Smoke Machine

Just bought a smoke machine from Aldi for $50. Can't wait to see how I can use this. It has heaps of potential...

Anyway this is just a quick one and here's a test shot... of all things a remote control 4X4!

Westcott Apollo Softbox

I just received my Westcott Apollo 28" Softbox in the post today from www.imagemelbourne.com.au. This is a great store, Leo's (the owner) dedication to customer service is almost unmatched, as are his prices. They have a good range of products and are worth a look.

Anyway, back to me. I'd seen this thing in action a a Strobist meeting and was blown away by the light. Unfortunately at that time they weren''t availiable in Australia and had to be imported through B&H or somewhere similar in the US for a ridiculous amount. (Shipping's about $50!!)

So I had to use it straight away. A simple self-portait. Just gotta get a little practice with it before I unleash it onto the world.

Free Photo Guide

So when you go somewhere, out of town, for work or a holiday, do you take your camera?

Of course we do.

But when you get there, what are you going to shoot? Are you going to wing it and head to the beach? If you're in Sydney are you just going to head to the Harbour and shoot the bridge like everyone else? Where are all the awesome pictures you see on Flickr taken? Want to know?

You need to look here. Open Source Photography guides is an ambitious project which is gaining momentum around the world. It allows you to look up an area where you live, or near to where you live or where you are headed and get information about some of the great spots in those areas to shoot.

The best thing about this project is it's Australian made. This is the baby of inspirational photographer Brent Pearson. Brent's an amazing photographer based out of Sydney, who's made a name for himself due to his awesome seascapes and light painting photos. He's also very generous with a lot of the secrets to the success of his photos through his blog. Locations, settings, techniques & post processing are just some of the things you can pick up from going to his site. So check out his blog here and his Flickr stream here.

A little news...

Well it looks as though all the hard work has paid off.

After 18 months and 2 attempts, I've been accepted as a photographer for the Australian Navy.

What's that mean? 9 months training at RAAF Base Sale. Everything from going right back to the basics to some advanced and challenging techniques. Then roughly 2 years of continuation training (hopefully) in Sydney.

I can only imagine the things I'll get to do and the places this job will take me. There'll be things I can't wait to share and things I can never speak of. But until then, I'll continue with my sporadic posting and updating.

Just Jack

A little while ago I was asked to do a portrait sitting for a one year old. I had taken some set shots of my daughter before who is the same age, but never a dedicated sitting... maybe I should have practiced with her a little more.

We started off at the park, I got there about 30mins beforehand just to check on some areas I had been scouting out earlier. As it turned out I was about 1hr early because the family and I had mixed up where we were meeting and we were at different parks...

Lesson Learned: Always ensure both the client and yourself are clear on where you are meeting.

By the time we had got there, the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped and poor little Jack was getting miserable. We sat him down and I quickly set up 1 bare strobe and started snapping and cheering, whistling, clapping, whatever to get his attention while the parents tried to bribe him with toys, but he'd had enough after about 3mins.

We set off back towards my place where I had set up a plain backdrop just in case of exactly this. It was warm and after 10mins of me setting up we were ready.

Jack still didn't want to play nice, but we got some good shots, we used heaps of props - A red laundry tub, a slide, a chair, leaves, bubbles, books, etc.

All in all a success, but hard work. Here's one of my favourites.

Scott Kelby World Wide Photowalk

I had the honour to be accepted to lead one of Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalks. The location I chose was Sydney's iconic Kings Cross. Choosing this darker, seedier area of Sydney was a no brainer as not many photographers get their cameras out here and there are definitely more than a handful of interesting subjects to shoot.


The day started and finished at the Kings Cross markets, then went around the back of the Cross before coming back and heading down the main road, Darlinghurst St. Once we reached the big Coke sign, we turned around and headed back down the the other side, heading past the Wayside Chapel before finishing up.


It was a glorious day, unfortunately, it was so bright. On the upside it was really nice weather and a fantastic temperature. The whole day was a lot of fun, I had the chance to meet some fantastic people and it was an experience I would be interested in doing again. Trying to pick one winner from all of these great photos is hard work.

Check out the shots taken on the day HERE and HERE

Here area couple more of my shots:



If you live near Sydney, would you be interested in doing one or another of these? Or joining a group where we would meet on non-regular occasions with a smallish group for lunch or dinner and a photowalk? Let me know.

Wollongong Strobist Meet

I just attended a local Strobist meet in Wollongong.

If you don't know, Strobist is a name coined by American photographer David Hobby, it refers to the use of flash off camera. Not the pop up flash on top or flash attached to the top but separated completely from the camera. For more info follow the links at the bottom of this post.

