Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Julie (92/100) - strutting her stuff


This is Catherine Strutt. Also in the booth is her sister, Jennifer. When I enquired if they were twins or just sisters, they chorused: "BOTH". I suspect they have fielded that question before. They had a lot of people checking out their jewellery. I was attracted by the red printing and the name: "Strutt Sisters". They were up for a bit of fun.

I hung around across the path and managed a couple of candids as well as the closeup for which I asked permission. All my NFF shots have that wash out of the more highly lit part of a shot that has some darker bits to it. Damnation ...

24 comments:

Ann said...

I had the same problem with market shots at Womad and Blue Mts. Don't know what you do about it. I really like the shot you have chosen, also the middle one at the bottom.

Julie said...

It must be solvable. I need a few quiet hours alone with the manual but have such a social few days ahead ...

The "Story time Grandma" photograph was taken in Canberra very early on Saturday morning when my friend's Grandson turned 3. This thick book of Thomas stories was from his father and made THE most impact. He also got a swag of other toys etc. He just read and read and read the pictures. Shirley and Edward were sitting on the couch and I just went from side to side and up and down snapping away to my heart's content. They all cheerfully ignored me. I had a ball ...

bitingmidge said...

Shooting in RAW then adjusting will fix.

Interestingly I think, in the old days it was better to shoot slightly underexposed, but slight over exposure is easier to recover without bringing in more noise to the finished pic. But that's about post processing.

Try setting your exposure compensation down about a third or two thirds of a stop, so the camera will slightly underexpose.

Ann said...

I keep forgetting about exposure compensation, its not as easy to set on this camera as it was on my old Nikon film SLR.

Peter, do you always shoot raw? I'm loath to go that way because of the space it takes up on the card. As it is I'll end up taking probably 8 gig of memory o/s this year (2x2gig, 1x4gig cards. If I went raw I'd need to carry an external hard drive (which is easily stolen) and find power outlets/net cafes etc regularly, which can be difficult.

Julie said...

When I bought my new camera on Thursday, the chap also sold me an 8gig card even though I told him I had a 2 and 2x1 at home. I am a sucker for panicking about storage.

Ann said...

I don't think I'd go above 4. 8 gig is too much to lose.

Julie said...

Yes, I can see that as a problem. However, I think that each image I capture on this new camera is mucho larger than before, so I still can only get about 1000 Large Bestest quality on an 8 gig card.

So 8 is the new 4 ...

Ann said...

Does the 450 have more megapix than the 400? I have 10. What lens did you end up getting? And while I'm asking questions - what happened about the job?

Julie said...

The 450D is 12MP and I got the package which included the Canon 18-55 and the Canon 55-250. I am going into the Museum of Sydney for the HHT member's talk on Trams this evening and have the prime lens on.

The job bit the dust. I had a long interview. I had two separate chats with the Dean. They phoned each of my three referees who gave me rave reviews so they tell me. However, it went to another candidate. When I asked for feedback, they simply said that I was a good candidate and that it was extremely close. It took them a full week to make the decision. There was one question in the interview that twigged to me that they may have changed their requirements just a little. They were wanting someone to glad-hand benefactors to get funding that way. This was not covered in the job advert. If it had been, I would not have applied. I am not keen on getting my hands in other people's pockets. So I remain where I am ... on the money I am on ... boo hoo ...

bitingmidge said...

I only shoot in RAW now. It's far more forgiving for one thing, but it does need to be processed. I see it as film really, and have no problem.

I only have one 2g card, but will probably get another shortly. On our next trip (around the inland sea) I'll take my laptop, and have resigned myself to doing that in Europe as well. It's a bugger, but there are other benefits given that we will tend to be away for longer times than a normal casual traveller.

I have thought about buying a photo safe
http://www.digitalfoci.com/photo_safe.html

The smaller model can be bought from Amazon.com for $100 US at the moment.

When travelling alone theft is a problem as you can't split your valuables, but the reality is that when I lost my camera, along with it went passports, my glasses, and all my memory cards.

My laptop was safe in England!

I have also downloaded to memory sticks before today, simpler and faster than CD's and we can carry a copy each in the corner of our bags.

