Well. I didn't win a camera. But I still got one.
For the next month, I'm one of Olympus' lucky test drivers for the new Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3.
I can't wait to take this camera out for some street photography. It's light and far more discreet than a dslr, and the results should be interesting!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Gear and online buying
For school this semester we're doing darkroom, which of course means a bit of spending.
Although I try to support local Australian stores where possible, as a student, this becomes increasingly difficult with prices being double what that are, compared to an American online store such as B&H.
I buy main pieces of gear within Australia - such as my Pentax K5, Sigma f2.8 28-70mm, Sigma 18-200mm, flash units etc. I like to know I have a warranty for this gear. Or more importantly, an individual I can look at and explain my issue to, face to face.
When it comes to accessories and media, smaller scale items, my budget forces me off shore.
School items such as paper (Ilford MG Fibre, Ilford MG Fibre Warmtone), film, focus scopes, flash diffusers, spare batteries - are around 50% cheaper at an online store with huge buying power, like B&H. When a group of us get together and buy all of our bits and pieces, we still come out well after shipping.
When the savings quickly add up into the hundreds of dollars and the cheapest shipping takes less than five days to arrive (my most recent order arrive this morning after I placed an order on Monday afternoon), it's difficult to help the local stores and spend more money, when I could buy more for the same price.
Although I try to support local Australian stores where possible, as a student, this becomes increasingly difficult with prices being double what that are, compared to an American online store such as B&H.
I buy main pieces of gear within Australia - such as my Pentax K5, Sigma f2.8 28-70mm, Sigma 18-200mm, flash units etc. I like to know I have a warranty for this gear. Or more importantly, an individual I can look at and explain my issue to, face to face.
When it comes to accessories and media, smaller scale items, my budget forces me off shore.
School items such as paper (Ilford MG Fibre, Ilford MG Fibre Warmtone), film, focus scopes, flash diffusers, spare batteries - are around 50% cheaper at an online store with huge buying power, like B&H. When a group of us get together and buy all of our bits and pieces, we still come out well after shipping.
When the savings quickly add up into the hundreds of dollars and the cheapest shipping takes less than five days to arrive (my most recent order arrive this morning after I placed an order on Monday afternoon), it's difficult to help the local stores and spend more money, when I could buy more for the same price.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Exhibition at Kelvin Bar
I'm a killer mess without deadlines but somehow managed to get my work together for Kelvin Bar.
You can see (and buy - if you have enough drinks) my work. Pieces from the Chelsea 902 series, a few self portraits and BIG versions of Explorations are on their wonderful purple walls.
Kelvin Bar is located at 84 High Street, Northcote. Melbz.
I've also started obsessively writing ideas in a notebook. Which may or may not be a good creative outlet. It was in the other room today when I had an idea at work and I wasn't able to write it down and felt a bit confused as to what should happen. It could also encourage (excuse?) my rabid anti-social behaviours, as I discovered when I was at Old Bar the other night and spent the 20 minutes in between sets scrawling.
Ideas keep revolving around pay phones. They're a dying breed, you know.
You can see (and buy - if you have enough drinks) my work. Pieces from the Chelsea 902 series, a few self portraits and BIG versions of Explorations are on their wonderful purple walls.
Kelvin Bar is located at 84 High Street, Northcote. Melbz.
I've also started obsessively writing ideas in a notebook. Which may or may not be a good creative outlet. It was in the other room today when I had an idea at work and I wasn't able to write it down and felt a bit confused as to what should happen. It could also encourage (excuse?) my rabid anti-social behaviours, as I discovered when I was at Old Bar the other night and spent the 20 minutes in between sets scrawling.
Ideas keep revolving around pay phones. They're a dying breed, you know.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Forgetfulness and some exhibiting.
Whoops. Forgot to post.
However I do have some nice news, which is that Kelvin Bar in Northcote is going to be exhibiting my work, if I actually get it framed. It's to be my first non-school related exhibition of work, which means if I eavesdrop long enough, I might actually get some brutally honest feedback. Fingers crossed and whatnot.
Aside from that I've barely shot anything this month. It's holidays, but that's far from an excuse. Trying to re-coup the mind and get 'RE-CReaTiVe' like. We'll see.
