February 24th, 2008
Bernhard Wolf‘s a street photographer in Vienna, and he does a simple/difficult thing very well.
He shoots a roll of black and white film while going about his daily business – meeting friends, taking a train somewhere, eating breakfast – and then he puts up all the pictures from the roll on his blog.
Some shots are better than others, of course, but it’s an engrossing experience, gaining this insight into his life, and the life of a city I’ve never been to.
The quality of his photography is impressive, and the pithy comments entertaining too.
Well worth a look: Yet another cute B/W-Color Blog
February 22nd, 2008
While I was in LA visiting family recently I got my first real chance to explore the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM I’d got for Christmas.
Our 2-year-old travels with more stuff than her parents put together, so there was only room for the camera, the nifty fifty and the 24-105.
I’d not shot with it that much, but here was a chance to give it a real try. And I’m learning to love it, but I’ve still got a little way to go. (more…)
February 13th, 2008
There’s a great article over at Digital Photography School about how to approach composition. We’ve all been there – you see a scene that attracts you, and you know there’s _something_ good there, you’re just not sure how to bring it out.
Photographer Neil Creek talks you through his thought processes as he assesses a potential shot, and works out how to say what he sees. Good examples show how things turn out.
For experienced photographers, I’m sure much of what he talks through happens at a non-rational level, but it’s valuable to be given some step by step illustrations.
I guess it’s like writing – I’ve been writing articles so long now, that I don’t ask myself a lot of specific questions as I’m working. I follow a feeling of what has to happen when, and how things should work. A little more like uncovering than creating.
But much of that comes from inwardly absorbing a lot of very small decisions about things over a long time. Thinking hard so I don’t have to think so hard any more. If someone asked me, I could plausibly explain why I’d done things the way I had, even though I hadn’t really been thinking about that at the time.
February 7th, 2008
 It’s been a busy week in Duckbell Towers – my wife was in a car crash that totalled the car (thankfully, she was fine), our daughter’s been sick, and I’ve been slammed with work.
So I’ve had little time to take photos, read the photo sites or make much progress with the photography book I’ve been reading.
And I’m getting antsy. If a few days go by and I haven’t taken any photos, it makes me irritable and resentful. Of course, it’s largely me that’s stopping me shooting – there’s always time to shoot if you look hard enough.
So I’d welcome some suggestions on getting me out of my rut. I know the obvious answer is just to go and take some pictures, but I’m pretty good at not doing the right thing sometimes, so I might need to get sneaky with myself.
And meanwhile, here’s a shot from the last time I really took pictures – on our visit to California a couple of weeks ago.
February 2nd, 2008
There’s a great article in the Jan 21 issue of the New Yorker about American photographer, model and all-round amazing person Lee Miller.
She went from being a model, muse and lover to Man Ray and Picasso to being a great surrealist photographer in her own right, before becoming a photojournalist during the Second World War (she was one of the first photographers into the Nazi death camps after their liberations).
Hers is a staggering and fascinating life, and an exhibition of her work has just opened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Unfortunately, the New Yorker article’s not available online, but they do have a brief slideshow of her work.
January 30th, 2008
Looks like my XT is a thing of the past. Canon have announced the 450D, or Rebel XSi as it’s annoyingly going to be called here in the US.
According to PopPhoto.com, a very nice feature list includes:
• a 3-inch 230K dot LCD like the 1Ds Mark III.
• a Digic III processor.
• 14-bit A/D conversion.
• 4% spot meter (hooray!)
• The burst rate jumps to 3.5 fps for 6 RAW or 45 JPEGS.
• It’s the first EOS to take only SD cards — no CF cards here!
• Like the EOS 1D Mark III, EOS 40D, and 1Ds Mark III, it has Live View Mode
• Of course it’s got a self-cleaning sensor.
Note that it only takes SD cards, so if you’re upgrading from another Rebel, you’ll be stuck with a bunch of CF cards. But the spot metering, larger LCD, 12.2 megapixels and Digic III processor look like winners. Not sure I’d use the LiveView much, but I guess for some it’ll be handy – like macro photographers, for example.
And it’s available for pre-order (with an April 15th release) at Amazon for $799 body only, or with the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens for $899.
(sorry for the lack of posts, by the way – we were away in LA, and then I’ve been swamped with a work backlog since my return)
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