms of black and white photography using traditional or digital methods. FINAL DEADLINE is Sunday, May 31, 2009.
http://www.thespiderawards.com/
