todd norbury’s photography blog

Flickr fans may want to give this post a wide berth, although what I am bitching about isn’t exactly the fault of the good folk at Flickr, well I don’t think it is.

I can recall a day when I used to love to join in discussions in Flickr groups. They were helpful, informative, funny, controversial and a pleasure to be a part of. The last 12 months have seen things slide like a eel on a Teflon slippery dip. I don’t know if it is the groups I had joined, or all groups are suffering from the same general decline in the social aspect. In the past 3 weeks I have left 4 groups that I had been a member for for nearly the whole time I have been a part of the extended Flickr family. These groups were once like immediate family. You knew the other members well. You even socialised with them.

The reason I left each group was the same. It was less like a group of friends with a shared passion, and more like a bunch of teenage boys for ever trying to prove who had the biggest dick, which is terrific if you are an angsty acne sufferer with a backwards baseball cap, but less fun than a prostrate exam (this is supposition on my behalf, my back door has not yet seen a doctors gloved finger approaching)  for a 40 plus cranky bastard like myself. I miss the chit chat, the sharing of links to interesting photographic gold nuggets. I miss the willingness to share advice, experiences and equipment. I miss the friendly banter.

What has happened? I was going to point the finger at all the different types of Flickr user that piss me off, but I can’t see that doing anyone any good at all. Me sitting here whinging and ranting will no more fix things than if I could clone a pig to an eagle and finally stop people telling me I will take a great photo when pigs fly.

So, I ask you, dear visitor, is it just me? Have you found similar happenings on your travels around Flickr groups?

I’m off to find an eagle!

When ever there is a list of the all time best of something, or, like this list, The Most Influential, there will always be debate raging right behind it. No Australian photographers made it into the list, which seems a little odd. Ansell Adams at #23? What do you think of the list?

100 Most influential photographers of all time.

I am a huge fan of street photography, partly because I am rubbish at it myself, so I was pretty impressed when I saw this YouTube video of Felix Lupa’s work. And the sound track takes me back too.

Given all the problems the EOS-1D Mark III had with its auto focussing, you would have thought that Canon would have pulled out all stops to make sure their new flagship was with out fault. Rob Galbraith takes it out to test and the results certainly aren’t as good as I would have expected.

Rob Galbraith DPI: An analysis of EOS-1D Mark IV autofocus performance.

Photo by Rob Galbraith/Little Guy Media

Have you ever wanted to know what the difference between a SLR and Rangefinder is? Well this article explains it beautifully.

I have used both, and while the SLR is more versatile, the RF is more fun. I would love a little digital RF, but I fear the cost might keep me away.

SLR vs Rangefinder.

Kodachrome curtains, originally uploaded by yarnzombie.

Well, not exactly a photo of the day, but I had to blog it because it is such a terrific idea.

Now, where to get a stack of old slides?

Technology, it isn’t going to slow down any time soon, and with a new camera being announced as often as the sun rises, it is difficult to keep on top of everything that has happened, and is happening.  The old chestnut of megapixels being the measure of a camera (even if it is not entirely true) seems to be fading in favour of higher ISO abilities. How long until a camera can see in the dark? Gizmodo have a look at this current trend in the following article.

Giz Explains: Why ISO Is The New Megapixel | Gizmodo Australia.

It is a very good read, and worth a look for anyone interested in camera trends.

The sample photo below was apparently taken at over 100,000 ISO!!!

There are some very cool sites that intergrate into Flickr, but if you are looking for one that will get you out there exploring, this has to be one of the better ones. It is a bit buggy at the moment, so I wouldn’t be purchasing the iPhone app just yet.

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Here is a bit of an explanation from their site.

What is Noticings?

Noticings is a game about learning to look at the world around you.

Cities are wonderful places, and everybody finds different things in them. Some of us like to take pictures of interesting, unusual, or beautiful things we see, but many of use are moving so fast through the urban landscape we don’t take in the things around us.

Noticings is a game you play by going a bit slower, and having a look around you. It doesn’t require you change your behaviour significantly, or interrupt your routine: you just take photographs of things that you think are interesting, or things you see. You’ll get points for just noticing things, and you might get bonuses for interesting coincidences.

So if you have lost you phojo of late, maybe had a crack at noticings. A novel and interesting concept.