Kia ora tatou:

Probably because I spend too much time surfing ( and I am easily bored), I have a surfeit of sites to offer you, some useful, some interesting. Some not.

Check this lot out. Or not.

1. PhotoShop Disasters. If it is commercial and awful, you will probably find it here( see header pic). If I ever meet anyone who looks that genetically-engineered, I will know our species is on its last legs. Or the mother ship is close by…
2. American Radio Works. This is a serious site with truly in-depth articles for those of you with the time to listen and think. As an example, try this article on global warming.
3. This is a photography site. Most of the time. But what happens after photography? You might want to look here.
4. Those of you who shoot buildings or who need to correct keystoning might like to have a look at this article, which shows how to use CSx to deal with it. Recommended.
5. Lomography. I f you have no idea what the word means, start here. This site definitely NOT recommended for those of you  who exhibit “symptoms of abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain”. The good news is that the gear is NOT expensive. Of course you use film…..

Enjoy.

Icarus chasing his own shadow, Bo Kaap

Kia ora tatou:

The day I received this e-mail for a good friend who chooses to remain unnamed. Well, at least I think he does. From time to time I receive e-mails like this, and I simply cannot let them lie. On the one hand I feel an obligation to provide a considered response to what has obviously required a considerable amount of effort. On the other hand, I suspect, the e-mail is pushing my buttons and demanding a response of me.

This is a longish response, so you may want to curl up with a coffee and some time…

Hi Tony,

On your blog I get great enjoyment reading the advice, instructions and especially your musings. The former two are invaluable but the musings are thought provoking and challenging. Thank you for taking the time and effort to share your thoughts!  It goes without saying (but I’ll say it never the less) that our different life experience and backgrounds affect the way we meet life’s challenges, and when it comes to pressing the button, how we see the world.

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woman crossing road, Bo Kaap

ETTR-new thoughts

Kia ora tatou:

in all my workshops which deal with camera craft and postproduction, I’ve taught the technique of ETTR, or expose to the right. In the process I’ve made a number of assumptions which I assumed were correct, but now I’m beginning to rethink those and I want to share those thoughts with you. This, of course, assumes that you are shooting Raw rather than JPEG. Before I get there, I want to revisit the whole question of how you go about setting exposures for each of the two methods.

Shooting a JPEG file, as most of you know, is very similar to shooting slide film. Those of us have made the transition from film to digital will understand how important it is to be careful in your exposure of slide film. The same thing applies to a JPEG. When you expose a JPEG, you need to think of it as slide film, that is that the critical part of the exposure is correct exposure of the highlights. The aim here should be to place the highlights exactly where you want them to be. If you want them to be right but with fine texture, it’s important to ensure that you don’t overexpose or “cook” them. Remember that when you press the shutter, you are effectively creating the finished file, according to the camera settings you have chosen. This is important to remember: you make your choices (exposure, contrast, saturation, tone, white balance) and you live with the consequences. Postproduction on a JPEG usually does not have the flexibility of working on a raw file. Add in the fact that a JPEG can only deliver an eight bit file compared to the 16 bits of a raw file, and the only real reason for shooting a JPEG is convenience.

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Dune 45, Sossuvlei

Kia Ora tatou:

A Number of you have rung or e-mailed me since I got back, wanting to know how I got on with the Sony in Africa. I’ve been thinking about that, and decided it’s probably time to write some sort of gear review.

I don’t do gear reviews easily. Certainly not the ones that go into every intricate detail of how the camera functions, that make really boring photographs of household objects on a white background, and then tell you how good the camera is or not. Frankly, I’m not that interested in the intricacies of the custom menus. I’m a photographer. I use a camera to make pictures, and I measure the success of the machine in question in two key areas: how intuitive  and reliable it is to use in the field, and the quality of the finished file. Make me happy on both those accounts and I’m a loyal supporter.

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Kia ora tatou:

For those of you offshore or who do not have access to New Zealand Camera 2010, here is the text of my introduction. Enjoy, and feel free to comment.

