Kia ora tatou:
I know I bang on about this, but the fact is:
I am analpedantic about image quality.
Once again I have been reminded that quality matters.
Every time I make an image that blows my trumpet, I want to make it BIG, or rather to make it BIG if I should choose to so so at some time in the future. In fact my explorations of picture space over the last ten years or so  have been to do with the structuring and arrangement of dense amounts of information. A major picture-making issue for me has been a concern with finding the order in complex picture structures, in defining the balance point between not enough and too much information.

It still is. (more…)

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Kia ora tatou:
Lightroom 2.0. I love it!
The list of cool things goes on, and while it is slower than 1.4.1, the new features justify the slight slowdown. I have converted to using .dng, ie importing and converting my .cr2 files to dng. After a conversation with Adobe Ambassador John Doogan (look for some joint workshops in the future), all my doubts have been allayed. And the main reason? The new dng 1.2 standard, which allows you to import the picture styles in your camera-specific software and use them inside LR2.0 and finally have a reason for using the calibration tab in the Develop module. Not only that, you can create custom camera profiles. It is so damn good, it was worth the upgrade price just to get this. I am not going to explain it; others have done it sooner and better. Have a look here and here and here. Then go and download it. Awesome!

If you are wondering what the future of photography of photography looks like, then there are 2 words you need to get to know; RED and Scarlet. The movie industry already know about them. We will need to do so as well. Read about it here and here

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

Kia ora tatou:

As many of you know, I will be in the Maniototo for the next two weeks, teaching my annual workshops down there. This means that heavy-duty posts will be few and far between (broadband pretty much isn’t down there). However… here are some links you might like to follow….stuff to chew on…

The Photographer’s Guide to the Eye

What science is learning about how we see can help you take more compelling pictures. Mary Jo sent me this link, and I offer it here. Over the next couple of weeks, in a quiet moment and armed with a glass of Central Otago pinot noir (Rabbit Ranch), I intend to start thinking this through…

PNG- The new Tiff/Jpeg?

If you have ever wondererd what .png stood for and why you might want to use it, have a look here. A lot of information and the start of a new hunt…

What do with that obsolete DSLR?

Simple. Convert it to shoot infrared… Find out more here.

Dynamic range beyond your sensor’s abilities?

HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging) could be an answer. This article (printable) gives the fundamentals of HDRI and how to approach it. Of course there is more to it. Much more…

The EOS 5D Mark II/7D/3D

Those of you interested in The 5D replacement might want to check out this link. Either way, I am picking the next couple of weeks for the announcement just prior to PhotoKina, with release in New Zealand shops around Xmas for the lucky few.

Lenses and filters- a primer

Kia ora tatou:

So which lenses should I buy?

I get asked this question a lot, so I thought it was time to do a rare/endangered species-gear post.

Let’s begin with lenses. I am not going to tell you which focal lengths you need. I have no idea, and anyway, you will find that the focal lengths you use will change over time, which is good. All focal lengths have their own characteristics and personalities. Like any good relationship, getting to know them takes time, understanding and perseverance.

In this post I am going to talk about quality for your dollar, or more crudely, bang for your buck. And there are a few things to take into consideration: (more…)

Releasing the dryad

A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.

~Edward de Bono

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.

~P.D. James

It has been nearly two years, but I am still haunted. The moment has yet to unhappen. May it never do so.

