the eyes, they're crazy

Me, looking kinda like a twat... I was seeing how hung over I looked and saw lines in my eyes.

Best Of The Daily Siege (Advice to Baby Photographers, Not Photographers Of Babies)

Taken from Clayton Cubitt's post

Speak to the Devil… 7/8/2005 12:01:00 AM- Excerpts:

“I get a lot of questions asking for photo advice, which I find flattering, and only sometimes tiring, if only for its volume. Now, I’m entirely self taught. No art school. No college. I didn’t even graduate from high school. And before I didn’t graduate from high school I received the benefit of years of neglect in the public schools of the inner city and rural Deep South, where the budget for new footballs exceeds that of textbooks, and Texas sets the standards for education. Beyond all this, I grew up so poor that a decent camera may as well have been an artifact from an alien civilization, or a crucial part of some futuristic satellite, certainly not meant for my grubby white trash fingers.

What I’m getting at is that, if I can do it, anybody can do it. I’m not interested in writing a how-to book, but maybe some random things I’ve learned about the philosophy and technique of photography might be helpful to photographers, and maybe even marginally interesting to non-photographers. I’m going to put some thoughts down here, in no particular order:
When learning, be methodical. Keep track of what you’re doing, from camera settings, to lighting, to post-production. Keep track of what you’ve changed, and note the difference from earlier efforts. Don’t stumble around in the dark.
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f8 is generally the aperture that provides the sharpest point of focus on lenses. That doesn’t mean you should always shoot at f8.
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Rules were meant to be broken, yes, but it feels much better if you know what the rules were in the first place. Picasso started as a realist. Once he had that down he could paint whatever he wanted. Be like Picasso. He got laid a lot.
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Never be ashamed to take a picture. It’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. You’re not soul-snatching, you’re soul-preserving. Also, is there a picture you really really want to take of someone? Just ask nicely and confidently and 90% of the time they’ll say yes.
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OK, artsnobs, cringe all you want because they sell his prints at the mall, but when Ansel Adams said “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept” he was clued in to a fundamental truth of the universe. Also, you’re just jealous that his shit’s popular.
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Bokeh is the term that describes the out-of-focus areas in a picture. These areas are just as important as the in-focus areas. Just like life.
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Don’t delete bad digital pictures. That’s like erasing bad memories in your mind. Sounds like a decent idea at first, but eventually you’ll understand that it takes mistakes to learn and grow, and they’re just as valuable as successes, if not more, so keep them around. Fuck, didn’t you see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?
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Expensive gear won’t make your images better, and more gear won’t make you more effective. If you can’t do it with a basic camera, you can’t do it. The simplest 10% of a camera does 90% of the work. The rest is cock-waving for specialists. That short, aging bald guy in the red sports car? The one with erectile dysfunction? That’s your fancy camera.
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If possible, don’t take a picture of anything right away. Give yourself time to just experience. You need to do this to understand what you’re photographing. If it’s a landscape, walk around and soak up the sun, smell the dirt. If it’s fashion, feel the textures, the colors. If it’s a portrait, talk to the human in front of you and try to understand what’s in their head. If it’s combat reportage, get behind the video guy, he’s a good shield.
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What makes up a style? Find a photographer you really admire and rip him off mercilessly.Consider it a remote apprenticeship. This is the history of culture. One day you’ll accidentally start doing original work, and then some young punk will start ripping you off. And the cycle of life is continued…

That’s enough for now, I’m starting to pontificate.”

Location shots

Shots for an assessment. I decided to do Manly, simply because it is near by.

Cubism

Trying to use to idea of cubism through photography. All shot as one 30sec exposure using a modified flash.

See the rest here.

..oh life.

“ To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea… cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. “I’ve always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can’t afford it.” What these men can’t afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That’s all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?

actor Sterling Hayden, from his autobiography, Wanderer (via O' Bedlam)