News : Documentary Photography course at the CIC

Instructor: Jason Larkin
Language of Instruction: English
Dates: Mondays (3rd April – 14th April)
Time: 7:00- 9:00 pm
Location: Contemporary Image
CollectiveFee: L.E. 700

The documentary photography course introduces practical skills needed to produce a documentary project or photo story. The course leads you through the basics of visual storytelling. You will be able to research ideas, make critical editing, sequencing decisions and captioning. Each participant will present an idea at the start of the course for a documentary story to be developed through out the six sessions. You will be required to build upon the teaching by researching, shooting and printing between sessions. However, we will not be shooting during the teaching sessions.

To enquire about the course, please contact
Ms. Shaza Moharam on
Mob: 012 4098459 or
Tel: 2794 1686 between 10am to 6pm.

To register for this course, please pay the required amount to CiC.

Deadline is the 25th of February at 4 pm. Kindly note that registration is on a first come first serve basisand that space is limited up to 12 persons.

Bio of Instructor

Born in 1979 in London, Jason Larkin graduated from the University of Westminster with a Masters in Photojournalism. For the last 6 years he has been working in London producing personal and commissioned photographic stories from all over the globe. Projects have taken him from as far as Antarctica through to Borneo working with NGO's, picture editors and advertising agencies. His latest large body of work, supported by the Indian Cultural and Heritage fund, explored the emerging middle classes in Mumbai, India. He is currently based in Cairo working on his personal photographic stories.

www.jasonlarkin. co.uk

Contemporary Image Collective 20 Safeya Zaghloul Street, 2nd Floor, Mounira.
Tel.: +2 02 2794 1686 -
Mobile: +2 012 115 8700
info@ciccairo. com
www.ciccairo. com

The Sakia Contest winners

Heres a link to all the winners from the sakia contest , i thought id post it then start discussing other non winning works i liked ... :)

http://www.topgraphics.net/sawy/2008/index.html

Photomania

So sorry if this is out of subject guys ... just couldn't resist :D

The Top 5 Black & White Photography Tips

By Brian Auer • November 5th, 2007

Black & white photography, for me, is one of the most interesting and inspiring aspects of this art form we call our hobby and passion. It’s raw & refined, natural & unusual, bold & subtle, mysterious & open, emotional & impassive, simple & complex, black & white & everything in between. The monochromatic image has been with photography since the beginning, but what began as the only way to capture images has turned into something much deeper.
Interested in stepping-up your black & white game? Here are five tips to get you going in the right direction.....
Full post at ... Epic Edits Weblog

Should You Expose For Shadows Or Highlights?

By Brian Auer • August 20th, 2007
I guess the answer to this question can only come from the photographer taking the shot. Really, you should expose for whatever helps you capture your vision of the scene in front of you. I’ve seen great photos that were taken underexposed, overexposed, and perfectly exposed — but the photos were great because they captured the artist’s intent.

It’s generally accepted that digital photographers should expose for the highlights in order to keep things from getting blown out. It’s generally a good rule of thumb because pure white pixels tend to be more distracting than pure black pixels — but there are always exceptions. I’ve also heard once or twice that film photographers should expose for the shadows because the film can be processed in such a way that the highlights can be somewhat revived — I have no idea if that’s totally true, but maybe a film buff can set us straight in the comments.
Regardless, these are general rules and you’re probably better off knowing the story behind the root issues than taking advice from a rule of thumb. The intent of this article is only to provide information that can be used to make decisions about exposure in harsh lighting conditions. So here we go…

Full post at .... Epic Edits Weblog

The Seven Levels of Photographers

© 2007 KenRockwell.com

Artist: Top Level 7 (equivalent to "Heaven" in Christian mythology)
This is the highest level.
An artist fixes his imagination in a tangible form called a photograph. He captures the spirit of place or person, real or imagined, in this photograph and the viewer responds to this.
.........

