Category Archives: Photography Musings

Just my thoughts about photography at the time.

Some of my favourite quotes based on photography.

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I will start with probably my favourite photography based quote of all time.

“Some people’s photography is an art. Not mine. Art is a dirty word in photography. All this fine art crap is killing it already.” – Helmut Newton. Go Helmut!

And now some more.

“The hardest thing in photography is to create a simple image.” – Anne Geddes.

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” – Ansel Adams

“Every hot girl who can aim a camera thinks she’s a photographer. Ooh, you took a black and white picture of a lawn chair and its shadow and developed it at Sav-On. You must be so brooding and deep.” – Stewie Griffin, Family Guy.

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” – Ansel Adams.

If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera.” – Lewis Hine.

“When people ask what equipment I use – I tell them my eyes.” – Anonymous.

“I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.” – Diane Arbus.

“Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don’t have the film.” – Stephen Wright.

“Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed.” – Garry Winogrand.

“Amateurs talk about equipment. Professionals talk about photos.” – Anonymous

“Tourists are terrorists with cameras. Terrorists are tourists with guns.” – Anonymous

“I have a very good memory, but it’s short. Thank god for photography.” – John E. Burkowski

“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” – Robert Capa.

“When your mouth drops open, click the shutter.” – Harold Feinstein

A lot of these quotes I have collected over the past few years, but there are thousands more at http://www.photoquotes.com/.

The Canonet is alive!

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Well, for what ever reason, I decided to throw some Fuji Superior 400 film through the Canonet QL19. Normally I would test a camera out with some B&W film that I can test develop myself. But I threw caution and $6.20 (cost of film and developing to negatives) to the wind and I am glad I did. The shots came out with that filmy, grainy, unique colour cast and under exposed look that I love about film.

Craig

Craig Powell at the Shellharbour pub 24/02/09.

I am looking forward to putting some more rolls through that camera. It is a keeper for sure.

Holga equals hard work.

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Well I have finally developed a roll of film that I out through the Holga. Hmmm, under whelmed would be one word to describe it. It is very hard work. I have a new found respect for those people that get sharp photos out of this plastic medium format camera.

Joel

This is the 2nd frame out of that camera, and as it shows, I must be moving the camera when I push the shutter. The shutter is actually more like a lever on the side of the lens than a button that I am used to. Also, I had to bump the exposure quite a bit in processing it, so I think I need faster film. Ah well, you live and learn.

norbs, a photographic history. PtIII.

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Well, around this time the past 2 years, I have published a yearly round up of my photographic journey. The 2008 and 2007 articles have been reasonably popular, so I will try and make the 2009 edition a good read as well.

The previous 2 years have been contrasting in that the 1st year was a real learning experience. The 2nd year seems to have been a year of experimentation. Looking back at the previous 12 months, it is hard to say what was the overall theme. I think maybe I had a better understanding of light.

Gull on GoldGull on Gold

I was more confident of being able to use light to my advantage. Knowing when shooting into the sun would work. When some blown highlights wouldn’t ruin the photo. And maybe using some of my better quality equipment to take advantage of certain situations.

"Really, does Barry need to do that?"Really, does Barry need to do that?

That photo of Barry the seagull flipping his head over is still to this day one of my favourite photos. The shallow depth of field and the fact the the one seagull not conforming is just out of focus really makes me chuckle.

March 2008 rolled around and I thought I would have a go at some high speed photography. Cue the fish tank and golf ball. I rigged up a couple of $5 flashes I had acquired, set the camera up with a remote, turned the lights out and flash!

Splash #2Splash #2.

It wasn’t quite that easy, but I was very happy with the result. And the people on Flickr voted with their Fave buttons. The set up for the golf ball shot can be seen below. The spotlights were just to show what was going on.

Splash setup.Splash setup.

My fascination with seagulls was still as strong as ever, and baiting them into frame with hot chips is always fun.

Zoomed Chip CatcherChip Catcher.

The high speed photography needed to be revisited, so I rolled the dice and came up with this.

3 and 6, where are you? (PSD)3 and 6, where are you?



