Short Sights at Noon

Film EOS

2012-01-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

A great advance has just been made in using film as well as digital technologies.
I bought a Canon that did seem nicely made and which the friendly sales person assured me
had been a well regarded EOS slr in its day.

Several days of research and three rolls of film later I'm really pleased with the fineness of the
effect the Canon RT camera ensures. For anybody interested in the history of cameras there are plenty of sites that explain
how the use of a fixed pellicle mirror means a shutter speed that was astonishing in 1989, the date it was launched.

It is very like the EOS 630, which became much more popular, but although I don't shoot sports events, and probably won't
get the best use out of my new gem, the fixed mirror means that flower macros should be very clear and sharp as there is no
mirror slap to cause the slightest ripple.

This has been a steep learning curve as, at last I took bracketing by the horns and set the camera to take
three photos in a row, forgot how to undo it and so found myself with the machine having taken over for a while.

However, it got sorted out and photos of architectural details in particular are very pleasing.

There's a link in the title bar to the photos uploaded so far.

Christmas Fare

2011-12-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

Dublin is ablaze with Christmas colour at the moment.

In the title bar is a link to some of my Chrismas photos on Flickr, going back several years.

And, it goes without saying, there is the food...

Bright Colours

2011-09-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

So many of my photos from this Summer are dull, due to lack of bright sunlight, that I took to making pastiche "fine art" photos, flattening the tones even more and using contrast to the best effect.

These are not photos that will be of commercial interest ever, I expect, but the exercise of learning to play with gamma and contrast in Irfanview has brought several benefits. Most of all, it helps to learn about using negative space in a photo.

However, I still prefer the gaudy flowers and insects captured during a bright May when I first bought a zoom lens with built-in macro function.

Here's to more colour from now on...

Botanical

2011-08-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

Dubliners are fortunate to have a very beautiful and well stocked botanic gardens. There is great pleasure in seeing plants grown to the highest standard and to walk in a fine arboretum where the trees are loved and well tended.

The flat light that makes everything seem so sombre at the moment is actually helpful when it comes to flower photography. Whites, in particular, do not get bleached out in macro photos.

Shots of flower borders and wider landscapes are less successful, however, as there is less sparkle on a dull day.

Sunshine?

2011-08-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it's in short supply in Dublin these days.

Wonderful clouds, dramatic and eerie colours in the sky abound, but the fine sunlight that encourages insects to fly from flower to flower is simply not here.

September may be brighter... or so it's to be hoped.

Stepping Out in Style

2011-07-20T09:09:00.001-07:00

Street photography is my least favourite activity.

As a result, I have practiced more than usual, shooting casually as I walk along, capturing streetscapes usually, and not trying
to make too many individual portraits. Photographing people from behind gives an insight into current fashions, without having
to seem like a hunter.

There is such a body of work and analysis about the voyeuristic nature of street photography that I was put off
for a long time by what I read. Thinking that shopping centres would offer a more comfortable experience, I started
with them some years ago. The reality of the new gated city was quickly pointed out by security guards in some malls.
They are private spaces, not public like the street itself, and each place makes its own rules. The Powerscourt Centre in Dublin city centre
welcome photographers and there are some lovely architectural details there for anybody who likes Georgian Dublin.

Several years reading have made me quite choosy about where I travel. France and Quebec are non starters, due to the
draconian laws in operation there. Italy seems, so far to be very welcoming and since Italians are friendly in general photography
seems to be a good way to make new acquaintainces.
Some people on the street in England can look a bit grim when caught within my photos, so they don't tend to make
agreeable images for uploading on the Internet. An exception is the delightful face painter in York who was really pleased when asked to post specially.
I shall never become a true street photographer as the candid aspect of the
true practitioner, where the subjects are in situations where they are outside their comfort zones make me feel uneasy, never mind
how the people in question might feel about being exposed to public scrutiny. Couples walking hand in hand, while charming,
are never uploaded, as they relationship might not last... or worse, they may be in an illicit relationship. It is not my
business to cause trouble.

In some Eastern countries, I make sure never to upload photos of people who are speaking in public. Since I don't know
what they are saying and since they may be there without official permission, this is probably a safe measure.

Up to last week I happily uploaded the occasional shop window display, thinking that owners might be flattered.
However I had a strange experience while just snapping a particularly pretty display when a sales assistant rushed out
to ask what I was doing. The tone and general sense of suspicion, not really cured by my puzzled explanation that I was
just photographing shop windows, now ensures that, not only will that shop be avoided like the plague, I shall not feel
confident about uploading these sorts of photos in future. I could be breaching some trade copyright or other that I have not
heard about. This is linked to an experience of being at a fashion show years ago where photographs were not allowed.
This did not stop a lively visitor snapping everything on the catwalk, probably to rush with the prints to some warehouse where
the designs would be copied.

In years to come, people will think that we live today in some sort of ghastly Pied Piper's nightmare, childless and
without any sense of joy in the friendlieness that photography is meant to bring.
Sometimes children get stuck in my line of view, but uploading photos to the internet is now such a touchy subject that
I have now come to pick up on the frightful paranoia that surrounds their iconography. I have been soundly criticised by some
for giving in to the current practice, as the freedom of expression that professional photographers value so much is being
eroded just as much by my lack of courage as it is by new laws. However, a long lecture by one matron on an Italian street
makes me remember that life is short and that I can't spend hours placating the fears of the seriously frightened parents who
now people our public spaces. I don't tend to photograph them much either, as they look so gloomy.

