From the Archives

My life has slowed in its tracks, following the 7.1 earthquake we had last weekend and the hundreds of aftershocks since.  The university break has been extended for two weeks, and I've been spending more time twiddling my thumbs than usual.

Unlike other photographers who have been out with their cameras, I've been quite content to stay at home. Without any new photos, I'll share some self portraits from last year:

(Victoria Park, atop the Port Hills overlooking Christchurch)

Impromptu Pictures

Last Friday I drove away from the city to take some self portraits.  I started doing these 9 months ago, I'm not sure why, and I don't know what it's all about either, but I enjoy it and the series seems interesting.

I went back to the same place I used for last month's competition, and took some pictures with strobe since I was no longer shooting under the competition's constraints.  It's nice to have some sharp pictures to play with!

Competition

I've been outside experimenting.

There's a night-themed competition at my local photo lab and they're giving away a neat wee camera, and I'd like to win it, but I'm not sure if I agree with the opinions of New Zealand photographers/judges  (especially the photojournalists), because I suspect they might be drawn to the brighter, tackier and perhaps shallower photographs.  So I doubt that I am going to get anything for my efforts.  Unless it is the rare case that an artist will select the winning pictures.  I did have the opportunity to show off a little though!  One of the constraints was that competitors are not allowed to use flash or strobe light.  Things like torches or car headlights were perfectly fine, though.

In these two photographs I had my Mum helping, she would light-paint me with a torch while I posed, and then I would step out of the frame and leave the camera to photograph the sky for a while.  In the first photo below a car drove back and forth (we were in a very remote place too), and lit up the scene a little, which was nice, but I was still standing there and couldn't keep still enough as it drove past.  Those two lights in the background are small flame-torches that I added for a little ambience.

Here I was flashed with car headlights, and then I took off my blazer, and was flashed again.

This is the photo that I entered in the competition.  There's room for improvement, and I'd like to have another try one day.  I am not as sharp as I would like to be, one of the drawbacks when you're using a flashlight to light a scene, if I went back I'd use a strobe instead.  I'd also like to try pushing the film, because the lens I used it not quite as fast as would be useful (I was shooting Portra 800).

It feels to be like a bit of a travel photo, and it kind of was, because I was some distance out of town.  I played with this a little bit, and added a caption, written on a clear film with black ink, which I put between the negative and the scanner glass.

I have a flat-profile lined up to shoot tomorrow, which is the last day of the semester break before I go back to university on Monday.  At the moment I'm trying to get myself organised while I still can!

Impromptu Pictures

It's exam/assignment season for university students, and lately I haven't given much thought to the camera.

On the weekend I took some new pictures.  I've been playing with this three light studio setup that I bought used off the internet, it's pretty much on its last legs but one of the lights is perfectly fine with gentle use.

I'm studying this week but I might be taking some new flat-profile photos next week.

Canta's Cover

Last week Canta need a cover and I volunteered my likeness.

Self-Portrait

For lack of someone else to photograph, I started to take pictures of myself, last year:

Inception

More than a decade ago, blogging was the way of the future - it still is.  I've had a few blogs that flamed out as soon as they were ignited, but this one is going to stay.

So here's my blog.

Wish me luck!