April last year was Sydney Royal Easter show time. I really can’t recommend the show enough for photographers. It is a gold mine if you are willing to wander around for the day.

Winner!Winner!

Dust in the airDust in the air.

YummoYummo

April also saw me trying to make a cheap as chips right light for macro photography. The 3 small LEDs gave off a surprising about of light, but not really sufficient to help with macro photography. Self portraits on the other hand.

Cpt Rough's $12 Ring LightCpt Rough’s $12 Ring Light

April 25th sees ANZAC day in Australia. A time for the old and young returned servicemen and women to march in remembrance. Once again, it is a photographers gold mine. The old Diggers and the respect and dignity they show is really something to admire.

.A returned serviceman.

May, and things are starting to cool down. Autumn is with us, which means the sun is rising later in the morning, which makes sunrise photos a little easier to achieve. When you go out and the water is still and it looks like a sheet of glass, it is happy days for the lucky photographer.

Ocean BathsOcean Baths

And when the local wildlife puts on a show, it is even better.

If I have told you once.......“If I have told you once……”

I did a trip down to Canberra for a mates 40th, and it is quite a nice place in Autumn.

4S4S


It was about this time that a package arrived from Belarus, containing a Zenitar 16mm fisheye lens. I promptly named it Vladimir. He produced images like this.

U turn?U turn?

Just as promptly, I sold him. Fisheye just doesn’t excite me. I know in the right hands they are amazing, but it wasn’t for me.

June 2008 saw me out and about quite a bit, but I didn’t really take many quality images. Given the running around I was doing, my favourite photo of the month came out of my back yard.

DropsDrops

In July, in the very car park below, a Flickr friend of mine turned my photographic world on its ear.

Cruising at MaccasCruising at Maccas

Harry, being the generous guy he is, gave me one of his old film cameras. A Canon EOS 1000F. Life was about to change for this hack photographer. I had now been using a digital SLR for about 2 and a half years. I knew very little about film, but I did like some of the images I had seen people taking on film. So I loaded the camera up with some Ilford B&W film, and off I went.

South Coast MusicSouth Coast Music

There is something about film that I fell in love with. I still can’t put my finger on it. There is an undefinable X factor to it. You don’t get the immediacy of digital, so you are certainly a lot more careful with composition and exposure settings. I love it.

With in a fortnight, I had the following collection.

Fil-LmFil-Lm

it was the start on an eBay addiction. I can’t help but buy cheap film cameras and see how they work. I never thought I would embrace it like I have. I even started to develop my own negatives to scan into the computer. What was happening?

The negs up close.The negs

So July was all about the film. August was here and that meant 1 thing. ROADTRIP! August 23rd was the day and I was off. What a great trip. Places like Dubbo, Bourke, Louth, Tilpa, Broken Hill, Menindee, Ivanhoe, Hay and lots of places in between. I won’t dwell on it, just show 3 of my favourite photos from the trip here.

Toorale StationToorale Station


Blue and YellowBlue and Yellow


FleeceFleece

Again, I had the time of my life, and I am very lucky to have a wife who lets me go away and have my boy time.

September rolled around and I had a trip to Sydney for work. I stayed with my good mate Macca and we got up early the next morning for some sun rise shots.

Dawn DipDawn Dip

Much to my surprise, this photo was selected for printing and hanging in an exhibition in London! The Photomonth 2008 exhibition is huge, and 16 Flickr photos would be on display there. And mine was one of them.

PhotoMonth 2008 - Freedom 2008 Exhibition

I was pretty happy with that little win. In late September, a group of people from the Wollongong Pictorial Mafia held an exhibition of their own. It was a terrific show, with some very talented people showing off their photos.

2x the mugness2x the mugness

October was a quiet month after the previous months excitement. A nice shot of a calf was about the best of October.

Should I stick my neck out?Should I stick my neck out?

November, and more filmy goodness. I had been watching numerous TLR cameras on eBay for a while, but they were always too expensive for me. Until…

New Old ToyNew Old Toy

Medium format film. Something new to me. Would the photos turn out? It was pretty much completely manual, with no meter.

DannyDanny

Well, slightly over exposed, but I am happy with it for a 1st go at a portrait.

