A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do a photoshoot with a real live Rainforest Nymph for one of my clients. It isn’t very often that you get these kinds of opportunities considering the amount of luck that you must have to actually meet a nymph in person. We were talking about ideas for an ad we were working on for the next edition of Moksi Magazine (a magazine in Suriname) when we started talking about the idea of including a rainforest nymph. With no material available, it meant that we would have to go out and shoot one. The problem was that we had a deadline that was only a week away. And you don’t just go out and find yourself a rainforest nymph and ask to take pictures of her. It doesn’t work like that. They don’t show themselves very often and so it takes time, patience and a lot of luck.

So we started preparing for the photoshoot with very little time available, talking about the location, wardrobe, makeup, etc. I gave my ideas and told the client what I needed and they basically took care of it. I love working with such clients. The photoshoot took place at Zanderij I, which is some sort of outdoor recreational resort here in Suriname. We decided that we had to arrive there very early in the morning to be able to work with the early morning light. Sadly, this meant that I had to get up at 3am in the morning to get prepared, something that I really hate doing. Somehow I actually managed to wake up at that time. Not only that, I seemed to have managed to step out of bed too, which, quite frankly, is incredible.

We arrived at the location around 7am. I had the opportunity to work with Euvie Karijoredjo again, who did the makeup, hair and styling. Euvie did a wonderful job once again, and having someone like her on the team really makes a difference. While she was busy preparing the model, I went for a stroll in the area to find some nice locations for making pictures. The view was incredible when we first arrived. The early morning sunlight and the fog created a very nice mood in the forest. I don’t have pictures of when we first arrived, but I do have some taken a bit later. Here are some snaps of the location:

Notice the fog in the air top left

If this was the view outside of my house, I'd probably enjoy waking up early

Tell me you don't feel like walking down this path?

Euvie very busy with the model

Dressing the nymph

For this shoot I used a Canon EOS 40D body (the only good DSLR Canon makes at the moment – 50D has too much noise and banding, 5D2 can’t autofocus reliably, 1D3 has various issues) with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens (which is outstanding). I also used a couple of Canon 580 EX II flashes with Canon’s wireless flash functionality using one 580 EX II on the 40D as the master. The wireless flash functionality worked surprisingly well outdoors, but I had to maintain line of sight between the master and the slaves all the time which is a bit limiting at times. Here are some test shots I took to test the lighting where you can see the position of the flashes during certain shots:

A test shot where you can see the positioning of the lighting

Another test shot with slightly different positions for the lights

"Don't mind the lights, I'm just testing something..."

Time flew during the photoshoot. We started working at around 8am and when I asked later what time it was, it was already 12 ‘o clock. We took a short break and wrapped up at around 1:30pm. I believe I took close to 1000 pictures. Not all are usable ofcourse since there was a lot of experimenting during the photoshoot and many things we tried didn’t work out as well as we thought it would. But we got what we went for and the client is very satisfied, fortunately. Here are some of the results:

Um..yeah.. the butterfly was really there... (click for larger view)

Rainforest Nymph (click for larger view)

Taking a bath (click for larger view)

And a final note: The model was incredible. Very pleasant to work with, and she was constantly posing from 7am to 12pm apparently without getting tired.

A few days ago I had another photoshoot with a beginner model named Roanne, who I met on the Body&Soul Models website. She was a bit shy and nervous this first time working with me, but I could tell that she has a lot of potential. Below are two pictures featuring Roanne:

Click for larger image.

Click for larger image.

And here are some more from my previous photoshoot:

Click for larger image.

Click for larger image.

Backgrounds were all added in post production. These are the results of simpel test photoshoots where neither I nor the model prepare for the shoot in advance. We don’t even have a makeup artist for the shoot, the models do their own makeup. For me it’s more about practice and getting to know the models before a more serious photoshoot, and if I get lucky more material for my portfolio.

No we can't

A while ago I wrote a post titled “Barack Obama: More of the same,” and in that post I basically described how Barack Obama was not going to bring any kind of change compared to what the former President Bush was already doing. At least, no positive change.

