Hi, and thanks for stopping by...

 

About

Cultural Heritage Professional, Photo Curator on the Commons, Social Historian, Blogger, Bibliophile and General Fossicker in the Stream-bed of Time.

"Archaeology gives a sense of place. It grounds us within the landscape and every place is unique. Archaeology provides a unique understanding of where we come from."

Sarah Marsh, in “Being an Archaeologist is ‘Like Being a Detective’”, The Guardian (6 Sep 2013).

 

Preferences

All camera and lens settings show up in the EXIF data, as well as map locations, see my comments on sharing below.

See: Your icon at top right > Settings > Privacy & permissions > Hide your exif data > No

 

Unless otherwise stated, all content and images are Creative Commons with Attribution, see preferred credit line below. .

 

Museum and gallery images all have a Creative Commons licence and may be freely used in Wikipedia and other not for profit sites upon request.

 

The usual picture CREDIT for Flickr images is something along the lines of : Flickr/JC Merriman - with a link back if used on a website.

 

Not-for-profit organisations are welcome to request non-commercial use of images, with proper attribution; just send me a Flickr Mail.

 

Prospective commercial users should contact me direct, I am no longer using Getty Images.

 

Older Annual Reports are down the bottom of this page

 

Annual Report 2024

Groups administered = 92

Groups an ordinary member = 173

Flickr space occupied = 8.02 GB of unlimited

Followers = 427

Following = 11

Cumulative views since February 2008 = 4,875,387

Annual views - 14,110

Images = 5,927

Photographic highlights - The Ramses Show at the Australian Museum

 

Annual Report 2023

Back at work fulltime with a newly refurbished work place

Groups administered = 91

Groups an ordinary member = 125

Flickr space occupied = 8.0 GB of unlimited

Followers = 426

Following = 9

Cumulative views since February 2008 = 4,684,004, Flickr got it working just in time!

Images = 5,909

Photographic highlights - good old Winter Magic returned after a covid-19 absence

 

Annual Report 2022

Multiple jabs later, so far so good, and in memory or friends lost. Still WFH with gradual return to the work place.

Groups administered = 90 including - www.flickr.com/groups/covid-19_australia/

Groups an ordinary member = 107

Flickr space occupied = 6.6 GB unlimited

Followers = 476

Following = 9

Cumulative views since February 2008 = 4,450,031

Images = 5,859

 

Good Reading 2022

Photography Changes Everything

Edited by Marvin Heiferman. Foreword by Merry Foresta, Co-published with the Smithsonian Institution.

Photography Changes Everything—drawn from the online Smithsonian Photography Initiative—offers a provocative rethinking of photography’s impact on our culture and our lives. It is a reader-friendly exploration of the many ways photographs package information and values, demand and hold attention, and shape our knowledge of and experience in the world. aperture.org/shop/photography-changes-everything-book/

 

Shoot What You Love

The best professional advice Henry Horenstein ever received was to “shoot what you love.” He’s been doing that for more than four decades, capturing photographs that often richly evoke older cultures and places, especially ones that are disappearing: country musicians in Branson, horse racing at Saratoga Springs, nightlife in Buenos Aires, fais do-dos in Cajun Louisiana, old highways everywhere. horenstein.com/books/shoot-what-you-love

 

THE MAIN PART

 

My Stuff

My images amount to a post card collection of the great adventure - the life we live and make. Most have minimal editing, usually crop and levels, and stand on their own or not as the case may be. Yes, some earlier, and even later photos in the stream are more or less cringe-worthy but they stay for the record; that's how we know we are making progress, or not, as the case may be.

 

Contacts & Captions

I believe every picture tells a story and has a context in space and time and the mind of the photographer, this adds to its meaning and our understanding. Maybe it's because of my background in history and archaeology that I am fascinated by the back story of both images and people. That is why I find the lack of a caption on an image so disappointing; and my group rules reflect this.

