Jaspal Jandu Photography

Last Days of the Arctic: Capturing the Faces of the North

Just watched a really well put together documentary on Ragnar Axelsson's quest to capture the vanishing lifestyles of the people of the north.

As the main programme is on the BBC iPlayer, its only available to UK viewers; however, his website and Youtube video are well worth a look around.  

Great stuff, indeed.

Spring is in the (photographic) air....

Spring has sprung and there’s fresh bloom and delicate light everywhere.  This moment doesn’t last long so here are some updates before its time to get out again....

• Have been over to the States twice in the last month.  Each visit always confirms the huge disparity in large format landscape photography as a valid artform.  Let’s just say, we have a long, long way to go in the UK...

• Shooting lots of tall buildings in London has forced me to buy a tilt-shift lens for the Canon. It’s a nice new 24mm thing and has lots of buttons and dials on it, so it must be good.

• The Linhof is seeing lots of action at the moment, partially because its so much more rewarding than anything else.  However, given that we’ll all be moving to digital one day, I’ve been looking/evaluating a few medium format rigs too (the Alpa STC being my current favourite).

• Off to Santorini next week and am looking forward to getting at least one good shot at some point despite it being 26c here in the UK and only 12c in Greece.  

There are realtime pics and posts on the @jjandu twitter page, so log on, sign in and drop out over there if you want the latest word on all things panoramic.

A sweeping new panoramic lady in my life...

I have a confession to make.  

A sleek, black lady has entered my life and she is making that Linhof ‘gal so, so jealous. 
 
You see, I’ve picked up a new point-and-shoot camera on my travels around Asia and it has a ‘sweep panorama’ mode that is just a hoot to use.  Harking back to the old rotating camera days, this one scans a strip as it is swept across the field of view - either vertically or horizontally - and then cleverly ‘stitches’ the final composite image in a matter of seconds.

Having manually done this quite a few times, I can tell you that the ability to quickly stitch a scene in real time is just a joy to behold.  Also, because the camera stays with me 24/7, it has liberated me from the tyranny of backpacks, tripods and filters (you’d be amazed at the crazy panoramic images you can get from even airport lounges).
 
I’ve had the web guys put together a slide show above and hopefully you’ll enjoy it.  They were taken handheld with no filters (you’ll notice some classic rotating camera drawback such as depth-of-field and scan line/shearing issues but that is all part of the fun).
 
All I need now is the ability to upload pictures direct from my camera (we’ve attached cameras to phones, why can’t we attach phones to cameras?!) and I will then set a wedding date accordingly.

The love affairs continues....!

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Planning for Aloha...

The arrival of a beautiful baby daughter and the maddening prospect of finding somewhere new to live has occupied a lot of my time recently.

However, that doesn’t imply that it’s been quiet on the photographic front.  I’m off to Hawaii for the first time next week and that means its ‘homework time’.  Typically, for me, this entails:

·        Friends and Family – guide books are good but nothing beats ‘hands-on’ experience/knowledge from a trusted source (thanks, Nigel, for the tips by the way).

·        Books / Maps – a quick trip to somewhere like Stanfords is de rigueur for ascertaining the lay of the land.  Maps help with the topography and books help with other ‘incidentals’ like eating, breathing and sleeping :-)

·        Specialised Content – Specific guides likes Laurent  Martrès’ guides to the Southwest or Robert Hitchman’s guides to America are a good starting point (but the reader should be careful not to copy/replicate the familiar ‘trophy’ shots which are often described within).

·        Internet – Where to start!!??!  Over and above the usual Google/Internet Forums/Image Searches etc., there are tools for tides, sunset/sunrises and GPS locations.  One particularly useful new tool is the ability to remotely sync Google map placemarks to mobile devices (those of you who have struggled with GPS units/software know what I mean)...

To a non-photographer, such planning may seem a bit ‘kill-joy’ in nature, but I would argue that it’s the price to pay if fantastic images are the goal.

However, there are some things one simply cannot plan for, such as the weather, the light and that awkward little cloud which won’t move kindly out of the frame for you.  Some would say that this unpredictability is what makes this game so fun, but I would say it’s what makes this game so frustrating!

More from The Aloha State soon….