Anyway, this was a reasonably big turn out. Nearly 20 photographers, 5 models and 2-3 make-up artists. The idea was to make this a learning experience rather than a real portfolio builder, and while most of the lighting setups were fairly safe, the shots turned out great and I learnt a lot. I was made aware of this event via a flickr group I am part of (link at the bottom).

Here are some of my photos... enjoy! Clicking on the Photos will bring up model details too.


These are a few of the links I look at for info and inspiration:

David Hobby's Strobist Blog
World Wide Strobist Flickr Group
Australian Strobist Flickr Group

More HDR

Man I really like HDR. There seems to be no limit to the creative possibilities. I am really in awe of the light HDR work that some photographers use. You know the lush landscapes that are just that bit too perfect. I also don't mind seeing some of the edgier stuff that is almost to the point of overdone.

Anyway, here are a couple of shots I've taken & have been pretty happy with the result of my tone mapping!

First Model Shoot

Just did my first model shoot. What a buzz!

I went to a studio in Chatswood (Sydney, NSW, AUS) with 4 other photographers and 1 model. The models name was Annie Xie and she can be found @ model mayhem #848586.

It was an interesting experience, as the title suggests, I had never photographed a model before, but it was going to be a learning experience right throughout the night.

When I got there I was greeted by Dejan form Phantasee Photos. He was already aware of my limited experience and got straight into teaching me about setting up lighting and using a light meter to get exposure right.

Then Annie and the other photographers arrived. Annie was very professional, she came straight in and started on her makeup and asking us about clothes choices. She was very laid back and easy to talk to. I think she had a fair idea of what sort of photos she was after for herself. She grabbed a full length mirror and posed herself for long enough to look down the lens of all the cameras. Annie came prepared with an assortment of wigs and costumes so we never got tired of the one look.

You know, I always wondered how I would be photographing scantily clad women. In all reality, you don't have a lot of time to think about it. There's lighting, posing, clothing, lighting, background and lighting to worry about. In case you haven't worked it out, lighting plays a big part in how your photo turns out. You could have the hottest woman in the world in front of your lens, but if you can't nail that light... then it's not worth taking the shot.

So for my first model shoot, I got a decent mix of fashion, glamour, lingerie and nudity. It was great fun and very rewarding.

Here's a couple of work safe shots to show off, just a selection from over 400 :)

Lotus Exige HDR

Since the birth of our little girl, I've had bugger all chance to get out with my camera. I'm trying to remedy that... it's hard though, I really like being around her!

Anyway we took her to Queensland the other week and I got out a little Not so excited about the results as my timings and prior recon work were non-existent especially because I had no Idea when and where the opportunity to get out would occur.

I also bought myself a Nikon 50mm F1.8 prime lens while in Brisbane as well. Thanks to www.d-d-photographics.com. Man this thing is sharp. Noticeably better than the kit 18-55mm lens I currently have. Time for some serious upgrading.

I did, however, manage to get a serious of bracketed shots of a Lotus Exige. Again not very well planned, but better than nothing. I love HDR and this one is OK.

Only one month until I find out...

Well, I've ticked all the boxes, crossed the t's and dotted all the i's. So now I only have just over 1 month to wait for an answer.

I hope to find out just after the long weekend. Actually, I hope I don't find out before that because if it's not a good answer I'll be shitty for my entire 4 day weekend. I'm also competing in a 4wd competition that weekend, so I don't want to be cranky for that. HAHA.

Hmmm... this is a fairly short post... oh well

Light Painting

I've been playing with this cool effect, basically called light painting.

It is almost exactly as it sounds.

1. Find somewhere dark
2. Get out a torch
3. Set your camera on a tripod
4. Open the shutter to bulb (Remote helps here with stability)
5. Get around in front of your camera and shine your torch at the camera.
6. Try to draw a picture or something
7. Close your shutter.

Done!!


You can do some cool things with this. You can try to draw a man in certain poses, draw objects and write words (albeit backwards) to name a few. You can also use your torch to light areas of the scene up. As I have done with the chair and the guitar. I've seen this done with whole buildings and the effect can be awesome. I have heaps of ideas, now I just need the time and weather to align and I'll be set.

For this first photo, I stood on the other side of the chair and faced the camera. Then I switched on my torch and tried (poorly) to draw a man sitting in the chair. Then I went back around to the back of the camera and shone my torch on the bits I wanted to highlight. The chair and the guitar. That's it.

It's been a while...

WHOA...

It has been a hectic month. A week of work experience with the photographers, then I shot up to Sydney to be with my wife for the birth of our little girl, Lily Eve. Crazy.

OK, where do I start...

Ummm, alright, firstly my wife and child. Lily Eve was born on Friday the 30th of May. She has immediately and positively affected our lives. Chantelle and I were well and truly prepared for the worst, screaming all night, poo from ear to ear, no sleep... if that's the norm then we are blessed. Sure she has her moments, but all wives do... and the baby is pretty good too. It might change, but at the moment it's great.

