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May 2023

01 May

Posted at 09:26h in Blog by [social_share]

That's angst and industry. I cannot afford the artificial intelligence on my pay. We are certainly seeing a cage fight in the photo contest field these last few weeks. The entry, success, exposure, and withdrawal of an image in a prestigious associated with an equally prestigious camera maker  - because it was generated with a typed description rather than a lens - is raising hackles throughout the photo press. It may not be the only instance of this sort of thing happening - and in some others there might have been successes that slipped through. The naughty artists may have glommed the goods and beetled out the back door. We'll have to watch the photo-news to see if more get caught - since we'll never know if they get away with it. I am not too fussed - not entering photo contests myself - but I can see the thing touching me very slightly. Occasionally I am asked to judge at a camera club for one of their monthly competitions. I hope I do it competently and to the satisfaction of the photographers....

28 Apr

Posted at 10:38h in Blog by [social_share]

When I bought My Epson V-700 it came with 5 film holders to allow me to scan 35mm to 8 x 10 material. I still have all five. But you need to be careful using them - they are complex parts made of black plastic. The design is carefully made to position the negative or slide at a specified distance from the glass of the flat scanner bed. When I finally break them it will be the second-hand market or specialist part suppliers that rescue me. For now, the main points of Epson scanning are: a. Select the correct mode for your work. Mine's " Home " but there are " Automatic ",  " Office ", and  " Professional " choices as well. The last-named is complex and can lead you into long scanning times. Beware ambition. b. With your mode, set the parameters of the scanner to match your film stocks. I need to tell the scanner that I'm using 6 x 9 negs when changing from 6 x 6 - then it spaces them out correctly. c. You need to put your film...

24 Apr

Posted at 08:36h in Blog by [social_share]

Another weekend has passed and more old images have come to light - but this time they have happy scenes instead of sad ones. Because I have finally told myself the truth. The truth is you cannot cut corners and end up with anything looking sharp. Rephotographing negatives is certainly possible, but carries a range of possible errors that you may not recognise at the time. And reprocessing them compounds the misery. The first error can come from the light source behind the slide or neg. Granted you can take a custom white balance from nearly any light source, but some lights change their output over time and you may never know it. As well, some light sources that look even to the human eye are far less so under a good digital sensor. You'll also need to look out for dust or patterns under the film close to the plane of focus. The second error is geometrical - you need to get the plane of the camera and its sensor parallel to the negative you are copying and it may move out...

21 Apr

Posted at 09:35h in Blog by [social_share]

Followed by your second-best foot. And a hint: keep 'em moving. If you slow down the wolves get you. I have been engaged in learning a painful lesson these last few days. You can profit from it, and you needn't wince. Like a lot of film-era photographers, I accumulated books and boxes of negatives and slides. They were printed or projected in their time but have been relegated in the last decade or so as the digital files stocks have mounted. There was a time when I was shooting film and digitising the results with a scanner - before I got the first DSLR.  It was a laborious process, but quite successful - particularly when the feed images came form top-quality cameras and lenses. I fought dust and scratches with Photoshop Elements and in general was chuffed with the results. Now I have no more film cameras - but the older results are sitting there begging to be re-seen. I started to look last Saturday. Unfortunately I fell foul of my tendency to look for the laziest solution. I started to re-photograph the negatives. This...

19 Apr

Posted at 16:05h in Blog by [social_share]

In my first profession gritting teeth was commonplace. We often ladeled a little sweet abrasive paste in there and let the customer heave left and right on it to flatten out any imperfections in our handiwork. The more conscientious of us used to tell them not to swallow, but what the heck - I've seen worse on a paper plate at a BBQ joint. But gritting teeth in photography? Not so good - it often indicates displeasure, rather than high spots or intestinal worms. You hear it when you are telling clients how much it will cost - then when they start to protest and haggle you can start grinding your own. Then there is the impatient grind as you try to get a wedding group set up. If cats had garden pictures with bridesmaids and family I am sure it could not be harder to manage. The brides themselves can do the same as they watch their careful battle plans meet the enemy - reality - head-on. The graphic designer grind is fun, because you can turn it on and off. Just...

17 Apr

Posted at 08:51h in Blog by [social_share]

I can make Art. It says so in my camera menu. I have a half dozen settings on a top dial and many more inside the buttons that can change the pictures into Art. I'll bet you have too, particularly if you have an entry-level or compact camera. There will likely be Scenes and Programs that will art until people avoid you on the train. And as it's a camera that you've paid for, it's your duty to use each one of these settings - at least once. If you have a couple of days off, begin now and get it over with. It only hurts at the start. The inclusion of electronic filtering and reconfiguration is not new - every camera does it to some extent to get information from the RAW input to something your eyes want to see - and it needs to be done as fast as possible before you get to look at the LCD screen. The factory will set it up for you ready for your first battery, but you can generally change it all to...

12 Apr

Posted at 09:51h in Blog by [social_share]

Not the name of a new district in the bush - it's the thing you need to say to yourself when you approach a photographic occasion. The decision as to what it's going to be can come from many sources - from clients, if you're a working photographer. From judges, if you're a club shooter. From family members if you're the Photographic Bunny at the party. From you, if you are an artist. How to decide...

10 Apr

Posted at 10:29h in Blog by [social_share]

Can you shoot images of wild animals in wild territory and not drive yourself wild with frustration? If you were one of the iconic travel and wildlife photographers of the analogue era you could confidently say that you would be able to capture the heart of darkness and bring it home on film or plate and never have a moment's worry. All your exposures would be good and none of your images would be lost to bugs, heat, fungus, dust, or stray light leaks. All your shots would have been framed perfectly, in focus, and shot at the absolute peak of the action. Half-way round the globe you'd go and half-way home again, and never a mistake. But that was then and this is now and you and I are honest...