Journal Image » Black & White

Journalimage.com Launched

Ranjay Mitra — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:29:34 +0000

We have finally launched journalimage.com, a website & blog specifically for street candid pictures and documentaries. After having your trust & readership for almost two years, your constant feedback, suggestions for more concentrated street photography and encouragement have convinced us to move ahead with journalimage.com.

If you have not started already, I would be very eager to hear from you on your experience with street photography. And as for the tool to share, WordPress is the best. I have spent sufficient time pondering over various blogs and tools, but I have not found one that could hold a candle against WordPress. It is as easy to set up as it is a pleasure to publish.

I shall keep posting on this blog too, but do update your bookmark with journalimage.com.

Musicnation.Com – copycat & desperate to survive?

Ranjay Mitra — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:58:25 +0000

I have had my pictures copied by many people. Most of them had either the courtesy to either let me know or to refer to my post. I was really shocked & rather insulted when http://musicnation.com/ (MusicNation), thought it wise to send me a link of a place where they have just renamed one of my images.

To add to the whole act of a desperate crook, they even went ahead and wrote obnoxious statement on Craig. No wonder they had no reference to what they were writing. Here is a link to Craig’s image on the post on Music Nation – http://mnmedia.musicnation.com/Blog/2008/080124/oldmanclarinet.jpg

Here is the original post on my blog, made on15th August 2007.

http://nonphotographer.wordpress.com/2007/08/15/san-francisco-street-artists-clarinet-by-craig/

I could think of the people behind this website of Musicnation.com to be no less than cheap and have no respect for either the music or the musician. Here is the post I am referring to – http://musicnation.musicnation.com/blog/2008/02/street-musicians-part-ii & the last image on that post is that of Craig.

They don’t realize that we could easily make a watermark on these images. However, we do not do that so that the readers get to see the image at its best!

San Francisco Street Artists – candid images of street jazz players

Ranjay Mitra — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:37:47 +0000

He calls himself “Top”. If you are in San Francisco downtown, wandering in the evening amongst the sky scrapers, you could hear Top playing his saxophone. The sound echoes through the chasmic streets of the city that just called it a day.

Top on his saxophone

It’s a part of my new project to look deeper into some of these artists. Top is very serious about the music, about the message and his creation. Much like top, there are others. A lot of others along various roads and street corners.

The project and the details will be uploaded on photoduniya (http://www.photoduniya.com). Browse the Projects section for more.

San Francisco streets – candid photography

Ranjay Mitra — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 08:09:13 +0000

For a long time I have photographed streets of New York City, from the sky scrapers to the amazement of the tourists staring at them. New York City, as I have heard numerous people say, has a charm of it’s own, be it the pizza, the Central Park or the artists sitting alongside the roads. When the days are dominated by busy tourists and performers, the night time New York City had a flavor of it’s own. The dazzling neons of the Broadway is hard to forget. Numerous photographers wait for the rains to add a touch of sizzle to the images.

But this time its not the Big Apple, it is San Francisco City, the Golden City on the Pacific. A few days in the city streets have brought amazing candid moments to me. I have not spent as much time in the city as to be able to hold an opinion yet, but that is something I intend to. And I am sure I will get plenty of moments to catch.

From my first few visits, the tram cars of San Francisco City has been one of my favorite subjects. Bill boards, busy tourists, casual locals are all fascinating. This image captures a fleeing moment of all the three together. This one is from somewhere between Powell and Embarcadero.

San Francisco City Candid Moment

The South Tahoe Peaks

Ranjay Mitra — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:04:00 +0000

Late May and there was still some snow on the peaks around Lake Tahoe. Over 7000 feet the snow was quite thick and the melting was heavy too. This is a view from the Logan Shoals Vista Point, about a couple of miles north west of Heavenly.

Logan Shoals Vista Point

The Logan Shoals Vista Point offers magnificent photo opportunities. With the blue lake surrounded by the peaks across and the rugged coastline on the western border, the ideal time to shoot would be very early morning or at twilight. With a long lens you would also get the speeding boats caught against the deep blue water.

Picture in Picture

Ranjay Mitra — Tue, 29 May 2007 07:42:30 +0000

On our way from Tahoe this weekend, I found plenty of opportunities to shoot into the rear view mirror for the picture-in-picture effect. The timing was bad – it was 3′o clock in the afternoon, the sun was bold and merciless, right on top and the road was white as snow. But I could not pass on the opportunities to park on the shoulder and shoot a few shots of cars in my mirror.

Surprisingly, this wasn’t shot with a Nikon! I used a 5MP Samsung point and shoot and then desaturated in Microsoft Photo Editor.

I would be posting my travel notes on photoduniya shortly and by the time my 15 rolls of Velvia comes back from the lab, I should be ready.

Street Life – a beggar by choice!

Ranjay Mitra — Fri, 25 May 2007 07:55:45 +0000

I was wandering about downtown San Jose a few weeks back, with my camera slung on my shoulder, trying to get some “people” shots when I met this gentleman.

He was seated on one of the bus stand benches, clothed wearily in rags and was carrying his paraphernalia around. I am used to such people since they make good portraits in exchange of usually a few cigarettes, or at the most a pack of Marlboro lights! He glanced at me with a “what’s up man” in the leo style (for those who watch “the 70’s show”). Very soon we got talking. I offered him a cigarette with my left hand and brought out the lighter with my right. He refused!

I usually dont offer money (mostly because I dont carry much with me on such situations) and I was quite on the verge of leaving, thinking that he may not be interested in anything as trivial as a smoke. As I was about to leave, he waved his hand asking me to sit and in a very calm yet paternal tone said “offer me with your right hand”! He was undoubtedly offended at my mis behaviour. And we got talking.

A few smokes and an hour later the stage had changed quite a bit. To my surprise, he was a college graduate, a passionate hippie (pardon me if that is an insentitive use of the word), an avid traveller and a full time beggar! Yes a beggar! But as he liked to put it “a beggar by choice”!

In his early life he had moved from one job to another, picking up enough money to keep him mobile and fed, gone through the era of social change in the seventies and finally decided to beg, at his own will made sure that he doesn’t get trapped in the claustrophobic cubiclism of modern day blue collar jobs.

It got me thinking more! Is it a misery when we limit our dreams in three by three feet of space and enough money to buy milk, bread and a carton of beer a week? When we make a choice, do we know that we have considered all the options? If am in no way preferring the choice of being a beggar, how could I possibly limit my choices to a three by three or even a corner office by any chance?

Scala to be discontinued?

Ranjay Mitra — Fri, 18 May 2007 07:01:53 +0000

For those who have used Scala, whether for photo journalism, portraits or even for landscape images, would be disappointed now that Agfa may not ever produce any more Scala. The film was favored by many for its sharpness, contrast and its ability to shoot at 200 ASA as good as in 800 ASA. You could push it to 1200 ASA too with negligible grains!

When BH Photo started showing “Out of Stock” on Scala for over 2 months now, I wrote to Agfa only to hear that they would ship the remaining stock to their preferred partner in USA in Santa Ana – Foto Fiesta.

The Scala processing has been a proprietary to Agfa and only a few laboratories have the ability to process them. However, labs like DR-5 and Duggal’s of NYC will continue to process Scala in their labs, though their rates could change now.