TIPUSIM.com in Jerusalem
TIPUSIM.com in Jerusalem is now featured on The 37th Frame!
October 20, 2009
Felix Lupa; The Dark Side of Tel-Aviv
http://www.flickr.com/photos/felixlupa/show/
Really great stuff!!
October 16, 2009
I Love the Weekends
Having the family “whole” isn’t something to be taken for granted
Whole
October 10, 2009
Point Of View 2009
Well, it’s not Perpignan and there’s still a lot to learn from Visa Pour l’Image, but the setting in the old Jaffa 1892 train station is fantastic and it’s a great start for what I hope will be the annual International Israeli Photo Festival - Point Of View
The two exhibitions I found most interesting were Robert Capa’s prints of the 1948 Tel-Aviv coast with Altalena smoking in the background and newly-formed IDF troops taking cover in an exchange of gunfire with Irgun fighters.
The second was Francesco Zizola’s “Born Somewhere”.
It’s great the curators were able to bring these fine exhibitions to Tel-Aviv.
But the best part of it all was closing the day walking along the coast to the Fishermen’s Restaurant in Jaffa Port with my best friend and love of my life!
(the shrimps in garlic butter and wine weren’t too bad either).
September 28, 2009
G.M.B. Akash
Extraordinary documentary work by GMB Akash!
© GMB Akash
Truly enjoyed close to an hour of viewing his projects! Especially “Born to Work”.
September 27, 2009
Atonement
On the Eve of Yom Kippur David Sakargi seeks penance performing the ancient ritual of Kapparot on:
September 17, 2009
So Proud of You!
You fought to get there!
You fought to succeed!
And you did it big time!
95 out of 100 in the final exam! One of the top 15% singled out for command and training of the next generations, once you gain some real-world experience!
I know it wasn’t easy! I know how much effort you put into it! I admire your decisiveness and resilience!
I am also grateful you allowed me to be there for you when you needed me!
Good luck to you princess!! I am so proud of you!!
September 13, 2009
Jungle Book
A physically intensive hour and a half in the humidity of the basement on a warm Jerusalem evening left me quite exhausted. Then, post processing for correct white balance was a horror and I cannot swear to the accuracy of color rendition. But the bottom line is there are a few frames I am proud of;
The Martef Theatre in the play Jungle Book by Rudtard Kipling performing in a wine cellar at a shelter for young women at risk. The Martef (Basement) Theatre was established in 2006 as a social/business venture by the girls at Bet Hatzabarit Shelter. A school for drama was established in the wine cellar of an old Templer tavern. The actors are borderline youth.
The goals of the school are two; use of drama for self-empowerment of its actors and the creation of quality theater based on the highest artistic and professional standards. Professional teachers are employed. Student/actors must pass auditions to be accepted and undergo training in drama, voice development, physical abilities and more.
The Martef interpretation of Jungle Book is based on Kipling’s phylosophical aspects and tries to deal with fear, violence and death. It is the result of a year long study conducted by the students/actors and their view on maturing in a violent society.
This is voluntary work on my part, to what I think is a very worthy cause. The Martef Theatre uses my photos for promoting their shows and selling tickets – that’s what keeps them alive!
And me … well, I get a lot of satisfaction meeting these kids and even a magazine cover shot last year.
September 13, 2009
$6,000 Profit
Had I won 35,000,000 NIS in the LOTTO last night, Leica would have been at least $6,000 ahead this morning.
Since I didn’t win the LOTTO prize I am at a $6,000 profit!!
Read David Farkas’s excellent M9 review here
September 7, 2009
EF 35mm f/2 – real world impressions
Doing “Bring him home!” featuring Ariella Rosen on TIPUSIM.com in Jerusalem I used only one lens on the 5D – the EF 35mm f/2. Why the fixation?
A couple years ago I was interviewed on the Photography Corner Blog and asked what equipment I have in my camera bag. My answer was “I don’t carry one” – a camera bag. I hate carrying things that weigh me down and limit my mobility. I hate changing lens on the camera in the middle of a shoot (paranoid about sensor dust perhaps). I hate heavy equipment. That’s one of the factors that lead me to the Canon G10 about a year. That’s one of the reasons rumors of the new full-frame sensor Leica M9 are causing me to wake in the middle of the night in horror – or maybe it’s the Leica’s expected price tag – something like a small car. I want small and light equipment!
Therefore my new Canon EF 35mm f/2. It has become my main lens (previously Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS). It’s small, light, and reasonably well-built. Doing “Bring him home!” there were three things I wanted to check out; sharpness, wide aperture, and fixed 35mm field-of-view usability for my type of photography (aspiring for close and intimate).
