Lightroom 2.0: Decision Time

Well, time does fly. It's been a month since I signed on to try Lightroom 2.0 which means that the free trial period is over, and I now have to decide whether to buy it for $300.

There are many websites that offer tutorials, and here's one recommended to me by Dave Thompson, a regular reader of this blog and who frequently offers me his insight on photography.

Julieanne Kost's Lightroom Tutorials

I still have some free time on my Aperture trial period, which I'm still fiddling with. Despite Aperture's "fit" with Apple software, I am leaning heavily towards Lightroom.

For a comparison of the two, check Gavin Gough's post on the matter. I won't divulge his preference, but I found his analogy to be interesting:

"If they (Lightroom and Aperture) were people, Lightroom would be a dour, stodgy Yorkshire lass sitting in the corner of a smoke-filled, dingy pub drinking Stout and Babycham whilst fingering her moustache and mumbling at her whippet, whilst Aperture would be a leggy blonde model perched elegantly on a stool in the corner of a Soho wine bar, sexily sipping a cocktail before beckoning you over to her table with a smouldering pout and a suggestively raised eyebrow.

I reckon I'm a Yorkshire lass kind of guy.

John Stanmeyer: Malaria: NG Award

Photograph © John Stanmeyer-All Rights Reserved
The National Geographic magazine won three National Magazine awards; the general excellence in a publication with over 2 million circulation (the top honor), as well as the awards for reporting and photojournalism. This was more than any other publication, and the most that the magazine has won in a single year.

The awards, presented during a ceremony at New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center, are the industry's most prestigious honor. The general excellence award is based on NGM's June, August and December issues.

The photojournalism award, which honors John Stanmeyer's photographs in the "Bedlam in the Blood: Malaria also names Senior Editor David Griffin, Deputy Director Susan A. Smith, Design Director David C. Whitmore and Senior Photo Editor Sarah Leen. The article ran in the July 2007 NGM.

I'm pleased that John's photographs were recognized with this prestigious award. His work is consistently superb, and he is -in my view- among the best photojournalists/photographers in the industry. I chose the above photograph from the many in the Malaria gallery to highlight John's compositional 'eye'.

There's also a section Field Notes which shares John's best, quirkiest and worst experiences from the Malaria assignment.

Gateway of the Gypsies

Here is a trailer for "Jaisalmer Ayo! Gateway of the Gypsies" (2004), a 54-minute piece by documentarians Melitta Tchaicovsky and Pepe Ozan. The documentary follows nomadic castes in India. The trailer's soundtrack is of a Rebari song. I really like this type of song and music...Regrettably, I don't understand any of the words but I'd like to think that it's all about chivalry, heroism and bravery. Many wandering minstrels can be seen during the Pushkar fair, where they perform similar songs.

Melitta Tchaicovsky and Pepe Ozan spent seven months traveling with members of nomadic castes in Rajasthan, in northwest India, filming as they trekked to the capital, Jaisalmer, a 12th-century fort city on the edge of the Thar Desert. The documentary is an exploration of the challenges these people face, as well as the ethnic and cultural link between these Indian nomads and the Romany peoples of Europe and around the world.

This reminds me of Robyn Davidson, the Australian woman who lived with the nomadic Rebari tribes of Rajasthan. She wrote a book of her experiences titled "Desert Places". A brief review of the book is here

The Barbican: Homeland Lost

Photograph © Alan Gignoux-All Rights Reserved
The Barbican Arts Centre in the heart of the city of London is showing Homeland Lost, an exhibition consisting of 16 black and white images taken by the photojournalist Alan Gignoux. These photographs of Palestinian refugees, displaced from their homes by Israel in 1948, are an artistic slice of life from a dramatic point in Middle Eastern history.

The photographs provide "an antidote to a western media saturated with images of exiled Palestinians as either extremists or victims, whereas the majority are individuals trying to build a life for themselves in complex circumstances.

Homeland Lost shows from 18 April 2008 - 2 May 2008.

The Independent newspaper reports that "Jonathan Hoffman, of the Jewish umbrella group the Zionist Federation, has complained to the London arts venue's director Nicholas Kenyon about captions accompanying the photos, which state that the 800,000 Palestinians who left their homes were "uprooted" and "dispossessed". He accused the Barbican of "falsifying" history.

Mr Hoffman is also quoted as saying ""The exhibition contains historical distortions which have the effect of demonising Israel."

There's a word in Egyptian slang (perhaps it's no longer used) that came to mind when I read Mr Hoffman's statement...the word is "Bagaha" or effrontery. Its Yiddish approximate equivalent is "chutzpah" but in this context, it's chutzpah squared.