Whore: Level 6
A whore is an artist who sells his soul by accepting money or drugs for his art.
By lowering himself to this level his vision is compromised.
.........

Amateur: Level 5
People who earn less than half of their income from photography are amateurs. This has nothing to do with the quality of their photography.
This person loves to create photographs. Good amateurs of pure spirit can transcend the other levels directly to being an artist.
.........

see full post at kenrockwell

Your Camera Doesn't Matter

© 2008 Ken Rockwell

Why is it that with over 60 years of improvements in cameras, lens sharpness and film grain, resolution and dynamic range that no one has been able to equal what Ansel Adams did back in the 1940s?
Ansel didn't even have Photoshop! How did he do it? Most attempts fall short, some are as good but different like Jack Dykinga, but no one is the same.
Why is it that photographers loaded with the most extraordinary gear who use the internet to get the exact GPS coordinates of Jack's or Ansel's photo locations and hike out there with the image in hand to ensure an exact copy (illegal by US copyright laws and common decency), that they get something that might look similar, but lacks all the impact and emotion of the original they thought they copied?
I'm not kidding. A bunch of these turkeys used university astronomers to predict the one time in almost two decades that the conditions would match and had 300 of the clueless converge at just the right spot. They still didn't get the clouds, snow or shadows right. This makes Ansel or any other creative artist cringe. Of course they didn't get anything like what they wanted. Art is a lot more....
.......
Even Ansel said "The single most important componentof a camera is the twelve inches behind it."
......
Full post at http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/notcamera.htm

The Composition Adjuster

An amazing tool ... really helpful .. from photoinf.com

You may check these rules for any photo (URL, or local): Golden Mean, Golden Spiral, and Golden Triangles, as well as check this photo in black/white.

The Sakia Contest : Further analysis on Monday

Yesterday the 17 of January , i went to cover/ enjoy this photography contest at the Sawy Culture Wheel , and heres what i came up with .

To start off i would like to apologise for not doing the full post today . I wont be able to post the artist reviews and their works , and pics of the contest until Monday. I woke up this morning to find the cam ( with the pics of the event ) gone , apparently a family member went to a trip till Monday , and decided it would be a good idea to take the cam along . So yea the full reviews will be on Monday, God willing .

Right now though id like to just point to a few things that could be mentioned quickly about the event .

Lets start with the positive aspects :

1) I loved the standard of works submitted , and i have to say its gonna be a pretty stiff competition.

2) The mood in the place yesterday , a good presence and it certainly turned out to be more crowded than i thought , a LOT of people were there yesterday , artists and viewers .

3) A lot of begginers contributing and being positive and not afraid of all the "oldies" that were around competing for sometime in this event .

4) Oh , and i met a lot of photographer friends i was really looking forward to meet , and they turned out to be great dudes ( thats not very technical i know hehe ) .

Ok now for the things i didnt like :

1) I did my best to find out who the judges are ( even asked previous contestants ) , NO ONE KNEW ! .... Needless to say the " judging criteria " , were by no means available to anybody .

2) The way the works were layed out and presented was not "cool" to say the least . I know there were a lot of works , but im pretty sure there couldave been better ways to present them .

3) Some works were placed in dark corners with no appropriate lighting , and even the ones placed in the light i couldnt really say the placement of the light was adequate . Wrong angles , and glare on some photos .

4) The names of the works werent available ( and that took A WHOLE LOT out of the value of the pics ) .
Also the names of the artists werent beside the shots , and thats unfair by my standards . Say im a first time visitor to the place and i see a pic i love , the first thing i ask is WHO took this . Besides its unfair for the artist who payed a good fee to enter the contest that the people dont even get to know HIS/HER name .

But all in all i have to say it was a great day , and a relatively good event ( that will really be determined by the winner shots i guess hehe ) . Sorry for all those who missed it , and hoping to be one of the competitors next year God willing .

Remember the " artist reviews" on Monday . Oh and the competition results will be announced on the 20th of January .

