Field-of-Vision.com

The Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly

2010-05-25T12:38:00.000Z

The Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly 724 arrives in a leatherette zip case with a quick release attachment to strap it (presumably) onto your camera bag/rucksack. Inside that case is a soft touch (turquoise?) plastic box with 'Arctic Butterfly' engraved on the top and 'Visible Dust' engraved on the latch. Inside protected by a foam surround is the 'Arctic Butterfly' itself. It is made of the same soft feel plastic (not sure how else to describe it). Emblazoned on one side is the name and logo and on the other 'Super-charged Fibre (SCF). Man this is 'designer' sensor cleaning and with a price tag to match! . Everything looks just like it should for a really expensive and presumably 'the best' piece of kit. Impressed so far. Sadly it's downhill all the way from here on.

No batteries included, for that money you'd have thought they'd include a couple of little AAA batteries. Not impressed#1

Using it on a 5D; my very first attempt out of the box, untouched by any fingers resulted in smears over the sensor! Had it been returned and resold as new or was there some other reason that the brush was not uncontaminated?. Either way there was something on the brush that smeared the sensor. No it didn't touch the sides and no I didn't touch it with my fingers, I was very careful about that. It should either have a seal to show it is unused or instructions to clean before first use. Not impressed #2.

Their brush shape is not strong but straggly. Some filaments splay out awkwardly after spinning and make it way too easy to touch the sides. Even if only one little filament does this it could spread grease or oil. Not impressed #3

The brush is too insubstantial. They even sell a more substantial version as a separate attachment. So why not include the substantial version as integral. i.e. why make an inferior product knowingly (except to maximise profit at the expense of customer satisfaction). Not impressed #4

On returning the brush to the cap, the cap entrance and in fact the whole cap, is too narrow to avoid bending some of the bristles back on themselves, unless you are very careful. Bad design. Not impressed #5

The first one I received I returned immediately without even opening as half the brush was bent back on itself inside the transparent cap. (underlining my previous point). not impressed #6

My final opinion on this product: 'style over function' - the marketing and advertising hype could be interpreted to mean that this is a superior piece of kit. Not in terms of its ability to clean your sensor It isn't. There are better and much much cheaper alternatives out there. Save your money.

Photographic Solutions Sensor swab and Eclipse

2010-05-25T12:08:00.001Z

Photographic Solutions Sensor swab and Eclipse

The 59ml (2oz) bottle of Eclipse and packet of Sensor Swabs came in cardboard packages that didn't have the quantity or size on the outside. The actual bottle of Eclipse does have the size on, and I count 8 swabs in the swab box.[edit: according to photosolutions site there should be 12 per box - so check when you get it; as it's not sealed anyone can nick a couple and you won't be any the wiser until too late - as I just found out:()

First I'd like to say these products are reasonably priced and they do work;)

However you may need to repeat the process several times before you get the results you need, I used 6 of the 8 swabs before I got the results I wanted. This was no doubt due to inexperience though and I expect to need less attempts on my next try.

The instructions say to put one or two drops on the 'tip' of the swab, the diagram says two drops but their demo [URL="http://www.photosol.com/swabdemo.htm"]video says two to four drops. This is confusing as most reports of using this product also state that it works best with one or two drops at the very most.

A diagram to show what the 'tip' is would be helpful (does it mean leading edge, where it joins the handle, or one of each of the corners?) In the video it doesn't seem to be important exactly where it goes as long as it goes on the right end

How hard to apply the swab? I was being too gentle I believe to start with, I mean I was scared of scratching the sensor! Average pressure seems to be the thing, [URL="http://www.photosol.com/swabproduct.htm"]they recommend 'firm' pressure - just enough to be sure the swab is fully located on the sensor, but not enough to 'scrub', seems to be the way to go. However the [URL="http://www.photosol.com/swabdemo.htm"]video says enough pressure to bend the swab handle slightly!

After one swipe [URL="http://www.photosol.com/swabproduct.htm"]they instruct to 'turn over to use opposite side' or 'rotate 180 degrees'. However on the diagram they then drag in the opposite direction having rotated it, -- er doesn't this present the same side to the sensor? Shouldn't it be swiped in the same direction once rotated, or not rotated if swiped in the reverse direction? i.e. if reversing the direction do not 'rotate' but simply lean handle to use opposite side? Fortunately the video concurs i.e. they just swab back in the opposite direction without any rotating of the swab.

