inexistentia

Some New Gear

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:21:27 GMT

I ordered a 6×12 roll film back from Badger Graphic (in Wisconsin) yesterday. The roll film backs fit onto large format cameras with graflok backs and allow the use of medium format roll film (large format cameras usually use sheet film). The 6×12 means I can take exposures that measure 6cm high by 12cm wide, which will be adequate for large panoramic reproductions.

^{Shen Hao 6×12 Roll Film back, at Badger Graphic for $USD295}

At the same time I ordered a Toyo 3.6x loupe for critical focus. Large Format cameras employ a huge ground glass viewfinder, and the loupe acts as a magnifying glass when placed against the ground glass, so that you can confirm you have your focus correct in all the important areas of your composition. The Toyo loupe is made especially for large format cameras with fold out hoods on their back, so it is fairly long.

^{Toyo 3.6x Loupe, at Badger Graphic for $USD43.95}

I received an email from USPS last night about the shipping which was impressive. I should get the gear next week at a guess. Should be fun to play with.

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Speed Graphic

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:52:08 GMT

My mate Greg in Toowoomba has lent me a Graflex Speed Graphic 4×5 press camera to experiment with while I work out whether I want to get my own.

^{A speed graphic press camera}

We went for a drive out to Millmerran on Saturday afternoon and shot a couple of black and white sheets on it, and developed them yesterday. The first didn’t turn out properly as there were temperature differential issues in the developing tank, so we tried a different method and ended up with a nice crisp neg:

^{Railway Bridge, Millmerran - the image when clicked will open a large version in Flickr}

The film used in the speed graphic is 4 by 5 inch sheet film, which allows enormous enlargement and reproduction. The above image was scanned from the negative I took Saturday, at 2400 DPI, which resulted in an image about 12,000 pixels wide - large enough to print a poster 40 inches (about a metre) wide, at 300dpi.

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Brisbane Meetup on the Weekend

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:24:08 GMT

The Brisbane Flickr group I’m a part of had a lunch meet on Saturday at the Caxton, followed by coffee at the Powerhouse, during which we caught up on gear acquisitions and took random portraits of one another. Before we left Fortitude Valley we went up to the cliffs for sunset and blue hour (the hour after sunset). Most of us took panoramas and landscapes of the city but since I didn’t have my tripod with me I improvised (shot below).

The following morning we met up at about 4:30am at Fingal Head on the Northern NSW coast for a dawn shoot and light painting (long exposure photography using torches or flashes to illuminate subjects - in this case the lighthouse at Fingal Head). I didn’t take part in the light painting but took a few shots during and after dawn.

As usual, each of the images opens up to a wallpaper size version if clicked.

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Brisbane CBD

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:05:27 GMT

The Treasury Casino with skyscrapers of the Brisbane CBD backdropping, through the mangroves of South Bank.

Brisbane’s iconic Victoria Bridge sweeps across to the Brisbane CBD, with the Chifley on Lennon’s and Riparian Plaza skyscrapers dominating the skyline.

The source exposures for these image were taken using a Mamiya Sekor C f2.8 45mm lens mounted on a Canon EOS 450D.

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First Stab at a Greasemonkey Script

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:42:06 GMT

Following in the footsteps of Dave Pearson, I have produced my own Greasemonkey hack attempt. This script implements a visual Textile helper called markItUp on the RedBubble site, and places the helper above all textareas.

If you are interested in trying the script, you need to be running Firefox for starters, and you need to install the Greasemonkey addon. Once you have done this, you can fetch the Greasemonkey script from here.

If you do try it, please be sure to notify me of any bugs you find.

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Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:57:16 GMT

I went to Mount Coot-tha Botanical Gardens on Sunday and tested out my Hanimex 135mm manual focus lens coupled with Kenko extension tubes again. In between bursts of wind I ended up getting a few decent macro shots of flowers.

Each of the images below links to a wallpaper size version on Flickr.

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Gear Porn

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:54:14 GMT

I think there is a point in every budding photographer’s life where one takes stock of one’s gear, thinks “holy christ!” and decides to share it with the world. I am at one of those points.

Behold!

Taken with the 450D and the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 USM II (obviously not present in the shot).

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Rose

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:00:35 GMT

Taken in New Farm Park, Brisbane

Get a wallpaper from Flickr by clicking the image below:

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Pink Flowers, New Farm

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:54:24 GMT

I spied some small flowers blooming on a shrub as I walked past a drive way in New Farm, and zoomed in for a close shot.

