So here we are, post election excitement – I have been at rest since the madness of the polls and feeling temporarily uninspired to write anything…which, I can now firmly blame on the Tories!

Anyway, I promised the political talk would come to an end and so it shall – instead, lets move onto experimenting with very small children (something else the Tories are into…sorry!).

I think, perhaps, I should start again.

MY DISCOVERY OF SEVERAL RANDOM FILMS

So…I recently spent about a billion pounds on getting a large quantity of film processed.  Films that I have taken over the past year or so and have not had the funds to process (tragic huh?).  So in a fit of idle rage and partial madness – I took them all in a few weeks back and got the lot processed and scanned at once.

It was an exciting haul – full of surprises and forgotten gems.  For anyone who doesn’t stock pile films and get them developed in one swoop months and months later…I highly recommend it!  Every image is a nice surprise as you have no recollection as to what was on any of the films.  I had the delights of several medium format films I took in Greece, my first efforts with the Lomo Mini Diana camera and even a couple of random 35mm shot through my Nikon FM.  Marvelous.

Three photos initially confused me when I looked at them, until my memory banks kicked in and I remembered what they were all about!  A few months back…perhaps at the dying end of last summer, Hannah and I met my sister and nephew in Preston Park for a picnic and general jolly.  I was armed with various items for personal entertainment – including of course a host of cameras.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE A 1 YEAR OLD TODDLER A 35mm SLR CAMERA TO PLAY WITH?

As I was thinking of new an interesting ways to amuse my then, 1 year old nephew, Noah – it occurred to me that one is never to young to learn photography.  So my lesson began and I greedily forced him into taking his first every photographs.

Noah's First Photos - Attempt 1

ATTEMPT 1

So we were just warming up here and to be fair, young Noah had no idea what the hell was going on.

Still – I think he got quite a good portrait of his ear and how he managed to get the interesting blue to purple fade in the left of the frame is beyond me (edge of his finger perhaps?)…but I like it.

I discussed the merits of depth of field and focus with him – he spluttered a few noises back and we tried again.

Noah's First Photos - Attempt 2

ATTEMPT 2

OK, not bad – a definite improvement.  I like his composition, good awareness of colour, perhaps his focus could have been a bit more centred – but overall, not a bad effort.

Think it kind of says something about a lazy day in the park.

Nice job.  However, I felt a chat about visualising his images before he shot might help and we discussed how you can bring meaning into an image by being more selective about what you shot and really aware of what you put in and out of focus.

Noah's First Photos - Attempt 3

ATTEMPT 3

YEAH!

Check that puppy out.  Now tell me if I am wrong, but that is a genuinely great photo!  Taken from Noah’s point of view, I think it comments on the relationship of mother and son.

The ever watching eye of the mother gazing over the childs shoulder – mirrored by the ever gazing eye of the camera.  Susan Sontag would have a field day with this one.

So, what do you reckon?  For a 1 year old – I think he shows much promise!  Next lesson, I will move him onto Medium Format and see how quickly he can master that medium!

Remember kids – you are never to young to start learning new and complex skills!

Welcome one and all – welcome back.  I would describe my postings as ‘scant’ in recent months.  Perhaps partially to my lazy, procrastinating nature, perhaps partly due to not having a lens for my D80 (regular viewers will remember the last image of the rest of my life incident) .  I have shot loads on film and all, but just haven’t had the time nor means to scan images and put them up (but I shall!).

So, after an absence for some time – what better way to start a come back post than giving it a riveting title like….

NIKON DX AF-S NIKKOR 18-135MM 1:3.5-5.6G ED

I am sure the photography geeks out there will be moderately interested in such a title, but normal everyday sensible browsers will not.  Its the kind of title that could divide a family.  So, for anyone interested in lenses and all that – here is my lens on the Nikon website with all the facts and figures you could desire.

Modeling shirt on Ebay!!!

THE FIRST TEST DRIVE

You may recall from the summer, I had a masterplan to raise cash for my lens.  However…a small amount of thinking made me determine it would take a long time from hair brained schemes alone, to raise the money I needed.  So, that side project should be reserved for getting money to pay for the rest of the stuff on my wish list!