Seeing with my own I

What is it about photography that has kept us enthralled for nearly 200 years? Each year millions of cameras are sold and countless billions of photographs taken. You would think by now that every possible permutation of circumstance, event and intention would have been recorded many times over. And yet they never are. Why is it that photography continues to fascinate and delight people all around the world? Let us return to the beginning and considered photography’s roots.

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New Zealand Camera 2010

Kia ora tatou:

It is that time of the year again.

A few months ago, I was asked to write the introduction for this year’s edition of New Zealand Camera. It was embargoed for publication here until the final version came out. Well, it is. PSNZ member will no doubt have received theirs, but copies can  be purchased from the PSNZ website.

For those of you who don’t know it, each year amateur photographers  are asked to submit work to be included in the book. Then the best are incorporated into ta wonderful showcase of the best of New Zealand amateur photography. This years publication contains some jaw-droppingly gorgeous work. To be selected for it is an honour indeed. One of the things I love is seeing who made it into NZ Camera, and I notice, somewhat wryly that there are a few professionals present (I am afraid I cannot mention any names, as I am hoping to get Stewart Nimmo to buy me a coffee one day).

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Photograph by Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai

Kia ora tatou:

I came across this post which I think is amazingly good advice, from an American professional.

Cheryl has agreed to allow me to post it here in its entirety.

Many thanks, Cheryl.

Advice for Aspiring Photographers

By Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai

These are my thoughts, nothing more and nothing less.

I get asked all the time, during workshops, in e-mails, in private messages, what words of wisdom I would give to a new and aspiring photographer. Here’s my answer.

• Style is a voice, not a prop or an action. If you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it is not a style. Don’t look outward for your style; look inward.
• Know your stuff. Luck is a nice thing, but a terrifying thing to rely on. It’s like money; you only have it when you don’t need it.

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Kia ora tatou:

I am a slow learner. It takes time for me to see the most obvious things.

It was during my time at the St. Francis  Healing Centre that the penny finally dropped. I realised that my gifts, such as they are, relate to communication in one way or another, that I attempt to communicate how i see the world by way of photographs. Nothing particularly special there, you might say. I also attempt to do so by teaching and sharing verbally what I know . It brings me enormous satisfaction and a rich sense of fulfilling my contract with my Creator.

But I also love, challenging though it is, communicating through the written word. Occasionally it comes easily and unbidden. Most of the time however, finding the best words is rather like chasing mice in a dusty attic. But it is an itch that must be scratched.

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Kia ora tatou:
I have heard a number of you talking about moving to Lightroom but not sure if you want to pay the $$$$.
Well, there are 2 ways to have your cake and eat it too (for a limited time).

1. Download  a trial version of Lightroom 2.5 and test-drive it for 30 days.
2. Download the LR 3 Beta and use it free of charge until April 2010.

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Not long ago I was out photographing, when the person I was with commented on the number of files I was shooting. Why do you take so many? the question came.  I am feeling for the image, I replied. I am waiting for it to tell me where it is. A stunned, unhappy/unsatisfied  silence ensued.  I went on to use the same explanation I give, when I am often asked at workshops for my theories on composition. I can sum it up in one word: balance.

I might add that I am not talking here about the formal properties of  a picture space, such as line, pattern, texture, tone and so forth. These are the components of visual design, the aspects which we need to study, consider and develop, much as a pianist practises his/her scales. By developing proficiency with and understanding of the components, the pianist is better able to interpret the work, or, in our case, we are able to respond intuitively to the scene before us, to find the point of balance.

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Kia ora tatou:

A friend (who shall remain nameless) sent me this email/rant. He has agreed to allow it to be published….

What is it about photography?

In praise of cameras and the Epson 3800

The thing I associate most with photography is terror. Not that I’m in any danger, far from it. It’s just I’m a rotten traveller. The destinations are usually wonderful, but the getting there…..

