New Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II

Canon has quietly released the new EF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS II USM. It claims that while its physically similar to it's predecessor, the new lens features a revised optical design, incorporating a fluorite element and no fewer than 5 UD elements for the correction of chromatic aberrations.

According to Canon's press release, photographers can now stand nearly 8 inches closer to their subject and achieve sharp focus and tight crops. The Image Stabilization is enhanced allowing it to compensate for shutter speeds up to four steps slower than 1/focal length, a one step improvement over the previous lens model.

The minimum focus distance has also been reduced to 1.2m, with a corresponding increase in maximum magnification to 0.21x, along with a modification resulting in a wider focusing ring.

There are no price indications yet, and the availability is in April.

The 70-200mm lens is one of my favorite lens, which I use often while photographing festivals and religious rituals. Actually, I have two. An older model (non-IS) which I've had for a decade now, and that has been dropped so many times that it sounds like a baby's rattle. It was the source of much hilarity from the participants in my Bhutan Photo-Expedition. The new one is the predecessor to the just announced model.

There's also a rumor floating around that Canon will soon announce a new version of the 24-70mm f2.8 with Image Stabilization. The IS feature will certainly add a hefty mark-up in its price.

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POV: Gulf Photo Plus (Dubai)

If anyone thought Dubai's financial difficulties would diminish its appetite for hosting international cultural hooplas, they ought to think again. Dates for the annual Gulf Photo Plus (GPP) event have been confirmed as the 1st to the 6th March 2010. This is trumpeted as the region’s only hands-on dedicated photography event.

It will be a week long event packed with over 50 workshops, 90-minute seminars and panels, an exhibition featuring work by the invited photographers, etc. The event will start with an exhibition featuring selected works from the 12 visiting photographers including Joey Lawrence (TTP's Travel Photographer's of 2009), David Nightingale, Robin Nichols, Bobbi Lane, Joe McNally, David Hobby and Zack Arias. Also scheduled is a video SLR workshop presented by Vincent Laforet, and a fashion photography seminar by Melissa Rodwell.

Scanning the list suggests that if you expect to see local, Middle Eastern, or regional names amongst the invited photographers, you'd be badly disappointed. It's sad, isn't it?...but this has always been a symptom in the Gulf, and to a lesser degree in the rest of the Middle East. Some would call it the pathetic legacy of colonialism, and a habit of cultural dependency.

Here are questions the organizers may want to think of. Why aren't the talented and courageous Palestinian photographers, who risk their lives to document the daily horrors of Gaza, also invited? Why doesn't GPP also invite some of the immensely talented Bangladeshi documentary photographers who document the impact of poverty and floods on their homeland? Why don't you invite the Kashmiri photographers...why don't you also invite the emerging Afghan photographers...the incredibly prolific Indian photographers? The Malaysians...the Iranians?

What's the point in promoting the work of well-established Western photographers who already get more than their share of exposure in Europe and the United States? Aren't the local, Mid Eastern and regional photographers also entitled to get their work exposed in Dubai? Why don't you use Dubai as a hub to expose native and regional talent to the world? Dare to break the cycle of this addictive dependency on Western talent and promote your own...and that of your region. Yes, perhaps GPP won't attract as many Western sponsors at first, but it will attract the best non-Western photographers...and the sponsors will return soon enough. This is the future...leave the past where it belongs.

By the way, I have the feeling that GPP's organizers haven't caught up with the news that the old boys club has crumbled. And by the way #2, TTP's vented in a previous post about the same issue here.

I know, I know, I digressed...so let me get back to the event. Details have yet to be posted on Gulf Photo Plus's website, but can be seen here.

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NYT/Adam Ferguson: The Hazaras

Photo © Adam Ferguson /NYTimes-All Rights Reserved
Today's The New York Times features a photo essay of Adam Ferguson's photographs titled The Resurgence of the Hazaras. Those who have seen the movie The Kite Runner (and/or read the book) will remember that the Hazara (Shi'a) minority of Afghanistan were historically dominated and discriminated against by the Pashtun (Sunni) majority. It's the same old and sad story of religious discrimination and divisiveness that has (and continues to) plague our world.