I shot in Aperture Priority full-time, between f/2.2 – f/5.6 if memory serves me correctly. I was worried about shooting wide open at f/2 and missing the focus point, therefore f/2.2. And in situations where more depth of field was necessary I rolled the dial to f/4 or f/5.6. Bright sunlight in pre-noon August gave me shutter speeds of up to 1/4,000, not something I am used to. And as I shoot several frames in continuous mode in these situations the shutter speeds guaranteed no motion blur.
I am very impressed with the lens sharpness, detail resolution and contrast!
Wide aperture and shallow depth-of-field – do not be afraid of f/2! That’s my conclusion. I feel a few of the frames could have benefited from even a shallower field-of-depth.
And in regard to the fixed 35mm field-of-view usability – no problem! It does take getting used to and several times my left hand instinctively went searching for the zoom ring but eventually I learned to allow my feet to do the zooming.
I would conclude in saying that the only thing I miss is the flexibility of a zoom lens but the advantages of size and weight far out-weigh the limitations of a fixed 35mm in most of the situations that I shoot. Bottom line is that the EF 35mm f/2 stays on the 5D … at least until the Leica M9 ;-)
September 5, 2009
Keren Avrashi
Following “Bring Him Home!” on http://TIPUSIM.com in Jerusalem and the gracious permission I received from Keren Avrashi to use her song “What will be?” in the soundtrack, I also received an invitation to Keren’s performance last Thursday night at the Tzuzamen Bar in Tel-Aviv. Dorit and I met Sharon, Keren’s lovely PR lady and manager, at the bar entrance at the beginning of what proved to be a magical, musical, evening.
Keren is a wonderfully talented musician with a voice that pierces your heart, especially at a very small and intimate performance with a couple of beers. Accompanied by her husband and baby boy, and accompanied on stage by Udi Blum (guitar) and Nir Vagdanski (accordion), Keren sang beautifully and made the drive to Tel-Aviv well worth it!
Before singing “What will be?”, Keren honored me by mentioning my use of the song and dedicated it to Gilad Shalit’s quick return. Amen!
Keren, I wish you all the best! Much success and happiness! and thank you, both for the use of your song and for a wonderful evening!
August 29, 2009
Ariella Rosen: “Bring him home!”
Amidst yet another wave of rumors regarding an anticipated prisioner swap with Hamas and the possible release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, Ariella Rosen does not allow herself to develop expectations and leads a Friday demonstration, on the occasion of Gilad’s 23rd birthday, calling the PM to “bring him home!”
A touching new profile on TIPUSIM.com in Jerusalem
August 13, 2009
Photography related?
Kind of!
Photography is drawing with light, isn’t it?
by NuFormer.com
August 12, 2009
EF 35mm f/2 – takes getting used to
Relatively inexpensive, well built, very convenient to carry on the 5D, but it does take getting used to…
Mamila, Jerusalem, August 2009 - ISO3200 f/4 1/15sec
and I intend to get used to it!
August 6, 2009
Store Front N.Y.
A nice video by Greg DeLiso of MunroviaPictures featuring James and Karla Murray:
July 30, 2009
Tisha Be’Av – Mourning the Loss of The Temple
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
On the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, Tisha Be’Av (Hebrew), Jews all over the world mourn the destruction of the two Holy Temples; the First Temple built by King Solomon was destroyed by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Jews were dispersed and exiled all over the world for almost the next 2,000 years. Other tragic events are also tied to this date; God told the Children of Israel that the oldest generation would not enter the Land, the city of Betar was captured and thousands of Jews were killed in 135 CE, the Roman emperor built a pagan temple on the site of the Holy Temple and rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city in 136 CE, Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492 began on Tisha Be’Av, World War I began and the beginning of the deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka death camp.
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be’Av is a day of fast, of prayer, of reflection, and of reading the Book of Lamentations. Thousands of Jews from all over Israel visit the last remnant of the Temple – The Western Wall (also called The Wailing Wall), exhibiting symbols of mourning; sitting on the ground or on low stools, not wearing leather shoes, not washing or bathing and refraining from any display of physical affection.
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
Tisha Be'Av, Jerusalem, July 2009
July 24, 2009
Private Ponpon
So proud of you!
Tel-Hashomer Military Draft, July 2009
Tel-Hashomer Military Draft, July 2009
Tel-Hashomer Military Draft, July 2009
Tel-Hashomer Military Draft, July 2009
Tel-Hashomer Military Draft, July 2009
and then…
Jerusalem, July 2009
Jerusalem, July 2009
and now I have two! or is it three?
Jerusalem, July 2009