There’s a new documentary out by Alex Jones titled “The Obama Deception” (Download here) which I saw recently. If you haven’t yet seen it, take the time to watch it. In that documentary you’ll see what I described in my previous post about Obama, plus you’ll see how Obama is basically deceiving people on a large scale, and that in fact, nothing is changing at all and it’s just business as usual. You’ll see evidence of him lying, and doing the exact opposite of what he promised to do before he was elected. It’s just like I said before:

Don’t mind what he has been saying during his campaign. Talk is cheap. To win the election, it’s neccessary to give people hope and to tell them what they want to hear. His actual actions in the coming years are going to show you where he really stands. Obama wouldn’t even be a candidate and have so much support from corporations and especially the corporate media if they didn’t know beforehand that he would be protecting and supporting their interests, just like Bush has been doing the last 8 years. Interests of a small but powerful group of people. Remember, today the mere fact that a person is allowed to be running for president in the USA and has the approval of the corporate media and widely backed by corporations, means that he’s one of them. This has been the giveaway of the whole plot but few noticed.

And now, just a few months after his election, it is already very clear who’s interests Obama is looking after. After watching the documentary, leave a comment and let me know if you still have hope,  if you still think that “yes, we can,” and if you still think that “change has come to America.”

The Bride

I’ve recently had the opportunity to photograph my first wedding, and I have to say right from the start that it was a very nice experience. I’ve covered various events before in the past, so I have experience with event photography, but I have been wanting to do a wedding for a while now. Being the official photographer on a wedding brings a lot of responsibility along with it. For one thing, you are tasked with capturing the important moments during the wedding, a very important event for the couple involved, and providing them with pictures that will enable them to relive the day for years to come. You’ll have to deliver images that will tell the story of their wedding day to their kids, grandkids and other family members as best as possible. If you mess up, in the worst case, they have nothing.

And I have to admit that these ideas did make me nervous before and during the wedding, but I think that in the end it was a successful first wedding. I certainly am satisfied with the feedback I’ve received so far from people, including the couple and their family. It was a very nice experience, I’ve learned a lot, and it is very hard work, not only during the actual wedding but more so during the post processing of the images after the wedding. When you go through this, you start to understand why wedding photographers charge so much for their work.

The Groom

Apart from the fact that this was my first time covering a wedding, the wedding itself was also special because it was the wedding of a cousin of mine, Vashist Sewgobind. I’ve known Vashist since early childhood, and we’ve essentially grown up together, sharing the same friends, going to the same schools, sitting in the same classes etc. During this time Vashist was actually more a friend to me than a cousin. And they say that as you grow up, your surroundings play an important role in shaping you into the person that you become. This is very true if I look at the influence Vashist had on my life. The three things that I do today for a living, namely Software Engineering, Design and Photography, are all things that I got involved with because of Vashist. It was Vashist who one day took me to a computer training center years ago, where he was working part-time, and got me interested in the personal computer and software development. I didn’t feel like going that day and wasn’t very interested, but he insisted I go with him and after a tour where he took the time to patiently explain things to me, got me hooked for life. Now I can’t even begin to imagine what my life would look like today had I not gone with him that day.

It was Vashist who got me interested in graphics design and computer generated animations when he again took the time to show me the possibilities on the personal computer. And finally, I only got interested in photography, after Vashist was emailing me pictures that he was taking with his new digital camera and showing me some clever tricks that he was performing on them using Photoshop.

So when he approached me a few months ago to cover his wedding, one of the most important moments in his life, there was only one answer I could give him.

The wedding was a traditional Hindu wedding, and one thing you’ll notice is that it was very colorful. The equipment I used mostly are two Canon EOS 40D bodies with the EF 85mm f/1.2 L USM lens, the EF 24mm f/1.4 L USM lens and the EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM lens. All very light sensitive lenses and I mainly used available light during photography, which is the way I prefer to shoot. Walking around constantly with two 40D bodies and heavy lenses attached around my neck wasn’t easy on my back. In total I captured about 1700 images, of which only about 850 made it through the editing process. My friend Jimmy accompanied me on this first wedding with his own camera, as a backup to make sure that if I messed up, the damage could be kept to a minimum.

Below is a gallery with sample pictures from the wedding (Adobe Flash Player required).

