David Jenkins

Little Journeys: On the Road Again

November 12, 2020Posted in Australian Hobby, Birdsaspoetry, Dusky Woodswallows, Fantail Cuckoo, K Road Cliffs, Little Visits, Purple-crowned Lorikeet, The Office8 Comments

Life I love is taking pictures with my friend.

Here we are a week or so out of a nearly 4 month lockdown. Depends of course where you start counting, but we were in one of the ‘naughty’ suburbs, so our privileges were removed a bit earlier than the rest of the city.

For EE and I, a run down to “The Office” was always going to be high on the must do first list.

So given a halfway decent burst of sunshine and we were off.

The one thing that we noted first was the amount of grass that covered normally bare areas. A distinct lack of large kites, Black and Whistling, and how well some of the smaller scrub birds had done getting an early nesting in.

So in no particular order.

Purple-crowned Lorikeet pair.
Sad to report that the old branch has since parted from the tree trunk, exposing the nest, and they have moved on somewhere else. They have been loyal to this spot for at least the past four seasons.

Purple-crowned Lorikeet. Protecting its nest from marauders

Little Lorikeet. This one led me a merry chase through the leaves. I could hear it, but it just wasn’t easy to see.

Happiness is… A White-browed Scrubwren with tucker for its young.

Looks like the Dusky Woodswallows has swept in while we were in lockdown and already had a clutch of young on the wing

Most interesting find of the day. Juvenile Fantail Cuckoo waiting to be fed.

Fantail; Cuckoo and its hosts, White-browed Scrubwrens.
The adult Cuckoo must have been very clever as I always find these little birds among the most wary.

Higher up the track on the cliff line, a pair of Australian Hobby are re-nesting in a familiar spot. More to come on their progress I think.

The age old battle of David and Goliath. The immovable object v the irresistible force.
Both have much at stake with young to be fed.

Saturday Evening Post #107: Matching the Mood

November 7, 2020November 7, 2020Posted in Saturday Evening PostTagged Saturday Evening Post8 Comments

Hotdiggity. We’re gunna commit photography.

After last week’s Saturday Evening Post #106, I felt like continuing with the voice behind the light photo skills exploration.

There are many studio lighting ‘sets’. One of the more challenging is sometimes referred to as the light of “Comic Book Villains”.

Split Lighting.

A variation of side lighting. A main light source is used at 90 degrees to the subject-camera plane. It provides light to one side of the subject, and shadow to the other side.

It is not the most flattering light for portraits.
But.
It does add its own feel of dark mood to the subject—hence the ‘villain’ nickname.

Split lighting has quite a number of moods to offer. One of the most useful is a feeling of conviction-assurance-confindence and sureness. It was used to great effect during the 1930s and 40s for movie starlets. A hint of mystery and intrigue.

More recently I’ve noticed its been used in movie posters for ‘action’ style stories.
Lord of the Rings, Casino Royale, Lethal Weapon 4, Parker just to mention a few. No, don’t watch them, I’m not doing movie reviews, just poster examples.
I once worked with a company that licensed the use of the Lethal Weapon 4 poster as an overlay for an entertainment centre experience. But. That is definitely another story.

It is also a very useful product in studio light, and has worked a treat for quite a number of car brochures. Both Apple and Samsung have used a variation recently for their offerings.

The one thing about it is that the subject is always facing square on to the camera. The other day we were out with some Black-shouldered Kites. The lighting was, well, overcast.
Porridge.

The grey sky was typical Rochester New York, 18% Grey. Now for those who don’t recall. Rochester NY was (is) the home of the Eastman Kodak Company, some may have heard of them, they used to manufacture stuff called filum.
They also produced a device to help determine correct exposure. The R-27 Kodak Neutral Test Card. One side was 90% reflectance, White. The other 18% Gray (note American spelling). It has been said that the 18% was chosen as it matched the grey skies of Rochester NY. It is not true that the sun never shines in Rochester, nor is it true that 18% reflectance is the average scene reflectance, but, tonight I won’t pursue that. Nor will I tell tales of the 8ft snow dump on the streets one winter.

