Today is Christmas day. We had a wonderful time with family over the past few days. A classic Christmas in many ways – shopping, eating and reminiscing. A big treat for me was borrowing a friend’s 8mm projector and viewing family films from way back. I mean way back. The oldest was from 1950 in Paris, but most were from the 60’s and showed a little crew cut Matt running around shooting people with his army gun (violent little guy!). I have been amazed how much things have changed and yet how many things have remained the same. These days we use an iPhone to record images of the family opening presents, not a Super 8 camera. We view the movies on our computers and not on a screen with the images thrown up by a projector. Yet, the images are the same. Family gathering together to share love and faith. We still read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2 and we still sing the same carols we sang 50 plus years ago. Christmas is still a religious holiday for our family. It is still about the Christ child and God’s love for mankind. It is still about love and hope, about sacrifice and giving. It is a happy holiday.

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Matt, Alou and Jessie too.

Please take a moment and visit our sponsors for this workshop: Phottix, X-Rite ,Spider Belt Camera holster, LensBaby and f-Stop Bags

Feel like joining us? Visit the registration page for more info. Take a moment to browse some of the images from this year’s (2011) Thaipusam and you can get a taste at what you will be photographing on this workshop.

Shot with the Odin TTL Wireless Flash Trigger. Flash was off-camera left.

Let me set the record straight right here, I am not a strobist. Ninety five percent of the time I shoot with available light, the other five percent I shoot with my flash set to rear curtain sync (It’s fun. You should try it!) I really don’t like the ugly flat light that on-camera flashes give a subject. Off-camera lighting is wonderful, but until recently with a Canon you only got E-TTL metering by using the short irritating OC-E3 cable. Then in the last year or so a few companies like Pocket Wizard started selling outfits that would set you back a minimum of $500 for off-camera E-TTL wireless flash! Then, recently I was sent a little gadget that made me feel like a real lighting pro. My good friends at Phottix sent me their latest creation the Odin TTL Wireless Flash Trigger. In seconds I went from feeling intimidated with off-camera lighting to a giddy little kid with a new toy. A new toy that boosted my self esteem right out of the box. Can you tell I am impressed? I wanted to communicate to you the value this little guy is and the best way I could think of was to shoot a photo or two with it and to let Steve Peer, the CEO of Phottix tell you about the Odin himself. So listen to this short podcast I made with Steve yesterday and while listening you can peruse the cold hard specs below. Enjoy! >>Click here for Matt Brandons’s interview with Phottix’s CEO, Steve Peer.<<

Shot with the Odin TTL Wireless Flash Trigger. Flash was off-camera right.

What can the Phottix Odin TTL Trigger for Canon do?

• Wireless 2.4GHz. TTL and Manual Flash Triggering
• Remote power control of groups in TTL with +/- EV adjustments (3 stops in 1/3 stop increments  – 18 different levels.)
• Mix TTL and Manual flash – fire some groups in TTL, others as manual
• Remote power control in A:B ratio modes with +/- EV adjustments
• High speed sync – shutter speeds up to 1/8000 sec.
• Second curtain sync functions
• Remote manual mode flash power control
• Remote flash head zoom adjustments – auto or manual
• Compatible with Phottix Strato 4-in-1 and Phottix Strato II Multi 5-in-1 Wireless Triggers
• Upgradeable via built-in USB ports.

Jump over and pick up an Odin, or see you local Phottix retailer.

Last week I returned from Kolkata ( the city formerly known as Calcutta ), India. I actually didn’t go for an assignment or even to take photos. I accompanied with my wife who had business there and while in Kolkata we visited with some friends.  Yet, if truth be known, a photographer never goes anywhere without somewhere in the back of his mind the intent to take a few photographs. But,  photos were not the primary intention and thus have to take a back seat to other things this time. I did not go to Kolkata with the intent of creating a story on the rickshaw pullers, if I had, I would have spent more time developing a different angle on their life and work. Given my limitations I was still able to bring you this somewhat limited look at their unique lives. I hope you enjoy it and find it informative.

Please note: I have had several questions recently from some prominent photographers about why I choose to use SoundSlides Plus rather than some other software for bringing you these multimedia presentations. There could very well be something better out there and in fact, if I was incorporating video I would use something other than Soundslides Plus. Yet, given the fact that I am only using still images with audio I feel this is the best available at this time. Why? Because, it gives you, the viewer the option to simply view it as an automated slideshow or if you choose you can also view the show at your own speed using the left and right arrow buttons. You can also view each image using the gallery button. Soundslides Plus gives you the option, as with most video players, to view the slide show in full-screen. However, unlike any video, you can toggle the captions on and off.

