Creative Photography Swap

I recently joined this great site called Swap-bot. Everyone shoud be a member. Here is my creative photography swap.

 Welcome swappers!!

1) My emotions seem to echo those of the people I photograph. . "Whether it is photography, assemblage art or filmmaking, my work is to see beneath the surface. - Christophe Agou

2) Like every other means of expression, photography, if it is to be utterly honest and direct, should be related to the life of the times - the pulse of today....The photograph...to merit serious consideration, must be directly connected with the world we live in. - Berenice Abbot

3)A photograph can be as striking and as haunting as a great painting or a fine poem.  Anonymous - Handbook annual, 1988.

4)It's not the camera, but who's behind the camera. - Anonymous

5)Photography is like a meditation for me. It is such a concentrated moment. - Stephanie Torbert

Self Portraits

I've been experimenting recently with self portraits and I think they haven't worked out too bad.





The first one was the hardest because I had to keep the baby asleep, hold the camera over my head and still try and look reasonably peaceful :-)

I'm a bit nervous because I am starting a photography course at the ANU Art School on Monday, and I am very much dreading being told I am crap or wasting my time. I'll let you know how it goes.

Recent Photos

I've been really interested in portrait photography at the moment. I love the way some photographers can take a photo of a person and transform it into a work of art. I would love to take more photos of people but I feel very nervous asking people if I can take photos of them. On that note, I absolutely love this picture of Hilary Swank.



The strength and power inherent in this shot is excellent. I wish my stuff was that good. This is the closest I have got to a good portrait recently:



I was reading a book on portrait photography recently which suggested that one good tip for people wanting to take more people photos was to go up to people and tell them that you were a student in a local photography class and could you please take some photos of them for your portfolio. The same book also suggested sending people a free print of the photo you took so they get something material out of helping you.

Anyone got any other hints for how to combat portrait shyness?

Canon Photo Five Competition

Canon held this fantastic competition last year, and are holding it again this year. The idea is that you register for the competition, get a box full of goodies and take photos using the items you get in your box. Each item has to be in a separate photo (you can't take one photo using all the items) and you can only enter one photo per category. This years objects were:

- tealight candle
- crayon
- cocktail umbrella
- bubble mix and
- a red ribbon.

Unfortunately, this year's registration is shut so if you want to give it a spin you'll have to wait for next year, but here are my entries in the competition:





If you want to check out more of the entries, you can see them in the gallery here. I probably don't have a chance of making the finals considering I'm just a noob with a camera, but I have really enjoyed the challenge of coming up with ideas for specific objects. As you can see, I went with a murder and mayhem theme. I wish they would hold this more often.

Is anyone else in this competition? Want to show off your stuff? Leave a link in the comments below!

Night Floriade Photos

Last night I went to Floriade, a Canberra flower festival. Shooting at night without a tripod is really hard! Because the exposure is longer every time your hand wobbles so does the picture. I keep meaning to buy a tripod, but until then I'm stuck just using whatever is around. These are some shots I took using my babies pram as a tripod.

Telemarketers are People Too!

If you've come to this site by accident looking for ways to piss off telemarketers, go here.

I worked for ages as a telemarketer. People can be such jerks and it seems like telemarketers are the sanctioned punching bags of a highly stressed population. My friend Raven is one of the most imaginative telemarketer haters I know. He has it down to a fine art and can keep the poor saps on the other end of the phone hanging on for up to an hour, certain he's going to buy something as soon as he answers the door, gets the other phone, takes the burning dinner out of the oven or talks to the policeman about that horrible murder next door.

I hate that. Can't he just say "Sorry, not interested" and hang up? Yes, he's annoyed but if it didn't work as a strategy the companies wouldn't hire people to do it. Don't take it out on the employee. Telemarketers are people too.

This design comes on shirts, clocks, buttons, a mousepad - all the essential office supplies. If your friend just got a job as a telemarketer, the cards on the inside say "Congratulations on Your New Job!".

Is your profession hated? Want a shirt that tells people to get off your back? Leave a comment and I'll work something up!

I like taking photos of things up close

One of the functions I have always loved on my cameras is the macro mode. I've always had this fascination with taking pictures up close of really small things. When we got back from the park the other day I had bits of dried grass all down my top from where I'd been lying down trying to get the right angle on some tiny flowers.

I especially like taking photos of insects. Here are some of my up-close shots:






The beetle in the third photo down was actually in my sleeping bag crawling up my leg. That was a very eerie feeling.

One day I want one of those lenses that lets you take photos of really tiny things like individual ants and so forth. My ant shots haven't worked out well so far, but I haven't tried yet with my new camera. That will be my next excursion - shooting ants :-)