Today was a violent trek. Landed in Gulistan, walked to Sadharghat, got mixed up in a fight and then caught a bus which sneaks along the edges of the city to get back. The light wasn’t great which made the work hard. Worked form 2pm to 7pm. 255 pictures.
- Small DOF so out of focus shots. I need to be less scared about bumping up ISO to 1600 to get the shutter speed and large DOF required. Also, spent the last half of the the day in alleyways and low light environments which made things difficult.
- My shooting mode at the beginning of the day of frantic, aggressive. I felt like I was moving too fast. I think in good light with less frustrating results in the individual images I would have remained in the flow longer.
- I think people noticed me more because I was moving so fast and so aggressively. The key really is to move as fast as the crowd around you is moving. Not to stand out.
- Colour is the big problem in shit light situations. I don’t want to give up and fall back to black and white which was my last strategy. It seems that as usual with colour, getting closer and reducing the detail and number of colours in the frame is key. Mid and long shots mostly look shit. I could also try bumping up the saturation a tiny bit to account for the grayness and flatness of light. Also, perhaps going to a set WB might be a better option than Auto.
- There were some very interesting dark photos however that reminded me of Goya or Caravaggio. Also the other day I realised that alot of the faces of the old men reminded me of paintings by El Greco.
- Old Dhaka again was a revelation. It’s alleys, nooks, and crannies are out of the 18th century in places. Too bad, I don’t take that kind of photo. But still a good background for the kind of photos that I do take. And the faces are the right type. I have to back to the area that the bus travelled through, a lot of things that I’ve never seen before.
- I hate mud.
Why tomorrow will be better
- I have an engagement tomorrow so won’t be able to shoot during the day. But will attempt to make it out at night to see if I can take some of the night blur photos that I was doing the other day.
- Hopefully better light, but if not, stick to more close ins and also make sure I stay on the correct side of the person where I can see the most light reflected. Maybe try 10-20 black and whites to see how they come out.
- Try manual white balance. A gray card may be a worthwhile investment.
- Shoot higher ISO.
Posted 2 years ago
