We recently finished shooting some images for the guide dog association calendar, cool images of dogs and owners, loads of fun. I had a grand time going though my Elliot Erwitt books looking at pics of dogs in preparation. An amazing photographer and one of my very early influences. Check out Museum Watching for some killer images.

He is most famous for saying that “all the technique in the world doesn’t compensate for the inability to notice.” Of course, he also said “when you go out into the field with your camera, wear a jacket with big pockets, LOTS of big pockets.” I’m still not sure why, but I suspect that if he had to photograph in Africa during summer he would have probably left the jacket at home and used a backpack.

The master had died, but I was frozen momentarily by the copious tangle of his ear hairs. The sagging lower lip. The stonemason’s physique. The soup stain on the pants. The unsentimental posture of death. Dead in a soup kitchen. And no one with a camera, for Christ’s sake.

Just as suddenly as he had died, the master’s eyes snapped open. “Don’t touch me,” he hissed at her.

Beautifully written piece in Vanity Fair about Robert Frank. Well worth the 20 minutes.

This one is for all the photographers, wannabee photographers and other interesting people who read this blog.

In a recent edition of a photography mag that shall not be named I saw a double page spread for the Canon 40D, the image was of a fantastic sunset, the payoff line … I gaze at the sunset with the woman I love, and think … f/8 at 1/250 …

If that’s you, maybe its time to try another f-stop. f/8 has no real personality.

If you’re not a photographer, we’ll be returning to our regular diet of beautiful brides in amazing venues next week. This weekend will be another Summerplace affair.

I was recently chatting with Matthew from Oakfield Farm about the kind of weddings that they’re aiming for next year. He was telling me that they have been encouraging brides to get the best photographer that they can and not worry about what the actual package contains, as long as you have the best photographs and a copy of the digital files everything else can be sorted out later, printed at a local professional lab or put together into a special album. The most important thing is the actual photos. No point in getting a R10000 package with 2 albums, 100 prints, all your negatives and a bag of chips if the photos are not great. Rather get a great photographer who will shoot the wedding for R10000 and give you your negatives. The most important thing is the actual images. I tend to agree, hence our new package structure.