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Mandy Martin, Puritjarra 2, 2005. For further information on MANDY MARTIN, refer here: http://www.mandy-martin.com/
If there are diverse kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing place, then we need to learn to value the different ways each of us sees a single place that is significant, but differently so, for each perspective.
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the big plunge « Previous | |Next »
April 17, 2010

I've taken the big plunge.

I've bought a 27 inch iMac (2.8GHz Intel Core i5) an Epson v700 flatbed film scanner, ordered a custom built bellows for my old monorail Cambo 8 x 10 which I plan to to use in the field for landscapes, bought a packet of 8x10 black and white Ilford film, enrolled in a course to learn how to produce photographic books, and joined the queue for the next Lecia M9 digital rangefinder with a 35mm Summicron lens that is shipped to Adelaide from the Leica dealers in Australia.

The big plunge-- this kind of financial investment with limited income--- means a transition from being an amateur to a professional photographer. This means that photography is the centre of my life, with everything else structured around it.

dead tree.jpg Gary Sauer-Thompson, drought, Victor Harbor, 2010

I've (h)ummed and (h)arrd about making this kind of financial investment for most of the year. Will I or wont I? Should I? Do I really need to do it? Shouldn't I put the money in stock and shares rather than even more camera gear and a new desktop computer. The former opens up possibilities to make some money, the latter will keep me poor.

Alas, a good computer, post processing, quality software, and excellent backup equipment is a necessary part of my photographic workflow these days, given my intense dislike of chemicals and the darkroom. Is the next stop Photoshop? Now that would be a very step learning curve indeed, for someone like me.

| Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 2:07 PM | | Comments (4)
Comments

Comments

Wow, big moves afoot, if you need any 'Mac support' I'm more than happy to help.

Thanks Stuart,
I've just picked up the iMac-----and got it going. The desktop is a big change from using a MacBook laptop. It offers a very minimalist and clean desktop.

I have to admit that Apple, as Simon Hackett points out:

have created (and with the iPad, are continuing to broaden) an integrated line of hardware and software into a consistent form of user experience that leverages deep integration between software and hardware to create something larger than the sum of its parts. That ecosystem (hardware, software, application delivery platform, content delivery platform) is so seamlessly tied together that the places where the pieces interconnect are almost invisible.

Microsoft have missed the boat in terms of becoming a vertically integrated 'computing experience' provider. It is why I shifted to Apple after years on Windows-based PC's.

Thanks for the help offer. I reckon that I may well need Mac support as my understanding of the capabilities of Macs is still very limited and rudimentary. I have still to set up the Epson scanner or learn how to use it to scan negatives. This is new territory for me.

the equipment is the last transition from amateur to pro, as your eye is already expert. I love your images. congrats and HAVE FUN! pictures are so much more fun than stocks!

Megan,
good point about equipment being the last transition from amateur to pro. So true--it just makes the workflow easier.

However, you do need money to help produce the pictures.