Kia ora tatou:

Being a digital photographer isn’t easy, especially if you are making the jump from film to digital. Over the last couple years, as I have helped a number of people make the crossing (sometimes I feel like a virtual Charon), I have come to realise that much of the problem relates not to the camera but to getting one’s head around using the software and/or computer. (more…)

True art takes note not merely of form but also of what lies behind.

14^th Dalai Lama

Kia ora tatou:

Why do we photograph? What do our photographs mean to us and to others? What is their power and their significance? What did William Henry Fox Talbot start all those years ago when he made the first photographic image as we know it? And why is photography such an enduring and popular pastime, hobby for most, profession for some?

When we make photographs, and make them we do, for we take nothing away with us, we have a chance at immortality. We are all mortal: we know the clock is ticking. Our time and the time of those we love is finite. Photography offers us an opportunity to freeze it, to hold a moment for a little longer, to be able to visit the past and live within it for as long as we wish.

It is no coincidence that the majority of the photographs made each day are made by people for whom the technicalities of the medium are of little interest. George Eastman knew this when he developed the Box Brownie and became an instant millionaire. “You take the photographs, we do the rest”, was his sales pitch. He knew that it was in the power of the photograph to hold memories that photography’s future lay.

He was right. (more…)

In photography, Light is everything.

A storm was coming. I knew it as I picked my way up the Pigroot. I could feel the tension rising within me. The northerly was picking up steam and beginning to flex its muscles. Wisps of cloud were clinging to the underside of the sky. Somehow I knew the work I had come to do would prove to be difficult. Only four days of good weather. Plenty of time for four shots and a family portrait. That is all I need. I wasn’t going to get it. I could tell. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:
It had to happen…spammmers find blogs. I have had a number of offers which relate to health and virility issues ( which I do not believe I have!). For that reason I intend to enable moderation for all comments. This will mean a delay between you submitting and your comments appearing on the site. I apologise for that, but I am sure you receive your fair share of such offers….

A number of you have asked me about upcoming workshops, both here and abroad. So here is a summary to date:

-I will be offering a range of courses for people in and around Canterbury through the University of Canterbury. These include landscape photography, digital skills and digital workflow for working photographers. You can find out more and sign up on the university website

-There are still places on the Sitka workshop. Fees for the week are a very reasonable $US395 -(plus travel and accommodation of course). You can read about it and download a brochure here

-I will be running a workshop in the Maniototo in the first week of August, in beautiful Wedderburn in Central Otago. If you fancy 6 days down there, studying photography, along with being in fabulous scenery, experiencing a barbecue in the snow ( true!), a little curling and being pushed (photographically, not over), email me to book a place.I will post details and a brochure over the next few days. Numbers are strictly limited to 12 participants.

Ka kite ano

In December I wrote a post decrying the proposed windfarm on the Lammermoors above Ranfurly. I talked of the visual pollution that would result from erecting 170+ wind turbines in a place that is relatively visually pristine. I commented on the need to clutter the landscape with windfarms, when other measures, such as active promotion of tidal and solar generation could take their place.

Then I saw An Inconvenient Truth and began to realize how critical, complex, and global the issues for the environment and the planet really are, a problem for which we are individually and severally liable. I began to think about matters from a different angle.

Shortly afterwards a letter arrived from Jeanette Fitzsimons, outlining the Green Party perspective. It was pragmatic and realistic, and a nagging disquiet with my stated position grew. I have spent the last few months reading around the subject and trying to form a more objective opinion. I think I am there now. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

A friend me sent me this yesterday. Should we make this a sticky??? Please offer any suggestions you think are better…

How to clean your 1DsMkII CMOS sensor:

1. Set your camera on “Sensor Clean” mode, so that the mirror will lock up (you don’t want to damage your mirror!). Make sure batteries are fully charged.
2. Carefully place your DSLR with its lens on (doesn’t have to be an L-lens, any lens will do, even Lensbabies), flat on its back on a table surface (i.e, lens pointing up)
3. Remove the lens and make sure the mirror is in the locked-up position
4. Slowly pour inside 1/2 cup of warm (90F/32C) water, a tbsp of sodium bicarbonate, and a tsp of distilled vinegar. (OBS.: If you’re cleaning a 1Ds, add a pinch of salt. Never use commercial solutions containing ammonia, they are too strong!)
5. Replace the lens on the camera mount.
6. Gently shake the camera for 20-30 seconds (until all dust specks are dislodged!)
7. Remove the lens, pour out the liquid inside. Replace with 1/2 cup of distilled water, with 2 drops of “Eclipse” rinse solution. Remount lens, and shake camera again to rinse out residual cleaning solution.
8. Remove lens, pour out rinse liquid.
9. Get hair dryer, set to low heat setting and blow dry sensor surface. (Caution, NEVER touch sensor with tip of blowdryer. Serious damage may occur!)

* You’re done! Your camera will never have dust problems again!