Currently having lots of deep and meaningfuls as we are considering three or four months away later (have booked six weeks, but seem to have received an offer I can't refuse!)

Julie said...

Me being me, I will take the final sentence first.

If you were to drop dead: would you prefer to be doing the offer you can't refuse; or, would you prefer to be doing the four months away? Ask her-indoors that question, too.

bitingmidge said...

For "I" read "We".

The offer is to remain in France with our friends on their canal boat, rather than just visiting them for a few weeks.

Work? Who needs that! (Our friends do it on the Aussie OAP by the way - they are our heroes!)

Ann said...

You have to think about this???

bitingmidge said...

Not very hard.

Julie said...

I can think of some thinking:

How do they do it on a pension?
How much space is there?
Do all 4 of you get along or do you sort of pair off in the true Aussie way?

But I would do it until it broke down into tears ...

Where in France is their barge? I looked into this but all the French barges were too much and too posh for me. I am a dunlops and sweater lass ...

Joan Elizabeth said...

I like this shot. BTW at Peter's persistance about RAW I tried it again but it irritates me ... fills up the card too fast, requires post processing, thumbnails don't display in Windows. I even read a book on the topic to fully understand the benefits. Without the right software and a deep desire for excellent pics I think it's just too much trouble.

Julie said...

For me, there is just so much to learn that I already feel swamped at times. RAW is something that will simply have to wait.

freefalling said...

Doesn't she look like Geraldine Chaplin?

Julie said...

Yes, she does now that you mention it ... and the two of them are soooo identical.

bitingmidge said...

Re RAW: Just as we have reached another stage at many levels during this project, the time will come when it's a natural progression.

For me it was after attending a couple of seminars at which two completely different photographers gave demonstrations of their work flows.

With the proper software (Aperture or Lightroom) it's a breeze. Without it, I found it terribly cumbersome.

It now means I'm tied to my computer when I travel, and that takes an conscious decision on the importance of that part of my hobby! Things may change in future but for now, I know what I need to do!

Julie said...

What I tend to do, anyway, is alter the setting for photos that I take as I travel to ensure that I dont run out of storage. This might change now that I feel a bit more confident of my ability. RAW for me might be somethiing that I only use on certain shoots. I download all my images each day, so the buildup of size is not an issue when I am at home.

Ann and I have an 8 week course coming up on SLRs. I also have another course - yet to be chosen - that I have paid for and want that to be a full day course. It is with Eastern Suburbs Community College.

This project has given me so much confidence. Not just with the technical aspects but with my eye for detail and for composition. I am also trying to improve the text that I use for each image and am reading lots of books my DD suggested.

It is quite exhausting most weeks ...

Ann said...

I'm still coming to terms with travelling in the digital age. Have only done one (4 week/3 card/2battery) trip with digital so haven't worked out the best way to handle it. Knowing the remoteness of some areas this year and the slowness of the net in others I think for this next trip I will simply take a lot of cards. I don't want to waste hours in net cafes. For long term travel I don't really know. I don't yet own a laptop and would be loath to backpack with one. Probably the way to go is a combination of external hard drive and burning DVDs. I agree with Joan re RAW - I really can't be bothered post processing everything and it doesn't suit the type of travel I tend to do.

bitingmidge said...

Raw aside, the last long trip (five weeks) without laptop, and shooting jpeg, I carried cards, reasoning that they were no more vulnerable than unprocessed film.

I found a computer store in downtown Siberia, and paid a few dollars to have the cards backed up onto CD's. I did the same in Mongolia and kept the cards and CD's in separate bags. Actually the cards were on my money belt with my passport.

I'd look seriously at one of those photo vault drives though, and back up to CD as well occasionally.

Having lost a few hundred shots only when the camera went, it was quite sad initially, but when one compares the loss of a couple of luxury possessions and a few holiday snaps with the living conditions of those who steal from tourists, the loss doesn't rate in the scheme of things.

Are we travelling so we can have photos? I don't think so. That doesn't mean I won't keep taking them though.

Having had the pleasure of partiipating in this project, I can only imagine how much you will both learn from a formal course!

It's sunny today, and I was going to hit the streets.

Then I kicked my toe and broke it... sob!

Ann said...

You broke your toe???!!! Ouch.