Hunting Party...

A few months ago I wrote here about the fun of second hand shopping being spoiled rotten (and not in a good way) by over priced city stores and the treasures that can be found out side of the city limits! I also talked here about my sadness of all things photography going digital. A friend of mine, we'll call her Katie, because, well, that's her real name, is a shining light amongst both those stories! 

On one such south coast adventure we all went a hunting! Racing all over town trying to navigate our way from one small town garage sale to the next, trying to find treasures where others saw trash. Katie hit the jackpot when she stumbled across a Polaroid 1000 Land camera, you know the ones, white with the rainbow stripe down one side and little green button that takes SX-70 film? Granted it was a little grubby and in need of some love but in case you cant tell from the photo above, Katie was just the person to supply that love.

To think someone elses "Trash" could produce such a stunning photo, sure it helps the subjects are two of the most beautiful souls you'll ever come across but some tweaking of some Polaroid 600 Film to fit the SX-70 format helped too! You can learn how to convert your 600 cartridge here...

Polaroid collection

Glad to see I'm not the only person with a wicked bad Polaroid habit.... Stumbled across some great collections here on Flickr and you can see some of my collection here, here and here!

Hey You! Vincentia!

So I left another camera out last long weekend in a sleepy little town on the south coast of NSW called Vincentia. It was a beautiful winter's day, freezing cold teamed with perfect blue sky's and just enough sunshine to get you out doors and keep you there.

I tied the camera to a tree at the end of a boat ramp with my usual note and went for a long walk, by the time i came back, less than a hour later, all the photos had been taken and these are the results! Crazy!

You can read more about Hey You! Say Cheese here...

Going to Jackson...

You can just picture a young Michael Jackson circa 1970 something, busting out tunes in his living room a Polaroid camera capturing random moments!

Write now I'm sitting in my lounge room glued to the TV as I'm sure the rest of the world is... watching Michael Jackson live concert shows on MTV, Chanel V, the ABC 2, Max... what ever your music channel of choice, no matter how late in the evening it is or how tired you are, you just cant bring yourself to turn off the TV because, lets face it, the dude (in the 70's and 80's) was the soundtrack of a generation and one hell of a performer!

While this blog is strictly about photography its also all encompassing of the arts, and Michael Jackson, personal life and media frenzy aside, was one hell of a artist. RIP fella.

A random look down

This month Ive been taking more photos of feet than ever before, Here are two of my favorite, I love the kitch 70's carpet and the eclectic selection of patterns and colours in the two shots above. You can see more random looks down here! 

The Grass is Greener

Man i know I'm starting to sound like a broken record but people like this really make me happy! I'm forever going on about how they just don't make things like they used to and constantly saddened that vinyl records have been replaced with mp3's, Polaroids with digital cameras and the ABC with foxtel digital.

It bums me out good and proper that the chances of anyone born after 1990 picking up a film camera are slim to none. I was born in 1982 and will be able to tell my kids that i remember a time before mobile phones and the Internet, back when your bank statements would come in the mail, and when you've got mail actually meant there was a tangible envelope sitting in the mailbox in your very own front yard. Sure I understand the progression isn't all bad, seeing as it takes litres of water to make just 1 A4 sheet of paper I can only imagine how many acres of tree's and gallons of water have been spared since the advent of "netbanking" but come on people... does the arts really have to suffer too?

The dudes at Grass is Greener think not and they have pulled together a tidy little family of like minded souls who just generally froth on getting back to basics, the grass roots of the creative industry where surf boards are shaped by hand and photos are exposed to film! You can visit there blog here, trust me its worth the read!

Hey You! Say Cheese! Has a new home

Visit me here

Max Wagner. Can take a good photograph!

Ive blogged before about a one Mr Max Wagner here, He is one hell of a wedding photographer and is the poster child for the whole engagement photo trend.... When I first heard of this I thought it was a little over the top, wedding photos can often be so posed and cheesy, do you really need to put you and your partner through the same torture twice and get engagement photos done too?

The answer is yes! After seeing Max's photos I had to eat my words and stand corrected all at once, He's so good one couple even flew from Hong Kong to California just to have a session with him, to immortalise their engagement, and youthful affection forever on film. If your thinking this all sounds pretty sappy check out these shots and I swear to god you'll change your mind. There is nothing cheesy or posed about these photos!