It was one of those late autumnal days, when the elementals were throwing the sky around, when the wind was capricious and well-intentioned, but largely unfocused. It would stop, scowl uncertainly beneath its dark cloudy eyebrows, and ponder mightily. Then its face would brighten, a childlike glee would fill its face, and it would dash around, shaking the trees, giving the waves a clip behind the ear and then rush maniacally over the nearest hill for a moment. But it would come back for more. I love the random unpredictability of days like this. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:
As a number of you have commented, when the posts drop off, it is because I am busy…very busy…
My apologies.
If they seem a little thin, I am working on it…

1. I have just upgraded the essays page to make it a little less visually constipating. There is a new essay from French photographer Robert Demachy, who wrote many essays in the early 20th century. On the Straight Print contains issues still current 100 years later. A bonus is the wonderfully formal prose…
2. From the Department of VERY Big Boys’ Toys….Last week Hasselblad announced their new 50Mp digital back. Not t be outdone, Phase One came straight back with their 60.5 Mp P65+ back. My spies tell me that it was there anyway, and they were just holding off until PhotoKina in September. But Hasselblad flushed them out of the woodwork…go on, Andrew, you know you want need one…or does the iPhone come first???
3. If, like me, you use Firefox in preference to Safari or Internet Explorer, the upgrade to 3.0 is well worth it. Not only is it faster and less resource-hungry, there are cool plugins available for it. My favourites are Foxmarks ( sync bookmarks across computers), All-in-One Sidebar, Pdf Download, and Sxipper ( keep track of your form details and login/passwords..
4. Lastly a tip from the Department of Pocket Protectors. I have been trying to find a way to send and receive email from my laptop while on the move without having to use slow and clunky webmail. Receive is easy enough. Send is something trickier. Well, there is a way, if you have a gmail account. In the account settings, specify your default smtp server as Gmail and it works anywhere. More details here or google : free smtp.
5. Update: Focusing Fallibilities. Those of you interested in focusing and focus issues might want to read Dave Etchell’s article. At first I thought it was a sound argument for avoiding autofocus. Now I realise it is an even sounder argument for avoiding manual focus. Or is it?
   

Ka kite ano

Kia ora tatou:

As a number of you know, Freeman, Sally and I will be teaching next year the visual design workshop  we have done for the last few years in Akaroa, New Zealand at the gorgeous Mt Vernon Lodge. Each year we finish the workshops exhausted and elated. As one recent attendee said: This workshop doesn’t teach visual design; it facilitates Art. And much more than that.

Next year I will be offering a digital Intensive before the main workshops, focusing on PhotoShop and including advanced techniques, along the lines of those in the previous post.

This is to let you all know that bookings opened yesterday.

I have uploaded a copy of the relevant guff for those of you interested. We are already receiving registrations from abroad. You can download information packs here.

information-pack-akaroa2009

registration-form

international-payments

If it continues this way, Sally and I will be the ones with the funny accents….

Ka kite ano

Kia ora tatou:

The following post is the first in a series I will write from time to time, depending on interest and feedback. In  the past I have tended to tallk about the how of photography and the why of photography, but rarely if ever together.

In these posts I want to talk about the journey from pre- to postvisualisation and the steps I have followed in making the image. I intend to offer workshops that explore this in the future and which marry concept and technique. Let me know what you think.

Clouds draw the wind

Brian Turner

You never really finish a piece of work; you abandon it

-Brian Turner

I am in haste. I can feel the land watching me and I am on edge, but I stop for a coffee anyway. (more…)

In a recent post, I talked about my favourite books. Well I have been adding to them. My collection of PhotoShop How-to’s has suddenly mushroomed, courtesy of a nasty and virulent Amazon habit. There is a reason for this. An expensive reason.

I have just upgraded my 1Ds Mk II to the MK III. Apart from the 21-23Mb Raw files, which have necessitated switching to fast 8Gb cards (gulp), I have come to realise that my PhotoShop skills just aren’t good enough to realise the quality level that I now perceive I want to accomplish with my images and which  I have learned the Ds, in the short few weeks I have had it, can deliver. It has little to do with the resolution. It has everything to do with the 14 bit files, which give me more information to murder/manipulate, and the ability to render smoother tonalities. Suddenly I feel out of my depth, as if someone has handed me the keys to a Skyline GT-R, or Topgear’s Richard Hammond trying to drive a Formula 1 car. There is too much that I do not know, so I am doing something about it.

Enter the great god Amazon.

