Attention Sydney siders

The Camera Club is a new community minded bar & gallery concept that’s dedicated to celebrating camera-based pursuits... find out more about this joyous little endeavour by clicking here

Hey You! Goes global

I know Ive been saying this for weeks... but the yellow camera in my Hey You! Say Cheese Goes Global Project is almost back in Australia... In 10 days it will be a year since i sent the camera with the note above out into the world for random strangers to take photos with as they pleased before passing it on!

I'm really excited about this project finally coming to a end and cant wait to get the photos developed to share with you all!

365 Days of greatful

When I first read about Hailey, a Brisbane photographer who, after some deep and meaningful's with a nun, decided to take a Polaroid a day for a year of the things she was grateful for and keep a diary of the whole experience - I thought what a rad idea... I want to do that... My friend Bobo already had plans to do a similar thing...

I'm not sure how Bobo is going but come new years day, day 1 for this little project I was too hung over to even locate my camera... 2 more days go by while I was busy at my Nonna's doing all the things she is now too old to do... folding washing, raking lawns.... refilling the kitty litter, while I'm sure these activities in the service of Non would have made great Polaroids life just got away from me a little bit and by the time the Christmas hols were over it just seemed too late to start.

Dont worry - I'm not a total lazy good for nothing, I did manage to keep my other new years resolution, which was to start this here blog on all things photography, and this in turn has inspired me to return to looking at life through the lens more often... taking more photos and sharing them right here with you.... (awww)

If you want to check out Hailey's 365 days of grateful look up, to see the remaining 363 click here & be taken to her beautiful Polaroid inspired website, where you will find not only this project but many many more images to marvel at... Hats off to you Hailey - you are one clever cat!

Visual compulsive disorder

Just a cool photo (of a cool camera) found here on a cool blog. Not much else to it really. Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Shark Island...

So yesterday I tied up another camera in the name of Hey You! Say Cheese! This one was carefully attached to a telegraph pole on the esplanade at Shark Island, Cronulla. Any other day this is quite the renowned surf spot but yesterday the place looked more like placid lake than anything else so it will be interesting to see what people actually took photos of.

I'm getting the photos developed tomorrow (along with 8 other rolls of 35mm slide that are long over due) so stay tuned people :)

Another important life lesson

I was cruising Flickr this afternoon... as i do when I'm looking for a little something to write about and i stumbled across this beautiful photo above. It was taken on a Diana camera by a man named Kevin Dooley and he had this to say about his frustrations with his films not turning out how he expected, including the photo above....

"Lesson learned--if you're going to make mistakes, make them on cross-processed Fujifilm Velvia"

Hahahaha! I love your outlook on life Kevin, I hope you keep making beautiful mistakes if they come out anything like the above. Check out more of Kevin's Flickr here.

killer crystals

So I know we were all excited about the dudes over at the impossible project reinventing the wheel and bringing Polaroid film back from the dead... but there were bound to be some bumps in the road... some things that needed ironing out and the reported killer crystal problem that is currently plaguing PX600 and PX100 film is just one of them...

Are you photos breaking up like this? Cheap plastic goodness has some great tips straight from the horses mouth on how to possibly avoid such a problem until our Impossible friends find a solution... Patience my friend it almost always works out in the end.

Thinking about travel...

I just dug out my lonely planet Vietnam book tongiht to loan to a friend at work and its got my feet all itching to travel... My lomo died 1 day into my trip to Vietnam but here is my favorite photo from a all but ruined roll of 35m kodachrome 400. You can check out the rest here

Burning Man....

Hey You! Say Cheese is a photographic project I have been running for over 2 years now... I select trees, seats, poles and festivals at random.... tie up a camera and leave this little note for strangers and curious passers by to stop, look around and take a photo before going on their merry way!

The whole idea is a little test in human decency - is some cheeky F**ker going to steal my camera? (they did. twice) or will it be left to serve its purpose? (it usually is) Its all very interesting to see this little test play out but this project is so much more than a lesson in human decency... its a opportunity to connect with a image that isn't made up of pixels. Its a small moment in time that's been given to you which is yours and yours alone to capture -But that's not even the best part about this little project....

