beautiful places and sights

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Luis Fabini: Horsemen of the Americas

Born in Uruguay and currently based in New York city, Luis Fabini is a photographer who spends his time between South America, the United States and Europe.

Having had a camera thrust in his hands as a child, Luis hasn't felt the need formal training in photography, and initially worked as a travel guide/photographer in South America. He produced documentary films and is now a fashion and travel photographer.

He has been working on his project "Horsemen of the Americas" since 2004, which is on his website.

In the United States and Canada, these horsemen are known as cowboys; in Mexico they are called charros, in Ecuador as chagras, in Colombia and Venezuela as llaneros, in Peru as chalanes and qorilazos, in Chile they are called the huasos, Brazil has its pantaneiros and vaqueiros, and Uruguay and Argentina’s they're known as gauchos.

The above photograph is of Brazilian vaqueiros dressed in handmade protective leather clothing. Such clothing is necessary for roping cows amidst the bush's sharp thorns.

via PDN Photo of the Day.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

New Tascam DR-05 Digital Audio Recorder

Good news for budget-minded multimedia photographers! Tascam has released the DR-05 portable audio recorder for $99.99, and is aiming straight at the comparable Zoom H1. It records WAV or MP3 files at rates up to 24-bit/96kHz to microSD or microSDHC cards, and has integrated microphones and speaker. It's powered by two AA batteries or an optional AC adapter. It sports a threaded 1/4 x 20 mount for convenient tripod mounting.

The Tascam DR-05 can be seen on and ordered from B&H Photo-Video (which offers free shipping on this product).

More details of this new entrant in the budget handheld audio recorders can be found on its manufacturer's website.

While I'm still happy with my Marantz PMD620, I am on the lookout for a replacement that's smaller, lighter and that would take less space.

I should also note that there were some reports that the Zoom H1 had battery longevity issues.

Charlotte Rush-Bailey: Sufis of Gujarat

A second-time participant in my photo-expeditions (Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat, and in my just completed In Search of Sufis of Gujarat), Charlotte Rush-Bailey is a photographer who migrated to the world of photography from a corporate career that covered three decades of marketing and communications positions in a variety of global industries including energy, financial services, media, conservation, technology and professional services. This gave her opportunities to work with people all over the world, and to learn to appreciate cultural nuances and the influences of socio-political forces.

She's the third participant to send me samples of her work during the photo`expedition. The top photograph was made at a the dargah of Gayaban Shah Pir, a Sufi saint buried in Rajkot. It's of pilgrims/devotees at the shrine who, since they are women, cannot enter the actual tomb of the saint.

The middle photograph is of a mujjawir and a woman pilgrim at the dargah of the Sufi saint Hazrat Saydi Ali Mira Datar. The mujjawirs claim to be direct descendants of the saint, and therefore make it a business to bless the thousands of devotees who come to the shrine on a weekly bases.

The lower photograph is of a Jain pilgrim at the holiest Jain temple in Palitana. Charlotte knows of my preference for horizontals, but included this one amongst the rest of her submissions, expecting that I wouldn't choose it for the blog. I've proven her wrong. It's a lovely photograph.

Charlotte published two books ‘Soul Survivors', a tribute to the people of the Sahel and Kutch Classic, a collection of photographs of her first foray in the Gujarati Kutch area.