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April 2019

02 Apr

Posted at 11:41h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Awkward In The Adlerstrsse. Obstructive in Omsk. In other words, the selfieholic. The traveller who needs a picture of themselves in front of an iconic landmark to prove to their friends that they were there and that they were happy. In some cases I wonder if it is a case of them trying to prove the same thing to themselves. Lest you think me a greater hypocrite than I really am, here is a selfie of me taken on a Wallace And Gromit set in Melbourne. Those of you who have been told to avoid me in the street now know why...

02 Apr

Posted at 11:38h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

And the Rubber Bricks Of Criticism. The former reserved for anxious times when you need to knead. The latter for when you have finally had enough and want to express your outrage practically. You heave them at your tormentors. Usually this does not result in injury or a gaol sentence. Matters may not get to this pass if you can get some help with your photography. To this end we suggest: a. Look up your local camera club and go along to one of their meetings. An AGM might be a bad choice, but any competition or lecture night should be good value. The Gem Club, The Workshop, The Northern Districts, The Mandurah - they're all good and there is likely to be one in your area. b. Take an online course from a good institution - one that lets you work at your own pace but that challenges you to do better. If you enter into the spirit of education, generally you will do better. c. Look at the Shoot Photography Workshops menu and find something that appeals to you. d. Get out your camera manual...

02 Apr

Posted at 07:39h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

You'll all remember the Three Legged Thing tripods and accessories that were popular a few years back - they had names that commemorated rock musicians together with wild colour combinations anodized onto their aluminium parts. Well, they're back and blingier than ever. The big tripod in today's shipment is the Leo with the airhead switch kit. It also bears the legend " Equinox Pro ". I am going to go out on a limb and imagine that the thing is named after Leo Sayer - I'm sure he'd be happy with being considered a pro, but I'm not so sure about the airhead bit. Make your own judgement...

01 Apr

Posted at 08:25h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Finally, someone has done it. The MagMod people have released the solution for portrait shooters in the wild. They have given us a softbox that makes sense. Strobists and event shooters have been getting presents in their professional stockings for years - flashes that operate wirelessly, light stands that really are light, softbox light modifiers that can be assembled in less than a day by a crew of RAAF airframe riggers...

29 Mar

Posted at 08:23h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Remember that I promised you six destinations? Well, the first is Whatford. What is analog photography? What was it before, and what is it today? Basically, it's recording an image using chemical means, rather than electronic ones. It was tried over two centuries ago by chemists and experimenters with no means of permanently fixing their image once a lens had shown it. A novel trick, it became a reality when a French gentleman used Bitumen of Judea and oil of lavender to take a picture of some rooftops. And then further French, English, German, and American gentlemen invented faster, better ways to do this...

28 Mar

Posted at 09:14h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

A Facebook posting by a well-known WA photo personality has alerted us to the coming of some important regulations for drone flyers. CASA will apparently be requiring  you to register if your drone is above a certain weight. You'll be taking a course and test and then your information will be stored ready to track you down should you do the wrong thing. How people who see your drone doing the wrong thing - like flying in restricted air space or snooping at the nurse's quarters on Shower Night - will be able to tell it is yours is a moot point. It's not like you'll be painting buzz codes under your tiny little fuselage in bold letters. If your miniature helicopter darts in, drops a bag of flaming dog poo on the doorstep, then disappears over the treeline, the victim will be outraged but lose sight of the drone quickly. Still, there may be hidden circuits in the things that report your every move back to Canberra...

27 Mar

Posted at 08:20h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Make two people happy - yourself and our accountant. Gather in, Canon enthusiasts who want to work with small, light cameras, lenses, and flashes but want to work in a sophisticated manner. We have a flash idea for you. The Canon  Speedlite EL 100 may not look like the brightest flash you have ever seen - it has a guide number of 26  - but it gives you a chance to think on different terms than just the old blast o' light from the camera position. We've all done that, and we 'll continue to do it when it serves a good purpose ( Note that the illustration shots were taken using a portable product studio and a blast o' light from the hot shoe of a Fujifilm camera. BO'L is fine when you need frontal illumination. ) but there are times when art or science needs more light from more directions. This is the principle of the studio flash set of strobes and the $6000 worth of reflectors, softboxes, and triggers. If you need 'em, we got 'em, and don't lets let...