The Eclipse bottle doesn't deliver drops until you get te hang of it, what it does is pour. Not ideal when you're trying for one drop! It needs to be tipped very slowly and carefully against a dark background in good light so you can see exactly what is coming out

However once I got the hang of it, it produced the results needed at a cost that was affordable. This is a product I will stay with.

The Sunny f16 rule

2008-06-11T08:36:00.001Z

Just in case you ever wondered:

The Sunny f16 rule: this is a great thing to fall back on if you have a manaul camera and the battery dies. Nowadays with digital it's only use its to let you know if your exposure is going to be way off. E.g. when shooting subjects with a lot of black or of white in; or if you have no spot meter when shooting say a white bird against a deep shadow.

The idea is that on a clear sunny day, you set the meter to f16 and the shutter speed at the same speed as the ISO.

I.e. if you are using ISO/ASA (film speed) of 400, then the shutter speed should be 400th sec at f16, if the ISO is 100 then it's 100th sec at f16.

Lets say you're using 100 film speed (ISO/ASA 100) - If you want to use f8 for example instead of f16 then you just adjust the shutter speed to match: i.e. here wee would be using a wider aperture by 2 stops, (f16 to f8 ) = so shutter speed is increased by 2 stops so the same amount of light gets through -so it would be f8 at the ISO speed plus two stops e.g. (with ISO 100 film speed/sensor sensitivity) it would normally be f16 at 100th sec shutter speed, so it could also be f8 at 400 shutter speed or any other combination , e.g going the other way f22 at 50sec shutter speed.

Thus on a clear sunny day: for every f-stop you open up you set a shutter speed double (i.e. HALF the time , that is, one stop less) what it was when the same as the ISO setting OR for every f-stop you close down the aperture you set a shutter speed half the speed (i.e. TWICE the time it's open = one stop) what it was when the same as the ISO setting.

Examples at ISO 100:
f32 @ 25th sec
f22 @ 50th sec
f16 @ 100th sec
f11 @ 200th sec
f8 @ 400th sec
f5.6 @ 800th sec

Examples at ISO 400:
f32 @ 100th sec
f22 @ 200th sec
f16 @ 400th sec
f11 @ 800th sec
f8 @ 1600th sec
f5.6 @ 3200th sec

If it's not a clear sunny day it becomes pretty much guess work but it's still a good starting point;-)

What is Art? Just love it!

2008-06-09T08:55:00.002Z

Blink and you'll miss it

2008-02-14T00:11:00.000Z

There's more to a blink than meets the eye

Of Homeopathic guns and targets

2008-02-13T14:02:00.000Z

http://www.homeopathyworkedforme.org/
Click on this link to sign the 'Homeopathy worked for me' petition

Of Homeopathic feet and guns

2008-01-09T13:15:00.002Z

[RANT]
Since qualifying in Homeopathy in 1993 I have been keeping an eye on the professional bodies that charge a princely sum each year to 'register' and insure homeopaths, to see how much use they actually are to the homeopaths they register and 'represent'.

I put parentheses round 'register' because it confers no legal status and does little more (in my opinion) than confirm the signing up to a code of ethics. All well and good you might say, but it has that official ring to it, and certainly those organisations would wish it to be official, but whatever weight it carries, extends no further than the boundaries of those already in the know, as far as I can see.

Yes they also produce a leaflet or two and a magasine for members, but I do question whether that amounts to value for ( a lot of) money. I guess it must to those of us that sign up, or is it just that there is a perception that it's a necessary evil on the ladder to self worth and justification of practicing a therapy so vilified in the media?

I also put parentheses round 'represent' because this is what I presumed these organisations with exclusive and expensive membership did for their registered members, but their interpretation of 'represent' and mine appear to differ. How so? read on:

The (UK) homeopathic profession has recently finished an extremely expensive exercise in determining whether the umbrella organisations can play nicely together. They can't.

There will be no profession-lead single register. There will be no profession-lead über umbrella organisation (CORH etc ) to decide how to set up another über organisation for registration, there will be no inefficient over-priced money machine to filch our hard earned pennies (c'mon, they took six years and blew a fortune just trying to set it up!). [Though it looks like a non profession-lead register is looming under the auspices if the Prince of Wales Trust - but overseen by whom, with what homeopathic qualifications? - good question!]

