Anyway, camera is a robot. Proof? Rafie, while studying for his final found this:
(Click on the image above for larger view)
Oh yes, we’ll get back when we are finished with our exams and some projects. Wish us luck guys!
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Sometime nearly 5 months ago, Rafie and I stumbled upon an amazing image on flickr. It is in fact a large drawing of 101 camera’s. And the illustrator is Adam Frame.
I was blown away by the amount of detail of the camera’s. In fact, we were so impressed that we wanted to use the image as the head image of lensa. Upon contacting Adam, he gave us the green light, thus the new Lensa banner was born. His drawing was so popular that he submitted it to a t-shirt design contest on threadless.com, and became one of the top hits.
I am proud to say that he has now got a t-shirt out with the very same 101 cameras printed. Awesome. I’d definitely buy one, or a few to give away to Lensa readers. Just let me smash my piggy bank first..now where’s that hammer? hmmm
The T at threadless! dang!!!! ; D
our Lensa banner, a BIG thanks Adam!!!! ; D
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Hey hey Christmas again, annnnd the First of Jan yet again. Time to renew those promises you made to yourself earlier last year, or time to make new ones ; ) I know i have alot of changes to do, also on my part at Lensa. December has been a really busy time for us, with me ( Shamin) having to adapt to a new place, and Rafie busy with third year Engineering coursework and his own company. So we at Lensa would like to say sorry to our readers out there hoping to find more new stuff here on Lensa. But be sure to stay tune to us in this coming year as we align back on track and go full speed.
Where photography is concerned, here’s a new idea for you guys this coming year, Serendipity.
Life is full of unexpected turns that sometimes makes life unbearably hard, and then there’s those sweet instant moments. Fleeting moments that past by in a few mili seconds, but those seconds make life just seem a little more tolerable and special. As photographers we have the ability to capture those quick moments. So if the moment comes, be quick to draw out that camera and “snap”. Then savour the moment..and walk away happy… ; )
Serendipity..that’s all you need ; )
Happy holidays and happy new year, and Merry Christmas to those celebrating !!! ; )
Sincerely,
Shamin and Rafie of Lensa.co.uk
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Don’t know what other things you can add to your DLSR, besides lenses and a speedlight, check this out guys. Owh and er.. be careful with the shopping yeah guys? ; p
Now this diagram shows a Nikon D300s, but it’s still a DX camera. So how about Canon users? well they have just about the same configuration. Still trying to find the diagrams tho ; ) Stay tune!
Download the PDF format file here, the much readable version. Rightclick, and Download Save File As.
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United Arab Emirates. 7 independent states, each with their own ruler, or Syeikhs, formed the UAE 38 years ago. Historically the arabs living there were bedouins, or nomads. They would roam the desert land to find vegitation for their livestock, and when the summer season came (yes, they do have seasons) they would migrate back to the coast where they became divers. My first stop was Abu Dhabi, the capital with the largest portion of land in the UAE. Everywhere were construction of high risers. Abu Dhabi plans to become like Dubai in terms of infrastructure within the next 5 years. Down here, buildings sprout up like mushrooms. Other less known states in the UAE includes smaller states like Sharjah and Um’ul Quwain. And then theres Dubai..thats something else.
Abu Dhabi city, from the port. It could even make it as a mini version of Shanghai
One would get the same feeling as travellers going through once powerful nations, Isfahan, Cordoba, Damascus. The sheer aw-struckness you get once you go through the city of Dubai is just overwhelming. And i bet it would be the same for westerners alike coming here for the first time. I’ve personally been to Cordoba, and the place is awesome, but it remains as a shadow of the past, a history engulfed by modernity of a country that tries to hide its largely muslim dominated history behind.
Local traditions still remains in a largely modern country
Dubai is different though, you can feel its superority as you drive along rows and rows of it’s skyscrapers, and you know that this time it’s real, it wasn’t history and you’re actually there embracing this rising nation. And walking amongst the crowds one can see many nationalities, even in a small street. Our host said there are some 155 nationalities living here. Not bad for a country with a local population of just 2 million. And to think that just under 40 years ago they were just a fishing village living off pearls in the deep seas off the arabian gulf.
Locals taking time off from work starting at 2pm to about 5pm before resuming bussiness till late at night.
As i went past the Burj-Dubai, the tallest building in the world, i said to myself ” this is what travellers must’ve felt like going through the cities of past powerful nations”, like Al-Andalus or equally through Isfahan in what is now modern day Syiria. That might seem like an exagerated remark, but there really is no other comparison for it in todays world. Not for a Muslim country that is.
View into Dubai, Rows of these bad boys..
I could imagine an english traveller coming to a place like Isfahan, and be amazed at the different coloured customs of other nationalities. As i contemplated further, the vision of its previous ruler, Syeikh Zayed, was to make the United Arab Emirates a power of its own, was slowly coming to be. All succesful nations in history became powerful by the migration of other nationalities, and by the integration of other cultures into the already existing ones. Different cultures bring along their own unique specialties, as in the case of UAE, the Indian’s are good bussinessmen while the Pakistani’s are great mechanics. Then you have the professional expertise of engineers from the United States and other western countries, not to mention architects the world over dying to get some funds for another iconic building.
