Hello all,
Thank you for the many kind comments. A few responses to the queries I
remember.
The pages are all hand-coded (my hands) and writing a return link for all -
well I just didn't bother. I might though, as an uncommon solution to this has
just come to mind and if I do I'll let you know (note especially for Chuck).
With a small screen as I have, it is not a problem to move the mouse to the
back arrow, though I realise that with larger real-estate in front of your eyes
moving the mouse ( even finding the darn thing) is more of a problem. Big is
not necessarily better :-)).
I made the thumbnails 70 x 94 pixels, and a very small (indistinct) file size
so they would load very fast. Which they do, even on dialup. They are all
less than 2kb. I can make them with a bigger file size (more detail) and
bigger (more acreage) if you really want.
Chris mentioned something about the black background. Not sand, not a
digital artifact. You must have a very good screen Chris. What you have
detected is stray light being picked up by the surface of the black velvet back
cloth. I don't think my buyers will notice. Even black will reflect light :-((
I realise the positioning is not quite perfect in all cases ( and I have many
more "cases" than you have seen).
The background to all this is that I was in my favourite photo lab the other
day (and also today), and was chatting to one of the ladies who does the
processing. I mentioned that I had not found a single gallery in this city that
would show photographic images. She asked if I had thought about selling
on Trademe NZ. No, I had not, but she does and she is very happy about the
results. The clientele is mostly probably not all that fastidious as art buyers
go, but I would hope to give value for money.
So these shots were designed specifically to be sold as art to hang in a
house. I will evaluate other of my photos to see if they will fit the bill,
especially since I got my film scanner to wake up again.
I will follow her basic technique as far as mounting the photos for despatch
goes. Today she even volunteered the name of the company she uses for
gluing the prints to the backing board.. She also recommended a category to
put them in; Art, New Zealand originals. Avoid "photographs" and a dozen
other categories. Here are the urls for the category, and the URL for my
helpful lab lady. She has 8 images up for sale at present. (I asked about her
unpronounceable sales name, and she said her husband manages a Comics-
book shop, and she uses the name of a famous comics character they both
like). So much for fame - I'd never heard of it !!
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Art/NZ-originals/mcat-0339-1477-.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=412476
Somebody asked about my lighting technique. I'll try and draw it using
screen characters.
It's done inside my room. The picture window faces north (south for any
imitators in the Northern Hemisphere). It has thin double curtains - a white
solar-guard facing out, and the main curtain is a mixture of fine red and
yellow lines (not as bad as maybe it sounds). These thin curtains let a lot of
diffuse light in. I close the curtains nearly all the way, leaving a ~ 1 metre
gap. I have a sheet of thin plywood, and prop it erect, and using clothes-pegs
to hold it in place, drape down one side a small sheet of black velvet cloth.
This sheet of plywood is placed near the gap in the curtain ( 1 m away) and
angled so that NO direct light strikes the velvet but may strike a subject
placed a little way in "front" of it. Sometimes, to add variety, and in these
cases, luminosity, I use a small shaving mirror to illuminate the subjects at a
variety of angles - top, underneath, reverse side etc.
Camera is on a heavy Gitzo Studex 320 tripod with a Manfrotto 3-way tilt
head (# 3047) . I also took shots with the OM4 Ti + Zuiko 100/2 at f/22, and
the Zuiko 50/3.5, on Fuji Reala 100asa print film. They look very similar to
the E-1 shots. I just had them printed up, specifying that the black had to be
printed BLACK. (grey would NOT have been accepted !!) . I used 12 second
delay on the E-1, and the mandatory self-timer on the OM4Ti.
The (fuchsia) subjects (twigs cut off) were held in place using a makeshift
arrangement of a dress-maker's hem-line maker ( main detail is it has a
heavy round base and a slim rod standing up). A cunning arrangement of
spring-loaded clothes-pegs kept things attached, firm and still. (I find
cunning
is useful stuff). The cactus is self-supporting.
\
||
\
||
\ <--- plywood ||
x \
\
<- Gap in curtains
North to Alaska -->
||
||
||
x marks the subject.
The plywood is more nearly at right angles to the window but I cannot draw a
more accurate angle.
Hope that helps,
Brian
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