Street riots are out of the question. I did not get my hair cut for a year in order to be able to buy a good 50mm lens.
Professionals can get their cameras replaced on insurance and one excellent news hack I met explained that it was no tragedy
as covering street disorder may actually lead to a useful camera upgrade.

Australia remains the most pleasant country for street photography in my experience and I can't wait to get there again.
The atmosphere is less neurotic than Europe and the buildings are very much to my personal taste. People don't take much
notice of cameras in general and the Brunswick Music Festival is well worthwhile for anybody who wants to get in on
Melbourne life.

A prize for good humour has to go for the three friends I met while walking in County Wicklow a few months ago.

They even offered to pose again, so that I might get a better shot. I thought that the spontaneous sense of fun they had
displayed when they first saw the camera could not be bettered and their's is one of my favourites, proving that all the effort
and discomfort was worth it in the end.

However, its back to flowers, statues, architecture and trees.
I can well understand why the very diffident Monsieur Atget used get up at dawn in order to photograph a world
devoid of people, which is why his work has a mysterious timelessness. Frocks and carriages are set firmly in a verifiable time.
People in future centuries may find us a dull bunch but all this ensures, please Heavens, that nobody will ever want me to take photos for money on the street.

The effort could prove fatal.

Stoned

2011-07-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

Dublin is thronged with visitors at this time of year.

One of the treasures here is the Chester Beatty Library and there is plenty of interest to photograph on the way in.

This stone head is by Edward Smyth (1749-1812) who worked with his son.

Searches for the history of the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle will yield hours of reading on the subject.

The Garden Photographer

2011-07-08T02:25:00.000-07:00

Television programmes always favour bright colours, flower macros and many, many bees when they send their photographers out.

This has set me thinking about the fact that I love, above all, photographing statues and hand crafted details in any garden I visit.

The Giusti Gardens in Verona posed a challenge.
For some reason, I found it took several hours to get my mind settled to finding angles that were not edgy and disturbing. The sculptures in this fine, formal garden are somehow not aligned in a way that easily calms the eye. I found myself jumping from one spot to another in an effort to take in views that did not make the statues look ill at ease.

Finally, it came right...

Out in the Country

2011-06-24T02:00:00.000-07:00

Drive-by shooting became a favourite activity when I took to photography first. It passes the time nicely to capture the landscape as it ambles by.

Also, when travelling in new places, recording roadside landmarks and signs helps to retrace the way one has come.

In Ireland, the centre of the country is relatively unpopulated, compared with continental Europe. Apart from the little towns with their bright shop fronts and houses which can go back as far as the 18th century there can be little to record that is worth uploading. However the country churches are very beautiful and well built, a joy for anybody interested in stonework.

Sculpture

2011-05-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Statues are so much easier to photograph than people. You can walk round them for ages, go back at different times of the day to favourite one and capture them, frozen in time but in a different light.

I have to admit that I find public art in Ireland, in general, a bit lacking in subtlety and not to my taste. So it was a revelation to find that Italy is even better than France when it comes to statues to fall in love with.

Italy does not seem to have set off on a gallop to produce outrageous modern pieces like I have seen on the streets of Paris; though this may be seen as a criticism of a country that is still, in everyday life at least, quite conservative in its visual expressions.

But one thing I did notice is that Italian art, in all its forms, is full of angels.

I had a great chat in L'Accademia in Venice with an American couple about the personality types in one painting, where Cherubim and Seraphim smiled and played music in an eternal daze. It is possibly the sort of painting that made one of our family state baldly when asked to study for his First Communion. "D'you know something... I don't think I would like eternal life. I would find it boring."

He must have been looking at Italian art.

But one angel, the most famous of all stands out.

"The Angel of the City" by Marino Marini is a delight.
He rises to greet the day with the same joie de vivre every morning and is the most famous of the beautiful pieces that Marini made. Not possible, I know, but it would be Heaven indeed if one could photograph him at dawn.

As for the fact that angels are pure, incorporeal beings I can only assume that this is one of the naughty ones who managed to come down to Earth with success.

Photographing Birds

2011-04-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

Many of the wretched creatures never stay still, but patience pays off.

If you want absolute success, the frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) is the most willing of models. At most this unusual bird will bat its eyelids very, very slowly.

Le Golf

2011-04-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

Golf courses are exellent for photography.

Composition is easy as everything is so orderly there.

Harry's Filters

2011-03-30T04:51:00.000-07:00

I've just uploaded some photos that explain how to use Irfanview to desaturate images with a bit more control and subtlety than hitting the "desaturate" button.

Harry's Filters can be downloaded from the Irfanview site and are easy to use, once one gets the hang of how to access them. There is a cheerful "play" function, where the system moves of its own accord and if you see an effect you like you just hit the "stop" button.

It's worth noting that freeware programs are very good for amateur use and do not fill hard drives with vast amounts of filters that may or may not be of use.

The photos in question may be viewed by hitting the title bar.

Spring has hit Dublin and computing is way down the list of activities from now on.

Many thanks to all who continue to visit and post friendly comments here.

Polarizers for Cloud Details

2011-03-23T04:24:00.000-07:00

Although glass filters can soften images, they are very useful for making skies look more dramatic.