 

If you do drop in, and have read this far, and feel inclined to respond, I'm happy to return the visit. If we find we share a similar or even totally contrasting way of seeing the world, well and good, that's how we expand horizons and grow as photographers.

 

Etiquette

"People who won't share locations or techniques are usually the least experienced and unprofessional people. They lack confidence. We know that even though there are 10 million photographers, that there also are zillions of potential customers. We all benefit by sharing. Trying to keep a secret loses friends and cheats you out of learning even more."

Ken Rockwell

 

I don't respond to anonymous comments from unknown people. And faves from people without a photostream or any public images will be ignored.

 

And if you would like to draw my attention to one of your photos, please do not paste it large in my comment box - That is just bad manner and says: "This in nothing, wait 'til you see mine!" - just give the short link so I can follow it up in your photostream, I will delete such images and probably people too from my comments box.

 

Unless specifically requested, I do not analyse other people's work. There are groups for that, and it feels pretentious, so my comments usually take the form of short emotional responses, a way of saying I dropped in for a visit and that's how I feel, "I ain't lookin'...to analyze you, categorize you, finalize you or advertise you." If you know the source of that quote, then you know where I'm coming from.

 

My Groups

I try to keep the total groups I administer to under 100, although with the now 90+ groups, it can be a challenge; and to keep active contacts to one screen. This allows regular visits to all groups and contacts - it's only good manners. That is why I opt in to the 60/30 rule for group posting - if you really want to post an image to more than 60 groups, as allowed in the case of a pro member, then you are clearly in my view, not participating in each group by viewing, commenting and clicking through to member's photostreams - you are only after collecting views in the forlorn hope of gaining a moment of fame in Explore. This is not what group membership should be about. The alternative, to make commenting compulsory and collecting awards, is unenforceable and turns groups into mutual admiration societies of ego trippers. In fact I refuse to invite images that are in more than about a dozen groups and would not invite such Flickr members to join any of my groups. I also periodically remove inactive members and their images.

 

All my groups have multiple admins and moderators. I give up on groups with a single, lazy or disinterested admin who dominates the pool and won't maintain the group. All have clear rules and posting limits which are meant to be followed and will be enforced if necessary.

 

I have even seen groups named after the Admin, like it's a group just for themselves!

 

Some groups are for my local area, others are for small towns I have visited or just felt they needed to be recognised. Some have historical relevance, others just cried out to be created, like the 20+ bird groups I administer. I also have two groups for formats I find interesting, it seems others do also. Groups can inspire and encourage one's enthusiasm and creativity, such as they may be.

 

There are now too many groups to list here, see my Groups tab for a full listing.

 

Some Thoughts on Image making

 

Ubi sunt (literally "where are... [they] now") is a rhetorical question taken from the Latin Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?, meaning "Where are those who were before us?" Ubi nunc...? ("Where now?") is a common variant.

Sometimes interpreted to indicate nostalgia, the ubi sunt motif is actually a meditation on mortality and life's transience.

Ubi sunt is a phrase which originally derived from a passage in the book of Baruch (3:16–19) in the Vulgate Latin Bible beginning 'Ubi sunt principes gentium? '"Where are the princes of the nations?" It became a commonplace in medieval literature.

 

Ubi Sunt in the20th century

The entire Don McLean song "American Pie" is an "ubi sunt" for the 1950s rock and roll era.

J. R. R. Tolkien begins Aragorn's poem Lament of the Rohirrim (in The Two Towers) with the phrase taken from the Anglo-Saxon Wanderer and continues with a series of Ubi sunt motifs.

Rutger Hauer's character Roy Batty’s “Tears in Rain” monologue at the end of Blade Runner is an example of the "ubi sunt" motif transposed into a futuristic sci-fi setting.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubi_sunt

youtu.be/NoAzpa1x7jU?si=gX3ZxDBbBMw1-qya

 

Henry Horenstein

"Be kind. Be curious. Take chances. Think outside the box. Be flexible. Don’t be afraid to try something new, but decide for yourself what to do, not what others want you to do. Be yourself. Keep photographing. That project you’ve been working on for years may not become a book, but one day those pictures will be seen, if you’re patient." Another great saying from Henry, “Still, for me work is never dead, just resting, and don’t take yourself too seriously."

