Time again for the Australian Professional Photography Awards, this time it takes us up to Sydney for 3 days of judging and being judged. I’m lucky enough to be a judge, lucky may not to be right world, humbled, honored, scared.. all these words fit. Basically I get to sit on one of the panels of 5 judges and together we judge the prints that we see in front of us and hopefully give it a great score. If it gets a great score it gets an award and a nice round of applause from the audience watching. It’s not always the case, I know too well myself that my best image entered tends to end up with a back in the case it was sent in with no award. In the event of no award there is a distinct silence in the room that is loudest to the photographer who entered that image.

There are three judging rooms each with their own panel of 7 judges, 5 of whom are judging at ones, and 2 on the bench who get rotated on allowing much needed toilet breaks. Over all there are 17 categories and between them 3151 entries all to be judged in just 3 days. It’s huge. 8am starts, 8.30pm finishes if things are running on time.

So, what is it all about?

You can win cash and prizes, and more importantly the most marketing value out of being named the Australian (insert genre of photography here ) Photographer of the Year. Down a level from the big ones title awards are the merit awards, the golds and silvers. These awards are also great marketing fodder and also go towards honors with each silver award 1 point and gold award 2 points.

Over time from entering it you accumulate enough point to be awarded the honor of being a Associate, Master or even if you have been entereing for ages and are really good, a Grand Master of Photography. I’m at the point where I am a Master with 1 Gold Bar, this means i’m a Master and I’ve also gained enough points to be a Master again. Each time this happens you get a gold bar to sew onto your ribbon. My gold bar is sitting here in the box it was presented to me two years ago and somehow I have to get it sewn on tonight before I go. The ribbon gets worn at official events of the AIPP and judging.

I’ve stated before why I enter the awards and what I get out of it. This year i’m really looking forward to meeting some new photographers and getting inspired. If you are in Sydney this coming Friday-Sunday you should drop by the Convention centre and check out the judging yourself, will be fun.

All the details and find print of the awards and judging system are here if you like a little read.

Helen lives just past the TinPot Café in Melbourne, I did managed to get lost finding her place, but I always get lost in that little cluster of streets. Once I found Helen’s place I got to have a close look at her bird creations. They are all hand made and mostly produced on the comfy couch where she is sitting in the portrait. At the moment Helen is studying to be a librarian and has an impressively sorted bookcase too.

For Van Wonderland, Helen has created a pair of Native Hens. I did manage to see these half created when I photographed her and I’m really looking forward to seeing them completed.

You can see examples of her birds in the bookshelf and you can buy some at her etsy store.

Van Wonderland is an exhibition of work by contemporary crafts practitioners exploring a mysterious world of not-quite-real objects and creatures, based upon historic western perceptions of Tasmania (‘Van Diemen’s Land’) as a distant and little-known island at the far reaches of the globe.

This ‘new world’, full of strange and exotic flora and fauna, could be by turns beautiful and sinister – just as the strange Wonderland explored so famously by Lewis Carroll’s Alice.

Step into Van Wonderland and explore the mysteries within. And don’t forget to take your teacup.

Participating artists include Tara Badcock, The Purple Finch, Erin Tappe, Hideyo, Cat Badcock, Ghostpatrol, Megan Perkins, Omar Misa, Helen Goninon, and Anita Dineen with accompanying photography by Alan Moyle (Photobat).

Come to the opening, Friday 18^th September 2009 at 6 pm, Design Centre, Tamar Street, Launceston, RSVP by email or by 6331 5505. Exhibition open until the 18^th of October.

I ventured over to Melbourne to photograph Ghostpatrol. It’s not the first time, but it was the first time I had visited Mitten Fortress Studio studio. Another eclectic collection of bits and pieces everywhere, it is a fantastic space to get inspired. We even climbed out the window and took some photos a few floors above Elizabeth Street.

Ghostpatrol is doing something special for Van Wonderland, something that hasn’t been done at the Design Centre before. He is doing illustrations straight onto the wall of the gallery. Check out some of his work at ghostpatrol.net

Van Wonderland is an exhibition of work by contemporary crafts practitioners exploring a mysterious world of not-quite-real objects and creatures, based upon historic western perceptions of Tasmania (‘Van Diemen’s Land’) as a distant and little-known island at the far reaches of the globe.

This ‘new world’, full of strange and exotic flora and fauna, could be by turns beautiful and sinister – just as the strange Wonderland explored so famously by Lewis Carroll’s Alice.