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Brisbane CBD from Mount Coot-tha

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:45:11 GMT

Mt Coot-tha is located 7 kilometres west of Brisbane’s City Centre and occupies one of the most beautiful vantage points from which to view an Australian capital city and surrounds. Commanding panoramic views over the city of Brisbane and beyond to Moreton Bay and it’s islands to the East, and the Glasshouse Mountains and the D’Agilar Range to the West.

It is surrounded by the 220 hectare Mt Coot-tha reserve which is an oasis of natural bushland and native wildlife. The Taylor Range of which Mt Coot-tha is a part, forms a backdrop of hills to the city of Brisbane.

Get a wallpaper from flickr by clicking the image below:

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A few more scans from the weekend

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:55:22 GMT

Some scans from slide film, taken with my 60-odd-year-old Meopta Flexaret IIa twin lens reflex camera (a few more photos of the camera itself are here).

A couple of test shots taken on slide film with the Holga 6×12 pinhole camera

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Activity at the Busway

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:18:45 GMT

Double exposure taken on the Busway Open Day in Brisbane, May 2008.

This exposure was taken on a Meopta Flexaret IIa Twin Reflex Camera, using Fujichrome Velvia 50, and scanned using a Canon Canoscan 8600f before extensive digital processing.

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Highfields, Over the Valley

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:56:36 GMT

Highfields is a region north of Toowoomba which follows the line of the Great Dividing Range. This view is facing East over a valley with the afternoon sun behind.

This exposure was taken with a Meopta Flexaret IIa, on Fujichrome Velvia 50 RVP, then scanned using a Canon Canoscan 8600f and digitally processed.

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Dawn, Shorncliffe

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:54:02 GMT

Dawn looking east from Shorncliffe Pier, North of Brisbane.

Taken on a Meopta Flexaret IIa Twin Lens Reflex, using Fujifilm Velvia 50 slide film.

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Melbourne, Montage

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:22:20 GMT

This is an unintentional double exposure on my Flexaret TLR, which produced a rather spiffy (in my opinion) montage of the Melbourne CBD.

Scanned from a Velvia 50 exposure and digitally processed.

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Stream, Weir Track, Stoney Creek

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:28:39 GMT

Here is a view of Stoney Creek in Far North Queensland. My friend Margot and myself went for a short walk up the Weir Track which runs parallel to the creek, and took a few photographs along the way.

From the Wet Tropics Website:

Stoney Creek is a popular swimming spot for locals and visitors. You can swim in the creek near the carpark or climb up the old rocky roadway to some isolated and pristine swimming holes amidst the boulders upstream. The walk narrows to a rough path above the creek valley which levels out and meets the creek at the small concrete weir after a kilometre.

Link to the page

I have also made this into a wallpaper, over at flickr.

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Northern Beaches from Henry Ross Lookout

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:34:15 GMT

The Henry Ross Lookout is on the Kennedy Highway (part of the Savannah Way), which cuts its way up the Macalister Range above Smithfield, a township in the Northern Beaches stretch north of Cairns, to Kuranda at the top of the range.

The Kennedy Highway affords spectacular views of the low lying areas between the range and the ocean, and also takes one through lush rainforest areas.

I took this exposure on a beautiful clear day.

This image can be bought as a framed print, or in one of several other formats, from RedBubble

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Stream, Weir Trail, Stoney Creek

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:40:48 GMT

Stream, Weir Trail, Stoney Creek

Originally uploaded by Shaun Johnston

Here is a shot of Stoney Creek in Far North Queensland. My friend Margot and myself went for a short walk up the Weir Track which runs parallel to the creek, and took a few photographs along the way.

This post is syndicated from shaunjohnston.com

Fog over Brisbane CBD, June 4th 2008

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:36:23 GMT

The centre of Brisbane was shrouded in cloud as I headed to work so I hopped off the bus at Victoria Bridge and snapped off a hand-held panorama. As a result there are a few parallax errors but it still gives a good indication of the fog cover.

(click to see a -much- bigger version)

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A few shots from the Horizon 202

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:26:27 GMT

I put a 24 exposure roll of Fuji Superia 400 through the Horizon 202 panoramic camera recently but I lost about half because the spindle ripped the film as I was rewinding. I need to find a way to amend this problem because it seems to be happening more frequently.

Anyway, here are some shots:

These were taken after the Inner City Bypass open day. A small group of us from a photographic meetup group gathered together and were less than impressed by what the council were displaying, so we went and drank some coffee instead.