My work experience went well, I learnt heaps. At the end I got a pretty good report too. The call for applications to transfer to photographer has come in and I had already ticked all the pre-requisites, so my application has been sent away. Now all I can do is sit and wait and hope all the pieces fall into place.

OK thats all for now, brief I know but you get that sometimes. Here's a photo of Lily I took to finish things off today.

Work experience - Day 2

I am learning SO much.

I'm learning heaps about the more technical aspects of photography. The mathematics behind depth of field, hyperfocal distance... far out, and I thought it was just "If I want the background out of focus, I just open up the aperture". Apparently not.

I've been shown a huge studio set up and got to sit in on a portrait shoot. I was shown and explained the lighting setup for the official naval portraits. I also got a brief tour on the area set aside for shadowless photos and for photos of small objects on a plain background. Doesn't sound exciting but I'm having a ball.

Tomorrow I'll be going out to HMAS Cresswell to start my assignment. That's to take at least 1 usable photo at an official "job" and get it from request to ready for release. Unfortunately I won't be using the Canon 1D I'll be using my own camera. And because they use Canon and I use the enemy (Nikon) I'll be probably using my own lens too. Oh well, excitement ahead either way.

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

When you point your camera at something, the camera can't always pick up the entire range of light and shadow. Or more precisely it wont pick up the detail within the light and shadow, like your eye can see. The parts that it doesn't get are either too dark (ie black) or blownout (too bright). To overcome this we can use HDR.

By taking a range of photos of different bracketed exposures you can get the detail from the shodows and from the highlights. Generally a range 1 to 2 EV steps either side of 0 will be enough. ie -2ev, -1ev, 0ev, +1ev, +2ev. This is where the Nikon D40x is letting me down. On some cameras you can set it to take a range of shots within an exposure range automatically. This is called auto bracketing. It will happen a lot quicker than taking a photo, then changing the exposure up or down a step then taking a photo...repeat. Lots can happen in that time. Clouds can move a long way, trees sway, animals &/or people will move... you get the idea.

Come on Nikon, update the D40x with auto bracketing!!!

Anyway...

Now the trick to blending these photos is up to the individual. Photoshop CS3 has an automated process found under File - Automate - Merge to HDR. I'm not sure whether earlier versions of Photoshop have this or not. I find that CS3 is too subtle for my liking so I use a program I mentioned earlier called Photomatix. There are tutorials on the net for this everywhere. I love it. One of the great things about Photomatix is being able to make a HDR style picture (though not true HDR) from a single RAW file. This is handy but the process introduces lots of noise. Sometimes it looks good, other times not. You could get rid of the noise through Photoshop &/or noise ninja (Photoshop plugin), but I'm too lazy yet. But there are literally dozens of ways to make HDR. CS3's HDR processing is alright, but Photomatix just makes the shots POP. Some people do find the Photomatix effect too much... not me. Personal taste I guess. There's an awesome tutorial on www.stuckincustoms.com. Search around there for some great HDR photos and a fantastic tutorial for Photomatix.

If you can't justify $100ish on Photomatix, fair enough. Presuming you have a version of Photoshop you can merge your photos into layers from within the document. Doing this could be a timely but satisfying experience, watching your HDR photo appear before your eyes as you erase bits of one layer to reveal the layer underneath, showing details within heavy shadows and repairing blownout sections.

Work Experience

This week I am going for work experience with the Navy Photographers on the base. I think they have a few things lined up for me. Monday morning will involve a portrait shoot, I don't think that I'll be too involved there. But, I will be getting a 2 part assignment. Part 1 is taking the photos (hopefully with one of their new Canon 1Ds cameras :) ), part 2 is processing. The Navy have strict guidelines for taking, and storing photos. They also use Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Raw, so at least I'll be ahead when it comes to those 2 applications.

Anyway, the point of the assignment is obviously to assess my ability to work within a time frame and my photographic ability. I guess all the usual things like compositon, exposure, etc.

I also have to provide a portfolio... putting that together was interesting. I like shooting landscapes and inanimate objects, so trying to get a bit of diversity in my portfolio is harder than it sounds.

Oh well, here goes... wish me luck!

Sydney By Night

There are 2 main schools of thought when it comes to photography at night. Actually there are probably more than two, but that's irrelevant.

One is to take a spot meter of certain areas and then calculate the settings you'll need to correctly expose the frame... or you can fire and pray.