Step into Van Wonderland and explore the mysteries within. And don’t forget to take your teacup.

Participating artists include Tara Badcock, The Purple Finch, Erin Tappe, Hideyo, Cat Badcock, Ghostpatrol, Megan Perkins, Omar Misa, Helen Goninon, and Anita Dineen with accompanying photography by Alan Moyle (Photobat).

Come to the opening, Friday 18^th September 2009 at 6 pm, Design Centre, Tamar Street, Launceston, RSVP by email or by 6331 5505. Exhibition open until the 18^th of October.

I seem to be going through Huonville a bit more than usual the last year or so. Wedding, just out driving and now looking for Megan Perkins’s studio. It’s situated at her parent’s phenomenal place, I know I’ve written it before in blog posts, but I really could have spent many house photographing details in this house. Megan lives in the city and escapes down here to do her artwork. I don’t blame her, the place is inspirational inside and out. Huge trees out the window, her dad (Kevin Perkins, furniture designer and artist) being creative with wood out the back, and all the paraphernalia through out the house. I quite liked finding out more on how her viterous enamel are created.

Megan has produced a series of broaches for Van Wonderland, and as expected, they are really great pieces.

Van Wonderland is an exhibition of work by contemporary crafts practitioners exploring a mysterious world of not-quite-real objects and creatures, based upon historic western perceptions of Tasmania (‘Van Diemen’s Land’) as a distant and little-known island at the far reaches of the globe.

This ‘new world’, full of strange and exotic flora and fauna, could be by turns beautiful and sinister – just as the strange Wonderland explored so famously by Lewis Carroll’s Alice.

Step into Van Wonderland and explore the mysteries within. And don’t forget to take your teacup.

Participating artists include Tara Badcock, The Purple Finch, Erin Tappe, Hideyo, Cat Badcock, Ghostpatrol, Megan Perkins, Omar Misa, Helen Goninon, and Anita Dineen with accompanying photography by Alan Moyle (Photobat).

Come to the opening, Friday 18^th September 2009 at 6 pm, Design Centre, Tamar Street, Launceston, RSVP by email or by 6331 5505. Exhibition open until the 18^th of October.

email2friend]]> http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/09/16/megan-perkins-van-wonderland/feed/ 0 http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/09/15/tara-badcock-van-wonderland/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tara-badcock-van-wonderland http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/09/15/tara-badcock-van-wonderland/#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:32:39 +0000 Photobat http://www.photobat.net/batblog/?p=819

A couple of years ago, Tara dropped by the office to see if I could take some photos of her tea cosies. Artistic tea cosies on people heads. From then on I have photographed a heap of her artworks, and I am always impressed with what she puts in front of my lens.

The day we photographed Tara was just another nice day out in the country side. As usual, Tara was frantically pulling together a large amount of work for a mainland show. Her pieces take ages to make and are mostly hand sewn, but she is pretty handy with the free hand stitching with the sewing machine too.

Her home is full of interesting details and lots of cups of tea. I really like visiting, for the company as well as the tea and artworks.

You can see many examples of here work here and also buy some here at her etsy store.

Van Wonderland is an exhibition of work by contemporary crafts practitioners exploring a mysterious world of not-quite-real objects and creatures, based upon historic western perceptions of Tasmania (‘Van Diemen’s Land’) as a distant and little-known island at the far reaches of the globe.

This ‘new world’, full of strange and exotic flora and fauna, could be by turns beautiful and sinister – just as the strange Wonderland explored so famously by Lewis Carroll’s Alice.

Step into Van Wonderland and explore the mysteries within. And don’t forget to take your teacup.

Participating artists include Tara Badcock, The Purple Finch, Erin Tappe, Hideyo, Cat Badcock, Ghostpatrol, Megan Perkins, Omar Misa, Helen Goninon, and Anita Dineen with accompanying photography by Alan Moyle (Photobat).

Come to the opening, Friday 18^th September 2009 at 6 pm, Design Centre, Tamar Street, Launceston, RSVP by email or by 6331 5505. Exhibition open until the 18^th of October.

email2friend]]> http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/09/15/tara-badcock-van-wonderland/feed/ 5 http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/09/15/anita-dineen-van-wonderland/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=anita-dineen-van-wonderland http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/09/15/anita-dineen-van-wonderland/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:52:05 +0000 Photobat http://www.photobat.net/batblog/?p=821

Anita is one of those people that I have kind of known for a while. I kind of met her through various people and heard rumours of jewellery creations. I head talk of tea pot rings and tea tiaras made of exquisite metals. I finally saw some of these creations and was amazed at the detail and uniqueness of them.

