AGFA Clack Oh how simple......yeah Right!!!!

Actually The clacks are simple. Point. Shoot.Develop.
As the cameras were designed to work around iso50 (and that appears to be getting harde/more expensive to get) i have been working with different film speeds. Most notably ISO100. one of the other problems/bonus i have in South Australia is Light. We have an inordinate amount of clar sunny days and sometimes there just is too much brightness(i know i know..can't please everyone) but what i have done is uploaded these three Shots all taken within seconds of each other. The Day was exceptionally bright almost no clouds. They were shot on Fuji Astia iso100 film. the filters used as follows
1. ND.8
2.ND.4
3.Skylight
It would appear that on most days i would have to use at a minimum the ND.8 filter to cope with the usual lighting conditions encountered.What should have(note to self. remember for future reference) I should have written down the readings of my Gossen Lightmeter......live and learn.

Japanese Garden Orchid

Well it's my turn for a pic of the week; trhe weekly photo may be a weekly or monthly or fortnitely post...i'll see how i feel.
This Orchid i found sitting in the local Japanese Gaeden. just a little fill flash. I liked the way the colours contrasted between the flower and the rock behind it.

Pic of the Week, 08/01/2007

Well, it's time for my second "Pic of the Week", and it's another photo from my last bushwalk. I was hoping to be able to post one of the photos that I'd taken with my M645, but unfortunately I'm still waiting for the film to be processed (a long story...).

The photo I've picked is still from that bushwalk, just taken with my digital camera.

This particular photo is a detail of a Cushion Plant, a kind of grassy plant found in alpine areas of Tasmania. They get their name because they look exactly like large green cushions. Despite the fact that they look quite sturdy, Cushion plants are in fact very sensitive to damage, and simply stepping on one is often enough to damage it.

The thing that caught my eye here was the lighter coloured plants sprinkled throughout this particular cushion plant. It's not uncommon for different species of cushion plant to grow together, but I've never seen any quite like this before.

A New Year Beckons...

Well, I've just seen in the new year in the best way I can imagine, 4 days of bushwalking, and taking photos. One of the many things I've decided I am going to do more of this year is get out and take photos. The last few days have been a very good start, having taken about 80 photos between my digital and medium format cameras.

It's been pointed out that for a blog about photography there are very few photos being posted here. In an attempt to rectify this situation, and to encourage me to take more photos in the first place, I've decided to post a "Photo of the Week". I'll be posting (or at least trying to post) one of my photos here each week.


To get things rolling, I'll start with a photo taken only 2 days ago while bushwalking. This is one of those photos which just happened by accident. I'd camped near some small pools of water, and I happened to notice that the nearby pencil pines had shed their needles into the lakes, and had created some interesting patterns.

Unfortunately the reflection of the sun was causing problems, and in order to see the detail I needed a polarising filter to cut out the reflections from the water, something which I did not have. Purely by accident, I noticed that one of the pencil pines was shading the water in such a way that the patterns and colours were clearly visible in its shadow. So, purely by chance, I ended up with the photo I wanted, being the detail of the pine needles in the water, with the added bonus of an interesting reflection from the pine tree itself. If only all photos were as easy to come by as this...

Lets bring some Colour to these Monochromatic Proceedings

I've been thinking of uploading this image for some time now but never had the excuse to do so... but here it is
My roses were infected with Aphids and so i took the opportunity to try out my new Intensifier filter that arrived funnily enough that very morning(Hoya 58mm Dydimium Filter---great filter, should be in every kit)
yhe image is only slightly tweaked in photoshop ie sharpened and levels balanced. the rich reds/yellowsbrowns are intensifed by use of aforesaid filter
I've come to the conclusion that the use of filters should be judicious and applied selectively(in the case of the effects filter) as one can end up trapping one self in cliche pictures.
My Current philosophy on filters (with exception of UV/C-PL/Intesifying and other necessary filter 81a,80a etcetc) they should used like Pesticides- as often as is necessary but as little as possible