Canon 5D Mark II: ATR6250 Microphone

Further to my post on microphones for the Canon 5D Mark II, and having decided to add one to my audio equipment, I walked over to B&H (see note below) today and bought the Audio-Technica ATR6250 Stereo Condenser Video/Recording Microphone.

This is an extremely affordable stereo microphone, and I thought it would be ideal for use either on my Canon 5D Mark II or with my Marantz audio recorder. It has a bunch of accessories, most of which I don't think I'll use, except for the hot shoe adapter.

In my earlier post, B&H recommended a couple of microphones such as the Rode VideoMic, Stereo VideoMic, and the Sennheiser MKE 400. The latter in particular seems to be quite popular with photographers, however it costs $200 whereas my new ATR6250 is only $32. I compared the specifications, and what I made of the differences were not enough to warrant the increased cost as far as I am concerned...except for the coiled cord (which the ATR doesn't have).

Naturally, I will continue to record audio with my Marantz PMD620, but use the microphone when I need to shoot video since the Canon 5D Mark II built-in microphone just doesn't cut it. I will post my impressions as soon as I can.

* I'm not affiliated with B&H in any way. The Audio-Technica ATR6250 is also available at many other stores, on-line and otherwise. I only mentioned B&H because that's where I got it.

CNN: Haridwar Kumbh Mela

CNN brings us this short video, which was produced by Alex Zolbert, who traveled by train north of Delhi to witness and photograph the Dvitya Shahi Snan, or Second Royal Bath, on March 15, at the Ardh Kumbh Mela.

Photographs by Palani Mohan are included in the piece. Palani's photographic career started at the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, and since then he has been based in London, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and now Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia.

As I wrote on my earlier posts about the Hardiwar Kumbh Mela, exuberant hyperbole (and imaginative press releases) describe it as the largest gathering of humanity. It is not. The distinction belongs to the Maha Kumbh Mela which occurs after 12 'Purna Kumbh Melas', or after every 144 years. It was held at Allahabad in early 2001, and was attended by over 60 million people, making it the largest gathering in the world. I would also say that, in my opinion and having been to both Allahabad and Hardiwar, that the latter is an unappealing city and its ghats are not photogenic.

Whether it's over-hyped or not, all of the photographers who attended it over the past few weeks had a wonderful time, and captured magnificent images.

G. Welesley Food Court (Kopitiam) at Chai Leng Park, Butterworth

G. Welesley Food Court (N5 23.102 E100 23.567) is located at the junction of Lebuh Kurau 3 and Jalan Kurau, Chai Leng Park, Butterworth. (Always crowded during night time)
We love to come here (night time) because you can get all the Penang local delicacies in this food court. Only some of them have different taste from Penang, anyway...the foods at Penang Island also have different taste among each other...

G. Welesley Food Court at Chai Leng Park, Butterworth

Everytime we visit here, we love to order many different foods on our table...there was no exception this time. Look what we got...Penang Assam Laksa (again!), Penang Char Kuey Teow (again!), Penang Curry Mee (again!), Baked Stingray (Ikan Bakar) and Pork Satay.
The photos below :-

Penang Assam Laksa

Penang Char Kuey Teow

Penang Curry Mee

Baked Fish (Ikan Bakar) 

Pork Satay

Overall we were satisfied with the foods, except...the Pork Satay is very poor, very difficult to chew! The Assam Laksa was marvellous! I felt it's even Better than the stall near by Penang Hill. Curry mee and Char Kuey Teow were above average. Price also reasonable! And it's definitely cheaper than Penang Island!

Foods of this food court, rated : 4/5

Location map of G. Welesley Food Court (Kopitiam) at Chai Leng Park, Butterworth

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POV: Children Should Never Go Hungry

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
The Zocalo, with its cultural activities, is the very heart of Oaxaca, and is a daily magnet for locals and tourists alike. It also attracts vendors of various trinkets, as well as poor children (all of them indigenous...possibly Zapotecs) who attempt to make a few pesos by selling chewing gum. Approaching the restaurants' tables occupied by tourists, these children sometimes shyly ask for left-overs. In fact, that's what three little girls did one evening. We gladly gave them whatever was on our table, and one of us even asked our waiter for a bag to give them half her pizza.

