The Rules

Gemma, our expert judge and esteemed guest has requested that the photographs be anonymous. It is an exhibition, not a competition but there will be some sort of prize nonetheless because, well, I like controversy.

We have also invited Steven and Jo to be guest judges. So a panel of one impartial judge and two very partial ones.


Looks like the 3rd of September is the night of nights, though I would like to hear from more entrants to ensure this is ok.

A whole new world

I may be a laggard but I'm embracing more and more of the technical side of photography as time marches on. I have now added a link to some photos I took when two of my sisters, my mother and I visited a friend in Istanbul earlier this year. To access them scroll down the side bar on the right. The link is at the bottom. It is to snapfish and you have to join snapfish to see them.

Digital photography is to my mind as much about technical as technique. I read an interesting article today (Still calling the shots, Kaleem Aftab, The National, Arts and Life section, June 13 2010) about the father of Paparazzi, Ron Gallela. A documentary, Smash His Camera by Leon Gast has been made about Ron Galella and it is not just about his life and his contribution to photography and his legendary determination to get the shot. It is also about ethics, privacy and how far one should go to get the shot. I often wonder about this whilst travelling. There is opportunity for some beautiful and interesting shots but what about respect for the people you are taking photos of? Yes it is interesting to document how others live, but that is their life and livelihood. Anyway I digress...The article stated that Ron Galella is an artist, he mixes his own chemicals. And it goes on to say that Leon Gast says that these days you dont need to be an artist, you just need to know how to focus and set up an F stop and snap away and hope you get lucky. Oh dear. What hope then for those of us who grew up in the digital world, or who developed an interest in photography only after film went the way of the record?

I believe that there is room for creativity. We have to be more creative. We still choose when to take the shot and where, what time of day, what expressions or angle. And afterwards in post production the creative choice is still there. You can take a studio shot or a casual shot and it doesnt matter how many times you click if you have thought about it, it will be creative.

Flying without autopilot and a tentative date

Ever since I got the camera I have been interested in the manual setting. I use the Av and Tv but I havent used M, because, well, I dont know how. When I have accidentally set the camera on M, the picture I have taken is completely white (no beautiful accident there). Bemused I examine my camera and embarressed, change the setting, quietly so no one knows. And now I am confessing. I have thumbed through the manual before and have never found out how to use M. Then I found my manual today and opened it onto the page for manual setting (yep thats how busy I am) so now I have the instruction manual, which is probably key. When I take a good picture using a M, I'll post it on the blog.

By the way, Julie has set Friday evening, 3rd September 2010 for the exhibition date. How does that sound?

Being prepared

Sometimes even being prepared doesnt mean you'll get the photo. I tried to take some good photos of my son dressed for his prom. We had a very big party before hand and of course it takes some time to prepare for that. Still I had my camera and tripod out ready for photographs. It didnt happen. Being a hostess and trying to take photos was too much multi tasking. I was rushed, the camera settings werent right and the lighting needed correction which I didnt have time to fix. The result? Blurred pictures, washed out images with no thought to composition. I hope I can find one or two that look ok. Luckily we had a professional photographer at the party! Many many photos were taken so some lovely memories. Still, its nice to have your own. However, the party was really fun and everyone looked fabulous.

The Techniques

I am an amateur photographer. I think this becomes obvious with the words I choose to describe how I take a photo, that and some of the images I produce! I love playing around with the settings on the camera to see what happens. I have taken some dreadful photographs doing that. Its just experimenting. I like to see what happens when I change the ISO, the shutter speed or the aperture. It turns out that these three things form the exposure triangle and are very important apparently in getting a good picture. But what is a good picture. Professionals these days delibrately over or under expose their shots to evoke a certain mood. It is a creative choice. One man's underexposure is another man's masterpiece. A blurred shot might be on purpose. A crisp shot with good exposure might be classic but it might miss the message. The rule of thirds is there to be broken, rules of colour mught be broken to purposely be jarring, patterns, close ups, different angles, perspectives, backgrounds, the same scene shot a thousand different ways.

Take your camera with you everywhere you go

I am amazed at what I have noticed when driving through Dubai. I always have my little point and shoot in my bag but when I am driving of course I cant take a photo. I saw a lady in a red dress and very high heel black shoes on her mobile phone walking a dog in 38 degree heat. What was the story there? I saw a huge blood red setting sun behind half finished buildings. I saw the rising moon in front of me and the setting sun in my rear vision mirror. The overpass I was on and the surroundings were golden. I wondered if there would be a lens that could capture the moon and the sun - I guess not, I would have had to have stitched it together using a panoramic instrument online.

Yesterday Jeff was driving and we were travelling through the desert. Jeff braked and started driving slowly (a rare event) because there were camels on the road either side of us. I whipped out my camera and took a few photos and enjoyed the sight of camels and trucks on the road together.

Practice makes Perfect

There is only the idea of perfection and the striving for perfection. Practicing gets you nearer and nearer to perfection. I have read many times that taking photos every day is the only way to get new ideas, better focus, different angles, learn about the camera you hold in your hand and get a good image. I remember the day I got hooked on photography. I took what I thought were some very nice photos of the kids at Oatley Park. I loved both the process and the result.

The great thing of course about digital is you dont have to print or even save everything but you can experiment. Be brave. Know the rules and break them too.

So everyone get their cameras out and start taking pictures- you too Mum. Where is your camera?