How to Get Waylaid With an Argus Seventy Five

Taking photos of goodies to sell on eBay is surprisingly hard, even for a trained photographer. It's almost impossible to get those blown-out white backgrounds, especially without annoying colour casts, when you don't have thousands of dollars of expensive studio equipment.

What's more, it's boring ... eBay shoppers don't trust creative product photography, as I discovered when I surrounded some equestrian gear with tiny model horses and fences!

The problem, however, is that I'm buying another horse and selling vintage wares and collectibles online is how I fund my four-legged habit. I spent most of Sunday taking photos and got completely side-tracked with this '70s pair of Oroton glasses.

Okay, so I haven't listed them yet ... but the TtV version is completely cool!

Then I noticed how the image reflected in the top lens of my sweet little Argus Seventy Five. How cute is this ... like peeping through a photographic port hole!

The Didgeridoo Man

I drive past this converted, but now empty, service station every day and every time say, "I need to photograph that." Well finally, after three and a half years, I did. To think it's only a kilometre from my house!

Sketch N Draw on the Motorola Xoom Tablet

Abhishek Kumar's Sketch N Draw application for android is extremely clever, even the free version. It's so much fun and all too easy to grab a few nic-nacs from around the house and get drawing — I love how organic using my finger as a pencil feels.

My only frustration is the lack of image resolution and, thus, print size. Even though my tablet is capable of far more, the application determines the file size ... I'm not sure if the developer is aiming this application at people who only wish to doodle or post to online social media, or doesn't understand the quality artists and designers require. Of course, the paid version may be different ... I'll have to  download it.

Canberra's Public Art on a Tablet

The city of Canberra has long embraced public art and I'm talking about the good stuff, not what looks like leftovers from a building site that have been cobbled together because no-one wanted to pay for a dump truck (not that the latter doesn't exist in Australia's capital city ... the sculpture at the intersection of Barton Highway and Gungahlin Drive, anyone?) 

Anyway, I do enjoy photographing sculpture — I love being able to move 360 degrees around an artwork, to explore it from all different angles. The context of public art is also richer and very different from the blank walls of a gallery. The surrounding scape can add so much, or even completely change, its meaning. 

James Turrell's "Within Without" in the gardens of the National Gallery of Australia starts as a grass-covered mound, similar to an English barrow, those round burial mounds Bronze Age   chieftains are buried in. Inside, however, the "architecture" is somewhere between Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece — and the symmetry is just mesmerising.

I took the above image on my Motorola Xoom tablet, processing it in the Pixlr-o-matic application. At 6" x 8", this is one of the few photography applications that allows a decent print size.

The form of Andrew Rogers' "Perception and Reality 1" at the revamped Canberra Airport is equally ancient with a capital "A", like a shot put competitor at the Olympics when all competitors were naked (not that women were allowed to compete or even watch!). The lighting and background, of course, are pure neon ... a vibrant mix of primary colours.

To make up for the tiny size of Urbian's Retro Camera application (about the size of a Polaroid 600), I took a cue from Sam Haskins — who first made me realise multiple images, similar or juxtaposed, can be montaged together — and doubled-up on shots.

I was actually picking Justin up from a work trip and, while other partners hugged and kissed, he disembarked to find me crouched in front of the pubic hair of this striking, yet slightly shock bronze sculpture!

Pill-Popping in the Name of Art

Sometimes I try to be a little too clever for my own good and these images are probably an example!

As you know from my last couple of posts, I experimented with my Motorola Xoom tablet as an art tool for made. Creative Space's upcoming group show of artists' journals. Well, the name "tablet" had me intrigued ... it has strong health and medical connotations, so I created a few images based around the idea of pills.

As you can see below, I toyed with the idea of "pill-popping", first, with a stream of pills going into a mouth and, second, a rather left-field interpretation ... Pac-Man chomping his way through a maze of pac-dots.

I only thought to Google how the tablet, as in the technology, got it's name afterwards. Well, it turns out to having nothing to do with my assumption at all! These revolutionary little devices were named after writing tablets, also known as slates, a writing tradition that is as old as the 10 Commandments on Moses’ stone tablets and, more commonly, remind many of their early school days!

Butterfly Babies with Urbian's Retro Camera Application

As promised, here are some images from my journal in made. Creative Space's 2012 art journal show.

