Off the usual path

I do miss Europe. I do particularly regret having missed a majority of my summer, having spent it in the monsoon rainy season here in Asia. Whilst I am learning a considerable ammount, and the longer I spend here the further I see photographic oportunities arise before me, there is something particularly special about Europe during the summer. Its not just Spain, but rather the UK, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Tangier, Casablanca (I know they dont technically constitute Europe but they do border the mediterranean), France...They always say, "I'm going to spend my summer in Europe," or ,"Remember that summer in Europe?" There is just something magical about it. In my last days,  as hectic as they were I took the oportunity to take a drive with my brother down the coastal highway, till we found some random exit, and made our way down to the beach. The sun was just beginning to set, and I thought rather than sit at home, it would be the perfect oportunity to get out and do some shooting! And boy am I glad I did.
















Of course shooting at sunset is always an interesting adventure. How long do you spend on the sun? When do you catch the Sun? When is that sweet spot where you can catch the most ammount of detail? When is that shot that you take Just after everyone else is finishing shooting the sunset which blows out half their image? One of the first thing's I learned about photography is that when the sun is setting, theres always a "sweet" moment slightly later than most might consider which give the best dynamic range and colours. The shot which sets you aside as a "pro" photographer. However, just because you're sitting around waiting for it, doesn't mean you cant keep shooting. As a the Sun begins to set, you often get the best kind of light to shoot things in. One of the important things people forget during a sunset is to turn around! You never know what magic the light from a setting sun will bring...just dont forget to look back at the sun when its just about to finish dipping beyond that horizon...














Of course a sunset was not all we found at the beach. The building in the following image as I discovered was one of a series of abandoned railway stations from years ago (back in the days of Franco I beleive) which went along the coast from one end of Malaga to the Other. I have made a note of this, and am determined to seek out these other stations my next summer back home.





I hope you've enjoyed the images and you can find the full flickr set here

Salon Del Comic Benalmadena Pics Part 2!

So! Minus a few exceptions this is about 90% of the Salon pics! Enjoy! :D. I'll also be making the pics available on Photobucket where they can be downloaded, due to the fact that the Images on flickr are unlabelled and thus undownloadable due to security reasons. :)

Aqui estan las ultimas fotos del salon de comic, con la excepcion de algunas son mas o menos el noventa-noventa y cinco porciento de las fotos! que disfruten! Ademas tambien estare subiendo las fotos al Fotobucket donde si se podran bajar, como sabran en flickr tengo desactivado que se pueda bajar mis fotos por razones de seguridad :)

I'd also appreciate it if you all could point me in the direction of getting in touch with the following cosplayers as I'd like to make sure that they get images of their cosplays as well as arranging private photoshoots with the cosplays. Thanks all!

Tambien lo agradeceria si alguien conociese algunas de las siguentes cosplayers que se pongan en contacto conmigo por favor, me gustaria entregarle las fotos en calidad alta, y ver si les interesa unas sessiones de fotos privadas con sus cosplays. Seria una gran ayuda si me podriais ayudar! Gracias :)

Salon De Comic Pics!

At long last here they are, the pics (most of them anyways) of the Salon de comic de Benalmadena 09. Due to the number I have they will be uploaded in two batches, the first having made their way online yesterday (if you keep an eye on my flickr you may have gotten a sneak preview of them already!) and the rest will probably find their way to flickr over the coming weekend, leaving only the few stragglers that require that little extra time to make sure their presentable, or exceptionally impressive rather than just cool!

As for the Salon, I'm sure most of the folks have already blogged bout it, but no harm in putting down my own thoughts on it. 

This year the Salon (Comicon) Makes its way into its fourth Iteration, and appears to be picking up momentum and supporters by the year!. The main hall was found to be considerably larger this year despite many stalls and presenters having cut back on the "glam" due to the economic downturn. This however resulted in ample space to move about in, making it incredibly easy to speak to and take pictures of the multitudes of cosplayers around. One of the most prominent groups last year also had their stand cut down considerably, Radikal 3D, who understandably chose to spend the majority of their Salon budget on a new book they have published starring Mister Mystery. 

(the technical side)

All in all it was  good turnout! Especially with the increased number of quality cosplayers this  made it a shooting heaven for me, only to be quickly downturned by the clunky Canon Flash System (or lack thereof). Being unable to shoot TTL because of the flash's inability to speak to each other left me going totally manual thanks to my trusty pocket wizards guarantying any kind of off camera light, however having to constantly adjust my manual power on the flash whilst compensating for F stop and balancing shutter speeds so that any outdoor shots would result in a pleasing fill in effect + Highlighting effect without burning out the background (In fact if anything I wanted it in most cases to remain one to two stops below my subject) was an absolute nightmare resulting in over excessive post production (hence my long publishing time). As I continue to use this system more and more, every shot sends me a little more in the direction of Nikon and their lovely CLF system. Something I hope to correct in the coming month. And now for the Images (Batch 1)

En Espanol (esta vez la traduci con el google translator asi que pido disculpas por un espanol malisimo)

Por fin aquí están las fotos (la mayoría de ellos de todos modos) del Salón de cómic de Benalmádena 09. Debido a el número que tengo, se han subido en dos grupos, el primero de ellos ya se encuentra oline(Los que estan suscrito a mi Flickr ya los habran visto :P) Y el resto probablemente se encontraran en flickr duranto los próximos dias, dejando sólo los pocos extras que requieren un poco más de tiempo para asegurarme de que son presentable, o excepcionales en lugar de simplemente una foto impresionante.

