So many faces, so many races
Different voices, different choices
Some are mad, while others laugh
Some live alone with no better half
Others grieve while others curse
And others mourn behind a big black hearse
Courtesy : Francis Magalona, Filipino rapper, Songwriter, Photographer
In my older posts I have mentioned about buying a new lens. Though I prefer prime lens than the zoom one and If you ask me why ? my quick answer will be its fast & sharp. However recently I felt my 40 mm prime is way too long to fit the story in my frame.
In last couple of months I was looking into different wide angle lens – my first preference was always Nikon but most of the time preference and affordability does not match and on those cases affordability wins (Well I guess most of the time). I choose Tokina 11- 16 F2.8 DX II. Bought it from Hildalgo, Quaipo, Manila.
The photos came out very sharp in the middle of the frame but has a good amount of distortion at the corner of the frame which is acceptable for a wide angle lens like this.
The best thing I liked about this lens is that you can capture a lot of things in your frame (say the background, the atmosphere etc.) which gives you a different perspective all together.
I would call below photo as “Busy Market”. The aim was to capture the frame on how the wet market looks like when lots of people are walking, buying and selling. So even though I was hand holding my camera I tried to take a long exposure (about 2 sec.) just to get the panning effect in order to show the busy atmosphere of the Quiapo.
Now the next one is funny. It was very hot and humid at that time of the year, if I can remember it correctly it was around mid May and I was just smoking beside a vegetable shop and noticed that two dogs are eating “Ladies Finger” (a.k.a. “Okra”). Well that’s a first time for me and felt like I should capture this candid moment :).
It was late afternoon and while going back home, I found this guy is sitting in front of a showroom of men’s inner wear. He was calculating something and I found this photograph very intuitive. I noticed the catch line written beside him was “Satisfying the human need for comfort”, may be he is one of those people who is working day and night to make our life more comfortable.
Now this photo I took and didn’t even ask for permission. Well while taking the street photos some photographers feel that zoom lens is the right lens to carry, it has it’s own pros and con but I don’t want to go into those details now (You can always Google it). I took the below photo while walking through the side walks and liked with the combination of dark red background with the two guys sitting wearing white shirts. The color came out pretty nice, what do you think ?
Tokina 11-16 2.8 lens it pretty sharp and renders good color but for my entry level DSLR body I felt it’s very heavy. I always like lightweight camera for street photography which is easy to hold and carry. But the truth is it’s really felt awesome in my hand, very sturdy, fast focus and grand focal length to work with.
Nikon 10-24mm F3.5 – 4.5 is also very nice lens, but considering the price point and the sharpness I think Tokina is better. If you are planning to buy a wide angle lens, Tokina 12-28 F4 also worth a try.
I guess I am not a great reviewer of the lens, so please don’t consider this as a review of Tokina 11-16 F2.8. There are plenty of websites where you can get the review in detail. This is just my opinion on Tokina 11-16 as a street photography lens. It’s great lens for landscape photography also because of its focal length. In future I will post landscape photos taken using this lens.
Hope you liked the photos. Waiting to hear from you 🙂
Stranger No. 3
Here comes my stranger no. 3. His name is Lito (hopefully I heard it correctly). He is food server at the hidden garden in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur. He lives at Vigan and he loves his job.
When I saw him first, he came to take the order with the usual menu card (which was pretty heavy .. may be heavier than the actual food) with lots of Ilocano food varieties. He is a guy with good physic and in Tagalog they call it “Pogi” (handsome) and friendly too. After asking about his name I asked him immediately (You know .. you should not let go the chance) if I can take a photo of him; without saying a word he posed for me right away.
I choose Longganisa and Halo Halo for breakfast as I was not too hungry and 7 am is too early for me for breakfast (I end up eating a lot actually). Now here is the funny part – I was staying in Philippines close to an year and strangely that is the first time I tried Halo Halo. It’s a very popular dessert in Philippines with the mixture of shaved ice and evaporated milk to which are added various boiled sweet beans, jelly, corn and fruits, and served in a tall glass or bowl.
Another interesting fact about “Halo Halo” is in Tagalog (Filipino local language) and if you translate in English it is “Mix Mix” – Isn’t this funny ? I just loved the name (both version) and the taste of the dessert. Don’t miss it if you are in Philippines.
This picture taken in 30th Oct 2012 at the Metro City Kolkata which happens to be my home city as well.
The caption of the image taken from a well known Bollywood movie. This is a heritage Pulled Rickshaw of the City of Joy, Kolkata.
My framing was from the top, from the second floor of a building. I used my Nikkor 40mm with the ISO at 100 and shutter speed of 1/60 secs and aperture f/4. I wish I could frame it from the front of his cart.
He can’t hide the truth, he can’t escape his fate and may be nobody will remember him. This is my salute to those “Rickshawalas” who are still maintaining this wonderful heritage withstanding so many barriers.
"Stepping into new dimensions of exposure. Let's unveil and shed light on natural matters: by removing obscurity and create a light at the end of the tunnel."
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