The light in Australia is extremely bright and clouds and sky can merge into a flat, toneless expanse without a bit of art. I used a circular polarizer quite often while taking drive-by shots. It's worth noticing that the effect was also enhanced by the fact that the car had tinted windows, which cut down on glare.

All Keyed Up

2011-03-20T04:36:00.000-07:00

Often, by mistake, I take over-exposed photos.
In very sunny situations, colours get bleached and one is left with outlines, like a fine water colour.

This can be useful for printing inexpensive photos, as so much less ink is used.

The differences between "over-exposure" and "high-key" are discussed in the link in the title bar.

Somehow, these photos have an other-worldly atmosphere.
I often use them when a small avatar is needed, as the images are less cluttered and stand out well.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-08T05:40:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to all visitors here...

And many thanks for those who have taken time to follow.

Here's to many Photo Ops in 2011!

York Minster

2010-12-28T11:51:00.001-08:00

Photgraphy in Church Interiors can be very engaging.

Viewers and Album Generators

2010-12-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

From time to time I use Porta Album Generator to make collections of photos for friends. The "Lightbox" feature is useful, as all the photos can be viewed, in thumbnails, on one page.

It might be worth bringing all my Italian photos together in one spot in this format.

In the meantime, here's a memory of a lazy moment spent on a balcony in the mild November air outside Rome...

A Stressed Effect

2010-12-14T10:08:00.001-08:00

A lot of adept photographers use textures and layers to add depth to their work.

I found that, with gentle tweaking, Harry's Filters in Irfanview offer a quick and effective way to darken, burn, tweak and generally add a stressed, antique effect to the most ordinary photos.

Primes

2010-12-11T09:03:00.000-08:00

I became so attached to the Canon 50mm f1.4 prime lens that it is rarely removed from my Digital Rebel. Some disucussion about adding a new lens to my arsenal has taken place, given that Christmas gifts are in order.

However, I have held back.

There is little point in buying new equipment without careful consideration about what sort of shots I wish to take. The sharpness that prime lenses offer has made me veer away from zooms from the time being. I wonder if an 80 mm prime, which will grow to the equivalent of 105mm or 110 mm due to crop factor, might be the best choice.

This may be just the lens for neat architectural shots of bridges and buildings while wandering round town.

Custom White Balance

2010-12-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes everyday colours can be a bit bland.

I often use custom white balance setting in my Digital Rebel to create vivid in-camera effects. The tip is to choose a photo already on the card that is relatively lacking in detail but that imparts a hue to the new photos. Experimentation is essential, as I have not worked out a system that can predict what colour tones are the final result.

It's noteworthy that taking a shot of the black plastic in a car and using that dull photo can increase the richness of reds. A scientist would be able to explain why this is so.

It adds to the excitement, particularly on a dull, overcast day.

My Trusty Pentax

2010-11-30T07:25:00.000-08:00

I should try harder with film. I still have no idea how to process even the most basic BW film, but have decided to learn. It's too time consuming to keep bringing a single BW reel to a shop, wait a week, pay quite a bit and then take another public transport ride before I can see the fruits of my labour.

This photo was taken in Rome.

It's a wonderful city for street shots. There was a gathering of people watching a woman rush from a building to a large car and the photojournalists were out in force. I still do not know what it was all about, but I like this candid shot of a photographer who, having completed a good job of work, was totally aware of my trusty Pentax waving in his direction.

We're all in the same boat...

Colour and RGB

2010-11-12T05:16:00.000-08:00

Professionals know to look for websafe colours when they are making a site. I tend to continue, haphazard, to job along happily without worrying about how a fine blue may show up as lurid purple elsewhere.

Merttol have some good tips on the subject.

I probably should calibrate my monitor... but that, unfortunately, would just be more work...

It's Obvious, Really

2010-11-11T06:47:00.000-08:00

The grinding upward struggle to make work quicker, more efficient, finally stopped yesterday.

Just make screenshots.

I worked out that using the colour conversions feature in Irfanview repeatedly, following that by "auto adjust colours" led to some strange, if effective duotones.

However, when the final jpeg was saved, it was full of broken pixels and blotchy skies.

Just snap the chosen image with the Prt Sc button on the keyboard and paste into your favourite photo editor.

Obvious, really...

York Minster, A Statue

2010-11-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

I Have Thought About How to Make Sharp Photos...

2010-11-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

from a moving vehicle.

The main tip is to shoot in manual, setting the exposure to at least 1/350 seconds.

Any photo taken at less than f8 will be a bit soft, but can be sharpened, if needed.

Setting the ISO last, not first, ensures balanced exposure.
It may mean that the final photo may be a bit grainy, but that is better than a dizzy blur.

There is a useful explanation of the science involved on a site
"A Sibilant Intake of Breath".
It's called "Try f/8".

Oh... and I almost forgot... I always use a sturdy travel tripod to keep the camera steady.

Monotone

2010-11-03T09:47:00.001-07:00

I have come to like Black and White photography so much I find that searching through the various groups on Flicr increasingly pleasant.

Film

2010-10-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Many photos taken with film in dull weather can be very grey.

This one was worked on in Irfanview to coax some colour out of the marble fountain.

Sumi-e

2010-10-20T02:26:00.001-07:00

By chance, the Sumi-e painterly effect in my software caught my eye.

Remembering Italy

2010-07-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

Memories of Italy in the soft November rain of 2009...

