Without Prejudice

[Rob C]

I posted the 'before' shot some weeks ago - this appears to be the end of the story - at least, on the port side. The young painters probably inhaled as much paint as they deposited.

Rob C

P.S. Made me think: had I still hung onto my classic Escort XRi 1.8 ...

[WalterEG]

When I was a wee wee tot I used to watch my grandmother make a cake from scratch (no packets of mix back then; not for her, anyway.  Of course, like all kids of the era I'd be given the spoon and bowl to like once the cake had gone into the oven.

That roused my fertile young mind to thinking, "Why, ever, would you bake a cake because it never tastes as good as the mix in the bowl.  (And, as an additional observation:  if one DID cook the cake, then why not burn it because burnt cake was a whole different trip again ..... but I digress.

This duopoly of pixels prompts the question yet again because the first pic has a whole lot going for it that the somewhat bland finished hull has abandoned in the course of the painting being 'cooked'.

Still, I am thankful that Rob's cell phone is his constant companion and that he periodically lets us in on the conversation.

Cheers,

[Rob C]

Funny about the cake: I often felt the same way, but I think the reason for the cooking of it is that left uncooked, you'd soon get indigestion. I also feel like that about carrots: whenever I screw up the energy (nerve?) to cook anything, I inevitable crunch on the last, thickest bit of the carrot that I don't throw into the pot along with the potatoes I intend to boil. (Saves electricity and they both cook perfectly well in 29 minutes.) That bit of raw carrot is always the best bit, but I coudn't really consume a lot of it at any one time.

But you're right about the finished artwork: it looks even less finished in its natural size because the kids just aren't good enough to give it that final touch of realism that makes the difference. Perhaps as well that I sold the old car... would have cost a fortune to ship it to California or Australia to have it done well! This is a joke, of course.

Thanks for the encouraging words, Walter; still wish I could find something truly small and powerful (camera) to keep around me.

Rob C

[David Sutton]

still wish I could find something truly small and powerful (camera) to keep around me.
Rob C

Ditto. The mobile phones are getting better and the pocket point-and-shoots don't want to be on the back foot, so my guess there is something not far off. But we are probably close to the limit off what we want compared to the limits of available technology. Though experience tells me that sounds like famous last words.
Speaking of last words, being laid low with the worst cold since the last one, since I haven't posted for ages here are a few shots from Antarctica with the smallest and most powerful from 1911 and 1915. To wit, a Thornton Pickard Imperial Pocket Folding and a Kodak Autographic Special. I like the soft colour palette and I'm glad I took them along, but the processing and scanning was tiresome. Very tiresome. 

[Dahlmann]

unexpected =)




/Dahlmann

[Tony Jay]

A cracker Daniel.

Regards

Tony Jay

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Indeed! It's hilarious!

[Rob C]

David -

Is there something of the masochist in your makeup? Not just the latitudes, but the cameras, too?

I once owned a Quarter-Plate Ruby Reflex that lived in the studio and was used as a copy camera. It had a reversible lens and did great line negs because there was no dependence on the shutter (a whole new experience in jiving) but on a black card held in front of the lens for the few seconds that it took to expose the film.

The look of your shots is very attractive - they have a quality that digital lacks: not unsharp, not soft, but pleasantly exactly what they are. What did you do for film?

Rob C

[Rob C]

Love the moo!

Unexpected, and another possible example of the lucky moment. The shot would now look quite wrong without the furry one with the clumpy tail. Don't argue: they all have such tails - comes with the diet, as anyone who eats grass all day long can testify.

Rob C

[Rob C]

Thinking about alternatives to the cellphone, I was reminded of the 'cheap' Leica X series, and the latest X2 which I hadn't realised had happened.

Does anyone here have experience of the X2?

http://www.leica.com

has an interesting pair of videos - one from Seal who I suppose brings glitz to the party, and another more interesting one of a Parisian street shooter of whom I hadn't heard. The latter employs the camera with a sort of reflex acces.finder that seems to offer a lot of scope. It looks small enough to be an ideal carry-about camera, and an equivalent 35mm sure is a handy fixed lens.

As I say, any user info. would be welcomed.

Rob C

[WalterEG]

Rob, In Sydney the cost is $AUD 2,270.00 = 1,790 Euro.

Dream on.

It does look good but I think my preference would still lie with the Fuji X100.