The authorities put in effort to remind the younger generations about their past by building historical villages and themed museums.
Taken at surface value, history has proven that architecture measures the level of how advance a nation is. At the end of the day, when the people are gone, all that’s left is just lofty structures of a once powerful nation. If by fate, mankind suddenly disappears overnight, Dubai would appear as the most powerful nation in the middle eastern part of the world, even including the african continent as well. I’m a soon-to-be-architect (with god’s will) and i’m not really a skyscrapers/tall towers kind of person. But even i couldn’t hide the amazement of seeing different designs of towers in such a small area.
The UAE has buildings, roads, mosque named after the father of UAE, Syeikh Zayed.
It’s amazing to see what happens when you have a visionary leader, with a heart for the people, couple that with some good management over resources and you would have a flourishing country. The only downside is that they get quite hot for three months in a year, up to 50 degree celcius. Which can be tolerable depending on the type of person you are. I’d rather tolerate heat, than extreme coldness. Other than that, if you like a country where there’s culture and history while still being modern and don’t mind living in a muslim dominated country. Then by all means, the UAE is for you. I’m even thinking of going there to find some experience working. Who knows..i could have a building permanently stamped there ; )
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New month new post! Ahh yes, time for us at Lensa to work that neurons in search of ideas. Some 2 to 3 months ago, a friend of mine showed me a blog by Scott Schuman, a photo fashion blog, and i was blown away by the quality of the photos.
These were real people on the streets, wearing lovely, crazy, chic clothing, all looking like they ought to be in a fashion magazine instead. The Sartorialist as the site is called, and the name couldn’t have been any better, showcases fashionable people around the globe, and this is not just the people wearing high end clothing, no, the Sartorialist includes kids, cowboys, stylish grandama’s and grandpa’s and anyone with their own unique look. 
This is just one of the many amazing sartorialist shots by Scott Schuman at the sartorialist.
Inspired by the photos at the sartorialist, i decided to give taking fashion shots a go. Now i’m not a fashion freak, but i do love good design and i appreciate the time taken for people to express themselves through their attire. Here are some of my personal tips along with a few of my shots, on how to take fashion shots.
Now it’s called fashion shots and not modelling shots, as modelling is much more expressive and alot more harder. Essentially, what a fashion shot is, is that its a portraiture of a person with their attire included in the frame. It’s trying to convey the personality of the person in a single frame through their posture, facial expression and the outfit. It maybe hard to convey all these with a stranger, but through time practicing and generally being a warm person, these skills will become second nature to you. Practice on your friends as they’re more willing to be taken a photo of.
- Choose your background. For the shot above, i was attracted to the somewhat vintage nautical look. And lady luck was on my side as the street i was in at that time was filled with antique shops so i took this to my advantage. My main aim was to complement the attire with the surroundings so you get the whole vintage feel to it. Likewise you may want to go contrast and make the subject clash with his or her surroundings. Georgio Armani won’t have his picture taken unless he has a dark background to contrast his white hair. Try to imagine how the final image will be. Have some sort of rough sketch in your mind and then start off from there. Creativity is the limit.
- Near to full body portrait in a frame. Though you dont need to fill it from head to toe, depending on what you’re trying to focus on. You might even go for a waist and below shot because you want to focus on those crazy coloured skirt and neon shoes. What ever interests you.
This shot could have been lovely, should my eyes have been alot better.
- Always sharp shots. You want your subjects to be as sharp as possible. They’re the main attraction. People’s eyes should go directly to the subject upon seeing the photo. An awesome subject with amazing lighting but the subjects not sharp just kills it instantly. If you’re using a manual focus lens like i am, take your time to focus, or better still, take a few shots. A slightly soft image of a subject would work depending on what your trying to reach across to the viewers.
The contrast between the grey jacket, multi colored check and yellow scarf is what drew me to take this photo. That and because she’s a good friend of mine ; )
- Observe the lighting. The surrounding light plays a major role in determining an uplifting picture from an equally bland one. I prefer afternoons where the light is low and the light isn’t so harsh on the subject. Proper lighting can also set the mood of the picture.
Red red red ! little miss red riding hood
- Properly exposed model is the key. Correct metering of a subject makes a whole world of difference. Does it matter if the background is overblown? Nope, not really. The main concern should be the the subject and their attire. No one wants to know if it was cloudy or sunny on that day. Metering in on the subject is as simple as pointing the lens at the subject, preferably their skin, then locking onto the exposure value, recompose your shot and snap.
- Experiment on angles. Dont be lazy. Work that angle! Shoot low, on your knees, get even lower on your tummy, or find a chair and shoot high. You want that subject to look as good as possible. Remember that some people look unflattering from a certain angle, so it’s your job to find the angle that makes the subject look good. For most shots i prefer shooting waist high by bending the knees.
