Fototriss - fyrbentingar

Det handler om firbente i ukens Fototriss, gitt.

Det var morsomt at de valgte det temaet just i dag, da Essa og jeg var i Alsvik og klarte siste prøven for B-godkjenning hos Norske Redningshunder. Ja, for der handler det jo veldig mye om de bjeffende firbeinte.

Klikk på bildet for å se en større versjon.

Dette er Essa på tur ved Bynuten i Sandnes i april 2013. Da var vi bare så vidt begynt å trene til redningshundekvipasje.

Men det er ikke bare hunder jeg bryr meg om, jeg lider også av kugalskap i fullt monn.

Klikk på bildet for å se en større versjon.

Det er godt at naboen min har kyr som jeg får fotografere og klappe, så mye jeg vil!

Klikk på bildet for å se en større versjon.

Jeg er veldig glad i hester også. De utståler ofte slik trygghet at en blir grønn av missunnelse som tobeining.

Photos on the rocks

I went to Scotland this April, on a job journey. I got to take some nice photos and I realised how few photos I have taken in 2013, and that I miss it just a little. Thankfully I have a very good friend who keeps tugging my sleeve, not letting me forget how much I like it. She has gone semi-professional, the dare devil, and will soon make a living out of her hobby.

I have chosen a different path, since I have decided to work with my dog on SAR, rather than go all in on photography, but that doesn't mean I will stop photographing whenever I get a chance at something exciting. This spring I hope to get my hands on a better macro lense, and if that happens, I will come strongly into the game again.

For those curious to what lense I drool over, this is the beauty, a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. The good thing about the lense is, it's a L-series which alows for more knocking about by the climate. Also it has image stabilisation (IS), so that you may get better away with the hand held shots- which occur all the time when you want to catch bugs and beetles, who aren't as polite as to wait around while you fumble with rigging your tripod.

Of course, some times you can find the bugs in your home, or even bring them home with you, and then make for some scary scene.

I have to admit, when I remember to squint into the macro world - it truely is one of my favourite areas of photograpy!

Inspiration to work harder

The days run by me like sprinters doing the 100 meters over and over and ... "Stop!" I want to yell, because I really don't like to run that fast and it kind of makes me feel stressed out to not hang in there, to see time speed by so ... industrious. Shoot, I want to be as industrious and make a lot happen in the time, not to feel like I'm on a free joyride or a sad bystander... all along. But, the only true antidote would be to start being productive and cough up some good stuff. - Sigh!

To think about this rushing time made me want to photograph it. And that is really not easy to just "do". So I spent several days thinking about it in the back of the head, then went over to the road by the petrol station (yes, there runs a road there, for some reason) and shot a few shots with plenty of f in it, put them in my melting pot and stirred a bit, and even threw a few software spells in there too.


Doooobee-doobe-doo ...

Some of the "unproductive" time during my well earned holiday I spend reading Susan Sontag's On Photography. It is a very enlightening and rewarding read, the kind that make you hungry for more, and more, and more ... and the kind that make you feel like a tiny chihuahua underdog with a pit bull (named Susan) hovering above you growling out truths you would never have dreamed up if you got a thousand years of beauty sleep. (Even so I could like a thousand years beauty sleep! - Evil tongues would probably say I could need it too.)

Sontag's book is a collection of essays, seven of them, tangling with the photography and photographers as a phenomena that has changed how we humans see the world. I sense true concern from Sontag, as if she believes the change in perception is a danger and a dark, scary, evil thing. She never says as much straight out, but I sense this concern within her and want to comfort her and say to her,


"Hey, it can also be that computers and smart phones and tablets and ... and vacuum cleaners! have the same effect on us - and it is all part of the flow of time, the thing we learned from our parents to consider as progress and to consider as a beneficial thingy. Relax, flow with it and like the good things about it too, silly!"

But ... instead of talking down to a dead woman much smarter than me, maybe I should watch my own attitudes and thoughts and ideas and ... this concerned critique helps to understand photography better, exactly because it is critical and scrutinizes the image makers, light painters, photo artists as a group - and even make fun of the artsy snobs among them.