 

Wabi-sabi

In one sense wabi-sabi is a training whereby the student learns to find the most basic, natural objects interesting, fascinating and beautiful. Fading autumn leaves would be an example. Similarly materials that age such as bare wood, paper and fabric become more interesting as they exhibit changes that can be observed over time. The three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.

 

Mono no Aware

Translating roughly as pathos, poignancy, deep feeling, sensitivity, or awareness. Thus, mono no aware has frequently been translated as the 'ahh-ness' of things, life, and love. Awareness of the transience of all things heightens appreciation of their beauty, and evokes a gentle sadness at their passing.

 

On Imitation

"Don't imitate, don't follow the others, or else you will lag behind them."

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

 

On the Doco

"Documentary photography holds the power to capture moments of historical significance, to broaden our exposure to people, places and experiences beyond our reach, to shape (or shatter) our perceptions and to offer an authentic view of humanity. While photography is much about exposing what we see, there's so much more going on beneath the surface.

 

There's a complicated concoction of thoughts and feelings that drive the impulse to lift a camera to our eyes, to compose the raw material of what's present and to wait patiently for the proper moment of capture, when time and space sync and align. We, as documentary photographers, most often play the role of intense observers, attempting to minimize our influence on the subject in focus, yet I believe we subconsciously infuse a bit of ourselves in each of the images we create."

Stephanie Calabrese Roberts

 

On shooting percentage

"Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop."

Ansel Adams

 

and:

"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst."

Henri Cartier-Bresson

 

On Seeing

"In 1888 when the newly-formed Alpine Club decided to open Mount Buffalo in Victoria, then known only to cattlemen, Nicholas Caire spent several weeks camping on the plateau in company with two guides. His photographs were later used in a publicity campaign to arouse interest in the snowfields and raise funds for the building of a road there. When asked by one of his daughters whether he saw many snakes on the plateau, Caire, who had hauled his large box camera by ropes to dizzy ledges to capture the best views, replied, "No, no snakes, but I saw glory!"

 

On Sharing

"For me the photograph was a particular moment of happiness: you're exhilarated by what reaches you through your eyes, you want to seize it; it's a way of saying, Executioner, please, just one moment more."

"A moment of happiness for whom?"

"For the person with whom I wanted to share it."

"It's not for oneself that one takes photographs?"

"No, certainly not, it's to share them.

Robert Doisneau (1912-1994), interviewed 1983

 

On Understanding

"Modern photography must do more than entertain; it must incite thought and, by its clean statements of actuality, cultivate a sympathetic understanding of men and women and the life they create and live."

Max Dupain (1911-1992)

 

On Sunlight & the Universe

"In a flicker of sunlight on a blank wall, or an engine at night there's a sudden significance and importance and inspection that makes the breath stop with a gulp of certainty or happiness. It's not that the wall or the smoke seem important for anything, or suddenly reveal some general statement - only that for you they're perfect and unique...I suppose my preoccupation is being in love with the universe - or (for it's an important difference), with certain spots and moments and points of it."

Rupert Brooke (1887-1915), Memoir, 1928.

 

On the Close-up

"To see a World in a grain of sand,

And a Heaven in a wildflower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,

And Eternity in an hour.

Fragment from"Auguries of Innocence, 1805

William Blake (1757-1827)

 

On Life Tourism

"The whole world is a museum, we can become ordinary visitors in our own lives, we can begin to look at ordinary objects from our range of experience and that of our immediate predecessors. We can learn to walk around the area where we live and in our own minds turn that into a tourist experience."

Donald Horne, Visitors in Our Own Lives, Australian Cultural History, 1991, no.10.

