I am super chuffed to be one of the three winners of the Australian Head On Alternative Portrait Prize 2009. I made a total hash of the acceptance speech, but I dont think anybody cared. Photographers are used to seeing their commissioned work around, but it is cool to see your shot on World Art sites and Japanese photography sites. Cool.

http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_new=30609&int_sec=2

http://www.artknowledgenews.com/node?from=20

http://d-d-photographics.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/

So, in the 3 weeks or so since my last post, I've returned to Sydney, and then back to South Africa again for another TVC. This time its Mugg & Bean thats dragged me back, but at least this ones going ahead. I have clocked more airmiles this past year than the previous 5 years combined, and melatonin is now the drug of choice. Obviously there are no complaints, as work is work, but something that is becoming a bother is travelling with photo equipment.

I've noticed how inconsistent the rules of air travel are, and one check-in will let you through carrying a couple of extra kilos, while the next one is strict on the rules. Dont get me wrong, I understand that rules and aviation are a good thing, but apply them consistently, so we know where we stand.

Back to SA

Here I am back in Joburg to direct a TVC for Chicken Licken for Terraplane. (wherever I go the chicken finds me) Client cancelled the shoot the day I arrived. Not the best way to try out this flying back and forth for TV thing. Anyway..It was great to see all my family and friends. Its been good to see them and catch up.

While I'm here I'm shooting tons of stills for my food portfolio. I have got a bee in my bonnet about a direction that I wanna go as far as getting a more natural and organic feel to the images, to break away from the staid style of the previous stuff. I think it will just broaden the range of the book, and besides, its great to just hand hold a 35mm DSLR and shoot what you see. Also managed to grab some great portraits on the side...here's one for now.

what blog?

Jeez, I must be the worlds worst blogger. I suppose the idea of a talk-shit in cyberspace is still catching on with me, but I'm always hugely chuffed when I actually get to publish something. Been an annual quarter since my last post, and Christmas has come and gone...and forgotten. Been a busy start to the year, as the "Green Square' project was looming and I really wanted to give my best shot(s) to the project. Basically had to come up with a concept for a photograph involving something green and square, and roughly associated with urban redevelopment blah blah. I am hoping the spinoff will be good for starting my career in Sydney so I put my all into cracking it

Well, as the deadline got closer, the pressure grew more intense. Pressure mostly that I was putting on myself. I was agonizing over what my concept could be, probably overthinking the whole thing, but not wanting it to be a half -hearted effort. I took walking and cycling trips around the city looking for inspiration, and many hours of brainstorms with Pat, Gavin, and any other creatives and friends that would listen, until finally, with one week to go, it came to me in the shower..

The other image involved about a hundred polaroids and three days of different weather moods.
I had forgotten what a pain in the arse those little white paper tear offs that pull the poli out can be, we kept finding them everywhere! Really pleased with the result though.

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.