I LOVE our QCG meetings but there’s never enough time to get to know your fellow members. Have you ever wondered what our members look like in their natural environment (at work and at play), what their favourite things are - stuff like that? Well our new normal has given us the opportunity to create a tiny window into members’ homes. In the first of a new series featuring some of our most loved members, read on and learn a little about QCG’s Rodney Nancarrow:
Thank you Anne for giving me the opportunity to invade my fellow QCG members’ computers and devices with trivia all about me. I hope these few words will provide a bit of distraction from the crazy world we have found ourselves in. Let’s get started!
What is Your Pet's Name: Jennifer and I don't have any dogs (yet) nor cats, birds or fish but I do treasure our four hives of Australian native bees - 2 hives of Tetragonula Carbonaria and 2 hives of Austroplebeia - so I probably have a few thousand pets that require names and I ran out of patience when I got to Charlie Carbonaria. Charlie is the one on the top right in the photo below which I’ve called, "Charlie coming home from work".
Charlie Coming Home from Work, by Rodney Nancarrow
I know that we shouldn't have favourites when it comes to your children and pets but I can't help it when it comes to our bees - Tetragonula Carbonaria wins hands down for their shear cuteness and amazing engineering skills evident in their beautiful spiral brood comb structures. A few years back we didn't have any Austroplebeia but unbeknown to me, a gang of Austroplebeia bullies attacked one of my Tetragonula Carbonaria hives, had a bloody and violent war defeating the Tetragonula Carbonaria, and taking over their hive enclosure. It wasn't until I split this hive (splitting divides the hive into two) that I was confronted with the puzzling sight of the random brood comb structure of Austroplebeia instead of the expected spiral brood. I contacted Tim Heard, a local entomologist and expert on native bees and he told me about the bee wars and the drama that had occurred in my front yard. Nature is cruel but fascinating.
We occasionally harvest a bit of honey from the Tetragonula Carbonaria hives, it is a sweet syrup with a tangy finish in the mouth and is wonderful on ice cream or drizzled on scones - ask John Edwards if it gets the thumbs up.
What gear do you use? I have been a Canon user since I started taking photography seriously. I still have and use when on my kayak, my original entry level EOS 600D with my old Sigma 18-250 zoom. I think this camera lens combo can still produce a reasonable photo and I have included "Dog Paddle", a recent shot taken while kayaking at Lake Manchester. I had some reasonable success with a number of images from this camera taken at Somerset Dam a couple of seasons ago. I often think that the subject matter is more important than the camera quality.
Dog Paddle by Rodney Nancarrow
For the last few years I have been using an EOS 80D crop sensor that I still have and use as my second camera (but I am considering selling if anyone is interested, free plug). Recently I invested in an EOS RP mirror-less full frame and an RF35mm F1.8 mirror less close up prime. This is the compact Canon full frame and so far I am pretty happy with it but time will tell as it is still early days. The other lenses I am using are the Tamron 100-400 Di VC USD F4.5-5.6 that I am very happy with, Sigma 105mm Macro, a nifty 50 EF50mm F1.8 and for the 80D APS-C cropped body I have the lovely little EFS 35mm F2.8 macro and a Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 wide angle zoom (that are also up for sale and are guaranteed to be virus free). For lights I use a couple of off camera flashes and triggers and a couple of LED panels that are great for still life type works in conjunction with a variety of LED torches and work lights. For post processing I use Lightroom 4 and Afiinity Photo (Photoshop alternative) and also the NIK plugin collection from DXO.
Preferred genre/style of photography: I will have a crack at most genres though I struggle with the necessary people wrangling skills required for portraiture. Probably the genre I like the most is macro still life and as some of you know I have a bit of a bent for putting things in water and freezing them. I do like to experiment with out of camera and out of computer processes to add abstraction to a subject. I am always looking for different ways to add a natural filter to my images but I am happy to combine these abstractions with work in layers in Affinity Photo.
My attached profile photo "Troubled in a Bubble" is an example of this combination of techniques. The self portrait was taken in a domed mirror (like the ones you see on carpark walls) that was lit with LED lights with a blue colour filters. The rest of the image was a jelly ball (used in clear vases for floral arrangements) sitting on a stack of CD's, sprayed with water and lit with LED lights fitted with colour filters. I then compositted the self portrait onto the jelly ball. I think this image pretty much represents how I am feeling about the situation we have all currently fallen into, looking out from our private bubbles with more than a hint of fear and concern in my eyes. I intend to spend some of the downtime in the coming months experimenting with this and a few other table top type ideas that I have been considering.
Troubled in a Bubble, a self-portrait by Rodney Nancarrow
Best holiday you ever had: The Cook Islands and New Zealand was pretty good, a couple of trips to Tassie were both excellent and other Aus locations have been great as well, but probably the one that sticks out the most was six weeks in the New Ireland and New Britain Provences of Papua New Guinea. This was my second trip to PNG but the first trip was the Kokoda Track walk and should not be confused with a holiday.
For my second trip in 2007 Jennifer and I were lucky to be invited by my good friends Rhonda and Troy, to a family reunion at Medina Village on New Ireland. Rhonda was born on New Ireland and then went to school in Rabaul on New Brittain so she was an excellent guide and has a handy command of tok pisin (PNG Pigeon English) enabling her to introduce us into areas where tourists rarely venture and by introducing us in the the wantok system (one talk, speak the same language). We gained access to many villages that rarely see a whitefella, making us a real novelty especially with the kids. These places are so remote that when they heard our 4WD approaching they would all run out of their houses and wave and cheer as we passed. Stopping along the way we were given an insight into a whole other world, a genuine subsistence lifestyle.