I'm a fire and pray kind of man. I know what I need to let in the maximum and minimum amounts of light. It's finer things like exactly how long I need to set the shutter to be open for to get the effect I'm after. Setting white balance if there are a few different light sources (Moon, fluro lights, street lights, etc). The small things that are fun to change and see the effects. Like the difference on the water between a 5sec exposure and a 15sec exposure. I don't like going into a situation with as much potential as Sydney Harbour with a fixed idea in my head or it clouds my want for experimentation. One night at 9pm it might look good after 5 seconds, 2 nights later it might need 20 seconds. I like to experiment with these sorts of things. There is a calculator online to help with working these timings out, but who cares.

So, on my last weekend away with my wife before we have our first child in 2 weeks, I took the camera to take photos of Sydney Harbour at night. I'm the last of the romantics I know.

Nothing special here, just an Adobe Camera Raw preset and some level adjustments. Hope you enjoy.

Shooting the moon

Last night (Wed 23/4) the Photography Club had it's regular meeting at the boat ramp just north-east of the bridge on the Shoalhaven River. I got there a bit late, so I was trying to be considerate to all the people who had got there early by driving around with my lights off. I shouldn't have bothered. The next 5-6 cars just came barreling through with their lights on. Oh well.

It was a good lesson. I learnt about shooting the moon. The trick wasn't as obvious as I thought. I originally thought that I had to go for a longer exposure, but I was quickly shown that even a 1 second exposure gives the moon way too much time to move. To get one of those shots with lots of detail, you need to shoot at a fast shutter speed and a large aperture. 1/60th of a second minimum.

Unfortunately, you also need a decent telephoto lens. Apparently 55mm is a bit small.

I ended up with a couple of ok shots of the bridge from along the water with some nice reflections, and a couple of the jetty.

The bright fluro lights of the bridge, in conjunction with the impossibly bright light of the moon and the orange/yellow street light behind successfully confused my cameras white balance... and me too. I tried all my white balance settings but couldn't come up with the answer. My resulting image was just to warm & orange. So, I feel compelled to sing the praises of shooting in RAW format. I imported my pictures into Adobe Camera Raw, easily adjusted my white balance and changed my jetty poles from orange/yellow back to the nice, bright white they should have been.

I'll put a photo or 2 up next week.

Overlaying Textures

I've been looking at a few photos with these textures overlaid onto them and I like what I see.

For the textures, there are dozens of websites giving away textures. Just save it too your PC. The textures can be anything. A brick wall, a close up of concrete, a bit of rust, the froth in the top of your beer... anything. If you shoot your own textures, just make sure that the image is sharp. And try to get it in the biggest size you can so it isn't ruined if you need to stretch it over something big.

I'm not sure of the actual technique though. I've been avoiding looking it up on the internet just so I can play around with the effect myself without the distraction of a preplanned workflow. I don't want, just yet, to be caught up in step-by-step instructions for something with so much creative scope. Press this, click here, slide the bar to this many percent, blah, blah, blah.

I think that I have done OK. While almost certain that my technique has more flaws that an Australian election campaign, I have only done is as the title suggests. I've overlaid a texture, then all I have done is reduced the opacity of that layer so that the picture underneath is visible. Easy.

Anyway, enough blabbering on... let me know what you think of what I've done so far.

Click on the pics to get a bigger picture.

Transfer to Photographer... Update

First post in a while... well you get that sometimes!

Well things are going great in my mission to become a Navy Photographer.

I've attended a Psychological interview which determines whether you're smart enough and have the right motivation to transfer branch. Apparently I passed both criteria which is good.

When I got to the office there were 2 men arguing, I think they were just pulling the piss out of each other, but, I didn't know who they were. They were swearing and yelling and carrying on. One was Russian I think and he was getting fairly animated. The other was American and he was doing a great job of winding up the Russian bloke. Later I found out the American is one of the base psychiatrists and the Russian is a base Chaplain!! OMG! these guys help people sort out their lives!!!

Anyway...

I had to do a heap of tests on different subjects. What do you think would be suitable tests for someone who was considering a job in the Photographic industry?

WRONG!!!!!

First test was on intelligence. Don't laugh... I nailed that one. This test made sense.

Second test was Maths. Example question: If the sine of 60 degrees is 0.566 , what is the cosine of 30 degrees?? Who gives a rats ass? If it can't say cheese when I point the camera in it's direction why do I care???

Third test was electronics. Again, why do I care how many cells are in a car battery, or the formula for working out how many amps something uses. And what's a farad?

Fourth test was radio frequency. This one wasn't so bad because I had covered a bit of this in my role with Combat Systems, though I couldn't see the link to photography.

Fifth test... yes the bloody 5th written test was on mechanics... need I say more.

After a brief interview it was all over. 3 hours of testing and only about 15 minutes dedicated to photography.

After that I went to the medical centre and conducted a colour vision test. The nurse said my colour vision is A1. I thought that was great.

I later found out there are only 2 scores for colour vision... A1 and fail. HAHA.

So that's another tick in the box, on with the battle.