Gradually gathering photos together and presenting them
on Tumblr.

Many photographers and artists hang out there.

Worth a visit...

Street Portraits

2010-06-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

I'm really proud of this photo.
The subject seemed so comfortable when the camera appeared and it enlivened a dull moment walking along a rainy street in Leeds.

It was my first visit to the city and there were many other new visitors about, commenting and trying to interpret what we saw. The street traders are very much in evidence and I missed a shot of a pleasant man selling the "Big Issue" purely because I was trying to manoeuvre the doors into the Victoria Arcade.

I expect that most of the traders are locals and there is a discussion about this in the Title Bar.

In the Wild Garden

2010-05-10T07:14:00.001-07:00

Painterly Photos

2010-05-07T06:24:00.001-07:00

Having discovered Pixo, which allows the bored photographer to paint quickly on the dullest image, I can see a summer of great contentment ahead.

Normally, digital filters give a painterly effect.

Sympathic Images

2010-05-01T05:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a contact with photographers who use narrative in curating their work, I have set out to make little stories with images gathered over time.

This does not come easily, as it calls for a thread that is visible, not just a mental construct imposed by the will.

The Fiveprime system is useful for placing work on a black background and making a screenshot that can be presented as a single image.

Having allowed Fiveprime access to one's Flickr account, just tag photos with a word that is particular to the theme chosen. Here, in order to bring six garden photos together, each was tagged with "analogue" and "moderntwist2".

The odd men out, the footballers, were not included in the final screenshot.

Aesthetics...

2010-04-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

... or
"whatever you like yourself, Missus."

Objectivity shot out the window somewhere during my student years. I had been almost bound in a double Nelson of prescriptions in relation to the Arts in childhood, but with the halcyon days of the 'Sixties came aniline dyes, cheekiness and a delight in subjectivity. What is most heartening about my memories of those times is that the fine underpinning of centuries of design expertise had not been abandoned and people actually spent ages deciding on where exactly to make a hemline or how wide or narrow a belt should be in relation to the overall effect in a dress or suit. As a result, many photos from that time, especially street shots, are actually beautiful as they show a sense of proportion in the subjects captured.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but it can be useful to think about why some photos are better than others, or why there can be a consensus on such matters. There is almost a cult of ugliness in the visual arts at the moment (I found the 1970's quite painful to look at)... though many will rush to point out that it is my perception that an image or object is "ugly" is the cause of such a statement.

I don't know if the philosophers can help out here...

Seo and Getting a Nice Template to Highlight Work...

2010-04-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

I found liteflickr.com for the first time today.

A nifty way of viewing thumbnails of photos "On Black".

Using searches for various tags allows one to view photos with a similar subject.

Ideal!

As If We Didn't Have Enough to Worry Us...

2010-04-20T10:07:00.001-07:00

I have reached crisis defecit.

"Is photography in crisis... threadbare...just plain done...???

I don't know... and, not to put a tooth in it, as elders in my childhood used intone,
I don't much care.

Here is a photo of a typical thatched cottage in Ireland... the sort of image that makes even hardened cynics think fondly of days of yore. It has been "enhanced" in a way that speaks to my unconscious, perhaps, or that is to the portion of my unconscious that is still there... it's hard to communicate with it, as it remains, happily, unconscious.

The only crisis I can think of at the moment would occur if there were no cottages left to photograph.

Really...

And here is a cottage that is not thatched, just for variety's sake.

Despite all the advances in technology...

2010-04-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

film still gives the finest effects...

Faux Lomo Effects

2010-03-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

It's all in the colours, really.

I still remember how puzzled I was by polaroid effects when colour became possible for amateurs in the 1960's. There was a bleached, unreal tint to family shots and I was much pleased to discover slide film at the end of the decade.

This offers a nod to Faux Cross Processing, but is too sharp to take the viewer in,
I think.

Photographers and Moral Rights

2010-03-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

There is an engraving by Gustave Doré which shows Don Quixote feverishly brandishing his sword at fantastical creatures swarming round his head. They have emerged from the book of fictional stories that he is reading and he is much exercised on the subject of defending the vulnerable from the over strong.

It is the closest image I can find that expresses the sheer weirdness of contemporary life in relation to Internet usage, particularly copyright and artists' rights.

Don Quichotte, c'est nous?

But Is It Art?

2010-02-16T21:32:00.001-08:00

The discussion about Art and Photography has raged for far too long.
The uneasiness surrounding all art works which got fully into its stride in the 20th Century continues to puzzle and alarm.
A discussion on French radio in the early 1970's seemed to state the problem clearly enough
for my uncomplicated mind. There is a piece, consisting of an egg placed on a stool on display,
one of the contributors explained. It is presented as a work of art.
But if one were to be present at the moment when the person making this piece
placed the egg on the stool, would one call him (or her) an artist?

I cannot answer this question.
It makes me laugh, though nervously.
Emphasis on the consciousness of the artist is now old hat.
I used think that if the egg is placed in the allocated spot chosen by
the active agent, the artist, the ensemble is art.
Now I'm not at all sure.
Lurking, always, now is the question as to what unconscious impetus may be
at work when such a piece is created.
Grappling with unforgiving materials, as sculptors do,
always seems to be a more valid artistic activity,
but to think this is probably old fashioned.
I sound like Théophile Gautier, who saw that art must, to be true,
emerge from a struggle with the material world.