December was very quiet. Some photos of our friends daughters was the only big deal of the month.

January saw a trip down to Albury, and on the way I spotted this sunset.

SkeletonSkeleton

Some more work with the Yashica down the beach was fun, and resulted in this shot.

Making TracksMaking Tracks

I also did my 1st gig photography in January. I have posted about it on here a little while back.

CamCam

End of January and my 1st roll of film out of the latest film camera, a Holga 120, is ready to go. The details are here.

Monty, Elvis and the roll of film.Monty, Elvis and the roll of film.

So that about wraps it up for another yearly update. It has taken a few days to get all the information together, but it is good to look back at the last year and what I have managed to capture both with digital and film.

Please feel free to leave any feedback, I enjoy your comments.

Elvis is alive

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We have all wandered around on a sunny day shooting at ISO1600 at one time or another, but what other blues have you made that have ruined photos.

Today was a bit of an epic. I had spent 25 minutes painstakingly feeding the bloody 120 film onto the stupid plastic reels and getting it into the drum. I learnt today that doing it in the heat isn’t the smartest thing to do. And the longer it takes, the hotter you get, and the sweat builds up in the dark bag and it just gets harder and harder to get the film on the reel. Well, finally, I got it on. Screwed the lid on. And reefed my hands out of the sweaty bag. Phew. I love the results medium format photography gives you, but getting the film from camera to dev tank is painful. This was the very 1st roll I had run through the Holga, so I was a little excited to see the results. Everything was a ready to run, the sun was shining, the birds tweeting, and I was off to the developing area of the garage. Day dreaming about the photo I took of Elvis long boarding on Culburra Beach, I wasn’t watching where I was going and managed to trip over Monty the wonder dog.

Monty, Elvis and the roll of film.

Poor old Monty can’t take a trick this week. He has been in trouble for digging up the lawn, twice, and so is a bit sheepish of the alpha dog. He jumped, I jumped and the developing tank popped out of my hands. It was now happening in slow motion. I could see the tank heading towards the ground. I could see the worried look on Monty’s face. I could see the negative of Elvis on the long board. Bang, it hit the ground. It bounced. It bounced a second time and POP! off came the lid. Oh for the love off all things holy, get the lid on quick smart. But no, the jolt shot the reel out into the dazzling daylight. I was asking myself, how can I wash the light of the film? The reel fell over and rolled around on its side like a coin in a Clint Eastwood movie. ISO 400 film takes not a lot of time to expose through the shutter, but it must be nano seconds in direct sunlight. I was a broken man. Monty is a still wondering why the alpha dog is so unhappy about a piece of plastic. Where is a chapel, I need a cry.

An exhibition.

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A Flickr group I am a part of, the Wollongong Pictorial Mafia, held their 1st exhibition at Project Contemporary Artspace in Wollongong. I was invited to exhibit as well, but a few factors ruled that out.

I got along to the official opening night last Friday night and had a ball meeting quite a few people I had only known online. The quality of work was terrific, and its a great group to be involved in.

2x the mugness

Congratulations to all involved. It was a fantastic night.

The 5D MkII, its coming!

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Yes, the rumour mill has finally stopped, and the specs for the new Canon 5D have been released.

Canon EOS 5D MkII

A full list of specs is available here, but the stuff that interests me is:

– 21 megapixels. Holy crap, hello new hard drives.
– Auto sensor cleaning. Does it really work?
– DIGIC 4 processor with 14 bit A/D. Should be nice and fast, and give better colour than the old 12 bit converter.
– ISO 50 to 25600. Another holy crap. I know it is now the norm, but bloody hell. Keen to see what that looks like.
– Live view. Still don’t know if I am a huge fan, but I have only ever used it briefly.
– ISO in viewfinder. Most people don’t give a rats about this, but for me, its a ripper feature.
– Movie recording at 1080. The elitists hate this. I reckon it is very cool. Bigger CF cards and MORE hard drives will be needed.

It still has the direct print button which I think is a waste. Still wont take EF-S lenses, which I don’t think is all that bad. Overall, Im excited. Will I get one, no. Not until they drop in price and my 5D Classic dies.