We photographed Anita in her little studio, which is nicknamed the “chook shed”.  This was another place where I could have spent a long time drinking tea and photographing quirky little details.

I had a sneak peak at what Anita has made for the Van Wonderland exhibition, the pieces are quite stunning and detailed. You have to come and check them out,  or maybe even buy them?

Van Wonderland is an exhibition of work by contemporary crafts practitioners exploring a mysterious world of not-quite-real objects and creatures, based upon historic western perceptions of Tasmania (‘Van Diemen’s Land’) as a distant and little-known island at the far reaches of the globe.

This ‘new world’, full of strange and exotic flora and fauna, could be by turns beautiful and sinister – just as the strange Wonderland explored so famously by Lewis Carroll’s Alice.

Step into Van Wonderland and explore the mysteries within. And don’t forget to take your teacup.

Participating artists include Tara Badcock, The Purple Finch, Erin Tappe, Hideyo, Cat Badcock, Ghostpatrol, Megan Perkins, Omar Misa, Helen Goninon, and Anita Dineen with accompanying photography by Alan Moyle (Photobat).

Come to the opening, Friday 18^th September 2009 at 6 pm, Design Centre, Tamar Street, Launceston, RSVP by email or by 6331 5505. Exhibition open until the 18^th of October.

For the first time in many years I have created a series of Limited Edition Fine Art Prints. These five images are some of my most popular from the last couple of years and are now avaliable to be purchased. They are in editions of 25 and each print is printed using pigment inks on fine art photo rag paper. There are two sizes currently avaliable for each image and . you can also purchase the whole collection at a great discounted rate. Click here to download the order form and find out information on sizing and prices

email2friend]]> http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/09/09/2009-fine-art-print-collection-released/feed/ 4 http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/07/15/esquire-uk-chris-addison/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=esquire-uk-chris-addison http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/07/15/esquire-uk-chris-addison/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:13:15 +0000 Photobat http://www.photobat.net/batblog/2009/07/15/esquire-uk-chris-addison/

While on the way home from Sydney, I did the usual flick through some magazine in the newsagent. Unfortunantly i was between Vanity Fairs (as in i had the latest one already). So in a mission to find somthing desent to read (I bought Men’s Style on the way up, first time ever, had a story about a guy getting mauled by chimanzes…. weird, but kinda the reason I bought the magazine).

Anyway, Esquire. I pick it up, flip through it and then the sudden regognition of one of my images of UK comedian Chris Addison. This was shot a few of years ago in Edinburgh, Chris is a lovely lovely guy (yes, double lovely) and i’m glad to see the shot still getting some use for his markating.

Read the whole article here

I first entered the Australian Professional Photography Awards in 2001, and got nothing. I had no idea what I was doing back then, I had talked to a photographer and sent in what I had. So nothing came of it, the next year I was a bit more on the ball and picked up a couple of awards, and have been getting some ever since.

This year I received the honour of Master of Photography with 1 Gold Bar from The Australian Institute of Professional Photography. I was presented during the awards ceremony in Sydney with a gold bar to be added onto my Masters ribbon.

How this all works is that for every silver award you get one point and ever gold award you get two points. If you receive 5 points with in 4 years you become an Associate, I received this in 2003. The next step is that if you receive 10 additional points within five years you become a Master of Photography, I received this in 2006. From then every additional 10 points gained within 5 years gets you an Gold Bar.

So after my name I get to put, Alan Moyle M Photog I

Just as a trip down memory lane I’ve put together a podcast of many of the award images over the years. These aren’t only APPA ones, they include images that have received awards all over the place.

Enjoy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA9F1gqW7aU[/youtube]

This is Rob Burnett, I’ve known him for a few years and the story goes as follows…

When I finished Uni I moved back to Tasmania and focused on doing the Dombrovskis Award. Once all that was finished it was time to get a job assisting another photographer. In Melbourne, it seemed that everyone when they finished uni went off to work as an assistant. I visited many Tasmanian photographers who I admired with the view to assisting them. Tasmania isn’t like Melbourne or Sydney. No one used assistants. So there was nothing there for me to do. I joined the AIPP and prepared to go it by myself.

