Kia ora tatou:

The deathly silence (whatever sound a deathly silence doesn’t make) for the last week or so is because I have been in Tauranga at the the NZIPP (New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers) conference, where I was invited to be a judge, to join four others and assess the work. It was an incredibly hard three days. The judging is open ( i.e. members of the public can watch it), and it is nerve-wracking to pass comment when you know the author may be in the room! FYI, the New Zealand Photographer of the Year for 2008 is Jackie Rankin, from Queenstown, who scored two of her awards with some amazing images shot on Acros 100 (anybody remember that?)

There were some fine speakers, including Jack Reznicki from New York (www.photoworkshop.com) and the usual tradeshow with some very cool toys tools (say after me: Tony, you do not want a Sinar Hy6). But it was about the company, the opportunity to be among and to be judged by your peers. It was a real joy to see Stewart Nimmo from Greymouth ( they were going to call it Jubilee City, but they changed their minds and got the name right) gain his Masters, and his daughter Lydia get a bronze award. A big shout out, guys.

And yes I did enter. And yes, I did do reasonably well.

Mark Racle sent me this link about the perils of street photography in Britain. Blimey! It’s not that bad here, but getting that way…feel free to share your own stories… it is worth mentioning that you are allowed to photograph in a public place, you are not breaking any laws and that you are within your rights to use the images for exhibition or publication. Commercial use is another matter. And for those of you who are horrified, look at this! ( thanks, Meg Back!)

Those of you with an eye to the ‘Net will know that Canon have announced the EOS 50D. Specs include 14-bit imaging, a 15Mp sensor, ISO to 12800, 3″ 920 000px LCD, and a few other goodies. Read more about it here…

I anticipate being around a lot more in the coming weeks, so I intend to keep the post up to date.

Ka kite ano

PS: for the three of you who shoot Nikon: Nikon today announced the D90. A 12.21 million image pixel CMOS sensor, 4.5 fps still photo shooting rate, LiveView and 720p video capture. Oooh, that’s cool! Are you reading this, OSG?

Check it out here…

A ghost town, a town of ghosts

“Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground”

-Dante Alighieri

I said ‘mama I come to the valley of the rich
Myself to sell’
She said ’son this is the road to hell’

-Chris Rea

Somewhere back in the 1860’s they found gold in Central Otago, in a little place called Gabriel’s Gully. Of course the word got out and in no time, towns had sprung up all through the area, staffed by the hopeful, the industrious, the greedy, and the foolish. A steady stream of prospectors poured across the hills from Dunedin, all come to make their fortune.

Such are the ways of men. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

An unashamed plug for a workshop..

MY friend Mark Racle sent me this email, advertising a framing workshop in Rangiora, New Zealand. I have included the guff he sent me and suggest if you are interested, you contact him.

Tony

Hope all is well with you

I wonder if you know any that would be interested in the following (more…)

There ius a cost to upgrade

Kia ora tatou:

Sometime, while we were away in the Maniototo teaching the Wedderburn workshops, the blog turned 200..thousand hits that is. A big BIG thank you to all of you who pass by and have a look, and occasionally comment. An especial thanks to those who offer what they know as well.
The Wedderburn workshops are now over for the year, but we are working on new ones. More information as they become available. It was a real joy to work with such talented people. As soon as I work out how to do it, I will upload samples of the work from the workshops for the rest of you to see. Apparently it was the wettest winter in 40 years, but nothing compared to the carnage the rest of the country experienced. I am told that that the new architectural style in Greymouth is the bunker look.
Well it is finally out. Lightroom 2 is now available. I have downloaded it and begun using it. Unlike Beta 2, most of the bugs have been ironed out ( I say Most), and there are some very cool features in it. Things I like include:

• • support for dual monitors
  • referencing folders by hard drive number
  • the adjustment brush
  • smart collections
  • better sharpening and noise reduction
  • camera profiling

and more…. It may be me, but both my laptop ( T7200 dual-core, 2 Gb RAM, 2 x 250 Gb Sata drives) and my desktop ( Q6600 quad-core, 4Gb RAM, 8x 500GB SATA drives) find it resource-hungry. Can’t wait for the first update!

There is a cost to go from V1 to V2. An upgrade is around $NZ180, depending on where you shop. A full education version is around the same price . Shop around. I suggest Kiwis look here.

Apparently Britons find digital cameras the most difficult device to master in a survey conducted by Revoo.com. Curiously, washing machines come in a t #4, and microwaves at #10. Read more here.

I am currently sifting through the more than 3500 1DS Mk III files I shot during the two weeks. Stories and images to follow.

Ka kite ano