The art market has made terrifying demands on artistic merit,
purely by valuing some works at prices that are almost bizarrely
beyond reason. Gursky holds the record for the most expensive
photo ever sold, as the link in the title bar explains.

Whether or not I would be happy to part with millions for such an iconic artefact
raises so many questions about the art world and its inner workings that I feel,
quite understandably, giddy.

Photography, the democratic and mechanical capturing of images in light,exists somewhere in a realm
of disquiet. The macine captures the image, a split second activity that could be executed by remote control
and, nowadays, often is. The question of perception is what makes the photo live.
No machine exists that can interpret a photo truly. The communication between the work made by the
photographer and the viewer, a collusion of perception, is what makes the artwork.
The machine records, the artist arranges, the viewer perceives.

Probably enough for today.

(This, BTW, is not a work of art...
It is a piece of documentary, capturing what the rock face of The Grampians looks like during the day.
Here I am, happily, on much firmer ground...)

The Past

2010-01-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

I have taken to thinking about how fashion directs even how we see the World...

Regression in art was very fashionable in the 'Sixties.
Nowadays I think the technical advances in photography clamour for finely-honed, hdr images which seem perfect and of another world. They are often far removed from the visual vocabulary of everyday life and seem to take on a life of their own.

I avoid looking at the new screens that are taking over public spaces because they seem to lure the viewer in to the neglect of the "real" world around.

Photographers owe it to themselves to become as conscious as possible of what their images are saying to viewers, especially when they upload to the Internet.

Point and shoot photos are often treated as if they have no context or meaning, when, in fact, they are some of the most interesting work many photographers produce. Looking at these snaps and finding why they might have attracted the photographer is one way of communicating with another person in a non-verbal way.

Having spent time reading Barthes and finding more references to Proust and photography, it seems that photography has found its place as one of the main art forms of the 21st Century. Baudelaire was given to finding faults with such a new-fangled technology.
I expect if he were around today he would be amazed.

Why, for instance, has photography taken such a long time to become established as a valid art form?

Can anybody now become an artist thanks to photographic technology?

What draws many viewers to some photos when others get ignored?

What are the storage systems that will allow future generations to find the work we are doing now?

Blooming Bokeh

2009-12-11T09:02:00.001-08:00

Gamma Rays

2009-11-29T02:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes simply correcting Gamma in a photo makes it shine.

Gamma Rays

Il Pleut

2009-11-10T02:44:00.001-08:00

Sooc

2009-10-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

It's worth the effort to try to get a photo right
first time.

Like Marks in Water

2009-09-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

The watermark here could be made a bit more subtle, I know.
Transparency can be controlled, but I've left a stronger mark just to jog my memory in a few months time.

While adding watermarking has lengthened the uploading process, there is a certain satisfaction in trying to work it into every photo in a way that suits.

Melbourne, Lygon Street

2009-08-17T12:34:00.001-07:00

Melbourne, Lygon Street

The Pigeon House

2009-08-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

Dublin streetscape

2009-07-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Moody Days

2009-07-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

We are having unseasonably wet and windy weather here in Dublin.

This about sums it up.

Reviewing the Situation

2009-07-03T01:49:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken about three years ago. It seems like a lifetime, considering the amount of time and energy spent since then on getting to know how to use digital technologies.

Funnily enough, I still prefer film...

Heartbeat

2009-06-27T04:06:00.000-07:00

At the Water Wall in Melbourne

2009-06-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

Photo Quiz

2009-06-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

There is a Photo Quiz entitled "Where am I" on Boards.ie.

If you think you know where this ruin is, you might enjoy signing up and sharing knowledge there.

Photography and the Law

2009-05-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a great Flickr fan.
Having not quite reached the stage where I have to be treated for compulsive uploading syndrome to that site, I have plenty of time to read about the IP rights surrounding free sharing of images on the Internet.

Boards.ie is discussing the extraordinary furore that erupted when the National Trust decided to make it a breach of contract if one were to upload photos taken on NT property, even for free viewing and sharing, to any site other than their own. The fact that the contract on their site amounts to grabbing all rights to the photographers' works is not now part of my mental consideration of this horrifying news. I have, in the past, uploaded photos to Flickr that were taken on NT land. I thought that I was sharing happy moments enjoyed in well tended surroundings. Somehow gardeners in the NT seem to have some magic formula when it comes to growing trees. Photos I took during visits to gardens in Yorkshire have an almost other-worldly shine. If you want to see any more of them, I'm afraid you may be out of luck.

Verboten!

I would write more about this, but really life is far too short.
As I type this, changes, which may allow free sharing on Flickr are afoot.
But since it's all so vague, and the since punishments threatened by the NT to be meted out to anybody who incurs their wrath remind me of the sad case of the Princes in the Tower and the ghastly horrors of my childhood readings of Dickens, I have no intention of testing the waters and continuing to share photos taken in Fountains Abbey. In fact, I may never go there again.

Frankly, there are many trees in Ireland that may be photographed and shared online with no danger whatsoever to life and limb...

Portra

2009-04-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

There are ups and downs to self education.
Nobody could teach themselves photography without an army of helpful
posters in the net, I think. Trying to work out the finer points of
dynamic range in relation to different film brands and sensors from
scratch might attract somebody with a mind like that of Mr Fox Talbot.
I'm quite an indolent soul and since nowadays there is an answer to most
questions that are asked about gear and its use, I spend quite a bit of
time boning up on the differences between Fuji and Kodak and generally
wondering what I should try next.