- Shooting with the sun behind the subject. I noticed that with alot of Scott Schuman’s photos, his subject has the sun behind them. Logically, if the background is brightly lit, then the subject should be underexposed. But then again, this isn’t a scenary shot and depending on what time of the day it is, the sun could be used to our advantage. In the above photo, the sun was low in the afternoon and wasn’t so bright. I took careful measure and metered in on the subject. Then i estimated a value lower than needed and took the shot. Despite not able to see what the picture would look like, because i was using film, i had a strong feeling that the picture would come out properly exposed. And much to my enjoyment, it did.
Once you get a hang of it, you’ll get beautiful pictures of people in no time. Owh, and try to study other fashion photos by other photographers, just to understand what they’re trying to convey and how they manipulate light. Hope that was helpful for you guys. Now got out there and start running around chasing people. If you get caught, dont tell them i asked you to do it. ; ) enjoi_learning peeps.
P.S A BIG THANKS to my girlfriend for being my inspiration and willing model, thank you dear ; )
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It’s safe to say, i am finally able to do my review for the nikon F3. After a heap of rolls under every possible lighting condition (i hope), so first up is the pros:
- Solid Built Quality. Most DSLR’s which are more expensive than it, are very plasticky. You get a feeling that it wasnt made with love. But with the Nikon F3, it feels like it was tenderly made, it feels solid in your hands without giving away on being too heavy. You get a feeling that the money you so hardly earned to buy this baby was worth it and its embodied in a solid piece of glass and smooth black finished metal. If to be compared to a car,the Nikon D3 would be the Latest Jaguar XKR, then the F3 would be the Jaguar D Type, old but having soul, and beautifully crafted. AND the F3 is made in JAPAN. Now when was the last time you had a piece of camera equipment made in the land of sake and asimo?
The Jaguar D-Type
The Nikon F3 Hp
- I really like that the shutter release is controlled electronically, but first i forgot to mention that the Nikon F3 was a breakthrough camera at that time, a half electronic half mechanical camera, all SLR’s after it had autofocus, and all those before it were all fully manual. The extent of its electronic-ness, is it’s metering and shutter. Without switching the camera on, which is neatly a small notch, no one can accidently fire the trigger. Especially useful if you have a little sister that likes to fiddle with your camera.
- Precise exposure metering. The other thing electronically controlled is the metering. Always spot on. If you just leave it on Aperture priority mode, chances are the pictures will come out correctly exposed. For taking portraits though, metering has to be made of the subjects skin, then locked on that exposure before taking a shot.
lovely correct exposure everytime
- Exposure lock button. One of my favourite features of this camera. It must have been a wonder back then. You just point at the subject where you choose to meter, half press the shutter AND press the exposure lock button, recompose your photo and snap.
- Multiple exposure. A small barely noticeable notch just by the film advance lever. I just figured out that if you were to multiple expose your photos twice per slide, then you’d be able to get 72 exposures! Cool! No? Whatevs
Live view?? Nah, it has an interchangeble viewfinder, pretty neat if you ask me. The small red dot just above the shutter indicates the camera is on. And look further to the left on the film winder (the round thing) the hot shoe for flash is on that.
now comes the cons:
- why the flash hot shoe is not on the viewfinder puzzles me. It’s now on the film winder, also where the ISO is. And because of that it can’t take conventional speedlights. Sucks.
- Using the Nikon F3 at night is somewhat tricky because the button you need to push to turn the LED lights on, (so you can know what aperture and what shutter it is) is really puny. It takes a hard squeeze with your fingernail and even then, for all that effort all you get is a puny source of light.
It even gets good exposure at night! i was blown away when it turned out just right
So what if the Nikon is cumbersome at times, so what if it doesn’t have auto focus or all the fancy mumbo-jumbo that comes with today’s cameras. In the end it was reliability that won the hearts of photographers worldwide, generation after generation for nearly two decades. The Nikon F3 is a timeless piece of photographic ingenuity. And it has proven that besides not having advanced multi segment focussing and not knowing how your photo will turn up, it’s got a character, a certain charm to it. Something that only people who actually used it will know and acknowledge. For that Nikon F3, I know you got soul.
For more reviews on the Nikon F3 you may want to check this site out. You can also read other reviews from other people about the camera. Or you might find other useful SLR camera. Happy hunting!
You got soul..nikon F3
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This is a video documenting my journey over two years, of places i’ve been to, and i discovered that home is where i find good food and great company, and that can be anywhere ; )
Sincerely, Shamin of Lensa
Enjoi_the video ; )
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Now, who thought that bokeh fever would ever stop? We are blessed with a large community of photography enthusiasts. They constantly try something new, experimenting and creating the best out of what they have.
This one is from Sheffield – Swirl Bokeh. Now you never think of that do you? =)
Picture was taken by Pojie Daud and in set is kodiang.
Awesome guys, keep up the good work! And to all Lensa readers, check out their flickr page, damn cool!
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Suddenly, Rafie is in the music mode. He wrote about Learning photography lighting from Metallica, now he shares with you what you can learn from one his favourite band – Coldplay.
This video is Life in Technicolor II. Now we don’t have to tell you because starting 1.47 you can already see how they play with the lighting. Even it is just a puppet-show, you can see that it is like a real concert.
Now that is genius! And this time, we don’t want to tell you if you want to listen to it or not. Enjoy!
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