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Climbing Calender 2005


Clancy

8-Jun-2005
11:33:17 AM

but most distracting when i should be concentrating on studying for uni exams...

its much easier to stare at the calender on the wall and dream

climbingjac

8-Jun-2005
12:15:12 PM

On 26/10/2004 The Elk wrote:
>You may have one day to get the photograph of a certain person on a certain
>climb and on that day the weather doesn't turn on the sunshine.... You
>need the shot... It's gotta be a winner, a warm shot, something that captures
>the colour of the rock as though the sun were on it. What do you do? You've
>got to work with your subject and equipment to get the very best out of
>the situation and come out with the crisp shot.

Well said, Em. What many of you may not appreciate is that photographers such as Simon are literally walking up to the crag IN THE DARK at some ungodly hour of the morning... with the subject in tow... who by the way is probably posing gratis (which is why the calendars etc can remain affordable), which means he gets ONE day to get that special shot for you all to enjoy. And he has to do so in the light that the weather issues to him that day etc. Personally, I think he does a superb job.

Anyone who thinks otherwise might consider living a day in the life of a climbing photographer. Depending on which crag you're shooting, your alarm clock might go off as early as 3am. You're at the crag with a grumpy subject by 4.30am. Your subject brought filthy looking clothes along and the whole day will be a waste if he/she doens't fit into some clothes you brought along just in case. You get a few ok-ish shots while the light is still ordinary, and then wait till the light gets good. Meanwhile both you and your subject are losing feeling in your legs from hanging in your harness ages. Finally you think "ok, the light is no good right now, we'll try again in half an hour". So both of you head to the ground. The second you untie, the light is suddenly perfect. ARGH!!!!! Can you imagine how frustrated you would be. And possibly stressed. What if this subject hates this process so much they'll never agree to be involved in a shoot again? What on earth would you do without subjects?

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts for you all. From me - well done Simon - great work once again :-)


Nick Kaz

8-Jun-2005
1:03:01 PM

Don't forget the poor belayer Jac, they dont even get in the photos!

climbingjac

8-Jun-2005
1:46:11 PM

That's right! Take a close look and notice how many of Simon's pics feature poor Monique as the belayer. Heaps!


Robb

8-Jun-2005
2:33:36 PM

you've made a good career out of taking great photos Simon. some people are just jealous. every one has their own opinions - its just a shame when they cant offer constructive criticism or feel the need to make derogatory remarks.
keep doing what you are doing simon .

cheers
Rob


anthonyk

8-Jun-2005
3:52:31 PM

On 8/06/2005 Nick Kaz wrote:
>Don't forget the poor belayer Jac, they dont even get in the photos!

belayers, the unspoken heros of the climbing world. maybe someone will make a documentary about them one day and give them the credit they deserve. hey maybe someone can make a 2006 Belayers Calendar!

;)

speaking of calendars, if you didn't click with simon's excellent shots, maybe this is more down your alley: http://www.stonenudes.com/

but i don't really get how people can criticise creative work like climbing photography, if you don't get it thats fine, look up some other action shots if thats what you're more into.


mousey

8-Jun-2005
11:56:55 PM

3am hey jac?? no wonder myshots arent quite cuttin the mustard!
ive just been looking through the slides of a REshoot, and once again they're not quite 'there'....it certainly can be a frustrating path sometimes, huge props to ya simon for doing the hard yards!! (and huger thanks to ya for being sucha DUDE!)
anyhow, i suppose when the avrage person looks at a photo they arent thinking about how the photographer got the shot, they're simply making a relatively polarised judgement about the 'quality' of the photo (yes its good/no its not)
in fact, as has been mentioned several times, this isnt neccesarily a judgement of quality at all---certainly in this case it is a judgement of your personal appreciation!!
and personally, i reckonthey're fken outstanding!

climbingjac

9-Jun-2005
12:05:58 PM

Hi JCP,

I reckon they're outstanding too. My comments were more to indicate my disappointment with the ever-present whinging culture.

3am - yes - it's possible. Let's say Simon was staying in Natimuk and wanted to shoot say in the Vic Range. So if he got up at 3am and had a quick shower and a bite to eat, that places you at around 3.30am. You've done the drive by 4.15am. Maybe the walkin is 30mins. Now it's 4.45am. A little bit of setup time and already it's sunrise - the time that promises the lovely soft light. So yes, I figure Simon's done more than his fair share of early mornings.

