I made some lovely garlic potatoes at the weekend and I thought I'd share the recipe with you. They are loosely based on a recipe from Nigella Lawson.
Take some small new potatoes and cut them up into small pieces, smaller than the top of your little finger. Then mix them with some olive oil and plenty of finely chopped garlic. I used 3 plump cloves for two people and about 15 or so small potatoes. Add plenty of salt, ideally big crystalline sea salt, like grey poupon and a good grind of pepper. Put them in a pre-heated oven at about 180-200 for about 35-40 minutes. You can vary the resulting texture of the potatoes by the amount of oil that you put in with them. If they sit in a bit of oil then they will be more moist and less crisp. If they are just coated in oil then they will be crispier, but you'll need to check on them more frequently, as they might burn.
You can vary this recipe by leaving the potatoes for a couple of hours with some chopped rosemary or oregano or maybe some sage.
We ate them with some grilled sea bass and steamed purple sprouting brocolli, which made a perfect combination.
March 2004 Archives
Some rambling thoughts prompted by the recent announcements that Kodak are giving up on film cameras, except disposable ones. Kodak will still be making 35mm slide and print film for the forseeable future. I can see the sense in Kodak getting out of the camera market, as they are not a major force in it, but there are still plenty of point and shoot APS and 35mm cameras being sold and the 35mm SLR is still a great picture taking tool. However the BBC are claiming the end of the 35mm camera and other and commentators are saying this marks the death of film.
I disagree somewhat.
Kodak have been trying to reduce the amount of film that they sell to consumers for decades, from 110 to 126 to APS, they have been trying to sell smaller amounts of film to consumers who typically do not make prints larger than 6x4. With APS they seem to have succeeded, even though the different croppings on APS actually reduce the amount of the negative used, the panorama is actually a narrow strip across the middle of the negative.
That said digital is really changing things, decent 3 megapixel cameras capable of arguably reasonable 7x5 enlargements are now available for less than 200 pounds. This takes the running costs of owning a camera right down, memory is expensive, but is reusable. Making prints is still expensive, but as long as you have a computer then this is less of an issue. Also you do not need to pay for prints that are no good.
The argument in the BBC News magazine article is that digital is a benefit for those people who develop a film with one christmas at the beginning and the summer holidays at the end, or worse. Burn film is something told to aspiring photographers, the act of taking dozens of pictures trains the eye in composition by making you actually look at the scene and choose what to take a picture of. Rather than just snapping away.
I do agree, but as there is no cost involved in taking each picture, there is no moderating influence. The discipline of each frame costing something around 20 pence each makes you more thoughtful. Digital has another issue, as it is harder to make direct comparsions between pictures in turn, as the hard copy of the picture seldom exists. So you cannot easily decide which exposure is better, whereas on a lightbox this is easier.
I'm still a firm believer in my 35mm SLR and I shoot using slide film, so each picture has a cost associated with it. There are two reasons for this, my Canon SLR (EOS30) gives me control over the scene that my digital camera (a Canon A70) does not afford to me. They both have similar control setups, but I find the larger and heavier SLR much more easy to take decent pictures with.
I suppose that my argument is that an SLR is essential if you want to learn about photography and the disipline of using film makes you more thoughtful. If all you care about is taking snaps of friends and family then a point and shoot digital camera is fine. However if you are intent on photography and making pictures, then an SLR is important. If you start with digital then I think that you may develop a more sloppy technique, as there is no opportunity cost barrier. Using a tripod and slide film gives me a structure against which to make each shot as good as I can make it. However if I was into bird photography and wanted to teach myself to pan whilst keeping the bird in flight in focus then I can see that spending 20 pence for each failed image would be a hindrence. Maybe five years ago, the emphasis in learning photography was different, much more on shooting black andd white and learning developing skills. I have no real interest in learning chemical developing skills, though becoming better at Photoshop is something I'm working on.