Instead, I sold some stuff.  Lots of stuff.  Anything I could find in fact provided:

a) I no longer needed. it; or 
b) I hadn’t looked at it/used it in two years or more.

Its a good system and turned up a plethera of clothes, bags, photography stuff etc.  A couple of months later and I had enough cash.

As you can see to my left, I even had to turn my hand to modeling – rather successfully I think you will agree!

So, after a late night bidding war (which I won in fantastic bargain hunter style), my lens arrived last Saturday.

Luckily – that weekend happened to co-incide with a general plan to attend various events around Brighton so I had the perfect chance to test the lens out and see how it felt.

Barulho Prepare To March (2009)

BARULHO & THE PROTEST

My brother plays in a Samba Band based in Brighton called Barulho and they were playing at a protest on Saturday morning.

Can’t remember exactly what the protest was for – how bad is that!  But it was for something rather specific… Equality of rights for LGBT Mental Health patients I believe.  So went down to watch the band and got caught up in the protest while I was at it.

Check out the link to Barulho above, they are in Brighton and beyond a lot and hold open sessions regularly for any budding drummers out there.

Arch & Rust (2009)

CHRIST I MISSED MY CAMERA

So, I never thought I would utter the words – but I missed my Digital SLR.  A lot!

For years I held out from getting one.  For years I battered on about how it was as good as cheating and film (Medium Format specifically) was the best way to take images.  For years I spent thousands of pounds I didn’t have on processing and photographic paper.

Then – after my degree, I caved in.  I could no longer afford to regularly shoot film as the costs practically tripled without my student discount or darkroom access.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love film and for serious project work, would generally opt to use Medium Format.  But, for regular image making and the ability to take a camera everywhere and make images constantly – I love my Nikon.

Interestingly, when I first smashed the lens for it, I didn’t take any photos for about a month – I was too gutted.  Then, gradually, I started taking shots on my old Nikon FM-2 35mm.  Partially out of desperation and partially as it seemed appropriate to go from a fairly modern piece of technology to a fairly old and outdated one.

If anything I would say being forced back to 35mm and the constraints of a basic camera really helped me.  It made me more motivated to take lots of shots, made me think about my images in a different way again and I suppose I kind of fell back in love with taking photos just for the love of it and not always having to have a pre-defined goal to aim for.

Dawali Celebrations - Brighton Old Court House (2009)

DAWALI CELEBRATIONS AT BRIGHTON MUSEUM

Also headed down to Brighton Museum for the Dawali Celebrations.

Living in Brighton, it never fails to shock me what a white middle class kind of city it is.  Compared to towns I have lived in before, the ethnic population is very small.  So it was refreshing to find an event like this that celebrated another culture and one of it’s important days.

Much of it was aimed at kids, but it was an interesting event none the less with some interesting things to see.

I must admit to being very ignorant of the Hindu culture but learnt a bit more about Dawali and what it actually means.

Courthouse Portrait (2009)

MUSIC IN THE OLD COURT HOUSE

The best part of the Dawali celebrations, for me, was the music on the old court house – over the way from Brighton Museum.

My brother (pictured) is a musician and was keen to check out the sounds and record some for use in his own creations as The Reverse Engineer.

Whilst I wont pretend to know anything about the music they were playing or the instruments it was played on…needless to say it was very enjoyable!

Do you know…I have just realised that this post has basically turned into one of those stories you had to write at primary school after the summer holidays…

“This summer I did lots of fun things.  I went to the zoo and saw an elephant which was good because elephants are big.  I also went to the park with my friend and we ran around a lot.  I like the summer because its hot”

Apologies if anyone else picked up on the rather bland formulaic approach I took when writing it, but there you have it – I am out of practice at Blogging!

I guess the point of this post, in summary, would be:

I got a new lens.  I tried my new lens out.  I was pleased with my new lens and pleased to have access to my digital camera again. as it will make keeping the blog up to date much easier. I also got to see a Samba band, a protest and some interesting music at the Dawali celebrations.  All in all, I am happy.

Which is better – the waffling story or the concise summary…you decide!