Night Photography Class Lesson One: Just Because You have a Good Camera, Doesn't Mean You're a Good Photographer

Back in 2010 when I was contemplating purchasing a digital SLR, I came to the conclusion that:

a) I'm not a good photographer and 

b) There's no bigger crime than being a bad photographer who owns an upmarket digital SLR. Using a good camera to take bad photos is just a crime. As the saying goes, "A good camera does not maketh a good photographer".   

Taking all this into consideration, I decided to upgrade my point and shoot instead. My camera, which was a Panasonic Lumix was over 5 years old. I've also always disliked the quality of the night shots,and it had gotten to a point where I wouldn't even bother taking any photos past twilight. The end result was the purchase of a high end point and shoot (Canon S95), with the plan to take lessons prior to commiting to anything else.

Met the photography group under the big screen in Fed Square. Everybody had some high end bulky camera casually slung over their shoulders along with a tripod in toe. A & I were conspicuously the only ones with point & shoots. The guy taking the tour tells us that we'd be viewing everybody's photos at the end of the night. My assumption? I was expecting amazing amateur photos, but the end result was a lot of crap. In fact, I think my own photos were better than a lot of the others, if that's indicative of the level of skill/standard that night.

Some of the guys (obviously) had some pretty good shots, but nothing that made me go, professional-photographer-in-the-making. Lesson learnt.

The Opportunity to Shop in..... Geelong, Hawthorn & Camberwell

There were no finds in Brunswick last weekend. I find Savers overwhelmingly full of crap. It is highly regarded as a good place to thirft though, although I never seem to find anything except for crap.

I got the chance to pop into one of the Vinnies in Geelong on my 15 minute break, and ended up finding another tea cup and saucer to add to my collection.

It was one of those  very quick "in and out" sort of purchases. When I got home, I noticed that it has 22 carat gold stamped as a part of the China watermark. Genuine? Not sure, but I do like the pattern.

I also went thirfting with cousin YM around Hawthorn and Camberwell this weekend. Clothing wise, vintage is pretty difficult to come by. Clothing tends to be new second hand in fairly decent brands such as Espirt, Sass & Bide and Diesel. I ended buying a pair of Sass & Bide jeans (there's no need to take them up because they obviously belonged to some short arse like me,) & a grey American Apparel dress. I did come across two vintage hand bags - the "sea shell" one still had its retro 70's Strandbag tag and a cream Oroton evening bag. I haven't found an evening bag I've liked since the one I had at uni (yes, that long ago,) which I had to throw out about 6 years ago as it was falling apart.


I've also decided to extend my retro  homewares to plates which I will mix and match with some common element in order for them to look cohesive. It's just dawn on me that I don't know whether these plates are microwave or dishwasher safe. The Japanese cups were just an impulse buy ($4 for the set) which will actually come in handy for my green tea.

Next outing will be to Windsor and Pahran.

Saturday is an Opportunity to Shop at....Ascot Vale & Port Melbourne

Back in the day before I could get into MA 15+ movies, I use to be into a thing called op shopping. At that time, it was considered pretty "uncool"; most people in high school would turned up their noses and go, "Ew, why do you want to buy used people's clothes?" The beauty of it was finding all these really cool things at bargain $1 - $2 prices. 

Then came Sex and the City. All the sheep swiftly folllowed. (Baaa baaa.) Vintage clothing suddenly became cool; disconcertingly mainstream, even. The reality of it all means that vintage now costs about the same (or even more,) than new clothing. Op shops house clothes and junky items that really are just old, rather than vintage. The good stuff is generally pilfered away to an upmarket vintage boutiques or sold on ebay. I do have the occasional rare find, but it is rare. My usual pattern is to go months or even up to a year of not buying anything, and then to stumble across a brilliant find, such as my maroon slingback Christian Dior heels at a vintage market. It doesn't happen very often, though.

I'm definitely not a Fitzroy hipster. My taste in clothing generally does not swing towards "granny", and I have a penchant towards 1970's vintage sun dresses and 60's mod inspired sihoulettes. I've had friends comment on my vintage gear telling me that they can't tell that it's vintage, which is probably a good sign. Well, it either means that I'm managing to update and wear vintage to make it look like my own, or that I'm not truly buying vintage at all. 

I've been getting into homeware as of late. My housemate owns most of the cookware (ie: glasses and plates,) mainly because I haven't seen anything that I've liked. I have been lusting after handmade porcelain ware made by a Sydney based designer under the brand name Mud, and have so for about eight years, that I've decided that it's high time that I actually go out and buy some. (Anticipate another post to follow.) I've always liked the thought of having some vintage homeware pieces to accent more modern wares, but find that vintage homeware have a tendency to look dated and not particularly comfortable looking.

I managed to sneak into an op shop in Ascot Vale about 2 minutes before closing time on Friday afternoon. As they were locking the front door, I spied these kitchy looking brown glass appled shaped dessert bowls, most likely from the 1970's, I'm guessing.

There's just something I really like about them that I really can't put my finger on. I just think they'd make a great accent to some basic procerlain wares. They were initally priced at 3 for $18. I took the six bowls to the counter where the elderly man took one look at them at the counter and said, "3 for 18?!!? Surely not. Just give me $5 for the lot. That's fair, right?" 

Sure. 

I actually went back the very next day (ie: today) to have another look around. 

I've all of a sudden had this thing about wanting to have mismatching fine bone china tea cups and saucers. 

It's really, really odd, as I've always associated Royal Doulton/Royal Albert ware as being very granny and one step towards having a household full of crochet doilies. I still do - particularly if they're matching. I do think if they're cleverly mismatched, it leans towards the on-trendy shabby chic, something in tune with the vibe you'd get from a Cath Kitson store. 

E. & I stumbled across this vintage boutique closing down in Port Melbourne where I ended getting three saucers and a cup for $8.

I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment, so my aim is to either check out the Brunswick or Footscray Savers tomorrow.