Kia ora tatou:

1. It has been a while coming, but at last I have been able to respond to Marthinus’ last missive, to return the serve… you can read it on the Letter to Marthinus page.
2. For those of you who have thing for science and crystalball-gazing, you may want to read this article on Bose-Einstein condensate. Guaranteed to give the nervy and curious some sleepless nights…..talk about applied science-fiction…
3. And from the Department of Precise Interpretation, a no-names-no-pack-drill interpretation of competition rules…

Boris (real name witheld),

Sorry but your image could not go forward for judging as its horizontal dimension exceeded the required 1024 pixel measurement. Your image was 1027 by 624. It is only 3 pixels but the data projectors cannot handle discrepancies, even a slight one.

Natalya (also not real name).

Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don’t start measuring her limbs.

-Pablo Picasso

Sometime during his early years, Pablo Picasso went to Africa. While he was there, he looked at examples of native African art. What he saw was to affect the way he made art for the rest of his life and to have a huge impact on the development of Cubism as an artistic movement. (more…)

Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest.

Georgia O’Keefe

What I am looking for… is an immobile movement, something which would be the equivalent of what is called the eloquence of silence, or what St. John of the Cross, I think it was, described with the term “mute music”

Joan Miro

I’ve never been big on graveyards. I’m not sure what it is. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

If you use Photoshop, then you probably know all about actions, those cute little macros that automate common ( and not-so-common) tasks for you. If you do then you probably write your own.

You don’t have to. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

Watching the posts on the Perfectly Clear post I noticed that the debate was veering (yet again) towards the old film vs digital thing. So let me pull the pin on this one! I believe film still has a lot going for it. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

About a month ago, I was contacted and asked if I would be a virtual artist-in-residence on a forum for photographers called BeyondjustImages. I had never heard of them, so I went looking. And was I surprised and delighted.

Beyond has around 80 active and enthusiastic photographers scattered around the planet, including 3 men! The membership is capped, and members are expected to contribute. They are all extremely talented and produce extraordinary work. More importantly, they are a wonderfully supportive and positive group. There is huge aroha here. I have just completed my week, and boy did they ask me some tough questions!!!

If any of you want to be part of a vibrant, happening virtual community, then I recommend it without reservation. Cost is $US25 (!!!) per year and, to my mind, cheap at10x the price!

Kia ora tatou:

The little guy to the right is my IT avatar, not, as Garry so unkindly puts it, a self-portrait. Anyway, I don’t own a pocket-protector…

A number of people have raised the question of whether to buy PhotoShop or Lightroom. Matt Kloskowski, over at InformitIT Photoshop, has a largish video on the subject, you may want to download, before making that call.

What with Lightroom, CS3, DXOptics and Bibble, we are spoiled for choice…