Yesterday on the way to Motuara Island I found myself in what’s laughingly called a “water taxi”. It is a reinforced steel cage with a boat built around it and it does about 30 knots, which is roughly half the strength of the southerly blowing just out past the Tory Channel.

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As I were a shepherd on a lemon sea..and then the dream shifted.

I had a vision. In that state I saw myself lying, a dragon atop my Eggs of Memory. I saw suns, stars and moons. I grew beyond. I saw the universe expanding, slowly, consistently. And I saw that for all its change, it was a single entity. It was a moment of revelation. Time appears to move but remains still. It expands but just is. It is mobile and immobile congruently.

Then I awoke and moved to the window, beyond the diaphanous veils that kept the mosquitoes at bay. I moved to a place where the stars circled slowly around me, where I was One and Many. I simply was. And I gave thanks. I looked out across the vast limitless space at the dunes which remained silently mobile/immobile before me and I began to understand.

I began to gain a new awareness of Time.

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Kia ora tatou:

For those of you new to the Blog, Shipping News is where I put out news, information and suggestions of how to live your summer dangerously ( more about that later…)

1. Those of you wondering what to do with your summer might have a look over here. I have teamed up with the guys at 4 x4 Treks to offer a photo Tour like no other. If you fancy the thought of serious off-roading, stunning photographic opportunities, top tuition and some great fellowship in the last week of January or the 1st week of February, 2010, then wander over here and indicate your interest. It promises to be great fun and offer you opportunities you wouldn’t otherwise get. Steve, who runs the tours, has been doing this for 16 years. In fact he was the first guy in NZ to import Japanese import 4WD’s. If the interest is there, we will be doing a lot more of these.  Bring your own 4WD or rent one. All tuition supplied: confidence and courage is up to you…..
2. I am not one to brag but….This website is one of 5 finalists in the Best Nationwide Photographers Category of the Corporate Events Guide Awards, to be presented on 31 October in Auckland. A big thank you to all of you who clicked on that silly symbol on the last  website and my email signature. Here is hoping……
3. Lastly but not leastly ( oops..I sense the PRFH’s heavy footfall), the EVF ( electronic viewfinder) is almost here to stay. I am a big fan of these. My Sony R-1 has one and the cool thing is that I get a histogram in the viewfinder…..it might cut down on my test shots….and yours…. read more here

Ka kite ano

Years ago, when I was a boy, I used to devour the western novels of Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour. I used to imagine what it must be like to ride day after day across the Great Plains of the United States, where there was nothing on the horizon. Later, when I studied American history, I read how some of the early pioneers, travelling across the grasslands in their Conestoga wagons who, when faced by the vast emptiness, had gone mad and committed suicide. I wondered what such emptiness could be like, what sort of experience it would be like to drive for hours across roads where, for 360°, there were no features, no mountains, no…nothing. how would I feel? Would I love it? Would the space cause me to rejoice or would it terrify me?

I thought the Tankwa Karoo would answer the question for me, but I could see mountains in the distance, a vastly magnified version of the Maniototo and, while it came close, it did not really  tell me what I wanted to feel. My African friends told me to go to Namibia, where ” the distances are truly vast”. I would find that experience there.

And I did.

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Kia ora tatou:

After 9 days, 4750 km and 5561 files, I am now back in South Africa for the next week before I begin the journey back to New Zealand.

I have spent most of that time in Namibia, a country I have fallen in love with. My South African friends told me it would blow me away and they were correct. the sheer scale of the place can be mind-numbing. When you dial up a town and the GPS tells you to stay on track for 248km on a road which includes only a couple of bends, the experience becomes quite surreal. There is a completely different sense of space and time. The whole country is 824,292 sq km with a population of 2 million people, while New Zealand is 267,710 sq km in size, with 4.1 million people.

Over the next couple of days I will be putting up images and words from the journey.

Again, my heartfelt thanks for you wishes and concerns.

Many Blessings