Have you never heard on 'undiscovered' works of famous artists turning up & having the art world in debate as to if they're genuine or not?

If the experts can't agree, how should I be expected to!
(To my point of view it should be irrelevant anyway - The value of art should be from how good it is NOT who did it!)

My wife is currently studing the history of art, and the other night I saw some of Picasso's earlier work. If I'd not seen who's it was, it could as easily have been Rembrant's sketches, as Picasso's. Totally diferent to any of his Impressionist work.

In the past people were much more fixed in location than today, this often led to them doing similar sorts of views. If Counstable had been to the Alps on holiday, would his paintings there be recognisable as his?

Surely there is a relativly limited number of 'distinct original styles' possible. (at least distinct to anyone who is not an absolute expert on the specific genre) It must be very hard as an artist to find an opening these days.

B******s!
This criteria rules out many of the greatest artists of all time.

Picasso, Da Vinci etc did not stick to a single style (Picasso's early work is VERY different from his later stuff). Indeed to work in diverse media/subject matter it would be impossible to.

Perhaps it is trying to work within definitions such as this that have produced 'artists' who create dubious 'art' such as a pile of bricks, in order to be distinctive.

There are many schools of art where, Joe public may be able to identify the style (cubist etc.) but not have enough knowledge to identify the artist, this doesn't stop it being art.


Certainly lots of photography is art. The photographer can take ages arranging the subject, selecting the ideal veiwpoint, time of day , tweaking lighting, post processing etc.
I've seen other published work where the image was fairly random (photographed out of the side of a car whilst driving through a city...) in these cases the question of is it art becomes a bit more uncertain.

Of my own stuff, the only photo I've taken to win a competition, (until last month the only one I'd ever entered) was something that caught my eye when I first got a Pentax (The very first film through it) which was taken as a snapshot. Many others that I've tried for a specific look have failed to please.

Maybe an artist is purly somone who is capable of repeatably producing art.

Mike

Tim, SDM is apparently to continue for the top of the range DA* range whilst DC is for the cheaper DA range. This implies SDM is not seen as a failure, but the better technology.

Mike

Congratulations to Glyn, Judith and Jon for well deserved places!

Very well judged Rob - I agree with nearly everything you say there (the exception is the joint third place, technically with three entries in the First & second places the next place is forth)
Your right about the water vapour it's caused by a steam leak (wasted energy).

I wasn't satisfied with my entry, as a quick lunchtime snapshot & no options for post processing there was no way I could compete with those already posted - but working in the energy industry, I thought I ought to make sure I gave you something.

I did think that if I set fire to the refinery it would make it a bit more dramatic & show more energy, but decided that it wasn't worth the consequences.

The down side to all this is it's introduced me to Flickr - causing more than a few hours to be spent...
Mike

The weather is MUCH better today, so at least I've had the chance to grab a basic interpretation on Energy.
A view from the Refinery fence.




55mm lens
F11
1/350s

Mike

That's a relief it was very tempting, but I daren't spend any more till the car's sorted...
Mike

I've found my batteries often recover significantly if left with the camera turned off for a few minutes. If you find you've used up your (warm) spare set the 1st ones might have recovered enough to give you a few more shots (especially if they've been allowed to warm).
Mike

Kris
Assuming the power adapter is to use instead of the NiCad (not to charge it) you should be able to find a generic one that has the right voltage /current.
I was after a mains supply for my camera for ages & eventually found the specs of the pentax model (6.5V 3.5A), armed with this I got a generic (6V switched mode, 7A max) one from e-bay for ~£20 which seems to work fine.

(I thought it worth the gamble on the slightly lower voltage as the camera usually uses 4 rechargables =4.8V)

Mike

Same here (this time).
If I'd seen the topic earlier I'm sure I could have managed something presentable. I have loads of pictures taken just a few weeks before the comp was listed, but the weather at lunchtime today ruled out anything - There's no WR on my K100

In the past 6 months, I've taken pics of windfarms, jackup rigs, and even out on the refinery (Management had requested photos of an old bit of kit so I had permission within a non zoned area)

Mike

There are some very cheap extension tubes available from Hong Kong / China on e-bay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-ring-Macro-Extension-Tube-Pentax-K100D-K10D-K200D-/22068...

Under £5.

They basically have a short PK connector at each end with screw thread connectors in between. If you're only after one pair of connectors they should make a reasonable solution.
I was hoping to use a Nikon set & a PK set to make up a macro lens adapter but unfortunately the screw threads for the two sets differ (even though I got them from the same supplier)
I'm sure I 'll find other uses for the PK set I got, the nikon ones will probably end up back on e-bay sometime.
Mike