Milky Goodness...

I've posted about Tom here here and here... so tonight I'm not going to write a thing... his black and whites above, shot on a Olympus Stylus Epic 35mm camera at this years Splendour in the Grass music festival say it all... Click here to check out more.

Note to self: buy scanner...

So Ive been posting a lot about other photographers lately and have been struggling to post my own stuff. Why you ask? Well the short story is I resigned from my post at Sunday Life Magazine where I had mellow days and plenty of time to make good use of the scanner conveniently located next to my desk.... I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I now find myself to be the art director of a national weekly magazine where I don't have time to whistle Dixie and there isn't a scanner in sight!

Its with this in mind I say thank god for Ryan Tater, I came home this evening, fresh from my weekly deadline (and when i say fresh i mean so ruined I could barley summon the coordination to fit my key in the door) to find a email from the lovely Ryan, whom I've never met, telling me all about a one Mr Bill Pressly!

Who is Bill? Bill is some kind of American that makes surfboards high in the mountains for 6 months of the year. The other 6 months is spent in mainland Mexico...Seems like a pretty unique guy, his surfboards are all made by hand from start to finish... Its interesting souls and originality like that which inspires us to take photos.

Ryan shot the above with an old 1968 Nikonos II waterproof camera and crossed processed a roll of fuji provia 100 speed at a cheap 1hr place - They arnt perfect, but that's what makes them so beautiful. Enjoy.

Leica gold...

I never post digital photos on this blog, it is after all about the fine art of film, specifically Polaroid. But for a one Mr Tom Milledge I'll make a exception... the kids got himself a Leica D-Lux4 and by god he uses this mass of pixel madness to great effect, his shots constantly remind me to dust of my Canon G9 occasionally and take it out for a spin... I get so caught up in my Polaroids I forget sometimes you can have just as much fun with digital... OK not as much... (because nothing, and I mean nothing beats the giddy anticipation of watching and waiting for a Polaroid to develop) but almost!

You can check out more of tom's Leica gold here....I don't know about you but i want me a owl mask!

This is Andrea and Andrea Has a List...

I stumbled across the beautiful photo above here on Flickr... Its taken by a girl called Andrea and Andrea has a list. A list of what you ask? 37 things she wants to do before she turns 38.

You can check out the list here on her blog.. Whats cool about this list is instead of ticking each one off as she goes she takes a polaroid of the aforementioned thing and posts a link to it on her virtual list. There are some beautiful shots on there and I highly recommend checking it out if you have five minutes to kill...

Alternatively why don't you make your own list and upload photo evidence for each one you complete.... I for one will be adding making that list to my current list of things to do... Any excuse to take a photo.

Max Wagner is at it again....

Kelly Slater speaks to waves, Robert Redford Whispers to horses and I'm pretty sure there is some dude in America that talks to dogs... But all of them have nothing on Max Wagner who wrangles light like no other! man can take a photo you cant argue with that...

Check out his latest above and on his blog here....

Photography...a form of meditation

There are a lot of cool photographers out there. Ryan Tatar, The Polaroid Kid, Jen Gotch... Just to name a few... and there are a lot of cool Photographic projects to go along with them like 365 days, The Anonymous Photo Project, and of course my very own Hey You! Say Cheese!

But Susannah Conway and her Unravelling e-courses really caught my eye. Here we have a well educated photographer and journalist who had a job at a National paper as Fashion editor. A job where her life was centred around appearance and style...She says she always new something was missing but when her partner died in 2005 she went looking for it.

Looking (and appreciating) life through a lens was a form of meditation for her, a grieving process so successful she developed into a course... Sounds a little crazy ya? But its such a beautiful project really, you can participate on any level you like and its simply about finding more about you.... Susannah says:

"The Unravelling e-courses are designed to help you heal the way you see your self and your world, using photography and journalling to access hidden thoughts and dreams, encouraging personal realisations and ultimately acceptance."

To date she has had participants from 25 countries around the world, pretty impressive statistics if you ask me, she also keeps a blog of her own journey here.

Laddies and Gentleman... Robert Reader

Robert Reader... sounds like some kind of outrageous undercover super hero doesn't it? Something along the lines of Clark Kent perhaps but instead of jumping into telephone booths and saving the day Robert Reader takes Polaroids and brightens your day.