However I do have some nice news, which is that Kelvin Bar in Northcote is going to be exhibiting my work, if I actually get it framed. It's to be my first non-school related exhibition of work, which means if I eavesdrop long enough, I might actually get some brutally honest feedback. Fingers crossed and whatnot.
Aside from that I've barely shot anything this month. It's holidays, but that's far from an excuse. Trying to re-coup the mind and get 'RE-CReaTiVe' like. We'll see.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Lady Gaga 'Edge Of Glory' - or the tale of a shaky camera.
Checking out Lady Gaga's 'Edge of Glory' video for the second time, I realised that there were a few things going wrong. Not just that Gaga was missing about twenty costume changes, or that her hair wasn't changing size or colour. Low budget Gaga is a bit unusual, but the crane work (camera on a crane) was just shoddy. Most likely a mixture of choreography, rehersal, the camera operator and Gaga herself, the camera work during the 'balcony' scenes is clunky and strange.
The balcony scenes feature the most amount of movement by singer, Lady Gaga, and as a result, such a scene would usually be tightly rehearsed to prevent jerky movement or incorrect composition.
My initial thought was that she was improvising the movements. However, for a music video, this seems unprofessional for both parties (crew and talent), especially considering Gaga's has previously prided herself on her sharply choreographed videos and dedicated artist.
Examples of Lady Gaga's head being cut off throughout the video:
1:44, 2:30, 1:53, 2:49, 4:49
These are a few specific examples. Watch the video yourself to get the overall effect.
I understand there may have been a 'raw' look that they were trying to achieve, especially as the song is an 80s style anthem (and who can resist a Clarence Clemons sax solo). Knowing what kind of entourage Lady Gaga has, is there any way someone could get away with shooting her badly? Or was this an error of an overzealous starlet, and an obliging crew. Afterall, Miss Stephanie Germanotta and the Haus of Gaga (Lady Gaga's creative team) did indeed co-direct the video.
The balcony scenes feature the most amount of movement by singer, Lady Gaga, and as a result, such a scene would usually be tightly rehearsed to prevent jerky movement or incorrect composition.
My initial thought was that she was improvising the movements. However, for a music video, this seems unprofessional for both parties (crew and talent), especially considering Gaga's has previously prided herself on her sharply choreographed videos and dedicated artist.
Examples of Lady Gaga's head being cut off throughout the video:
1:44, 2:30, 1:53, 2:49, 4:49
These are a few specific examples. Watch the video yourself to get the overall effect.
I understand there may have been a 'raw' look that they were trying to achieve, especially as the song is an 80s style anthem (and who can resist a Clarence Clemons sax solo). Knowing what kind of entourage Lady Gaga has, is there any way someone could get away with shooting her badly? Or was this an error of an overzealous starlet, and an obliging crew. Afterall, Miss Stephanie Germanotta and the Haus of Gaga (Lady Gaga's creative team) did indeed co-direct the video.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Floating
I'm hoping that some time soon, the work of Denis Darzacq may make its way to Australian shores.
Here are links to my favourite series', 'La Chute' and 'Hyper'.
Darzacq looks at suspension of motion using people in familiar spaces.
This has been a favourite theme of mine for awhile now. My own interest generally lies in the differentiation of falling and flying, and the moment that can fall be between them. What comes up, must come down, but there is a moment of suspension.
HYPER 07-09
http://www.denis-darzacq.com/hyper-vignettes.htm
LA CHUTE
http://www.denis-darzacq.com/chute-vignettes.htm
Photo from:
http://shapeandcolour.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/darzacq21.jpg
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Squeeze - 'UK Squeeze' (1978)
Nothing beats finding a band that really appeals to you. The thrill of playing a track and feeling that sense of connection. As thought I song was written for your ears alone. Everything just fits together.
Well that's all good.
However.
All of these wonderful exciting things just happened to me. I was listening to Squeeze on YouTube -- who remembers 'Cool For Cats'? Well I do. I wish I didn't.
Squeeze's first album, 'UK Squeeze' (or simply 'Squeeze' just to frustrate your google and/or ebay search) is a post-punk wave of musical credibility. Maybe.
Well, unlike 'Cool For Cats'.
