ABC TV "Master Snap"

[LJH]

Can't be any worse than the track to Kalimna Falls. I was there today. So, so, so muddy….

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Can't be any worse than the track to Kalimna Falls. I was there today. So, so, so muddy….

Trust me, where I'm going it is relatively easy and necessarily short, but bitingly cold!

We've avoided the track to Upper and Lower Kalimna Falls like the plague since early 2010. Seriously, Parks Victoria has been r e a l l y slow repatriating that track and many complaints have been made (chiefly throughout last spring and summer) at the Lorne Visitor Centre — families travelling from Melbourne for the walk only to find it closed with no mention of it, apart from the bureaucracy's trademark apocryphal "...closed until further notice...". (ditto at this point, Mariners Falls, closed indefinitely). Still, for those who grit their girdle and giddyup (you!), it's a worthwhile destination, and the Upper falls in their sublime beauty feature on my south wall Ilfochrome gallery. For now, bigger and more grubby 'fish' to fossick for this Sunday along Smythe Creek in the misty forests around Mount Sabine. No cameras going, save for 'Olly' the XA. It's mostly a track survey/repatriation/reconstruct.

 

[LJH]

It's horrible. Massive tractor ruts, half a foot deep. Weed mat and concrete mixers. Reo rod and cement bags dumped everywhere. Half finished bridges.

The lower falls probably had too much water coming over them, and with a 7x17 kit on the back and a 4x5 on the front, there was no way I was going to the upper. God, I wish my new 6x9 was here!!

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

The confluence of three water bodies leading to lower Kalimna Falls means they can look very full and boisterous compared to the Upper falls which are on a single waterway. The lower falls are only for the tourists and swimmers (if you dare); the upper falls are a true beauty spot and much more worthwhile even in torrential rain (as was the conditions I put up with). By the sound of track conditions they've been hampered and interrupted by the weather — it beggars belief why Parks Victoria would do that sort of work in winter, so I would imagine things will get worse there before they get better.

 

[LJH]

The next person who uses the clichè, "...right of passage..." gets a smack in the gob.

This is SO hard to watch...

 

[LJH]

There's 26 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

What a terrible show.

 

[Molli]

You lasted 26 minutes? Aren't you the little masochist? :screwy: I made it through the first three, and only that long to ensure it was recording for Marc as promised. Those 180 seconds were enough to convince me I'd throw up if I had to go through that anxiety with the "contestants".
All the money in the world wouldn't convince me to let an amateur "learn" to be a professional at my wedding.

 

[Ian David]

How far the ABC has fallen...

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I've just seen this thread; unfortunately I missed it last night with organising Mumsy at the hospital for discharge this morning. By the sound of LJH's assessment the show is now a foregone conclusion...

 

[cepwin]

Poisson, I wish your Mom the best after getting out of the hospital. (I hope I interpreted what you said correctly ) I'm going to have to watch this one...even though event/wedding photography is definitely not my photographic interest. Perhaps the deal was they paid for a full fledged pro as a back up for the couples. I really want to see what they do for plastic cameras next week....I think the lomo stuff is cool.

 

[Molli]

Hi Gary, I do hope your mum's well.
On a different front, never fear, I'm taping the whole horror for Marc so, you too can be subjected to those 26 minutes LJH so carelessly handed over to the Australian Broadcasting Company last night.
Share the love, I say!

I, on the other hand, would much prefer to sit through the television series YOU first described in that other thread... or "My Darkroom Rules", as Ross suggested earlier. One good side effect, however, is that I spent six hours yesterday re-watching the BBC's "The Genius of Photography".

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

^ She's fine, really fine. Thanks for asking. But in the Charge Nurse's own inimitable words after 3 nights, "oh, we've had enough!". So she goes to Fossil Central — sorry, aged care today, while my sister and I do a runner for a week <*grin*>.

But I digress. Meanwhile.... so there are plastic cameras next week?? That should be good. Might even see 'Brutus', my EOS 1N... in the hands of a rank beginner. Yeah, I'd like to see that...

 

[LJH]

One (of many) issue that I had with last night's show was the difference in lenses used.

The first shooter (Skye?) had what seemed to be a 50mm f1.2 on board. Great lens, especially for this type of shooting. The next shooter (the Luddite who couldn't even turn the camera on!!!) seemed to have some mid-range zoom that, with the way she was using it, had way too much DOF for my liking. She just couldn't seem to isolate the subjects.

The other issue comes with focus. So many of the shots were not close to being in focus. It's 2012 - AF is now so good that this is somewhat unbelievable. Top of the range Canon cameras not able to focus? Hmmm…. Can't wait to see how they go with the Linhof that is reported to be coming up.

I need to stop writing; more of my life lost to this show.