Maybe the digital vs film argument is somewhat passé, as it is essentially wrong headed. Those proposing the quality of film over digital are already using professional SLR type equipment, for the majority of people 3 megapixel digital snaps are much more useful than 6x4 n-prints.
For people who regard themselves as photographers then there is a choice, though in some ways this is more of a cost and type of photography decision. If you take landscapes for calendars, then you'll shoot medium format, so you are already making a decision on format. I think that this will become more and more a complex decision, depending on what the people buying the photographs want. Apparently fashion photography is moving away from Hasselblads to digital, as the clients can see the progress after a few minutes, not later that day. Even the Wildlife Photographer of the Year will be accepting digital submissions this year.
What is important it to learn to use your eyes to see that which makes a good picture and then learn to use your equipment to realise that. Digital vs film is a side issue, everything ends up scanned these days anyway.
I can see a future where I'd have a film body and a digital body, but perhaps I'd just end up shooting digitally. It is a cost equation at the minute, as a full frame digital body costs 5000 pounds, the Canon 10D and similar cheaper digital camera bodies multiply the focal length by 1.6. This makes them excellent for wildlife work, a 300mm lens is now nearly a 500mm, but terrible for wide-angle work. To get the lovely 24mm viewpoint you need to start with a 15mm lens, which are not cheap.
Perhaps the digital camera market will calm down and stabalise over the coming year, with fewer releases and less marketing devoted to the number of megapixels and more concentration on the features of the camera. One other thought is that the file formats used by digital cameras need to be future proofed, my slides will last for a long time, if I store them properly. In ten years will you be able to read those RAW images from a digital SLR, or read them from the CompactFlash media?
Touching the Void is coming out on DVD in early April. I've said before that this is an excellent film, well worth the Bafta it won, which was British Film of the Year. I saw it at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival in November and then again in London, when it came out on general release.
The DVD has the film, plus a documentary of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates on their return to Suila Grande. I've already ordered my copy, it is also available as on VHS.
If you have no idea of what I'm writing about, then read my previous article. Or read the book film tie-in edition or the original edition, there now appear to be many reprints of this book, given its success as a film.
The violence in Kosovo, last week, was sad, but perhaps inevitable. A couple of weeks ago, I was at a friend's birthday party and I met an old school friend, who was in the TA. He had been on assignment in Bosnia a couple of years ago and trying to disarm the local people. He met with some resistance and the phrase he most commonly heard in response to a request for weapons stuck in his head. It is now ringing in mine "but what about when the violence starts again", not if, but when. I didn't expect it to be true less than two weeks later.
I, finally, got a new phone last weekend, I've replaced my aging T68i with a lovely Nokia 6600.
I've had it a few days and have had time to get an opinion of it. On the whole I really like it, the screen is bright and clear, the camera movement is sharp and fluid. My only complaint is that the battery life can be a bit short if you keep it in a pocket, as the screen will keep turning on when the joystick moves, this behaviour can empty the battery in a couple of days, bluetooth also drains the battery quickly.
The phone is quite big, but not really that much bigger than a t68, though larger than a t610. The screen is a great size, but a little vunerable to knocks I think. It feels oddly light too, like the curves on the side of the phone are empty.
It is a bit odd though, as the handset is actually a small computer that happens to be running a phone application. Speaking of which Russell Beattie's guide to software for your 6600 is essential reading. Also Christian Lindholm's guide to UI tips and tricks is very useful too.
The Orange package differs from the normal shipping European model, it has some custom applications, backup and update, plus a packet video player, but no Opera. It comes fully setup from Orange to work on GPRS for WAP browsing and feels quite quick.
Thus far I haven't used it as a bluetooth modem or installed Opera to web-browse, too many easier ways to get online. However I have ssh'd into my webserver from the train. I'm planning to install Kablog, next to play with proper moblogging. I've also been investigating, via google, other ways to engage my 6600 =)
I'm yearning to be somewhere warmer and sunnier at the minute, I've spent some of the weekend sorting through slides and remembering warmer days last summer. This picture is one of a set I took in Greve in Chianti, last July.
