Wednesday 27th - Depth of field

We had an exercise to do about depth of field and how it effects the image. I shot a row of cups and using a shallow depth of field allows me to draw the focus to a narrow area. See for yourself

Slow Shutter

Took low shutter speed photos on bus, not much to talk of but a chance to play with blur in photos

I also took some photos outside 277, It took a while to get the right position to take photos of cars at different shutter speeds. I have discovered I want to explore the effect of blur to create movement.

The triple stop - New English punctuality term

I just thought of a new English punctuality term “The triple stop”. For those of you who don’t know what it is read on.

The full stop designates an end of a sentence, a completion to a saying, a piece of information if you will. The triple stop on the other hand is designed to accentuate the importance of what we said in the previous sentence, it tells the reader that one should stop reading for three times longer than they normally would from a sentence, before starting on the next… There you have it a new English term, invented right here in New Zealand by a yet to be famous writer and photographer…

What colour is black and white

We had to do an exercise to show how black and white changes depending on white balance. It was supposed to be a creative exercise but I got busy and only ended up doing it for the technical experience. Seem black or white can have many shades.

Catching the Bus

Catching the bus to my course and looking out the window at what is happening around me. I hop off the bus and walk past shops looking in the windows. Items all arranged to look pretty, to entice you to want more, to come in and buy. The use of colour, lines that our eyes follow, the textures and emotions that are invoked. I have an epiphany “We see the world through a lens” this is what Annie Lebowitz said when I watched the 6 part documentary on her. Talking about photography she said that she sees the world through her lens, yet we all do. It might be the car window, or a pair of glasses, we are always seeing through something.

life is about observing that which is out there.

Weekend Assignment

Where do I want to go with my photography, what do I want to do, what sort of photographer am I. These are the question s that I wrestled with over the weekend. I decided that my passion is objects, people and scenery. Scenery could wait as it takes more time, taking a food photo at home takes les time, and with three kids…

Saturday I needed to pick something precious. I decided on the two things that Saturday first presented to me, my breakfast and Ruby. The weather cleared so I took Ruby to Cornwall park, after I had a photo of the French toast, one of my most precious breakfast items.

Taking photos of Ruby, my most precious girl, was a real challenge. She can be very busy and it is difficult to get her to slow down, add to this shooting on manual and many shots were not exposed correctly, I simply forgot in my haste to get the shot. I became aware of how lazy my shooting is. Shooting on manual I kept forgetting where the aperture control was, or I couldn’t quite reach it. I was so busy with shutter, aperture, exposure and composition that I didn’t even think about playing with exposure.

But with all the problems and getting past Ruby’s playing to the camera I still managed to get some good photos. Lesson learnt is to spend some time on full manual until it becomes second nature.

I love what a shallow depth of field can do. It is a way to accentuate something that may otherwise be lost on the crowd. The row of cups could easily have a caption against it “There are many choices in coffee, but only one stands out above the rest.

I also loved what a very slow shutter speed can do, the wisp of a person as the guy rode past on his bike, I love the idea of remnants, an idea I had not thought of before. To capture an ethereal humanness is something I would like to explore rather than the crisp clean typical portrait.

Can you see the trace of the person on the bike, is it a man or a woman?

Photography course Day 4

We talked technical stuff, most I already knew but some I didn't. We had a review of our images and it was interesting that some of the photos that I thought were no good others loved.

During the review of our images I was pleased that the food photo was liked, I like putting together a presentation and then shooting it. It also made me think of what I wanted to do with my photography, and where I want this course to take it.

There is an assignment for the weekend and a chance to get involved..

Photography course Day 3

Wanted to take photos on the bus but the light was so bad that I had to shoot with high ISO and low shutter, not even one photo has any potential. Still would like to do it, maybe some shoots shooting really low and along the corridor with maybe a person that catches your eye.

Arrive at 277 and see the dog, I like that the lead for the dog is the same colour as the flowers on the tree but I cant get the angle to include both in the shot, bugger.

Then shooting on the escalator, again poor light so use the high seting for ISO, boy do the images look grainy, maybe make then old school black and white, will have play with them to see if I can get anything unusable.

Guy sitting in the chair is last shot before I get told by security guard that I can’t take photos in the mall…

Class was good, got to understand some technical aspects that I hadn’t known before. Liked looking at the photos and some are amazing. Little disheartened with what to take photos of and with bad weather I decided on taking photos of dinner and the fire we had last night.

Photography course day 2

I love the way the lecturer talks about the course and how they want us to learn our creative vision, a perfect fit for me. It is a fun day, we are starting to get into the world of photography. I have been introduced to some amazing photographers, especially Todd Hido, I just love his work.

Check out this http://www.toddhido.com/ and have a look at his homes at night. The photos have a real feel to them that I aspire to create myself.

And the story of Vivien Maler who took so many photos without the intention of printing them, We learnt about intention too, and random glimpses and anticipated moments. Photos that are staged and unstaged.

Today I took my first photo with the new lens in class. I wanted to see if I could capture anything of my class mates, got one good shot that I will use in the assignment for Friday.

Photography course Day 1

With six months to go before we leave for Queenstown I was in a bit of a quandary on what to do. Work, increase my skill set? A chance postcard in the mail told me of a photographic course in Newmarket. The hours were perfect and it would give me something to focus on that will lead me into writing and photographic work.

So here are I am on day 1. My God such a range of people, and ages for this course. There is a wildlife photographer, the ones who want to do portraits and children, and me who is .. well I guess this course will help me find what type of photographer I am... a new label for me to play with

Save the Amazon

I very rarely see a cause that deeply touches me. Today I saw a story on TV about the dam Belo Monte Dam that after decades of trying to be stopped is going ahead. The movie Pandora is based on this. Brazil needs electricity and the Amazon will be destroyed to get it. Our children's children will not be able to experience this river as it is now. A rich part of our Earth will be gone and it will only take 50 years.

We need to stop it, and we need to support Brazil to use alternatives, Solar, wind, other ways. We know by our own mistakes the damage of nuclear power, the destruction of indigenous populations, its time for us all to take action.

Please follow the link below and sign the petition at the link below, tell your friends, we need all of New Zealand to get behind this, its time to change....

http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/stop-the-belo-monte-monster-dam

Whose accountable

Well the exhibition is over and I have received good feedback. But I have to say that I wonder if it was worth the effort. Every picture has started to peel off the wood. I went back to the shop I got the glue from and they talked to the rep from 3M. Haven't been given a good reason why it happened but now I have 12 images that are probably worth in excess of $1000 and they can't be given to the cafes.

Is it why fault because I should have been more careful?

Maybe the shop as they sold me the glue?

Or 3M because their instructions didn't give me any reason to suspect the images wouldn't stick?

Well to me it seems that they should both help me redo these images and at least be able to salvage something.

What do you guys think???