NikonGear'23
Images => Life, the Universe & Everything Else => Topic started by: Akira on April 17, 2016, 23:05:34
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Last week, five master musicians from India came to Tokyo and gave a couple of concerts. Unlike the most of the concerts of Japanese or foreign artists, not only taking the pictures but also even video shooting were allowed. 8) So I decided to press my newly purchased ISO monster, Nikon D750, into service. All images were shot with either AF-S 50/1.8 or Ai 20/4.0. I was sitting down in the first row and a little to the right-hand side of the stage. I had to shoot everything from that position. I found the best lens in the current lineup for this particular situation was AF-S 18-35/3.5-4.5. ::)
The ghatam (clay pot) player is Vikku Vinayakram (famous as member of "Shakti" and later "Remember Shakti" with the guitarist John McLaughlin). The customized hand-drum kit is played by V. Selvaganesh (Vikku's eldest son and also member of "Remember Shakti"). He also plays the kanjira (Indian tambourine) which is his main instrument. The kanjira is also played by S. Swaminathan (Vikku's grand son). Swaminathan also plays his original instrument called double kanjira. The mridangam (double-sided hand drum) player is N. Ramakrishnan. The name "mridangam" came from the Sanskrit words "mrid" (clay) and "angam" (part), and, as the origin of the name suggests, the barrel of the instrument was originally made of clay. (Anirban, please correct me if I'm wrong!) But today it is mostly made of jack tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus). The violin player is S. Venkatasubramanian who also sings.
Hope you enjoy them.
First set: Vikku Vinayakram.
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Second set: V. Selvaganesh and S. Swaminathan.
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Third set: N. Ramakrishnan and S. Venkatasubramanian.
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1426 is so lively. really love it very much!!!!
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Thanks for sharing these Akira.
Looks like everyone had fun and your new 750 seems to have delivered the goods.
Lovely background info too
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Fourth set: their fascinating ensembles. The japanese playing muharsingh (Indian jaw harp) is played by Koichi Takehara, disciple of Vikku Vinayakram).
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And the last set: a couple of photos of the arrangements of their playing positions.
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1308 shows their acting together. but you have been to near to them so you got perspective distortion!!!
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Frank and Colin, thanks for the all-too immediate responses. :D
1308 shows their acting together. but you have been to near to them so you got perspective distortion!!!
Yeah, I know. But unfortunately there was no choice of either the shooting position or the lens.
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That happens and I think there must be a filter to correct that in
post. I see the math in my head. Just like normal perspective
correction but perpendicular. Rendering a 3D scene from 2D and
then correcting in the plane given by camera position and the eyes
of the outer musicians e.g.
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That happens and I think there must be a filter to correct that in
post. I see the math in my head. Just like normal perspective
correction but perpendicular. Rendering a 3D scene from 2D and
then correcting in the plane given by camera position and the eyes
of the outer musicians e.g.
Frank, if you would spare your time, I would be willing to send you the NEF to try your idea.
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I am not a programmer. I have seen some new filters in PSCC
have to investigate
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It is a wonderful set, Akira that brings me into the scene and allows me to visualize them playing and hear their music
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I am not a programmer. I have seen some new filters in PSCC
have to investigate
Okay. I don't remember if one can correct the perspective distortion in PSCC, but I will look into that, too.
It is a wonderful set, Akira that brings me into the scene and allows me to visualize them playing and hear their music
Thanks, Peter. That is exactly what I wish to achieve whenever I have chances to shoot the musical performances.
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That happens and I think there must be a filter to correct that in
post. I see the math in my head. Just like normal perspective
correction but perpendicular. Rendering a 3D scene from 2D and
then correcting in the plane given by camera position and the eyes
of the outer musicians e.g.
One possibility is to use the 'warp' functionality in PS to correct by feel.
DxO Optics Pro has a correction of anamorphic distortion built in.