I really like markets in France and Italy, as I've discussed on here before, I'm constantly amazed at the freshness, variety and quality of the food for sale in them. Our market are a poor comparison, though they do have the benefit of better weather in France and Italy.
Coca-cola are selling tap water under the brand Dasani. There has been much gossip and speculation over the selling of essentially filtered tap water. Many of the office water coolers have filtered water in them, often under the label spring water, certainly it is not mineral water.
However, as Lucy said, we'll all end up buying and drinking the stuff, as Coke own the fridges, in the local newsagents. They will certainly put a stop to anyone else's water being cold, come that long hot summer. Personally I like San Pelligrino or Badoit.
I went to the Photographer's Gallery in London last week. Currently there is an exhibition of work for the Citigroup Photography Prize, the results of which will be announced this week. Two of the photographers caught my attention Joel Sternfeld and Peter Fraser.
Joel Sternfeld actually has photos from several exhibitions on display, the ones which most caught my imagination were from the Walking the Highline. Oddly, Jason Kottke has also been writing about the high line, recently.
UPDATE: Joel Sternfeld won the prize, I'm really pleased about this, as I really enjoyed his work. I'd highly recommend that you visit before the end of the month.
I was very taken with Joel Sternfeld, so much so that I'd consider buying some of his books for inspiration. He has published quite a wide range American Prospects; On This Site: Landscape in Memoriam; Stranger Passing; Treading on Kings: Protesting the G8 in Genoa; and Walking the High Line. If you are US based then there are many other books by Joel Sternfeld from Amazon.com.
From Peter Fraser, I particularly like 2, 5, 7 and 8 from his selection of pictures on his website, as selected for the Citigroup prize. Deep blue and Two blue buckets are his available published work. I really enjoy the observed detail in his photography, the reds on the floor with the trapped dandelion seed. Or the small fragments of glass beside the paper plane, giving a subtle impression of narrative.
Both photographers capture something of the everyday and show that there are photographs all around you, waiting. Some of them need to be sought out or waited for until the right moment, others are fleeting and the others are always there. This mixture of photgraphic inspiration has encouraged me to start carrying my 35mm film camera again, as it is my best picture taking tool. I'm now seen walking around Covent Garden and up towards Broadcasting House camera in hand, look for simple scenes to take pictures of. I've decided to go back to basics and start retraining my eye to see the picture, concentrating on shape, light, colour and pattern, working only with a 50mm f1.8 lens, so that I have little room for playing, I can only think of composition, shutter speeds and apertures.
A new comprehensive website on eating disorders has been launched, created by Lucy, who has been running her site for nearly 10 years. She has recently moved over to using Movable Type as a content management system, resulting in a greatly increased number of new articles, more or less daily.
Lucy covers many aspects of eating disorders, but focuses on research and clinical practice, as well as covering relevant conferences and media coverage of the disorders. One recent article I liked was about lost luggage in an asylum, quite poignant.
Cairngorm was the first Munro that I have climbed, on the way up we saw these pretty patterns caused by the forming rime. Rime is formed as the water condenses out of the air onto the colder surfaces of the rocks at higher altitude, an interesting fact is that the rime always grows into the direction of the prevailing wind, even though it looks the other way around.
Sir Hugh Munro created a list in 1891 to classify any mountain that is 3,000 feet or higher, the list was never finalised, so there is some argument over the exact number, but many accept 284 as the total. The Scottish Mountaineering Club, I think have the right to alter the list, which happens slowly.
I've now climbed three Munros, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui and Sgor Gaoith (pronounced skor gui), I've no plans to do them all, but those are three nice mountains. If and when we go back to the north of Scotland, then Braeriach, Sgor Lochain Uaine and Cairn Toui are definitely on the list, plus a trip to Torridon, which has to be of the most photogenic places in the UK.
