Charlie's Worldvalue-add
Posted on January 28, 2010
This is a photography related rant.
There’s a lot of moaning on the internet about how these days, photographers are devalued and no-one is prepared to pay for good work any more.
I think thats utter bollocks.
The reality is that everyone and his mother has a camera capable of capturing a quality image suitable for online content. The web and sites like flickr have made it possible for people to upload and share these photos in their countless millions – so the benchmark for average photography has been raised.
Its easy for a company to purchase or even yoink (aka steal) an image for its own uses without anyone really caring. Indeed, the latest trick is to flatter the photographer with the magic word
“Exposure”
Give me the image for free and millions will see it and give you exposure.
Yeah, whatever..
Thats the bit serious photographers are complaining about. They have a point, it kinda sucks that companies can get cheap stock or free amateur pictures and no longer pay advertising type rates, but go back to the earlier point – the countless millions of users that hang out on the internet with cameras have changed the market forever.
Get used to it.
There’s still a viable market for photography, you just have to go after it and make yourself deserve the money. Be creative, be different, be cutting edge and offer things that no-one else, especially the millions of average photographers, can.
Thats the real rub – the whingers just aren’t differentiating themselves enough to make decent money. The photographers that are cutting edge and offering something that little bit different are doing just fine I think. Certainly Chase Jarvis – a Seattle based photographer is doing ok – his stuff is cool. It can’t be done by just anyone. And Rankin in London – same deal.
Its the same with wedding photography, just because you can get it cheap doesn’t mean it’ll be any good. I’ve been horrified by simply terrible wedding photography recently – hopefully the couples concerned didn’t pay much, cos they didn’t get much.
The really good wedding photographers might charge a premium but its because they are offering things the others simply cant. Average wedding photography is going the same way as stock photos – if that’s the product you’re selling, it’ll quickly be worth $0 – anyone can buy a DSLR and point and shoot with it. And once everyone is doing it, its not worth anything.
Take blogging – the early adopters made a fortune out of it, but as soon as it became easy for people like me to say my tuppenth, then who would pay for that?
The premium product is the same as it always has been – photographers, writers, bloggers, musicians etc that offer something unique will succeed, no matter how much the low end of the market is charging.
ikky
Posted on January 28, 2010
Its damn hot again today, not the best for walking 20 mins in a suit 😦
Of course, a year ago, it wasn’t like this in the mornings..it was a lot cooler..
I’ve written about this before, but I think its timely to remind you all..
So a big thank-you to all the morons who voted for daylight savings time to end permanently in Perth. You bunch of geniuses really didn’t think it through at all, letting your blinkered opinions of how you think things are get in the way of some good solid facts about how and more importantly, when it gets hot in the summer.
The argument for the ending of daylight savings went something like this
- Its too hot in the summer and we want the sun to go down quicker to give us rest from the heat
- The poor little children are coming home in the hottest part of the day, spare them the misery..
- If we shift the time, we can use the super cool mornings to do all things like exercise we couldn’t do after work as it was too hot
- The cows get confused (no, really, this was one of the main arguments..) and the milk spoils..
- Perth doesn’t need it, change bad
Well, geniuses, heres the rub.
- The sun has been up for hours before most of us go to work and the mornings are now quite a good bit hotter now than they were. The heat climbs pretty quickly once the day is going and levels off around 12ish. So thanks for making my mornings 5-10 degrees warmer.
- The poor little children now have to *go* to school in the heat as well as come back in it – well done for that. As I just pointed out, the heat builds quickly, so what was cooler 8am, is now pretty warm. The heat levels off and cools gently to the evening – the difference in the afternoon between 3 and 4 is pretty negligible. Again, really nicely thought out, daylight savings haters. You only have to look at a thermometer to know how the temperature profiles during the day.
- I’m not seeing a lot of people up at 4:30am jogging and stuff. So we now have a load of wasted cool daylight until the autumn comes and brings us 6am sunrises again. Oh, that was another thing, the “dark” mornings in the autumn before the clocks went back for winter were “deadly” apparently, causing accidents and rapes and murders. Well, once again, idiots, the sunrise being 7am for those last few weeks of DLS is replicated a month later and throughout the whole winter without DSL, only then its raining too. Are there more accidents and general anarchy? No. Way to go, morons
- Dont even get me started..
