Tuesday 26 February 2013

A fire, a damned good writer and wonky horizon



26 February 2013

Warwickshire's last deep coal mine is in danger of closing permanently.  Miners had been warned that unless they greatly improved productivity the mine would close in 2014/15.  News came out yesterday that a large underground fire had ignited and it would be months before any coal could be mined there again.  Today's News has said that fire as severe as the current one had not been seen for many years.  Around 650 workers are employed at the site and closure will be a hard knock for them and the area as a whole.

Today is Tuesday if you really needed to know, which means that Amateur Photographer (AP) is on sale again.  Before I read today's News I finished off last week's AP.  The last page of the mag is reserved for a regular column by 3 or 4 different writers.  Last week it was Roger Hicks turn.  Now there is man I would love to meet and chat with!  Roger is a pro photographer and has some very strong opinions as to what photography is and isn't.  In last week's column he looks at the latest fad for gimmicky photos taken mainly on camera cameras.  During the film years there were a number of errors that were seen and taken for what they were, errors.  There was also a fad for cross-processing film, that is, processing a slide film as a colour negative film.  That produced some very strange effects and it was something that I didn't try; couldn't afford it to be honest.  It seems that there are apps that will allow camera phones to produce these effects now.   But why for petes sake?  Most photographers work hard to ensure they don't make these types of errors and one way is move from the Auto settings and change all the controls and focusing yourself.  But as Roger Hicks says in his concluding paragraph, "Yet this, of course, would mean that you have to know what you are doing.  Much easier, therefore, to eschew competence and embrace inferiority."

Now I will return to the news of the underground fire at Daw Mill; the front page of the paper as a large photo of the entrance to site - but the horizon is slopping.  There's no indication of who took the shot but I hope it wasn't the staff snapper.  Whatever, I wonder what Mr Hicks would say about it?  I know I'm not impressed.  I have a friend on Facebook, well, did have a friend until he 'unfriended' me for some reason I don't know.  Anyway, he uses the Sony Alpha 350, the same camera as I used to use before the A77 was bought.  I noticed that a lot of his shots. perfectly good shots too, were spoiled by a slopping horizon.  Then he went to extremes and claimed to like the effect and was intentionally turned the camera to produce even more slope to his seascapes.  They really did look odd and I didn't like them at all.  And being my normal 'helpful' self I mentioned it him.  I also explained that any competition entries with that effect wouldn't even be looked at.  At least my friend old friend wasn't using a app to produce his shots!

And now we come to photo time ... 

A safe place to have lunch.

Funny time ...
 
I was in the jungle and there was this monkey with a tin opener. I said, 'You don't need a tin opener to peel a banana.'   He said, 'No, this is for the custard.'                

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