For whatever reason I became determined to own this album on CD.
Yeah. I know, right? (We're talking about different things).
Surely such a great debut album would be readily availible for purchase. Generally an older album like UK Squeeze would set you back less than $10. A price I'm willing to pay, to have a solid copy, of an equally solid album.
As aforementioned, the band clearly didn't have the foresight to predict the modern day search engine, and how album titles that are open-ended, or, even worse, the same as the band name, make it virtually impossible to find amongst a back catalogue of 14 studio albums.
The cheapest I could find it on ebay (on CD) was $30 including shipping. Something I wouldn't even pay for a new release CD. Let alone a 1995 issue.
In an attempt to legally acquire the album by any means possible, I resorted to my foes, iTunes and BigPond music, which did little to improve the offering.
Nothing.
Apparently UK Squeeze was so widely unsuccessful, it's not worth selling. Ever.
I will continue my search. In the end, I'll probably just purchase it on vinyl and enjoy it the way it was made to be heard.
Well that's all good.
However.
All of these wonderful exciting things just happened to me. I was listening to Squeeze on YouTube -- who remembers 'Cool For Cats'? Well I do. I wish I didn't.
Squeeze's first album, 'UK Squeeze' (or simply 'Squeeze' just to frustrate your google and/or ebay search) is a post-punk wave of musical credibility. Maybe.
Well, unlike 'Cool For Cats'.
For whatever reason I became determined to own this album on CD.
Yeah. I know, right? (We're talking about different things).
Surely such a great debut album would be readily availible for purchase. Generally an older album like UK Squeeze would set you back less than $10. A price I'm willing to pay, to have a solid copy, of an equally solid album.
As aforementioned, the band clearly didn't have the foresight to predict the modern day search engine, and how album titles that are open-ended, or, even worse, the same as the band name, make it virtually impossible to find amongst a back catalogue of 14 studio albums.
The cheapest I could find it on ebay (on CD) was $30 including shipping. Something I wouldn't even pay for a new release CD. Let alone a 1995 issue.
In an attempt to legally acquire the album by any means possible, I resorted to my foes, iTunes and BigPond music, which did little to improve the offering.
Nothing.
Apparently UK Squeeze was so widely unsuccessful, it's not worth selling. Ever.
I will continue my search. In the end, I'll probably just purchase it on vinyl and enjoy it the way it was made to be heard.
Monday, March 28, 2011
When your music collection does unexpected things...
I have accumulated more Australian Crawl records than I initially realised. The things you find when you're not looking...
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Short film footage, with Pentax K-5
I spent last weekend shooting the outdoor scenes for a short film I'm working on, currently titled, 'Stephanie And Her Little Dead Friend'.
Below is some footage from the shoot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phCAJl0yghY
Being my first decent shoot with the Pentax, there were a few moments of forgetting to lock the exposure and keeping consistency with aperture. Overall it was a great experience, with our two young actors performing brilliantly. The final output of the film will be accompanied by our voice over, which was recorded late last year. The film is somewhat different to anything I've previously worked on. Not only did I do the cinematography for this project, but I also had a large part in writing the poem, used for the voice over, that runs for the 5 minute duration.
As a side note, K-5 issues were what could be expected. The sensor heats up rapidly, and won't cool unless the camera is shut off for at least 10 minutes. The usual for a DSLR, but still somewhat frustrating when trying to shoot half a film in one day. Overall I was pleased with the final footage. The anti-shake worked wonders, with smooth compensation, which meant I had to physically rock the camera at times, to create the dream-like look we were aiming to create. A great camera to shoot motion on. Already Nikon has patented a computer style fan to cool it's sensors, and the world of DSLR movie making takes off. It's an exciting time to be a digital film maker, with high quality, high control methods becoming increasingly accessible whilst still maintaining a high level of professionalism.
References:
http://www.petapixel.com/2011/02/17/nikon-may-use-fan-to-cool-down-its-mirrorless-cameras/#more-22115
Below is some footage from the shoot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phCAJl0yghY
Being my first decent shoot with the Pentax, there were a few moments of forgetting to lock the exposure and keeping consistency with aperture. Overall it was a great experience, with our two young actors performing brilliantly. The final output of the film will be accompanied by our voice over, which was recorded late last year. The film is somewhat different to anything I've previously worked on. Not only did I do the cinematography for this project, but I also had a large part in writing the poem, used for the voice over, that runs for the 5 minute duration.
