All (fairly) quiet on the photographic front

I haven't had the time or inclination to take many photos recently, but there were a few fantastic night-time skies, and I did spend an hour or so with my telephoto lens and the wireless remote, trying to take pictures of the moon. It's hard. You need absolute stillness, and although I figured my shutter speeds were fast enough, I never took into consideration the movement of the moon which is massively magnified when you use long lenses. Even though the pictures looked crystal clear on the LCD, they were disappointingly soft when transferred onto the laptop. Here is the only one I was reasonably happy with, and even this required great sharpening and cropping.

Astrophotography is like this great white elephant in the corner of the room that I refuse to acknowledge the existence of. I know I'd love it. I also know that I don't need any more equipment, other than a simple device made out of a couple of pieces of wood and a bolt, and a stopwatch. I used to think that photographing 'deep sky' stuff was a question of great magnification, but in fact what you need is lots and lots of time to collect enough light to bring these things out. I can feel that this sort of photography is within my reach, and I can already imagine the shivers of excitement that I'd get when successful for the first time.

I also know that it might drive me utterly, irreversibly, insane. Astrophotography involves stuff that my brain was not programmed for, such as Hard Sums, and Following Instructions Properly. Even trying to follow the instructions for something that is supposedly simple, calibrating an equatorial mount, drives me just a little bit mental. It's frustrating that something so incredible is within my reach, but at the same time quite far.

The only other photo I put up on Flickr recently was this one:

This was actually taken a few months ago. I never delete any photos. Ever. Even blurry, out of focus, boring photos that were just taken at the spur of the moment and have to real meaning. This isn't because I think I might use them, but I think more just a natural instinct that I have as a hoarder; I subscribe to the timeless fallacy of the hoarder, that "it might come in handy one day". Well for once it did. This shot, in colour dull and lifeless, sort of appeals to me in black and white. I saw it while looking over some old pictures, and when I turned it into black and white, it instantly looked miles better. You can make out the nice lighting of the trees, their long shadows due to the fact that it was taken late in the evening. The figure on the right, just out-of-place when in colour, takes on something of an ethereal quality when the picture was transformed. I think if I saw this picture I would be fairly impressed.

But is it art? Probably not. I didn't intend to take the picture that eventually emerged; I must be honest with myself about that. It's technically bad, as it was taken in bad light without a tripod. I didn't see it as a black and white picture at the time, nor did I think about the effect the 'figure' would have on the photo. Still though, it may not be art, but I know what I like. Even if it wasn't an intentional moment of artistic inspiration, I think that the fact that I saw it and realised its potential at some point means that I must be getting somewhat better at this photography malarkey.

Sunsets, dogs and Torc Waterfall

There's somthing about the sun. There's something about snow, but there's also definitely something about the sun. Especially for an asthmatic smoking moron for whom coughing and spluttering seems like an inextricable part of life. Then the sun comes along and warms places that I didn't even know could be warmed, and stays. Waking up every morning with the sense, even before the eyes are opened, that it's going to be another perfect, blue-sky day, knowing that at least for the moment I can breathe like ordinary people. And of course it's great for photography too; crisp, clear colours, shutter-speeds as fast as you like, being able stay outdoors in comfort for hours and no danger of the camera getting ruined - it's like a dream come true.

Of course, being Ireland, it didn't last that long. One morning I woke up, and the sound of soft rain, almost inperceptible - like a TV with the volume turned down low on a channel of static, and the wet, the wheezing and the sneezing were back. Oh well, at least it's better than nothing...

Unfortunately I didn't take as much advantage of the photo-favourable weather as I should. My laptop had to be sent away, and I realised a couple of things. Without the immediacy of being able to view photos straight away, and scarily, the ability to do advanced editing on them, made me much less likely to take photos at all. I didn't realise how dependent I was on Adobe Lightroom.

Here are the only two photos I took over the last month or so that I am any way happy with. The first two were from Spanish Point:

I also went to Torc Waterfall last weekend, briefly, but of course full of expectation of a wonderful phototography opportunity. This didn't happen, of course. I don't think waterfalls could be any more of a photographic cliche if they tried. They're right up there with sunsets. I did manage to get a few that I quite like in black and white, however:

Pandora to block international listeners from May 3rd.

I just got his email from Pandora.com, a fan-bloody-tastic internet radio station that plays you music with similar qualities to other music you like:

"Dear Pandora listener,

Today we have some extremely disappointing news to share with you. Due to international licensing constraints, we are deeply, deeply sorry to say that we must begin proactively preventing access to Pandora's streaming service for most countries outside of the U.S.

It is difficult to convey just how disappointing this is for us. Our vision remains to eventually make Pandora a truly global service, but for the time being, we can no longer continue as we have been. As a small company, the best chance we have of realizing our dream of Pandora all around the world is to grow as the licensing landscape allows.

Delivery of Pandora is based on proper licensing from the people who created the music - we have always believed in honoring the guidelines as determined by legislators and regulators, artists and songwriters, and the labels and publishers they work with. In the U.S. there is a federal statute that provides this license for all the music streamed on Pandora. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent license outside the U.S. and there is no global licensing organization to enable us to legitimately offer Pandora around the world. Other than in the U.K., we have not yet been able to make significant progress in our efforts to obtain a sufficient number of international licenses at terms that would enable us to run a viable business. The volume of listening on Pandora makes it a very expensive service to run. Streaming costs are very high, and since our inception, we have been making publishing and performance royalty payments for every song we play.

