Archive for the ‘Sydney’ Category
Urban Study
As part of one of the subjects in the Masters course I started at the beginning of semester, we had to document a urban social phenomenon. Here are a few photos from the set of 15. To sum it up briefly, the photographic essay was looking at the dichotomy of conformity and individualism in the Sydney CBD. Taken in context with my essay and annotations it was well received.
For the project I used the little S90 which performed quite well I thought and was a fun change from film. The b&w conversions aren’t as bad as I anticipated also but not particularly special.
Sydney Camera Market… Again
I’ve been to the last few camera markets in Sydney and have had a lot of fun. A great range of cameras, most at pretty good prices. I never actually “need” anything when i go, so normally set myself a very low budget (about $20) and try to have a bit of fun searching around for something a little different.
The market this time didn’t seem to have the selection compared to previous times i’ve been. I also noticed quite a lot of the same cameras doing the rounds – they must not of sold last time. The instant vibe i got wasn’t that great, so thought that i’d have my work cut out for me this time. The place was crowded as ever(which is a positive thing), but the number of rangefinders and “cheapies” had fallen considerably.
Did the circut a few times but didnt notice anything, so started to get a little concerned. I’ve never left this place empty handed before!
As the time on the parking meter grew closer to running out, things weren’t looking good.
Desperately searching a table for something that will make my time spent worthwhile I lift up the strap of an overpriced SLR and notice the unmistakable shape of a Konica Big Mini BM-201.. I test it and buy it. Well under budget, so there’s still hope 
I get to a table i’ve been to a few times before, but now have a bit of room to look around (did i mention it was crowded?). I think my eyes have trained themselves to spot out anything with black paint and the name Olympus on it. That’s how i found this little guy.
When I picked the EC up I wasn’t expecting to the silver bottom plate, and was actually a little disappointed when i noticed it. But, the added “quirkyness” of the silver bottom plate started to grow on me, and now I quite like it. I doubt there’d be too many other Panda EC’s around also.
There was a label on it saying “needs service” so i asked the vendor what was wrong, he said the shutter was stuck, but I knew these little guys were battery dependant so thought it may only need new batteries and decided to take a gamble on it. All up I was still under budget, but decided to call it quits. People were still rolling in, and I noticed an increasing number of people with an aversion to deodorant, so took that as my queue to leave.
Getting home I searched the net for battery adapters and found an easy solution involving aluminum foil – it’s pretty handy stuff.
Put some old batteries in it and hey presto, the shutter works.
Anyway, that’s that. I’ve attached a leather wrist strap to the EC and will putting a roll through it next week hopefully. It’s a neat little camera. Very compact and well built. Will try the Big Mini out eventually also. I wonder how well it performs with flash photography.
Some shots around Sydney
Developed an old roll of Tri-x and found some shots I took in and around the city. Alot of the shots are in the same area as an old set i did around Circular Quay with the Olympus Trip.
I shot this roll in my Bessa – a camera i haven’t been using lately. I seem to of gone back to my Olympus OM’s which i’ve found are with out a doubt my favourite cameras to shoot with. That’s no real secret though i guess.
Got a few rolls to put through the Mamiya RB67 which i cant wait to start using again. I’m going to finally bite the bullet and get a new scanner though for the 120 film.
Dollar Portraits
Several months ago, a friend of mine started work on a photographic project based around a simple premise – “For each portrait I take, I donate one dollar to a charity”.
The basic idea itself has been done before, and donating to charity is nothing new, but mixing a passion that is quite often a self centred pursuit and using it to give back to the community is really great in my opinion, and like anyone contributing to a charity/community should be supported.
Armed with a medium format camera, and his newly acquired Letter of Authority from the Cancer Council (his chosen charity), George now roams the streets looking for people willing to contribute to his project. So if you see him hunting around with his Bronica asking for a portrait, don’t knock him back, let him take it, and consider atleast matching his donation.
You can read more about the project and the man behind it on his website : dollar portraits.
I know have my own goal, and that is to get a portrait of George. He’s not a fan of being in front of the camera. Watch out… 
Woohoo.. I think it worked
Ok, i think i managed to get this blog transferred to another server.
Things got a bit “iffy” for a few hours there, im not a fan of going into databases and editing values, but i think its all working now. Just in time for Christmas too, arent you lucky?
Anyway, don’t have much to say besides being relieved that i got the blog transferred over and didnt loose any posts/pictures in the process (i dont think).
On another topic. Heres a picture i shot the other day. First time i’d picked up the DSLR in a while. There were some really interesting storm clouds i could see form the back of my house so thought i’d get a few photos. It looked pretty dramatic. I would of loved being in that plane
