This photo is love. Thankyou Mario Giacomelli.

Rules can be very freeing in art. They focus your mind. They eliminate distractions. They get you to narrow down on what's really important...and get things DONE.
Anthony Allen

Driving to work this morning I was thinking how writing code for embedded devices or designing a circuit board has become a task I can become so totally immersed in that the people around me no longer exist, time becomes something I don't feel pass, the music I might be playing at the time is no longer heard. In effect I forget about self, about me. This is something I can fall into quite quickly once I start tapping at the keyboard.

That maybe because I have been doing this for so many years that I can become totally creative with my skills. This relates with what I do in photography, the skill set is in place and after only a short time I can get into a groove that lets me get immersed in the visual information around me and not in me.

When writing code for new devices/peripherals there are some hurdles getting the nitty-gritty out of the way but once moving it is all immersing once again. Not much different to picking up a new camera, new lens, new software, new lighting setup.

A head sculptured by Alan Somerville, the artist that created the WWI ANZAC Digger on the ANZAC Bridge.

Take a look

I can't say I am getting better at this but I feel the same peace of mind, the same thought processes involved as I do when out taking pictures with the camera.

Paul Butzi has been writing about his finding peace of mind while spending time on his driveway taking pictures. I find this peace of mind when drawing, out taking pictures and sometimes, although rarely, when writing.

The writing is more difficult especially when using the keyboard, the flow of ideas is stifled by having to look up at the screen to make sure I have not changed screen and started deleting or renaming files (that's right, I can't type properly). This is why now when I write my ideas and longer narratives down I do it with a pencil and writing pad.

Maybe I should learn to type without having to look at the keyboard, my lack of technique on ht ekeyboard gets in the way of my ideas. That can be said of not knowing your camera as well.

Excuse my abscence, no excuse really, just abscent.

The word excuse makes me think how strange the English language can be, difference in sentence changes pronunciation and meaning.

Pictures can have the same perculiarities. Put them in context of different projects, different times, different viewers and they can have different meanings.

Pictures are strange things.

My drawings seem to be similiar to my photographs. To me this means I see without a lens in front of my face, I don't need the viewfinder to help me crop out the world around what I want to capture.

The flowers are the same flowers, although a slightly different angle, as those seen in the post on the 17th of October.

Today I received a package from Jonathan of i like to tell stories. Jonathan asked me to send him a picture of the package when it arrived and with my wifes help we did just that.

LOL, he posted on his website today the picture I sent him, love it Jonathan, thanks.

More tomorrow on the contents of the package.

Thanks Jonathan for pointing the Flak Photo site out.

Seen here.

tinytinygroupshow is a mini electroexhibit of photographs based around a basic theme. There are no gallery hours, price lists, commissions, lengthy wall texts or attractive gallery attendants. tinytinygroupshow is a place to have a brief look at some photography, by photographers known and unknown, in a manner that hopefully provokes a little thought

Further to the list of print exchange names is Douglas Stockdale. Doug's In Passing series was published in Lenswork edition 74 and the extended edition on CD that features an interview with him.

The setting sun as seen coming through a window onto a curtain.

Recently it has been brought to my attention that my pictures have a certain feel to them, they are of fleeting enigmatic moments, closeup views of things that are usually not seen as pictorial.
Have I stumbled/dicovered my niche or am I now stuck in a rut?
Is it because my stage in life has me concentrating on the smaller details, head down, limited financial future, is the bigger picture not as attractive as I would like it to be?
Or is it that these smaller pieces will come together to create the bigger picture, the single all embracing picture is no longer attractive to me and I must create projects and portfolios for me to satisfy my visual curiosity. I'd like to think that I have moved up a stage as Andy Ilachinski (http://tao-of-digital-photography.blogspot.com) puts it in his post here (http://tao-of-digital-photography.blogspot.com/2008/06/8-fold-way-of-self-discovery-through.html).
Questionable, it is probably just another experiment in a way of seeing things, more Siskand like.

A special offer on one of my favourite pictures from the SoFoBoMo project, Frosted Window. The picture has a wonderful 3D quality to it and once mounted you need to look at it several times to figure out if the curtain is in fact behind the glass or if this is a picture of curtains behind glass, a fascinating picture.

The print will be on Harman Gloss FB AI using K3 pigment inks. Delivery worldwide is free!
be quick, only 20 are available at this price.

While I enjoy Marian Drew's short series of Pond Life pictures I do find the Australiana still life series a little disturbing. Maybe still life is not quite the correct term for what is shown.

By far one of my most requested pictures for printing is this one. The colours and composition still work for me and while they do I will continue to sell it here.

Read more! »

Several years ago I bought and read several of the books written by Freeman Patterson and found them to be quite inspirational. They also helped me see what I was looking at, take labels away from what I was seeing and break things down into shapes.

I recommend reading any of his books, particularly those written as workshops in a book.

The latest Candid Frame episode by Ibarionex R. Perello features an interview with Freeman and is a recommended listen.

It was via Jim Colberg I came across Bernd Kleinheisterkamp. I enjoyed viewing the galleries here, particularly the Stills gallery.

I was lucky enough to be able to buy the book The Americans by Robert Frank recently, it arrived 2 weeks ago and I have been enjoying it so much. The pictures are fantastic, gritty views of American life in the mid 1950s.

An article on Robert Frank came my way today which I read enthusiastically wanting to know more about Robert and his pictures.

28,000 pictures taken from 1955 to 1956 while traveling across America on a Guggenheim grant, a final edit of 83 for the book. That is over 350 pictures taken for each one selected. I don't feel so bad now when I take many pictures only to have a handful that work.

And when it comes to the recent spate of stories of photographers being harrassed for just being a photographer, here, here and here and comparing it to Robert being jailed and run out of town for just taking pictures, sounds like not much has changed at all in 50 years.

After cleaning up the office last weekend I ended up with all of my prints in one spot which gave me the opportunity to go through them.

Amazing how much work you go though just to have a handful of decent prints. The prints I still enjoy are now on a large white board which is supposed to be used to organise my workload. A whole lot of magnets from the local businesses are holding them up.

Another wall of prints will be up soon as well. The new viewing area will be lengths of strong fishing line on the wall where pegs will be used to hang pictures from. Looking more like the old bathroom/darkroom all the time.