Dancing in the street!

Local professional dancer from Boipeba, Izalice, spontaneously dances traditional 'Forro' in the street. Canon 5D Mark II camera and Canon 24-105mm f4L IS USM lens. Exposure Details: 1/400 seconds @ f4 ISO 800.

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Hi guys here’s a quick post again from Boipeba in Brazil. My friend Izalice (who features in the right portrait in the diptych from my last post) is a talented professional dancer. While giving me a last minute tour of Boipeba, Iza spontaneously broke out into some ‘Forró’ (a traditional northeastern Brazilian dance influenced by African, Indigenous and European music styles) right on the street.

The culture of music and dance in Brazil is definitely one of my favourite things about the country so I was stoked to capture a moment that shows a small piece of it. You should definitely check out some Forró music if you feel so inclined, some classics are Luiz Gonzaga and Dominguinhos or for something a little more electro-pop-contemporary check out Garota Safada.

More coming soon!

Cam.

Babes from Boipeba!

Diptych of local girls from Boipeba, Bahia, Brazil. Both shots taken on a Canon 5D Mark II camera and Canon 24-105mm f4L IS USM lens. Exposure Details, left: 1/125 seconds @ f4 ISO 1250, right: 1/250 seconds @ f4 ISO 640.

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Today I’m posting my first diptych (two separate images presented together) on my blog. I took these two portraits in Boipeba of local girls Maria and Izalice on my last day on the island. I think these shots match nicely because they share the same dominant colours, white and blue. The dominant white in one contrasts nicely with the dominant blue of the other while the warm skin tones of the girls are complimentary to the blue. That I took them in the same lighting in front of the same building also adds a consistency.

But enough boring analysis, let’s face it, these girls make the photos. Their classic Brazilian exuberance leaps off the page. Maria and Izalice were actually giving me a bit of a last minute tour before I had to run off to catch a boat back to the mainland. While cruising around town I noticed some nice light reflecting into this picturesque house-front so I asked if the girls wanted to have their portraits taken. Given the good mood we were all in I had to do little more than suggest a few set ups as they ribbed each other over being models for a day. This provoked some really genuine laughter despite the semi-orchestrated nature of the shoot and was the key ingredient in making these shots feel natural.

Let me know what you think. Plenty more gems from Brazil on the way.

Cheers.

Cam.

What would you do for a picture?

Local 'carretilleros' load their wheelbarrows straight from supply ships, Morro de Sao Paulo island, Bahia, Brazil. Canon 5D Mark II camera and Canon 24-105mm f4L IS USM lens. Exposure Details: 1/125 seconds @ f5 ISO 2500.

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Sometimes in the quest for a cool photo I find myself asking the following question:

Will this photo be worth putting myself in {insert unpleasant scenario here}?

For me those unpleasant scenarios normally involve various kinds of unsavoury filth, the path of dangerous oncoming objects, the ridicule of strangers, the risk of being mugged for my brick-like Canon 5D or the risk of damaging my camera in the process.

To get the silhouettes against the sunset in this image I had to lie down on my stomach amongst fish blood and scales left by local fisherman. While glamming it up amongst the entrails these guys all had a good laugh at my expense. My cause was probably not helped by the fact that I was wearing a Peru soccer guernsey at the time, an object of open ridicule in world-dominating-insanely-soccer-crazy Brazil.

I had to lie down on my stomach amongst fish blood and scales left by local fisherman

Probably the next most blog-worthy anecdote on this theme was an occassion at Thredbo ski resort when I had to literally hurdle an out of control ski racer as he slipped in icy conditions on a gate I was standing below to get the best angle. He slid directly towards me at maximum velocity and I had no time to do anything but jump directly into the air as he skidded underneath me, a lightning streak of skis and poles on his merry way down the mountain (no mean feat as I was wearing heavy ski boots). That day I decided it was not worth being pummelled by this guy to get that particular photo, but it was worth the risk of standing directly below the gate in icy conditions.

I had no time to do anything but jump directly into the air as he skidded underneath me, a lightning streak of skis and poles

So have you found yourself asking if it’s worth the filth, the humiliation or bone-crunching collision for a photo? What have you put yourself through to get the shot?

Taxi in Paradise

A local 'taxi driver' delivers food for a restaurant on car-less Morro de Sao Paulo island in Bahia, Brazil. Canon 5D Mark II camera and Canon 24-105mm f4L IS USM lens. Exposure Details: 1/640 seconds @ f9 ISO 200

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Hi guys here’s another quick post from Bahia in northern Brazil.

Though I took this photo in classic urban street photography style it is actually from a small tropical island about 2-hours by boat from Salvador. In fact so non-urban is Morro de Sao Paulo that cars are not allowed on the island. This man is actually a ‘taxi driver’ as they call themselves, or perhaps more of a courier driver as he is transporting what appears to be food to a restaraunt. I took this photo on the main street of town, camping out by a colourful backdrop as the tropical late-afternoon sun was throwing some really dramatic warmth and contrast onto the local foot-traffic. It was just a matter of watching and waiting.

More to come soon!

Island Paradise

Traditional Outrigger Canoe on the Isle of Pines. Canon 5D Mark II camera and Canon 24-105mm f4L IS USM lens. Exposure Details: 1/200 second @ f10 ISO 200.

Many parts of New Caledonia are just about as classicly ‘paradisical’ as it can get going by typical western conception. The landscapes, the sea and the weather allow an incredible lifestyle if you so choose. Phenomenal diving, snorkelling and fishing are provided by the barrier reef that encloses Grand Terre (the main island) in the world’s largest lagoon. Consistent trade winds keep the climate moderate and provides for the thousands of kite surfers that visit. Sailing, trekking, horse-riding, canyoning and four wheel driving are other popular activities. Yet if you travel enough you come to realise that -as a local poet once said of New Caledonia- ‘paradise exists nowhere but in man’s imagination’. The society here is just as engulfed in problems as any other. National identity, racism, immigration, economic development, mining, a continuing clash of civilisations (Melanesian and European) are key areas of conflict. Sound familiar? It does for just about any place I can think of in one way or another.

These are themes I’d like to explore with photography here, yet an understanding of local issues has only just started to crystalise for me, and my visa is about to expire! So today I’m posting a postcard perfect picture of paradise I took that was published in last week’s ‘New Caledonia Weekly’, the only English language magazine here. I don’t believe the photo is deceitful of reality, I believe New Caledonia is in fact paradise, a natural paradise, but not a human one. The text that accompanied the photo in the magazine is below.

“It was the second of January and we were still recovering from new year’s eve on the idyllic Isle of Pines. We arranged to be taken on a voyage by pirogue (a traditional outrigger canoe). It poured rain early in the morning, leaving us with a dim prognostic for the voyage. Fortunately the rain eased off, but a thick blanket of cloud meant the incredible Baie d’Upi did not quite lend itself to photography. That was at least until we were dropped off at our destination and the sky cleared, revealing all the glorious colours the Isle Pines is renowned for. I was able to snap this postcard perfect memory just as our noble captain, Theodore, prepared to return to Baie St Joseph. As for us, we turned to the forest and set out for the elusive Piscine Naturelle.”

Thanks for reading, next week I’m off to Vanuatu for a couple of weeks and then back to Australia to arrange a visa. Plenty of good posts coming up including some landscapes here and some shots from the soccer World Cup Trophy Tour that I covered on Tuesday.