Until now, we have not been able to tell where a listener is based, relying only on zip code information provided upon registration. We are now able to recognize a listener's country of origin based on the IP address from which they are accessing the service. Consequently, on May 3rd, we will begin blocking access to Pandora to listeners from your country. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.

We will be posting updates on our blog regarding our ongoing effort to launch in other countries, so please stay in touch. We will keep a record of your existing stations and bookmarked artists and songs, so that when we are able to launch in your country, they will be waiting for you. We deeply share your sense of disappointment and greatly appreciate your understanding."

This really is disappointing - Pandora.com was one of my absolute favorite services on the internet. It works, too - I've bought several albums by artists that I heard solely thanks to Pandora. It pretty much stopped my using piracy to source new music. The music companies should be begging Pandora to play their music, not the other way around.

A sad day...

The Dawn Raid

In my last post I talked about how I got up at ridiculous o' clock in the morning to take pictures in UL for the photography competition, and how I was pretty disappointed at the results. I was expecting some kind of magic light that instantly produced classic photographs, just by the virtue of me being there. Well it didn't quite work out like that, although I did take a few that I was reasonably happy with.

Last Sunday, I made a second attempt. Not out in the University, but rather in Galway. The plan was to get up at about 4.00am, drive to the Burren, and take photos there at dawn and watch the sunrise. An ambitious plan, to say the least. Well, to put it this way, getting me and my better half up at that time of the morning was the equivalent of placing a bet on a drunk elephant to walk across a tightrope while singing the Mongolian national anthem... We didn't do too bad, however. We managed to struggle out of bed and leave Galway city at about 5.30. An achievement in itself.

However, it was looking increasingly unlikely, as we sped down the road, that we would make it to the Burren before the sun began to come up. The best light is supposedly just before sunrise, and the absolute worst case scenario was sitting in the car watching what was looking like an amazing sunrise. The sky was completely clear, just what we were looking for. We quickly made an improvised plan: we decided to basically turn west, and headed for the nearest bit of coast we could find. After some initial worry, we at last got to a dirty, muddy patch of the coast that didn't look in the least bit conducive to taking beautiful photos. I was secretly pretty disappointed at this stage - I felt like the early morning effort we had gone to my have been in vain. I was to be sorely mistaken, however.

Although the landscape didn't look awe-inspiring, it didn't turn out to matter at all, because the light was a wonder all to itself. I've never seen hues like that before, and looking back on my photos they have a slightly false look about them. The light took on a presence of its own, bathing the bare scene in just about every colour imaginable - with perfect tones; nothing was over exposed or too dark.

The other incredible (and difficult) thing about the early pre-dawn light is its dynamism; it changes virtually from second to second, and literally from minute to minute. Without moving the camera I was getting pictures that looked completely different as the time went by. It's exhilerating; it's hard to describe. You have such a short time to take photos, and the light changes so often I found my adrenaline pumping within minutes of setting up the tripod and camera - despite the early morning grogginess. The fear of ruining what is probably a once-or-twice a year opportunity is pretty immense. Anyway, here are the results: These are by far my best single crop of photos from such a short time.

And that was that. All the grumpy bleary-eyed early morning mood, the panic, the fear, and the exhilaration, culminating in these four, and maybe another two or three shots that I am happy with.

"A bit... pointless", some might say.

I say there's not much in the world I'd rather do.

As a side-note; we spent the rest of the day at our intended destination; the Burren. I was happy enough to largely forget about taking photos - I couldn't ask for much more that the morning, and besides, one gigabyte memory card will only hold so many pictures! I did get one I was pretty happy with, however. The photography gods must have been smiling on me that day.

Getting up at Dawn does not a good photographer make...

In my last post I mentioned that I was contemplating giving in to the mentally ill side of my psyche and getting up at half four in the morning to take pictures for a photography competition being held by the University. Well, I did it...

...and it was quite a disappointment. It was one of those moments when you realise that the mountain you've been climbing with expectation of reaching the top sooner rather than later is actually Mount Everest and you are on an elevator going the wrong way and trying to beat the...no, wait - you're the mountain. You're the elevator, and the mountain is knowledge, and the camera is your Sherpa. No, no, no - the Sherpa is an elevator - going the wrong way up the digital camera. Yes. That's it.

Sorry. I have to indulge myself sometimes. Since nobody is reading this anyway I might as well have a bit of a rant now and again. Very cleansing. Indeed.

Anyway, I found my little photography excursion much more difficult than I reckoned it would be. The photos I took all lack 'pop'; I thing was expecting wonderful, almost magical qualities from the light, but it failed to materialise for me at least. Another thing I never thought of was the fact that at six O' Clock in the morning in UL, the place is absolutely covered in nasty Sodium vapour street lamps, which ruin any shot they are in, and are almost impossible to avoid...

Do I care? Yes, sort of, but mainly no. For one thing there was a certain thrill in lugging around a tripod and camera in a deserted University before dawn. I think I have the enthusiasm at least, and that must count for something. The mere act of going to UL at ridiculous o' clock in the morning was enough for me.

Still, it wasn't all bad, and I did take a couple of shots that while certainly wouldn't win any competitions, will probably be sent in anyway as I can submit ten for each category. I would be happy with getting one printed, if nothing else.