Of course, getting up early does not guarantee a good shot. But honestly, I really don't appreciate whinging - and there has been lots of it in this thread. Whinging is very unproductive.


mousey

9-Jun-2005
12:35:13 PM

yo jac! no need to go justifying yaself...i was AGREEIN WIT YA!
re:early morning shots- i tend to head out to the crag the night bfore and rig up bfore bed if i want sunrise shots, but yer thats not always possible and im sure theres been a few alpine starts in simeys time...


mousey

9-Jun-2005
12:36:45 PM

ooo im gettin all goey- guessh wart? simeys gone and had his coffee table book reprinted, so for all you unlucky souls who missed out last time around...get in quick!!


cheesehead

9-Jun-2005
1:07:44 PM

Yay for the book.

If predawn starts aren't your thing, wait around for the sunset...

Dave C

9-Jun-2005
10:26:03 PM

On 9/06/2005 cheesehead wrote:

>If predawn starts aren't your thing, wait around for the sunset...

Depends which way the crag faces. Also, that just means struggling out in the dark instead of struggling in!


The Elk

10-Jun-2005
10:13:02 AM

Just to further illustrate the point I was making about the difficulty in producing 12 stunning shots for a calendar.

After shooting for this goal of creating my own little calendar over the last 18 months I found myself sifting through hundreds of photo's in order to get those 12 stunners that people would want to look at for 30 odd days of a given month without getting too "over it".

Approx 400 photo's were shot in order to get the 12 stunners. Can you imagine how many file shots Simon has after the 12 years of producing his calendar?

My files alone have turned my spare room into some sort of image library, a great shot takes a lot of good shots to get to.

Looking forward to the new calendar and having a crack at producing one myself. It makes me appreciate the hard work involved in the final product even more!

And on a side note.... My designated belayer for a lot of the photo shoots get's a whole page of the calendar to himself.... Stay tuned!

Onsight

10-Jun-2005
10:23:32 AM

Cheers everyone.

>your alarm clock might go off as early as 3am
Although pre-dawn starts are rare I’ll keep you especially in mind Jac for next time I think up a shot that really requires one. Thanks for volunteering!

On 8/06/2005 beefy wrote:
>... its just a shame when
>they cant offer constructive criticism or feel the need to make derogatory
>remarks.
My main problem with it was that the comments really had nothing much to do with my photography but quite a lot to do with my non-acceptance of a certain chipping incident. If you knew the real names behind the aliases you’d know what I mean.

Anyway, how are you Rob – been getting up to Moonarie much? I trust there are some good new routes up there for myself or Josh to come and shoot sometime?

Cheers Josh – dude you’re the dude! Don’t sell yourself short, I think you’re doing great work and I’m expecting – predicting – big things from you in the future.

Onsight

10-Jun-2005
10:24:50 AM

On 9/06/2005 JCP wrote:
>ooo im gettin all goey- guessh wart? simeys gone and had his coffee table
>book reprinted, so for all you unlucky souls who missed out last time around...get
>in quick!!

Ah, yes, the book, the book. Might put details in a new thread if that’s OK.

Onsight

10-Jun-2005
10:33:02 AM

On 10/06/2005 The Elk wrote:
>Looking forward to the new calendar and having a crack at producing one
>myself. It makes me appreciate the hard work involved in the final product
>even more!
Cheers Emily. I hope you've been enjoying the process and good luck with the final product when it comes together.

I'll have some news about what's happening with our 2006 calendars (yes, plural) shortly.


mousey

10-Jun-2005
1:11:24 PM

thankya muchly simey, ill do everything i can not to disappoint! :P

anyhows, while youve brought upmoonarie i might just stray a little, does anyone know how much longer steve pollard is o/s for? oris he alreadyback?

Bob Saki

10-Jun-2005
2:13:37 PM

i don't know simon or his calenders but I have seen his shots and like most think they are mad!!!!
i feel sorry for him that he has had to read such negative criticism. Putting myself in his shoes and reading this thread i'd feel pretty low and a tad upset to say the least.
Sharing a gift is not always easy as you expose yourself to an audience and all the good and bad that goes with that.
My father is a photographer and I know how hard the process is, he has taken for example over 1000 shots of Mt. feathertop and he only likes 2. and this has taken years.
good luck Simon!


Robb

10-Jun-2005
2:25:59 PM

steve is still there getting fat on massive french baguettes. - mmm not really - he's cranking hard as usual

do you have his email josh?


Eduardo Slabofvic

10-Jun-2005
2:49:14 PM

Hey Simon, you need more shots of stripy lycra, big chalk bags, and bad hair cuts. Or what about producing a range of calenders, like the 12 big wipper shots, the 12 bug eyed fear shots, the 12 blown tendons, the 12 snapped ankles, the 12 worst belayers, the 12 best sandbags, the 12 biggest runouts, the 12 worst runners, the 12 ' ooh this bolt is just out or reach', etc.

There are 52 messages in this topic.