The male has been named Bronson by my flickr mate, David Nice.
Bronson is a white and grey bird on a grey porridge sky. Think merge.

Then by one of those quirks of nature the clouds cleared momentarily and the early morning light brushed over Bronson’s side and he looked directly at me, and I had a Split Light subject and shot.

Gives him that awesome presence he deserves.

One frame was all I needed, and then porridge oozed back over and the moment was gone.

Little Jouneys: Home Catastrophe

November 4, 2020November 4, 2020Posted in House SparrowTagged House Sparrow8 Comments

Ok, I know they are simply ‘House Sparrows’. Somewhere there is a text that says, “… And not one of them is forgotten?”

We had, EE, David Nice, and I been sitting waiting for some young Black-shouldered Kites to do something Black-shouldered Kitey. Now raptor time is quite different to human grasp of the sun moving across the sky, the earth turning on its axis, its rotation around the sun, and the turn of the solar system in the spiral galaxy… etc.

While we were waiting we noticed that a family of House Sparrows had become interested in a dead trunk of a eucalyptus in the area. The old sun-bleached and rotting wood had a number of openings and spaces that would apparently suit the sparrows in their nesting quest.

So over the next couple of hours a procession of birds carrying varying pieces of nesting material flew back and forth.

The male seemed more interested in offering advice than in carrying much, although to be fair he did lay in some pieces of grass.

A few days later we came back to monitor the kites and found that the old rotten trunk had suffered a major event, and a good metre of so of the wood had parted company from the main trunk and lay on the ground. But what it did reveal was all the work of the past few days. The nest was exposed. Needless to say the male was none too happy about the turn of events, and if despair and disappointment are part of their makeup, then he certainly was upset.

We wondered if someone might have pulled the wood loose, but given the location it was most unlikely. I am guessing that as they kept pressing the grasses into the small space that the pressure became so great that the old rotten areas simply couldn’t support it and down it came.

There was much discussion among them about using the lower part of the stump to restart a new nest, and they even bought in some twigs and grasses to get started.
Will have to wait till the next visit to see if they go on with it.

Bringing in the supplies. It’s possible to see how rotten the area was.

Oh, no. What has happened.
The front face of the trunk has fallen away leaving the nest completely exposed.

Time for the engineer to inspect the damage.
Hard to be sure, but it might be that the pressure of so much building material was just too much for the old wood.

I’m not sure, but I don’t think adding another piece of carefully chosen grass is going to solve the problem

A new start? Perhaps there is still room underneath for another attempt.

Saturday Evening Post #106: For the Love of Light

October 31, 2020Posted in Saturday Evening Post10 Comments

Someone once said, “Everything that comes from the camera, comes from the heart (Source: Your humble editor)

Now you might instantly think of some of the great emotive pictures that have been taken. The sharing of precious intimate moments between a grandmother and granddaughter perhaps. The smile of proud family members at a graduation. The joy and delight of opening a special present.
All heart sharing experiences.

Alternatively you might recall photographs that have told of less happy moments or have shown in great graphic details the destruction of the earth’s resources or man’s inhumanity toward fellow earth inhabitants.
All heart sharing experiences.

But. There are other times when photographs are taken, merely in a mechanical or perhaps perfunctory way.
A tourist steps out of the bus into some historically important area, snaps of 2 or 3 shots, and goes into the local bistro for a meal.
Recently I saw some photos taken at the Grand Canyon. Most of the people in the photo were more engrossed in what was on their mobile phone than the vista around them.
Heart sharing experiences still. But a heart that is not invovled in the mood, feeling or light of the moment.

As photographers we used to talk a lot about the “Language of Light”. Nowadays the discussion is almost always about what creative style, filter or add-on that can be applied in post production. My guess is because the heart is not in the photo experience, but is enamoured by some ‘Wow factor’ the designer has chosen.