Check out his impeccably scanned Polaroids on his website here and just take a moment to sit back and enjoy the calm that washes over you when one stops to enjoy the beauty...

I don't know much about the man himself but I hear his camera is surgically attached to his arm, stay tuned to find out more....

The disposable camera bandwagon

We all know Ive long been aboard the disposable camera bandwagon, I tie them to telegraph poles and leave notes for perfect strangers to have a little fun and I'll be back later to pick them up! Its a nice little way to remind people of the joys of film (you can view the results here) and its a sneaky little test in human decency too - Will some fucker steal my camera? Thus far no!

Every now and then I come across another soul aboard this disposable camera bandwagon I speak of, first there was the Anonymous Photo Project, Then I heard about a crafty little lady called Laura and her Disposable camera blog and now (in fact thanks to Laura) I've stumbled across another disposable spirit in the name of The Disposable memory Project, These guys leave cameras bloody everywhere and you can track via google maps just how far the camera travels, some have made it across various oceans and continents while others have just made it around the block, regardless of the distance traveled these shots come up trumps time after time.

Provided the participants follow the rules and report back to the site on who finds what camera, where they left it to be found by the next lucky soul etc the results eventually wind up posted here on their website.

Check out the shots above and get clicking to find out more!

This just in from Ryan Tater

Pretty nice isn't it. Makes you want to go out and start shooting right this very second don't it? Well what are you wasting our time standing around here reading this for? Get going people :)

Read more about the lovely and talented Ryan here. The man's got styles!

The latest from Adie loves Polly

Ive blogged about Adie before... back then she was 4 years old. She has her own camera called Polly, with which she takes photos and posts them on her blog here.

Now Adie is 5 and her latest Polaroids above are anything to go by things really do get better with age, hell I'm sure there are plenty of people 10 times her age who cant compose a photo like Adie can! Enjoy the pure unadulterated creativeness and find out more about Adie here.

You're gonna love this..

You've read here before about Polaroid Collections, Polaroid jewellery and even a 4 year old called Addie with her own Polaroid blog and now I'm here to tell you about Polaroid note cards. A pack of 20 cards with some damn fine looking Polaroids printed on the front. Click here to Place a order... a bit to girly for you? Suck it up and order some for your mum!

SX-70 SONAR ONE-STEP LAND CAMERA

Finally Ive added a sonar one-step land to my collection, It's on its merry way from America as we speak. Anyone else have one of these bad boys? Stay tuned for some results.

Trend vs Individuality

The photo above got me thinking and to mulling over a few choice phrases... "In Vogue" and "On Trend" and it dawned on me that a trend is essentially everyone else saying something else is OK by societies standards... That we like this and you should like it to... It's a bit of a sad thought isn't it.

I live in a part of the world dominated by a lot of super lovely coastal people but also a part of the world where, if Cosmopolitan Magazine has red pumps and black leggings teamed with your boyfriends tee sprawled across its fashion pages then you can bet your bottom dollar that, in the same month every single teen and twenty something you pass on the street will be wearing that very same outfit.... Has the world gone mad? When did trend become a positive word? If you ask me Its waging war against individuality.....

Individuality... something the 5 souls above have in spades... check em out, all uniquely different not giving a damn... hamming it up.... joking around and focusing there energy on just being - not being on trend. The fact that it was taken on kodak Gold 400 and cross processed in C-41 just makes it all the more better!

A disposable kind of love

For the love of god! Finally someone with the same penchant for disposable cameras as I have! I'm telling you people in 10 years time they will be the new Polaroid so jump on this bandwagon now while there is still truck loads available... and remember you heard it here first. You just can't beat the grain, saturation, random lighting effects and pure awesomeness that spew forth from these tiny disposable little boxes... and i dare anyone to prove me wrong!

Forever curious about new readers I stumbled across Laura's blog when she started following this blog, She carries a disposable camera where ever she goes and snaps up random moments before they pass here by, I mean come on people! If I had a nickel for every time i stumbled across a room full of monkey masks or a sink full of amputated dolls legs and WISHED I'd had a camera on me I'd be a rich lady!

