Category: Personal

Back from Vacation

Post author By David
Post date May 14, 2008

Like every camera-toting tourist who just got home from their holiday, I’m keen to show you my pics.

We travelled to Ireland (Co. Clare, and Dublin), and Italy – back to Le Marche. I packed light(ish) – the Rebel XT, Canon 24-105mm L, Sigma 10-20mm, and the Canon 50mm f.1.8 for the low light stuff.

We were bringing the laptop already, at least partly as a DVD player to keep our daughter amused on the long flights, so I got to do some editing and reviewing while I was there, which was great.

I also packed a LaCie 160GB Little Disc portable drive for backup. It seems pretty flimsy, but it’s small and light, and did the job. It’s also pretty cheap.

Anyway, here’s the Flickr set of pics.

Personal

Annual Manual Success

Post author By David
Post date May 14, 2008

The Santa Fe Reporter publishes a large glossy Annual Manual around this time of year – giving locals and visitors lots of useful information and insight into Santa Fe. And this year, they used 2 of my photos in the publication.

They (very cleverly) organized a photo contest asking for shots of real life in Santa Fe, and chose the best ones to illustrate the Manual. The runners up (like me) get exposure, and the one top winner gets that and a nice prize, too.

Personal Reviews

My new old precious – Canon Canonet QL17

Post author By David
Post date March 13, 2008
4 Comments on My new old precious – Canon Canonet QL17

Call it the poor man’s Leica, call it indestructible, call it whatever you want, but I love my Canon Canonet QL17.

Made between 1962 and 1971 the Canonet offers everything you could look for in a small flexible film camera:

40mm f/1.7 lens is sharp, flexible and great for low light conditions
either go fully manual or (with the addition of a battery) use the metered mode that gives you a pretty good shutter-priority mode
quick-loading film mechanism makes it easy for digital-heads like me to make sure the film winds on properly
cheap and relatively easy to find (I got mine on eBay for around $35)

Personal Reviews

On the road – learning to love the Canon 24mm-105mm f/4L

Post author By David
Post date February 22, 2008

While I was in LA visiting family recently I got my first real chance to explore the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM I’d got for Christmas.

Our 2-year-old travels with more stuff than her parents put together, so there was only room for the camera, the nifty fifty and the 24-105.

I’d not shot with it that much, but here was a chance to give it a real try. And I’m learning to love it, but I’ve still got a little way to go.

Personal

In a non-shooting rut

Post author By David
Post date February 7, 2008

It’s been a busy week in Duckbell Towers – my wife was in a car crash that totalled the car (thankfully, she was fine), our daughter’s been sick, and I’ve been slammed with work.

So I’ve had little time to take photos, read the photo sites or make much progress with the photography book I’ve been reading.

And I’m getting antsy. If a few days go by and I haven’t taken any photos, it makes me irritable and resentful. Of course, it’s largely me that’s stopping me shooting – there’s always time to shoot if you look hard enough.

So I’d welcome some suggestions on getting me out of my rut. I know the obvious answer is just to go and take some pictures, but I’m pretty good at not doing the right thing sometimes, so I might need to get sneaky with myself.

And meanwhile, here’s a shot from the last time I really took pictures – on our visit to California a couple of weeks ago.

Personal

Aperture’s online printing service disappoints

Post author By David
Post date January 2, 2008

The built-in access to online print services in Apple’s Aperture seems like a time-saver – but my most recent prints from them were so bad they refunded my money.

It had been a while since I’d had any of my pictures printed (save for a few enlargements for presents), and having had no problems with Apple’s online service in the past (admittedly for just a handful of prints), I sent 400 or so photos to them for the treatment.

And got back hundreds that were way too yellow and way too dark.

Personal Tips/Tutorials

Photography goals for 2008

Post author By David
Post date December 29, 2007

It’s the season for New Year’s Resolutions of course, and there’s no doubt that having goals can help direct your work for the year, and keep you focused when you lose a little motivation.Setting goals is valuable, but publicising them even more so – there’s more commitment involved in making your goals public.So here are my photography goals for the year (in no particular order):

Read a photography book a month

There’s so much I don’t know about the photography world, so I’ll be trying to plug some of the gaps with my reading this year. Some books will be aimed at improving my technique, but I’ll also read some history and criticism books, to get me some much-needed context.

Personal

Shooting sick

Post author By David
Post date December 23, 2007

So I’m struck down with a pre-Christmas cold that won’t move through the accepted stages like it’s supposed to. Scratchy throat and dull ache should have turned into streaming nose and sneezefest by now, but no joy.

But we had some snow, and I ventured outside in my pyjamas and jumper to get this shot of our wall. I like finding simple semi-abstract views that have some minimalist calm to them.

With luck I’ll be well enough tomorrow for the Christmas Eve walk up Canyon Road here in Santa Fe, where people light farolitos and fires and the whole scene is gorgeous (if very dark – think I’ll bring my 28mm f/1.8 prime and hope for the best – too crowded for a tripod).