I went off to my first AIPP event, youngest there by quite a few years and only know one person, and not very well. Weekend went past, say in on the seminars, met other photographers and then just as I was heading home I introduced myself to Rob. To be honest, I had never heard of him. I put this down to him not doing wedding or portrait and spending a bit of time away doing commercial jobs. We got talking and made a time to catch up the next week.

All the photographers I met initially did spend some time with me, about 2 hours on average. Now I’m out working I realise that was a fantastic amount of time to put aside to speak to a young and inspired photographer and am thankful for the opportunity. When I went around to Rob’s I didn’t leave for 6 hours. The next day I came back, then the day after, day after, and so on for a couple of years.

I didn’t get paid, I did bits and pieces and I learnt a lot about real world photography. I don’t do commercial, but Rob does it fantastically and over time I slowly picked up my own jobs and clients in wedding and portrait, always getting critiqued by Rob and pushed to do better.

He also introduced me to many of the top photographers in the country and took me to my first APPA awards in Sydney in 2002 (I was on the fold out couch, I didn’t know about the tradition of first in the hotel room puts their undies on the pillow and claims the main bed).

Even now we will catch up and talk shop, he is still as frantic as ever and a real pain in the bum to get in touch with, but when it happens, it is always good.

So thanks to Rob, the best real world photography teacher I have had and I wish him luck in claiming a good bed in Sydney next week.

His website is here, book him to shoot some commercial stuff anywhere

Another of the lost posts, this one comes from humid Brisbane. When I was up there presenting earlier this year, I met a heap of really nice, fun, interesting and friendly people. Todd and Alyda are two of those. These guys are a very cool and fun photography team as well as husband and wife team. We got talking and I asked the question about when the last time they had some photos together was… the response was their wedding! Ages ago! So I instructed them to come and pick me up early one morning and go exploring and take a heap of photos. Which we did! Lots and lots of fun photos. These guys are so fun. And i mean fun like awesome fun. You can see how good they are at photography too by checking out their website here. 

 The great thing about going to conferences, workshops, awards and other places you find photographers, is that you meet people who you can see yourself being friends with for along time. These guys are about to storm Europe with their cameras, so make sure you keep up with them on their blog!

This first bit was written on Tuesday, 4.09pm Tas Time, 5.09pm Queensland Time

The weekend is over! I know it was over a few days ago but it has been a very busy few days starting in North West Tasmania, on to Brisbane and then to home.  I’m fealing exhausted but thought I should write a little post to update you on what is been going on.

Saturday was a long day for a great wedding. Hayley and Aaron tied the knot at Highfield House in Stanley, here is a preview, and a full post will be up in a couple of days.

 I managed to get back in the door after the wedding at 11.30pm and then packed for Queensland. It seems that I only had a couple of hours sleep before the 5am alarm went off so I could get to the airport for the 7am to Melbourne then up to Brisbane.

I had been invited up to speak at the Australian Institute of Professional Photography’s Hair of the Dog conference. It was my first time to this conference and I was impressed, a heap of speakers, lots of sessions, a big trade show and most importantly quite a lot of participants.

My talk was delivered in the late afternoon to about 100 or so people and I am told went quite well. There were a heap of people who hung around to have a chat afterward. There was a cocktail party afterwards where I hit the water and orange juice hard, where large amounts of others hit the jager-bombs hard and woke the next morning with drinking related issues. I was stuffed so headed home early and turned on the TV to be horrified by the fires.

I had been away from news all day and could not take my eyes off the TV. It is horrific. The next afternoon I realised that my old head lecturer Gale Spring lives in one of the areas where people have died. It took a couple of days but I did track him down and heard the story of the fire coming towards them and then turning away when the wind changed. They were lucky.

Back to the presentations and we heard and saw photos from about another photographer in north Queensland who has had 7 foot of water through his shop and studio. His computers and equipment were stashed in the ceiling to keep them dry.

It really is a sad time in this country.

Last night I had dinner with some of the remaining photographers before heading off to see Jason Starr, a photographer who was a great help to me when I was starting out and always a delight to meet up with to talk shop and life. This morning I was with new friends Todd and Aleda, we met after my talk and Todd asked me if I have photos taken of myself often. I try every year or so to have photos taken of Vikashni and I, it is good to be on the other side to remember what it is like. He and Aleda hadn’t had photos since they were married 8 years ago, so this morning changed that. See below for a little preview…

 After the shoot I had a mini studio tour through some inner city photography businesses, sharing ideas and stories. Photographers are a great group, most are willing to share for the greater knowledge of everyone. I know I have picked up things that will be used at Photobat and I know there are ideas I have given that are already being picked up by photographers here.