During a festive Guelguetza dance festival of schoolchildren, I looked beyond the colors, music, laughter and frenetic motion, and at the periphery of the stage, saw a Zapotec boy with arms outstretched in askance for fruits from one of the young dancers.

You see, after each dance the young dancers would reach into baskets of fruits, flowers and vegetables, and toss them to an appreciative audience. The Zapotec boy was in that audience, and wanted fruit. Mind you, not for keepsake as perhaps the families wanted, but to eat. However, I also noticed he never reached into the basket full of apricots just inches from him...no, that would be stealing. He just wanted the young dancer to give him one...and he got a fruit.

Not only was I sobered at this sight, but I also read in these unfortunate children's eyes an uncomprehending acceptance that they would never take part in an organized Guelaguetza dance such as the one they were witnessing. I also sensed that they understood that it was so because they were poor and were racially different. They would never wear the colorful Guelaguetza costumes. All this boy could muster was an old over sized baseball cap, and a dirty shirt.

No child should go hungry and no child should beg for food. Ever.

The 500th Google Follower

I saw that my list of Google Followers have now grown to 500! This list is distinct from my Twitter and Facebook followers and friends, or from my subscribers to my newsletters.

To commemorate this milestone, here's an introduction to the work of Karina Joseph, who is my 500th Google Follower.

Karina Joseph is a freelance photographer working in Mumbai, and from what I've seen of her excellent photographs on Flickr, specializes in commercial photography. She also does street photography, as can be seen in this following photograph.

Photo © Karina Joseph-All Rights Reserved
I will keep an eye on my Google Followers, and whenever possible I will post the work of every 100th follower.

Sulawesi Surprise: When the Rain stopped

The rain came to a gradual stop and most of us took the opportunity to hit the streets behind the hotel. I accompanied some ladies to the bank and took the opportunity to change for small notes. The streets were rather empty and quiet and boy, there were many goldsmith shops there and they were run by ethnic Chinese. Those were not stuff for tourists like us, I suppose and was I glad then, when we started our journey to Tana Toraja or Toraja Land. That would be about 310 km away and we would have to get ready for a nine to ten hour drive along a coastal road. There was a promise of the blue water of the Makassar Strait, limestone hills rising from the plain, beautiful rice fields, fish ponds and Buginese villages on the way...Just keep your finger crossed!

Streets of Makassar...

Traveling Tip: Keep your finger crossed!

Penang Bazaar at Penang Road, Penang

Penang Bazaar (N5 25.120 E100 19.899) is located along Penang Road opposite the Mydin Supermarket (it was Cathay Cinema 35 years ago).

Penang Bazaar

When I was a kid, I always follow my parent having their shopping this Penang Bazaar in the late 70s. I can only remember my Mom keep on remind me :"Don't touch this, don't touch that...". Haha! Those day...
Correct me if I'm wrong, this was One of the popular shopping area during the time. Maybe similar to a hypermart today...My Mom love to come here and my Dad will do his shopping in the next building - The Chowrasta Wet Market...
Today, the shops (or stalls) in this building mostly (90%) are selling fabric. It is different from those day, there were many type of stalls around...

Shops in Penang Bazaar

I walk around this area, and slowly recall my childhood memories...the building was not equip with Air-Con, so you can imagine the temperature in there...But...I didn't feel the heat at all, because I was concentrate on the surrounding...trying hard to remember where did I lost my toy car, and finally...I saw the dirty drain! My car was drop into that drain! And it still dirty today...haha!

Chowrasta Wet Market, Penang

The wet market was closed in the evening, beside the fish and other stalls, there were also some stalls selling daily necessity and food...

I found this food stall really colourful!

Hanging around for about an hour, we finally step out of these two building. Surprised, this chestnut stall still around!

The chestnut seller

Look at the Penang Road, it totally changed! One of the famous cinema - Cathay Cinema, became Mydin Supermarket today...

Penang Road

This area was really given me a comfort feeling, that I wanna sit beside the road (or at the Bus Stand), relax and look around for couple of hour...I can't tell the reason why...too bad I didn't have the chance to do it that day...

The location map of Penang Bazaar

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