However, it appears that after the US invasion in 2001, the Hazaras have swiftly remade their circumstances, and in some provinces are overtaking the Pashtuns in many areas. The resurgence is largely built on education, as the Hazaras emphasize educating girls as much as boys, and adopt a stronger belief in gender equality.

I chose the above photograph because it shows a Hazara classroom where a poster of Immanuel Kant, the 18th century influential German philosopher, is displayed on its wall. Among other thoughts, Kant criticized the practices of Christianity and its rituals, as well as its hierarchical church order. I wonder what these young students know of him, and what is taught about his philosophies.

Adam Ferguson is an Australian photographer who trained with Gary Knight of VII, and is now based in Delhi. He has been recognized as a PDN's 30 Emerging Photographers To Watch 2009.

Previous posts on Adam Ferguson's work appeared on TTP here.

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POV: Flying For Photographers (Part 2)

Politico and other news outlets reported that the TSA (effective January 4, 2010) has tightened its rules for all travelers flying into the United States from foreign countries. This means tightened random screening, and all passengers from terrorism-prone countries will be patted down and have their carry-ons searched.

So far there's no clarification as to limits on personal carry-on bags except for those imposed by some carriers last week.

A photographer friend who was flying from Manila to Los Angeles early yesterday emailed me saying that all passengers on his flight were handed a travel bulletin before entering the terminal. More than one carry-on was not allowed, and the weight and size of those were rigorously monitored. He was allowed his camera bag, while his wife carried his netbook.

It seems that all carriers flying into the United States will only allow one small bag as carry-ons. Flights from the United States may not have the same carry-on limit.

I've toyed with the notion of taking my Lowepro Stealth 650 AW shoulder bag or my Lowepro backpack, but I decided not to risk aggravation or difficulties at either the check-in counters or security. My decision is to pack my gear as tightly as possible into one small camera bag. I crammed three lenses, two Canon bodies with battery grips, a Marantz PMD 620 recorder and a netbook in my Domke F-8.

The remaining dilemma is where to stow the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L. Ah, well...I'll find a way. I just don't want to buy yet another camera bag....I already have 6 or 7.

As of two days ago I planned to carry my canvas laptop as well...but on second thoughts it will be stowed in my checked-in bag. And just in case, I will fly wearing a safari jacket with large pockets.

If only the Leicas were not so expensive!!!!

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Eric Beecroft: Delhi Nights

Photo © Eric Beecroft -All Rights Reserved
Readers of this blog are familiar with Eric Beecroft as he's been mentioned on its pages quite a number of times; most often in connection with Foundry Photojournalism Workshop of which he is its energetic co-founder.

Eric teaches photography, photojournalism/documentary photography, history, geo-politics and anthropology for the Walden School, a public charter school in Utah. He spends a few months a year traveling and leading photo expeditions of high school students and adults.His photography is mostly documentary work, photojournalism, and adventure/outdoors photography.

He recently updated his website with photographs of Delhi at night, and of the famed Rohtang Pass in the Indian Himalayas.

I particularly liked Eric's series of Delhi at night. It's a different world at that time of day, and certainly a departure from the stereotypical crowded markets scenes of the city, as well as being not one that many have photographed.

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My Work: Godown Worker (Kochi)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Traders of Kochi-All Rights Reserved
Amongst my undeclared 2010 resolutions is to experiment with black & white photography...well, sort of. I'm revisiting some of my favorite photographs of last year, and seeing how they turn out if converted to black & white via Lightroom presets. Having limited patience and not being a pixel-pusher, LR presets (especially if they're free) are ideal for me.

