It's been too long... 21/03/2012
Shivers. It's been too long since I posted anything. It's funny how time disappears. I don't feel like I've been busy with anything in particular, just life. It moves so quickly. I need to slow down. It's good to slow down. Breathe. Look out the window, or even better, step outside the door. There's so much outside that just moves at its own pace. It doesn't rush. It gets to where it needs to be, when it gets there. I'm taking note. I'm looking for ways to incorporate this attitude into my work. In some ways, it's already sneaking in. The discipline of film has found it's way into my heart. It comes in the form of a beautiful little Yashica rangefinder. It's such a stark contrast to DSLR, how you look through it being the big one. Sure, my Nikon has a HUGE viewfinder, but sometimes it still feels like I'm looking down a tube, which, I guess I am. I step into a scene with a range finder, and I'm looking at the scene, framed. I see what goes on around my frame, not just what's in it. I have to take my camera away from my eye to meter and set exposure. It gives me a moment to catch my breath. To view the scene again with two eyes. It takes time. It takes time to take one photo on film. That's all I want to take. That, for me, is the big difference between film and digital. It's slower to take a photo, but once I get my photos developed, I've got a roll of images that I'm very likely to use. No guff. No duplicates to sort through. I've got what I've got. I spend a day with my Nikon. I rush, I capture the scene, but then I capture it a few more times to make sure I've got something usable. I take photos of anything and everything, and I come back with a 4gig card, full to the brim with milk and cream. It takes time to get the cream off the top though. I love film and I love digital, but somehow, I want the two to meet in the middle. Film attitude meets digital flexibility. I'd like to start carrying my Yashica with me on jobs. Take my time, and let a different camera reveal the scene in a different way. Let the camera slow me down for once. These are my thoughts for now. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of them. JP. Add Comment When IR goes bad... 27/01/2012
The other day I received a new Infrared filter in the mail. It's a square piece of glass/plastic/resin whatnot that fits into my Cokin filter holder. It's almost pitch black, although it does let Infrared through. The human eye can't see these lightwaves, but apparently my camera can! I'd been meaning to get one of these for years, as I've always liked the look of IR, but most filters are fairly pricey, so I've held back. But then I jumped on Ebay and found one for $20! Sure, it's not gonna be Cokin or Hoya quality stuff, but it can't be that bad, right? Well, maybe... Ps. If you've never seen Infrared photography, do a Google search and have a gander :) So I set up my camera on a tripod (exposures can be long. Like, 30secs long...) focussed my lens, and slipped the filter into the holder. "Click"... and then this.  Apps in Aperture? 20/01/2012
Well, with the abundance of cool photo editing Apps on the Mac App store, I decided to test a few out. One that caught my eye is a neat little thing called ‘Focus’ by Coppertino. It’s a Tilt-shift/focus blur tool that works smoothly and easily, and has a pretty tidy interface. But it’s a stand-alone program, unlike some of my other editing bits, which can be used as a Plug-in within Aperture. This makes it a bit clunky to use in my workflow, and I end up with duplicate copies of everything. After a bit of tinkering, I came up with this little work-around, which keeps everything in Aperture! (sort of...) First step is to set Focus (or whatever App you’re using) as an External Editor in Aperture. To set this, open Aperture>Preferences>Export. There, hit “choose”, under External Editor, and select your App. Then select what format you want your image exported as (I’ve chosen TIFF) 
Cleaner look. New features coming soon! 17/01/2012
This week has been a busy one, cleaning up the look of this website to be closer to what I originally had in mind, and also putting in the framework of all the extra features that will up and running soon. I've added the "Featured Gallery", which shows a selection of images with a particular theme. First up is some images from my Romania trip, shot on Fujicolor Superior film. New features you can expect to see (in this order)
I'm discovering how much time all this takes, so I'll keep working hard to get this up and running soon! Prints available online! 04/01/2012
You can now purchase prints from the gallery through Society 6, which is a safe, convenient way to buy prints in various styles (print, canvas, framed)  It's rather affordable, which is quite nice, and soon you'll be able to buy a selection of prints as iPhone covers or laptop/iPad skins! Cool, huh? Have a browse and pick something nice for yourself ;) I'll be adding more prints over the next few days, so if the one you're after isn't there, let me know and I'll pop it up, post haste. Cheers, Jon. First Post! 29/12/2011
Well, this is it! My first year in the game is coming to a close, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts on my experience so far.
All in all, 2011 has been rather exciting, but I'm keen to kick a few lazy habits and get stuck into meeting new clients in 2012! |