I bought five reels of Portra 160 VC in Ted's Cameras in Elizabeth Street
during my trip to Melbourne. I thought it would give some zany saturation
and photos taken in front of the Water Wall in the NGV turned out very
well indeed.

Antony Gormley at the National Gallery of Victoria

My enthusiasm is such that I joined the
Utata
group on Flickr to be able to share images of art works
that I hope to collect over time.
This refined and very lively group asks that posters
send their work to just five Flickr groups for 30 days days after
they have posted a photo to Utata. It somehow makes
a photo seem special.

It is only now that I realise that Portra is much debated.
The jury is still out on whether it is good for landscape work,
as Portra NC seems to be preferred. The vivid, highly saturated
VC is the film of choice for weddings and for studio work under
strictly controlled lights, it seems.

I deduce all this from reading.
It is difficult to come to any conclusion without trying it out in different
situations for myself.

It was certainly a fun film to try in the tropics, as a wander round Singapore
proved.

On the Beach

2009-04-15T01:43:00.001-07:00

On the Beach
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

SEO

2009-04-14T04:11:00.000-07:00

1. To the waters and the wild..., 2. At Imma Today, 3. Blues (Small)

Remembering some of the photos that made it into the Flickr
Explore system.

While this post could probably fit just as easily into
Short Sights at Noon, it is worth thinking about SEO and
how some web sites and photos become successful, while others,
equally valuable, linger in the wings, never seeing the limelight.

I visit the Irish Webmaster Forum from time to time and learn a lot there.
However, SEO is seriously hard work.

Street Sculpture in Deloraine

2009-04-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

Sunshine on the Street Sculptures in
Deloraine, Tasmania

Professional Film Scans

2009-04-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

Whenever I use film I get everything processed professionally.

The Exif details tell which scanner was used and it could become a helpful
guide to which scanner to buy when the time comes.

Today a new thread discusses the ins and outs of
using Velvia and which scanning system might best suit.Velvia and Scanning

My creation

2009-04-02T01:38:00.001-07:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

On a Tasmanian Beach

2009-03-31T06:03:00.000-07:00

Magnolia stellata

2009-03-31T02:30:00.001-07:00

Magnolia stellata
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Bee in the March Garden

2009-03-28T02:54:00.001-07:00

Bee in the March Garden
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Photography Sites on the Net

2009-03-28T02:36:00.000-07:00

Although I am largely self taught in the fine art of
photography, I would not have got anywhere without all the
help that is freely available on the Internet.

Photographers, a gregarious bunch, tend to rescue one another from
the worst excesses of over exposure, murky colours and excessive grain.

When I joined P45 Rant years ago, the photos I uploaded were a pale shadow of their
possible selves. I will remain grateful forever to all the experts there who took time,
often with robust invective, to keep my work presentable.

The old guard there seems to have changed as posters spread out over the Globe.
As a result I now hang out at Boards.ie and have discovered many Irish photographers
who document our often moody landscape in very individual ways.

Given that Spring has hit our green isle with a wild and intense colour palette,
the next two months will see us wandering in gardens and groves, documenting
tulips, daffodils and the many flowering trees that make Dublin such a very
beautiful city.

At the Bonsai Garden Shop in Singapore's Beauty World

2009-03-25T02:36:00.001-07:00

At the Bonsai Garden Shop in Singapore's Beauty World
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Of Clouds, Mountains and Super Saturation...

2009-03-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

I have noticed a trend on my Flick account.

Whenever I increase the saturation on photos,
they get more favourable comments than those
presented Straight Out of Camera (SOOC).

This says a lot about contemporary tastes.

Is Hyper-Realism the way forward?

Sweet William

2009-03-21T11:31:00.001-07:00

Sweet William
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

This photo is Rosewoodoil's contribution to the Boards Exhibtion
on view at the Dublin Camera Club. Congratulation to all involved.

Tonight's the Gala Opening at the Dublin Camera Club

2009-03-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Last Summer a
group was formed to share photos that could,
in time become the subject of an exhibition at the Dublin Camera Club.

The Exhibition, will open tonight.

Here's wishing every success to all concerned.

2009-03-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

Monitor Lizard in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore

2009-03-14T03:24:00.001-07:00

Monitor Lizard in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Wedding Photo Shoot

2009-03-10T22:40:00.001-07:00

Wedding Photo Shoot
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Love and Marriage

2009-03-10T01:32:00.000-07:00

The past month has been spent travelling.

The highlight, a marriage in Melbourne, out of doors in
one of the finest Botanic Gardens in the World,
has brought joy to all involved.

Gradually I'll start to share photos here and on
Boards.ie.

Gallopping around Singapore, Victoria and Tasmania has left little time for
blogging, but next week should see more frequent posts here.

Celebration

2009-03-10T01:11:00.001-07:00

Celebration
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Passiflora

2009-03-09T04:13:00.001-07:00

Passiflora
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Castle Howard

2009-02-06T09:08:00.001-08:00

Castle Howard
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Polarized

2009-02-06T05:56:00.001-08:00

I think a doctorate in Computer Studies would be necessary to work out why Flickr
insists on double ensuring back-links.