As part of my goal to do some more model photography this year, I invited a friend over for a test photoshoot. I recently moved to a new location where I have an office and some more room to do my photography. I guess you could call it a small studio where I can just unpack my equipment and leave it all unpacked, ready for shooting whenever I feel like it.

So I invited my friend over for a test photoshoot. She’s not really a model, and she has no ambitions in that area (or so she says) and just decided to do it for fun. Overall I think the results were quite good, even though it was a test photoshoot and very little preparations went ahead of it. I usually do these tests with a model to get to know each other before actual work, and to explore the good angles to capture the model as best as possible.

She was very generous with her time, and brought over a lot of stuff to experiment with, and I am very grateful to have had this opportunity. She even did her own makeup . One thing that most people notice immediately, apart from her eyes, is that she has very beautiful hands and natural nails.

Below are a few pictures from the session.

Putting on makeup before the photoshoot

Sample Picture

This is one of my favorites

Here I turned on my.. uh.. smoke machine

Sample Picture

No comment

For the photo geeks and others who are interested, the equipment I used are the Canon EOS 40D body with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM lens. The resulting images were very sharp, and I am very satisfied with the quality given the technical limitations of the equipment (mostly the 40D in this case). Below are 100% crops of some of the images above to give you an idea, all with very little sharpening.

100% Crop

100% Crop

100% Crop

Canon has sunken to a new low in trying to take down the blog of Fake Chuck Westfall, a parody of the real Chuck Westfall who is the Technical Information Advisor at Canon USA. The shut down notice posted on the blog contains all the details, including the letter from law firm Loeb & Loeb, who represents Canon. Their attempt to take down the blog seems to have failed because Automattic, the company who owns Wordpress.com where the blog is being hosted, has refused to take down the blog. More details can be found here. In addition to failing to get the blog shut down, Canon also seems to have given the blog a lot more exposure online, resulting in a significant increase in traffic to the blog. Fake Chuck has already thanked Canon for the free promotion.

It isn’t surprising that Canon wanted to take the blog offline given the subjects that are often being discussed on the blog, namely the many issues with Canon’s recent products which I have also written about here. Their latest 21MP camera, the EOS 5D Mark II, got equiped with an AF system that seems to be seriously underperforming among other problems. Judging from the comments on the Fake Chuck blog, it’s everyone’s hope that Canon starts to acknowledge the problems and starts to deliver some quality products in the future.

Note: This post has been updated below. Last update on 04/18/2009.

After having written two posts about why the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is barely worth it (see the last one here), I have to take it a step up now and go ahead and say that the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is absolutely NOT worth it. Save your money for something better. Go get a Nikon D700 or something.

Seriously, do the research before you spend close to $3000 on a camera body that is seriously underperforming and has a lot of issues. You can start by reading this post of mine, which I have updated today as well. I am including the update to that post below. When you spend $3000 on a camera body, especially in the time we live in right now, quite frankly you should NOT have to worry about it working well or not while using it. We live in a time when $900 cameras can focus without issues, so why should you spend $3000 on a  camera that has focus issues? Yes, FOCUS issues. One of the most critical functionalities in any camera, and it’s not working properly.

Here’s the update (read the full post and any links in it completely before you buy, you have been warned!):

Update 02/09/2009: In the mean time some more examples have been posted of the 5D Mark II focus issues. The fashion shooter I mentioned above, who had trouble getting his 5D Mark II to focus properly got another 5D Mark II body, and apparently he had the same issues with that one. Now he has decided to NOT use the 5D Mark II AT ALL. Here’s what he had to say:

There are a few issues with this camera which I can not live with. The AF is still pretty bad on this, my second 5D2 body in anything but the brightest of light. (the first one was returned with abysmal focusing and weird image quality issues.)
People right and left are reporting failures in damp conditions/light rain. There were a bunch of 5D2 failures on Michael Reichmann’s Antarctic trip.

…

I cringe every time I remember this scenario: I was shooting advertising with the 5D2 with models, hair, makeup, stylists, etc waiting on me. As I was shooting tethered, the art director was standing next to me looking at the monitor and saying “they are soft!”, and I was there thinking, yeah, I can see that, but I don’t know what the f*ck to do about it. This is after hours or working with the AF microadjustments, etc., etc.

