Author Archives: Andrew

A Parable

In 2008, Bibble 4, supported by its community of plug-ins, was probably the best RAW convertor available – it was certainly my favourite. Then in late 2008 Bibble abandoned support for it, although Bibble 5 was not yet available (for another year, as it turned out). I wrote a short parable to express my frustration at this inexplicable decision.

Although mainly about photography, I think there are lessons for anyone contemplating a disruptive, rewrite from scratch change to a software product – beware!

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My “Tenset”

A recent post by Mike Johnston on The Online Photographer decried the frequent difficulty of quickly reviewing an online photo collection to understand the photographer’s interests and style, in order to decide whether to invest more time in studying the content in greater detail.

Mike’s solution to this is to suggest that each photographer’s website should start with “A photographer’s ten best, or ten favourite, or ten most characteristic pictures, up front.” He gives this concept the excellent name of the tenset.

Suitably chastened and inspired, I’ve taken this suggestion to heart, and my website now contains my very own “Tenset”, as the first grouping on my gallery page. If you’re not sure what makes me tick as a photographer, the subjects which interest me or the style I am trying to develop, look here. If you like what you see, continue browsing. If you don’t, then go no further.

I’ve also written a short article providing a bit more background on the tenset concept, and how I managed to choose my own selection.

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The Alien Has Landed, and It’s &*&^(* Huge

Alienware Aurora
Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Date: 29-11-2009 17:03 | Resolution: 1731 x 1206 | ISO: 400 | Exp. bias: 0 EV | Exp. Time: 1/60s | Aperture: 4.0 | Focal Length: 17.0mm (~27.6mm)

For any of you labouring under the myth that new computer hardware is smaller than old, please meet my new “mini” desktop! 🙂 If you’re struggling with scale, the monitor is 24″.

And what’s really scary is that this is the smaller model in the range. They make a big one, too!

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Venice Photos Coming Online

I’ve just published some of my photos from my trip to the Venice Carnevale 2009. There are some more scenery and miscellaneous shots to follow, but if you like pictures of pretty ladies in striking costumes, look here.

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Review: Take Your Photography to the Next Level

From the Inspiration to the Image, By George Barr

A Great Inspiration For When You're Stuck or Frustrated

This is an unusual book, being almost as much about the psychology of photography as its craft. There are better books about technique, but none I know better lead the reader to analyse his or her successes, failures and way forwards in photography. If you feel stuck or frustrated, unable to improve, or have ever thought "I can’t photograph anything here" then this may be just the book for you.

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Categories: Photography and Reviews. Content Types: Book and Photography.
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Review: City of the Sun

By David Levien

Well written, but uninspiring

By a weird co-incidence, I watched "Ocean’s 13" the night before this book found its way to the top of my reading pile. Levien also wrote the screenplay for that film, which I enjoyed enormously, and I was looking forwards to a similar mix of complex plot and light touch dialogue in the book, but sadly I was to be disappointed.

Basically this is a book about a grim and serious subject – the kidnapping of children by organised peadophiles – and as a result it demands a rather grim and serious treatment. At the end there is hope for the boy’s parents and the detective, but therwise this is an unleavened slog which does not make you feel good about the world.

That said, the book is quite well written, and held my attention with its steady pace and well-drawn characters. I expect that readers who prefer their crime novels straight, rather than with Hiaasen-like comic twists, will enjoy it more than I did.

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Categories: Reviews. Content Types: Book, Crime / mystery, and Fiction.
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Legislative Stupidity

I feel compelled to write this post to highlight a stupid law which rather than constraining terrorists hands them victory.

In July 2008 my wife and I attended the Northampton Balloon Festival. An enjoyable time was had by all, notwithstanding a complete absence of balloons, occasioned by the British weather.

One of the highlights was a successful attempt on the world record for the greatest number of performers singing “Y.M.C.A”! This shot captures the scene:

OK, it’s not “Afghan Girl” or “Migrant Mother”, but I liked it, capturing a British Bobby policing his community exactly as required.

This photograph is legal. Had I taken it after February 16th 2009 I would have committed a crime. The stupidity of that law hands victory to the terrorists.

Andrew

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Website Returns, and New Photos

Apologies for the state of the website over the last week – a problem with the hosting server. I seem to have worked around it for now, so thanks for your patience and those who alerted me to the problem.

My photography zone has been updated with images from my trip to Maine, Vermont and New York last autumn, and from the dramatic Winter weather in the UK. Photos from my trip to the Venice carnivale should start to follow shortly.

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Review: Photographing the Southwest

A Guide to the Natural Landmarks of Southern Utah, By Laurent Martres

Simply the best photographic guides to this amazing scenery

If you’re planning a tour of the American Southwest these brilliant books are simply the best possible guide to what to photograph, and how. In three volumes Martres guides you to all the photographic highlights of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. At the well known tourist spots he tells you what and when to shoot for best results, but he’s also not afraid to take you off the beaten path to some less frequently visited scenic gems.

I’ve just completed a photographic holiday following roughly the traditional “grand circle” route, and I couldn’t have got some of my most successful shots without these books.

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Categories: Photography and Reviews. Content Types: Book and Photography.
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Quantum of Disappointment

I don’t often review films, but I think someone has to cut through the sycophantic hype and say it: Quantum of Solace is c**p.

This isn’t a Bond film, it’s like a bad entry in the Bourne series. Where is the elegance, the charm we should expect of Bond? Bond films have always traditionally leavened the action with humour and beauty. Both were spectacularly missing from this episode.

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Underwater White Balance

If you’re lucky enough to own either a waterproof camera, or a waterproof housing for your digital camera, you’ll have experienced the problem of trying to correct for the extreme blue cast of shots taken underwater.

The problem is that there’s little reliable advice on how to correct this. There are a few articles on the web, but I haven’t found any to provide a reliable and repeatable process which can be applied to “casual” underwater photography.

After a fair amount of research and experimentation, here’s my analysis of the options available, and a suggested technique which I have developed and which I haven’t seen documented anywhere else.

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Photography Blog

I’ve now created a separate category for photography-related blog posts, so if you’re interested you can track these separately

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