Updates: 1D Mark III, 1Ds Mark III

Canon has released firmware updates for the EOS-1D Mark III and v1.1.2 for the EOS-1Ds Mark III which include both feature additions and promised improvements to AI Servo autofocus.

Full information and links available from Rob Galbraith DPI

Jane Eaton Hamilton: Travel

Photograph © Jane Eaton Hamilton-All Rights Reserved
Here's the travel photography work of the multi-talented Jane Eaton Hamilton, a Canadian photographer, award-winning writer, master gardener, and poet. Her Flash travel gallery starts off with images of Bali, Japan, Mexico (the above image is of Mexican vendors), USA and Canada.

Although I haven't posted it here, my favorite image in her gallery is of two Geishas...just perfect in its composition, and blurry enough to make it just right. If you look around her website, you'll also find travel slideshows on the Himba of Namibia and the Maasai of Tanzania (you'll need to allow pop-ups to play them).

New iMac

Apple has announced the new iMac. The new version is slimmer, faster and more powerful. The price ranges from $1200 to $2200 or higher depending on chosen configuration.

Photog's Togs

I've been asked by a few readers to share my preferred type of clothes when traveling on my photo expeditions or on assignments. It's an important issue because weight, durability, ease of washing/drying, etc all come into play. So here are the items that usually make it into my dufflebag...there must be womens' equivalents at the same stores. (Since I don't mean this to be adverts for the companies that stock these items, I won't link to them...sorry).

1. I lost my old safari jacket in Bhutan last year, and its subsequent replacement from Orvis wasn't as comfortable. But I've recently found an alternative at Cabela's for the reasonable price of $45. It even has a cheesy map of Africa on the inside back should I travel there and get lost. Now, this is an important article of clothing because it has many pockets, which can come in handy should the check-in staff at my airline of choice decide that my hand luggage with all the photo gear is too heavy to bring in the cabin. I just stuff the jacket's pockets with lenses and stuff, and I'm waved through. Idiotic, I know...but it happened twice, so long live the safari jacket!

2. Apart from a bunch of tshirts, I also pack a few Cabela's Guidewear® GXII™ shirts. These are made for fly-fishing, and have zipper side vents in the underarms for extra ventilation, a cooling mesh liner and the UPF 40 shell fabric is great. The large chest pockets are very useful for CF cards and other stuff. Easy to wash (only when I really need to!) and fast to dry.

3. As for the trousers, I'm partial to either jeans or to lightweight cargo pants by Eastern Mountain Sports called Profile Zip-Off. They're made of a soft, quick-drying nylon with UPF 30+ protection, and have many side pockets. Again, these are easy to wash and dry very quickly. Both shirts and trousers are lightweight and take no space at all in my luggage. The trousers retail for about $50.

4. Finally, my favored footwear at the moment is the Merrell Intercept, which I bought in London. I'm not sure if mine are really the Intercept model, but in any event, they look very similar...less gaudy perhaps. They're not made for heavy trekking, but they're just right for long hard walks. I think I paid the equivalent of $120 for my pair (yes, I know...the dollar is in the pits).

5. The final must-have article of clothing is my Khmer kroma scarf. This candid admission will earn me the sneers of many, but most of us "serious" photographers have one of those in their luggage. They're invaluable for a variety of uses...lens cleaner, snot remover (not mine...those of the children I photograph), flag to attract the attention of wandering participants on my photo expeditions, fly-swatter, etc. I also carry a few bandannas, which are always useful.

Canon's EF Lenses

Canon Inc. announced the achievement of a new lens-production milestone as production of the company’s EF lenses passed the 40-million mark. The line-up of its lenses as shown in the above photograph is just er...what's the word? ah, yes...awesome! If I'm not mistaken, there are 51 black lenses and 17 white ones, for a total of 68 lenses (maybe there's an extender or two in there)...

If you're not suitably impressed, click on the image to see it in larger size

(Photo Via www.the-digital-picture.com/)

Adam Ferguson: Orissa

Photograph © Adam Ferguson-All Rights Reserved
Adam Ferguson is an Australian freelance photojournalist currently working out of Delhi. His photographs have appeared in Newsweek, Time, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Chicago Tribune and many other publications.

I found his images depicting the destitute contract laborers in Orissa to be the most poignant of his photo galleries. Orissa has the richest ore deposits of all the states in India, yet its people are some of the poorest in the country. Naturally, this has much to do with the exploitation of the underprivileged such as the Adivasis and the lower castes, and by the corrupt practices of the mining industry, and of industrialization in general.