As a side note, K-5 issues were what could be expected. The sensor heats up rapidly, and won't cool unless the camera is shut off for at least 10 minutes. The usual for a DSLR, but still somewhat frustrating when trying to shoot half a film in one day. Overall I was pleased with the final footage. The anti-shake worked wonders, with smooth compensation, which meant I had to physically rock the camera at times, to create the dream-like look we were aiming to create. A great camera to shoot motion on. Already Nikon has patented a computer style fan to cool it's sensors, and the world of DSLR movie making takes off. It's an exciting time to be a digital film maker, with high quality, high control methods becoming increasingly accessible whilst still maintaining a high level of professionalism.
References:
http://www.petapixel.com/2011/02/17/nikon-may-use-fan-to-cool-down-its-mirrorless-cameras/#more-22115
Friday, January 14, 2011
Bokeh
EDIT: What's Bokeh? ...You honestly can't google it yourself?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
Copy/Pasted from my facebook page:
Bokeh is the quality or appearance of the 'blur' in a photo.
It's best described as the shape that lights go, when they're in the background of a photo (out of focus), taken at night. Sometimes they are round, other times a hexagon.
Whatever shape the aperture is, that's what shape the bokeh will be.
*
When I first heard of people purchasing their quaint Bokeh sets from photojojo.com, I was somewhat unimpressed. It was similar to the feelings I have towards the Toy Camera Movement. Boring. Simple. Creatively limited.
A cheap effect, where the user has little control, and the image aesthetic is restricted to what the company (might I say, 'the man'?) lets the user create. It all seemed like a bit of a fad to me, until I came across a video on petapixel, showing how bokeh could be harnessed as a story element, as well as an aesthetic. The short film, 'Light Works' is a brilliant piece, short, to the point, and taking the use of bokeh beyond a kitsch, indie-kid market, and putting it in the hands of professional film-makers.
'Light Works' can be seen here:
http://vimeo.com/18158884
Inspired, and armed with a stanley knife, I created my own bokeh in the shape of a lightning bolt. Shot some HD footage. Attempted (and failed) to Twixtor some of the footage.
The size of the shape, has to be tiny, in order for it to work. The lightning bolt is around 10mm long and 5mm wide.
So here's the result of my first attempt. I think I'll try some words down the track, as well as varying light sources.
Bokeh Kits at PhotoJoJo
http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/bokeh-Kit/
Creators of Light Works
http://supernormals.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
Copy/Pasted from my facebook page:
Bokeh is the quality or appearance of the 'blur' in a photo.
It's best described as the shape that lights go, when they're in the background of a photo (out of focus), taken at night. Sometimes they are round, other times a hexagon.
Whatever shape the aperture is, that's what shape the bokeh will be.
*
When I first heard of people purchasing their quaint Bokeh sets from photojojo.com, I was somewhat unimpressed. It was similar to the feelings I have towards the Toy Camera Movement. Boring. Simple. Creatively limited.
A cheap effect, where the user has little control, and the image aesthetic is restricted to what the company (might I say, 'the man'?) lets the user create. It all seemed like a bit of a fad to me, until I came across a video on petapixel, showing how bokeh could be harnessed as a story element, as well as an aesthetic. The short film, 'Light Works' is a brilliant piece, short, to the point, and taking the use of bokeh beyond a kitsch, indie-kid market, and putting it in the hands of professional film-makers.
'Light Works' can be seen here:
http://vimeo.com/18158884
Inspired, and armed with a stanley knife, I created my own bokeh in the shape of a lightning bolt. Shot some HD footage. Attempted (and failed) to Twixtor some of the footage.
The size of the shape, has to be tiny, in order for it to work. The lightning bolt is around 10mm long and 5mm wide.
So here's the result of my first attempt. I think I'll try some words down the track, as well as varying light sources.
Bokeh Kits at PhotoJoJo
http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/bokeh-Kit/
Creators of Light Works
http://supernormals.org/
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