I’ll post some more shots later, for now it is time to catch a plane and get some sleep.

————————————————————————————–

Now, its a few days later and here are a heap of photos from the last few days including a lot of portraits of photographers.

 And on a hopeful and really cool note, I dropped off some clothing to the local drop off point which is some local parliamentary offices. I was early so I just though that what was left out the front was because they were not open. I was wrong; they were out the front because inside was packed. There was no room to move. It is a mammoth effort that made me feal really proud to be from Launceston. So much giving and I heard that people turned up with cash to donate but they couldn’t accept it, so the people went to the shops, bought clothes and donated them. Go Launceston!

Bruce Fairfax is a teacher at my old high school. He has been there for a while and is now moved up to the role of deputy principal. I guess the teachers that stand out are the ones you like or really don’t like. I really liked Mr Fairfax. He did not teach any classes I took, we only came into contact through other non classroom activities like school productions and when I hung about and annoyed friends on the debating team he ran. He also gave me my first reference that helped me get my first job, hand written on the school letter head.

What is even more fun is re connecting with teachers and having adult to wise adult conversations. It has been really great taking these photos for no real reason than an excuse to talk and listen to stories. You never really get to know teachers that well when you are a student, so I can highly recommend connecting with your favourite teachers.

(and hope that they don’t read your blog posts and correct your grammar)

I thought that one post for the weekend would be fun, i’ll see if I can keep doing these most weekends, it may just be a lot of photos of my wife and the cats. We shall see.

So, 2 portraits this weekend. Doing a little bit of exploring with Jason and Catherine and we discovered this apple tree about 50 meters from the office. It is growing in concrete and lives happily there in between a few building.  Jason and Catherine are getting married in a few months, so we had fun not melting on their engagement shoot.

Sunday was another drive day, the Allen family photoshoot all the way down at The Gardens on  the East Coast.

 The reason for the shoot was Verne’s Birthday, so all the family came together for a party and photo shoot. There will be more photos soon, I just had to post this one of Verne and Nellie, it is such a sweet photo.

 On the way back we had to stop in at the Village Store and More in St Helens for a late breakfast. Vikashni and I ordered different dished from last week and were very happy with the results again. I can not recommend this place more, I just wish it was a little closer.

Last week I mentioned the singing chef, well this time I took his photo. Nick and Marika own and run the place. I purposely didn’t take a photo of Marika so that we have to go back again.

On the way home we were accosted by some duck/geese/winged birds in Avoca. These guys were not afraid about being polite and asking for food, it was more of a demand.

A different wedding…

It is fun when two pasts collide at a wedding. By that I mean that two different parts of my life were linked together last Saturday when Brad (who was at the same college as me in Melbourne) was married to Elisha (who was in Venturer’s with me and received her Queen Scout Award the same year as me).

So, this promised to be different… I’m not sure if you will pick what makes it different. A hint might be to check out what Brad is wearing, or check out the little dogs, maybe another hint would be the locations, possibly something else was the music selection for the brides entrance (anyone up for some Korn?).

These guys just threw down the challenge to give them something different, and when that happens I tend to go a little nut. Finding locations to take the photos around the areas that we would be travelling in was also fun. Using the large coloured walls of Cash Converters and Chickenfeed to contrast the bride and groom came off so well. And Rollerworld! Nothing says different to me like helping a bride climb through a burnt out window to get to a vandalised roller skating rink. Add into the mix the reception at a scout camping ground and you have a clear view of a different wedding.

Like every wedding, I could post many more photos but need to keep them a surprise for Brad and Elisha when they get back from their little jaunt in Thailand (it was warmer in Tasmania than Bangkok today, so I don’t see why you needed to go all that way, we have good Thai restaurants here too!)

Rollcall: Suit by City to Street, Dress by Timeless Elegance, Celebrant Barb Youd, flowers by International Balloon Land, Ceremony held at the Tailrace. Photographers fueled by Red Bull, gluten free bread and ginger biscuits.

A few photos taken on the drive back from the East Coast on Australia Day, we were up there to shoot a wedding on the Sunday and stayed over to have a good breakfast and take some photos for fun on the way home.

