Winter 2011 Newsletter | Craig Ferguson Images

8/3/2019 Winter 2011 Newsletter | Craig Ferguson Images

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Newsletter Winter 2011
http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/


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CONTENTS

Welcome 3

Lightbox - Destination Nepal 4

Review - Dicapac SLR Pack 5

On Assignment - EBMF 6

alking to - Steve rom Phottix 8

Stories - Pashipatinath 9

Lightbox - Dawn 11

Review - Photographically Speaking 13

On Assignment - Corporate 15

earsheets 17

Lightbox - Dusk 18

Final Frame 19

Lighting butter lamps. Bodhnath, Nepal. October 2011


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Youll have noticed that the logo on the ront cover looks a little dierentrom what it used to. As part o my preparations or 2012, Ive undertaken aredesign o my website and the associated graphics. A design team I commis-sioned put the logo together or me and I eel it oers a resher, cleaner lookgoing into the new year.

I hope you enjoy this latest newsletter. I you have any eedback, dont hesitateto get in touch and let me know your thoughts and ideas. It is an evolution osorts and like anything o this nature, some things work better than others.

CraigFerguson

PhotographsCover - Te Annapurna Himal, viewed rom Sarangkot, Nepal. October 2011Tis Page - Shalun Beach, aiwan. November 2011

WELCOME

Tey say a change is as good as a holiday but I wonder does that apply tonewsletters too. I hope so because this marks the rst edition o a completelyredesigned and revamped newsletter style. Te aim is to oer you, my loyalreaders, more value by giving you more photographs, more stories and a ewexclusive extras. While you get more content with each edition, the requen-cy will drop down to quarterly which will give me more time to put togethera newsletter that I hope you will enjoy and share with your riends.

In the pages that ollow youll get rst look at some thus-ar unpublishedimages. Go behind the scenes on an assignment with an NGO that works

in the eld o human tracking. Read a review o an underwater housing Itested out recently, as well as a review o the most recent photography book Iread. Teres an interview with the CEO o Phottix, one o my sponsors and acompany Im very proud to work with. Finally, theres a look at some corpo-rate work Ive done recently which is a bit o a diversion rom usual as well asa sampling o recent tearsheets.

Copyright Notice.All photographs and text Craig Ferguson Images. No content in this news-letter may be reproduced without written consent o Craig Ferguson Images.
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Destination - Nepal


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Review - Dicapac SLR Pack

When I was planning my trip to Nepal, one idea that cameinto my mind was a photograph o the mountains shot whilein the waters o Phewa Lake, Pokhara. o that end, I needed

something that would allow me to protect my camera but Ididnt really want to ork out or a ul l underwater kit. Enterthe Dicapac WP-S10. It allows you to securely place a DSLRinside and is rated to a depth o 5m. Perect or surace andnear-surace shots rom the water.

Trough the use o strong velcro sealing, a camera and lenscan be placed inside allowing use rom the water. Tere is anger sleeve system that allows or pressing the shutter buttonand holding onto the camera. Zooming is tricky and I ended

up just settling on one ocal length and leaving it at that. Iound that I needed to pull the lens bellows system back untilit rested against my wide-angle lens otherwise Id get the edgeso the bellows in my photo in a kind o vignette-type eel.

It takes a bit o getting used to, especially in a reshwater lakewithout swim ns. Youll really test out your treading waterskills while you shoot with one o these housings. Image qual-ity seems ok - we had hazy skies most o the time which didnthelp with getting clear photographs. Still, there are a couple

that worked okay although the original image I had in mymind wasnt achieved. With more time and some better posi-tioning in the water, I have condence that Ive have pulled ito.

I youre looking or a cheap and easy method to get your cam-era into the water, this is it. Retailing or around $100, theymake water photography a lot more aordable.


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One o the reasons or going to Nepal in Octoberwas to shoot some assignment work or NGOsthat are based there. Perhaps the most unique

assignment Ive ever done or an organizationwas the work I created or the Esther Benjaminsrust, a group that works in the eld o humantracking. Tey specialize in rescuing childrenthat have been tracked and sold into circusesin India. Where possible they work to reunitechildren with their amilies but when that is notpossible, they house and educate them as well asproviding skills training.

A number o the rescued children had expresseda desire to develop the skil ls theyd been orcedto learn in the circus, only this time it would beor their own pleasure. And with that, the SapanaContemporary Circus was born as an arm oEB.

day at school and then had circus trianing in theevening but that was enough time to run througha series o dierent poses and routines. Te kids

were a joy to work with, their love o the circusovercoming any initial shyness.

Teir trainers are volunteer circus proessionalsrom around the world who spend a ew months ata time passing on their knowledge and experience,and helping the children o Sapana create Nepalsrst contemporary circus.

On Assignment

The Esther Benjamins TrustMy job was twoold. Te main part wasproducing a series o photographs o thecircus children. We came up with theidea o shooting in a traditional templeto play up the contrast between age-oldtraditional buildings and modernperormance.