Joe McNally, has a video training programme called “The Language of Light”. Joe has developed a visual style that is somewhat easily recognised. Great use of light, clever settings, the right model, and brilliant use of the medium.

In my formative years the concepts of the Language of Light was a major skill that was ‘drilled’ into neophytes. One of my early mentors spoke of it as, “We start with a dark canvas-the shadows- and we paint on that canvas with our brushes- the light. Each stroke reveals a little about our subject. When we have revealed enough, we stop. The remaining shadows help to set the mood.”

We were required to be able to discuss some of the major elements of the language.
Including:
The Direction. Where was the light coming from. Front, side, back, overhead, diffuse etc.

The Colour. These days we fiddle with White Balance, but it used to be called Colour Temperature. Blues tend toward cool, Reds tend to stir the senses. Greens can be calming. These days there’s a slider for that. 🙂

The Quality. Hard midday sun, soft diffused, rim light, chiaroscuro. And how we handle it with scrims, flash fill, diffusers and filters.

The Quantity. And how we handle exposure. Too much, the mood might be lost, too little we struggle for delineation of the subject. Good light-bad light. Or perhaps just light that doesn’t match the subject or mood.

As learning photographers, we had to be able to discuss those terms at length, and sure enough on the end-of-the-year exam paper would be such a question.

Q 123. (5 points)
You are given a white china plate and a polished silver fork. Discuss your choice of light and what steps you would take to keep the detail of the plate while maintaining the filagree of the fork. (Use a diagramme if necessary)

Huh!, If necessary. If you didn’t sketch at least one or more lighting designs you’d only get one mark, no matter if you filled three pages of detailed explanation. 🙂

These days no doubt it would be a multiple choice on some moodle platform. Simply fill in the check box of choice. No diagrams needed.

Q. 2
You are making an Instagram emoji. What lighting consideration would you choose.

A. Google to find latest trending style
B. None, my iphone 2345 doesn’t need light
C. Check to be sure that the lighting is not being exploited by underpaying third world profiteers
4. Not a relevant question.

The one thing that always seems to be missing from the discussions is the mood. What is the maker really trying to express. What indeed is coming from the heart.

We had an early morning start the other day, and by sheer chance the weather presented us with some fine rolling mists.

It was good to be able to enjoy the light playing on the shapes and shadows.

Little Visits: Hard Work Pays Off

October 28, 2020October 28, 2020Posted in Little Visits, Willie Wagtail6 Comments

Now that we have the chance to get out and about, well at least for 25km, it might seem strange that I’d start off by posting some activity on the river where we’ve been doing our daily walk.

Two things have become apparent on our little journeys.
Firstly: How many Magpie Larks are at work on nests or have already flown young.
Secondly: The numbers of Willie Wagtails, all with nests quite close to one another, 50m or so is not unusual, and they have all begun about the same time, and most of them are now fledging, or soon will be, their first clutch. And surprisingly for Willies, none so far seem to have suffered predation by larger birds. We have about 6 nests for sure, and several others that have yet to be discovered.

It was time to take a look at how things were going, and to our delight one pair had managed to get their three young on the wing, either that morning, or the day before, as the young were still ‘getting their wings’.

Another pair, with perhaps the best nest location, under an overhanging branch now overgrown with a creeper, also just got their two on the wing. They seemed content to hop from branch to branch among the creeper and the branches.

Enjoy

2010-27_Z50_3013 — One of two that have been on the wing for about 5 days.

An adult with their three young aeronauts.

Still with short tails and rich brown markings. The short tail doesn’t stop them from “Wagging”.

tough shot. Two just fledged and still really only branch hopping.

Overlooking its important charges. This is one of the adults with the branching young.

Saturday Evening Post #105: The Fruits of an Early Spring

October 24, 2020Posted in Uncategorized6 Comments

While we’ve been in lockdown the past few months, I’ve watched with interest the antics and the movements of a pair of Blackbirds that regularly hunt in our tiny backyard.