The bureaucratic knots the profession has got itself into during the last few years over the single register issue have finally tripped it up, they ran out of money for it, apparently - and a good job too, otherwise it might have gone on ad infinitum gobbling up resources that could be put to MUCH better use!

So now perhaps that this (predictably) futile exercise is over they can put the same level of resources into what they should have been putting it into in the first place, i.e. MARKETING HOMEOPATHY TO THE PUBLIC. For the money (and time!) they spent over the last 6 years or so, we ( the homeopathic profession en masse) could have had a whopping advertising campaign, even TV ads!

I have argued for for a long time that marketing should be the prime concern of these organisations (SOH, ARH, HMA,CMA etc - CORH even) but it was deemed more important by the combined council members that they try to learn to play nicely with each other rather than to get the public educated about the potential of homeopathy, and using it.

The SOH's obsession with 'protecting the public' (I assume it's an obsession as it's what they bang on about over and above anything else in my experience) not only detracts from the real issue ( see in CAPS above) but it is their big bass drum that they love to proudly beat as they march like tin soldiers up and down the corridors of CORH.

Yet if my own experience is anything to go by the members of SOH practice no differently to members of HMA or ARH. I know many in each of the camps and as I say, if my experience is anything to go by there are definitely no unequivocal differences IN PRACTICE despite the claims to the contrary!)

Of course what they are trying to imply is that anyone who is not SOH registered is a danger to the public. In other words they put the majority their energy into bashing the other registering bodies (ARH, HMA etc) who have then to spend just as much energy trying to persuade them that it would be better if they all agreed at least on what it is they are all trying to do (over and above 'protecting the public')

As it turns out if we are to judge them (SOH, ARH, HMA) by the CORH farce ( I'm sorry but with the benefit of hindsight you have to agree, it was a farce) then what they are actually all trying to do is simply to jostle for position. i.e. where they are REALLY spending their energies ( and money) is in vying for the registration fees of the members of the homeopathic profession.

Just to make this point really clear: the T.E.A. ( Time energy attention) of these organisations is being taken up by their preoccupation with themselves and their own importance. My arguement is that it should be taken up specifically with PROMOTING HOMEOPATHY TO THE PUBLIC.

The rest of the stuff, promoting themselves, code of ethics, etc should play second fiddle to that. Not the other way round as it currently is. What do these organisations currently do to market homeopathy to the public? They occasionally write to a newspaper, who may or may not print, they answer the phone and perform other administrative tasks. Big deal. ('HAW' is less than a drop in the ocean compared to what it needed) All for a registration fee anywhere from £250 to over twice that. Great value huh?

They (SOH, HMA, ARH etc) need to stop examining their navels and get out there!

Ask any average homeopath and they will be more concerned about aquiring a steady stream of patients and having their profession defended against slurs in the media, than whether they are on a single register or whether the public are being protected from them. (WTF?) Currently however the media is promoting the single register. I wonder why? Could it be that tey have seen what a sore point it is for the homeopathic profession? I wonder.

Some registration organisations ( you know who you are) do not even see it as their remit to promote homeopathy to the public, - WHY NOT???. They argue that it is up to the individual practitioners to promote themselves and the job of the organisation to regulate the practitioners. It is my assertion that this should be their FIRST priority and that they have got it completely back to front.

Without the public using homeopathy there will be no profession to promote or regulate, so the real priority should be self evident! As it is It is most homeopaths I speak to complain that in their practice patient numbers yoyo and are frequently insufficient to provide a decent living. It is very frustrating to watch as the organisations PAID to represent the homeopathic profession squander resources on self-obsessive idealisms and infighting.

So I say ( again) to the registration bodies: GET YOUR PRIORITIES RIGHT! Homeopathy is a BUSINESS (not a medico-political party). It needs to be marketed as such and the organisations representing homeopaths should do more for their fee than register and administer. They should recognise and realise their potential to so so much more for the profession
[/RANT]

Talking of which: http://www.homeopathyworkedforme.org/

Somethings happening

2007-11-04T13:56:00.000Z

Somethings going on and I mean to get to the bottom of it. Too many people are concurring, too many going through the same thing, though they may express it differently, but it is undeniably there going on, whatever it is.