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One possibility is to use the 'warp' functionality in PS to correct by feel.
DxO Optics Pro has a correction of anamorphic distortion built in.
I think I have seen some 3D-warp function in the latest update of PSCC but I did not try it yet. I tend to step back from the people and crop later if possible. If not as in your case I often throw out the result.
Now that I know how to investigate I will try "warp" or "3d warp"
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Simone and Frank, thanks for further considerations.
I found "Adaptive Wide Angle" in the "Filter" pull-down menu in CC2015. This is a result. The parameter settings are:
Scale: 100%
Focal Length: 20mm (the same as the FL of the lens used here)
Crop Factor: 1.00
The player on the left appears to be fairly well corrected, whereas the correction to player on the right is not very effective.
The problem is that this scene was shot in an oblique angle, and the perspective distortions on the left side and the right side are different, which makes the correction complicated.
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What a lively series Akira. Your photos show how vibrant the show was.
You really got a chance to shoot them real close. And with manual focus; I'm impressed!
"Third set: ...." .. shots are so full of life. First one in this set is just terrific. Perfect shutter speed. A real keeper. :)
_DSC1376.jpg: Really like this one.
I never noticed before that all of them keep photos of hindu gods in front of them. Interesting!
P.S: yes, you are right about the origin of mridangam.
P.P.S: I see quite a bit loss of details, probably attributed to small file size. Anyway, that didn't take the charm away.
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Akira. We all should dig deeper into this question and share results.
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What a lively series Akira. Your photos show how vibrant the show was.
You really got a chance to shoot them real close. And with manual focus; I'm impressed!
"Third set: ...." .. shots are so full of life. First one in this set is just terrific. Perfect shutter speed. A real keeper. :)
_DSC1376.jpg: Really like this one.
I never noticed before that all of them keep photos of hindu gods in front of them. Interesting!
P.S: yes, you are right about the origin of mridangam.
P.P.S: I see quite a bit loss of details, probably attributed to small file size. Anyway, that didn't take the charm away.
Anirban, thanks for the comment and your additional info on the pictures they put in front of them during the performance. In addition to the images of the gods, I see some pictures of real people. I wonder if they are some Hindu saints or famous virtuosos of the instrument they respect?
The loss of details would be caused by the result of resizing and possibly by the slight movements of the camera and the performers.
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Akira. We all should dig deeper into this question and share results.
Yes. Personally I don't mind too much about the perspective distortion of these images where the capture of the liveliness of the music and its players is the prime purpose. But it is good to remove the unintended effect of any type of distortions.
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... In addition to the images of the gods, I see some pictures of real people. I wonder if they are some Hindu saints or famous virtuosos of the instrument they respect?
You are right Akira. Those are actually photos of Hindu saints. Nice to see you notice such small details.
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You are right Akira. Those are actually photos of Hindu saints. Nice to see you notice such small details.
Thanks for the confirmation, Anirban. At least I knew that the Indian traditional music is deeply related with the Hinduism. And I was impressed to see the musicians offering little prayers by touching the stage when they step onto it to perform. After the finale, Ramakrishnan touched one of the feet of Vikku and preyed, which I think is something Hindu (and also Buddhist maybe?) people do to a saint.
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.... After the finale, Ramakrishnan touched one of the feet of Vikku and preyed, which I think is something Hindu (and also Buddhist maybe?) people do to a saint.
You are right. It's Hindu tradition and Buddhist as well. It is offering respect to masters. We do that for our parents and elderly family members as well.
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You are right. It's Hindu tradition and Buddhist as well. It is offering respect to masters. We do that for our parents and elderly family members as well.
Anirban, thanks again. In the first row of the audience seats, I felt as if I was attending an liturgical ceremony.
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Akira, looks like loads of fun as your images gracefully conveyed :)
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Akira, looks like loads of fun as your images gracefully conveyed :)
Thanks, Jakov. Yes, the event was a four-hour treat!