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Yearly Archives: 2013

Kick-start your Photography Career

ShutterXpose is pleased to announce “Photography 101” a foundation and intermediate course for Novice, Beginners and Amateurs. This course should help you to understand the basics of camera operation, related camera jargon’s in simple and easy to understand language, learn exposure and how to balance exposure setting for capturing amazing and stunning images.

This course will be a 2 hrs session held on Friday’s at Better Books, Salmiya.

You can book your seat by sending a confirmation mail to admin@shutterxpose.com or join via the Facebook event page. You can also call on the mobile numbers mentioned in the banner to book your seat.

For more information on the contents of the course, click on the image banner

GulfRun 24Hr Karting Concludes

GPH_3501 The third Wataniya GulfRun 24 hour Karting Endurance race which I had posted earlier concluded successful much to the delights of the team.The Gulf Cables Team were the first to cross the checkered line after an exhausting 26 hours followed by Team Scuderia in the second place and Team Agsher in the third place.

The race which saw 18 teams consisting of 188 drivers took part in practice sessions and a highly competitive 24 hour endurance race. The 18 teams comprise of 4 to 12 drivers per team who drive a maximum stint time of roughly 2 hours, after which they switch drivers, and keep going for 24 hours of non- stop racing.

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GulfRun Karting Endurance Race 3

gulfrun_kw The GulfRun Karting Endurance Race 3 will be held this weekend. The event will be special this year as it will be a fully fledged endurance race that follows International regulations from start to finish, taking place at the recently opened SIRBB Circuit, Shuwaikh – Kuwait.

The track is converted into an exciting carnival before the race, the karts have been imported and the marshals fly in from the UK specially to regulate the race.

This event is open for a maximum of 18 teams which will be racing non-stop for 24 hours. In order to have a fair competition between participants, registration is only open for residents of Kuwait (Kuwaiti/Expats).

This would be a great event to photograph sports action.

Event Schedule:

December 5, 2013: Assigning Karts and Race Practice
December 6, 2013: Start of 24 hour GulfRun Karting Endurance Race (Time: 4:00 PM)
December 7, 2013: Finish of 24 hour GulfRun Karting Endurance Race (Time: 4:00 PM)

For complete detail of the event, click [Here]

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Tamron Announces SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 VC USD

Tamron announced a new SP 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD lens to its arsenal. This super telephoto lens with a stylish external finish will bring a broad 4x zoom range to both sports and wildlife photographers, and is most likely to replace the current 200-500 mm f/5-6.3 Di LD (IF) at some stage.

This new lens is equipped with Vibration Compensation (VC) and speedy Ultrasonic Silent Drive (USD) which were both missing in the 200-500 mm model as well being shorter at the focal length. It also features the latest eBAND and BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection) coating to help suppress flare and ghosting to achieve high class image quality.

The early marketing images captured by a blogger and available on the Tamron website are quite sharp and impressive. It however is quite early to conclude how the lens will perform in extreme conditions and low light. Though the lens is designed for Full Frame, it can be used with APS-C format DSLR cameras.

The lens was recently showcased at the French photo show, le Salon de la photo. No official date for worldwide shipping is announced as yet, the lens will be available for Nikon, Canon and Sony mounts.

Lens Specification:

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Red Arrows displays a spectacular aerial show in kuwait

The Red Arrows displayed a spectacular aerial show at the Marina Crescent, Kuwait amid to the thousands of crowd who were spellbound and mesmerized as the Red Hawk with white and blue strips roared the sky and made formation sorties.

The air force aerobatic team of nine men lit up the sky displaying rolls, flying in formation and finally creating a smoke trails in the shape of a heart with an arrow piercing through it.

The Red Arrows currently flies BAE Systems’ Hawk aircraft, and comprises nine display pilots, all of whom are from front-line squadrons. Next year is the 50th display season for the Team, based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, UK and which, since formation, has performed more than 4,500 displays in 54 different countries.

It would have been great if the event would have been over the weekend as many could have attended. I thanked myself, skipping from work and reaching the venue almost in time. I’m not sure if the air show was reduced in time as the initial announcement was scheduled for a hour, but the event curtained in 40 minutes.

Check out the images below taken by Nikon D600 with Sigma 120-400mm f4.5-5.6 DG APO OS HSM

Update: You Tube video added.

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Events & Activities / News 5

RAF Red Arrows Airshow in Kuwait

Red-Arrows-display The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows Air Show came to an end on Thursday 21st November, in Dubai as part of the major Middle East tour. The men clad in Red uniform performed during the recent concluded Dubai Air Show.

The air force aerobatic team of nine men lit up the sky around the iconic Burj Al Arab with a trail of smoke in the form of a heart, leaving the watching public all along the city in awe.

The team is also expected to perform at Al Ain and in Abu Dhabi, both in the United Arab Emirates and in Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

The team will be performing tomorrow afternoon in Kuwait close to the Marina Crescent.

It is hoped thousands of people will watch the Red Arrows during the five-week tour of the region. Those at the displays will see the Team’s distinctive red jets perform a series of precision formations and dynamic loops and rolls.

Officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows represent the United Kingdom and have been thrilling crowds, at home and overseas, since the 1960’s.

Date: 26th November, 2013
Venue: Marina Crescent
Time: Between 3:00 – 4:00 pm

The provisional display schedule for the Red Arrows Middle East Tour 2013 as mentioned on their website is below – this is subject to change.

