Sultana Sandwich

Thanks to Mel for letting Adam know about the inclusion of my self portrait (above) in the Tate Modern Street & Studio competition winners list. Wooohooo... going to the Tate baby!

So I've been meaning to write this article for weeks now, but I'm just not quite sure how to convey my love for gaffer tape without sounding like an absolute looney.

Gaffer tape is an essential tool in every photographers bag, no matter where you are in your photographic career, if you don't currently own any gaffer tape, go get some right this second. Sure it's probably the most expensive tape on the market, but here are a couple reasons to justify that 8 quid (20 bucks);

• No unwanted residue
• Doesn't damage expensive equipment
• It can be restuck a couple of times
• Incredible hold/staying power
• Really easy to tear
• Always tears at perfect right angles
• Looks incredibly cool and professional ;-)

Above are just two reasons to have gaffer tape kicking around in your kit bag, first up is gaffering your focal length and or zoom rings into position, leading to a rock solid framed image. You'll see this mostly when sports photographers trigger their cameras remotely. I've used it here for making sure nothing moves about while shooting a composite image.

Second, gaffering a CTO gel to a softbox, not sure if this is the best way about gelling a softbox, but it worked a treat for me. Once gelled I could throw the front diffuser on and and shoot away. Only thing I'd mention in this case is to make sure the head has enough breathing room, wouldn't want that sucker melting all over it.

"The likelihood of the LHC creating a stable black hole that could destroy the world is 10 to the negative 25th power, according to Cosmic Variance’s list. For some perspective, the likelihood of finding God is 10 to the negative 20th power, according to the same list."

via VenturedBeat.

xkcd - frustration

Just a quick update to those who don't follow my flickr... Sailing practice just of the Isle of Wight last week, we're in practice for the upcoming Swan & Classics Regatta.

Warning you may need a box of kleenex to get through this one, as Randy Pausch died yesterday from the cancer he has been battling since mid 2006. This lecture is seriously amazing, take the time to watch it if you haven't already.

This time last weekend I was battling one of the most interesting hangovers I've had in sometime, the night before was Guy & Fede's pre wedding get together, nestled in the old section of Montorosso, the setting was beautiful, the food was incredible and the wine flowing, oh was it flowing.

When I come along to friends or family functions.. ones that don't have an official photographer I take it upon myself to mingle and document the scene. My standard operating procedure goes a little something like this:

1. Drink until I become an obnoxious Australian.
2. Insert myself into somebody's conversation.
3. Wait politely until a pause in conversation, then quickly (although I'm usually pretty drunk at this time, so to others it's probably not that quick nor polite) move people into position.
4. Grab an innocent standbyer to hold up a napkin to create the effect of off camera lighting.
5. And presto, shots like above seem to arise... Of course my camera's autofocus is doing all the work here, and I usually pre-set my camera's aperture and shutter & ISO before hitting the wine. But once set I'm good to enjoy the evening.
6. Depending on how much you are going to enjoy yourself you may want to adjust your aperture. I find shooting approximately the aperture that you've consumed works well.
   • up to 5 units: f5.6, 1/60th, ISO 400 ~ 800 w/flash
   • up to 8 units: f8, 1/60th, ISO 400 ~ 800 w/flash
   • up to 11 units: f11, 1/60th, ISO 400 ~ 800 w/flash
   Obviously ISO or Shutter will vary depending on how much ambient you want :) I usually always shoot functions at 50mm on a Full Frame sensor, This gets a little tricky for group shots, so if you think you've got more than four to a photo, you're probably gonna wanna go for a wider lens.

The night had drawn to an end and clearly, I had, had too much to drink, I think this became apparent when I kicked my thong (flip-flop / jandal) over a rather sharp pointy fence that according to Jason looked like the fence of the Montorosso police station. Clearly being Australian and having grown up on a farm climbing fences all my life, this pithy fence was not going to stop me getting back my little piece of heritage footwear. I climbed, I skewered, but in the end I conquered... twice.

The next day I woke to a barrage of text messages wishing me well, the best, love, and something about life. Clearly at some point through the night I had turned twenty-six, and let me state for the record that I'm never mixing red wine, white wine and beer again.

As most of you know if I'm hungover, you can probably find me in the shower, of course I don't recommend trying to find me, just that you can rest knowing that I'm safe in a shower somewhere... Unless of course I drift off while showering and then flood the bathroom, which in turn floods my entire hotel room. Just one of the many problems I was going to have this day, the day of my birthday and the day of my good friends wedding.

Challenges I would soon face!

1. De flooding my room.
2. Getting into a three piece suit that I bought seven years ago.
3. Wearing a three piece suit in 28º C, 99% Humidity.
4. Navigating the winding roads of Montorosso without being sick.
5. Manufacturing makeshift cufflinks.
6. Asking for safety pins in Italian.
7. Walking around a steep dusty hill in leather soled shoes.

All of which I managed except the last, thanks to Roy for catching me before I took out the front row seats (mid ceremony). Luckily other people fell over on the same patch of hill, so I didn't feel so bad, also the upgraded position did allow me to catch some fantastic virtually unobstructed shots.

The progression moved from ceremony on the hill to nibbles on the dance floor, where I got the opportunity to snap probably my favourite shot of the day. The light coming through the trees and over Fede's shoulders was simply amazing.

the good: I fit into the dinner suit I bought seven years ago.

the bad: Fit in the previous sentence is subjective.

and the ugly: I'm not sure I'll technically be able to sit down at my bosses wedding on Saturday.

My sister trying to cheer me up sent me to cuteoverload.com where I found this gem. Brilliant. Takes me back to my childhood where I had a golden retriever from the ages of four through eighteen.

When I was 16 I lived in Sweden on exchange for six months, and my parents would ask Smedley (my dog): Smedley.... where's james? where's james? to which he'd then get excited and go look for me out side, run around the back yard and after 20 minutes of utter confusion come back to lie on the doormat.

Alas I didn't come back for six months, but luckily dogs never forget a face... errr scent.