Chobi Mela V: Photo Festival

The dates of Chobi Mela V: The International Festival Of Photography in Bangladesh have been delayed to 29th January 2009 - 20th February 2009.

Among other reasons, the organizers have had to delay Chobi Mela V due to the overwhelming response and the large number of high quality entries. They also claim that Chobi Mela V will be bigger, better and more diverse than any of the previous festivals.

For further information, visit Chobi Mela V

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Yes We Can

Photograph © Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune-All Rights Reserved

"This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can."
-Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

And we did...and we shall...and the United States and the world rejoices.

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My New G10: First Shot

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
I bought a Canon G10 two days ago, and haven't had the time to really put it through its paces yet...however, I've formed a bunch of initial impressions from a couple of shots made in the streets of New York. I will follow up with further thoughts as I use it, and will post these on TTP. I suspect that many of my eventual thoughts, if not all, will mirror other comments made about the G10.

First and foremost, a no-brainer: this is not a DSLR...it's a point and shoot. This fact was reaffirmed to me when I walked over to the DSLR counter at B&H, and was directed by the guy to walk to the other side of the store...to the point & shoot department. So if you expect DSLR quality from the G10, think again. It may come close, but that's about it. Will it replace your DSLR? No. Will it be a back-up for your DSLR? Again, probably not...but that depends on what your definition of back-up is. For me, it won't be.

Secondly, the shutter lag is noticeable. In the above photograph taken while crossing an avenue in New York, you'll notice the tip of a vehicle in the bottom left corner of the frame. This appears because of the shutter lag...the vehicle wouldn't appear had I used a DSLR. I shot this frame at 25mm, f4.5, 1/200th, and an iso of 80.

The quality of the image and color rendition are fine, although still not as good as from a large-sensor DSLR....okay, since you got the message by now, let's drop the comparison to DSLRs since it's really comparing apples to oranges.

The size of the G10 is ideal for street photography (which is the reason I bought it in the first place), it's easily portable in a coat jacket and it's easy to use out of the box. I don't think the G10 will be great for active people photography for instance. I'm quite sure it wouldn't do well at the dance festivals in Bhutan...but it could be very useful in posed environmental portraits.

To be continued....

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My Show Off: Gangtey Couple

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here's a photograph of an elderly farming couple at the Gangtey Goempa monastery, who were quite excited to attend the festival's rehearsals. It was rumored that the King of Bhutan would be attending the actual festival the following morning. The valley of Gangtey is one of the most beautiful in Bhutan, and the Gangtey Goempa monastery is the only Nyingmapa monastery on the western side of the country's Black mountains.

While I like this photograph for its humanity, I wish I had the presence of mind to move to the right of the couple to avoid having the wisp coming out of her head. In the heat of photographing, one frequently misses seeing extraneous background stuff. I don't think it spoils the photograph, but just one step to the side would've made it better.

In any event, I photographed the husband and wife for a few minutes and they were stiff as boards. However, once I relayed to them that they had to look at each other as if they were still both in their twenties, this is the result. It didn't take much to persuade them...the affection that these two Bhutanese farmers have for each other was immediately obvious.

For the techies: 50mm, f5.6, 1/250th, 100iso. Click to enlarge.

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POV: Birds of A Feather...

Picking up the thread from various postings in the past week or so, here's a list of travel photographers, who seem to be "birds of a feather" in terms of overall style, visual and geographical interests, compositional affinity, and passion for cultural experiences.

So here are (alphabetically-listed) four blogs/websites I encourage you to visit often and bookmark to satisfy your thirst (or hunger) for travel photography:


Matt Brandon of The Digital Trekker





David duChemin of The Pixelated Image


Gavin Gough of Gavin Gough Photography



Mitchell Kanashkevich of Mitchell Kanashkevich Photography

I've had the experience of photographing along Gavin Gough (who joined me in Bhutan on my Land of Druk Yul photo-expedition), and thought it very interesting that I, from the first day, could instinctively (well, almost) tell what and where Gavin would be photographing. As I said, birds of a feather...

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My Show-Off: Black Hat Dancer

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
The Black Hat dance (Shana) is an important dance during the annual tsechus in Bhutan. These dances are also used in purification ceremonies during the construction of dzongs, temples, and chortens.

The Black Hat dancers (such as the one above, photographed at the tsechu held in Wangdue on October 2008), assume the role of yogis with the inherent power to subdue and create life. The dancers wear brocade robes, wide brimmed black hats and aprons with the face of a protective deity.

We spent at least a solid 3 hours photographing non-stop at this particular festival during my Land of Druk Yul photo-expedition.

For those interested in technical stuff: 180mm, f4.0, 1/500th, iso100. Click to enlarge.

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Lance Rosenfield: Thirst For Grit

Photograph © Lance Rosenfield-All Rights Reserved
I occasionally post travel and documentary photography projects "made in America", and I recently thought it was time for one...so I'm glad that Lance Rosenfield's marvelous B&W photo essay "Thirst For Grit" came to my attention at just the right moment.

Thirst for Grit is about the bull and bronc riders who travel from one rodeo to the next and who, as Lance poetically describes them, "these men tango with beasts, they dance with the devil, they ride". I longed for ambient sounds of the rodeos supplementing Lance's terrific images, but I guess we may have to wait for another project.

Lance Rosenfield is a freelance commercial and editorial photographer (and a storyteller) based in Austin, Texas. He has published work in The New York Times, The Digital Journalist and The Seattle Times, among other publications.

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