A Day in the Life... Sydney Opera House

I’m back in the UK now after a whistle-stop tour of Japan, China, Singapore and Australia.  It seems that technology was conspiring against me on this trip as both my laptop and my phone gave up the chase on multiple occasions (ironically, the only time they were both working was in China).

Still, being back has allowed me to download lots of photos and movies (more of that in another post), so its time to get caring and sharing once more…

Kicking off, is a wonderful – and, as far as I can tell, unique – sequence of images of the iconic Sydney Opera House.  The Australian east coast has been subject to much stormy weather of late and I lucked out on one particular day off with a series of massive squalls and bright blue skies.

As I was reviewing the images, I felt they stood well individually but that they stood even better as sequence.  Viewed as whole, they are a testament to how varied the climate – and, therefore, photographic light – can be during a 24 hour period.

Hope you enjoy the work and there’ll be more from Asia very soon…

JJ

Hidden Photographic Treasures

Apologies for the radio silence but I have been away for a couple of days and have also been sorting out new products for the year and the upcoming exhibition. However, I have had time to write a couple of pieces so I’ll be uploading those in the next week or so…

 

To kick start things, I wanted to share an intriguing link which a friend sent me the other day. It’s called Everytrail and it allows users to upload and share GPS tracks via the internet.

There used to be a time when some photographers would jealously guard locations in the hope that they would remain hidden from the general hoi polloi. In fact, there are at least a couple of apocryphal tales involving photographers deliberating ruining scenes after their personal discovery!

In light of this, it’s quite remarkable to witness the liberating power of the GPS, telephony and the internet combine to reveal photographic locations such as The Wave, for example (I remember having to barter my first-born to find out where the darn thing was). Although I'm not commercially associated with the site myself, I would be interested to hear your views on whether it’s a huge force for good or, paradoxically, whether its just another excuse sit in front of the computer...!

Doric Inspiration

No sooner back from the American West coast than off to Greece and then Washington, DC.

It’s amazing to think of the inextricable Doric link between two of the World’s most sublime structures – the Parthenon in Greece and Lincoln Memorial in America - despite the intervening 2,500 years. 

Without over-labouring the Picasso biography which I am currently reading, he also noted that “good art copies, great art steals” !

America West - Panoramic Black and White

It’s hard to sum up the American west coast without mentioning the climate and geography.  Whether it’s the pounding surf, sublime inter-tidal range or sheer cliffs disappearing into blinding summer fog, the natural beauty of the area is a photographer’s dream.

However, as I was looking forward to capturing this essence with my lens, a quote caught my eye.  According to Pablo Picasso’s biography, the great artist once noted “…Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.”

The line obviously resonated because I couldn’t stop thinking about it during the rest of the flight to San Francisco.  After a hastily arranged shopping trip, I was soon armed with Tmax 100 black-and-white negative film and my beloved Fuji Velvia was relegated to a dark recess of a bag.

On the road, I began concentrating on smaller, more ephemeral details and eschewing things like horizons or recognizable landmarks.  Partially driven by the film choice, I was soon reacquainting myself with the unforgiving compositional demands of black-and-white. As the panoramic frame is best read from left-to-right (in response to the written word in the Western world), I focused on scenes that would compliment this facet.  The only upside was having a tonal range of around eight to ten stops compared with three to four in transparency film.

I hope you enjoy the scenes and I trust that I managed to convey how terrifying and exhilarating it can be to move out of a well-worn comfort zone…

Australian Touch-and-Go

I am always acutely aware of two things whenever I visit Australia.  Namely, the sheer scale of the country and also the quantity and quality of the local art/photography.  It must have something to do with the unforgiving nature of this faraway land, because it certainly inspires the ‘pioneer spirit’ amongst its native artists.

Although I was there for only a week, I did manage to attend the PMA show and also caught up with the inspirational Ken Duncan.  It is always a joy to see him and we swapped stories at his magnificent new gallery on the central coast.

Having a couple of days to spare in the Hunter Valley, I decided to eschew the classic (and slightly over-exposed) Aussie icons.  Instead, I chose to explore secluded trails and unmarked properties.  Hope you enjoy the slightly-more-muted-than-normal Aussie sideshow…