Their energies hit high level just a couple of weeks or so ago, and I eventually figured out by watching that they were engrossed in a bush in the next-door backyard. A nest no doubt.

Then last week the frequency of visits, the amount of a calling and the digging in the garden went into really high gear.
Now, I’m not a bird feeder, so for a couple of days I simply refrained, but a sliced apple core, or a small handful of sultanas, or mixed fruits, raisins seemed to be the favourite, saw them ducking over the fence line with full beaks.

I had to smile.

And.

Today.

Looking out at the rain soaked ground, lo and behold, not one, but two big fat chicks sitting in the dry under the pergola. With mum and dad making constant trips to top them up.

Why sultanas? Well one of my Flickr friends in England David Brooker posted what must be the ulitmate friendship between human and blackbird.
Enjoy

Here’s Mum feeding one of the young ones a small piece of pear.

Photographic Essay: On the Road Again

October 21, 2020Posted in Australian Hobby, Dusky Woodswallows, Fantail Cuckoo, Little Lorikeet, Purple-crowned LorikeetTagged Australian Hobby, Dusky Woodswallows, Little Lorikeet, Purple-crowned Lorikeet8 Comments

Our first real day out after 4 months of Lockdown.

The title of the blog says more to my hairstyle than it does to the fact we were out and about.

At the moment, Willie Nelson and I have similar hairstyles. 🙂
So hum a few bars of “I’m on the Road Again, life I love is making photos with my friend, and I’ can’t wait to be on the Road Again.”

Where else would we have started than a trip to “The Office”.

As it turned out not a bad choice for a day out. We loaded up IamGrey and with a sandwich and a cuppa it looked to be a good day.

Here is a quick selection from the day.

First up for the day. Purple-crowned Lorikeets. Each time I find these little birds I always come away feeling better about life and the world in general. They have such calming attitudes

This pair have a nesting site that is regularly used. I was really happy to find them out enjoying the sunshine

Another pair of Purple-crowned have a solid branch for their site. This one is blocking the hole so that marauding Rainbow Lorikeets will not bother its young.

There has always been a steady number of Little Lorikeets at the Office.
I was hoping they might be nesting, but this one did not seem to be interested.
It took me quite awhile to find it amongst the canopy. For all their bright colours they are muted in the shadows of the leaves and blend in so well.

A recently fledged Fantail Cuckoo. Another score for EE.
It sat for quite a time, as we ate our sandwich and enjoyed the Earl’s good blend.
It no doubt has been hosted by some unfortunate thronbill or wren.
It took off to a bush, and I followed to see where it had gone.

Not the best photo I ever made, but does show the activity.
The young bird quite happily called in “Scrubwrenese” and within a few moments a White-browed Scrubwren arrived with food, followed immediately by a second one.
So perhaps the Scrubbies have been host to this rather large youngster.

After following a lot of calling noises we located a pair of Australian Hobby that have settled into nesting. The local Red Wattlebirds have taken exception to the visitors and kept up a running battle with both birds.
No doubt their numbers will diminish when the young Hobbys are hatched.

The never ending battle.
Wagtail on Raven

And so humming a few more bars of Willie Nelson’s tune, we headed back to IamGrey and home.

Saturday Evening Post #104: Everyone Right to Go?

October 17, 2020October 17, 2020Posted in Red-capped Robin, Saturday Evening PostTagged Red-capped Robin, Saturday Evening Post8 Comments

Every day for the past 100+ days Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, has started the daily covid press conference asking, “Everyone right to go?”
So much so that a clip of a number of his beginnings have been put together and you can find it here. I don’t do Twitter so hopefully this will link through ok

Happy Monday, are we right to go? @DanielAndrewsMP @abcnews @CaseyBriggs @HarryMalcolm2 #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/p9jWcYvvxf

— Renae Barber (@renaessance_) September 21, 2020

Yes, Mr Premier, we are indeed Right to Go. Please.