 

On Equipment

"No photographer is as good as the simplest camera." Edward Steichen

 

On The Story

"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera."

Lewis Hine

 

On Observing

From the Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly :

"The beauty and fascination of being human is the capacity to experience opposing emotions at once – to be cynical and moved in concert (crying during a schmaltzy movie) or to feel blessed and ridiculous simultaneously (sex!) – and to be able to float above them both, observing, testing out the one then the other...

 

On Talent

"Photography, at least to the extent that people write about it today, has gone astray. Whether at the book store or on the Internet, one could spend hours reading about pretty little machines, obsessing about them, purchasing them, fondling them, and disposing of them.

 

Or one could spend an entire human lifetime experimenting with processing and output methods. But these uses of time are just a sideshow, the Samsara of photography. People have become very self-conscious about the how and have completely lost track of the what and the why.

 

But neither the process nor the result ever has the old magic: the twinkle in the eye of an old girlfriend or the firm confidence that the landscape was done right the first and only time.

 

Photography exists to serve art and express some aspect of life. So why are so many people hung up on issues of form? The problem is that photography is democratic, but talent is not.

 

Maybe in some afterlife, one where we're having a cup of coffee with Weston or Strand, we'll reach into that paper bag, crack open a box of Verichrome Pan, and remember that it's f/11 and 1/250 of a second for bright or hazy sun, distinct shadows."

Dante Stella

 

On Mindfulness

Matthew Johnstone spent years struggling with depression, particularly when he was working in the advertising industry in the US, and he says his road to recovery started when he picked up a camera.

 

"I was hating life, I was pretty miserable, I was living alone and I was single and I was doing a job that I really disliked and I didn't know anyone in San Francisco," he said at the Happiness and Its Causes conference in Brisbane on Monday.

 

"I went out and bought a camera, and in many ways I believe this camera saved my bacon. It was through this camera that I realised the whole concept and idea of being in the moment." www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-04/matthew-johnstone-capturin...

 

On Love & Life

And finally from the great Australian woman writer, Miles Franklin (1879-1954):

"When we were young we were weary sometimes of our elders croaking about the necessity to love our fellows, etc, but in our turn we come to know that it is the only thing that lasts — if memory lasts, too, of course — and the only thing that mitigates the inexplicable punishment, the endless wonder of being alive."

 

Moving on...

Thank you for visiting, we learn so much of our visual language by making, looking and thinking about images; something humans have been doing for quite a while now, like 30,000-40,000 years or more if we consider the magnificent art galleries of Chauvet, Altamira, Lascaux and Kakadu.

 

And thanks to everyone in the Flickrverse for sharing your visions of existence, no matter how strange - see you around on Flickr sometime...

 

Now clear off and take some photos before the light goes!

 

****************************************

 

PAST ANNUAL REPORTS

Annual Report 2021

What happened to the year!

Mostly WFH and locked down, dashing out for supplies while breathing through a mask with fogged up glasses, everyone suspicious and no smiles, still better than the alternative.

Managed to fit in a Snowys trip that, as always, was a mind saver and still returns in memory.

Cumulative views since February 2008 = 4,256,313

Images = 5,790

Groups administered = 89

Groups moderated = 0

Other groups = 71

Flickr space used = 6.44 GB unlimited

Followers = 466

Following = 7

 

Annual Report 2020

What a year, and it ain't over yet!

Started a new group to help record some of it - www.flickr.com/groups/covid-19_australia/

The Photographic Highlight happened late in the year - a two week getaway to the Snowy Mountains with my son to revisit those very special landscapes; and like the old-time photographer's assistant he keeps showing up in the photos. I even started a new group for my fave spot - www.flickr.com/groups/jindabyne/

 

Cumulative views since February 2008 = 3,988,250

Images = 5,400

Groups administered = 85

Groups moderated = 0

Other groups = 68

Flickr space used = 5.69 GB

 

Annual Report 2019

AS the old year closed apocalyptic fire conditions enveloped the East coast of Australia, and some amazing battlefield images have emerged from the media coverage. Weeks of hazardous air conditions from smoke and ash have restricted outdoor activities. Monitoring conditions and making preparations to evacuate have also somewhat reduced photographic activities. Deciding what to take and what to leave to the fire can be a harsh reality check. However, earlier on we did have several good snowfalls and Winter Magic cheered up a long, dark and dreary Winter. Recording the ongoing drought was challenging not only because of the absence of colour in the landscape, but the plight of birds and animals both domestic and wild.