The best part is the joy one finds in anticipation. That's right sir, no instant gratification here... something us Gen Y'ers struggle to live with out... You point, you shoot and you worry about the results later... much later... as after you take your photo you carry on with your day only to remember in a few days, weeks, or even months that you really must check out that website and see if your moment in time has been developed for the world to share in!

Its been a while since i left a camera out but i have just received a new shipment of disposable cameras and will be sending 1 to Stockholm, Sweden to the talented Mr Mike Hahn to tie up wherever he gosh darn pleases. I have also recently had the pleasure of making a new photographer type friend who next week will be travelling to The Burning Man Festival in the USA - it's bound to be a bind blowing experience for the kid and he has agreed to take two cameras with him and I am a little excited about the possibilities...

Check back here for the results in the coming weeks. The shot above was taken by almostjaded and found here on Flickr

1972 - youre awesome!

As If Charles and Ray Eames were not cool enough... what with him and his fancy chairs and her with her keen eye and nifty wooden stools the designers produced a 10 minute doco on the SX-70 back in 1972... take a few minutes to watch the above clip... sure it moves a little slow... but kick back relax and take it all in... not everything in life has to be dumbed down into a 30 second sound bite for our ADD multi tasking culture... as the story goes - you shall be rewarded for your patience!

Dreaming of halong bay

I had a dream last night I was back in Halong Bay... Its such a amazing place waking up in the morning and turning your head in any which direction takes your breath away!

every tiny island is simple pre historic, you almost expect Geoff Goldblum circa Jurassic park to come strolling out of a cave and telling you to head back quick the dinosaurs are right around the corner. This particular photo was taken on my construction job pro 600 from one such island - we canoed over to to have a better look around... that's our boat we were living on off in the distance... If you have never been i highly recommend you do, you'll wake up dreaming of halong bay too.

I have a confession to make.

Today I bought a digital camera. Yep that's right you heard me. A digital! I'll still shoot film of course and am simply viewing this purchase as a economic tactical move of soughts... You see by shooting digital I'll shoot less film which means I'll have more money to travel with next year where I plan to shoot more film - so really film wins - as does my bank account because good lord film gets more and more expensive by the day, I need to shoot digi just so i can afford to put film on the table!

Shenanigans aside I purchased a Canon 550D... its no Taz Looney Tune Polaroid but it will do the trick. Do you own one? or any DSLR for that matter, would love to know how it handles.... post below

Happy birthday Rubarb pie

Its my nieces 4th birthday today! Ruby this Polaroids for you! Found here on Flickr

Jennilee marigomen

Check more of her beautiful coastal photos out here

Take a trip...

So I met a new human on the weekend. I love meeting new humans. Especially ones who share my penchant for the curry house, coronas and creativity. This particular human goes by the name 'Flames Yates' and was introduced to me by my friend Big Dav whom I have blogged about before... Any who turns out Yates has quite the documentary style with a camera and he has graciously allowed me to post some of his Olympus Trip shots for you to check out above... Don't you just love the little light leeks you score sometimes...

You can see what else the kid is up to here

Highway daze

A good little visual somethin' somethin' involving all things ocean - click here to check out some mighty fine photos and vids. enjoy

The most important post I'll ever make...

I'm struggling to tell the difference between labor and liberal anymore... all either of them do is point out the faults with the other and make some pretty hollow promises... The greens however can have my vote and then some... This ad cant be screened on TV so please pass it on...

A Ceramic Camera

This is a pretty effin awesome polaroid (in the form of glazed earthenware) if you ask me! Cast by hand it's only 4 x 7 x 5 inches big and can be yours for the bargain price of US$70! See more ceramic cameras here.

Benjamin B

Tonight I am going to tell you a little story about a boy named Benjamin B from Bordeaux... He was kind enough to drop me a line not so long ago to tell me he loved my disposable camera project which was horribly nice of him... considering he is a perfect stranger and all it was quite a nice gesture.

Turns out the chap is quite handy with a lomo himself and in some rather endearing broken English he answers a few questions below:

How long have you been taking photos? I discover analogue photography since 10months with a lomolito (bleu). I like the lomo effect ... vintage, ...and the best way to make a great pics is to use rolls and analogue camera.

