Is this cool ... or crud?

I don't usually understand the rhythm of `arty shots'. (In fact, I'm certain I rarely do.)

Flowers and a bowl? Chair in the forest? What? C'mon, lets see a person - is how my brain is wired. It's a bit like landscape photography in the sense that I'm not very comfortable doing it, and I'd rather shoot something with a heart beat (or a motor), nearly every time I'm with camera.

You see them on websites and think ``yeah, that rocks'', or, more often and not in my case, ``nup, that doesn't''. So I steer clear and never bother with them.

But just because it's hard doesn't mean I should have a crack, so I'm putting up this offering for your ruthless appraisal. Don't just give me a stroke ... I'd be really stoked if you'd leave a thought or two that might slowly make me better at this sort of stuff.

I was stuck waiting for a while at the Burnie Regional Art Gallery one night to take a few socials at an opera night and this caught my eye. Regardless of your thoughts, Greg, the gallery manager, Is an absolute gem of a bloke, and if he's reading, thankyou again for the snacks and sandwiches. (And flexibility - I was more than 40 minutes late to this job thanks to some prior ego I had to photograph and he reorganised his night to make sure I had some pics to front my boss with.

Nice guy. You should buy a painting off him!

GEAR: Canon 40D, 17-35 f2.8 wide open, about 15th of a sec if memory serves.

(BTW -- Still waiting to hear from someone with regards to the mystery shot in my last post. C'mon guys -- North-West Tasmania ... how hard can it be? If you're thinking about 20 minutes west of Burnie and near some flowers you are in the right ballpark.)

See how the seagull goes...

So. Here it is. My first post. On my first blog. SWEET! Okay … it might be a little geeky … but I read recently that there’s like one blog for every three people on the planet ( or was that 30, or 300 or 3000?) … anyways, that’s not important. The thing is, if there’s that many people doing it … who cares.

Besides, it’s a good writing out for me, as I’ve just shifted from reporter/photographer to full-time photographer at The Advocate newspaper in down-town North-West Tasmania.

The picture here is in the running to become the Advocate’s Pic of the Week … and I like it for all sorts of reasons:

* It was taken on one of the rare sunny days in Tasmania at a kick-ass park in a place called Ulverstone. (I swear the thermometer busts past 20 degrees about six times a year, at best.) Laura and I were having a picnic and it was awesome.
* I like it because it was taken on our filthy sweet new compact camera called a Panasonic LX3. This thing rocks! It oozes rangefinder cool – is unassuming and takes stellar pictures. I have this camera on me more than my wallet lately … and we bought it with the proceeds of the gift money we were given at from our wedding. So Thankyou!!
* The seagull was damn plucky … barely a handspan away! He flapped and inched forward, squawked, back-tracked, then came in hard with wings up all-a-menace!! Pushed through the fear for the sandwich crumbs to join the ranks of the truly brave.

HOW WE DID IT: Throw down the sandwich chunk, pre-focus, hold that trigger halfway, and wait … wait … wait … CLICK!

We’ll know on Saturday morning when the paper hits the driveway if it makes the cut … there are some killer photogs at the Advocate and I’m new so we’ll have to wait and see.

(BTW – I know there’s a few bits I could’ve cloned out of the background, like the light pole, bits of brown grass et al, but as a newspaper guy I’m still kinda uneasy about all that. What do you guys reckon?)