Would either shift me from sheets of film?  I don't really think so.

REgards,

W

[Rob C]

Rob, In Sydney the cost is $AUD 2,270.00 = 1,790 Euro.

Dream on.

It does look good but I think my preference would still lie with the Fuji X100.

Would either shift me from sheets of film?  I don't really think so.

REgards,

W

Well, you may not be wrong: thinking of 35mm lenses that I don't have anymore, I pulled out the old D200 again, and, with the manual 2.8/24 Nik on it, it's 35mm. I do remember how thrilled I was with the camera until I bought the D700 and took up working available darkness in music bars. Now, a walkies camera, for me, doesn't need beyond 100 or 200 ASA, which is where the D200 shines... so why give up for something new and sooo expensive for what it is?

Might as well exercise the arms as well as the legs after lunch, and cart that D200 about.

Ah Walter, the cool light of common sense!

Thinking of conversations (!) with the cellpic thinggy, I tried to shoot a silver Carrera today but managed to cut off the lower part of the tail in a verical shot guessed at in the sunshine, and then did the same thing in a horizontal... insanity could find me that way.

;-)

Rob C

[David Sutton]

David -

Is there something of the masochist in your makeup? Not just the latitudes, but the cameras, too?

I once owned a Quarter-Plate Ruby Reflex that lived in the studio and was used as a copy camera. It had a reversible lens and did great line negs because there was no dependence on the shutter (a whole new experience in jiving) but on a black card held in front of the lens for the few seconds that it took to expose the film.

The look of your shots is very attractive - they have a quality that digital lacks: not unsharp, not soft, but pleasantly exactly what they are. What did you do for film?

Rob C

Yes, there is something about uncoated lenses and film. The Lomography movement has kept film going. I found Fujicolor Reala worked well with these cameras. The problem is the processing: it often is a bit variable. I can put up with the amazing amount of dust on the scans but not poor processing. I used to do my own B&W as a teenager, so I got a tank and the chemicals and ran of some rolls of B&W (Neopan Acros 100) and that came out nicely, but I'd want a really good reason to go to the trouble. I do some stuff with an Edwardian heritage group, so that may be an appropriate project.
Edit: I mis-understood the "what did I do for film" question. I made sure they took 120 rolls before buying them on ebay. There are some very useful web sites out there for reference.

[Rob C]

Walter -

Your mentioning of Meola made me think I could have some fun with this shot from the other day - where I missed the tail of the car completely guesframing the cellphone image.

Reminds me of old film and rough handling by the lab... handy, that was.

;-)

Rob C

[Rob C]

Saw this old lady some days ago and did a paparazzo of her; I'm sure Hercule Poirot would approve.

There's something rather restful and, well, classy about some old designs, not anything one's inclined to encounter on contemporary drawing boards, I guess. There's also an old Silver craft lying here this passed couple of days, but she's so surrounded with glitz that there's no way of isolating her in her own glory.

Maybe tomorrow...

Rob C

[Rob C]

As one Willie Shakespeare was accused of having penned:

He with a spare
Never has a care.

Rob C

[WalterEG]

As one Willie Shakespeare was accused of having penned:

He with a spare
Never has a care.

Speaking of REGAL fornication was he?  The heir and the spare.

W

[Rob C]

Speaking of REGAL fornication was he?  The heir and the spare.

W

I imagine that his words were a sort of pansituational observation on the challenges of contemporary life, were they indeed his words, which I doubt, but it sounds possible since he said and wrote such a lot that I'm inclined to offer him the benefit of the doubt, despite my inner hesitations...

I feel things are in a slump, right now. Inspiration's in short supply; interest in even shorter. I'd like to find a way out, but some mazes are like that, and you need a helicopter to take you somewhere better. Damn, helicopters are in even shorter supply than the other two things!

;-(

Rob C

[Rob C]

Think I'll take a break from photography for a while - so many cars, so many boats, and so little time.

Seems the world's gone a bit off balance: had I this set of wheels, I'd at least have specified a colour beyond the primer.

;-)

Rob C

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Think I'll take a break from photography for a while - so many cars, so many boats, and so little time.

Seems the world's gone a bit off balance: had I this set of wheels, I'd at least have specified a colour beyond the primer.

;-)

Rob C

Maybe the new owner wanted to decorate it himself.