You can check out Max's website here, or follow his blog here.... Not only is a great photographer he sounds like one hell of a lovely human being, and we could use a few more of those in the world don't you think.

5 minutes with.... Ryan Tater

Earlier this week I wrote here about the awesomeness that is Ryan Tater, I don't know the dude from a bar of soap but I stumbled across his photos when he started following this here blog and let me tell you he is one hell of a photographer.... he was also kind enough to answer a few questions below. I don't know about you but i think its nice to know a little bit about the soul behind the lens... little things like what kind of camera they use, film they like or just where in the world they come from... so with out further adue, here it goes...

1. Whatchya name, where you come from and just how long have you been here? Ryan Tatar, I'm 30 (gulp) and from the USA (Just left California for Wilmington, North Carolina)
2. What are you shooting with these days? Previously a Canon Rebel xti. I Recently went all-film. 1971 Canon FTb, 196X Nikonos II 35mm, Holga 120N, Polaroid Land Camera, 196X Olympus Pen EE Half-Frame 35mm
3. Do you have a favorite film to use? Not really, but definitely cross processing slide film
4. If you could pick a song that best describes your photos what would it be? Great question. something by the Photographic or the Black Keys maybe. I cant pick a single tune.
5. Where did u pick up your first camera? From my parents in Michigan back in the day.

I guess there is not much more to say except if you'd like to see more of Ryan's work other than the shots above, you can click here, here and here.

Random Looks Down...

As you know I've been a busy bee scanning some of my Polaroids this week. Ive created a "Random Looks Down" set on Flickr for you to check out here. The shots above were taken last year in Egypt, in case those giant pyramids didn't give it away... on my Polaroid 600 Job Pro, each shot bled a little bit, I somehow don't think Polaroid was made to withstand 52 degree days! boy oh boy was it hot!

Collector at heart

I don't know what it is exactly, what portion of the brain is responsible for the urge to collect... What makes one person a minimalist and the other a hoarder... and which one are you? A quick look around my house above and you'll soon ascertain I'm a hoarder... I've just been interviewed about this dirty little habit of mine so stay tuned for the article on nine to five come July 6.

And yes, those are real false teeth...they were my grandpa's and I think they're cute!

Ryan tater - Surfing in the USA

I gotta tell you people I get all excited when i stumble across photographers like Mike Brodie, Kim the girl behind the amazing Polaroid house and now a one Mr Ryan Tater from a little place called America, They are like freaks of nature from a bygone era except for one tiny insignificant little detail. They are from the here and now... choosing to embrace film in a world that's walked swiftly in the opposite direction and smack bang into the arms of the digital revolution.

Ryan's shots have a depth and warmth to them you don't often see in surf photography these days, where every line is sharp and every drop of water is crystal clear... His compositions are a thing of beauty and his penchant for shooting vintage cars is a nice reminder to us all to get back to the simple life... a life before electric windows and leather seats, back to a time when it was about the journey not to mention peeling your arse off a vinyl seat on a hot summers day.

Sure I love my Canon G9 and my iPhone comes in pretty damn handy most days, I'm not dissing technology, I'm just saying its photos like these that remind you you can have both, The old saying you cant ride two horses with one arse just does not apply here people, Next time you go to a party, sure, take your digital, but next time you go the beach do yourself a favour, find some film and take your Polaroid, or 35mm if that's what does it for you....you can have your cake and eat it too, so enjoy :)

You can follow what Ryans up to here on his blog, or if you happen to find yourself in sunny New Jersey on July 4 you can check out his exhibition "Cape Fear Kooks" at the Lightly Salted Surf Macado in Asbury park!

My polaroid gallery

Wow... Now i know why digital caught on so fast... scanning Polaroids is one slow and lengthy process, let me tell you my friend! But boy oh boy is it worth it once your done! I'm slowly scanning my Polaroids one by one and adding them to my Polaroid gallery.... 30 down, approx 650 to go!

Diana F+

I scored a new camera today, the Diana F+! Pretty damn cute piece of plastic huh! I'm very much looking fwd to taking this bad boy at for a spin... it takes all kinds of film, can anyone recommend a good 120 colour film?