I was lucky enough to be in Medina Village for a State of Origin match, because of the atmosphere by far the best one I have seen. We all gathered at the school that had a generator and satellite dish and about a hundred locals crowded around a 12" portable TV. I was given a front row seat as a guest of honour, the only white fella present as Troy and Jennifer had opted out of the night. In PNG rugby league is taken very seriously and you support the state where you have the most relatives living and given PNG's location the crowd tends to be weighted towards Queensland. Once the game got going the crowd became increasingly animated and the harder any player was tackled the louder the cheer. Gaye, you should have been there - the facial expressions are still firmly etched in my memory and when Qld won the game. For some reason I was treated like a hero, odd considering I have never played a game of rugby league in my life but they knew I was a Queenslander.
The craziest thing we got up to in PNG was climbing the active volcano Tuvurvur in Rabaul New Brittain. After seeing what happened in New Zealand last year I now realise just how foolish this little trek was but I suppose we survived. It was a unique challenge and volcano climbing is now off the bucket list. The 2 hour walk around the base of the volcano cone through smashed up coconut plantations that are littered with refrigerator sized rocks that had recently been spat out by the volcano would be a warning to the more sensible trekker. But who would want to miss the 40 minute slog up the windward side of the crumbling ash cone, beneath the equatorial mid day sun with heat rising from the ash that was crumbling beneath your feet - two steps up and one step sliding back down. This was the hardest thing I have ever done by far and even harder than the highland climbs of Kokoda track, so I have chosen this image "Toasted" of Troy and I standing triumphantly on the rim of Tuvurvur bathing in our glorious act of stupidity (Photo by Mathew our rubber thonged shod Tolai volcano guide).
New Ireland and New Britian are the wildest and remotest places I have ever ventured to and I would love to go back, especially now that I take photography seriously as the photo opportunities are unlimited with stunning scenery and beautiful welcoming people.
Toasted, by Rodney Nancarrow.
Favourite song: Now this is a tricky one as it can change from day to day. If the Blue Mountains Music Festival hadn't been cancelled due to Covid 19 then I would probably have a whole other list to choose from. I think at present just about anything from Scottish singer Karine Polwart or multi instrumentalist and singer Canadian Basia Bulat would be towards the top of the list. YouTube will be my saviour in the coming months so I am going to give these lovely gals a plug and suggest, in the words of a great Australian to "do yourself a favour" and YouTube Karine Polwart’s version of "The Whole of The Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi4BKoEsvjg and if you want to know more about the wonderful Donald Trump then Karine's "Cover Your Eyes" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELeZmPDdFPE always leaves me thinking about how much better the world would be if....?
On a lighter note anything from Basia Bulat makes my heart soar, a nice intro would be "Gold Rush" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_yKUJqI-OA If you like Leonard Cohen songs Basia was chosen by CBC music to perform some tributes both on his birthday and for his memorial, my favourite is "Dance Me to the End of Love" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDPoFUdZj08 a special treat for the lovers of black and white. If you want more the black and white the documentary of her concert at "Live at Massey Hall" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsClmHLlkc&t=204s is a must see with with beautiful footage on stage and of the architecture of a grand old art deco theatre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsClmHLlkc&t=204s . At the last Woodford Folk Festival I had the good fortune of meeting and chatting to this very talented lady of song, attached photo "Starstruck" by Jennifer Chenery. Basia is the pretty one on the right, the ugly mug is just a besotted fan.
Star Struck by Rodney Nancarrow
Favourite Movie: This is dead easy as I do love the ridiculous and although Buster Keaton in The Navigator comes to mind, the king of slapstick for me would be the French comic genius Jacques Tati and "Mon Oncle" and can be streamed for free on https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1558032963912/mon-oncle don't be put off by the subtitles, he didn't need much dialogue to get his stories across and the cinematography and sets are a real treat. Sorry I don't have any photos of Jacques and I but I might work on a self portrait in Tati style.
Favourite Restaurant: I think it may be some time before Jen and I will be going out for dinner again and I do hope the many great Brisbane restaurants survive this crisis. If it is simple fish and chips then Sea Fuel at Milton and West End is pretty dam good so we will be able to keep supporting them with take aways.
The fine dining experience we have most enjoyed was Fleet at Brunswick Heads https://fleet-restaurant.com.au/ and the great thing about it besides the Michelin star quality food is it only seats about 22 people, no doubt they will have to reduce that number but it may be social distancing workable. The menu is set by the chef and is based on the best produce available at the time. Last year Jen and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary there with our friends Janette and Barry who we shared our double wedding with. We all agreed this was the best food that had ever been served up to us. I would give it five stars.
Favourite image by another QCG member: As there are so many talented photographers in QCG that to choose just one will be difficult. I play a little private game on judging nights, I try to predict the maker of the images as they are displayed and it is surprising how often I get it right, Gaye Edwards’ superb portraits, Tony FitzGerald’s stunning black and whites, Martin and Elizebeth Riley’s vivid travel photos just to name a few all have their unique styles that I often recognise. But the one image that I have decided to settle on is Joy Melchiori's "Moroccan Magnificence". I was lucky to have this image at home for a few days before delivering it to River City Prints and we put it up on the piano and admired it for a few days. Although this is not a large print the visual impact goes a long way even when viewed from a distance, a really fine artistic work.
Moroccan Magnificence by Joy Melchiori
I do hope this little insight into has been entertaining enough to bring a smile to your face and provide a short distraction from this ungodly mess, so please stay away from crowds wherever you can and don't forget to wash your hands.
Stay safe and well
Rodney
PS: “This is me at my "workstation" as per your request. Yes this is where I answered all your questions from, in my favourite recliner with my faithful old Asus laptop perched upon my Lappytab MKIII with the all improved ergo wrist support for comfortable mousing (my own invention) and a glass of red wine in my hand.