- This sums it up. The fact that the rest of the world seems to prosper with DLS, and is, on balance, a better use of cooler mornings, better use of evening light for those who actually have to work and commute and generally more conducive to an outdoor lifestyle is totally lost on the people of Perth. They didn’t have DLS when they were kids, so why do they need it now.
Its all really a moot frigging point as its not overly hot for more than a handful of days a year anyway. Its easy to focus on the stinking hot days and forget the other 360 days that are just fine, thank you very much.
So, as I was saying before the ranting started, it is hot today and my back is sweaty. Nice, huh?
Better do some work, I suppose..
creepy crawlies
Posted on January 27, 2010
We’re well renowned for our deadly animals down here in UpsideDown Land.
You name any number of ways to get bitten, pronged, chomped, eaten, zapped, stung and poisoned, we’ve got something, usually pretty small and easily missed, that can do you in without breaking sweat.
As some of you might recall, I got bitten by a whitetail spider when I first arrived here and wasn’t that pleased by the effects (nausea, vertigo, general falling over and a big black bite site on my hand that lasted about 3 weeks). Handily, they’re wandering spiders, seeking out other spiders to nosh on. Which means they often wander around the house, relatively unseen.
I found one in the study yesterday. meh.
The other joyful spider we have here is the famous redback.
I’ve seen lots of these little wonders about the place and I’m not to bothered by them, as nasty and toxic as they are, they’re very timid and tend hide out of the way – only coming out at night really.
We get them in the garage a lot and I always keep an eye out for their tell tale messy webs and long strands at 45 degrees anchored to the ground.
The other week I almost walked into one as I was putting the bins out – it had strung itself from the wall to the car at knee height and was happily waiting for its prey or a blundering me to chow down on. So I’ve been a bit more careful at night now, keeping a good watch out as I really don’t want to get bitten.
And tonight, they’re back. With their friends too.
Ten of the bit fat black and red striped mummas, all in easily stumbled into places at the front of the house and at ankle height, sitting on their trip wire web strands well out into the garage. meh!!
So, a can of spray later, they’re all gone. Well, the ones that I could see.
Trouble is, now all I can feel is things crawling up my leg..
Monday Monday
Posted on January 26, 2010
So good to me…
Just like the Mamas and the Papas, my Monday ended up being awesome.
Work was boring, nothing happened at all all day, as this year, Monday is an odd day between the weekend and the public holiday for Australia Day (today). As a consequence, I was done early and “helped” Jay make pizzas for dinner and we went out to take sunset photos at Point Peron
We’d had a hot day, compounded by the aircon having given up the ghost and deciding that it was only going to blow hot air from now on (*sigh*) so it was lovely to get out to the beach.
Was a gorgeous evening, the girls had lots of fun, we saw a big brown seal lazing on a rock and lots of crabs in the rockpools
What more can I say other than to show you photos..
And to top that, if it were even possible, I went and got some wine.
Mondays, not always bad.
down south, part 3
Posted on January 24, 2010
3rd verse, same as the first.
Or so sang the Violent Femmes (one of my all time favourite bands of all time)
anyways, its a fib, this isn’t the same as part one at all (except that we took the same roads home)
The drive back was unremarkable except for the fact that the sun was going down and we were treated to an amazing sunset. If Jay hadn’t been suffering with her back and keen to get home I would have headed for the beach and set up the camera. As it was, I made do with my shotgun position to capture a few of the moments on the way back.
Then, I decided to do some long exposure shots with the camera on the dash – was really funny to see the crazy shots that came out 🙂
So there you go – that was the day trip to Dunsborough.
down south, part 2
Posted on January 24, 2010
Continuing from part 1, we had a quick drink in the very posh cafe at Bunker Bay and then went round the corner to Eagle Bay, which is a very small little neighbourhood full of lovely expensive summer houses, Range Rovers, a brand new Porsche Panamera and million dollar for sale hoardings.
Eagle Bay itsself was beautiful with a white sand and even bluer sea than in Warnbro where I live or Bunker Bay that we’d just come from.
Am so going there again, it was quiet and unspoiled, even on a weekend in the height of summer with Australia day just 3 days away. There were lots of other little bays and places that would be worth exploring later in the day when the light was golden – particularly on the other side of the peninsular – Canal Rocks and Sugarloaf Rock being two very popular places for photographers. Save those for another time when we have somewhere to stay for the night 🙂
We mooched back to Dunsborough for some coffee, but even at 4:30pm on a busy Saturday, most places had already shut or were shutting. WTF, Australia? I see this so much and I really don’t get it. After a day on the beach or out exploring, who wouldn’t want to come back for a snack/coffee/cake/etc before dinner later. Apparently that message was only heeded by The Dome, so we headed there for a drink before we went home.