I cringe when I think about something like that happening to me as well.

And that’s not all. Another photographer compared the old 5D to the new 5D Mark II, doing some tests with both cameras in the same conditions, and noticed that the 5D Mark II did not focus consistently, and that shots from the 5D Mark II were in fact slightly out of focus often:

I’ve come to the conclusion that the 5Deux has A.D.D. Sometimes it focuses very well. Other times, it’s slightly disappointing compared to results from the old 5D. I know the 5Deux can focus well, because I’ve got proof, it just doesn’t focus well ALL of the time, which is annoying.

…

I’ve seen other photographers say that they’ve had similar results, so I guess this is pretty common among 5Deux owners.

…

In conclusion, the 5Deux did not walk away with a clear decisive victory because of the focus issue.

So again, I have to ask, what the FUCK is the use of 21 megapixels when you can’t focus properly?!?! Take a good look at the sample pictures posted in the above mentioned review, and notice how the 5D Mark II images are out of focus compared to the old 5D. All the extra resolution you expect from the 5D Mark II can’t be achieved because of the very poor autofocus system.

And here’s what PDN had to say about the 5D Mark II autofocus capabilities in their review:

A bigger issue is the annoyingly slow speed of the 5D Mark II’s autofocusing in low contrast, low light situations. These are the sorts of situations where the 5D II should really shine especially since the High ISO/low light capabilities of its 24 x 36mm CMOS sensor are so impressive.

Though we didn’t experience problems with the focus while shooting inside the dimly lit subway station and in Grand Central Terminal, when I later went to photograph the park at night, I found that the 5D II would often hunt for focus, racking in and out until it would finally lock in. On occasion, the camera couldn’t find focus at all.

The problem really lies with Canon’s resistance to updating the 5D II to a new autofocus system. The camera uses the same 9-point selectable AF with 6 assist points around the center as its predecessor, a system which clearly is getting a little long in the tooth. While Canon’s resistance might be understandable—after it upgraded its Mark III series pro cameras to a new 19-point/16-assist point autofocus system it faced many complaints from photographers about autofocus misfires—it still doesn’t solve the problem of putting a creaky old autofocus system in a brand new camera.

Yep, I saw this coming way in advance.

Update 04/18/2009: Some more people talking about the issues with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Photographer Zack Arias said the following:

• The AF system sucks in low light situations. Every Nikon I have ever owned from the D100 to the D3 can lock focus faster and more accurately than the 5d does in low light levels.
• Nikon still pwns Canon at ISO 3200 and up.
• It’s slow as Christmas compared to the shooting speed and buffer of the D3.
• The ergonomics. The 5d feels like a brick in my hands even with the grip. The D3 feels like a glove.

He later also says:

I will tell you this though… when it comes time to shoot the reception tomorrow night I bet you the 5d goes back in the bag because the auto focus is useless in low light. You’d think they could do something about that. The D3 can focus in just about any dark environment I find myself in. The 5d requires you to be standing on the surface of the sun to have enough light to focus. Ok, maybe not right on the surface but pretty close. The AF system on the Canon can not even be compared to the Nikon. In this area Canon sucks and Nikon rocks. The rest seems to be up for debate.

Photographer Lloyd Chambers had the following to say:

This latest AF issue follows on the heels of a Live View exposure problem with the Canon 5D Mark II. I think it’s fair so say that with 3 professional camera models with issues, this firmly establishes Canon as having a track record of not testing products adequately. And at the cost of customer time, hassle, and perhaps money.

I couldn’t agree more. I have written a couple of posts about Canon quality control problems. Just search my blog for them.

I went out on a photowalk again recently with my friend Jimmy, this time specifically to capture some High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. Having experimented with it in the past in front of our houses, we thought it was time to go out and capture some more interesting images. Most of the HDR images below were stiched together using at least 2 and up to 7 HDR images to create the final image you’re looking at. Taking into account that a single HDR image is created with at least 3 normal images, that means that in some cases up to 21 images were used to produce a single HDR image.