I've read the first four essays now, underlining most of the text in all four of them. But rather than siting her truths out for you all, I'd encourage you to read Sontag yourself. If you don't want to buy the book, go to the local library and borrow a copy to read.

- Hush, go now!

I used to collect quotes when I was younger, tons and tons of quotes - because they gave me something I needed back then. The strong urge to collect is over, also because quotes can be found all over the internet. But my previous hobby makes me understand the ones that collect photos - and for instance on Facebook or G+ there are tons of people collecting photos others have taken, because they find something in the images they think worth sharing and worth forwarding to others.

Because I have found so much joy in photography as a hobby I prefer to share my own images rather than other people's work. Not because I believe my snapshots to be better than theirs, but because the snapshots are mine, my expression, even if not unique or extraordinary, they are what I see. - And what I see, my view of the world, is what I wish to share with others, - good or bad! I still feel that I'm at preschool when it comes to many things about photography, that the process towards finding a genuine and true platform from where too make my expression is a far way off. Thank heaven I'm in no real big hurry to get there. (I'm enjoying the way there too much to get impatient.) So what's the joy in learning?

One inspiration to go on learning more, to get better, is the genuine feel of actually making improvement. "Hay! I took one good shot out of twenty instead of out of hundredandsixtyeight. Hey I managed to remember to do this and that and to think about DOF and lightning and composition all at once, hey I managed..."

Another inspiration to go on learning more, is all the different toys you can play with - time laps gear, remote controls, filters, blitzes, lights, software on your computer, new firmware on your camera and ... praised be the luminous photogs, maybe even a new lens or camera! (Sigh)

Yet another inspiration to go on learning more, is the fact that there is always more to learn around the next corner. And even though you may never hope to be in the same league as your photographic icons - whoever they might be - you might have a hope of at least creating something viewable to others.

- If you can see the rush of time in the photos above, then I caught a big one today! 

Now: Can you guess which one is my favorite?

Photgraphriends

How is it with you? Do you have friends that photograph as enthusiastically as yourself? Friends you can spend hours with discussing almost nothing else but f-stops, auto focus, lense choices, camera rumors and motives with? Friends you can photograph as they are photographing, so that you get a photo of your hobby without having to make self portraits or sneak around at photo happenings and shoot people sub rosa?

Of course, the most important part with a friend is to have the interaction in conversation, not to have them as motives. To discuss photography with others is a refreshment of the motivation to photograph too - if the person you talk to give you the same glow that you play up, mash together and throw at her.

To some extent you can find such friends online as well - or acquaintances if you want to use a more appropriate term for it. Sometimes they throw out a subject that really interest you in public and reap so many good answers you'd want to share the result with as many as possible. Here's one excample:

G+er Catherine Hall threw out the question What is your favorite photography online educational resource and why? and was answered by quite a few with good tips on learning resources on the Internet. It feels like it would be almost wrong of me not to share this.

But despite the possibility of sharing lots on the Internet, nothing compares with meeting a friend over a good cup of phototalk!

Yes I do have one of those look-like-a-lens coffe mugs!

Friday 22. June I had a day trip to Oslo to help someone who had to go consult a doctor there, and couldn't go alone. Luckily we came to the Hospital two hours before our first appointment, so we walked down to the Vigeland Park to see the angry boy and other sculptures.

"Sinnataggen" is one of the most famous of Gustav Vigeland's sculptures. If you look at his left hand it is worn as a result of tourists touching it.

As a contrast, just next to the angry boy, stands a quiet girl - and hardly anyone looks twice at her.

Anger fascinates us more than friendliness, obviously. What I found fascinating walking around in the park, was all the tourists wanting to see the sculptures. The weather was really good and the time of day kind of perfect for tourism - but even so it was quite crowded for a day just before the summer holidays start here in Norway. Quite a few of the tourists were Asian, by the looks of it. And quite a lot of the tourist took tons of photos. Well, then I didn't stick out much, did I.

The backdrop

Three new books have found their way into my home. They will not be alone, I love books of most colors and creeds. The reason I mention these three books in here, is that they are all about photography.

Susan Sontag's classic "On photography" (first published 1978) is a collection of seven essays she wrote on the moral and aesthetic problems surrounding photography as an art form. "A progress of essays about the meaning and career of photographs," Sontag calls it her self in the foreword in my edition.