Urbian's Retro Camera android application oozes all the hipness of Hong Kong’s plastic Diana camera and all her clones, but its images are tiny at a decent print quality ... we're talking 7.6cm square. Okay, that's still about the same size of a 600 type Polaroid, which might be okay if we didn't live in a time where billboard-sized prints are de rigueur for exhibitions.

What's more, the application seriously blows highlights to the point of turning olive skin like mine into an opaque white mask. Not surprisingly, I largely banished this baby to application hell ... until one afternoon when I decided to test if I could use its flaws to my advantage.

So, armed with a broken doll, vintage yarn holder and a piece of red velvet brocade, I was actually thrilled when Retro Camera turned my composition into an ethereal white “butterfly baby” shape. Conveniently, the butterfly is an ancient symbol in many cultures for the human soul, so blends well with the human form.

I overlaid a close-up of a butterfly wing, photographed through a microscope, over the form to give it texture and detail, and to suggest flight, before adding a scatter of golden cat’s eyes, courtesy of one of my Russian Blue/British Shorthair boys. Cat’s eyes also have a spiritual connotation — according to Chinese folklore, good eyesight allows cats to see spirits in the dark. And to dream one has cat’s eyes apparently indicates a person can find their way through a dark and troubling problem.

Finally, I tried to think "outside the square" about that small print size, re-photographing my butterfly baby, still with the tablet, in sections on the computer monitor and piecing these back together in Photoshop. The result has a photocopy effect that I love that it lends itself to image transfers. I also quite like the mismatched alignment of the four sections because I'm a fan of anything that draws attention to process.

Project Art Journal @ made. Creative Space, 2012

Project Art Journal is on again this year at made. Creative Space in Toowoomba, opening on 29 June (this Friday). 

I've gone for an accordion-style format again, exploring the artistic possibilities of my Motorola Xoom tablet, both photography, drawing and even a couple of image transfers. Gasp ... are photographers allowed to draw? LOL.

I should dedicate my sketches to those people who think photographers aren't artists and an expensive camera is all you need to take good pictures!

I'll post more from my journal in the coming days....

Making Art with a Motorola Xoom

Would you like a Motorola Xoom for your birthday?

I was begging for any kind of tablet in my last post and one of Justin's friends just happened to have a latest model, barely used one sitting on his shelf at home. I guess a guy can have too many gadgets ... who'd a thunk it!

I'm having just so much fun playing around with its artistic possibilities. In fact, this is the theme of my contribution to this year's Project: Art Journal at made. Creative Space in Toowoomba. Yes, this hot exhibition is on again ... fingers crossed it continues to be an annual event because it really gets me exploring new territory.

Another birthday surprise ... my sister Kirralee came out from Scotland for a week of art, gallery hopping and eating way too much lemon cheesecake (Kraft Philadelphia's recipe is THE best, especially with the addition of a passionfruit jelly glaze). We needed a still life one night so, in a sudden mad frenzy, I pulled two heads of broccoli out of the fridge!

It's amazing what you can do with the camera on a tablet and an android application (Pixlr-o-matic), plus a few Photoshop layers. I love the photocopy look and, indeed, do literally plan to make photocopies and make image transfers.

Drawing with the Samsung Galaxy Tablet

My brother-in-law Julian came down from Brisbane for Easter and, apart from giving me a killer cold, the kind that only bed rest and a lot of chocolate can cure, let me play with the drawing application on his Samsung Galaxy tablet. Naturally, I honoured him with a portrait. LOL.

I'm in love and want to follow in the delicious footsteps of David Hockney and his iPhone. Will some kind soul will take pity and buy me a tablet for my birthday at the end of the month? I'm certainly dropping enough hints!

 Kathleen Fisher, Samsung Galaxy, 2012

David Hockney, iPhone, 2009

 

 David Hockney, iPhone, 2009

Seagulls Arose Too

And finally ... another in my Newcastle series, layering images in camera by running the film through two or three different ones, in this case a Pix Panorama and an Agfa Isoly 100.

I'd love to go back and do a similar project with more time and focus, adding the city's mining history and hip arts vibe to the mix! 

"Seagulls Arose Too" 

 

Close-Up 1

 

Close-Up 2

What to do in the Rain

Five days of rain and more is forecast. It's only the third day of autumn, but I've caved in, turned on the central heating and pulled out my crochet knee rug, although, with three cats and two dogs, I'm not getting to use it much!