One of the things that I like about HDR images is that you can get a LOT more detail in the skies. Sometimes even details that you don’t notice while you’re at the scene. Because of the detailed skies, the images look a lot more dramatic especially when using very wide angles.

HDR Panoramic view of the Presidential Palace in Paramaribo, Suriname (click for larger view)

HDR Panoramic view of the Ministry of Finance building in Paramaribo, Suriname (click for larger view)

HDR Panoramic view of colonial buildings at Waterkant, Paramaribo, Suriname (click for larger view)

HDR Panoramic view of the Central Bank in Paramaribo, Suriname (click for larger view)

HDR Panoramic view of the Presidential Palace and the Ministry of Finance building in Paramaribo, Suriname (click for larger image)

HDR Panoramic view of the Suriname river from Waterkant, Paramaribo, Suriname (click for larger image)

HDR Panoramic view of Paramaribo and the Suriname river (click for larger view)

HDR Panoramic view of Paramaribo and the Suriname River (click for larger image)

HDR Panoramic view of the Ministry of Finance building in Paramaribo, Suriname (click for larger view)

 And here are some shots of Jimmy in action:

Jimmy taking pictures at the Wijdenbosch bridge, looking very relaxed

HDR image of Jimmy taking pictures

The next time Jimmy is going to walk a little bit into the river with his tripod to get the really good shots.

And below is an image of me taken by Jimmy.

Me taking pictures

Yes, that’s an Alienware cap.

United Business & Lifestyle Magazine Cover for Jan/June 2009 Edition

The January/June 2009 edition of United Business & Lifestyle magazine is out in Suriname and the Netherlands, and for the second time my photography work is featured on the cover. I wrote about the previous time here.

The picture that was used this time is one from a shoot I did all the way back in August 2007 for Tropical Gem Tours. I had written about that shoot here. To me it’s great that after all this time the image still has enough potential to be selected for the cover of a magazine. And I think the client also appreciates the value they get out of my work even after one and a half year. The whole picture can be seen in my photography portfolio.

United Business & Lifestyle Magazine

In this same edition of United, there’s also an ad for Nado Computers featuring another picture of mine. You can see it in the image above on the right. This picture was taken in 2008 during sky diving practice by a group of Dutch sky divers who were visiting Suriname. A better version of this ad can be seen in my design portfolio.

United Business & Lifestyle Magazine

And finally there’s also an ad for the Vasilda construction company featuring a couple of my pictures. You can see that ad in the picture above on the right.

Update 01/02/2009: After exchanging some emails with Bryan Carnathan, I was able to explain to him the purpose of my “anti-Canon” posts and he has agreed to restore my original post back on the forum. Basically I told him I am a Canon user and that the purpose of all this is not just to bash Canon, but to make it absolutely clear we’re not very satisfied with how things are going right now and to stimulate Canon to improve in the future. If that happens, it will benefit all of us. It is important to be critical of Canon, otherwise those of us who have invested in Canon gear will be forced to look for alternatives in the future.

Original post:

Some of you might remember that I got banned a while ago from the DPReview forums because of discussing Canon quality control issues. I wrote about that here. The Digital Picture launched their forums today and as a frequent visitor, I registered and posted a link to my blog post titled “Canon EOS 5D Mark II: Barely worth it!“, requesting feedback from people. I was already getting some responses when a few hours later I get an email from the webmaster, Bryan Carnathan, that he deleted my post:

Your post was deleted by Bryan Carnathan.

Subject: Canon EOS 5D Mark II: Barely worth it!

Reason: Karel,

I welcome you to the community, but would rather you not bring your anti-canon posts here.

Regards,

Bryan

Thank you,
Photography Community team

So it looks like only pro-Canon posts are allowed there. This is plain censorship, and nothing more. If there is one thing I don’t like on the Internet, and anywhere else for that matter, it’s censorship. If you take a look at the comments at the bottom of my “Canon EOS 5D Mark II: Barely worth it!” blogpost, you’ll see that I allow everyone to post their opinions on my site. Whether they agree with me or not, some of the comments are very harsh sometimes. But even that is tolerated. So I have to wonder why these websites, like DPReview and The Digital Picture feel the need to censor my opinion on Canon. Perhaps the reasons are what I discussed in a previous post about the DPReview case.