PhotoFlex A Super LiteDisc!

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Photoflex 5'n1 MultiDiscs at work in the field.

An image from the shoot above.

We were fortunate to have a new sponsor of Lumen Dei at the last minute. The fine folks at Photoflex were kind enough to give us a whole suitcase full of 5'n1 MultiDiscs and a couple of Black LiteDiscs. (thanks Rosane for hauling these from the US to India!) Photoflex wanted to see how they would work in the field.

What is a 5'n1 you might ask? The MultiDisc 5'n1 offers five reflector surfaces; translucent, white, silver, gold, and soft gold; all zipped up into one small package. We were given the 42" MultiDisc . These are really rather large, but collapsed quite small and once distributed they were very easy to carry or pack. In fact some of us used a carabiner and just clipped them onto our Think Tank belts.

Using the translucent disc to defuse the light and give soft shadows.

Everyone got a chance to shoot.

Using them in the street was not easy. We did use them in one village setting without much trouble. But they did draw a lot of attention, so we were quite content to use them on models. Now, let me say here that people do use reflectors in street photography. But with 9 photographers prowling the streets of a small village, it was just too much. Our job was to capture life in our cameras not make the local news.

Here I used the Black Disc as a backdrop to give the feel of shooting in a doorway and the soft gold on the models face.

We managed to arrange a cultural show for our group. We then paid four of the dancers to stick around and model for us. It was great! Already in local clothing these models, being performers really knew of to work a camera. We divided the team into four groups of two and had each of the four performers make a modeling station. We then gave each group 10 minutes to shoot each model. David DuChemin and I floated between stations and helped show the team members how to use the MultiDisc. Sometimes the gold was just too harsh, yet other times it bathed the subject with just the right amount of light. We showed the group how to flag and defuse light as well as use the black reflector as a backdrop.

Even local our guides found a use for the LiteDiscs. Super Photoflex Man!

The team learned that lighting doesn't have to be complicated nor costly. Over all the MultiDisc 5'n1 and the Black LiteDiscs performed as well as the dancers, flawless.

Just Landed in KL

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I leave in 30 min, for Penang and am really looking forward to seeing Alou and Jess. I will post something on Monday my time. But not today. Today is family time and I need to finish my Teh Tarik. Talk soon.

Winding Down

Only one more day left. This trip has been more fun than a person should be allowed to have! But, I will be truthful with you, if I don't see another Gompa (a.k.a. Monastery) for a while, I won't complain. But - with that said, I am really looking forward to doing this again next year. Ladakh has definitely feed my mountain craving. Leh is just off the Tibetan plain, yet still in the Himalaya, so we are surrounded by 20,000 foot peaks every where we turn. The people are some of the most photogenic people I have run across in all my travels. Almost all Buddhist they are a beautiful and gentle people and very colorful. I will post more and update my gallery once I return to Malaysia.

Day two: Nizamuddin

Had a great first full day of Lumen Dei 08. Pretty tiered. So without going into a lot of details, here are a few shots from today's shoot. By the way we have a lot of very talented photographers in this group. I am looking forward to posting some of their images in the future. After tomorrow we shift to Ladakh and we will not have internet so the posting will nill to sparse. So keep checking back.

Old Delhi Take Two

David taking a break in Chandni Chowk.

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We went into old Delhi once more to today to see if the Metro was running and what obstacles we might in counter after the Delhi bombings. That sounds crazy even writing it!

I really felt off my game, so to speak. I just couldn't seem to grasp what I wanted to shoot today. You might say my vision was blurred. But I have still posted a few shots from the day.

Oh, one of the attendees from last nights talk, Yogesh Sarkar, put up a review of our presentation. Check it out HERE. Yogesh seems really sharp! Not just because he liked our talk...well, ok, maybe that has something to do with it. He is very articulate and expresses some great points to follow up our disscusion with the group.

The first full day of Lumen Dei is tomorrow. Check back in.

First Day Back in India.

It has been good to be back in many ways. Just feels good to be back in India. It is great to hang with my good buddy David DuChemin and shoot with him again. Well, I say it is good. He is so sticking talented that it make shooting the same subject really difficult. He always seems to walks away with a winner. But it is good to be challenged. We went out this morning for about three hours and shot at Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi. Click HERE for the map. Here is a sampling of my images from the days shoot.

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Nicole Gibson Brings Home a Guru!

A hearty congratulations goes out to Nicole Gibson for winning the Vincent Versace Award at Photoshop World Expo in Las Vegas. Nicole is a good friend and one of our participant in the 2007 Lumen Dei workshop in Kashmir. In fact, it was her image of a Kashmiri man viewed through a flock of pigeons taken on the Lumen Dei tour that took the Guru Award. The image is outstanding and well deserved. Not sure, but I think Nicole walks away with a tidy little prize booty as well. Well done Nicole!

May's Wallpaper - Lumen Dei

Here is May's wallpaper. It is a little different. A bit of a plug for Lumen Dei. Which, by the way, starts in 136 days. (note: We still have two* one space open.) This image is of men waiting for a meal in a welfare line. I love the intense look that the man in the middle is giving me. This image was taken on last year's Lumen Dei workshop while walking with the students through Old Delhi. Click the image above and a full-sized (1680×1160 yes, it is huge.) image will open in a new window. Right click it or ctr click (Mac) it should give you the option to save it and make it a desktop wallpaper. Enjoy.
* since I published this just 2 hrs ago another space filled.

Lumen Dei One Day - A Success

David Duchemin and his friend.

David introducing his "exposure triangle."

The Lumen Dei One Day is over and it went very well. No, it went great and I gotta tell you, I had a blast. For one thing, I really enjoy hanging with David Duchemin. It is scary how much we think a like. My wife thinks we are our own best fans, a mutual admiration society. David is one of the best instructors I have sat with. He made the class light and informative. It is always fun to teach with him. I manage to stumble through my part. We had 26 participants all with varying degrees of expertise. We had a wide range of photographers, from amateur to advanced, and that presented some unique challenges, but we had a great time. I also want to thank PDI for their help in providing the facilities and pushing the workshop to their employees. The reviews seem to be very positive. Many stated, "It was the best $99 they ever spent." Now, to figure out how to do this from Malaysia.