 

[Molli]

My problem with it has more to do with the fact that they're neither teaching anything nor being taught anything. Who takes on an assignment, particularly a wedding, with totally unfamiliar gear? I can't watch it because I'm over-empathising. I KNOW I'd be no better in their shoes... but I also know I'd never put my hand up at such an important moment in someone's life and say, "Sure, I'll photograph your wedding." So, yes, they get credit for extraordinary bravery, but I simply can't find anything else to take from this series.
I would really like to see how professionals handle this situation. Not just the technical aspects but also something that proves to the millions of camera owners these days that their camera doesn't automatically bestow upon them professional status and that, if they want to hang up their shingle and go into business doing this KNOW your business, learn your craft.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Molli, professionals will have booked the shoot, turned up, fired away, debriefed and cleared out in the space of 50 minutes. And earned their $3,000 on levels of expertise and efficiency alone.
I have disagreed from the start that rank beginners should be given a camera like the Canon 5D: there is very little such a machine cannot handle, and AF is one of its strongest points in any sort of light; it comes down to baseline skills of the user.
By the sound of the episode last night, it has based more on entertainment/cringe value than any solid demonstration or educational value. I venture to suggest that it sets out to deliberately make fools of the contestants, and they seem to lap it up.

'Scuse me, we have to jump into the Jetta and move the Mumsy! Back later!

 

[Yamaotoko]

But I digress. Meanwhile.... so there are plastic cameras next week?? That should be good...

Yep, I'll offer up my F801s for that episode

 

[Yamaotoko]

The other issue comes with focus. So many of the shots were not close to being in focus. It's 2012 - AF is now so good that this is somewhat unbelievable.

Interestingly, I came across this last night looking at photos from my sons birthday. My partner has a family friend who falls into the "I've got a spare couple thousand dollars, hmmm, I might buy a camera and advertise myself as a pro" category. On a USB she posted us with goodness-knows how many images from the day shot with her shiny new 7D (and kit lens), only three (of those I managed to look at) were in focus... Maybe canon IS slipping? I use a 5D for work, but on a tripod, with slow moving subjects... So I definitely don't push the AF...

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Interestingly, I came across this last night looking at photos from my sons birthday. My partner has a family friend who falls into the "I've got a spare couple thousand dollars, hmmm, I might buy a camera and advertise myself as a pro" category. On a USB she posted us with goodness-knows how many images from the day shot with her shiny new 7D (and kit lens), only three (of those I managed to look at) were in focus... Maybe canon IS slipping? I use a 5D for work, but on a tripod, with slow moving subjects... So I definitely don't push the AF...

Lens AF/MF switch on the MF setting. Until she bumps it and, presto, it's AF again...

 

[bluedog]

I certainly found the wedding episode more cringeworthy that the first couple. I am a bit surprised that Aunty has lowered its programming standards to make such a show. Now, if it followed a similar format to the "Master...." show where there is a masterclass now and then, then that would be a show worth watching.

 

[JamesR]

i dont really have an issue with the show.
its not great, but i find it better than majority of the shit of tv these days..
a lot of the contestants claim that they have been into photography for atleast a year, some more, so shouldnt they have a better idea of what they are doing?
i think a lot of bullshitting has gone on from the contestants part, in the Portrait ep, the guy shooting Dick Smith claimed he had been shooting portraits and bands, but couldnt figure out why his photos were dark, then Dick asks him what his F stop was..
and the Wedding ep was pretty cringeworthy. that second lady was shown to be using a DSLR in her intro, but appeared to have no idea how to use one. i know she probably has an entry level camera, but Canon and Nikons are fairly similar in buttons and the Canon even has a switch that says on..
but whatever, ill continue to watch.

 

[cepwin]

Poisson glad your Mom's doing OK.
Back on subject...I enjoyed the plastic camera episode as I find those lomo cameras fascinating and they seem like fun. (I just gave my Friends' a lomo fisheye for her 8th b-day....plan is to show her how film is developed.)

 

[Yamaotoko]

...a lot of the contestants claim that they have been into photography for atleast a year, some more, so shouldnt they have a better idea of what they are doing?

It doesn't matter how long you've been 'in to' photography, there's only so much you can learn if you always keep the mode dial set to "P" for 'Practicing'

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

It doesn't matter how long you've been 'in to' photography, there's only so much you can learn if you always keep the mode dial set to "P" for 'Practicing'

Woot!? How many times must I tell you kids, P on the dial is for Professional!!

 

[SMBooth]

Forgot this was on so just watch it online. I actually enjoyed the latest one. Bit of a win for film, but really photography is the winner.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Holga/Diana and lomo cameras generally have featured in some stunning art nouveau works overseas from people brought up on the foundations of traditional photography, particularly in the UK; I'm going to hunt down those who featured in The Age a few months back. I was surprised to see a fisheye model among them this episode and imagine it would be very, very difficult in indeed for somebody of limited practical experience to put that extreme perspective to good, creative use — it's bad enough in 35mm. I would have let the contestants loose in the city where the quirky perspectives and dark, film noir affect, not unlike old Polaroids or the latter day pinhole cameras, would be right at home in alleys, cul-de-sacs, among the glass towers and the Paris end of Collins Street. I agree with SMBooth that whatever we old hands think of the show, it is a win for photography, and the last episode was a solid and commendable plug for getting out there and rediscovering the art and science of film photography.