What kind of camera do you use? A Diana Mina was my choice : little , 35mm , Halframe, long exposure ... perfect for traveling in the poket :) I don't develop my roll himself, labo do that and mostly in cross process. Now i use a Olympus 35RC (vintage rangefinder)

Any last words? I try to take my camera everywhere i go, and respect lomo rules " don't think what you captured on film"... is like a surprise after ^^ Result are unpredictable but i don't retouch my pics!

The shot above was taken on a Diana Mini using Sensia 200 and cross - processed. You can check out more of bens shots on his Flickr page here! If you have just started using a film camera I would love to see some of your shots too!

Two very golden halves

Ive raved about the golden half camera here, here and here... and... well... here I go again, I dont think I have ever seen a bad shot from this tiny little piece of plastic awesomeness. I found this photo here on Holga Blog... a great site for all things film photography...

all the pretty colors

Some pretty cool light leeks can be found here at the girls are turning kinky!

I Love Daisy's (& Vintage Dresses)

Its sunday, the weather is miserable and a great day to stay in doors and drink green tea so I thought Id share this little story below i wrote a few months ago for you to read while your at it...

This particular weekend was spent in Mollymook, a quiet little beach side village no more than 4 hours south of Sydney. I'm no stranger to this part of the world as its been a favorite camping destination for years... Once our tents are up and there is air in the mattresses the rest of the day usually consists of long expeditions into the bush in search of firewood, fresh fish purchases from the local jetty followed by grand explorification of the surrounding towns... as such, my friends and I have come to know every second hand store, vintage shop and antique dumping ground in a 100km radius.

The vintage finds around the area are glorious.... Its a return to the good old days before vintage became trendy and all of a sudden I was paying $22 for a ceramic monkey as opposed to $2! Unlike Sydney where its tough to find a decent evening dress for less than $150 the beautiful town of Ulladullah offers such gems as the ones above for no more than 30 bucks... well that's a lie, the one second from the right was actually $42, but still, nothing to turn your nose up at.

In this part of the world the thrill of vintage shopping is back, and in a big way - It's the thrill of this search, the joy of rummaging through 100's of Vinyl records to find that rare Johnny Cash Classic, the elation of flicking through racks of vintage dresses to find that perfect fit is what its all about... Its not about being in Vogue or "on trend" it's about stumbling across something uniquely different that no one else has, something that's already lived a long life and seen a lot of years with the person that owned the aforementioned ceramic monkey, loved listening to johnny cash or wore that dress before you.

Its exciting its about to take on a whole other life with you too.

Combine this love of vintage with a love of daisy's and I'm' here to tell you I had one hell of a wonderful weekend. When I was little I had a pet cow called Daisy, If i ever choose to utilise my ability to make humans my daughter will bare the name and I own countless daisy brooches bought on eBay... so when I found 2 new (as in very very old) dresses, above, covered in daisy's and everywhere I walked there were Daisy's crawling along concrete footpaths - evidence of a summer just gone... well, everything was just coming up Sophie.

I hope you had a glorious weekend too!

The photos above were taken with my Taz 600 Special edition Polaroid which was only its second outing since I bought him and I'm happy to report despite pushing 15 odd years in age he handles quite well.

Meet Alex & Mina

They quit there jobs, sold their house and bid the motherland farewell to spend their days traveling the globe and taking some pretty fabulous photos while they are at it... most notably with a Polaroid 600 and a lomo... Seeing as the boyfriend and I will be doing...well... pretty much the exact same thing next year my vintage felt fedora goes off to you guys!

To check out some pretty great travel photography click here to be taken to their travelogue sending postcards...

The photo above reminds me of the last time I was in Egypt... Seems there is a lot of that going on this month as it was only last week Matt Kovaks sent me these amazing lomo shots of his jaunt via the pyramids! The funny thing about all these photos is you take one look at them and walk away thinking that these alien like structures are stranded in the middle of the gosh darn desert when really the city of Cairo is only a sand dune away and the best view of all three pyramids is from the second floor of the pizza hut in down town Cairo... but that's Egypt for you!

Lomo wall Call for entries

Every second year, photography enthusiasts and lovers the world over make the pilgrimage to Cologne, Germany to celebrate and participate in the world’s most prestigious photography and imaging trade show – the Photokina - Which presents to the masses the latest innovations and technology in the world of imaging.

The dudes at lomography have been participating in this event for the past 7 years and the apple of their event eye is the lomo wall which is a MASSIVE display of your photos!

