Motion Blur

I've recently experimented with a few techniques involving motion blur, especially in dance. Whenever I photograph dances as those in Bhutan for example, I favor shooting the rapid movements of the dancers with a slow shutter speed. To me, there's some degree of trial and error until I get the right amount of blur to impart movement rather than creating an abstract image. Using one the fastest digital cameras around (Canon 1D which goes up to 8 fps) allows me to shoot a bunch of images of a whirling Tsechu dancer, capturing his movements over 10-25 seperate images....all of which will be blurry if I used a slow shutter speed.

This is useful because I can then sequence all these shots (and repeat them if necessary) on the timeline of the wonderful Soundslides (my favorite flash-based slideshow maker), and if I keep the duration of each image under a second, I obtain a moving image of the dancer's motion, similar to the well known 'flip book' technique used in animations or in cartoons. The 'flip book' concept was pioneered by many photographers, but Ed Kashi produced one on Kurdistan quite recently.

To view my 'whirling' Tsechu dancer based on the above technique, drop by my Dancing Monks of Prakhar slideshow.

Motion blur can also be achieved in post-processing in Photoshop. The tutorial is found here.

Bobbie Goodrich, whom I met on a photo tour in Bolivia, has made a name for herself by doing just that. She photographs dancers, and post processes the images in Photoshop possibly using the same procedure. Her excellent dance portfolio can be found here.

There's no question that I much prefer the real thing, however there's a little something to be said about the post processing technique, although it's not my cup of tea.

Ed Kashi's Curse of the Black Gold

Here's an interesting and topical piece of work by Ed Kashi. Purely documentary in nature and an eye opener as to the limitless greed of oil companies, and to the corruption that accompanies oil exploration and production in many parts of the world.

Photo Tours: Are You Paying Too Much?

I've led many photo tours or "expeditions" (as I prefer to call them) to India, Bhutan, Cambodia, Nepal etc., and I'm currently setting one up in Bali...and little astounds me more than the prices of photo tours led by self-described 'experts'. Mind you, I'm talking of photo tours, and not of photo workshops which can be more costly to operate because of the hands-on tutoring, individual critiques, etc. Of course, there are photo workshops and there are photo workshops...but that's for another day.

Here's an easy real life example: a 2007 photo tour to Bhutan for about 12 whole days is offered at $5500 per person, on a double occupancy basis, and inclusive of the round trip airfare to Paro from Bangkok of about $700. Using round figures, the land cost for this photo tour is therefore about $4800.

Now let's keep things simple. Anyone doing a minimal amount of research will know that the Bhutan government-mandated land cost per day is $200...that includes room and board, meals, transportation and qualified guides. Taking this particular photo tour as an example, I calculated that based on the itinerary, the land cost is this: 12 days multiplied by $200 is $2400 per person on a double occupancy basis. That's what it should cost the photo tour organizer, but let's be generous and bump this up for incidentals, administrative costs, etc. and make it $2800.

This still leaves a gross profit margin of $2400 per person on the tour. Assuming 12 persons on the tour, we're looking at $28,800 for the tour organizer. Nice! And that's for two weeks of work. I'd love to annualize this for you, but I'm not that good with a calculator. And don't forget that the tour operator in Bhutan (as distinct from the tour organizer) is also making a profit out of the $200 a day government-mandated land cost.

It may be that some people are willing to pay that much for what they think is "expert advice and local knowledge", but I don't agree at all with this mindset. I'm all for people making a profit, but I think there's a difference between a reasonable amount of return and one that is over the top.