The second book is Vilém Flusser's "Towards a philosophy of photography". The publisher states that "Flusser shows that the change from a text-based to an image-based culture (from the linearity of history to the two-dimensionality of magic) and the change from an industrial to a post-industrial society (from work to play)  go hand in hand, and how this mutation can be seen with particular clarity in the case of photography."

The third book is Ian Jeffrey's "Photography - A concise history" - a work that wants to go deeper than describing the history of the technical developments of photography, rather explore the essence of photography and it's relation to other art forms.

Maybe you are sighing now, shaking your head a little and thinking that this blogger is trying too hard to show off as an intellectual. What is the point of all this philosophy crap, really? What is there to learn in such texts?

This is where the backdrop come into consideration. Have you ever taken a photo where, after development you discover that the backdrop ruined your motive entirely?

- No, never been so unlucky? Okey: An example from my own collection then:

This tranquil and serene photo of a pretty resting dove was totally ruined by a cheeky, scratching sparrow that decided to be the ugliest lens-bug ever, totally ruining my motive. The culprit can be very very happy that I didn't notice this intrusion of the lens before I came home, or...

Another approach is of course to look on the outcome of this photo with a humorous smile and let it stand as a fitting photography of a lens-bug more than an image of a dull dove.

To read about philosophical theory on photography is to create a backdrop in your approach to photography: This backdrop gives the motive, to become a good photographer, focus in a indirect but important way. Sure if you sit down and think very hard about photography, the world around yourself, life, the universe and everything, you may come up with a lot of the things books like these will tell you. But reading good literature spares you a lot of time and effort, surely.

Susan Sontag practically starts her book of by stating that

"In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe."

I was in Rome in April 2008. Needless to say, I took lots of photographs. There is one photograph I regret not taking, but I was stopped by simply having left my camera with friends as I went for an exchange machine in the end of a very busy town square, next to horse cabs and street artists and (of course) tourists. A gypsy was standing next to the horse's watering station, washing himself quite thoroughly. A bit too thoroughly as he proceeded. The seance came to it's crescendo when he finished washing his private parts under his trousers and, without rinsing his hands, swiped them over his face and hair. A loud and shock filled sigh went over the audience. A few seconds passed, and then the merchants, concerned that this demonstration of poor sanitarian judgement might disgust the tourist clientele, chased him off with hash words and strong hands, "Go, go, never come back, ugly gypsy good-for-nottin'," they might have said.

One of the photos I did take while in Rome

The scene is vivid in my mind, and as I said I regret not having a photo of the happening, because it was one of those strong moments when you go abroad and want to experience something "different" than what you see in your everyday life. Maybe the incident felt so strong because it was a very strong confirmation of prejudices. I'm not sure. Another one of those things I have to think about.

Are you well equipped?

OK, I know this question can make some think of quite different matters than photography. Only the most serious of photographers will keep a very straight face and answer the question without even the slightest sign of a smile.

I’m not sure that kind of seriousness is good for you!

Photography is a hobby or profession with need of at least some equipment, I hope we can agree that it is rather impossible to take a photography without no apparatus at all. - At least if photographic memory is to be kept as a separate issue. And why don’t we keep it at arms lenght at the moment, please.

The knack when it comes to equipment, is to know that there must be limits, - both ways; your kit can both be too sparse and too abundant.

A photo motive just popped out on my imaginative retinas here, a overloaded press photogapher - rather big, red in the cheeks, overloaded and crowded with gear around & about. And next to her, a thin, pale, kind of lonely character with a single camera & nothing more. A expensive camera, maybe, but nothing more. She could look a little lonely and wanting, maybe looking with a sceptical eye down on a Leica apparatus anyone would envy her.  The photo should state that none is better than the other, rather that happiness most likely lie somewhere between the two illustrated extremes.

I’m thinking his older sister versus his daughter.

