«A Month 6 Artists and a Book»
SoFoBoMo completed today. Its done!

The intent was to photograph 6 artists [Saidul Haque Juise, Fareha Zeba, Smita Srivastava, Ujwala Prabhu, Rokeya Sultana,  Jamal Ahmed] at work, with the least amount of «set-up». Some people are less conscious of the camera than others, so I had to use a different approach for each. I tried to capture the persona and essence of the personality rather than make pretty photos. I hope that I was able to convey this and some of the intimacy that develops between photographer and «photographee!».

The finishing touches to the text assisted by Jyoti today. Many thanks! Thanks to both Jyoti and Ujwala who supported me from day-one, gave suggestions and assisted in the design. Ujwala, sorry for making your mailbox overflow with those 100's [or was it 1000's?] of emails! 

1. A downloadable PDF [around 18MB] is online → SoFoBoMo - «A Month 6 Artists and a Book» [It might be quicker to right-click this link and save the file to your PC for offline viewing].
   The suggested viewing settings in Adobe Acrobat are:
   View->Page Display->Two Up.
   View->Page Display->Show Cover Page During Two-up.
   Alternatively, set the viewing option in Acrobat to «Full Screen» for a full page by page slide show.
2. View the book online at → ISSUU [Requires FLASH].
3. View it at → SCRIBD

Preview the book:

Borrowed a friends' D300 to test drive. At first impression I like it quite a lot. The 12+ mega-pixel sensor gives clean detailed images, it balances well in the hand especially with 50mm and 85mm primes thought a  bit wobbly with larger and heavier lenses like the 17-55DX and the 300EDIF is quite difficult to handhold on the D300 where as I can comfortably handhold the 300 on the D2Hs. Focusing is fast, though I did not quite like the viewfinder nor the default focusing indicators - I found the viewfinder bit small and cramped, and not easy to get my eye 'into it' after having gotten used to the rubber eyecup and bright viewfinders of the F3HP, F5 and D2Hs. The LCD is nice though! large and bright. But I could not figure how to get the display to give me the same info as I get on the D2HS [warning blinkies and RGB histograms]... it probably has the options right there somewhere and I'd need to dig it out from the owners manual. Ah, one major major gripe: lack of a vertical grip with vertical AF and shutter-release buttons. Guess one could spend the additional $350 or so and fit one optionally.... I felt like my right elbow was a bird-perch when shooting vertically..... these Images were taken with the D300, a Nikkor 85 f/1.8 and an low off-camera SB800. Sunlight was coming in from slightly behind and over Mannat's left shoulder. I overpowered the SB800 a stop or two but the shots were off-the-cuff sort of and I did not spend much time setting-up. Mannat had demanded a massive sitting-fee of 10 Taka a shot as it is! So I had to be quick and fast. LOL! So, will I sell the trusty D2Hs and get a spanking-new D300? Maybe, maybe not. The D3 still is number-one on my wish-list.

  
 
Niks Thailand fixed up my D2Hs with a new coat of rubber and a new CF card-door. Looks bright and new and feels just great. The control wheels move smoother too now... nice!

They stained her teeth RED and I could not help laugh... dracula! nor could Mannat contain herself and the dentist had to keep telling her to stop giggling. Uh this pic is taken with a cell-phone camera because I lost my rubber .....I mean the D2HS lost its rubber. So myD2Hs went to Niks Thailand today for a new one....
The rubber grip on the CF door - after several DIY repairs and fixes - fell off  [Anyone on Sukhumvit Soi 49 who might happen to find a strange looking piece of used rubber - it belongs to my D2Hs and please return it here. Thanks.] and also the rubber grip/surround on pretty much all parts of the D2Hs are peeling off. The cam is functional though, but feels «funny» without its rubber coat. So I decided it was time to get it a new one. 5000 Thai Baht. Yikes! SoFoBoMoSTART is definately postponed, to somewhere around 4/14/08 - which happens to be Bengali New Year so thats a good day to start something new anyway.