Focusing on the Unfocused Photos

By Brian Auer • November 28th, 2007
Brian Auer [CC by-nc-nd]

A sharp focus with crisp detail is generally one of the most sought after features in a photo. How many times have you thrown out a photo because your auto-focus was off a little? How many of us fret over shutter speeds, “sweet spots“, image stabilization, tripods and tripod heads, and image sharpening techniques in Photoshop?
I’m not arguing that sharp photos are are worth the extra effort — but I think unsharp photos are worth more effort than we typically give them. And by “unsharp photos” I don’t mean those accidental blurry shots resulting from your AF picking up on the wrong subject. Intentionally unfocused photos can be quite amazing for certain scenes and subjects.
I spent a bit of time on my last photo shoot working on de-focused, mis-focused, and soft-focused imagery. One of my key learnings is that it’s much harder to pull off than you would think. But before I get to the tips, here are some observations about the nature of these types of photos. I’m finding that they can usually be placed into one of the following categories.
DE-FOCUSED
De-focused photos are those that are so incredibly out of focus that it can be hard to tell what’s in the photo. This method can add a very abstract and mysterious feel to a photo. Since there’s nothing for your eyes to focus on, your attention goes to the soft shapes and tonal gradients found throughout the image.

Photo by Pulpolux [CC by-nc]
Photo by _abstracto [CC by-nc-sa]

....

Full post at Epic Edits Weblog

7 Bad Habits of Digital Photographers

By Antoine Khater • December 27th, 2007



Want more great projects, amazing photos, Photoshop tips, and articles on photography? Subscribe to Epic Edits today so you don’t miss a thing.
I have been taking pictures seriously for about 5 years and been around major photography forums for about the same time. Here are, compiled in one post, the 7 bad habits of digital photographers…


....
6. BETTER BODY INSTEAD OF BETTER LENS
Photo by BryanFenstermacher [CC by-nc]
I guess it is just a human nature but every time a new camera is released we have all tendency to become green with envy and deep down we should know that we would be much better investing in a better lens than in a better camera.
....


Full post at Epic Edits Weblog

What Makes Some Photos More Popular?

What Makes Some Photos More Popular?


« Flickr Etiquette Basic Guidelines
Country Road »By Brian Auer • October 25th, 2007


On September 18th, I launched a project where I asked you to “Edit My Photo“. On October 16th, I posted the 28 entries received — which was phase 1 of this little artistic experiment. Now, phase 2 of the experiment has come to an end.
This portion of the project aims to evaluate what makes certain images more appealing to the general public. We had over 130 voters pick out their top three favorites, and comment on their reasoning. But before we get into the details…
HERE’S YOUR WINNER

Congratulations to Felix Willeke for his “Virtual Triptych” interpretation of the image. The majority of his admirers commented on the effectiveness of the triptych for this particular photo. Some really liked the colors, and said it added to the mood of the image in conjunction with the split frames. While others didn’t particularly favor the color scheme for one reason or another. In the end, I’m pretty certain that it was the triptych part of the photo that won the votes. Nice work Felix, you had a very creative and effective approach to this photo.
TIER 1 ENTRIES
Three other photos had a high number of votes, and one of them even took the lead several times. So here are the other top contenders ..... full post at Epic Edits Weblog

Lighting essentials : Single Small Strobe Portrait Directly Into the Sun

Sweet piece from Lighting Essentials . Teaser paragraph ---->

I placed the strobe at a height that was slightly over the top of her head. This allowed a natural look to the resulting shadow, letting it fall slightly down. If I had placed the light too low, and it had lit her under the chin, the result would be comical... too high and it has an un-natural feel to it as well. I placed a small bit of diffusion over the front of the flash to give it a little more diffusion.