I am convinced that the durian is a misunderstood fruit. As you will learn from watching this slideshow that it is known for its pungent odor and it’s rather mushy texture. I have also learned that it is rather subjective whether it is pungent in it’s smell or just “heavily scented” or if the texture is mushy or in fact creamy. A comment given to me over and over was, “you’ll either love it or you’ll hate it”. That sure seems to be the case. I really met very few people that didn’t have a strong opinion one way or the other, when it came to this unique fruit. The durian is uniquely Asia and so I felt it would be a fun project to focus on. I’ve never seen any other photographic essays on the durian. For those of you that have never seen or tasted one I hope this will give you at least an idea of what it’s about. There are many things in this world that people are fanatic about. This is the only fruit that I know of that actually has people starting clubs around and schedule special tastings.

Durian lovers are in a class by themselves. A special thanks to all the people who appear in this project for their time and their enthusiasm. After 3 days of working on this I have eaten more durian an then I ever have in the past and I have to say, the taste is starting to grow on me.

“Hannibal” Smith  in the 1980′s TV series, “The A-Team” used to say “I love it when a plan comes together”.  All I need is a cigar in the side of my mouth and I could be Hannibal Smith today because the Angkor Photo Workshop did just that, it came together – perfectly. Sunday was the culmination of many months of preparation and two weeks hard work by the leadership and instructors Karl Grobl, Gavin Gough, Marco Ryan and myself. The timing, the place and of course the people make for a perfect event and this couldn’t have been more perfect.  The idea to take four instructors and team them up with 14 students and give them both in-depth classroom instruction as well as field-based coaching was Karl Grobl’s. He chose Gavin, Marco and myself to help realize this vision.  I think I can speak for the three of us and say we are very grateful to have been a part of it.

The first part of the week we taught the students how to create a photographic essay. We explained the components of what makes up the essay as well as how to use the software that they would put it together with. This was the first time that any of them had used Soundslides Plus or Audacity. I think you will be just as impressed as we were by the results. We ran a small competition for the best essay and awarded prizes to the winning team from the workshop sponsors: F-stop Gear,  Soundslides Plus, X-Rite and Spider Holster. Below you will see the fruits of their labour. Each project was stunning and shows the talent available at this workshop.

1st Place: Lisa Brockman & Scot Sargeant
F-stop Adventure Rucksacks & a copy of Soundslides Plus each

Joint 2nd Place: Ursula Wall & Carl Johan Ragnarsson
X-Rite Color Checker Passport & Spider holster each

Joint 2nd Place: Ayn Brown & Chris Choulos
X-Rite Color Checker Passport & Spider holster each

4th Place: Catherine Wisner & Jenny Krasner
Light Modifier Softbox each

I am back home after a great, but rather wet, trip to the Philippines. It rained almost every day. But, the time with my in-laws was wonderful and the time spent with my wife and daughter even more so. As you know from the previous post, I purposefully left my DSLRs at home and only took my new Fuji X100. I figured, if I forced myself to be reliant on it for the week that I was gone I would get to know it better. I think that happened. Plus on the last day, I found Fuji released a Firmware update. I can’t tell you how good the firmware update was, as I didn’t know the camera well enough to make a comparison. I do notice an extra focus box in the middle of the screen that was not there prior to the release. Not sure yet what that is all about. As I said, I found the release on my last day, so I haven’t even had time to play with it as yet.

Once back, I had to put my nose to the proverbial grindstone and produce a presentation to accompany the class I am teaching in Cambodia. I will be teaching Soundslides Pro to the participants. I used my images that I am collecting from the X100 for the show. This will give a clear example of what the X100 can do. Each image has the EXIF data in the caption, You can click the caption button for viewing it, for those that want to geek out. (Better to do that in the full screen option.) Again, as in the previous post, I did all the post processing in Lightroom as I would with any other of my photography. So, no, this is not what it looked like coming out of the camera. I hope you enjoy.

Here is an html version for the iPad and iPhone users.

Limitations almost always lead to creativity. I’ve blogged about this in the past. It seems counterintuitive, but it’s true. Whenever we limit our resources we force ourselves to be creative. I can recall in the early 90s my first computer was a Mac SE. I needed to do what today is called a presentation. In those days there was no presentation software or at least I could not afford it. But my Mac did have something called HyperCard. HyperCard was one of the very first hypermedia applications made and came free with my Mac. It was a very simple “stack” of virtual “cards”. I pushed it’s abilities to create a complex and engaging game that led players through all kinds of questions that I wanted them to address and explore. I used this later at a kiosk and let visitors play it. My budget and technology forced limitations on me and yet I did things that the software was not even designed to do.

The same principle applies to photography. When we limit our camera, the lens or even the subject matter we force ourselves to be creative and explore new options. We force ourselves to see things in new and different ways.