Oh, I’d love to take this photo one day. I’d make sure to be well equipped before I took it, though. ;o)

These days I’ve been one lense short, so I’m not as well equipped as I am normally. My Sigma 18-125mm was acting strange, threw the lenses inside around at certain zoom-points, and placed there it acted as if the electronics inside was haywired. Since the lens is only a little over a year old, I sent it off to the camera doctor today, hoping the repair is covered by the guarantee. Either way the process got me in the mood to buy a new lens. … And a new camera … and a flash, and a new tripod, and some more lenses, and ...a photo studio, and …  some filters and extenders and photo bags and books and a new car to transport it all around with and … It may be a form of insanity maybe.

A good link for the photo insane: The Camera Wiki, a place to look up all sorts of camera gear.

One thing to consider when thinking about buying a new camera, is should it be full frame or crop sensor? And does it really, really matter that much, - really? To try and find out, I had to find out what really is the difference between a full frame and a crop sensor. So I read this page on the web. I found this article quite useful for teaching me something new and interesting, and now I’d like a 7D camera even more. I’ll just have to save up and start a campaign with the wife to get there.

After sending the Sigma 18-125mm off with the post today, I got an acute fit of separation anxiety. I had to quelch the symptoms by visiting my favourite photo shop in Sandnes and buy a new lens.

I ended up buying the Canon EF 17-40 f/4 L USM, much to my own surprise, who had promised myself a lightstrong lens with a wide zoom range. But when I tested the 17-40mm, I fell as long as I was flat on my back and said, gasping for air, “I’ll … take it. Please! ”

The evening has been used for testing it’s qualities.

Along with the lens (and the obligatory UV filter) I bought a remote control for the camera. Self portrait was never easier.

If the damaged Sigma is not repaired, I’ll have to look into getting hold of a new zoom lens for “everyday use”. I like the possibility that lies in a zoom lense too much to be without it! - I think. Maybe the 17-40mm will teach me otherwise. Time will show.

And anyway, to justify today’s purchase for both myself and the world around me, I’ll have to improve my photo skills. So off I go!

Why would an atheist go to church?

Don't worry, I'm not going to go all religious - or antireligious here. The point I'm trying to make is that regardless of religious conviction, a beholder of a architectural praise to the transcendent powers, will see something made with love and awe. Sure, you can find that love and awe outside of churches and mosks and temples, sure - but the point is non the less that it's almost sure to be found in the buildings raised to praise the unearthly, while it's far from sure in a ton of other buildings and structures. Or do you see this kind of symbolism in your neighbor's garage or at the children's school down the road?

The architectural praise is something worth trying to capture with your camera, something to hunt for in the photos of a church, mosk, synagogue or temple - if you find it there to begin with.

I went with a friend out on Jæren today, to a place called Orre. There we found Orre Old Church hanging around on it's usual spot - a building from ca 1250, a so called "long church". 

It is called a long church because of its long room in the middle, that symbolize the holy road (“Via Sacra”), from the west towards the sunrise in the east. This was the most common type of church buildt from the middle ages until the 20th century in Norway.

I had my 60mm macro lens hooked to the camera, and in the cold north wind I really didn't want to start to change lens. In addition I had just downloaded a free stitching program I happened to stumbled upon on the net, Autostitch. That made me want to make a panorama-image of the church in stead of struggling over barbed fences and trafficked roads to get to a distance where I'd get the whole church in view. So -  I set the camera to an appropriate M setting and shot ten images of the church, five at the bottom, five at the top, clockwise. 

After that I thought "if it works, then it works, and if it doesn't then I'll go back another day when the sky is blue and bring my wide-angel lens mounted on teh Camera". 

The windy walk around the white chalked old stone chapel might have stirred some biblical neurons in me mind. On the way home I shopped some groceries and happened upon the most tempting and delicious looking Argentinian Apples, four of those please!

And if the temptation of apples is hard to believe in, just look at this lot.

While the tempted struggled not to bite into the fruit, I stitched and stitched and ... to be honest Autostitch did all the stitching for me. And this is what came out:

Magic that a program can throw together ten loose images to this, right? Well I have copped it and done a little photoshopping, to be honest. But not much, nothing much indeed. 

Still, I was not pleased with the mood the image gave, it was to light, to bright, to ... realistic maybe. I tossed and turned and churned it a few rounds in Lightroom, until this image showed:

And then I was pleased and ... ate an apple!