 

Cumulative views since February 2008 = 3,704,564

Images = 5,215

Groups administered = 84

Groups moderated = 0

Other groups = 68

Flickr space used = 5.33 GB

 

Annual Report 2018

Cumulative views = 3,267,324

Groups administered = 81

Groups moderated = 1

Other groups = 48

Flickr space used = 5.18 GB

Most popular image = Wentworth Falls from Prince's Rock at 54,512 views - flic.kr/p/dXC7zF

Recent reading = The Bird Photography Field Guide by David Tipling, Ilex press

Photographic highlights = placing flowers on the grave of Eliza Rodd at Hartley - flic.kr/p/Lrhyoa; revisiting several country towns I grew up in or near, including Neville, Carcoar and Millthorpe;

 

Annual Report 2017

Cumulative views since Feb 2008 - 2,895,095 on 4,931 images and 57 videos.

Groups Administered - 77

Other groups - 20

Flickr space used - 4.84GB

 

Photographic highlights of the past year-

* Several trips to Dorrigo and Armidale via the coast and inland, taking in Hillgrove, Macksville, Urunga, Seal Rocks, Gunnedah, Scone, Gulgong, Point Lookout, Trial Bay, Dorrigo Rainforest.

* Bathurst Winter Festival.

* Katoomba Winter Magic.

Mid Year Report June 2013

All time views reached 514K on 4,156 photos. Daily views are running consistently at 1.5 - 2.5K.

Most viewed photo goes to Wentworth Falls in flood, see below, this one has passed the 50K mark.

And four images of our favourite radio compare, Emma Ayres, are in the top twenty.

The new release Flickr has more or less settled in - plus ça change!

 

My son passed on his superseded Canon 5D Mk ll for evaluation and this one below quickly scored an Explore rating overnight, even before it was posted to any groups. Sure makes you wonder about the try-hards who think posting to 50+ groups will improve their chances.

 

Then I noticed an earlier shot of the Wentworth Falls in flood had suddenly started to accumulate views from an 'Unknown source', like 4,500+ in one day, it only had four comments and six faves. Once it got into Tumblr it went viral, at least it's linking back, Google image search identified the source.

 

Update, it has since plateaued at 50K+ views, somewhat like a fission reaction and is now just ticking over.

 

Winter Magic has been the photographic highlight of the year so far, followed closely by Vivid Sydney and Ironfest.

 

Annual Report 2016

Cumulative views since Feb 2008 - over 2.5 million on around 4500 images and 57 videos.

Groups administered - 74

Other groups membership - 45

Flickr space used - 4.17 GB

Photographic highlights for the past year - revisiting Hill End and Mt Wilson, Bathurst Winter Festival, Lithgow Ironfest

Recent reading: Digital Photographer's Handbook by Tom Ang

Skills worked on - night photography

 

Half Yearly EOFY Report June 2016

 

All time views reached 2.3 million on 4460 items

Admin: 73 groups

Events attended: Flickr Photo-Walk Macro

Highlights: Gulgong trip, Lithgow Ironfest

Skills hopefully improved: macros

Good Reading: The Bird Photography Field Guide by David Tipling, Ilex 2011

Looking forward to: Freelensing

 

Annual Report December 2015

 

All time views topped 2 million on 4325 images, after around 800 images were weeded.

 

Admin for 72 groups; see my groups comment below.

 

Top performing images now include: A Berry Happy Xmas flic.kr/p/BmF2By that jumped to 15k and third highest in two days as the old year closed.

