Sweet Nothings

Shall We Sashay To The Sachet?

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This shot was taken while I was eating lunch at the High Country Inn in Whitehorse, literally a few minutes after I completed a journey of more than 24 hours since I walked out of my own front door in Melbourne.

These sachets in front of me on the table caught my eye because of the range of colours and the strong, easily definable lines and individual angles and kinks of their respective edges.

I had two cameras in my shoulder bag, but I opted for my Pentax K100D because it had my favourite lens, the versatile 18-125mm Sigma lens on it. I only took one shot and later, when I looked at my images on my laptop that night, I was quite gratified with the clarity of the result.

What you're looking at here is simply a scaled-down, low-resolution version of the original, but on the high-res shot you can actually see the little details on the corner of the sachets. I was very pleased with this result, because it looks as though I've used a macro lens instead.

I guess I was lucky because the light was fairly good. But if you're keen on the details, I shot this at F8 and 1/90 of a second.

I guess this is also the best place to answer a question I got asked on Friday - how many shots do I take before I'm satisfied with an image? The answer to that is very simple. I shoot on instinct, just as I write my novels. So if I'm satisfied with the first shot, I don't hit the shutter a second time.

If I'm shooting a landscape and it's a wide vista and the light is changing, I'll shoot between two and four frames or more if the situation demands. I'll shoot half a dozen if I am trying to capture a scene from several angles.

But I am drawn to these unusual shots of everyday objects and maybe - just maybe - it says something about my approach to photography, because they are generally the result of a single frame.

(The Odd Shots concept came from Katney. Say "G'day" to her.)

Cocktail Arty

Hey, Who's Been Drinking Canada Dry?

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Sometimes my camera is like an extension of my brain. Actually, make that: most times, my camera is like an extension of my brain. So after I'd finished lunch at the High Country Inn in Whithorse, I asked if I could walk around and take some photographs and the ladies behind the bar readily gave me permission to do so.

The little details are all-important sometimes. And while there are some great Yukon souvenir signs on display here, I also had to take the shot above because my eye was drawn to the little cocktail sticks and the variety of colours in the glass. To their right were the distinctive Yukon drinks coasters, while behind them were the bar taps, one bearing the legend "Yukon Gold".

It was very tempting to turn the closer set of coasters anti-clockwise, so that the word "Yukon" was facing the camera - but as you know, I never move objects that I photograph. So I had to go with the cocktail sticks in sharp focus, in the hope that your vision would encompass the other details in the frame.

And just in case you're wondering what the symbol was above the Molson dispenser, here it is ...

Are you wondering what the bright colours are in the background of the second shot? They're the hues of a huge variety of bottles, alcohol and liqueurs alike.

And no, I don't drink anything stronger than iced water, so if you're really thirsty, go ahead and drink my share.