On Photography - Adam Marelli (Tue 21 Jan 2014)

Street Portrait - Lisbon (Wed 14 Aug 2014)
Adam Marelli (*) writes On Photography (*):

When you pick up a camera the options are limitless.

The worlds of spectacular and lack luster are very close to one another.

Anyone who has taken a shot they love (*) knows that the shot before and the shot after were failures (*).

As photographers, we swim in a visual world where things can go either way, in the fraction of a second.

But when we can anticipate (*) and understand (*) how our decisions (*) can impact an image, that awareness (*) lets us become more than observers.

We become authors.

via Danny Lyon Domino Player (*) by Adam Marelli (*).

Ninita - Canberra (Sun 11 Jan 2004)

Ninita - Canberra (Sun 11 Jan 2004)
The colours seem to work here - one of my favourite photos. The little IXUS 100 had a great colour palette. The modern cameras have many more pixels but they just don't seem to do what the IXUS could with colour rendition.

Street Band - 1990 New York City Marathon - Brooklyn (Sun 04 Nov 1990)

Street Band - 1990 New York City Marathon - Brooklyn (Sun 04 Nov 1990)
When I ran the New York City Marathon in Nov 1990, I borrowed Tim's small point and shoot film camera (no commercial accessible digital cameras back then) for the trip and ran with it during the Marathon.

This is my favourite photo from the run - I heard and saw the band playing on the side walk, so I just pulled over for a moment and snapped this shot.

You can see the Northern World Trade Centre Tower in the distance on the left of the photo - it is from there I took this photo of the Brooklyn Bridge in Oct 1988.

I love the one lone audience member - the guy in the Blue Shirt. Also the car with the boot/'trunk' open.

Jenny Meditating - Uluru / Northern Territory (Fri 04 May 2001)

Jenny Meditating - Uluru / Northern Territory (Fri 04 May 2001)
Love this photo of Jenny. Wow, 10 years ago today. Shows Jenny meditating at Uluru - a favourite and special place for her. Love the light on her face and the cardigan on her lap.

Floating Reeds - Water - Fraser Island (Sat 27 Apr 2002)

Floating Reeds - Water - Fraser Island (w) (Sat 27 Apr 2002)
One of my all time Favourite Photos. The arrow like formation provides a strong focal point and there are lots of little details worth looking for if the time is taken to explore the rest of the photo. In particular, the reeds floating on top of the reeds such as the two in the lower left forming an X. Also, love the fact that this photo was taken during the middle of the day, so it did not have the light working for it. Just goes to show that the early morning and late afternoon sun (so often sought after by landscape photographers) is often not needed to get the lighting right for a photo.

Shroud - Water - Mount Gower / Lord Howe Island - 22 Oct 2001

Shroud - Water - Mount Gower / Lord Howe Island - 22 Oct 2001
The most amazing photo I have ever taken, though I had no idea at the time.

Mangrove Tree - Trees - Fraser Island / Queensland (Sun 28 Apr 2011)

Mangrove Tree - Trees - Fraser Island / Queensland (Sun 28 Apr 2002)
We spent a week on Fraser Island after Jenny and Jo competed at the 2002 Australian Dragon Boat Nationals on the Gold Coast with composite Dragons Abreast Teams. It was their first Nationals, and a good year and half before Dragons Abreast Sydney was formed. They enjoyed the opportunity to paddle with breast cancer survivors and supporters from all over Australia and they made many friends from the experience.

This has always been one of my FavouritePhotos. The light on the Sand Flats that afternoon was amazing (another photo to come at some stage).

Bloody Gum - Royal National Park (Sun 28 Jan 2001)

Bloody Gum - Royal National Park (Sun 28 Jan 2001)
I took this photo 10 years to the minute (Blogger's time is 19 hours behind Sydney time). It was the first photo that I took with my little IXUS that I thought was more than just a record of an event or a place (and BTW there is nothing the matter with that).

It was a Sunday, the last day of a long weekend (Australia Day was Friday). Jenny and I decided to do a Sunday afternoon drive down into the Royal National Park and end up at Stanwell Top to watch the hang gliders and to have an ice cream.

Along the way we stopped to look at various features and land marks, mainly the coast line.

For some reason I randomly pulled up into a small dirt parking area along the road in a forested area of the Park. I was drawn to the large Gum Trees at the edge of the parking area and noticed the sap oozing from the bark.

Looking at the photos I took that day, most were of the trees from a distance. The above photo was the only one I took up close to the trees. I set the camera to macro mode and I am pretty sure I would have held the camera about 15 to 20 cm from the side of the tree. I remember getting back to Sylvania and looking through the photos from that day and this was the one that caught my eye. It was beyond anything I had captured up til then.