Me Imagino que la mayoria ya habeis leido los reportajes sobre el salon, pero bueno aki pongo el mio. 

Este año, el Salón  hace su camino en su cuarta iteración, y parece estar creciendo cada año! La sala principal era bastante mas grande  este año a pesar de los puestos de venta y los presentadores habiendo reducido su "glamour", debido a la recesión económica. Sin embargo, esto dio lugar a un amplio espacio para moverse, por lo que hizo increíblemente fácil de hablar y tomar fotos de la multitud de de cosplayers. Uno de los grupos mas destacados del año pasado también tuvo que reducir su stand considerablemente(Radikal 3D), que, comprensiblemente, optó por pasar la mayor parte de su presupuesto de Salón en un nuevo libro que han publicado protagonizada Mister Misterio. 

(la parte técnica no la pude traducir asi que esta arriba en Ingles xD. Al que no le importe si lo traduces dejalo en un Post aki abajo para el que lo quiera leer xD)

Salon Del Comic Benalmadena! Edicion Española!

Bienvenidos a todos a mi blog! Acaba de terminar el segundo dia del Salon y si que diferencia hubo entre el Viernes y hoy! El viernes fue un dia un poco mas relajaillos, con no mucha gente y una cantidad adequada de Cosplayers(Bastantes para ocuparme unas horillas en sacar fotos :P). Hoy Sabado esos numeros diria, hasta triplicaron. Claro yo mas feliz que ninguno ahi con mi camara y el flash disparando cosplayers como un ruso armado con una AK y varias botellas de Vodka xD. Siendo mi segundo Salon de Benal, fue un placer encontrarme con gente que no he visto desde el año pasado y renaudar el contacto con gente con quien la habia perdido.

Al tema de las fotos, las estare subiendo en los proximos dias a mi Flickr, y possiblemente un formato downloadable. Sino los que quieran bajarse sus fotos solo deben dejarme un commentario, o mandarme un email con las referencias de las fotos y se las mando directo al email. Para los que quieran mantenerse al dia con las fotos que voy subiendo, pueden suscribirse al RSS feed de la web, or si tienen blogger pues por su cuenta. Ademas de eso estoy en Facebook como Sharan Balani, y ademas en mi Fan Page- Sharan Balani Photographer donde habitualmente mando un update por FB cada vez que pongo un Post. Tambien estoy en Twitter y Deviantart donde tambien hago avisos sobre novedades y cambios al blog.

No dudeis en dejarme algun mensajito! Y espero que disfruteis las fotos!

Catching up

Prior to my trip to the United States I had attended the Benalmadena Anime/Comic/Roleplaying convention in Malaga, Spain. I find cons are always a fun and interesting event as there are always people dressed up as cosplayers more than happy to pose for photos



Although I've been to cons before, this was my first one as a photographer resulting in more challenges than I had anticipated, and coming to realisations that some things could have been done easier than the way I had done it. However its always a learning experience. I took the oportunity to get to know people within the communities making it, of course easier for me to get what I needed done for future cons.



My next challenge is to attend one of the UK cons, which are considerably bigger, and of course brimming with quality cosplay's just waiting to be photographed. I was planning to go to the upcomming london expo, but with recent developments I may find myself that weekend in Madrid attendind a photo marathon. We'll see how things turn out

Wet ´n´wild

I´m sure many a photographer out there has gone the extra length to get that image they so desperately want to have just right, wether its trekking through rain, hail, sleet and snow in alaska to caputre polar bears, or hanging upside down from a lamp post so that your subject is not framed by other people taller than you when youre hundreds of meters away, or running around avoiding local security and attempting to setup, shoot and take down an on location fashion shoot before they return, a true photographer will do what me must for that image.

Although my stories dont quite compare, i think beeing chest deep in the sea, in one hand my flash gun, wrapped around my neck so that i can support my telephoto lens and camera on my elbow to shoot shoot and light my model on some rocks in the sea deffinetly constitues as a dangerous adventure!

Of course most people at this point start thinking what kind of a nutjob runs into the sea with over a thousand dollars worth of equipment. Well my only answer to that would be a photographer. And for the most part, if things go as planned (or even if they dont) the pictures that end up as a result of the shoot will have any photographer tell you that the risks are always worth the picture.

(i´m still processing the pictures i took on the rock, but i will deff include one in my next post.)



The picture below was another one that i took on the beach, however there was an old house nearby with some interesting grafiti which i thought would contrast well with the outfit my model had chosen, although more details on that in my next post)

And as for the lighting the top image was natural light from teh rising sun (this shot was done at 8am)

and the one below i had a canon flash right next to the model camera right

and a flash next to me camera left toned down to just complemetn the natural light as fill.