In Saturday Evening Post, #87: The fine art of procrastination, I rambled on a bit about the huge amount of uncurated photos I had languishing my photo library and my lack of motivation to do anything about it. Why wade through photos from 2011, when I’m certain to have shots that are better, technically improved, more meaningful than those older efforts.
So the photos continued to glug up the hard-drive(s).

Not being able to get out has plagued (if you’ll pardon the poor pun), my photo enjoyment and the ability to share new work here, and on Flickr among other places.
So to amuse myself I started a little game of opening a year, and then clicking randomly on a month and then day and viewing the shots that showed up. Some were, to say the least worse than I had anticipated. Did I really photograph that!!!!! ?

But just occasionally a little gem would pop up, and my Flickr friends will have seen a few of them over the past couple of weeks.

Time as they say, marches on, and one morning I was messing about in 2011 folder, and I thought, “Why don’t I just delete these ordinary photos.”
So, I did.

It felt good.

I moved the next day, and soon had whittled it down from 75 also rans to 4 keepers.

I was on a roll.
By the end of the day, I had a mere 1,400 images from my efforts of 2011. And some of them I would be happy to use. Given that I had been out and shot for 235 of those 365 days, that works out at about 6 shots per trip. Many had less, 2 or 3 being much more average. Events like a nesting or special encounter might have up to 12 or more.

Hardly exciting stuff, but when I tackled 2010 the following day, I was both inspired and a man on fire. 2009, then 2008, then 2007 quickly followed during the week. And as the image count dropped, the gigabytes of images soon fell as well, and that gave me more enthusiasm for the project.

The challenge of course will be to keep the momentum going as I move toward the later years, and I might well—thanks to Dan—be back out in the field soon anyway.

Our Red-capped Robin is from the 2007 series. This was one of the first years that I was out in Woodlands. The camera was my trusty Nikon D90 and the lens was a Sigma 150-500m f/5.0-6.3 zoom.(it was filling in while my main lens was off at the camera hospital being repaired after a dreadful accident in 90kph+ winds). The rig was mounted on a Manfrotto tripod, and a Markins Q10 ball-head held it all secure.

Which again shows how I’ve changed, as I rarely shoot from the tripod rig anymore. The nifty little Nikon 500mm f/5.6 PF is handheld all the time.

Another change for the better is the use of modern NEF, (raw) converters.

I’m off now to charge up the batteries, and tomorrow hopefully we’ll be able to take some baby steps out into the wider world and begin to feel once again at home in the field.

Yes, Dan. We are indeed Right to Go.

Saturday Evening Post #103: The End of the Day

October 10, 2020October 10, 2020Posted in Uncategorized3 Comments

The title is a part quote from John Muir, he of Yosemite and the High Sierras.
He said, “The end of an Endless Day”. He wandered free and with no encumbrances through the High Sierras and recorded his impressions from the delicacy of a leaf, the fog rolling through the redwoods all the way to the cathedrals of the ranges all around him.

Which reminded me once again the huge difference between looking and seeing.
Muir talks of visitors to the park who are there to catch trout, in the sparkling waters, so engrossed in attaching bits of worm to bent pieces of wire, and ending the life of a trout they didn’t see any of the surrounding areas that bring magic to the place.

For photographers, it’s not a portrait of a person, or a close up of an insect, nor the intricate detail of a flower, or the run of light, shadows and highlight, contrast and shape, form and texture.

It is to marvel at how all those elements come together at one instant in time, and produce a motif that glows from within and takes the viewer on a journey of discovery for themselves.

Great photographer and tutor Minor White, (1908-1976) See some works here on MOMA created a workshop which was called “Pristine Vision” and participants were encouraged to photograph shapes and forms they didn’t recognise.
It resulted in images of wonderful excursions into light and shadow as the main subject.

A second part of the exercise was to study a large rock wall, high in the Shore Acres State Park in Oregon, and look for familiar shapes in the rocks.

A bit like being in awe of the ‘horsies and duckies’ in the clouds. A game I never tire of.

Great exercises in looking for what you recognise and well as exploring those you don’t.