 

Photographic highlight of the year : the library conference at the historic Everleigh Railway Workshops now a business park and modern technology hub - so many tools, so much well oiled machinery from the age of steam, and all shot on the little Lumix LX5.

 

New stuff : Sigma 17-70 mm f/2.8-4, a great little performer!

 

Skills improved : Visualisation

 

Recommended reading: Photo-wisdom: master photographers and their art. Lewis Blackwell, Hachette 2009. Inspirational stuff!

 

Half yearly Report June 2015

 

All time views around 1,830,000 views on 5,030 images.

 

Admin for 68 groups.

 

Highest ranking image with 53K views - Wentworth Falls from Princes' Rock - flic.kr/p/dXC7zF

 

Missed Vivid Sydney due to family commitments but caught Illuminate Bathurst and really enjoyed it!

 

Also missed Winter Magic in Katoomba - bugger!

 

Recommended Reading

 

* Art in Nature by David Rennie, Exisle Publishing, 2014. A fabulous work from the winner of the ANZANG Nature Photographer of the Year and hyper-maniac.

www.anzang.samuseum.sa.gov.au/gallery/?year=2013&cate...

 

"David would go through these periods when for 36 hours, day and night, he’d be manic. He would literally lie in the mud half submerged all night, all day, looking at a group of birds. He says there’s a feeling where you have this hyper-awareness, connectivity, so you can predict what’s happening. He almost became one of the birds." www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-10/australian-story-david-ren...

 

* World Atlas of Street Photography by Jackie Higgins, Thames & Hudson 2014. A door stopper of a book and a great read/browse, images to inspire and amaze!

 

Annual Report 2014

 

Finalist in Australian Photography magazine, Landscape Photographer of the Year.

 

Photographic Highlight of the Year was the Hill End and Golden Gully shoot.

 

Three Hill End shots and two more from the central west made it to Explore, big deal.

 

Groups administered now at 63.

 

Followers: 314

 

End of year views reached 1,500,000 on around 4,900 images.

 

Daily views are ranging from 1500 up to 5,000 with every image having at least one view every day.

 

While Wentworth Falls from Princes Rock was still most popular at 53k; two of the Hill End - Golden Gully series became second and third most popular at 27k and 15k.

 

On the Road to Burraga at number five and also Explore with 9k.

 

Cox's River pano taken on Boxing Day made Explore as the old year finished.

 

Photographic skills improvement was focussed on using less equipment and more visualisation - travel light and see more.

 

The fascination with 3:1 panos continued unabated.

 

Recommended Reading:

 

* 50 Photo Icons: The Story Behind the Pictures by Hans-Michael Koetzle

 

* Digital Photography Masterclass by Tom Ang, DK 2013

 

Mid-year Report June 2014

 

Total all-time views now 1,140,700 on 4,730 images, highest all-time views 52, 936 on Wentworth Falls in Flood, followed by 9,414 on Little & Large, the fiddler crabs from the mangroves in Cairns. Followers 261.

 

Admin for 62 groups and moderator for one other, all with under 100 members.

 

Missed photographic opportunities of Ironfest and Vivid this year but made it to Winter Magic.

 

Growth as a photographer included the areas of improved critical judgement, use of selective focus and better understanding of composition. Aiming to improve in handling long exposure, capturing action and advanced Photoshop.

 

Books Read and Recommended:

 

'Advanced Digital Landscape Photography' by Carl Heilman II, Ilex Press 2010 - never stop learning.

 

'Photography, the groundbreaking moments', Florian Heine, Prestel 2012.

 

Highlights

Goondarwa the Wallaroo, although not high in overall views, averages around 20 views every day, go big feller.

 

Annual Report 2013

 

Caught the Ansel Adams show at the Maritime Museum, all water themed as you would expect. It was eye opening seeing the full size originals, grouped together as intended. Water in all its forms was a favourite subject of Adams, he challenged and explored the potential of his technique and artistic vision to capture movement, pattern and light in ways never seen before.

