Robert Imhoff, a photographer of "creative brilliance", according to Paul Burrows, is the subject of a monograph and an exhibition running at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
Burrows, the editor of the book, says Imhoff, without the benefit of Photoshop, created "the fantastic, in-camera, using his knowledge of lighting, optics and photochemical processes to take his images into a whole new world of visual magic".
All absolutely beyond dispute and well worth making the trip to Ballarat, or buying the book Imhoff: a life of grain & pixels, to see for yourself. ($34.95, writelight.com.au/contemporary-photographers)
Imhoff, as with many fine photographers, started young. When he was seven, at the time of the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956, he was given a Kodak Box Brownie E.
He showed immediate promise as a determined photographer, prepared to go the extra distance to get a memorable shot, by crawling between the legs of the adoring crowd to get a photo of the Duke of Edinburgh. Because he is also a meticulous archiver, the photo is in the book.
One day an obsessive researcher will count up the number of famous photographers who got their start with a Box Brownie.
The lovely thing about the Brownie (we speak from experience – we got ours when we were 12) is that it enticed children into exploring the physics and chemistry of film. Digital seems cold compared with 620 monochrome film, with the image magically appearing in the darkroom. But that was then and this is now, and one thing hasn't changed: any child with an interest in photography should be encouraged.
When we last wrote about cameras for children, the prices were a deterrent, but camera companies are finding compact cameras hard to sell, so there are bargains to be had.
A quick survey of the online auction and stock remainder vendors, some acting for biglocal retailers, reveals bargains that would be nice stocking fillers for the budding photographer in the family.
A Canon Ixus 150, with a 16mp sensor and 8X zoom, can be bought for $89 if you do a bit of web searching. We have also seen a Nikon Coolpix L29 camera with similar specifications for $80 plus postage.
Although these cameras are relatively inexpensive, they produce good results. Nothing will kill a child's enthusiasm for the art more quickly than consistently disappointing output. These days the darkroom magic is in the computer and Apple and Windows operating systems come with the darkroom built in – iPhoto for Mac and Windows Live Photo Gallery.
Give the kid a camera for Christmas. It worked for Robert Imhoff.
REVIEW
NIKON D810 DSLR
Price: $3700 body (street price)
The low-down: The Nikon D810 combines the best features of the 800 and 800E into a single model. It has a 36-megapixel, full-frame sensor and is not very different from the predecessors. The low pass filter is removed, as it is in the 800E. Small RAW has been added to capture mode, saving 9mp files.
The shutter and mirror mechanisms have been redesigned to reduce the effects of shutter shock blurring images at slow speeds. Burst mode is up from 4 to 5fps, and for video shooters, there is now a "Flat" picture style that reduces contrast and gives a more professional look to video.
Inbuilt stereo microphones replace the mono mics in the 800E. The body is the same beautifully made, rugged, ergonomically delightful piece of gear.
Like: Image quality is superb, both RAW and JPEG. The resolved detail from the high-resolution sensor is breathtaking, without any objectionable noise diminishing the sharpness. This is medium-format quality in a 35mm body.
Dislike: The weight! Does it really need to bethis heavy or do Nikon designers think this is what professionals expect? And the LCD does not swivel.
Verdict: When we reviewed the D800 in June 2012, we judged it the best camera for general use that we had ever tested. The D810 is still the prince of DSLRs. However, in 2012 it was unique, with its 36-megapixel sensor, and that is no longer the case. The Sony a7R also has a 36mp sensor (probably the same unit) and is smaller, lighter and $1500 cheaper. The Sony is handicapped by a dearth of lenses, whereas theNikon fits a vast catalogue of them.
We are inclined to say the Sony is for the serious photographer and the Nikon is for the deadly serious.