Tere was only a limited amount o timeor us to get the shots we needed. Tekids spend the day at school and in theevening were reheasing or an upcomingperormance so we only had a one hourwindow in between.


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Talking To Steve Peer - Phottix

Strobistrecently mentioned the Strato II or Sony. Do you see lighting gearor Sony as a particular challenge due to their non-standard hotshoe?

Phottix has had a big year with the introduction o the Strato II, the Odinand a ew dierent light modiers such as Easy-Up Umbrella SoboxesandPara-Pro Umbrellas. What has created the biggest buzz in the photog-raphy world?

Te Odin, hands-down, has created a lot o buzz. Since it was unveiled atPhotokina 2010 we have received countless emails asking or updates andrelease inormation. It wasnt an easy product to develop and we are happywith the eedback we have received thus ar. All the suggestions we receiveare considered or uture upgrades.

Sony is making great cameras and ashes, and Phottix is happy to supportSony users. Te NEX line o cameras has proven extremely popular in Asia.Initially, the Sony hot shoe was a manuacturing challenge but that hurdlehas been crossed.

Canon shooters seem to love the Odin and I've had a ew people ask me i Iknow when a Nikon version will be out. Any hints?

Te Phottix Nikon or Odin? Tat's the $10,000 question everyone wantsanswered. We receive email every day asking this very question. What canI say? We can't provide solid dates other than to say the Phottix Odin orNikon will be sent out to testers in the new year. Depending on the numbero changes needed I estimate photographers will see Odin L riggers orNikon available during the rst hal o 2012.

Te reputation o Phottix as a producer o high-quality photographyequipment is growing with each product release. As I see it, most o thatis to do with your fash triggers and remotes. Yet you also produce someexcellent umbrellas and soboxes, although I don't hear as many peopletalking about them. Do you eel they are a bit overlooked by the photog-raphy world?

Electronics are our orte. Tat is what Phottix is primarily known or. Wehave a lot o umbrellas and sofboxes and many photographers are shoot-ing amazing photos with them. A new sofbox or umbrella arent nearly asexciting as a ash trigger. A lot o people use them, ew people blog aboutor review them.

We are slowly branching out into dierent areas and expanding our prod-uct lines. Our rao DSLR shoulder rig has been well received by the lm-making community. Te Phottix Easy-Up sofboxes have been very wellreceived. Im certain in time these non-electronic products will receive therecognition they deserve.

2011 saw a lot o new releases rom Phottix. What's in store or 2012?

2012 will be a landmark year or Phottix. We're keeping hush-hush onseveral products. What I can say is Phottix will move into L in a majorway. New triggers and lighting products, that are useul and aordable,will be released over the course o the year. We believe in being cautiousand not rushing products to market. Product testing is undertaken byphotographers around the world beore any products are released.

Keep your eyes open Phottix will be doing big things in 2012.
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2011/11/sony-users-finally-get-some-remote.htmlhttp://www.phottix.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=105_36_3_32http://www.phottix.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=105_48_3_48http://www.phottix.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=105_39_3_35http://www.phottix.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=105_34_3_30http://www.phottix.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=105_34_3_30http://www.phottix.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=105_39_3_35http://www.phottix.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=105_48_3_48http://www.phottix.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=105_36_3_32http://strobist.blogspot.com/2011/11/sony-users-finally-get-some-remote.htmlhttp://www.phottix.com/


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Stories - Pashipatinath

On the banks o the Bagmati River on the outskirts o

Kathmandu lies the holy Hindu temple Pashipatinath.Dedicated to Shiva in his orm Pashipati - the lord obeasts (animals) - it is considered a very auspicious placeto be cremated and at any time one can see the recentlydeceased being burned on one o the burning ghats bythe riverside.

As Nepals oldest and most important Hindu temple, itattracts pilgrims and worshippers rom across the Indiansubcontinent as well as the wider world. Entrance to the

actual temple is reserved or Hindus only however non-Hindus can see in rom the opposite bank. Te photohere in the upper lef shows the actual temple.

Te current temple, a UNESCO World Heritage listed sitedates back to the 17th century althoughsome o the sur-rounding smaller temples are centuries older. Ir is uncer-tain exactly when the earleist temple was constructed onthis site - the one that stands there now was constructedafer an earlier building succumbed to termites.

As well as cremations, pilgrims ock to the area to take asacred bath in the Bagmati River. Others consult with oneo the many Brahmin priests in the area or leave behindoerings. Sadhus - Hindu holy men - come here emmasse during the Shivatri estival.


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Pashipatinath - Nepal


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Lightbox - Dawn

All Photos rom Sarangkot, Nepal.


12/19Dawn in the Nepal countryside


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Review - Photographically Speaking

David duChemin is back with his ourth book, Photographically

Speaking - A Deeper Look at Creating Stronger Images, and he hasaccomplished something rare. Tis is a photography book (as op-posed to photobook ie just photos) that will appeal to photographerso all types, rom the beginner just starting out to the experiencedartist and proessional.

