The Sand Castle

Swiss Army Knives are known for being technical and versatile – exactly the tool to have with you in a difficult situation.  MacGyver always had his Swiss Army Knife and I almost always have one with me as well.  I’ve enjoyed photographing my Swiss Army Knives in challenging and amusing situations.  Some of those photos have been featured in this blog and additional ones are in my SmugMug gallery.   I even made a book of my Swiss Army Knives.  Lately, though, I’ve had a feeling that something was going wrong – I was having to work harder and harder to get a good photo whereas the little knives were contributing little except to enjoy their celebrity status.

To prove my point, I secretly made the video below during a recent shoot in Destin, Florida.  Clearly, the Swiss Army Knife is not contributing except to pose as the “talent” and take all the credit!

The story behind the photograph

(Video shot with G12 in “miniature” movie mode and edited in Premiere Elements 9.)

PAW 28

One of my favorite subjects:  Swiss Army Knives.  This one is from a walk on the beach in Destin, Florida.  Picture taken with the G12 at f2.8, 1/1000 second, ISO 80, handheld to get a low view.  Processed from RAW in ACR and cropped in Photoshop.

Yes, he did get wet!

PAW 23

This picture of the week is the latest addition to my collection of Swiss Army Knife pictures.  This one is PAW 23 and also the seventeenth in my Adventures of the Swiss Army Knives gallery at SmugMug.

Of course, the little critter could not possibly eat everything on that plate and I had to finish it.  Knives!

More Preview Pages at Blurb

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I've made several Blurb books, learned a lot in the process and (I hope) am getting better at both editing and book design. Previously, Blurb allowed 15 page "previews". Now, a Blurb author can choose to allow unlimited previews. I've opened my Swiss Army Knife book and my dad's autobiography to full previews.

Update: Just like last year, my entry to Blurb's Photography Book Now (Swiss Army Knives at Work and Play) did not win, place, or show -- or get mentioned at all. Oh well, I like it and voted for it. Wait 'til next year!

Lessons Learned: Not all, but a significant number of the winning or mentioned books in Blurb's Photography Book Now contest used a very simple design: blank page on the left page, one large print on the right page. Sometimes the left hand page includes the caption or a comment about the right hand page. This is especially interesting considering that Blurb offers so many page templates and variations on design. No doubt I've been using overly complex designs and layouts.
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Swiss Army Knives at Work and Play

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Swiss Army Kni...

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By Gordon S. Buck

Book Preview

A new book is on my coffee table: Swiss Army Knives at Work and Play. Of course, it's my own book, published at Blurb. So far, it is a, uh, very limited edition. The book has been entered in the 2009 version of Blurb's book contest.
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SAK Repair Team

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Some jobs are just too big for one Swiss Army Knife.

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The Craftsman

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This is the Craftsman Swiss Army Knife that I gave my dad some years ago. It was an appropriate gift because my dad was also a craftsman. The Craftsman knife is posed on my dad’s heavy workbench in his shop.

I’ve written about my dad in a number of these posts, including his memoirs , his first hammer and the violin that he made.

Here are the links to other Swiss Army Knife photos posted in this blog and the link to my SmugMug gallery of Swiss Army Knife photos.

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SAK at the Piano

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Actually, he's not much of a piano player but, like the others in my collection, enjoys getting out of the box on occasion.

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Philmont 50th SAK

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In 1989, my son and I spent two weeks hiking in the mountains of the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico with his Boy Scout troop. We had a wonderful time; in fact, this hike was one of the better experiences of my life. We returned twice and my son then worked at Philmont for four summers. I wanted to buy the Philmont 50th Anniversary Swiss Army Knife but all had been sold. Just recently, I was fortunate to find one in mint condition and add it to my collection of knives and photos.

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Another for the SAK Gallery

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This little fella poised inside a diffusion zone made from a 2’ x 4’ translucent light panel bent into a U shape and lit from the outside with a Nikon SB-24 triggered by Cactus wireless units from my Canon G9. I liked it well enough to include in my collection of Swiss Army Knife photos at SmugMug.

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PopPhoto Shootout 2007: Second Assignment

The second assignment for the PopPhoto 2007 Shootout was a portrait. I’d guessed, almost assumed, that portraiture would be part of the contest so I was ready except that my model was in Florida. But wait, there was more! Rock, scissors, paper? The assignment required rock, scissors and paper to be included as elements of the portrait.

I had expected one of the assignments to be a bit odd but photographing my name (the first assignment) should have covered it. Although tempted, I decided to avoid the obvious “rock, paper, scissors” game and simply include those objects in the portrait.

The need for “scissors” created the concept for the first portrait. My Swiss Army Knife has scissors and enjoys being photographed. Paper? How about having the knife read the newspaper I had just finished? Rocks? Put the rocks in the background. Model? Most likely, my knife would not qualify for both scissors and model. I needed someone who was readily available, would sign a model release, work for free and be patient with me. Since my Canon G3 has a flip around screen and remote, I selected, well, myself.

The rock, paper, scissors self-portrait was much more difficult than I thought. For one thing, even in the morning, a mid-July day in south Mississippi is hot. Even worse, the LCD display was just barely readable in the brightness. Then, the remote didn’t seem to work very well so the self timer had to be used instead. This meant constantly moving between camera and setting. Fortunately, the auto-bracketing feature allowed three shots per move but that was only a small consolation. This was the best shot but most people don’t “get it”. Anyway, I think it is hilarious – the silly little knife can’t even read!

With a light-hearted photo on the memory card, the next photo was to be a bit more serious. For this scene, I set up three small wireless flashes. The main light was at about 45 degrees to the desk; the second light was at my back; the third light was snooted and aimed at the rock, paper and scissors. All in all, a realistic location portrait even if it is not a particularly exciting one. Besides, my mother likes it.

With two images selected, processed and uploaded to PopPhoto, I put the batteries in the chargers and myself to bed a bit early for an extended recharge.

PopPhoto Shootout 2007

OK, so I didn’t win, place or show. I didn’t even make the finals in the 2007 Shootout contest sponsored by Popular Photography and Imaging magazine. But I did finish the assignments and had a good time doing it. More importantly I learned a lot and am a better photographer for having participated.

But I sure wish that even one of my shots would have been published. Hmmm, I have this blog and …

This year was the third year for PopPhoto to sponsor their great shootout. Their procedure for the first two years was to select three finalists, bring those photographers to New York and give them three days of tough photographic assignments. This year, the entire contest was conducted over the Internet.

The first phase was to register and submit four photographs: a landscape, an action photo, a portrait and a product photo. I sorted through some of my favorites and quickly entered all four.

Naturally, I first selected one of my favorites, Wallace, which has already been posted here and will be included in my Reify and Redact project as well. The other selections were




It seemed to me that between two and three thousand photographers registered but some entered only one or two photographs. Some entered more than four. At the end of this first phase of the contest, there were nearly seven hundred fully qualified entrants and I was hanging in there.

Next, the assignments ...