Saturday Evening Post #102: Making things happen

October 3, 2020October 3, 2020Posted in Saturday Evening PostTagged Saturday Evening Post8 Comments

Oh, ok, it’s not a bird picture.

No, I haven’t run out of images. Just happens that I’ve been sorting through the photo-library, and giving it a bit of Jenny Craig love and slimming it down by some 15 thousand also ran pics.

I came across this set, and thought it might be a change to share a little behind the image.

Because, there is more going on than at first would be noticed.

Backstory. Mr An Onymous and I were invited to a Nikon Camera Launch night at a Go-Kart track to try out some of Nikon’s latest products, and as we both had pre-ordered we did have a teensy vested interest in getting our hands on the gear.

At the time I was shooting a lot with the little Nikon V1, a much maligned camera on this very blogsite, but I had mellowed a bit.

Along with being able to use the cameras/lenses and flash, participants also got to do a few laps, to get the adrenalin pumping.

The area was divided up into various stations, each of which concentrated on one aspect or equipment style.

I chose to use the little VI and took the opportunity to get a hand on some of the small system lenses as well as a few of the normal F mount lenses.

I was working with some of the zoom lenses and shooting at the exit of a particularly tight corner on the circuit. Slow shutter speeds and large apertures were the go. From the island in the center of the corner the boys and girls where trying out the latest and greatest flash units.

It dawned on me that if I shot of a burst, then perhaps the flash from the other photographers would on occasion sync with me and I’d get a great look of the light coming from a side angle.
And.
It did.
Given there were about 10 people using flash at the time, I was able to get many bursts with at least one flash shot.
Add a slow shutter speed to give the feel of speed, and the rest was easy.

I like this one, as the limited spread of the flash has meant the front driver was not highlighted by the flash.

Who said photographing birds was tough.

Tech Specs.

Nikon V1, 70-200mm f/4, ISO 3200 1/30 @f/4

Enjoy.

It must have been a successful night as Mr An, still tells the story that the following day, I went out and bought a zoom lens for the little V1 🙂

Little Journeys: Around the Block

October 1, 2020October 1, 2020Posted in Masked LapwingTagged Masked Lapwing10 Comments

Was chatting with my local Barista, Steve, this morning, and he said, “I am over 2020, and am not going to bother to apply for involvement in 2021.”

Easy to identify with the frustration. Their business is hanging on by ‘take-away’ coffee and food. He said that they enjoyed table service and the clientele and the community that comes from that and for now he is just plodding on day by day.

EE and I have been taking a morning ‘exercise’ before breakfast around the block. Well, actually a couple of blocks.
What we have discovered in our perambulations, is a number of Masked Lapwings that have taken to nesting in small park areas that have been relatively quiet since the lockdown.

I’ve featured the “Quads” before, and they are all now quite experienced flyers. And are beginning to look quite dapper in their changing wardrobe.

A couple of streets further on, and a small linking pathway between two housing estates had enough grass to allow another pair a home for their young.
These little dudes are now about two weeks hatched and the adults are moderately tolerant of passing traffic. The young are just starting to lose the baby feathers as the richer dappled juvenile plumage comes through.

And as we swing for home, a children’s playground has become a nursery.
The council mowed the lawns yesterday, and were kind enough to mow around Mum sitting on her precious little nest.
Somebody, (perhaps the council worker ) also has erected a sign to help. Hopefully she will be ok, but has at least two more weeks to hatch.

Finally the little water retarding basin near the local supermarket, on the way for a milkrun had two new visitors this morning. A couple of Hoary-headed Grebe graced the water.
Not sure if they are moving in, as the ponds also support at least one Australian Grebe.

And no photos, but we have found seven Magpie-lark nests. Mostly buried in trees along the main road so a bit hard to photograph without attracting attention.

Little Journeys indeed.

Photographic Essay: Bathing Together

September 29, 2020Posted in Spotted Dove, Tai Chi PigeonTagged Spotted Dove, Tai Chi Pigeon11 Comments

If you’ve been following along of late, you’ll know that the local Spotted Doves have been working on a nest nextdoor.

