Sunday, August 31, 2008

Looking For The Perfect Normal



While there are many amazing lenses for the Pentax system, the epitome in the "normal" range is the Pentax smc FA31 Limited. However it retails for around 900 euros. I think it's safe to say that's beyond the budget of many photographers. Is there some lost glass from the past that can replace the FA31, at lower cost? In my search for this elusive prize I've been focusing my attention on Vivitar manual lenses. This, the first article in a series that has developed out of discussions on the Pentax Forum, will set the stage. Future articles will show test shots from various candidate lenses.
Friday, August 29, 2008

The Music And Research of Simon Crab

Simon Crab has a blog, Stalker, that deals with political and noise issues. I had previously come across this site while reading about acoustic radar, but there's also lots here on his particular musical affections, sonic pollution, sound weaponry and old USSR synthesizers... all stuff I'm totally in love with, then.

The author is also a "well known" musician, if you happen to be the sort of listener who plowed through crates of obscure industrial noise albums in the backs of record shops throughout the eighties. I was, and so I happen to own several of his recordings.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Missing 15 Minutes: A Life In Radio

I was thinking recently of the process through which I came to have such a diverging set of intense fascinations. You know what it's like: you have a coffee in one hand, your eyes on the horizon and start thinking through the past. I realised (and not for the first time) the importance for me of ten years I spent producing a weekly radio programme, and how this led to a broadening and deepening of my interests. So here, a little personal history. (It's a blog after all; I'm allowed.)
Monday, August 18, 2008

Me On Flickr

Skateboarding 15688: Spin

You haven't heard too much from me here -- I've been too busy taking pictures, developing pictures and writing about photography in various forums. As well I've been posting as much as possible to my Flickr account. Since all this activity is likely to be curtailed significantly as the summer comes to an end, I thought I'd provide some pointers here... a bit of a summary.