I play along with it as best I can, but am never sure I'm linking to the correct page.

A Braver Person Than

2009-02-06T05:47:00.000-08:00

I on one of the Photography sites I frequent has set themselves a project to photograph buildings this weekend. Among all the advice in relation to lenses and plumb lines is one essential that nobody thought to mention... woolly hats, gloves and, if necessary, aluminium insoles, whether bought or home-made to make out-of-doors work possible.

The snow has ensured that I may stay indoors indefinitely.

Is Winter necessary, I ask myself?

My Very Own (Comfort) Zone System

2009-01-31T05:52:00.000-08:00

My personality is very different from many I meet on the net.
I never fight for my rights.
I simply do not go anywhere that seems to offer discomfort
and a need for long-winded explanations.

That is why a nice long break from chat-rooms is
now in order. One of my favourite photographers has
just joined Flick so there's no need to follow his
activities in every sphere.

The invitation to stop photographing in our local mall
has had a saluatary effect. In search of safe havens in
cities I plan to visit in the future, a quick search has
revealed which are the ones to avoid.

There are so many misunderstandings now possible if one
produces a camera in a public space that I think I will be very
careful from now on to choose my sphere of activity wisely.

Bill Doyle once gave me plenty of tips on how to take photos
that are true winners. If he were taking his award-winning
shots today he would probably be arrested, not praised as one
of the most innovative and observant photographers of his age.

I never wrote up the interview he was so generous to give me years ago.

Perhaps in time it will be worth rembering on this blog.

"Photography is light", he said.

That seemed to be enough to be getting on with...

Canon Makes Photographic History

2009-01-31T04:45:00.000-08:00

My Digital Rebel is a lively little camera for portrait work.
While I'm snap-happy when it comes to photographing people,
the ability to capture a passing mood or a clear trait of character
is a quality a good camera must have.

I have nice photos of family members taken with the cameras
I owned in the 'seventies. They are quaint in the extreme
and capture little of the detail that is now possible with
new technologies. While I like them as a record of events
long past, they are simply not particularly good.

And just in case anybody wants to offer the reassurance
that you can take just as good photos with a point and shoot
as with a digital slr and that everything is in the soul
of the photographer, I'm afraid that this has not been
my experience.

The camera maketh the woman.
...

And coming back to why I started this post in the first place,
digital has seemingly come of age.

History has just been made as the Canon EOS 5D MkII
has been used by Pete Souza to photograph President Obama.

It is the first time a digital camera has been used
for such important work.

Garrya elliptica

2009-01-29T06:47:00.001-08:00

Garrya elliptica
Originally uploaded by rosewoodoil

Brighten My Day!

2009-01-29T06:26:00.000-08:00

The long greyness of Winter is beginning to recede.
Today the sun is sparkling, rather than shining,
through a slate-grey sky, sending me back to
photos taken on more colourful days.

Taking a Malling

2009-01-29T02:01:00.000-08:00

I am one of the few people I know who unreservedly praises our
local shopping mall. If the recession ever lifts, it is set to
become the largest in Europe, but at the moment it remains in
that strange hybrid state of old and new. The main Dundrum Centre
is a thriving and sparkly clean hub of pleasant activity.
Down the road, the gaping emptyness of the 1980s shopping centre
still stands.

I'm interested in all of this because, thanks to joining the
Photography group at Boards.ie, I had set myself a little project
to document life around these areas, from time to time.

A walk to the shops is one of the most banal of activities,
not one you would normally associate with stress.

However, having been asked to stop photographing the fountains at
the Dundrum Centre has made me stop and think.
It was explained that I can ask for permission to take photos,
which seems reasonable. However, there is an inherent lack of
logic in a society that photographs me daily on short circuit
camera and does not allow me to return the compliment...

Gear on the Move

2009-01-25T09:26:00.000-08:00

One reason, I now fully realise, that I took to writing years ago,
and did not consider photography at all, was the weight of the gear.

Two weeks have been spent beating a path to Snow and Rock,
a doughty nearby shop that sells everything from water purifying tablets to
crampons.

I'm only taking a few 'plane journeys, but I've decided to treat my travels
with all the seriousness of a major expedition.

How to ensure the safety of cameras, lenses and fragile equipment
while travelling is now a problem on a par with carbon emissions
and the imminent obliteration of the species.

Polynylon is the way forward... and, as ever,
hang the expense.

Trees, Bark and the Joys of Winter Photography

2009-01-24T08:05:00.000-08:00

Now is the time to photograph trees.

Lichens and mosses are painting patterns on the
bark in our street and the furtive blossoms
of the Winter Cherry are in full bloom.

View On Black or White, Either Large or Small

2009-01-24T07:50:00.000-08:00

View On Black

Thanks to stick-dan on Boards.ie I tried a photo of a pink
coneflower out on the "View on Black" system.

It really works well, so thanks for the idea.

Blade Runner?

2009-01-21T13:55:00.000-08:00

I've managed to buy several cameras and lenses during my lifetime
without having the foggiest ideas what I was gettting.

This has changed recently, as anybody who follows my uphill struggle
towards comperhension and extended photographic vocabulary.

Apparently the number of blades is way down the
list of prioritised questions one should ask when choosing a lens,
but when it comes to making "good" rather than "bad" Bokeh,
it can become a consideration.