We drove through Busselton, which quite frankly was nothing much at all – the highlight is the huge mile long jetty, but that closed last year, leaving a fenced off eyesore and basically sod-all else. Some naked girls/young women skinny dipping and wrestling in the sand was pretty much the highlight (much to the delight of some passing teenage boys who were busy picking their jaws up off the floor..). Even the beachside water park/theme park thing was closed and neglected.. Took a few piccies with the Holga Pinhole Wide angle camera, forgot to take the damn lens cap off though – meh! thats 2 shots out of 12 that will be black.. *sob*
By this time Jay was feeling tired having done all the driving (she always wants to drive, so I get to be shotgun with the cameras) and wanted to go home and as she was driving and we had a long way to go, we headed off..
And that bit will be in part 3..
down south, part 1
Posted on January 24, 2010
As the girls were spending the weekend with their dad, Jay and I decided to take a day trip south to Cape Naturaliste and Dunsborough. Its a couple of hours easy driving down there and the weather was beautiful as usual.
We were aiming for a Yoga retreat with a vegan eaterie as our first port of call – Samudra – or Ocean in Sanskrit, apparently. We had a lovely coffee and then really yummy vegan lunch before heading to the ocean to cool down a bit.
Armed with new swimming togs thanks to a surf shop, we headed down the track to the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse, which was a disappointment as you had to pay to walk up to it. Pah to that, we drove down to Bunker Bay, which was ber-you-ti-ful!
Deserted beach, white sand, blue sky, azure sea – perfect. We went for a swim in the deliciously clear ocean, which turned out to be brass-monkeyingly cold. Very refreshing though. I must swim in the sea more often.
Bunker Bay was lovely, I’ll definitely be back.
More in part 2…
sunset
Posted on January 20, 2010
Typical, both yesterday and tonights sunsets have been magnificent but I’ve not been able to get down to the beach or Point Peron, so I just watched it from the porch instead.
ok, its official
Posted on January 20, 2010
Whilst I’m reasonably happy with the shots from the other night, there are a few notable shortcomings that are all related to my lens. As much as I don’t want to be blaming my equipment, a landscape really does need a wider angle lens.
Also, the sharpness of the image was a little off – I think I left the image stabilisation switched on on the lens, which when its on a tripod means you get tiny lens movements that aren’t necessarily a good thing. The sea washing away the sand under the tripod legs didn’t help much either.
So, before I invest in a lens, I’m going to try out a lot more shots at different apertures and with the stabilisation off. I might even try getting some stitches with the 50mm rather than rely on the 18mm wide end of my lens.
Once I’ve done all this (probably in one night, LOL) I’ll start saving for a Sigma 10-20 f3.5 – they’re around AU$750 on ebay so not beyond my means if I’m careful with the pennies for a month or two.
Then, wide angle goodness will be mine, oh yes, it will…
scorcher
Posted on January 19, 2010
Was very hot in Perth yesterday – 43 degrees according to the news and I don’t doubt it. It was already over 30 at 7am when I caught the train and when I went out to get lunch, the air was so warm it felt like it was burning the inside of my nose. You know when you get a blast of hot air from the oven when you open it – like that.
The office started to heat up a fair bit in the afternoon, so I came home early – just as well as all the trains were on a slow timetable because of the heat. Over 40 degree days happen every summer, so why on earth would you build a railway that can’t take it? The A/C on the train was really struggling too, especially as it was packed full 😦
Anyway, I got home (via the bottle shop and 12 bottles of cold beer) and was melting by then – I really must retire my English smart office trousers – they’re too thick material for this country.
Was bliss to get my shoes and socks off and get into shorts!
Went out to take some photos at Point Peron as the heat was causing some clouds to appear over the ocean – good chance of a nice sunset, but the clouds really rolled in and the sunset wasn’t like it could have been. There was another photographer on the beach – a Belgian guy called Tim – who was pretty cool – had a good chat whilst snapping away. He was getting some great pics straight out of the camera – I really miss my filters that got broken when my camera fell into the sea.
Despite the sunset colours being nothing to write home about, I got some corking photos. I messed about a little in Lightroom and was pretty happy with what came out.
Charlie's World 