I knew that the exposure on her back was probably in the neighborhood of f-16 at 1/125 due to the F16 Rule: F-16 at the 1/ISO for exposure in bright daylight. ISO 100 made it f-16 at 1/100 or 1/125. So now I knew that in order to get my exposure to look normal, I would render the exposure at even... f-16 from the sun at 1/125 and the flash close enough to the subject to give me f-16. Just to make sure, I popped a shot without the flash going off and zoomed in a bit to see what effect the light without the flash had on Megan.

As you can see, the test shot actually showed me the sky as being natural, the highlight from the direct sun was manageable and the backlight on the weeds was sharp and clear as well. So all I had to do was add my light and shoot.

I knew that the light I was providing would light her up as well as the weeds so I placed the stand and the strobe where I knew f-16 would be at 1/4 power and did my test shots. I liked the shot, and with only a minor correction in the placement of the strobe (I moved it in about a foot), started shooting. I needed to bring it in a little due to the nature of her dark coat and wardrobe.

Full post at Lighting Essentials .

Marketing. What works? From Mr David Tejadas blog

Mr Tejada has a very nice post bout marketing urself as a photographer , check it out . This is the teaser paragraph...

Let me leave you with this final thought: Clients are not going to just fall in your lap, you need to be proactive and seek them out. Learn who your potential clients are and pursue them with your marketing efforts. Marketing your business takes time and money but, by using various marketing efforts you will slowly grow your business to the money making machine you want.

Full post here .

BUSINESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG'S : find a mentor

I know this is the second post in a row i get from Mr Ed McCulloch , i just have to say , i know a wise dude when i see one , i really love his place , once again im stressing , ALWAYS GO THERE U GUYS ..... This piece i found very valuable ...

find a mentor

January 7, 2008

The quickest way to find success in your industry is to find a successful person and figure out how they did it.

Everyone needs a mentor. Someone you can talk to who can provide not only friendship but also be a valuable source for information within your industry. The problem is not everyone is qualified to be your mentor. It seems that almost everyone knows almost anything so we need to be careful on whom we befriend.

The first thing I look for in a mentor is their success. How successful are they? I had a big problem with this in school. My photography professors claimed to know the industry yet they were making a measly 30-50k a year. Some of them failed in business so they fell back on teaching, some of them didn’t even try to succeed in business; they wanted to teach from the beginning of their careers. Sure they offered valuable information here and there but in the end should I be taking stock in everything they said? For me the answer was a big no!

Would one who was seeking financial advice go to a financial investment firm and work with a salesman making 30k a year plus commission? It happens everyday. A friend of mine Cameron Taylor said in his book,

“I am called on all the time by people who want to sell me insurance, investments or help with my financial plan. In response, I simply ask to see their tax returns and the performance of their investments for the past three years, as well as a statement of their net worth.”

Seek out someone qualified who has been successful within his or her own industry. You’ll be glad you did!

So tell me this:
Who’s your mentor?

some marketing thoughts : DONT BE PASSIVE !

I was at Photo business education blog , and found this very handy piece , thought u guys might wanna check it out .... Also be sure to keep the blog on ur RSS , its definately a place u wanna at regularly .....


some marketing thoughts

January 9, 2008

I’ve been getting a lot of email lately from some pretty cool blog readers inquiring about marketing.

To me a marketing program or plan is like a pizza. A pizza is only whole if it has all of the pieces. Sure you can feed yourself if you’re missing some pieces but the more pieces you’re missing the less people you can feed (it won’t be as effective as it could be).

When I was younger my idea of marketing was to place some ads in certain locations then wait for the phone to ring. What was I thinking! Passive marketing is just about as bad as doing nothing. Well actually it might be worse because doing nothing is relatively free.

So how should you market yourself? Do you want some concrete advice that’s set in stone and sure to make you wealthy? I bet you do. Unfortunately everyone is different and has different goals they want to accomplish. But I have made a list that might help out.

Don’t stop with this list, I often find that there are at least 10 more ideas behind each item in a list. In terms of effectiveness the more you do the better off you’ll be.