A few of us also went to the Cameraholics photographic fair at the end of May. Bargains were taken advantage of by all, including myself. I picked up a $1 (yes you read right) Voigtlander 35mm rangefinder … however it needs some work. A little bit of lens fungus and an unpredictable shutter that occasionally sticks.

The week before, a few mates gathered together at New Farm Park and threw some frisbees around, played some bocce, and endured semi-freezing gales.

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T-Shirt Design

Sat, 10 May 2008 23:08:45 GMT

I have uploaded my first t-shirt design to RedBubble. It’s farily simple, and is based on something I wrote some years ago.

Check it out here

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Dulce Et Decorum Est

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:15:52 GMT

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie;

Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen, KIA, 4 Nov 1918.

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Mount Coot-tha at Dusk

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:19:44 GMT

Mount Coot-tha at Dusk

Originally uploaded by Shaun Johnston

This is a (fairly heavily processed) panorama of Mount Coot-tha taken on Easter Sunday, 2008. I decided the clouds and the CBD were the main subjects so highlighted and added drama to them accordingly.

This post is syndicated from shaunjohnston.com

A question of Scale

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:40:46 GMT

Whenever I travel to the central business district of Brisbane, I am struck by the scale of the concrete and glass skyscrapers dominating the skyline. I know these are by no means impressive buildings on a world scale, but still, they look pretty intimidating when you’re standing at the foot of one.

Given the relative awe that hits me when seeing a structure of this scale, I decided to compare it to, say, celestial scales. With a little research, I found some figures and away I went.

Let’s say we take a 180 metre skyscraper. That is about 100 times the height of the average male human. Pretty impressive. Now think about the diameter of earth - 12,750 kilometres, or 70,833 of those skyscrapers stacked on top of each other. That is almost impossible to imagine. Unfortunately for the human brain, that’s just the beginning.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is 142,800 kilometers in diameter. This is equivalent to about 11 Earths laid end to end. 779,163 skyscrapers.

Sol, our sun, is 1,390,000 kilometers in diameter. Equivalent to just under 10 Jupiters, 110 Earths or 7,791,630 skyscrapers. Consider that the distance to our Moon is 382,500 kilometers. This means Sol, by itself, has a diameter of over three times the distance from Earth to the Moon.

But Sol is just a runt in the grand scheme of things when it comes to stars.

Sol is a yellow dwarf, one of the most common star types in our galaxy. They’re small, long-lived and quite stable as a rule, which is likely why life has arisen here. The larger stars get, the lower their lifespan. Sol will likely last another 5 billion years or so, while some of the largest giant stars may live for a few tens of millions of years. These stars are unimaginable in scale, so much so that if our Sol were laid next to one, it would barely be visible.

The largest known Red Giant star in our galaxy, Antares, has a diameter approximately 700 times that of Sol, or around 973,000,000 kilometers. Consider this. What if, somehow, Antares replaced our Sol in our solar system? Well, that would mean that Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars would instantly be swallowed whole, because the radius of Antares is larger than the orbiting distance of these planets around our sun. Jupiter, orbiting at a distance of approximately 780,000,000 kilometers, would most likely survive, as would the other gas giants, at least long enough for Antares’ massive gravity well to suck them in and swallow them as if they never existed.

But there’s more. VY Canis Majoris is the largest known star in our galaxy - a Red Hypergiant with a diameter of approximately 1800 to 2100 that of our sun - or between 2,502,000,000 and 2,919,000,000 kilometers. This is close to the orbiting distance of our second largest gas giant, Saturn. Also, at this point we’re looking at 16,216,667,000 skyscrapers (yes, sixteen billion). I literally cannot imagine something of this magnitude, and I expect that if I did see it from a relatively safe distance, my mind would be overwhelmed anyway.

These are just the Suns. We haven’t hit the size of our galaxy, the Milky Way, our Galaxy Cluster or the possible size of the Observable Universe itself, and there is really no point because it is unimaginable anyway. No wonder people look to gods when faced with the unbelievable size and majesty of our Universe.

Further Reading:

I have always had an interest in the cosmos and its magnitude but I just can’t imagine the scale. So, in a quest for enlightenment I happened across some images kindly drawn up by folks who want to help people make that correlation. Comparative planetary and stellar sizes

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Apostles

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:02:29 GMT

Apostles

Originally uploaded by Shaun Johnston

Taken in the afternoon haze as clouds roll over the mainland from the Southern Ocean, looking toward the Eastern members of the twelve apostles.

Purchase a print from RedBubble

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