New! EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon has just announced the EOS-1D Mark IV, a 16.1 megapixel digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) camera body, and the successor to the Canon EOS-1D Mark III. It is the first Canon APS-H format DSLR to feature HD video recording at 1080p resolution.

I've been waiting for a worthy successor to my beloved Canon 1D-Mark II and this may just be the one, effectively doubling the megapixel count but more significantly for my style of photographing, the 10 frames per second makes my heart sing.

Some of its features are:

* 27.9mm x 18.6mm; 16.1 effective megapixels APS-H CMOS sensor
* Dual DIGIC 4 image processors
* New autofocus module (45 AF points with 39 cross-type AF points)
* Integrated sensor cleaning system
* 1.3x crop factor
* 100–12800 ISO speed equivalent (expandable to 50, and to 102400)
* Magnesium Alloy weather sealed body
* Live preview mode
* 10 frames per second continuous shooting
* Dimensions (WxHxD): 156 × 156.6 × 89.9 mm

The suggested retail price is estimated to be $4,999.

For fuller details, go to DPReview.com.

The question is whether the new Canon 1D-Mark IV is worth the $3,300 price premium over the recently released Canon 7D, whose specifications are nothing to sneeze at.

As a reminder, the 7D has a new 18-megapixel APS-C sensor with a 1.6x crop factor, and is equipped with dual DIGIC 4 chips to speed processing of large 14-bit files, as well as to handle the shutter's 8-frame-per-second top speed. It retails for $1,699.

The proof will be in the pudding as they say, and the quality of the images will determine that issue. Rob Galbraith DPI refers to the 7D and the new Mark IV as such:

The EOS-1D Mark IV is meant to be a better-specified camera than the 7D in most respects, and ought to be, given the much higher price tag on the camera being unveiled today. That said, the 7D incorporates several features that didn't make it into the EOS-1D Mark IV, features that would be equally useful in Canon's latest news and sports camera.

These include the 7D's combo mode switch and start/button, Q button for quick access to key camera settings, unparalleled control customization options, an electronic level and revised 63-zone meter.

POV: WTF! This Is My Photo Shoot!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
I don't know if it's the bottled water in Bhutan, the crisp Himalayan air, the scent of the pine trees or the excitement of the festivals...but some tourists lose their sense of civility when faced with opportunities to photograph. And I mean tourists, not serious and experienced photographers.

Having arrived at the Chimi Lakhang monastery in Bumthang, I was glad to find two young novices lighting candle lamps, and asked them to pose in a certain way to take advantage of the light coming through the rather grimy window. It took quite a while to have them just right where I wanted, but as I was giving hand signals for minor adjustments in the novices' stance, a bunch of European tourists had entered the room. Without a glance at my direction, or asking for permission, or even a smile of acknowledgment, out came a motley collection of cameras, ranging from DSLRs to compacts, and a paparazzi frenzy ensued with hundreds of flashes bathing the room in an ethereal light.

Naturally, there was nothing for me to do but to hold my breath and wait for them to leave, which they did taking their own sweet time. Seeing there were more tourists about to enter the room, I rushed to the door and locked it...ignoring their loud protestations. Although I managed to photograph the novices as I intended, the mood had evaporated, and the light had changed.

During the festival preparations at the Thangbi Mani Lakhang, the courtyard was suddenly filled with a group of elderly Japanese tourists with heavy DSLRs hanging from their necks, who eagerly photographed everything in sight. They were so excited that they intruded on many of my friends' photography. You lifted your camera to photograph a smiling Bhutanese youngster, and one of the Japanese tourists would be literally shoving you to take his or her turn at photographing the same subject. It got so bad that one of them shoved his lens hard unto the back of Carlos Amores' head.

It was then that I had a "conversation" with the guide working for the Japanese tourists, and carefully explained what would happen if that rowdy and thuggish behavior didn't stop. He tried to make light of the situation, so I had to repeat my 'advice', using shorter and better chosen words. Within 10 minutes, the Japanese were nowhere to be seen.

We had many more instances of rude and uncivil behavior, but these were generally from tourists who were not serious photographers. Photographers realize how difficult it is to photograph in similar circumstances, and are usually very sensitive to each others' space. In my experience, the worst offenders are the French and German tourists, and the Japanese (but only when in the safety of a group).