They are now calling for entries. You can check out photos of previous lomo walls here (trust me its HUGE) or find out more about Photokina here! There are 5 different categories of which to upload your photos two and depending what country you are from (or based in at the time) There is a different link for you to upload too! Yep that's right they have split us up into teams.

Aussies submit your photos here

Egypt on my mind...

Two years ago I went to Eqypt, id almost forgotton how breathtakingly amazing it is in a wonderfully jaw dropping kinda way... That is until Matt Kovacs a lomo loving wanderer sent me the above shot. Mother F! What I wouldnt give to be back on the road...

Matt takes amazing travel photos (mostly with his lomo) you can check out more of his work here - - Keep the travel candy coming dude, it gets me through the day...

The good old days

Say hello to the very first instant camera, the Polaroid Model 95. Pretty basic huh, and when I say basic, I mean freak'n awesome, since when did basic begin to carry a negative connotation i wonder?

You see, when I say basic I mean load film, take aim and shoot.... no hi tech light levels, pixel definitions, "night time" "party" or "kids and pets" settings....just some of the features of my cannon G9 - I'm not saying I don't utilise these features, I often turn to them when shooting at night or taking photos of my niece and nephew on the run, but I also long for the days when things were simpler, when it was all about pointing and shooting and asking questions later... or not asking questions at all...just being happy with what you have.

There is a ad doing the rounds of prime time television at the moment, that says something along the lines of "do you remember the days when life was simple, before you had 9 different passwords and apple juice only had one ingredient". I don't know about you but i long for those days... granted i was about 8, but i long for them all the same!

Bare with me - i do indeed have a point... or at least i think i do....

Upon viewing the rather large stack of Polaroids on my desk awaiting to be scanned a colleague asked "why do you bother? - why not just shoot digital if you are going to take so many" Granted, she's right, I could take less Polaroids, spend more time composing others... treat them a little less like digital photos... but the idea of not taking them at all, well, I'd never entertain such a proposal - and why is that?

Because I good and proper love the simplicity of it all, nay the beauty in the simplicity in it all, and that right there is my point :)

The boada surfamily...

All things coastal living. All things photography... check out some great shots, like the one above right here...

Costa Rica on my mind

Recently Ive been republishing my most popular posts, with so many new people reading each day I just hate the thought of these being lost forever to the archives, This story below is in the top 5 easy, If you havnt read it already, Enjoy!

I'm not super keen on technology... That's not to say I don't use it, or embrace it for that mater... but I'm careful it never becomes the be all and end all, the only means to any kind of satisfactory end.... having said that - praise Jebus for my god damn iPhone. Ive had it for about a year now and its only in the last couple of weeks I've jumped on the whole application bandwagon...

You see, I recently downloaded the New York Times Application to my iPhone, this gives me daily news updates, the top 20 emailed stories, does my washing for me - you know that kind of thing.... If it wasn't for this technology I never would of stumbled across a story titled (No) Drill, Baby, Drill about a little place called Costa Rica... The best kind of reading is the learning kind, that sets a fire in your heart and lights up your mind, not to mention forces you to have a long hard look at yourself, your government, your country... the way things are and the way they should be.

They say you learn something new every day and this is what this story taught me today....

• More than 25% of Costa Rica is protected land
• They have a neat little system called "Payment for environmental services" which is all about honest growth... If you have a farm that sells bananas but destroys a carbon-absorbing and species-preserving forest then that my friend is not "honest growth" Nobody gets to treat climate, water, coral, fish and forests as a free resource they can use and abuse as they please anymore.
• Costa Rica has one Minister for Energy, Environment, mines and water. Now that you don't have your Minister of Environment going 10 rounds with your Minster of Energy over drilling for cheap oil you have time on your hands to make some smart decisions, like.... oh I don't know... investing in hydro-electric power, wind and geo-thermal - Costa Rica now rakes in 95% of its energy from these renuables.

Impressed? I sure as hell was....It's nice to know someone, somewhere in the world has their head screwed on straight.... making sure photographers like Michael Marquand have pristine landscapes to take mind blowing photos of.

Digging Michael's shots above? Click here if you'd like to see more Costa Rican beauty by the man himself and keep the story above in mind... you never know when you'll be in a position to make a difference.