We all had a really nice breakfast at the Village Store and More in St Helens, which has fantastic coffee, great breakfast menu, an Aussie rock singing chef and apologetic waitresses who only apologise about the chef’s singing. I wasn’t worried about the singing, I recognised it as Ruck Rover and surprised the chef by knowing who they were. The place is vintage, you spend most of your time reading the old magazines and newspapers that cover the tables.

On the drive back we stopped in Derby, which is V and my regular stopping spot on the drive back. Zakk and I explored the old grandstand (more photos to come) and then we all discovered that the Devonshire Tea’s at Berrie’s cafe are quite good, plus they gave Kaba a drink.

Saturday, Sunday and even Monday saw me out of town and all the way down south in Hobart. We even transported the office so the viewings we had down there were in the hotel apartment where Zak and I were staying. We even took the espresso machine and Coco Bean Chocolates! If you were down in Hobart you may have seen that Saturday afternoon saw a huge range of weather in a short time, one minute it was nice, then windy, then a flash flood followed by locusts! (well, i saw a grasshopper). We had a shoot booked in for the early evening and there was no way to predict what would happen, so we decided to postpone this one (normally it would be all go with the amazing weather, but i was scared of the 9 month old flying away).

So Zak and I played a game in the hotel room. Basically we had to see how many unique photos we could get out of the one hotel room using only what we had in the hotel room. There was no video light or reflectors either! We tooko it in turns, shot for shot, if you stuffed up your shot, too bad, it was gone and the camera was passed over. I reckon we got at least 50 differnt shots in the one room. My favourite is below… i’ll have to get Zak to post his favourite of me in the next few days.

Sunday and Monday were spent in the company of many other photographers and students at the AIPP Festival of Photography. A couple of photographers from Sydney were down to share some insights into what they do and how they do it. Generally there was a bit of inspiration being thrown around.

I’m not sure how many others noticed the interesting occurrence that all the photographers ended up having lunch at Say Cheese..

Our speakers were:

Grand master of Photography David Oliver. I have known of David since I first became a member of the AIPP and he has no idea how much of an inspiration to me he is… well, he may know now… This was the first time I had seen him speak and I again got a heavy shot of inspiration. Check out his work here

Graham Munro was our other speaker, and it was the third time i’d seen him speak but the first time that I really had some time to chat with him. He is the only speaker I remember from the first AIPP National conference I went to… maybe because he told a few to many jokes, but also for the imagery. I guess you could say that you never know what you will get with Graham as a speaker, he pulled out the goods on monday and I have about 8 pages of notes to disect (and a few jokes to memorise). Check out Graham’s work here. Plus a different photo of Graham here as portrait of the week

And then on the drive home there were some clouds… so a work in progress below. So what do you think of it? Leave a comment if you like, i know i would like you to!

Glen Campbell, great photographer and even better country singer, ask him to belt out a few lines of Rhinestone Cowboy if you ever meet him. He loves it when people ask him to do that.

Shot for portrait of the week, a couple of weeks ago.

Tacks

Many Launceston folk would remember a few years ago there a photorgapher at the Examiner called Glenn Daniels. He ran off got married and had a baby and started to work for a suburban newspaper in Melbourne. I just found out that he has made it onto the short list for the News Awards Photographer of the Year. Which I think is pretty dam cool, he’s up agains photogaphers from much much bigger newspapers who had a hell of alot more oppotunities than he does for good images.

Well done Glenn, I really hope you get up into the final, win it and get a trophy or somthing!

This shot was taken Christmas Day 2005, we were both alone for the day so once Glenn had finished work we went and hung out near some old boats, ate oysters and drank some beer. I also took some photos, which I know you will find unusual for me!

I asked my smart wife Vikashni to write a little introduction about RSS feeds, just incase you didn’t know about them… so here goes, V’s first post on the Batblog.

Have you ever of noticed a RSS logo or link on websites that you have visited? Have you ever wondered what it is? This article is a basic overview of what an RSS feed is and how it can save you time on the internet.

So what is a RSS?

RSS stands for either Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. It is a way of delivering information to you from constantly changing websites straight to your computer.

Initially they were set up for news websites so that the latest headlines were constantly updated to your computer, now that the technology has spread other websites which have new contact added to them have taken on the RSS technology as a way to keep people up to date. For example you now find RSS feeds on everything from real estate websites that update you on the latest listing through to celebrity news sites that up date you on Paris Hilton’s latest dog fashions!

So what does this all mean for you?