It is alluded to at every turn, books are written about it, talks are given, tapes and Cds are made so we can hear the same message in our cars or on our iPods. Something's going on yet it's not reported in the media, politicians don't seem to be concerned, in fact nothing larger than the individual people round me seem to know anything about it.

Perhaps by its very nature it can only be recognised by single persons, perhaps it is somehow invisible to the world at large, invisible to politicians, to priests or pontiffs, or to the world media, I don't know, but they don't seem to be the ones talking about it.

The stuff these guys talk about:
http://www.eckharttolle.com/
http://thekeys.maharaji.net/home/?language=en&group=en

The humiliation of the vignette

2007-05-27T11:53:00.000Z

What is it with this abolishion of vignetting? ( is the 'perfectly OK Van Act of 1943' to blame?)

With the arrival of 35mm digital full frame sensors (FFS) there have been nothing but bad reports recieved concerning the tendency of fast lenses to produce vignetting (darkening at the edges) at wider apertures. Wherefore this across the board objection to vignetting?

I appreciate that its unwanted presence may betray potential technical limitations of the camera equipment and that due to the frantic paddling for first place in the digital race on the frothy waters of innovation, the discarding of any hint that alludes to 'old' technology is de rigeur, even if only amongst consumers and not the manufacturers (whom I'm sure nonetheless encourage such unbridled nitpicking) but surely technical perfection, or the lack of it , is not everything in matters photographic? The presence of vignetting is, I would argue, not always as unwanted as so prolifically reported.

Historically the visual vignette had an accepted and established role in the mediums of both painting and photography, yet suddenly the respect it once held has been unceremoniously flushed away and it is now abhorred as being synonymous with nothing more than manufacturing imperfection and it's stripped of its artistic merit like a dishonoured soldier of his medals.

I hardly think it should be construed as symptomatic of recidivist leanings or of straw clinging Leica enthusiasm to proclaim the positive virtues of vignetting or to argue for its reinstatement as meritorious, but you would think from the damning it gets that it never had nor will ever again have any purpose except perhaps to shame its perpetrators; to dismiss those that indulge in it's use as either plain ignorant or as digital reprobates.

Deliberate vignetting is a tool as worthy as any other artistic device and should not have the context for which it was better known and better recieved, prior to the digital revolution, dismissed out of hand with nary a backward glance in the shoestring-tripping headlong lunge for the aggrandisment of technology over vision

It is as though those that employ the vignette, by association align themselves with the less well equipped, with the less well endowed; with those who cannot afford or who cannot appreciate the latest and greatest; with those who are politely, if patronisingly, humiliated by the technerati who excise such evidences of impropriety without a second thought as to their value outside of their blinkered pixel peeping. It is as if the once noble vignette now attracts only humiliation, but it is those that would denigrate it that should be ashamed, for they illustrate the darkness at their very own periphery by their tunnel vision.

Speak for yourself...

2007-05-05T14:32:00.002Z

'Let the photographs speak for themselves', some say; others add 'but do we understand the language?'. Perhaps all photographers are to some extent multilingual in this regard but what might be the native 'photographic' tongue to one, may still be gobbledygook to another.

There is always the potential for disparity between what signification is intended and what is assumed by the reader, dependant for the majority at least, on convention. When photographic convention is placed under semiological scrutiny and the question of metaphor, symbol or visual pun is introduced in order to explore artistic or existential meaning, then I think it is worth writing something to elucidate which language speaks through these images and to illustrate the terrain one hopes at least to be steeped in.

To this end I tentatively present my Bloggus Ferum, ('wild blog') as yet ragtag and unformed but which like the nebulous gaseous forms in outer space which are all the while conforming to unseen forces, I hope it will also eventually coalesce into a recognisable aspect.

Secale au Secours!

2007-03-26T18:13:00.002Z

Such ponderings and pontifications as these indubitably hatch from a mind as deranged as a cracked kernel of rye, whose medieval lustre dimmed by feudal ergotine infestation betrays a imminent blotch on the consciousness that will with ease match the blackness of that bread that would erstwhile be consumed in anticipation of safe and hearty nourishment (historically by medieval folk and the less well off or by contemporary Scandinavians and Teutons, in place of its bleached and nutritionally supplemented glutenous counterpart so ubituitous nowadays).