I opened the door to step out onto the patio the other morning and just as I had the door half open, Tai Chi Pigeon came fluttering in under the gazebo roof and landed on a birdbath that is under the awning and against the fence.

Oh, I thought, I might get a bathing shot, and stepped back to get the camera, when I turned about, I thought my eyes were going on me, as I was sure I was seeing double. Then I adjusted and I had both Doves in the bird bath.

Pictures tell a thousand words,

Enjoy

Saturday Evening Post #101 : Making Us Something

September 26, 2020December 6, 2020Posted in Saturday Evening Post, White-bellied Sea-eagleTagged Saturday Evening Post, White-bellied Sea-eagle6 Comments

Go to the people.
Live with them. Learn from them. 
Love them. 
Start with what they know. 
Build with what they have. 
But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, 
the people will say We have done this ourselves

Lao Tzu

As a young photographer learning the ‘craft’ was not about sitting in a classroom taking in facts, comparing oneself to others, and straining to meet the expectations of a system-guided-scorecard. The right composition, the right camera technique, correct processing the ability to talk to the theory of lighting, exposure, physics, lens design and meeting the necessary passing marks to gain a qualification. Add interminable hours of Occupational Health and Safety issues these days.

My journey, at least in the main, was through a series of tutors, some of which paid me to clean the studio, others that I paid in my own time, to learn from, and a few that with hindsight was simply wasted time.

I press the shutter on the camera standing on the shoulders of great ones who have gone before me.

We are, I fear, accustomed to ‘doing the hard yards’ over the books, and that will lead to ‘success’ in the field.

The wonderful mentors that I had the opportunity to ‘disciple’ with, were not so much interested in teaching facts, theory, or even skillsets. They thought of it more of what it means to make me a better photographer. Teaching to them was not so I could learn ‘stuff’, but what it would make of my craft. Learning to calculate depth of field,(DOF) and doing it on the back of a napkin, does not mean I can transpose that into a photograph sometime in the future. Say, with a 180mm lens on a 4×5 Linhof Technika with a subject at 5m, gives a DOF of 31mm in front, and 35mm behind the subject. But what the great ones wanted to know is how does that affect the end result of the photograph. Knowing the theory becomes very much a, “So what is the use of it”.

If all the teacher could impart was that I needed to do was get the exposure right for the highlights, or process the print for the ultimate rich black, or hold the shadows to allow the form to show, then it leads more to despair than growth. What if I fail the test?

Setting tests for what I know, only separates me from the subject. The story. The involvement. The message that the viewer should take away.
What I end up with is a carbon copy of what my instructor would have done. True mentors fire the inspiration within me, looking not only to what I have just experienced, but all that I have yet to be.

Someone once said, of 20 years in a business, “Have you had 20 years of growing and honing your craft, or have you just had One year Twenty times over?”

It is not meant to teach us something, but to make us something. The classroom may fill with useful knowledge, but it’s out in the field when all that stands behind us as a foundation, where we humbly struggle with the story of our subject in front of our lens that true mentorship is rewarded.

Addendum, because every Melburnian needs a Laugh

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/23/welcome-back-to-the-world-melbourne-almost-sort-of-hang-in-there

Photographic Essay: Tradies

September 23, 2020Posted in Spotted Dove, Tai Chi PigeonTagged Spotted Dove, Tai Chi Pigeon6 Comments

I was getting breakfast the other morning when some movement on the fence outside caught my attention.

Tai Chi Pigeon,(Spotted Dove) and her mate were carrying sticks over the fence to build a nice new nursery under the gazebo of the house next door.

In the time it took me to boil the kettle, between them they had made 6 trips for building materials.

And so it went on for quite awhile.

In the end, EE and I went for our morning “Exercise”, and the sun came out. More on that walk another time.

When we arrived home, Tai Chi and its mate had done their day’s work, and were tucked up against the backdoor enjoying a well earned rest in the sunshine.