The Travel Photographer's The Vedic Disciples

This is the second of my multimedia (audio slideshows) projects of stills, audio and video made during my The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™. It's of the activities 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 sacred Vedic scriptures.

It is an ancient Indian educational system, which is currently being rejuvenated with the assistance of the Indian government. The young boys who populate the Vedic school usually belong to a caste of Keralan Brahmins, who are responsible to carry on the age-old tradition of chanting Vedas during religious rituals or functions. The chanting is learned by practice, and nothing is written down.

The rhythm of the Vedic chants is followed by the young boys' moving their bodies in cadence to the verses, which reminded me how the Buddhist novices recite their mantras, or how the Islamic students recite the Qur'an at their madrasas.

You can watch The Vedic Disciples on Vimeo as well.

645 For iPhone And A Boom Mic

I've had the iPhone 4S since late October, and despite my previous reluctance in having such a device, I'm head over heels with it. Well, this might be an exaggeration because some of my friends and peers have really gone "extreme" with its photographic apps, and I'm not.

 That said, I do like to use the various apps such as Instagram, Hipstamatic, Snapseed and the like that I have on mine. The lastest to appear is 646 Pro for iPhone whose claim sounds interesting. It claims that the app has been designed for professional and serious amateur photographers, and is the first and only iPhone camera app to give TIFF image files that have no in-app post-processing applied and no JPEG compression.

Its JPEGs are enhanced by 645 PRO's seven Film Modes, inspired by classic film stock as used by top photographers. It's still being considered for approval by Apple, but from the claims it makes, I'm sure many serious iPhone photographers will lap it up (subject to its meeting these claims and depending on a sensible price, of course).



 

As for multimedia photographers enamored with the iPhone, here's the iPhone Boom Mic, a small microphone that provides iPhone videos "professional" style sound. The microphone attaches to the iPhone's headphone jack. It's very lightweight, has a broad directional and a super-directional setting for more precisely focused recording.

Note: I have no direct or indirect relationship with either of these manufacturers and/or products.

18 Days In Egypt

A power struggle of epic proportions between various political factions is currently underway in Egypt...essentially a troika of conflicting interests, the power struggle is manifesting itself overtly and covertly. Overtly, the battle for power is over the presidency, and is between the Muslim Brotherhood, (a comparatively pragmatic Islamic movement) the Salafists (a regressive Islamist faction), and the military establishment. The secular forces seem to have been marginalized, even though it was its youth who sparked and carried through the revolution in 2011.

That said, it's not over till the fat lady sings...and there will be more twists and turns to this story as it enfolds over the days and weeks to come.

I thought the 18DaysIn Egypt documentary being worked on by filmmaker and journalist Jigar Mehta is working on a new kind of documentary is especially timely in such a fluid political situation. It's a crowd-sourced interactive documentary project aimed at capturing the history of the revolution in Egypt.

The context of this documentary is simple enough. In the 18 days of Egypt's uprising that began on January 25, 2011 and that ended with the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, thousands of Egyptians turned to their cell phones, digital cameras or social media sites to document the events unfolding in Cairo and across the country.

Tapping into this wealth of material, American documentary filmmaker and journalist Jigar Mehta co-founded 18DaysInEgypt.

The BIG FLIGHT Bloggers Contest by Malaysia Airlines

I was fortunate enough being selected for The BIG FLIGHT Bloggers Contest by Malaysia Airlines. The condition is I have to provide a short video clip of myself with my hidden talent or some unique skill! Oh Man! This is a BIG problem for me...!

After some encouragements from friends, I decided to participate the contest and just give a try!
My video as below...

Friends and readers, if you like to support me by leave a comment or two, please click here : http://bit.ly/MYA380Jason. It will direct you the main page of Youtube/Malaysia Airlines. Thanks alot in advance!

Do you know you can fly on the Malaysia Airlines A380?
The contest is open for all Malaysian too, do upload your video about yourself (max. 2 mins) to Youtube and you might win a ticket for the new A380 by Malaysia Airlines! Please do it before 22nd April 2012, and if you are selected, you'll be on the BIG Plane on 27th June 2012.
To find out more about “The Big Flight” contest, please visit www.YouTube.com/MalaysiaAirlines.

I would like to say thanks to my friend - Kenny Koh who help me to shoot the video from his phone and Andrew Lee who pass me the cigarettes. Thanks guys!