Oh and wanna know the best part? you can get a Polaroid back attachment for this camera, read more about it here

I heart Daffodils...

They are my favourite flower, they used to grow along the fence line of our old farm and the smell is just one of those smells that immediately transports me back to 1986 and I'm 4 years old again... running around our back paddock, probably annoying the hell out of my big brother, and just smelling that beautiful smell.

You know what else i love... Tiffany Teske's Photography, that's her image above, and you can check out more of her beautiful photos here on her blog, She's pretty damn handy with a Polaroid transfer, not to mention a camera!

Likes to travel. Takes Photos.

I spent my day today curled up in bed planning a Asian adventure... Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, we are going to do it all... well as much as we can in a month, long treks into the mountains in Sapa, have breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore zoo, Sail the Mekong Delta from Saigon to Phnom Penh and relax on a beach in Ko Samui....

I booked flights, accommodation, even airport transfers when it hit me, shit, I have to start stock piling my Polaroid film. Last time i went over seas I took 20 packs of Polaroid 600 film with me, that's 200 photos - you should of seen me, bolting from one side of Zurich airport to the other trying to make a connecting flight to Cairo with a pack that already weighed a tonne, it was borderline ridiculous. But no way in hell was I going on the adventure of a life time with out my Polaroid camera... let alone enough film to get me through 2 to 3 months!

This time I think I might just have to tone it down a bit and only pack 10 cartridges... which seems reasonable I know, sensible too because let me tell you Polaroid film, in bulk, ain't light... now i just have to decided which camera to take, I had this dilemma before, and ended up packing six cameras I think... regardless of what camera I choose to take, I'm just excited to hit the road again... meet some new people, swim in foreign waters, live some fun moments and maybe, just maybe, be lucky enough to capture one or two of those moments on film, to get me through to the next time we hit the road to master the fine art of explorification! woo!

Technology you're just too good to me!

Ive posted here before about how great this little thing called stat counter is, it allows me to see where all my readers come from... mostly its the UK, Australia and America (big shout out to California you guys love a good Polaroid by the looks of this map) but when i get random hits from Iraq and Iceland it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside that photography can transcend oceans and continents, that there can be so much fucked up shit going on in the world but for a few minutes each day we are all united by a love of photography, capturing any random moment in life before it passes you buy... its a pretty damn cool thing don't you think!

Got Milk?

OK so this particular shot is a digital, shot on a Leica D-Lux 4 to be more specific (if i had a lazy few thousand stashed under the mattress I'd be buying a Leica let me tell you) but lets put the fact its a digital shot aside for a second and just focus our attention on the light hitting those horses! A thing of beauty is it not!?! See more shots from Milkid on his blog, some great Holga black and whites for you to get all inspired by on there too!

Kill All Artists has a new home on the web

Ive finally published my website, good and proper this time, no more "design tweaks" to which i really mean complete changes in creative direction again I promise... You'll find all kinds of things here including my Polaroid Gallery, my portfolio (for Art direction) and the Hey you! Say cheese Photo Gallery along with some other bits and pieces...

Oh and if your wondering where I got that super rad looking font from, hate to disappoint, but its not a font, my mate... lets call him Big Dav, whipped it up in illustrator with his bare hands. Big Dav also happen to be a mighty fine photographer and clothing/graphic designer and I highly recommend you check out his work here

How to use a Polaroid Pack Camera

I have a few of these cameras and by god they are tough cookies to get a handle on.... Ive wasted whole packs of film trying to figure out why the hell they keep coming out all black... or all white.... your lighting needs to be spot on if you don't use a flash bulb, and finding a EE66 or a EE44 with out a faulty flash socket is one tough gig my friends (trust me i know!) and then there is getting a handle on the timing... how long do you leave it to develop before peeling back a layer to take a peep... too soon or too long and your image is toast...

I'm slowly getting there and its sites like this one that really help me out! Its a fantastic "how to" for Pack film Polaroids, and given Fuji still makes the film (and have no plans to stop) its a medium i think we should all get behind. Scroll down the bottom and there is a great trouble shooting Q and A as well!

The shot above I stumbled across here on flicker by a creative type that goes by the moniker jonespointfilm... the saturation  of colours and depth in shadow is amazing on this film, he could you not want to know everything about it!