If you subscribe to a magazine, the latest addition will arrive in your mail box as soon as it is released. RSS feeds work the same way with out having to pay for subscriptions. You can scribe to your favorite websites RSS feeds and use a RSS feed reader to look at the latest content on that website.

By using your RSS reader you can subscribe to all of your favorite blogs and news articles and have then arrive in one central place, saving your search time.

How do you subscribe to RSS feeds?

To subscribe to RSS feeds you need to use a RSS reader. There are a few different types of RSS readers, there are ones that you can install on your computer, others that are web based that you log into and your email program may also have an inbuilt reader.

Personally I prefer the web based reader because I can look at my RSS feeds from any computer that has internet access and I do not have to install any new software on to my computer.

Various email programs have RSS readers built into them, check your email software’s help guide for information on how you can set this up.

Using the popular web based readers is probably the simplest way of subscribing.

A lot of web sites have buttons like the image below

By clicking on the type of reader that you use it will take you to your RSS readers site and add the subscription to your RSS feed list.

Web based RSS readers

Google Reader

My Yahoo

Bloglines

Desktop RSS Readers

Windows: SharpReader

Mac OS X: NetNewsWire

So that is the basic overview of RSS, so don’t be afraid to try to subscribe to some feeds. Also, there is a video here that explains the whole RSS things in a very clear way.

Feel free to leave any comments with other suggestions about this topic, thanks for reading!

You may have noticed over the years that I have received a few awards from the Canon Australian Professional Photographer of the Year awards, organised by the Australian Institute of Professional Photography.

The top shots from the year go into a national traveling exhibition, which will be in Hobart later this year All the award winning shots go into a book, the latest of which just arrived this morning.

I still get a buzz seeing photos in print, the books are full of spectacular images and is very inspiring. That’s my shot of Rusty the dog and Gerry above him.

You can buy copies of the 2007 book and many of the previous year books here.

I had some new Holga shots processed, I’m still enjoying playing with the little plastic camera. I picked up some tungsten balanced slide film and got it cross processed, give these strange colouring… no photoshop!

Using this toy camera has made me really have to think about many different aspects of the art of photogaphy, thinking about different light, compositions, using shadows, understanding how a film is going to work in certain light conditions and most importantly, how dam expensive it gets to buy and process film, let alone get it scanned.

For those photo types out there, these are shot with expired Fuji 64T slide film, cross processed standard C41 way. The blue cast comes from the film being balanced for tungsten light and the images shot in day light and the contrast is increased because of the cross processing.

I’ll be adding more photos into the new Holga Gallery on Photobat.net soon, but for the time being head over to my flickr site for more images.

I managed to take a couple of days off over Easter! One of those days off did involve half the day sitting in the office tinkering with potential award entry images. It washard to force ourselves to get out of bed early enough to get some nice landscapes up the Tamar. But we did it, some of mine are below and Vikashni’s will appear on her flickr sometime http://www.flickr.com/photos/vikashni/ . It was fun getting back to shooting some landscapey type stuff, including some long exposure stuff and some more experimental things. I also played with some light using my lovely Vikashni as my model, back light and flare were what I was after, and after the sun went down I managed to get some nice softer images.

This is the same area where I did my first shoot with Vikashni a couple of years ago now, that was before we were together! It’s fun to go to a place we had shot in before and come up with something completely different.

And yes, we had just watched The Virgin Suicides

The Gorge

Jelly fish near Deviot

Some poles at Gravelly Beach

Some shots from Greens Beach

Sea Port in Launceston

The Gorge Pool.

More to come…

V and I ventured out to the the middle of nowhere to catch up with super talented Tasmanian designer / textile artist / all round fantastic person Tara Badcock and her amazing clothing creations. The location is an old abandoned church just up the road from where Tara lives, it’s full of hay and is the best location i’ve been to in a long time.

We took quite a few shots around the church with Gina the dog not wanting to be too far away from his owner Anoushka, our model for the evening. V jumped in and did a fantastic job with the make up and also did a marvelous job of holding some lights, with some help from Tara.

You should head into Coccoon and Two Four Two in Launceston or Love and Clutter in Hobart to buy some of Tara’s fantastic pieces.

You can find more Tara at
www.paristasmania.com
www.flickr.com/photos/tarabadcock
www.teacosyrevolutiontara.blogspot.com

Last week v and I headed out to Tara Badcock’s place for another shoot. this time it was all about clothes that Tara had created. So just to tease you here are some details that have little to do with the actual shots taken.

