Julia Dean, a photojournalist and a wonderful teacher wrote that the Jason K. Stern Travel Scholarship deadline has been extended to Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003, by 5 pm. Big bucks to a deserving photographer!

She says:

In case you don't know, we offer a travel scholarship called the Jason K. Stern Travel Scholarship, in memory of a dear friend. The scholarship is open to anyone with the passion for photography and travel but without the financial resources to do so. This is a $3300 scholarship, which covers expenses ranging from tuition alone to tuition and some or all expenses depending on the cost of the workshop. Mail your application to: 3111 Ocean Front Walk, Ste. 102, Marina del Rey, CA 90292.

For more information and an application, please see our web site

Julia teaches and hosts a series of photography workshops throughout the year. Some of the best in the business pop-in to teach for a week or more. Check out her web site and plan to attend one of her workshops. The experience will kickstart your passion for photography!

I remember Alan Boyle, the science editor at MSNBC.com, often visits this site. It's a photojournal that is literally out of this world. Note that these images can be downloaded and used free of charge. Unusual, as most images on line or off-line are copyrighted by the creator of the image. These images are “ours” as our tax dollars went to pay for the research in outer space. The site is maintained by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Cal Tech. On the site, you can surf out to Pluto if you wish, but do come back home.

Who is SHE? She is Ami Vitale, one of my favorite photojournalists who currently works out of India. If you haven't seen her work online – RUN and check it out here. The images will inspire you and the Flash-based presentation will wow you. It's clean, simple, elegant and amazing.

Ami is internationally recognized for her documentary work. The National Press Photographers Association recently awarded her the much acclaimed Magazine Photographer of the Year title. At the recent PhotoPlusExpo in New York City, the World Press Photo folks had assembled her winning portfolio of images from Gujarat (after the riots). With her permission, I'll try and post those images here. She is also Canon's 2003 Female Photographer of the Year.

Meanwhile, here is your chance to learn from this young master of photography! Leslie Scott Photography and Tours is offering a special workshop with Ami from January 31 to February 14, 2004. The workshop will take place in Rajasthan. Again, I wish I could go. But if any of you do make it there, do send me a report at: tiffinbox[at]pipalproductions[dot]com.

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How many of us have whined about lacking new equipment (like that's going to make us the next Cartier-Bresson!)? Are we not wide-eyed and get utterly silly when we see the latest and greatest in trade shows like PhotoPlusExpo? Yes, we all drool and we do tend to get quickly flustered don't we?

Shedding gear is quite frankly, liberating. I try and do it on assignments from time to time. I photographed a desi singles event about a week ago and took with me just one camera body, a lens and a flash (knowing that I may need to use it in dim lighting). It worked. I couldn't have used my longer lenses (even though they are fast at f/2.8). Simplifying what we use can better help us focus on what's in front of the camera, our subjects.

Aaron Huey, a photographer, echoes the sentiments expressed to me a while back by a New York Times photo editor – “Go Simple. Go Wide. Go Deep.” Try his technique and let me know how your experiment panned out. If many of you wish to post your images here on TiffinBox, I would be happy to create a photo album. Email me your thoughts at: tiffinbox[at]pipalproductions[dot]com.

“Those numbers are no match for 35-millimeter film, which has a resolution equivalent to 20 or 30 megapixels, but digital cameras can nonetheless produce excellent images.”

In today's NY Times find out why more is better.

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