It is quite exciting really. The prospect of all this cool knowledge waiting for me to master excites me. A new journey, new discoveries, and hopefully a new level of quality somewhere down the road.

But first a little learning.

It is a curious thing, but my comprehension skills need text. Printed text. I can stare at a monitor for hours and not get it. Give me a book and I can start to get it. Maybe it’s an age thing, but I don’t think I am alone.

So herewith, without further ado, five how-to books I really recommend.

1. The Adobe PhotoShop Lightroom book -Scott Kelby. A must for LR users. I am still learning new stuff.

2. The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers-Scott Kelby. Really useful, with techniques applied to real-world situations.

3. Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3. He puts the whole workflow thing together, and shows how to make ordinary images look stand-out.  Hmmm, maybe it’s time to go through the back-catalogue of my image library again….

4. Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter) by Katrin Eismann. Gasp! My eyes are watering!

5. Photoshop Masking & Compositing (VOICES) by Katrin Eismann. See comment #4

Be warned: The last two books are heavy-duty, with the sort of tranquillising effect that would knock out an enraged bull elephant. Great bed-time reading for the insomniac; guaranteed to send you off in 13 nanoseconds. The information is however invaluable and hugely worth it.

If the posts have been a little few and far between, it is because I have been doing a 360 review of what I put up, along with trying to keep up with commercial pressures. I always appreciate feedback, so I am asking for it here.

Please help me out.

I could write all sorts of stuff, but I want to keep to photography, or matters associated with it. So I have been sifting through it, looking at what draws responses and what does not. Anything to do with camera clubs seems to have drawn a response, particularly the post on this year’s submissions. They will have to go on hold; I am no longer a member of the Board-for the short-term, I am informed. No, don’t ask.

I tried a review of different raw converters, and I confess, it was not my finest work. Doing it was like eating Weetbix without the milk and sugar! Anyway, Phil Askey does it way better. So I am going to keep my thoughts to myself-unless asked.

I put in the geek stuff because I think we need to remember that our computers are critical to what we do. Ok, and I am a technophile…I admit it. So there. (Stop chortling, Andrew Spencer!)

So what should I write about? Maybe you can tell me the posts you like and the ones that don’t.

If there are things missing that you would like to see, then say so. I will take it on board.

Things I won’t do include:

1.       The great Canon vs Nikon debate. They are both fantastic cameras.

2.       Do DPreview-type reviews. I am a photog and they are way too boring to do…making photographs-now THAT I am interested in!

I am about to try a new category, describing the making of an image from concept to finish and including the CS3 techniques I used. I hope this will be of some use. There in the next day or so.

Lastly, I am due to take delivery of a Canon ipf 6100 ( 24″ wide) large format printer on Tuesday, all going well. I have got so frustrated with the work done for me so far, that I have decided to do it myself.  If any of you want some BIG prints, then let me know.

Again, give me feedback.

Please.

Kia ora tatou:

The story goes like this..

A close friend has wireless broadband at home and runs Mac and PC on an Apple Airport. Over the last 3 months his capped 6Gb plan kept tipping over into dialup mode. He couldn’t understand why. He put it down to his 10-year old daughter’s Limewire habit and gave her a hard time over her usage. because she loves Madonna and Britney (shudder!), he figured it was file sharing, and changed the Limewire settings so the traffic would all be inbound.

It made no difference.

Then the other night, he had a look at the Mac and discovered he had a stray shared folder with X’s Shared Folder ( X being the 18-year old boy across the fence). It contained music with explicit content including bestiality and other vile stuff. Understandably he was irate that his daughter had been exposed to this rubbish.

To cut a long story short, he and X have had a discussion on the matter…

Which leads to the whole point of this story.

If you have wireless broadband at home (or anywhere for that matter) and it is unsecured, you may be helping others with their Internet adventures. It is not difficult to secure it against most threats…

In Auckland recently, I stayed with some folks whose WB was secured. Their 3 neighbours were not and I could have a good time at their expense.

Something to think about….