By looking at how we read photographs we gain an insight into themind o a master crafsman as well as receiving tools that will betterhelp us understand and improve our own photography. Tinkingabout why you shoot the way you do and how the scene makes youeel helps elevate photography to the artorm it really is. It has beentraditional practice to contemplate paintings and other creative artsbut photography has ofen been looked at as a technical exercise or aorm o reproduction and somehow not worthy o longer contempla-tion. Photographically Speaking invites you to move beyond this andactually think about the images you create.

As a photographer teacher and workshop leader here in aiwan, oneo the biggest stumbling blocks I ace with my students is when theyare trying to describe something in their own photography. For me,this book will serve as an invaluble teaching aid that I can use to en-

courage and assist my students. For the student, it will provide thema deeper way o connecting with their own work that takes them be-yond numbers, camera specs and the so-called rules o composition.

Photographically Speaking is divided into three sections. Kickingthings o in part one is Te Photographers Intent. Tis part


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revisits some o the concepts that were rst discussed in duChemins debutbook Within Te Frame. Te key to this section is the idea o vision, anidea that will be amiliar to everybody with even a passing awareness o theauthors work.

Vision is central to the notion o expression.

Tis is not by any means a step-by-step how to type description o vision.No two photographers will have the same idea o a particular scene, a pointthats evident i you compare the photograph on page 25 o PhotographicallySpeaking with the one Ive placed on page 2 o this newsletter. Its the samebasic scene viewed and presented by two dierent photographers in two di-erent ways. At the time I photographed it I hadnt seen Davids photo, andmy personal vision o the scene led me to present a dierent view o it.

Part two looks at Visual Language and is divided into two subsections, Ele-ments and Decisions. Tese are both related to composition, with Elementsbeing concerned with lines, curves, repetition, contrast, color, light andmovement. Tey are the the pieces that are out there and will become parto the photograph.

Elements are the raw pieces we have to work with.

Decisions reers to that way we arrange and organize the various elementsin order to make a photograph. Concepts such as the raming, crop, aspectratio and orientation we choose, the placement o subjects within our ramewhether we adhere to the rule o thirds or golden ratio and spiral or some-thing else entirely. Exposure, ocus and optics are all covered in this sectionas well - how the use o dierent tools can bring you closer to realizing your

vision and direct your readers to what you want them to see.

Te third part o the book is titled 20 Photographs and takes youthrough a discussion o the creative process inherant in the produc-tion o twenty dierent images. Alternatives are discussed and thereasons why a particular style or eel was chosen in creating the nalimage.

One useul exercise you could do here is to look at each photographand consider your thoughts about it beore reading the accompany-ing text. How does the photo make you eel and what might you havedone dierently i you were the one there with camera in hand?

Our photographs will be read by others, buteven i our only audience is just ourselves,we still fnd greater clarity and meaning in ourexpression as we understand more o the

language, and can thereore fnd new ways toweld it.

I youre looker or a straight by-the-numbers technical book, thenPhotographically Speaking is not or you. However, i youre afer abook that will assist you in developing a greater understanding ophotography and why soem photos work, as well as providing a serieso guidelines and tools that you can use to strenghten your own crea-

tive work, then this book is perect or you.

Read more book and eBook reviews on my blog.
http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/category/reviews/http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/category/reviews/


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On Assignment

Corporate Photography

As one o the ew proessional photographers in the expat community herein aiwan, rom time to time I get approached about photographing workthat is outside my usual specializations. Each potential job that comes myway is given some consideration and i time permits and any other condi-tions are met, Ill ofen say yes. I dont advertise my services in these otherelds and most o the time there is already some kind o connection be-tween the client and me. Here are a ew images rom two recent corporateassignments. Tey were both enjoyable to shoot and because I dont producethis kind o work day-in, day-out, they made a nice break rom my usualwork.


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Recent Tearsheets

Clockwise rom top lef - Asia Foundation, Asia Business raveler, Silk Road, CebuSmile,Centered on aipei, Cebu Smile, aiwan Business opics.

For a ull rondown o these and other tearsheets, visit the Recent Worksec-tion o my blog.
http://www.craigfergusonimages.com/?s=tearsheethttp://www.craigfergusonimages.com/?s=tearsheet


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Lightbox - Dusk


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Final Frame

Here we are at the nal rame. I hope youve gotten as much out o readingthis as I did out o putting it together. I invite you to share this newsletter

with your riends. Feel ree to post the link to it on Facebook, witter andGoogle +

Is there anything you want to see in uture newsletters? Or things you dontwant to see? Constructive ideas are always very welcome so get in touch iyou have any comments.

I wish you all the best or the upcoming holiday season no matter where inthe world you may be.

Te next newsletter will be the spring edition and should appear in the rstweek or March. Until then, all the best.

Craig

www.craigfergusonimages.com
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Winter 2011 Newsletter | Craig Ferguson Images