This is Gina, the model Anushka’s dog.

I’ll upload some of the top shots from this shoot late next week if i get a chance. Still have the 2007 Top Shots presentation to get finished

I took a few photos in 2007, in fact, I took a few thousand.I always have loved showing off my work and am very proud of the way my images have developed in the last 12 months. So it’s time to show you all my favourite shots in an audio visual presentation. This is only on for one afternoon only, and not an exhibition that is hanging on the walls, so this is your only chance to see it.

Some of the highlights will include documentary work on the East Coast bushfires and backstage at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, Holga images, urban and natural landscapes plus heaps of kids,families, pregnant bellies, animals and shoes.

In addition there will be a presentation of some of my favourite portraits of the week taken over the last 5 years. The POW started as a way of practicing and pushing myself by taking a different portrait each week. Some of these portraits are commissioned; others are self commissioned and feature comedians, musicians, brides, animals, fictional characters, photographers and everyday people I have bumped into.

The presentations will take about 30 minutes.

2pm February 10th 2007
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Inveresk, Launceston

Entry is Free and there will be prizes!

Please RSVP here as we have limited seating available andmay have to reschedule more viewings.

PLUS FESTIVALE IS ON, SO YOU HOBART PEOPLE SHOULD COME UP FOR A DRIVE!!!

I presented a talk for a camera club a couple of weeks ago, initially I was just going to show some photos and talk about what I do. After starting to put together that talk, I decided to change my approach and explain a little bit about how my photographic style involved, mostly through the influence of other photographers and artists.

This had me thinking a lot and as always the first inspiration and most important inspiration was Peter Dombrovskis. I have many photography books, but the book produced with his images are the most looked at.

Every year as I was growing up, my mum put the Dombrovskis calendars on the back of the toilet door, and I credit my ideas in composition to many hours looking at his work. So when I first seriously started taking photos, I photographed landscapes. Which over time lead to luckily being awarded the 2000 Dombrovskis award for Landscape Photography, presented by the Tasmanian government to a young Landscape photographer. By getting this award I met Peter’s wife, Liz, who has become a good friend and advice giver over the years.

Unfortunately I will never get to thank Peter for his help, but I really wanted to take a portrait that represented him. So I asked Liz if I could take a portrait of his camera, the bits of metal, glass and leather that took the photos that I am still in awe of.

And for some technical details this is a large format Linhof Master Technika 5 x 4 inch flatbed field camera.

You can read more about Peter, view some of his work and buy a calendar to hang in your toilet, or anywhere else you like at http://www.peterdombrovskis.com.au/.

Thanks Liz for digging it out for me!

Some people know that i’m really in love with the work of Anton Corbijn, one of the photographers who has most influenced and inspired me in the world of visual imaging. And i think that many more people are about to know who he is as his first feature film Control, is set for release in the coming weeks. The movie is about Ian Curtis, of Joy Division, you know the “Love will tear us apart” band, plus many other songs.

Anton knew the band and did shoots for Joy Division at the hight of their popularity and I can’t wait to see what his treatment of the movie is going to be. It’s all shot in black and white and features an amazing soundtrack. Go check out the movies website, and you can download a podcast with interviews from Anton and others involved in the movie.

Control – The Movie

I’ve bought a coupleof suits from Kent, infact i’ve bought all my suits from Kent! (so if you have seen me at a wedding, this man is resposible for my clothes)  He’s one of the men who work out of Neil Pitts in central Launceston and is probably one of the best customer service people i’ve met. Always cheerful, interested and just great to have a chat to. I draged him out for lunch the other day with the plan of shooting him for my portrait of the week. But we sat and ate our sandwiches together first and discussed a great deal of things and I learnt some things that I would probably have never known if we hadn’t had lunch. Kent is into his motorbikes and is working on a sidecar so him and his other half can ride from Tasmania up to Darwin next year, he;s sold bikes and as part of that actully handed Michael Doohan a trophy early on in his career. Plus has a grat story about when Bob Dylan and his minders dropped by the store he was working in to buy some jeans.

I guess Neil Pitts is really one of those old fahioned stores, and along with it comes fantastic people like Kent who have spent a life in retail, but unlike a kid who does it on the weekend for pocket money, they have lived and breathed it their whole lives and really knkow how to make you feal great even when you have left the shop.

If you are in Launceston, go to Niel Pitts and buy a tie or shirt from Kent, i’m sure he’s love to meet you!