 

Recommended reading

Digital Landscape Photography by Michael Frye, Ilex Press 2009.

 

The October Bushfires cast a shadow over the local community but also produced some awesome frontline photos; I started a group for them.

 

Views reached 839K on 4,460 public photos and 72 videos. In the popularity stakes, Wentworth Falls in Flood is way in front at 52K views. Then - Little & Large, the two fiddler crabs from the Cairns trip at just under 9K, this made Explore in 24 hours.

 

Also of note has been an older film scan of William Smith O'Brien's cottage at Port Arthur in Tasmania, this has been getting around 20 hits every day for months and is now at 2,330 and climbing, it must be on a tourism blog or website. The caption has been updated and expanded, and there is link to his prison diary online.

 

Another sleeper has been the Space Toilet display at the Power House Museum which has been getting a dozen or more hits every day for months, now over 1200 views. I rewrote and updated the caption - good to see it being used - the picture not the toilet apparatus.

 

The Photographic Highlight of the year was the Cairns trip, I'm still editing the 2K+ images.

 

My daughter took the Canon SX100 to India and the Taj Mahal, Goa and Rajastan, and is still going strong, both of them, that is.

 

On the Groups front, I'm now Admin for 56 and Moderator for a few more. It's becoming a regular occurrence that I join a group, find it in a mess, email the admin and next thing, I'm running it.

 

I'm also finding more and more what I call zombie groups, with one admin who has gone AWOL and no moderators. These groups have absolutely no future, mind you half the members have probably jumped ship as well. I can't stress too much the importance of appointing multiple admins and moderators to your group - from the beginning.

 

When I take over a group which has lost its way, the first thing is to write some rules and set posting limits, usually there are none, many people seem to think the group is an extension of their photostream, not a gallery space.

 

Then I start cleaning out the accumulation of junk and deleting wayward members. Then work through the complete member list to see who is still active and delete anyone who has not posted anything to their photostream for more than a year or two, they can always rejoin if they wish. In most groups over five years old, I'm finding at least half the members are no longer active. There used to be an app for this but it seems to have expired.

 

OLDER ANNUAL REPORTS

 

ANNUAL REPORT 2012

 

Finished the year with over 402K views on 3,700 images and videos.

 

My daughter took my Canon SX100 to Africa where she climbed Kilimanjaro on New Year's Day and returned with some nice shots, phew what a work out and not just for the camera. My elder son has upgraded to a Canon 5D Mk lll, he has a great eye for nature and can spot wildlife I completely miss, I'm learning a lot from him; I also photographed his recent wedding.

 

I've happily responded to a number of requests for images for Wikipedia entries, and a selection of wildlife and botanical images were included in the Blue Mountains World Heritage permanent exhibition in the new Cultural Centre and Library in Katoomba.

 

However I have had to remonstrate with others for using my images without permission, hence the copyright act warning here, will it make any difference? They will try it on if they think they can get away with it, but we won't be plastering hideous watermarks across everything just yet.

 

All museum and gallery images have a Creative Commons licence and may be freely re-used as such.

 

A few more groups were crying out to be started so I took pity on those puppies looking for a cosy home with some friends and am now up to 55 groups as admin; Whipbirds for instance, cool little birds with an amazing call, and 3:1 Oz panos, a lovely format - they're all listed down there somewhere. And a number of admins asked me to take over and get their sorry looking groups back on track.

 

Photographed a number of events at the opening of the new Cultural Centre and Katoomba Library, including Poetry Under the Stars organised by library staff:

Poetry under the Stars

 

Mid Year Report 2012

 

All time views topped 312,400 on 3,130 potos and videos. That Waratah Flower is still numero uno at 2,680 views in the top seven with 1,000+ views. Also at the top on the hit parade is the Ring-tail Possum portrait at 1,288 views -

Ringtail Possums

 

Highlights for the past six months were Vivid Sydney, Ironfest at Lithgow and Winter Magic in Katoomba. One of the interesting things to emerge has been viewers finding photos of places with which they have a personal connection and who have left long comments describing their childhood memories, this has been very touching, see for example the Sunnyside Farm image

 

The demand for flora, fauna and landscape images by not-for-profit groups continued.