And most importantly marketing is a cumulative effort. No one or two pieces of the pizza are going to get you consistent work. The more times a potential client sees your brand/images over a period of time (without being annoyed) the more likely they will remember you when a project comes up. The key is to be consistent throughout your branding/design materials.

Online portals
Workbook.com
Photoserve.com
Altpick.com
Blackbook.com
Gosee.us

Personal website
Updated regularly
Professional design/branding

Physical portfolio book
Yep you still need them. They are even more important now than ever and it’s a really easy way to stand out.
Sent out to buyers on a regularly basis. Don’t forget to pay for FedEx both ways if it was your idea. If they call it in they pay.

Email promotions
Once a month sent to a highly targeted list of buyers
Outcome and status tracked to improve on the numbers the following month

Print promotions
Sent every month to same list of buyers that has the same image as the email
Sent to AD’s and AB’s when I see cool award winning work in CA, Archive etc.

In person visits
For crying out loud, show them you care
Research the agency or company before you meet
Make friends not sales
Keep in touch with past clients

Personal work
Shoot tons
You should always be changing and evolving

Enter contests
Yep should be part of your plan and if you get in you’ll win a lot of publicity

Blogging
You’re reading this right?

Press Releases
Notify pdnonline.com and photoserve.com when you have news about your company. They update their home page with new assignment work, awards won and other news.

Right about now you might be asking yourself, “Does ED do all of this?”
—– You bet and much more —-

Got better ideas? I’d love to hear them

Posted by Ed McCulloch Filed in marketing, photography business

Getting Creative with ring lights : Always go for more

Strobist's post about ring flashes , is pretty interesting , he makes a good point about integrating the ring flash in a more complex light setup , and not just settling for the "ring flash effect" .... He gives us a nice comparison between 2 self made ring flashes , and how each photographer uses it differently ..... Check it out .... ! Heres a teaser ....

Canadian amateur photog Tanya Shields, (left) built her ring light adapter out of common household items. It's a neat approach, as attested to by the fact that I immediately went out and ripped the design off.

Tanya did exactly what very many of us would have done: Walk around here house shooting anything or anybody who would sit still long enough. Her self portrait up top was done with her ring flash, too.When I made my first ring flash, I did just about the same thing. The light just puts a whole new spin on just about everything. And you are like a kid in a candy store -- a weirdly 3-D, flattish, wrapped-shadow candy store. You go out and shoot a memory card full of photos that each like all of the other ring flash pix out there.

Nothing wrong with that. You just can't help yourself. It's too fun.

Long-time pro David X. Tejada, (right) whose lighting videos have spent so much time on Strobist that they keep a toothbrush here, made a spiffy new hardware store ring flash. (He shows you how to build it here.)

But someone like David, who has been around the block a few times, tends to think of the ring flash a component in a multi-light scheme. This is an approach that many of us can learn from.




Take the example above. David shot his nephew (and fellow Strobist reader) Ian, using a similar ring flash to Tanya's model.

But David is using the flash as part of a triangle lighting setup, with two other speedlights positioned about 20 degrees behind Ian on each side. In doing so, he is completely wrapping Ian with light. Working about two stops above the ambient exposure (as David is) means that Ian is effectively being lit on another plane than the diffuse, grayish ambient.

___________

POP QUIZ:

Q: How would I know David is working about two stops over the ambient?
A: Because on a cloudy day, properly exposed snow would be rendered a couple of stops over medium gray - bordering on white. But David's snow is very close to medium gray. Bringing his subject up with strobe allows him to put the snow at any tone that he wants, from near-white to pitch black.
___________

Okay, back to the photo: Which means that not only can David get this cool separated (dare I say, almost Dave Hill-ish) look, but he could also do the warm gel / cool gel thing, or make that dropped-down ambient any color he wanted.

Here's the point: The first thing someone like David T. does with a new light source is to get past the obvious and start to experiment with it as an integral part of a lighting scheme rather then as an end to itself.