When the bread be it even ever, ever so dark, ceases to nourish but instead shall inflict a condition that might both feed and harm the soul then solace must, if not in emergency, finally be sought; for though there may be feeding there will also, at certain times and as surely as eggs is eggs, be harm.

Tis the nature of harm to scurry in trenches already dug, its rivulets deepening its draught and widening its bore in a scurrilous way; though inconsiderate and ostensibly inanimate, its effect denotes purpose, though that may through echo have belonged to another from long ago, an even forgotten owner.

Whomsoever takes this affliction unknowingly into himself, be he of indomitable constitutiuon, stouter in mind, body and soul than Peter upon whom a church was built, or be he a waxen faced and feeble limbed fellow cloaked in a shroud of timorous naivity, it will avail him no reprieve nor devine regard once his subsconcious is rained upon by the heavens and hells in equal measure.

Thus it is that such meanderings and effusions spew forth, as the mind wanders the internal terrain, constructing follies whither he will with little or no regard for territory. A few of these constructs may if nothing else, be deemed through some convoluted mechanism (and after a bribe or two) to be of some small artistic worth ( that'll do pig ), others no doubt attract the opinion that they constitute little more than psychological graffitti; but what else is one to do with ones assortment of mental spray cans?

It is play, a waffle, a gibber, nothing more, perhaps as whilst in a dream. This has been mooted many times and by many deep thinkers (or confused persons): 'are we not all in a dream?' As Tilk would say, 'Indeed'. I would ask "are we not all veritably players in a divine play?" (as has also often been asked, strangely by the little old lady that runs the corner shop ). If we are neither one nor t'other what then are we and of what are our thoughts made; what in fact do we ultimately make other than dust when we leave?

Imagine if you will a hundred thousand years or more from now , when it's all over and our Dear Earth, or what's left of it, finds itself visited by Alien travellers looking for a perch for the night. What might be their considered verdict as they sup their Alein cup of tea and glance nonchalently about? I for one bet it will be along the lines of.. "Dusty place this, innit?'

That aside, whether for the benefit of our future Alien pit stoppers or for our more immediate delectation, the echoes of Dante & Lucifer on the one hand and Gabriel & St Peter on the other would surely add interest, a little spice, an eternal condiment if you will, to what might otherwise be considered (even to Aliens) a little insipid, a little dry repercussion of existance: the legacy of dust.

Rather, then, than 'Secale Au Secours' perhaps this should be titled 'Secale, an Ode'? For whilst I have skirted around its virtues and only fleetingly mentioned it's place in history this lesser known cousin (in terms of psychedelic pharmacopoeia) of psilocybin and mescaline, fly agaric et al, has made it's indelible mark on as many psyches as the all the aforementioned put together, for sure, in conjunction with those eddies that sculpt history, the technological, the astrological, the social; the synchronicity of it is difficult to divorce from the DNA of divine will (Higgs boson?), but that has perhaps more to do with the state of awareness than the state of science, and though the two draw ever closer and may one day make their peace, I doubt marriage will ever be on the cards.

I digress, and why not? For digression is the keynote is it not, of the effects on the mind of those under the influence of one of the distillates of Secale (also known as Ergot, a fungus that grows on Rye)? Whilst ergotin or ergometrin and it's synthetic collaterals, syntometrin and oxytocin, are used in physical medicine, it is the renowned psychological changes that made the use of the ergot alkaloid Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) so promising in psychiatry. However it was the recreational use of LSD that lead to its widespread use and effects on awareness and hence society.

Thus without the ability of those in droves under the influence of LSD to go beyond the restrictions of time, the imprint of the few (that managed it) on the DNA of dust, would be so insignificant that unless our thoretical Alien friends were actually searching for it (who knows they may be psychically vampiric) such rare nectars from the artists of consciousness would remain literally buried in the sands of time.

What harm there may be in the travelling, (and there are those that do fall badly on the journey) if the desination merits supporting such dangers, what harm is there is that?

So to save us from being dust and instead for raising us to the level of 'stardust' I raise my cup and cry " Secale Au Secours!"