Around the same time I found photo.net and this was one of the first photo's I submitted to my portfolio. Amazingly, I received a number of critiques which were very helpful and they helped guide me along my photographic journey, particularly this one:

this is a great piece. My only complaint is it's on digital. It would make a wonderful Ilfochrome if it were on film -- gallery quality.
Matthew Kees (22 Sep 2001).

In many ways the photo and the positive feedback I received help me explore photography in a way I had never expected when I first bought the little camera a few months earlier.

I have tagged many of the photos I have taken with the little IXUS, here. Many have become my Favourite Photo's, which I have randomly rambled about on this blog over the last year or so.

Makes me wonder where the last 10 years have gone.

Finally, if I have added up correctly this should be my 300th post.

Willow Tree Silhouette - Lake Burley Griffin/Canberra (Mon 05 Aug 2002)

Willow Tree Silhouette - Lake Burley Griffin/Canberra - Mon 05 Aug 2002 (photo,net)
One of my Favourite Photos. Really enjoy the layers and in particular the colour palette of my first digital camera, an IXUS 100.

Twins - Fraser Island (April 2002)

Twins (Joanne and Jenny) - Fraser Island (April 2002)

Photos: La Perouse (Dec 2004)

Sandstone Swirl - La Perouse/Sydney - Jan 2005
[ A repost of an earlier photo. Just stumbled across some photos that I took at the scene and thought it be interesting to look at them again. ]

Another scan of a 4x5 inch transparency taken with my Shen Hao HZX 4X5-IIA Large Format Camera (more here). Was really happy to get everything right here - exposure, camera movements and time of day. Again the detail in the transparency is incredible.

Some photos of the setup and scene follow and were taken with a Canon 300D using RAW Mode. Late afternoon sun created the extended shadows of the tripod. The white light balance, probably needs some adjusting. Highlights the magenta cast that is typical of the provia transparency used.

Shen Hao Camera = La Perouse/Sydney - Dec 2004

Shen Hao Camera = La Perouse/Sydney - Dec 2004

Intersection: Berlin - Aug 2005

Photos: Intersection - Berlin - Aug 2005
Have always liked this photo. Love all the elements that make this so pleasing to my eye - the colours (Orange, Yellow and Black, and Red), the composition and even the graffiti. One of the first photos that lead me down this path.

Favourite Photos: Tree - Perisher Valley - Jan 2005

Tree - Perisher Valley - Jan 2005
Scan of a 4x5 transparency taken with my Shen Hao HZX 4X5-IIA Large Format Camera (more here).

A photo of the tree in the background of another photo I took back in Jun 2001. Fires had passed through this area a few years earlier. New growth can be seen at the base of the tree. Like the way the a small branch appears to be propping up the larger tree.

Favourite Photos: Sandstone Swirl - La Perouse/Sydney - Jan 2005

Sandstone Swirl - La Perouse/Sydney - Jan 2005
Another scan of a 4x5 inch transparency taken with my Shen Hao HZX 4X5-IIA Large Format Camera (more here). Was really happy to get everything right here - exposure, camera movements and time of day. Again the detail in the transparency is incredible.

Favourite Photos: Perisher Valley - Jan 2005

Perisher Valley - Jan 2005
Scan of a 4x5 transparency. One of the first photos I took with my Shen Hao HZX 4X5-IIA Large Format Camera (more here). The detail in the transparency is amazing when viewed through a magnifying eye-piece on a light box. Was inspired by the work of Fred Williams (an Australian Landscape Artist - see google) at the time.

Fred Williams - google images screenshot

Photos: Intersection - Toulouse/France - Sep 2009

Victor Hugo Markets - Toulouse/France - Sep 2009

Photos: Intersection 2 - Brussels/Belgium - Sep 2009

Intersection - Brussels/Belgium - Sep 2009
Another Intersection photo. A variation of this. Enjoy the red poles as well as the people (who look like the poles) waiting at the pedestrian crossing.

Photos: Intersection - Brussels/Belgium - Sep 2009

Intersection - Brussels/Belgium - Sep 2009
Another Intersection photo. Saw the Red poles first and then got really lucky with a red bike passing by within moments.

Photos: Intersection - Geneva / Switzerland (Fri 19 Aug 2005)

Intersection - Geneva / Switzerland (Fri 19 Aug 2005)
Just another intersection photo.

Favourite Photos: Tung Chung Intersection - Hong Kong - Jul 2010

Intersection - Tung Chung/Lantau Island/Hong Kong - Mon 26 Jul 2010
Seem to be drawn to Intersections, Pedestrian Crossings, Safey Barriers, Traffic Signs and Road Markings. Saw the above photo while waiting to catch the Cable Car (Ngong Ping 360) to see the Tian Tan Buddha. This is just one of many Intersection photos I have taken over the years. Very Smart like.

Study for 'Car Park at Night' - Jeffrey Smart - oil on canvas, 56 x 46cm - 1986