I'm Not a Live-Linker

2009-01-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

Last year we sponsored the Best Designed Blog category
at the Irish Blog Awards.

The event co-incided with one of the steepest learning curves
I have ever been on... and that includes months of Fartlek
training for the Inter-Varsity cross-country and track and field
in my wild and very speedy youth.

In fact, the live-linking I managed with a href coding
took weeks, so I hope I will be forgiven if I congratulate
the Photo-Bloggers nominated for the
Irish Blog Awards 2009
in a flat, two-dimensional way.

Their blogs are a credit to an exceptional
year's work and this year's Photo Blog
sponsor is Pix.ie.

Annie Rhiannon: http://annierhiannon.blogspot.com
My Left Ventricle: http://myleftventricle.livejournal.com
Casa Casey Courtney: http://casacaseycourtney.wordpress.com
Paudie’s Photoblog: http://paudie.wordpress.com

Rockin Socks: http://toniireton.blogspot.com
Donncha O’Caoimh: http://inphotos.org
Porchfield.com: http://porchfield.com
This Irish Photograph: http://thisirishphotograph.blogspot.com
North Atlantic Skyline: http://johnsmyth.ie/blog
Darren Greene: http://darrengreenephotography.com

Kyle Tunney: http://blog.kyletunney.com
Lili Forberg: http://missliliphoto.wordpress.com
Iced Coffee Photoblog: http://icedcoffee.ie
Photographe à Dublin: http://photographedublin.blogspot.com
Barry Delaney Blog: http://photoblog.com/thebaz
Kevoto - I Only Come Here Cos It’s Free: http://kevoto.com

Caitriona.net : A Photoblog: http://caitriona.net/c
Photos And Ponderings: http://photosandponders.blogspot.com
Mcawilliams Photoblog: http://mcawilliams.com
Despod’s Photo And Comment Blog.: http://blog.despod.com
Imprints Of Light: http://imprintsoflight.blogspot.com

Off Her Rocker: http://wordpress.hotpress.com/offherrocker
Colette Mcnamara Photography: http://colettemcnamara.blogs.ie
Lickable Wallpaper: http://lickablewallpaper.com
Irish Street Art: http://irishstreetart.com
Keeper Of The Keys: http://keeperofthekeys.blogspot.com
Red Mum: http://redmum.blogspot.com

Oss237.com - Ross Costigan Photography: http://oss237.com
Venividi.ie - Rain Only Makes It Nicer: http://venividi.ie
Daisy The Curly Cat: http://daisythecurlycat.blogspot.com
My Own Little Empire: http://wind-sand-and-stars.blogspot.com
Gingerpixel Photography: http://gingerpixel.com

Newborn: http://newborn.ie
Glasseyalley.com : http://glasseyalley.com
Dee Organ: http://deeorgan.blogspot.com
Figmentation: http://figmentation.visualblogging.com

And for anybody who truly insists on knowing what
Fartlek is, just hit the Title Bar here...

2009-01-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to

BBGardens run by Bobby Buckley

has been nominated in the Irish+Blog+Awards 2009

The category is

Best Blog of a Business -

Sponsored by RED CARDINAL

A Basic Primer

2009-01-20T00:53:00.000-08:00

It seems that the slight sense of Spring in the air,
with returning light levels,
has encouraged many people to start travelling far and wide.

If you are planning a trip, one of the quickest ways to find
photos of your destination is to do a quick search in
the Fiveprime.org system.

Hive Mind somehow sucks up every image that has ever
graced the infinite pages of Flikr,
mostly thanks to tagging.

By combining several tag names in one search,
you can refine what you find in

Fiveprime.org

Efficiency?

2009-01-20T00:42:00.000-08:00

At last my photo-blogging has become more efficient.

Thanks to Kyle, I participated in the Photography Forum on Boards.ie for the past six months or so. I have emerged with a much clearer perspective on how to take photos that "work".

Today I discovered One.Tumbapi.

Key in a blog name and you will find all the other blogs that are
listed in its "Favourites" as they are listed on the right hand side
of the page, in most cases.

Sometimes all the glitz and colour of links to be scrolled can
blind us to the simple, direct information that is listed there...

Faux Macro

2009-01-18T01:05:00.001-08:00

Remembering, a year on, how I managed
to make magnified photos without a
true macro lens.

Diopter 4+ is a little gem.

Architecture in Dublin

2009-01-14T02:13:00.001-08:00

Winter Light

2009-01-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

From fstops,iso,exposure

Irish Blog Awards, 2009

2009-01-03T03:47:00.000-08:00

Time to get cracking.

We have until 14th January, 2009
to nominate our favourite
Irish Blogs.

Memories of Award Ceremonies of Yore @

Slideshow, Irish Blog Awards

Portrait

2008-12-26T11:57:00.001-08:00

Crop Factor and Lens Quality

2008-12-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

Studying lenses is my latest hobby.

It's mostly academic, as I learn about IS (Image Stabilisation)
and the esoteric world of optical glass.

Composition and the Left-Handed Right-Minded Photographer

2008-12-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

Somehow, this photo makes me feel uneasy.

I am right-handed.

Free?

2008-12-15T04:29:00.000-08:00

Vanity publishing is always in the news.

Would YOU work for free?

The recent practice of having one's work showcased on maps
and sites for free, while retaining copyright is
a hot topic in photographic circles.

I was pleased to have this photo added to Schmap.