I wish I can have the chance to fly on the BIG FLIGHT A380 by Malaysia Airlines (MAS)!

Shuchi Kapoor: "Oh My God!"

Photo © Shuchi Kapoor-All Rights Reserved

Shuchi Kapoor is a photographer currently based in Chennai, which is quite a distance from her native Gujarat, and who describes herself as a storyteller minus the frills. She worked for a decade in advertising until she found her calling in photography as well as in writing....so she may also be described as an emerging photography talent.

Some of her stories have been published by Femina, The Sunday Guardian, The Lonely Planet, Spiceroute, and TAXI.

Have a look at her Oh, My God gallery, whose photographs of Dasara, an important festival celebrated in India, is the most compelling of her work. This gallery features this festival as it is celebrated in Tamil Nadu, and during which men dress up as the goddess Kali, and impress the throngs of onlookers with their dance abilities, as well as their make up and costumes.

Shuchi corrected me, as I thought Dasara was Dusshera, but it seems that it's a different festival. It is also different than the Durga Puja festival celebrated in Bengali communities.

Kodomo Art Cafe at Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru

Kodomo Art Cafe (N1.57390 E103.75638) is located along Jalan Setia 3/3, Taman Setia Indah of Johor Bahru. One of my friend recommended this cafe to me and we visited the cafe twice to had our dinner on the Sunday night.

Kodomo Art Cafe

I like the decoration very much! I believe the comfort and relax environment is one of the key point of this cafe...
There's a white piano display on the entrance, you can perform some song if you know how to play it...but not me! :)

The white piano at the entrance

The dining area

The well decorated serving counter

The owner also dedicated a small and nice area for children to watch cartoon, read some books or play some puzzle! This is FIRST in Johor Bahru! Bravo! I believe the owner like children very much...

The small and nice area dedicated as children corner within the cafe...

The piano music was playing for the whole night, and that will Really relax our mind to enjoy the dinner...especially in the comfort deco. The cafe serve fusion food and mostly Japanese food...

We were here twice, my wife and daughter ordered their same Favorite dish for the 2 visits. The Tori Teriyaki Set and the Chidren Fried Rice.

Tori Teriyaki Set

Tori Teriyaki

The Children Fried Rice set

The cafe serve many type of children set, and this is another FIRST in Johor Bahru! I salute their effort! My daughter like the 2 bears fried rice very much! Indeed, it was delicious too!

And I ordered the Japanese Curry (Katsu) chicken rice with the prawns omelette...

Japanese Curry Chicken Rice with prawns omelette

The Teriyaki was well marinated and grilled to perfect! My daughter finished her fried rice in few mnutes! And her plate was Clean! :) The nice aroma of the Japanese Katsu Curry served with a small portion of fried rice was almost perfect combination!

The foods were decent and tasty!

Our ordered on the second visit :
Ninninku (Onion) Fried rice
Shisamo
Takoyaki (Fried Octopus)
Kaki Furai (Deep Fried Oyster)

Ninniku Fried Rice

Shisamo

Takoyaki

Kaki Furai

I never expect the simple Ninninku Fried Rice can be so delicious! Beside that, all the side dishes were Nice! Initially, I ordered the Grilled Oyster, but end up changed to the deep freid oyster due to their sauce finished! But...it was crunchy and juicy inside! Not bad...
The prices for the dishes are very reasonable!

This is One of of the Nice Cafe we will continue to visit!
I will definitely visit again for their Shasimi, because I missed twice! :)

Kodomo Art Cafe

19, Jalan Setia 3/3,

Taman Setia Indah,

Johor Bahru.

Tel : +607-3512219

Business hour : 12pm - 3pm, 6pm - 10pm.

Location Map of Kodomo Art Cafe at Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru

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Poll: Which Should Go On My Wall?

Living in New York City means that space is at premium, and while my office walls are literally covered from ceiling to waist-level with my photographs, paintings, etc., I still have a spot where a 20x24 inch frame can fit....but it has to be a vertical frame!

People who photograph with me know that I much prefer landscape/horizontal format, but a vertical space is all I can find on my crowded office walls. I like the above photographs equally so I need your involvement in choosing the one.

The top photograph is of a posed full length portrait of a Kathakali artist, while the lower one is of a trio of Oracles who I persuaded to stop their trances, and pose for us. Both were made during The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™.

I plan on having the elected photograph printed commercially on Kodak Professional Glossy paper then in a dark wooden frame...either black or dark brown depending on the photograph.