 

In the coming six months I plan to experiment with a table top UV photography setup I'm putting together, visit new locations as well as revisit old ones, spend some time playing with Photomatix and improve my video skills.

 

Annual Report 2011

 

The year finished with a flurry as I took over as admin for a gaggle of taxonomic bird groups, 12 in all, long neglected and full of every kind of bird but the ones they were meant for, all needed objectives set, rules written and major weeding of images and members.

 

In December I attended the opening of the Trainspotting International Photo Comp show at the Powerhouse Museum and after the obligatory interview next to my photo, stayed on to photograph some of the many amazing exhibits. I also had the pleasure of meeting Bernadette Murray, the overall winner, who is a very talented photographer.

 

In November I acquired a panoramic tripod head and have been experimenting with lens settings and adjustments, this will go into a blog article.

 

My daughter took the Canon Powershot SX10 to South America: Machu Pichu and the Amazon, it sure stacked up the frequent flyer points and performed exceptionally well as a travel camera on AA batteries; I guess it now has a new owner.

 

All time views topped 232,000 on 2,500 photos. Most viewed was Waratah Flower with 2,480 views.

Waratah flower

 

The new year promises more photographic opportunities and learning.

 

My shot of Cadman's cottage appears as a double page spread in "Building Sydney’s History, Structures, sculptures, stories and secrets" by Derek and Julia Parker, Woodslane Press

 

"Night Work Katoomba Station" was short listed for The Powerhouse Museum International Trainspotting Photo competition, awarded Highly Commended and acquired got the permanent collection.

In total there were approximately 1500 entries. Of the 47 images in the exhibition 10 are from Australian photographers. The overall winner, Bernadette Murray, is from Sydney.

 

The full exhibition including the highly commended images will first tour to regional New South Wales from July through to November and will then return to go on display at the Powerhouse Museum in December 2011.

 

My image of Weeping Rock was selected as Photo of the Day by the Power House Museum and compared to Charles Kerry's version from around 1900.

 

Annual Report 2010

All time views reach 110K on 1850 photos and videos, average of 50 views each. Founded groups 25 and live contacts also 25. Other groups now 78 after weeding. Have been contributing machine tags to better id images using the Wragge Labs app.

 

Contributed Cadman's Cottage image to book on Sydney's 50 Famous Buildings to be published 2011.

 

Grinding Grooves at Mount Banks selected by Wiley publishers for secondary school textbook titled History Alive 7 for the Australian Curriculum Edition, by Darlington.

 

My work Flickr has reached 106.6K views on 430 images, average views per image of 247.

 

New photographic horizons opened up, opportunities appeared, some new friends made and life long learning continued. All in all a pretty good Flickr year.

 

Mid Year Report June 2010

A hectic six months with the D700 and loving it. Signed a contract with Dorling Kindersley publishers for use of selected botanical images. Ran several successful photo workshops for seniors and kids with a work colleague at the library. Photographic highlight was Vivid Sydney. All time views will top 88K by the end of June.

 

My Flickr work site has topped 80K views on 420 items and one item at 1000+ views. Not bad for vintage B&W photos and documents and some old Kodachrome scans.

 

My work blog at has also been busy considering it carries strictly local info, with nearly 3K hits from 69 countries.

 

Annual Report 2009

Well another year is almost over and as of Friday 18 December we have 1,225 images with 66,664 views.

 

A number of my pix, including the Orphan Rock, are in the new edition of Blue Mountains Best Bushwalks by Veechi Stewart, thanks Veechi.

 

So let's look forward to another great year of recording our lives and the wonderful world around us!