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Sigma announces 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM

Sigma announces 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM “Art” lens to the company’s Art series of lenses designed to offer high image quality. Based on Sigma Press release the SIGMA 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM meets these requirements and is the standard zoom lens offering stable and fine image quality from wide to mid-telephoto range. It has a combination of fixed aperture and a good zoom ratio that is kept as high as possible. Many simulations were carried out before achieving this goal, and made the specification compatible with 35mm full size image sensors. This lens incorporates the OS function and minimizes camera shake effectively.

Here are some of the main feature and specification

Lens Construction: 19 elements in 14 groups
Dimensions (Diameter x Length): 3.5in x 4.3in
Weight: 885g / 31.2oz
Minimum focusing distance: 45cm /17.7in
OS (Optical Stabilizer) functionality
Filter size: 82mm
Maximum magnification ratio: 1:4.6
Angle of view (35mm equivalent): 84.1°-23.3°
HSM delivers high AF speed and quiet performance
Offers F/4 brightness throughout the zoom range
Super Multi-Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting
Rounded 9-blade diaphragm
Mount conversion service available
Sigma USB Dock compatible

The lens is set to hit the streets in November. The 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM will be offered for Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Sigma cameras. Pricing has not yet been set.

Sigma has been lately producing some impressive lenses, the 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM “A” series is an award wining sharp lens, the 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM “S” series has received good reviews.

It would be interesting to see how this lens perform against the Nikon AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR and the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM

Download the copy of the Press Release [here]

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Star Trail Photography

ShutterXpose organised Star Trail Photography and Steel Wool painting (one of the spectacular form of light painting) workshop for it’s members. The weather was perfect and we planned for a long stay at the desert followed by finger licking BBQ dinner arranged by our members. The whole experience was quite successful and lived upto its expectation.

In this post, I would discuss on Star Trail Photography. I plan to post on Steel Wool photography soon.

Photographing a Star Trail is highly rewarding as well a challenge, but with bit of patience the whole experience would be fascinating. The challenge here is you don’t know exactly what the photograph will look especially if you are an amateur and have no previous experience shooting in the dark. The streaks of light which you see in the image here is the light left behind on the sensor from the stars as it travels across the sky with a camera on long exposure. The images which you capture are stationary stars and the rotation of the earth that makes them spin.

If you are planning for star trail photography, you need to find a place typically at the outskirts of the city, so as to be away from the city lights and smoke pollution. Check the calendar to find a day with a moonless night, you can use several smartphone apps like Moon Free or Moon Calendar to help you around.

There are two different approaches to do Star Trail Photography.

One method is to have a single shot, where you mount the camera on a Tripod, compose the shot, dial the shutter to the Bulb mode and keep the shutter open for almost an hour so that the stars create a trail as the earth rotates on its own axis. However the biggest concern is the digital noise due to high ISO and certain cases sensor heat-up in lower end camera models.

The second method is to take multiple frames and “Stack” them later using computer application, which is my preferred method.

Mount the camera on a sturdy tripod, compose the shot, dial the shutter to 20-30 second duration and capture as many as 100 or 150 or even more frames by using a Remote Shutter Release cable so as to avoid any shake, if you have a Mirror-up option in the camera you may use this option so as to capture almost sharp images. Shooting short exposures means less noise, you can shoot with a wide aperture and a faster ISO so that you will be able to capture more stars than the previous method. It is advisable to know the limitation of your camera to handle noise.

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Knowledge Base / Photo Shoots & Workshop 2

Red Bull Car Park Drift – 2013

CPD_KV_FLAGS The Red Bull Car Park Drift is back following the tremendous success of the past three years, you shall be entertained to the one-of-a-kind drifting spectacle and exhilarating performances. Come out and see who will be crowned the Kuwaiti King of Drift in one of the most amazing motor sport spectacles that the region has ever seen.

The competition which is taking place at Parking Lot 4 of the Kuwait International Fair is sponsored by Chevrolet and Bridgestone and in collaboration with the “Quarter Mile” club in Kuwait. It returns once again to provide motor sport lovers in addition to the thrilling show performances, a chance to experience high speed and utmost suspense.

This would be a great opportunity for photographer to capture high speed action. The last I attended was in 2011

Venue: Kuwait International Fair (Parking Lot 4), Mishref

Date: 04th October, 2013

Time: 03:00 pm – 05:00 pm

For more information you can visit their website [Here]

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Celebrate World Photography Day

World Photography Day is all about celebrating photography. Whether you see yourself as an Amateur, Hobbyist or Professional, August 19th is a day to embrace your love of photography.

In 2009, Korske Ara, a passionate young photographer from Australia launched the World Photography Day Project. At 21 years old, Korske had the dream to unite local and global communities in a worldwide celebration of photography.

On August 19th 2010, World Photography Day hosted it’s first global online gallery. With 270 photographs shared and website visitors from over 100 countries, World Photography Day was born.

This history of celebration demonstrates that the passion behind photography is the true foundation of World Photography Day. This website and the project Korske started is igniting and inspiring that existing passion of photographers across the globe.

You can get connected to other photographers or read more about World Photography Day [here] as well as join the growing community at their Facebook page [link]

Picture Credit: Prashanth Shetty Agari Photograph during ShutterXpose Portrait Workshop.

My sincere gratitude to ShutterXpose members and their continuous support. Keep clicking !!!

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