Check out more of Lauren's work here, she also makes a pretty cool little limited edition awesome as shit zine called okay - you can read more about that here! Soak it up my friends.... but if this isnt enough to quench your disposable thirst then click here to be taken to my disposable gallery! woo!

Kyle Hale - Photographer

Wedding photography is no longer just another excuse to have a bad portrait taken, its becoming a increasingly creative and experimental for both subject and shooter alike.

Take Kyle Hale for example, now here is a photography not willing to settle for the standard "gaze longingly into each others eyes" engagement shot! The dude has a wicked sense of scale just check out his shots above or pay the kid a visit here.

The collectors

I got interviewed a few weeks ago about my polaroid collection, some of which you can see piled high on my shelves above. The mag came out this week but you can find the extended version online here...

Surfers for Cetaceans

I don't always talk about photography, sometimes I'll talk about a certain environmental issue, Yeah i know this is a photography blog, but my argument has always been if we don't take care of our world one day we'll find our selves minus the beautiful landscapes and creatures that inspired us to pick up a camera in the first place. Its with that in mind I'd like to post today about Surfers for Cetaceans (also know as S4C)

A community committed to bringing together ocean-minded people everywhere to support the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and marine life. Like they say "We seek to be a human voice for and defender of cetaceans worldwide"

I read about S4C on a little blog I follow (and have been thoroughly enjoying) called the collectic life and felt the need to spread the word! Sure it would be great if you could make a donation to the cause, but more importantly, take 5 to log on and educate yourself like i just did and perhaps sign the visual petition here! Its a photo based petition which allows you to download various images and/or artworks of whales and dolphins to create your visual portrait with and lets face it, you photographers are going to love it!

Free Fuji Instax Film

Heads up to everyone if you make some kind of Instax camera purchase at the lomography store no matter where you are in the world right now, it comes with free film, which is exactly the kind of film we like!

It even included the instant back that attaches beautifully to the Diana camera! Click here for more details. To get a idea of the crazy shit that goes down when you team your Diana up with a instant back check out the photos above!

Mypower. Your Power

I cant believe I haven't blogged about these dudes before. MyPower should of been the first thing that came to mind when I blogged about 365 days of greatfull as they did just this (took a Polaroid a day for a year if you are wondering what exactly "this" is)

But MyPower did some much more than take a photo a day for a year, 3 friends circumnavigated Australia on their bicycles! That's right you heard me, These dudes rode around the whole of Australia, 17805km, on there bikes for no other reason than to raise awareness for sustainable living and educate some primary school grommets while they were at it.

They learned, lived and loved through sweat, blood and tears for 12 months just for a cause, and now they have been nominated for a Banksia award ( For all you American readers that aren't quite sure what that is , The Banksia Awards is Australia's version of the Oscars, just replace movies with the environment and you are on the right track)

Please, No matter where you are in the world, in exchange for a virtual hug and some good karma coming your way, Click here to send a vote their way! Much thanks!

Monster Children Photo Issue

Roll up Roll up. The highly anticipated not so annual Monster Children Photo Issue is on sale today... Now prepare your self for some shameless self promotion, but this here blog and the Hey You! Say Cheese! photo project is featured!

Those of us who float around the publishing industry would know that the newsagent gods tend to frown upon bare naked breasts and humans smoking being displayed on their news stand covers so If you fancy the top issue above you'll have to go here to purchase it for the bargain price of 10 Aussie dollars!

Traveling Photos

These Beautiful images from Cinzia here on Flickr have inspired me to pack a whole lot of slide film as well as Polaroid 600 when I hit the road in September for my trek through Asia! i just love the way sun rays can come out any which way on film... you never know what you re gonna get which is just the thing i love most about taking photos on film!

More on Ryan Tater

Ive blogged about this dude before both here and here but just wanted to refresh your memory, No one captures coastal living like this man and his blog is a great one to keep a eye on as he randomly posts photos and lists what camera and film type he uses taking out the experimental leg work for us! The shot above for example came from a Nikonos II using Fuji Sensia 200 AHA and knowing Ryans work I'll hazard a guess and say it's been cross processed too!