Over the weekend, I attended the iHDR seminar taught by Jay and Varina Patel here in the Bay Area. I went in expecting to be shown this new technique – but what I learnt was so much more.

The first day, they covered some so called “basics” – composition, filters, chasing the light, histograms. Things which everyone knows all about, right? Wrong – Its amazing how much I learnt. For instance, the concept of “Chasing the Light” opened my eyes on how to maximize the probability of good photographs – especially for me, a weekend warrior. Then there was the session about hyper focal distance, very patiently and clearly explained by Jay and Varina. They also talked about researching, and composition, and how to get it right in the camera. Then we moved gradually to Photoshop – layers and masks.

At the end of the first day, I had already learnt my money’s worth. On day 1, when we started using photoshop, iHDR seemed like a long way away. At the end of Day 2, it seemed very easy, do-able and familiar – thanks to the excellent teaching which led us gradually step by step through the whole process.

On the whole, I really enjoyed the seminar and would highly recommend it.

Jay’s website – www.jaypatelphotography.com
Varina’s website – www.photographybyvarina.com
Workshops and classes – http://www.photographybyvarina.com/workshops.html

I am very happy to release my first ever e-book: Gogol. This is an ebook of photographs of my buddy. You can download it by right-clicking the below thumbnail and selecting “Save File as” or “Save link as”. You can also do so in the freebies section of my website.

Be warned, it is a large file (about 8MB). It is in pdf format and you will need to install the free Adobe reader to view it. You can download the Adobe Reader from here – http://get.adobe.com/reader/.

I was supposed to make this ebook as a part of SOFOBOMO 2009. However I could not keep up the rules: 30 day deadline (this book took 40 days) and 35 photos (It has 27 photos). Alas, I’m a sofobomo failure. However, I intend to participate next year, meet the deadline and come up with better work.

I will talk more about this book, the experience, what I learnt and some tutorials in the next few blog posts next week.

Meanwhile, please share this book with friends and family as you see fit. It would be absolutely awesome if you would leave some comments, critiques, suggestions for improvement on this book.

I have signed up for the SoFoBoMo project!
In 31 contiguous days (or a month), I need to come up with an idea, photograph and publish a pdf book. Sounds doable?

Here’s my SoFoBoMo book idea: http://www.sofobomo.org/2009/books/suprada/gogol/

I started haunting my cat last week So my MO of the SOFOBOMO will be May8 – June 8.

I am pleased to announce that a few of my photographs will be exhibited on the back walls of Barefoot Coffee Shop, here in Santa Clara, all of April. I will be sharing the space with another artist (painter), Woody Miller.

Come join me for the artist reception at Barefoot on Saturday, April 4 from 7.00PM – 9.00PM. We can just hang out and try some of their excellent coffee and participate in activities.

And did I mention that all artwork exhibited at Barefoot is for sale!

Here’s the location info:

Barefoot Coffee Roasters
5237 Stevens Creek Blvd
(At Lawrence Expressway)
Santa Clara, CA 95051
408-248-4500
Landmark: In the same complex as the Bed Bath and Beyond on Stevens Creek Blvd and Lawrence Expwy

Hope to see you there on Saturday.

As of yesterday this photoblog reached a big milestone (for me) of 10,000 views. Thanks to all of those who visit regularly and to those who just happen upon this site once in a while. Special thanks to Vikas, Sreekar, Nelcha, Sheila and Mitesh not necessarily in that order. Without your support I wouldn’t be as motivated.

Going forward, I hope to continue improving my photography skills, add more content along with the photos which hopefully people can use, and to provide some more inspiration and motivation through interviews.

Thanks all!
Suprada

I am very pleased to announce what I hope will be a regular feature on this blog. Every Friday I will be posting an interview with a photographer, professional or amateur, feature their photos and link to their websites. I hope this will of interest to everybody!

First post will be this Friday. Stay tuned…