John Roshka Photography

Tomorrow, on the 14th of October a sale exhibition will take place in the center of Chisinau, capital of Moldova. The occasion is the Day of Chisinau.

The exhibition will be held in front of Opera and Ballet Theatre and all the money from sale will go to an orphanage. Works of many photographers will be displayed, including 3 of my works.

The works to be displayed and available for purchasing with a signature on them:

Faith

-2 more images->

Chisinau Central Market is the most vivid place in Chisinau. Each day there thousands of people attending it.

In the beginnig of the XX century, the famous “eating place” was formerly situated from the side of Armyanskaya Street, from where the market starts today. You can always find fresh vegetables and all kind of fruits during summer here. Peasants are coming with their own products from villages with hope of selling it at the central market.

Eating Place: http://kishinev.info/center_photos_en/111114

All the photos were done with the camera from the hip. It is a new technique for me, but I started to love it. It gives a moment of reality and honesty. People become interesting and real, the way the are.

So, here are some tips I found useful during this session:

1. Front focus. A lot of photographers are using back focus (using AE-lock button for focusing). I would do that for hip shooting, it’s not confortable.

2. Using a wide lens. I was using Tamron 17-55mm, 2.8. It worked.

3.Use of perspective. One should his/her camera very well. To know the field of view, how much and what the camera is able to cover. This is important because all the situations appear suddenly and chose the point of view is essential.

4. Be lucky…or prepared.

Images are also available as slideshow HERE

Images are available for sale from RedBubble. I’m in the process of adding them. If someone’s interested in buying the digital file, please contact me.

Enjoy:

1.

-More Photos->

The first thing I’d like to “say” after long time of pause in posting is: I’m sorry…I hadn’t updated my blog regularly. I’ve been a bit busy with personal problems, but also had a trip of 2 weeks in Turkey. The photos will come pretty soon.

This post is about the Mondi Paralleli Exhibition that will take place in Italy. It’s a presentation of different photographs of different photographers and artists from Moldova, including me…

Here’s the information about the exhibition:
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Chisinau has several big malls: Megapolis, Jumbo, SunCity…

And there is another one, MallDova. It situated near a bridge that connects the center of Chisinau with Botanica region. It is an amazing, modern architectural construction and it provides a wide range of services: from beauty salons to fast food, restaurants and leisure.

-Enter MallDova->

Five Minutes.

After work I was going to the park…as usual. Sometimes there are great subjects to take photographs of, sometimes is just great to walk. That day was a religious, national holiday, Boboteaza (.rom. Next post will about that) and I was heading to the cathedral. On my way I noticed a lonely guy on a bench. I liked the way he was dressed and his face. He also like to look at everybody and had a great silluette. After passing near him, I started to plan a point of view and to shoot some pictures. I went behind a tree, got my Tamron 70-300 mm, 4-5.6 and pressed the shutter. It was during 5 minutes, but at home looking at those images I realised that I captured more than usual 5 minutes. I see personality, interest and mistery in his behaviour.

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Grigore Vieru – “One of the major writers in contemporary Romanian literature”

It’s too bad that all I could do in relation to this great man was reading few of his books while I was a kid and taking some photos at his funeral.

“His poetry is characterized by vivid natural scenery, patriotism, as well as a venerated image of the sacred mother”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigore_Vieru

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxgf46Gjck0

http://www.azi.md/en/story/983

When the news about his death was announced, the country fell into a deep sorrow and compasion. Everyone know him, big and small, young and old. Hid poems were full of love, all kind of love, and for everyone…love for mother, country, home, traditions, roots, place you were born…

-The Images->

My source of inspiration are sites like http://1x.com/  and http://www.photodom.com/ 

I’m always impressed by the images posted on them and wonder how do they do it and how do they end with such a result. And sometimes, I wonder from where they started, how did the image looked originally?…

I decided to write more posts about this issue, but related to my photography.

Just examples of before and after with enumeration of the actions made.

From this:

-To this->

I got a new wide lens.

Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF]

I recieved it yesterday and made some testing shots. The only one I managed to process by now is the Dancing Trees image.

The lens met my expectations. It’s an everyday to use lens, good for landscapes, street, urban and other stuff. I like wide angles for the perspective they give.

Dancing Trees

I used PerfectRAW for converting. Black and White in Photoshop and masking the green. Added vignette.

Enjoy.

A mini serie of 3 photos representing an old lady passing the street in Chisinau, Moldova.

A small project that includes this images you can find here: http://www.behance.net/johnroshka/Frame

I represented differences and the mood the images show after processing in comparison to the original state.

On the big car on the right it says: Piine, which mean Bread in Romanian.

Preparing

More processing the images more one realises the infinite possibilities and the beauty of the techniques used. Ealrier I was picking a photo for processing and after looking a bit at it, I chose the technique used, color or black and white and so on, but never tried to use both techniques (color and black and white) at one image. 

In the case of Silent Rock I was sure it will not be good for black and white because it is somehow flat, a lot of texture and only color separates what from what. But yesterday after giving a try I realised that it doesn’t matter if it is Color or Black and White, it matters to use the right workflow for presenting the beauty of the moment. Both techniques have their varieties. To use and to find the appropriate one is a must.

I’m still working on it, but the most important thing is that I understood something…

Enjoy.

Silent Rock Canon EOS D60 Canon EF 50 mm 1.4

Orheiul Vechi, Moldova

Canon EOS D60, Canon EF 50 mm, 1.4

Enjoy.

This is a view from the Monastery altitude from Orheiul Vechi complex. It was taken with Canon EOS D60, Canon EF 50 mm, 1.4. I liked the curvy river, the cows far away and some people fishing. Yeah, it’s pretty hard to find them… Enjoy.

This is a rosehib bush with the Raut river on background. The same place. I want to make a calendar with the view of Orheiul Vechi, so you’ll see some of them on my blog on my way processing them for the calendar. The calendar will be available at RedBubble and I’ll post a link as soon as it is done.

The Rosehip Bush:

Not many of you heard about our, Moldovan canyon. Yes, we have some of them, mainly small, but this one is really big. The river Raut has caved the limestone for centuries making this majestic beauty of nature. Many tribes representing many civilizations found home on this territory leaving it with ancient foundings, turkish baths and other moments full of history. This link will help to get into the atmosphere of the place.

http://orhei.dnt.md/en.html

Thank you.

Orheiul Vechi

Processed with PerfectRAW and Hugin and PS.

I got an email about this event and was very curious about it. Decided to get my cameras, the Pentax K100D with its 18-55 mm and the Canon EOS D60 with it’s 80- 200 mm EF lens. Found the place pretty easily because the University where the competition took place wasn’t far from the Chisinau Circus, inside the Sports University. When I got there the play already had started. There were not a lot of fans, I was greeted by a person who gave me a small flag. It was saying about the “Motivatie” NGO which is organizing all kind of events for people with disabilities. I was very amazed and pleased that these kind of organizations exist. Found a place for shooting and guess what…my 80-200 mm lens is not working…when I mounted it to the Canon it was giving a kind of noise from the motor and the camera showed the Error 99. Well, what the hell, started to shoot with the 18-55 mm which wasn’t very amuzing and professional..

Here is what I ended up with:

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Pentax K100D, PerfectRAW, CS3

This was taken in the main square in Chisinau. The columns belong to a bell tower which is in front of the main Cathedral.