What is to be discovered cannot yet be found

2007-03-20T10:35:00.001Z

Like all photographers I am aware of the influence of Bresson and Frank etc., (i.e. the better known masters), but for me, Baltz, Bullock, Callahan, Egglestone, Friedlander (especially), Kertesz , Metzler, Meatyard, Siskind and Shore are stronger influences. I have a greater resonance with their less conventional and innovative approaches to photography, although they still seem well grounded as far as my understanding of reality goes; that is to say there are those whose images which whilst unconventional, do nothing for me; it is not the experimental per se that interests me, rather that it requires a less conventional approach to photography to avail myself of a language through which I can both (re)discover and communicate my personal perception.

There is a dichotomy produced within me between the disparate demands of mundane awareness and artistic mood; they exist at opposite ends of the perceptual spectrum as far as I'm concerned (though why this tension should exist is another discussion). Although an imperative to resolve these polarities exists, in the attempt it may produce little but a messy reflection of itself, so it's unreliable as a motivator. Hopefully however it is persistence that provides an arterial route to creative blood. Providing it does indeed exist, perhaps it is to be mined from that snaking vein somewhere in the winding corridors of subterranean existential oppression, of whose existence there is sadly, no doubt.

I do often enjoy the wrestling within me between the the deliberate formal portrayal of concepts and the spontaneous unreasoned gut reaction. I find myself demanding 'why on earth am I taking a picture of that?' whilst another internal voice presses me on, to dispense with analysis and formality, to relegate the reasoning of form and charting of significance to a later time; not out of procrastination but to maintain this fleeting marginal state of mind as long as possible which like that place between sleep and waking, is usually beyond conscious control and harder to focus on than a star with the naked eye.

That's not to dismiss the infrequent but fortuituos happenstance, which may be in its effect as a small child that adds its puny tug to one side in this tug of war where the two sides are too evenly matched - although not normally significant, it can be just enough to tip the scales and provoke a sudden falling to one side into a less ordered awareness; a momentary hiatus to take advantage of as far as possible before the demands of mundanity reimpose themselves and 'normal service' resumes.

Occasionally peace is to be had when either of the internal protagonists prevails momentarily, or their impasse may even itself present the gateway sought; to an inspiration that is not born of puerile suppression, parental meaning or adult reconciliation. Provided that is where one's heart is set when there is a 'time out' - if the lull is sufficient a contrast to the ongoing melee, this brief interlude gives a temporary platform from which one can try to lauch off with filled sail unnoticed in the leeward direction.

Sometimes I feel I have a clarity of vision and intellect which at other times feels like it must have belonged to a different person altogether, as somedays, irrespective of the weather or light, I feel I am straining to catch a glimpse of anything at all through a dank mist, a fog that clouds any artistic direction or judgement or vision. Yet on another occasion it may find me crystal clear in purpose but blind in execution, it is here that I seek the example of those masters mentioned, and take them as mentors.

I observe a progression in my dominating influences from the intellectual to the visceral. I want to build on this. I have taken to wearing an iPod when walking with camera and of listening to such artists as Captain Beefheart, whose driving renderings, (nonsensical and cacophonous to many ears), elicit more subconcious representations in my photography and an increasingly satisfying experience and result for me, than those planned with logic and which give conceptually literal representations.

I am hunting, I know I am, but for what I am unlikely to know until I stumble upon it and with luck, recognise it. Then I will have found what I have not yet discovered.

The uncanny lure of Black and White

2007-03-20T09:37:00.000Z

Colour is a language of its own. In theory we could produce photographs that were virtually formless and textureless and still have an interesting image. We all have an emotional response to colour, whether we like it or not, so we will always have an emotional response to a greater or lesser degree to any colour picture ( don't believe me? Look at the "Luscher colour test" This is a test where Dr Max Luscher demonstrated that the order of preference that you choose given colours in categorically illustrates your current emotional and psychological profile). This isn't to say that we don't have an emotional response to black and white, but that the colour in a picture can be emotionally distracting, lowering the quality and effect that the composition and tone have on you, thus depleting the appreciation of those elements. Of course colour can be used deliberately in those ways: some of the greatest colour shooters do that either intentionally or intuitively.