Alia Refaat: Vedic School

Photo © Alia Refaat-All Rights Reserved
I'm pleased to feature an audio slideshow by photographer Alia Refaat showcasing her work at a Vedic school in Thrissur, Kerala. The photographs and audio were made during my Theyyams of Malabar Photo Expedition at an ancient Vedic 'gurukul' (or training/boarding school (very similar to the Buddhist monasteries for novitiates), where we were treated to a demonstration of this way of teaching the sacred Vedic scriptures.

Alia's Soundslides audio slideshow Vedic School is here, and you'll see she successfully applied the various multimedia techniques such as the flipbook to convey the sense of movement to her stills. A nicely done photo essay....lovely and atmospheric photography by a talented photographer.

As mentioned in earlier posts on this blog, Alia (aka "Coucla") Refaat is a commercial photographer from Cairo, Egypt.She studied Mass Communications, and trained at Spéos Paris in commercial, portrait and studio photography. It was Alia's inaugural travel photography expedition, and her resulting photographs were featured in a series of solo exhibitions in Cairo, where she also appeared a number of times on televised interviews.

Alia's main website is here, and previous posts on her work are here.

"Toothpick" Photo Expeditions

Photo © Tewfic "Toothpick" El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
One (or possibly two) of the sharp wits on the Bhutan Photo-Expedition decided to rename (or name) it as in the above photograph. In Bhutan, each tour group has to have a paper nameplate on dining tables, and these are carefully and dutifully written by the tour guide.

Unhappy with the formality and simplicity of the rather boring "Tewfic's Group", one of my group's participants thought that Tewfic rhymed awfully well with toothpick, and added it to the nameplate...along with a real wooden one.

Haven't I said that this group included some comedians?

Notwithstanding the musicality of Toothpick's Photo Tours, I think I'll keep using The Travel Photographer's Photo Expeditions after all.

Note: As I will be away this weekend, I'm adding another group photo to this post.



From left: Tewfic "Toothpick" El-Sawy, Jenny Jozwiak, Kim McClellan, Nuray Jemil, Graham Ware, Kayla Keenan, Carlos Amores and Dan Bannister.

Rafaela Persson: Afghan Women

Rafaela Persson graduated from the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism program at the International Center of Photography in New York in 2008. She holds an MA in sociology with studies in human rights, international migration and ethnic relations from university of Lund, Sweden.

Her photographs were exhibited in Copenhagen, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Pingyao Festival in China, and are featured in the ICIMOD traveling exhibition: Nepal 2008, Germany, Switzerland, US and Japan in 2009. Her work was published in The New York Times, Sydasien, People Sweden, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan and the Canadian Film Board.

Rafaela was recently chosen to participate in the Asia-Europe Emerging Photographers Forum 2009 in Kuala Lumpur.

Have a look at Rafaela's work with drug-addicted women in Afghanistan. The Afghan women say they have taken to drugs as a way to comfort themselves and their children when they go hungry or cold.

Book: 100 New York Photographers

As previously announced on TTP, I am chuffed in being featured in Cynthia Dantzig's new book: 100 New York Photographers, which is a 442-page review of contemporary New York photographers and their diverse and divergent images.

So here I am in the august company of well-known photographers such as Annie Liebovitz, Jay Maisel, Amy Arbus, Hugh Bell, Arnold Crane, Bruce Davidson, Carrie Mae Weems, Elliott Erwitt, Lee Friedlander, Joel Meyerowitz, Mary Ellen Mark, Pete Turner and others (including Jenny Jozwiak, who joined my Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo-Expedition).

Four of my photographs were chosen. One from the Omo Valley, two from Bhutan and one from Lake Inle in Burma.





This handsome book is available from major bookstores such as B&N and Amazon. Despite the considerable technological advances in displaying photographs on the web, the thrill of seeing one's work the old fashioned way...on a printed page...is still something else!

My Work: Tsechu Drummer In Bhutan

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here's what is largely a grab shot of a Bhutanese tsechu drummer on his way to join the rest of the musical group that accompanies the traditional dancers in Tamshingphala Lakhang in Bumthang.

I've been to Bhutan 4 times so far to photograph during the tsechus season, and I can only recall one overcast day. The bright sunshine and the resultant shadows make it very difficult to photograph these festivals; this difficulty is compounded by the need to isolate the dancers from the background crowds which requires photographers to become either contortionists, or use long glass at a very shallow aperture.

Having noticed this fellow because of his green satin tunic and demeanor, I grabbed a shot (this is the only one) of him as he walked across the courtyard of the monastery where the dancers would shortly whirl and twirl, carrying his ancient leather drum.