tiabunna's most read articles

The replica caravel "Notorious" at Batemans Bay, NSW , July 2013 The arrival of a replica 15th century Portuguese caravel in our little port stirred memories of earlier readings about the first Europeans to visit Australia, so I thought it worth passing a wet and windy winter's day by preparing this article. Officially, the Dutch ship Duyfken was the first arrival of Europeans, reaching the western side of Cape York in 1606. It had come from the Dutch East Indi…

If you're like most people on this site, I suspect you take a few thousand photos yearly. I know I do. I'll be honest, a great many of mine are hardly worthy of a second look, but they accumulate in my computer's hard disk. Maybe a hundred or so yearly warrant that second look. Some, though even fewer, deserve 'historical retention' (for want of a better term). Let's work on the thought that the image of a great sunset, general landscape or flower isn't going to have 'historical retent…

I'll say right at the start that I love my DSLRs and all the gear that goes with them: lenses, filters, flashes, tripods and so forth. But, to be honest, even just the DSLR with a lens attached can be more bulk around my neck than I'd wish if I'm not heading out specifically to take photos. And, of course, it's a rather conspicuous item if you don't wish to draw attention. So, several years ago, I purchased a little pocket camera. Although it claimed to have some controllability, that pro…

This article was first written when ipernity management announced the imminent closure of the site, from about the end of January 2017. Things have moved on and, at last (!!! :)) , the site has passed fully to the Ipernity Members' Association. As this is my preferred site for friendly contact with other photographic enthusiasts, might I suggest to those of you who have been thinking of leaving, that you stay around and help make the site all the great things it could be. I've just lo…

I'd planned a relaxing day with some time for photographic pursuits. After going walking with our dog I wandered off for a brief look at ipernity. Not more than half an hour later, I wandered back through the house and found myself standing in water - warm water! A quick investigation of the source led me to the hot water plumbing connection under the handbasin in the bathroom. It had failed in a big way, with water blasting out. I turned off the hot water system and mains water an…

I was delighted to find that Ipernity also incorporates a blog! It proved too hard to resist shuffling some words around, so welcome to my first Article.

No doubt most of us from pre-digital days have collections of slides and/or negatives, waiting to receive a new digital rendering. I have been asked what process I use to copy these slides and negatives: here's a short summary of what I do and why I do things this way. Over the years I have owned a couple of dedicated slide/film scanners and, frankly, I was never totally satisfied with the results from them. One of the characteristics of the old slide film, particularly Kodak, was that it w…

I must begin this article by offering my very sincere thanks for the kind messages of support and concern we have received from so many ipernity members. It really has brought home to me that this is a very caring community group, not merely a photo sharing site. The essential point you need to know is that Pauline and I, and our furry friends, are safe and well and apart from being covered in soot and losing power and communications, our property has not been affected by the fires. As at wri…

Back in 2009 (only ten years ago as I write this) I had a "fold-up" mobile phone. I bought it to make telephone calls - the obvious reason. Then I found that I could also send text messages and that it had "predictive text" (which almost invariably produced results that were risible). It also had a built in camera. There is an old photographic saying that "the best camera is the one you have with you". That's true enough, if the alternative is no photo at all and, clearly, the phone mak…

Since joining ipernity, I've been searching unsuccessfully for a group on prime lenses. At this stage, I believe it likely that there hasn't been one until now. There are quite a few who share with me the problem of LBA ("lens buyer's addiction" for those not familiar with the term) and are driven to buy old lenses from time to time when they appear for sale. Equally, I know quite a few of my online friends also have new modern primes. So why not have a group for photographs taken with p…

Well, you've all seen them - maybe including mine (clickable at left) - images showing the golden tones of a lunar eclipse. So, having now photographed a couple of eclipses, here is a set of images from last night's event, with some observations. First of all, the name for it. Apparently we had a "Super Flower Blood Moon" eclipse: which leads me to ask who comes up with these strange names? I have no idea on the "flower" part of the tit…