However black and white is a language if its own too. When you see in black and white, you are less concerned with the weighting of the colour and more with the balance of the whole picture. Therefore you automatically concentrate more on composition. The easiest way to illustrate this is to compose an image first, and then choose a small aperture e.g.f11, 16 or 22 and stop down*. NOW look at at the composition - we will usually want to reframe; why? Because the colour is mostly stripped from the scene and we are unencumbered with an excess of information, the meaning and intellectual content is removed, we see through to what is behind the composition, more aware now of the shadows and highlights, the tonal weighting of the scene as a whole, and the basic building blocks of the shot.

The analogy that springs to mind is the Tarot cards (basic medieval version). They all have colour and are imbued with meaning. Yet if you strip them down to their individual geometry, so they are purely a square below a triangle, or a sphere above a square etc. the shapes alone contain significance and influence, and they become more interesting for reasons of what is behind the design, not less interesting. How often do we appreciate this with colour images ( beyond the rule of thirds)? yet it is intrinsic to black and white composition.

I think the psychological counterpart of this is that we, as human beings, have the potential to appreciate our world with a wide range of senses, yet much of the time we are caught up in the process of intellectual signification or superficial and fleeting emotions. Black and white photography invites us to become less civilised, more intuitive, giving us the opportunity to respond with our instincts, to contemplate and perfect the tone and texture, light and shadow; the basic echoes of our psyche.

This is why we feel an automatic affiliation with black and white imagery; it speaks to us on a more primitive level and therefore a more common language.

Even though black and white shots may contain meaning in the context of society, culture or emotion, in addition they are more likely to have a depth that captures us in fascination; that resonates at a level we may not at first consciously understand because of its subconscious symbolism. This medium encourages us to communicate FROM that deeper primitive part of us because we intuitively feel it talks TO us in that language.

For this reason, black and white imagery tends to be more satisfying than colour. It reaches into us at a level where satisfaction is very fundamental and essential. Therefore, our motive behind taking black and white is not always conscious, but it explains the uncanny lure it holds over us

Woe, Woe and thrice woe!

2007-03-20T00:24:00.000Z

Aquarian with both Moon in Virgo and Virgo rising; a strenuous aspect that inclines one to search for too pinpoint a focus in a too wide a vision; although a boon in local application (ask any eagle) - it is otherwise a gymnastic conundrum that teaches considerable flexibility but little else! Such a natal incongruity set my dichotomous perspective in astrological stone and hence the unremitting hunt for chaos in method, for the price of passion, for cause in shadow.

Grace a dieu, the attenuation by some other quixotic aspect fortunately imbues my character with the sense of humour essential to buffer such affliction, to bolster such burdens; as though driven on a Transilvanian pitch night, being chased by invisible hooves with nought but the most choreographed glimpse from the full moon's sudden glare of a panic striken passengers's stroboscopic lit bleak visage staring at the escaping trees, the resignation of a soul that is beyond impugning its imprisonment and the driver's hoarse exhortations for impossible pace drowned by the wind's preternatural screams, behind which the sounds of the carriage's jostling chains, its complaining structure and the pounding hooves dissonantly echoe in asynchronous cadence.

Whereupon the flailing mantle of ambition and the whip of duty are duly rendered in the twinkle of a mad eye under moonlight, to a frame of broken black and white film wrenching itself from the projectors trap, split but not incinerated, ripped from those parellell possibilities of time's myriad confluences, its flickering image slowed on the screen in stop motion stocatto, the rampant coachman and all his entrails snatched out from Chronos's very bowel

Perhaps Janus will adopt me in sympathy for my position, faced as I am by a mirror with a mirror behind me, as duplicitous infinity curves away from me fore and aft. It escapes my clutches as surely as I am inextricably clutched by it, bound by an illusory temporal effusion that spreads me thinner than butter on each fading slice of reflected vitality, woe is me, woe and thrice woe!

My image making can only reflect what and where I am, whether I know it or not and whether I like it or not. If I can capture but one of those multifacted miscreant moments, perhaps I can demand a ransom; hold it hostage for my soul's keep?

Here's one I made earlier

2007-03-19T22:13:00.000Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EEOsiJF1X0

Yup took me ages to make ages ago.
At last modern technology allows it to float like an infinite-loop hot air balloon in the calm blue skies of the internet.