Books: Around the World in Eighty Years

Eric Newby is best known as a travel writer. Written with a wry, self deprecating humour, books such as The Last Grain Race and A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush have become classics of travel writing. He has, however, always photographed his travels as well. I first came across his photos in a book called What the Traveller Saw, a collection of short essays and photographs. And I was impressed. So when I came across this volume of his photographs, I had to pick it up. It is a fine collection of photos from both well known locations such as Bali and places probably not on most tourist maps such as Haiti and Albania. It’s a little disappointing that there are no images from his year sailing from the UK to Australia and back again as a crewmember one of the last commercial sailing ships. But that’s just a personal bias. I was particularly drawn to the photographs of children that are in the book; these photos have a great power and intimacy, more so than most of the others. The photo of the boy on the boat in Macao the one of children at a camel fair in Rajasthan are two of those that really stand out. Overall, an interesting collection.

Spring is in the Air

Now that spring seems to be here to stay (it's taken it's sweet time this year), it's now officially the season for flower photos. I've been playing around using extension tubes and a mix of old lenses on my K10D. Trying mostly for some abstract images, but really just trying whatever strikes me at the time. Digital is great for this, as I can review my images as I to see what is working and what is not. And it doesn't fill the garbage can quite as full of tossed slides either ...

'The Online Photographer" Writes Again

One of the most entertaining and knowledgeable photography writers on the net is probably Mike Johnston. I started reading his The Sunday Morning Photographer column on Luminous Landscape 3 or 4 years ago, subscribed to The 37th Frame, and then followed his blog The Online Photographer since it started over a year ago. You don't have to agree with his opinions to appreciate his knack for writing about photography (and a wide range of only mildly related topics as well).

Anyhow, his blog apparently went into some sort of spambot meltdown over the weekend. It's now up and running again on it's own The Online Photographer domain. If you've never read, it's well worth following.

The Best Place for Photography is Where you Are

I've been busy with work and home lately, and haven't gotten very far to indulge in my photography habit. But I do try to make the effort to get out and shoot whenever I can, even if it means not leaving the confines of the backyard. All it takes is to look around you and there will always be a subject that catches the eye.

Photo Lesson #385

I was out in the backyard capturing a few photos of the sunset reflection in the back window when I realized something I hadn't noticed before; the reflection and the glass are not at the same depth of field. Viewing through the camera, I could get either the reflection or the window and frame in focus, but not both. I suppose this makes sense, but I had never really noticed it before ...

Two Views

I'm just sorting through some older scanned slides, and thought these two views of Edmonton made a nice contrast with each other.

High Water - Black & White

I've been meaning to post this one for the last week or more. However, I have been too busy moving a huge pile of garden soil from one end of the yard to the other. And I don't garden ...

Here's the black & white version of the 'High Water' image below. I tried several different 'mixes' using channel mixer, but never did get a version I really liked. This is one of the better ones, but in the end I think this is better in the colour version. Your thoughts?

High Water

This railing is usually quite high and dry. Lots of spring run-off this year.

Do you think this one would be better as black & white?

Pentax K10D Meets Whitemud Ravine

Most of my photography takes place with a couple of kilometers of my house. Partly that's me being lazy, party busy, and partly fortunate. Edmonton has a great park system that stretches from one end of the city to the other following the North Saskatchewan River valley, and access to it is a short 5 minute walk from my house.

Here are a few of my first photos with the K10D, made in one of my favorite areas to photograph in the river valley, Whitemud Ravine.

The Last Film Image

I recently made the transition from film to digital. For the last few years I've been shooting mainly Kodak E100VS with a Pentax MZ-5n camera. I bought a Pentax K10D about a month ago, and this image was the last frame on the (probably) last roll of slide film I'll be shooting. At least for the short term. Nostalgia may kick in at some point :)

Aurora November 2004

Speaking of Astrophotography, here are a few shots from one of the awesome auroral displays we were experiencing a few years ago.

These were made from the centre of a city of about 3/4 million (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), so that should give you some idea of the brightness of this particular display. Shot on Kodak E100VS slide film and later scanned.

Why Photography?

How did I end up with an interest in photography. Like many people, I've owned and used camera(s) of the 'point & shoot' variety for years, but would never have considered it a hobby. I actually came seriously into photography through another hobby of mine, amateur astronomy. Like many people with an interest in that hobby, I wanted to try my hand at astrophotography. So I got myself an old second hand Pentax ME Super (still one of my favorite cameras ever) to start out with some simple wide-angle astrophotos. Well, I did shoot some astrophotos, and one or two weren't too bad. But what I soon found was that I just loved using that camera everyday. The feel of the camera in my hands, the crisp view through the lens, and that satisfying 'schwink' sound of the shutter. And over time I learned more technically about photography, and started more to consider the art of photography. Now, it is the satisfaction that comes with creating an image that keeps me coming back for more.