Enjoy the rest of the article over at

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/01/playing-with-new-light-two-approaches.html

NEWS : Leqaa 3 Exhibition in ALEX

Leqaa 3 Exhibition

The biggest photo exhibition in Egypt in one place

Name:	Leqaa 3 Exhibition
Tagline:	The biggest photo exhibition in Egypt in one place
Host:	Port said camera club
Type:	Music/Arts - Exhibit

Start Time:	Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 6:00pm
End Time:	Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 9:00pm
Location:	Mahmoud Sobhy museum
City/Town:	Alexandria, Egypt

Email:

lottospace@yahoo.com

The " Leqaa 3 " exhibition id the biggest photo exhibition in Egypt under 1 ceiling , the opening will be on the 24th of jan 6 pm .. our Port said camera club is participating with 13 photographer and will make a journey to Alexandria the opening day .. wish to see you all there

NEWS : Photography Course and Workshop

Professional Photography Course and Workshop

6 weeks

Host:	Gallery & studio fine arts

Start Time:	Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 6:00pm
End Time:	Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 6:00pm
Location:	Gallery&studio Fine arts
Street:	11, Gezira el wosta-past, now Yossef Camel, Zamalek
City/Town:	Cairo, Egypt
	View Map Google MapQuest Microsoft Yahoo

Phone:	012.107.7355
Email:	galleryfinearts@yahoo.com

Professional Photography
Course and Workshops
(Level 1 Beginner)
Fine Arts Studio and Gallery invites you to join the six-week winter photography course and workshop, this course is designed for those who have no experience in using cameras in a professional way
You will learn the basics about professional use of cameras. In addition, you will learn how to use lenses, light and filters to enhance the photos you take.

An Outline of the key topics discussed during the course and workshops is outlined below:

- The History of Photography
- Cameras ( Part One: Types And Differences )
- Cameras (Part Two: Basic Parts Of A Camera )
- Cameras (Part Three: The Professional Use Of A Camera )
- Photographical Effects (Part One: Lenses)
- Photographical Effects (Part Two : Light )
- Photographical Effects ( Part Three: Applied Filters)

Completing The Professional Photography Course and Workshops Guarantee you the ability to:

1. Recognize the history of photography and the leading inventors and inventions that led to the technological development of photography
2. Indicate different types of lenses and their use
3. Operate several different types of cameras professionally
4. Accurately use the metric system
5. Picture enhancement using different depths of field.
6. Recognize also professionally use different types of outdoor lighting and light angles. Take outdoor photographs using available light sources, reflectors and films.


Teachers and Instructors

Prof. Khaled Ewes
The head chief of photography cinema and television Dep.
6th of October universities

Abdulnasser Abu-bakr
Photographic Director – State Information Service

The workshops will be held at the Fine Arts Studio and Gallery
11-elgezira el-wosta - Zamalik - Cairo.

For Registration and more info please call:

012 -1077355 OR 02 – 27351307

Or please e-mail us at

galleryfinearts@yahoo.com

fees: 300 l.e. only!!!

Mr John Harringtons assignment " Veterans on the Hill "

Mr John Harringtons blog Assignment Construct , is an amazing place to be for anyone wanting to get the real feel of what its like to do a pro photoshoot . U'll find links to his other blogs over at Assignment Construct too ..... So this assignment is shooting veterans , and i will only mention the Pre-Production part here as a teaser ...


Pre-Production:

Because we had no power this assignment called for battery powered flash units and with two people in the picture a larger softbox would appropriately cover both subjects. We looked for an area which had natural shadeto reduce the ambient light on the subjects for better light to shaddow transitions. We also scheduled the assignment near the end of the day so the capitol dome was properly lit and not back lit as it would be in the morning.

But for the whole process , from the CONCEPT to the PRE PRODUCTION to the ASSIGNMENT to the POST PRODUCTION to the ANALYSIS ...U guys must check his full post. .....

Article and Picture By Mr John Harrington ...