Last week I wrote a post called, A Black Box about how I was trying to encourage my daughter in photography using an iPhone and a simple application called Hipstamatic. I talked in that blog about how we put too much emphasis on gear when photography is done in large part through the eye of the shooter. A few days later I read Chase Jarvis’ blog about his new project called “Dasein: an Invitation To Hang” a project about the importance of the “snap shot” in photography. Then, only a day or two later David duChemin talked about the creative freedom a point & shoot can give in his post Point & Shoot, My A**.  Between David, Chase and I, it seems many of us are coming to the same conclusion one way or another. I would say it is a longing for a simpler time, except shooting film and processing it was never simple. This is not an issue of film versus digital. It goes beyond that to something more basic. It goes back to the image itself. The simple visual structure of what makes an interesting photograph. What is visually compelling? Where things like subject, angles and composition are everything. I think we get seduced by technology, I know I do. I love gadgets and I love “messing” with an image for hours in Lightroom. But at the core, isn’t it about the moment? Different moments than are time spent in Lightroom. Those second between when you see what you think might be a photograph and when the camera comes to the eye and you move to position yourself for the shot and then of course the… snap! There in that 15 to 20 seconds you have the bulk of the creative process. Limited options forcing you to do something to, dare I say, be creative. It is there where the photographer longs to live. In those moments we find joy.

Last week I took my family to Singapore for the Broadway (can you say Broadway when it is in Singapore?) show The Lion King. I wanted this to be  a family time so I left my 1Ds MK III and 5D MK II and all my lenses at home. I took nothing more than my iPhone and my favorite camera app Hipstamatic. I wanted to practice what I was preaching to Jessie and the world. Singapore is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is alive and vibrant. The city is made up of three main cultures, Chinese, Tamil and Malay with a heavy Colonial influence. So whether walking Arab Street, shopping on Orchard Street or eating at one of the many wonderful cafes I took my phone to share with you what I saw. I put together a slide show and I hope this might inspire some of you to use what you have and get creative.

You can find a html version suitable for iPads and iPhones HERE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItbKA4Ie0hk

Tomorrow I leave for India for five days. It’s a quick trip shooting for a client and then home again. My wife decided she tag along and go shopping.  So it will be a lot nicer rooming with her than with my fellow photographer Nate Watkins who I went with to Indonesia. Nate will be joining me in India for this year. He is really getting into HDSLR video, but that’s not to say he’s not a good photographer. He is. But he definitely leads the way in video around me.

The video above is a mix of some still images I took, and I think some that Nate took as well. The video is all Nate’s. This and the Coffee Man are little snippets of life in rural Indonesia. They are a fun look at an individuals.  Our goal is to humanize these cultures we visit. We chose to take one person in each one of the cultures and highlight them. To make this culture real. Instead of just some distant culture that we read about in a magazine with yellow edges. I hope you enjoy this look at the Penesak Jeweler  of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Michael Ettema

I spoke too soon. Apparently, I still have a few more SoundSlides slide show to present. Todays entry is by Michael Ettema. Michael came to Lumen Dei packing light. He sported the only Leica on the trip. His whole kit, three lens and body all fit into a small bum bag. I tried using his fine piece of photographic precision German crafting only to find, I suck at focusing on the fly. Apparently Michael has no problem as you can tell from his images below. For a lawyer (sorry, I had to through that in) he did some amazing work.

My workshops generally are not physically easy. For that matter, they can be emotionally taxing as well. We go to dirty places, eat unfamiliar and at times unpleasant things. We stay at a whole range of accommodations from very nice, to dodgy ,to tight tents. These are hazards of the trade. The good images are not easily found and often they are uncovered in the most uncomfortable and remote places. This trip was no exception.  At times I thought Michael was out of his comfort zone, trekking and camping like we did. But the guy survived all this and showed us his photographic “stuff”.

Michael was kind enough to do a review of the Lumen Dei workshop. Here is a short excerpt from that review:

And we learned plenty from our mentors… Aside from regular photo critiques in the evening there was very little formal teaching – and I was not missing any of that. Shooting side by side with these guys, getting to know the mindset they apply on different situations, how they approach people (they do it differently and both “styles” are respectful, engaging and successfull),  just couldn’t be delivered with formal teaching. This was so much more valuable for someone like me, who is the “learning by doing” kind of student. Both were approachable 24/7 and explained, showed, helped even while knocked down from severe cold, E.Coli and mountain sickness.

Visit Michael Ettema’s website HERE. Read his full review of the trip HERE.

You can view all the shows (so far) from the Lumen Dei 2010 Workshop HERE

Interested in other Workshops lead by Yours Truly? Visit my workshop page HERE.