While other members of the household lounge on the couch, we're about to go for a drive to see how flooded the river is today.

 

Newcastle Deliverance

I'm loving working on my multi-layered shots from Newcastle, NSW! Here's another one ... comprising the Newcastle Baths and Sandgate cemetery.

 "Deliverance"

 Close-Up

 Close-Up

Newcastle Wings

Newcastle is my favourite Australian city ... its vibe blends surf and arts cultures with a history of convicts and heavy industry. If I could only visit one part of the city, it would be the one of the two ocean baths, Merewether or Newcastle, both gloriously art deco. These baths, and the beach generally, pervade Newcastle ... the salt air and dazzling light are everywhere, in the graffiti-decorated walls of the east end, the op shops of Mayfield and the cafe strip on Darby St.

My friend Kerry Mountford-Baylor took me to her home town last April, where we spent a week lugging handbags full of plastic cameras all over the city. I experimented with running each film through three cameras in an attempt to capture Newcastle's diverse layers. 

Even though I shot random subjects, it was amazing to see what themes emerged and how objects layered over each other to create patterns and meaning. This is my favourite photograph, which blends angel statues in Sandgate cemetery with graffiti in the east end.

I can't wait to return to Newcastle and continue this experiment!

 "Wings" (click to view a bigger version)

 Detail

Detail

Debarcle, Braddon

I'm on a roll today! 

I took this shot of Justin at Debacle in Braddon a few years ago ... the black board menu jumped out as an unusual background for a portrait.

Say, "Debacle" very slowly over and over again and you'll work out why this is one of the best pubs in Canberra.

 

3 Views of Yass

I pottered in Photoshop on Boxing Day, looking through my folders for unworked images ... believe me, there are a lot!
 

 

I chose three pictures that have nothing in common, apart from being shot in Yass. Above, my sister Kirralee lounges on the steps of the local courtyard ... note  she's wearing a t-shirt with the US flag, is posing in front of an Australian court and lives in Scotland!

 

I moved to Yass with a documentary photography plan, taking my trusty Pentax K1000 to as many local events as possible. Um, that kinda faded a couple of years ago, but 2012 will be the year to get back to the goal. I shot this guy at the Yass Ute Muster at the end of 2007 ... check out the fox tail on the radio aerial. The refraction down his body obviously wasn't intentional, but it neatly mimics the tail.

I got hold of Ferrania's last 110 film stock a few years ago and sold it on eBay to help finance my photography habit. Naturally, I kept plenty of rolls for myself, which I ran through my fabulous little Holga Micros. How I wish I had more 110 ... I hear, however, that Adox is in the process of manufacturing again and hoping to release new film next year!
 

Garlic from the Vegie Patch

I love to garden, especially when it comes to fruit and vegetables, and this winter I discovered the joy of growing my own garlic (following organic principles, of course!). In fact, I filled two beds with almost 100 cloves of a delicately purple-striped variety a friend gave me.

You're probably wondering why I grew so much. Garlic bread, anyone? No. I actually grew it for my horse, Thumper, who has one raw, chopped clove every morning in his breakfast. The theory is that garlic purifies the blood, repels flies and keeps respiratory problems at bay. You wouldn't expect a horse to like raw garlic, but Thumper chomps it down!

I even found a Youtube video on braiding garlic, so now have seven big braids hanging on the back of my feed-room door, which should last an entire year.

American Embassy: 4 July 2011

The storm clouds and hat-ripping wind may have promised a deluge, but Justin and I braved the queue at the US embassy, Canberra for this year's Independence Day celebrations. Naturally, I checked the embassy's camera policy beforehand and had my neat little Agfa Isoly 100 tucked in my handbag.

Goodness knows what the pros with their long-lenses and heavy digital bodies thought as I switched the exposure from the smiley face to the thunder cloud!

Despite the weather, the embassy's spacious back gardens of roses and lawn were crammed with people in black suits, open bars where the kids of diplomats served drinks and baseball practise nets for guests who fancied their sporting prowess.

Check out the embassy's Flickr page if you want to compare my images with the "official" ones ... you'd swear I was at a completely different event!

"Entry Check Point"

"Battling the Crowd"

"Loud Shirt at an Open Bar"

"Hitting the Major League"

"Bring in the Cavalry"

"Too Many Free Drinks"

"Popcorn Cart on Hollywood Boulevard"

 "Studio Backlot"