Shaun Johnston

I ordered a 6×12 roll film back from Badger Graphic (in Wisconsin) yesterday. The roll film backs fit onto large format cameras with graflok backs and allow the use of medium format roll film (large format cameras usually use sheet film). The 6×12 means I can take exposures that measure 6cm high by 12cm wide, which will be adequate for large panoramic reproductions.

^{Shen Hao 6×12 Roll Film back, at Badger Graphic for $USD295}

At the same time I ordered a Toyo 3.6x loupe for critical focus. Large Format cameras employ a huge ground glass viewfinder, and the loupe acts as a magnifying glass when placed against the ground glass, so that you can confirm you have your focus correct in all the important areas of your composition. The Toyo loupe is made especially for large format cameras with fold out hoods on their back, so it is fairly long.

^{Toyo 3.6x Loupe, at Badger Graphic for $USD43.95}

I received an email from USPS last night about the shipping which was impressive. I should get the gear next week at a guess. Should be fun to play with.

Mt Coot-tha is located 7 kilometres west of Brisbane’s City Centre and occupies one of the most beautiful vantage points from which to view an Australian capital city and surrounds. Commanding panoramic views over the city of Brisbane and beyond to Moreton Bay and it’s islands to the East, and the Glasshouse Mountains and the D’Agilar Range to the West.

It is surrounded by the 220 hectare Mt Coot-tha reserve which is an oasis of natural bushland and native wildlife. The Taylor Range of which Mt Coot-tha is a part, forms a backdrop of hills to the city of Brisbane.

Get a wallpaper from flickr by clicking the image below:

Highfields is a region north of Toowoomba which follows the line of the Great Dividing Range. This view is facing East over a valley with the afternoon sun behind.

This exposure was taken with a Meopta Flexaret IIa, on Fujichrome Velvia 50 RVP, then scanned using a Canon Canoscan 8600f and digitally processed.

This is an unintentional double exposure on my Flexaret TLR, which produced a rather spiffy (in my opinion) montage of the Melbourne CBD.

Scanned from a Velvia 50 exposure and digitally processed.

The Henry Ross Lookout is on the Kennedy Highway (part of the Savannah Way), which cuts its way up the Macalister Range above Smithfield, a township in the Northern Beaches stretch north of Cairns, to Kuranda at the top of the range.

The Kennedy Highway affords spectacular views of the low lying areas between the range and the ocean, and also takes one through lush rainforest areas.

I took this exposure on a beautiful clear day.

This image can be bought as a framed print, or in one of several other formats, from RedBubble

Stream, Weir Trail, Stoney Creek

Originally uploaded by Shaun Johnston

Here is a shot of Stoney Creek in Far North Queensland. My friend Margot and myself went for a short walk up the Weir Track which runs parallel to the creek, and took a few photographs along the way.

The centre of Brisbane was shrouded in cloud as I headed to work so I hopped off the bus at Victoria Bridge and snapped off a hand-held panorama. As a result there are a few parallax errors but it still gives a good indication of the fog cover.

(click to see a -much- bigger version)

I put a 24 exposure roll of Fuji Superia 400 through the Horizon 202 panoramic camera recently but I lost about half because the spindle ripped the film as I was rewinding. I need to find a way to amend this problem because it seems to be happening more frequently.

Anyway, here are some shots:

These were taken after the Inner City Bypass open day. A small group of us from a photographic meetup group gathered together and were less than impressed by what the council were displaying, so we went and drank some coffee instead.

A few of us also went to the Cameraholics photographic fair at the end of May. Bargains were taken advantage of by all, including myself. I picked up a $1 (yes you read right) Voigtlander 35mm rangefinder … however it needs some work. A little bit of lens fungus and an unpredictable shutter that occasionally sticks.

The week before, a few mates gathered together at New Farm Park and threw some frisbees around, played some bocce, and endured semi-freezing gales.

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie;

Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen, KIA, 4 Nov 1918.

Mount Coot-tha at Dusk

Originally uploaded by Shaun Johnston

This is a (fairly heavily processed) panorama of Mount Coot-tha taken on Easter Sunday, 2008. I decided the clouds and the CBD were the main subjects so highlighted and added drama to them accordingly.