Software and other animals

When I studied photography in the (very) early nineties I imagined a life of shoots on the beach involving pretty girls (naturally) and hours spent in the darkroom in the labour of love of the silver emulsion fine print. Remember, Photoshop was then in its infancy and Macs ran on diesel and a photoshop command took lunch time to complete. There we were, amazed by this tech ,but dutifully returning to the colour darkroom to fumble in the pitch dark, not actually realising we were witnessing the first stages of the revolution of Photography. So those shoots of pretty girls on the beach may still be on the cards, but the labour of love is now in front of a high end calibrated monitor, and those beautiful idiosyncrasies of light , film and developer are replaced by the idiosyncrasies of software conflicts and digital colour management.

As a pro photographer of the pre digital era, one's skillset included a knowledge of film emulsions and b/w developing recipes, but now we can can proudly add computer geek to our must have skills and minus the film stuff, unless you're a purist in which case respect...

Dont get me wrong, I'm loving the digital era that we live in, but it has brought its own set of pro's and cons which i will not delve into. Its seems just the other day when pro photogs were asking each other if they were seriously thinking of "going digital" and clients insisted on still getting a trannie because it had "something special". I laughed out loud when a client who wanted to print their image on a milk carton tetrapak (about 6 dpi res) insisted on film for that extra "something". Yes , film has a romance and a craft level to it that I still respect, but digital is the here and now and we as pro's now need to have a serious knowledge of all things related to computer and software. And thats the challenge..

If you spent 24\7 learning about all the latest developments in computers, programs, plugins, cameras, lenses, storage solutions, fine printing, colour management and all he peripheral crap attached to that, where do you find time to shoot? Shooting takes priority, so all the research has to happen when the marketing,meetings pre and post production and shooting is done. And if you're really busy, research suffers and you fall behind.
I allowed myself to fall behind for a while because I got wrapped up in shooting crap every day, and playing catchup now is a full time effort.

I mean just this month saw the release of Photoshop CS4( quite different if you were used to CS), Capture1 version4 and just before that, Lightroom 2. At least its on the job learning, but that can be dangerous in capture software. So right now, making up for lost time and getting up to speed, the learning curve is steep. I have learned that there is no place for comfort zones in tech, and sticking with a version of Photoshop or something like that just because you know it is asking to get left behind. So back to the computer we go. I do dig it though..

To post or not to post?

Wow, September has come and gone and its been a while since I last posted. I did suffer a computer meltdown and lost everything on the HD. Lucky I had backed up my work just a few days before, but the shoot I had done the previous day was lost. Lucky again, it was still on the memory cards and I owe my life to Rescue Pro. I am once again reminded to always have a backup plan- backup computer-backup camera- backup batteries, etc etc.

 Just ordered a MacBook Pro, so finally I am going intel, and cool stuff like Time Machine will back up for me automatically. I used Pats Macbook Pro on a shoot and the speed was impressive. Stop Press.. There is a new Macbook pro but I'm going to keep the order for the previous model. I dont dig those glossy screens and where is the firewire 400? Yes I know there is an adapter, but its one more thing that can break, fail , get lost. And besides the price on the previous models have come down a little, and the new one has gone up a lot!

My new website is almost ready to go live, Yay. The previous one was kindly done by my wife, but is looking a little old now. I tried to attach a link, but it wont work.

Our container finally arrived and I have all my kit with me again. It was like Christmas, unpacking all the boxes. The apartment is chaos with all the stuff piled up everywhere, but everything will find a home and we will have some organization again. Its great to sleep on a real bed again!

I'm planning a really cool couple of personal projects so I should have some thing nice to put up soon.

Till then..

August

I cant believe we are at the end of August already. Been back in Sydney for a month. It has been a good month of RRR (rest, recouperation,research) but I'm keen to get to work again.

Pushing hard to get some new work for the book. Some lines out, hopefully a bite soon...

Days are getting longer (yay) and warmer, roll on Summer! We bought a book on all the best beaches in Sydney and we intend to 

use it. Started last weekend by visiting Resolute beach in Ku Ring Gai National park. Awesome. Fun had by all, just a little stiff from the hike. Which brings me to the fitness issue....Anyways.

Warmer weather will see me back on the bike and shedding the winter pelt. Cannot wait to ride these amazing roads.

Back to work.

ANTIminimalism-series in progress

I started noticing places where people worked and lived that appeared to be chaos but to the owners they were quite organized and they knew exactly where things were.

Call it untidy or some weird mental affliction, but it is almost an art form in itself. It would be difficult to recreate that if you tried, it takes years to perfect. The people all found comfort and security in clutter and were quite proud of their achievements. 

The series will be ongoing and means no disrespect or taunt. 

Christchurch NZ

Pat and I popped over to Christchurch for a weekend. Pretty and quaint. Bit chilly. Not much more to say...New Zealand is an achingly beautiful country and has been photographed for a thousand coffee table books. I could spend some time there in future.

This Ol' house

My friend Lauren suggested this old house that had some squatters living in it. I pointed a camera around and found a few shots.The aged textures of the wallpaper and the grime have a haunting feel. Its a bit cliche , I know. Poverty always has a patina that the camera seems to enhance. I've just finished one so far, but I'll do a series in a future post.

Butterflies (in my tummy)

So I got commissioned to do a series of "arty" shots of butterflies for Sun International. The images are going to be HUGE , some 2.4 metres in height. I was worried about the kitch aspect and tried to make striking, graphic images without looking like a wildlife book on steroids. Halfway through the shoot the client had a change of brief and chopped the shoot in half, but at least I got something I quite like. The guy from the butterfly farm in Henley was kind enough to lend the specimens. Visit there if you have absolutely nothing to do at all. No butterflies were harmed in this production (they were already dead) Obviously I'll retouch out the pins. They kinda spoil the mood.

Ntuli's Garage

Found this awesome location and interesting character. A true backyard mechanic. I'm compiling a personal series on hectic workspaces, so you'll see some related pics in that series later. Quite like these though. My mate Toby provided the bodyguarding (he is about 7 feet tall) 'cos we were in a dodge area.

My Old Dad and his mutt

Went thru to see my folks before embarking on the voyage to Oz. I took a few picas of my Dad. I wont be seeing him for a while , possibly even a few years, and I wanted to capture something to remember.

RIP Mitzi, Dads faithful dog. Sweet thing, I will miss her- he will miss her more.