Some of my favorite photographs lend themselves quite well to black & white treatment, especially if I apply a smidgen of toning. Others just don't respond as well, but I expect that this is a natural consequence of seeing and shooting in color. To really be able to see in black & white, one needs to shoot it in-camera, rather than process color images. Wasn't there an old trick that photographers used to see in black & white which involved squinting at a scene? No matter how much I squinted, it never worked for me, so I don't know if it's true or not.

The color version of the above photograph (click for a larger version) is part of my Traders of Kochi gallery. The streets of old Kochi, or more specifically, Mattencherry, are virtual live theater, with its bazaar-like alleys, and traditional godowns and stores stocked with all types of rice, dark brown nutmeg, red and green chillies, earthy ginger, black pepper and other spices.

I hope to photograph in Chandni Chowk when I'm in Delhi in a couple of weeks, and I plan to experiment with black & white (or at least, pre-visualize in B&W) as much as I can.

As for LR presets, they are all over the internet, but I found some particularly interesting ones on X-Equals, blog of Chicago-based Brandon Oelling.

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POV: Flying For Photographers

The recent increase in security procedures and passenger/luggage screening is/will driving/drive photographers (and others) bonkers, as it’s most probably going to get tougher to get camera gear on board a commercial plane, whether flying from the US, flying to the US or flying between countries that have nothing to do with the US. Many of these new restrictions are nonsensical, and will be relaxed...but some will stay with us, like the rather quaint requirement that we remove our shoes.

Let's remember that airlines are essentially lemmings, and their managements realize there's a possible opportunity to make more money in checked-in (or excess) fees from these new rules. They're also painfully aware that passengers have had enough, and that traffic may well drop if the restrictions are too onerous. So the airlines (such as Virgin) will temporarily waive fees on excess check-in luggage if it arises from having too much or too heavy hand luggage...and then suddenly will stop the altruism, and will start to charge its hapless passengers.

As I wrote in an earlier post, we need to be prepared and plan accordingly. "Expect and plan the worse, and hope for the best" is a useful cliche in this situation. I will soon fly to London and onwards to Delhi to start my Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition™, and I expect the hassles to be stringent and time-consuming. As it stands, we cannot lock checked luggage unless we use the so-called TSA-approved locks (or lose the locks), which means that once our luggage disappears in the airport's entrails, our expensive gear is exposed to whoever takes a fancy to hard drives, lenses, etc.

Since we can only bring carry-ons limited in size and weight, we now have few options. The days of rolling backpacks with tons of photo gear are probably over..at least internationally and in the short to medium run. Small camera bags crammed with gear will be the only way to go, provided the bags do not exceed airlines' weight restrictions. I'm already at this stage using my minimalist set-up, of which I wrote of here. However, I still need to have ancillary electronic gear (chargers, cables, perhaps an extra lens) packed in my checked-in luggage...and my fingers will remain crossed until I get to Delhi hoping that nothing is missing. Gear insurance is great, but won't help you until you return to make a claim, and being in Rajasthan without a 70-200 lens sucks.

It's conceivable that the new small bag rule (9 x 14 x 22 inches and 13lb/6kg in weight) will only apply on my return flight from London to New York, which would make things somewhat easier. But I have heard and read of instances where passengers on non-US bound flights were told they had to abide by that rule as well...so I'm not too optimistic.

I also read in the newspapers that full-body scanners are being installed at more airports, but some politicians and advocates are voicing serious concerns at these devices because of privacy issues. Please...I'd be willing to stand naked in front of a TSA agent for as long as she wants, provided I'm allowed to carry all my gear on-board. Eye-candy I'm not, but if that's what it takes, I'm all for it.

Seriously though, I understand many passengers find the idea of being scanned and their privacy invaded in such a fashion to be totally abhorrent, but there's always the pat-down option instead of the scan...so I'm not too fussed about the fuss. I want to fly safe and have my gear near me...that's not too much to ask for, is it?

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