The End of Democracy in Europe?

The French and the Dutch shot down the Constitutional Amendment. Ireland said "NO!" to the Lisbon Treaty. So now, after spending millions of our own euros to convince us we were wrong, the government is asking us again. Because they are not happy with the people voicing their will. They will not be happy until it is their will that holds sway.

Again we must say "NO!" in the Constitutional Referendum, to preserve democracy, to preserve the Irish constitution and to preserve a valid plurality of expression in the EU.

Travel the Limerick-Toronto Subway!

Welcome to the longest subway line in the world! The Limerick-Toronto subway spans thousands of kilometers, but is yours to travel through the medium of sound this Friday at 3pm. The location is the SpiritStore arts cafe, Patrick Street, Limerick. Admission is free, but subway tokens will be accepted.

Soundings 0924 Concert

For the second time this month, Soundings brings you ravishing sounds from beyond the norm. Each event is an eclectic mix of live performance, multi-channel playback and interactive media, in a lovely environment perfectly suited to careful listening.

Join us at St. Munchin's Church, a venue half-gothic and half-romantic, for our featured guests from the UK, Diana Simpson and Manuella Blackburn. They will be performing both individually and in their collective guise The Splice Girls, famous in Manchester are beyond.

"Ancient Bird Trap" at Tweak Festival

Tweak is Limerick's own festival of interactive art and live electronic music. It is designed to explore the role of technology in our culture through contemporary social, economic, psychological, aesthetic and functional issues. It's happening all this week, 21-26 September.

As part of Tweak, my piece "Ancient Bird Trap" will be playing at The Listening Post, an audio exhibit of Irish artists, curated by Dr. Kerry Hagan of the University of Limerick. Drop by the Church Gallery on Clare Street to hear this work and visit the gallery space to see generative video art, robots and other cool interactive thingumabobs.

Pentax 645 Digital On The Horizon

The on-again off-again project that is the Pentax digital version of their popular and inexpensive 645 medium format film camera, is on again. First announced over five years ago, this camera was displayed in advanced prototype form in 2006, prompting fairly detailed coverage in the press. More recently cancelled, the 645D, as it is tentatively known, was revived again last March, according to this press release (in Japanese). What do we know about this camera?

Comparing Medium Format Lenses

Photography geeks love lens tests. They provide a quantifiable measure of one lenses worth versus that of another. They can be used to justify purchases, even if the desired lens has only a fractional improvement over one already owned. Some say that it's not the equipment, it's the photographer that makes a great image. Others say that you can't take good photos without good tools. Of course there is a measure of truth in both viewpoints.

In this article I'll examine how important lens quality is, in light of medium format. And then I'll look at some particular cases. The results may surprise you.

Medium Format Priorities And The Mamiya RZ 67

This article will fill in a few gaps left by my last entry, plus present an alternative medium format camera system for your consideration. The main point I wish to stress is that there are so many different MF cameras that there is surely one for you. I have come to my conclusions by researching, at length, from the resources available on the internet. (You can do the same, but some of the sources I used are now archived.)

I chose a 645 format camera as a compromise between the resolution available from larger formats and portability. I wanted a camera I could take anywhere I take my DSLR, without it garnering too much unwanted attention. I wanted a camera I could hand-hold when the need arose. This eliminated a lot of options, believe me! But still I wanted to leapfrog 35mm and go straight to something larger. Plus I did not want to give up an SLR for the added stealth of a rangefinder.

Which Medium Film Format?

In this article I'll expand a bit on medium format cameras, based on the process I went through figuring out what was best for me. I trust this will be the right approach for others considering the plunge. Sometimes the experts can be so confusing! (Though by all means read them as well. There is a world of information out there at the end of a search.)

First things first: What is medium format? It seems to be defined by exclusion: medium format is larger than 35mm and smaller than large format. Today the only practical readily available film for medium format is 120, so I'll limit my discussion to cameras that support 120 film, even if there are a multitude of other historical options.

Thinking Outside The Frame: Sensor Sizes Explained

My 2023 article on equivalence is much more comprehensive than this older post.

I am at the point where I think I can best expand my photographic knowledge by rediscovering film photography. Digital makes some things easy and others difficult. I think it's important to switch those constraints around. This first post in an ongoing series will explain my rationale.

Ouroboros at SpiritStore Friday

I will be presenting the phenomenon known as Ouroboros this Friday at 7pm at the SpiritStore, Patrick Street, Limerick. This is the first performance since its debut, and since every event is different who knows what will happen? You are invited to bring an FM radio and will be given a frequency to tune it to on the night.

Soundings 0910 concert Thursday!

Full details are on the Soundings website, but I wanted to put an announcement here, in order to invite everyone in the Limerick area to the first event of our fourth season. After a long gap over the spring and summer we are back with a new venue. But it will be the same eclectic blend of live performance, interactive media and playback pieces, all highlighting the best in today's electroacoustic music scene.

The Perfect Camera Bag?

The perfect camera bag does not exist. Everyone has different equipment, different needs and different tolerances for how much they like to drag around. There are even popular web writers who sneer at the very idea of a bag. "A camera should always be in your hands, ready to use!" they declare, as if you never need to travel from one photographic destination to another.

I will take it as a given that a photographer does need a camera bag. In this article I will present one that is (nearly) perfect for my needs. I trust this information will help others in the predicament of having to evaluate the hundreds of models on the market. (If it helps you, please donate!)