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The Boatyard Sleeps

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 00:39 +0800

What's goin' on 'ere then? Well, I'm amidst that amateur excitement again as a long duration without an essential photographic tool has finally come to an end. Although I've done some handheld shooting recently, it's barely been up to a standard fit for Flickr, let alone here, and the kinds of photography I've recently attempted have depended on steadiness that only now can I achieve. That's right, I finally paid the premium and got myself a tripod to last a lifetime (provided I don't lose it).

So I recently took delivery of a shiny new Manfrotto 190CXPRO4 tripod to go with the 496RC2 head that has sat, lonely in my wardrobe for months. But were the big bucks worth it? Ohhh yes! My countless hours of searching and comparison were validated as I extended its legs, pushing and pulling it with force, watching as it remained stock still. I can't believe I didn't make the investment sooner. If you're looking for a super-light, super-rigid tripod that can sit comfortably at head or ankle height with equal stability, you can't go wrong. Manfrotto, you own!

The picture you see here is a pano of four 10 second exposures, my 400D sat on the new tripod for its first proper use. The sun was nearly gone by this point, but with the boatyard lighting covering the path brightly from the left you'd almost think it was daytime.

Fight with Light

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:04 +0800

Sometimes you gotta make do with a lack of willing models, a tight budget for light and existing kit that's getting pretty old. My lightstands and tripod are still finding their way here from England, so today I perched lights on furniture and the corner of the kitchen counter, and GorillaPod'd my camera precariously onto an office chair! And the model? Well, that's me of course.

It's surprising how fun you can make an otherwise boring afternoon, jumping about like a loon in front of your camera, remote in hand. I've never really been comfortable to use myself for anything more than a test of lighting arrangements and scenarios until now, but when the blog updates are getting this infrequent, it's time to work around the issues and get shootin'!

10G

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:52 +0800

Today I saw a small part of a day dream realised. I've been out skirting the Swan River – camera in hand – shooting the Formula One of the sky; The Red Bull Air Race.

A couple of posts back I mused on the idea of listening to Joe Satriani while flying. Well, while today's main event drew to a close and the podium-placed pilots made their way by car back from the airstrip, The RAAF 'Roulettes' aerobatic display team arrived on the scene for a loopy performance. As spectators who'd assumed all was over made themselves comfortable again, my ears filtered out of the ambience the opening bars of one of my favourite songs of all time – Flying in a Blue Dream. I was entranced. I'm sure that until I'm between the wings, a pilot myself, there can be no better setting for that track.

This particular photo is from the Air Race, of Englishman Paul Bonhomme piloting his Edge 540. For some of the other pictures of the day check out my Flickr set.

THIS WAY UP

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:11 +0800

It's times like this I find my adventurous "gotta get something halfway original" spirit doing battle with my sensible "that reaaaally doesn't look safe" inhibition. If I return to the old Fremantle power station with a lighter camera I shall have to climb this. It just has to be done. Plus, the views from the roof are bound to impress. But like my attempts to climb tall trees I'm sure I'll find getting up easy.. enjoy a few boastful seconds remarking how high I am, then come within sniffing distance of a cardiac arrest, as the cogs in me 'ead fail to formulate a plan for my safe return.

What's the most extreme situation you've found yourself in, in pursuit of that perfect picture? Gimme a comment!

Waking the Forsaken

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:20 +0800

Unhappy places, asylums. As dark when operating as they are abandoned. I'm terribly cynical towards them and the true value of their care for the mentally ill. My worst nightmare was never one of death by fire or drowning (though hey, what a nasty way to go) but instead a soul-tearing story of my wrongful imprisonment at such a place. And just like the classic movie storyline, my pleas for justice were met with the torment of hope that was never fulfilled. See Girl, Interrupted and Changeling (interestingly, both staring Angelina Jolie), among others.

So anyway, I spent a day recently peering through my viewfinder into the myriad nooks and crannies in and around some of Perth's most interesting ruins. Both here and on Flickr a few more of the snaps will be appearing soon.

Tropospheria

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:49 +0800

I don't think any of the creatures on this blue 'n' green orb of ours are as envied as those with the ability to fly. And I expect none seek wings more than those with an addiction to escapism. I for one love the idea of leaving all the stresses of life on earth behind for a little while, soaring in the peaceful emptiness of the sky. In fact, If I could I think I'd do little else. My soundtrack – if not the breeze – would be the string pickin' magic of Joe Satriani. I've just remembered an old post with exactly the same sentiment.

One thing I always try to do if my eyes are getting bored scanning the space around me for photo opportunities, is remind myself to look up. On this occasion t'were not a ruffled seagull or noisy crow that perched upon the streetlight, but a bloody pelican! This fella was huge, managing to remain planted with his webbed feet in a the harsh wind.

Alright, so I know I've been a boring sod for far too long once again. This being only the second post since my return to Australia, you'd think I'd have something more interesting for you. 'Fraid not. I've been a reclusive code monkey for the past little while, developing a kind of brand image for myself as an uppity young freelance photographer. As a freelancer you're forced to approach yourself as the business, and scrutinise all of your hopes and goals on a much more personal level. Answering any of the standard business-like questions before a venture with 'errr' or 'I dunno' definitely doesn't bode well, so I had a lot of thinking to do. It's ongoing, such is life generally, but keep an eye out.

I've been saving for a Canon Powershot G11, but I'm now getting quite excited about the new Panasonic Lumix offerings due for release soon. I once said "The [Panasonic] TZ7 would be the perfect compact if only it had some more manual controls." Well, seems the Jap geniuses heard. The TZ8 & TZ10 have nearly exactly the same spec. but this time with full manual! If its low-light performance gets anywhere near the G11's it's a done deal!

Paved with Gold

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:31 +0800

This post was originally a self portrait, just to mark my last night in England. Taking another look the next day, I realised it made no sense as a part of my photoblog'd collection, what with it being terrible 'n' all.

Instead I've decided to replace it with my first photie from the city. Bit of dying sunlight caught my eye as we flitted between shops, exploring Perth properly for the first time. I do love silhouettes.

It's bloomin' cold here at the moment.. my biggest preconception of Australian life (pocket fan in one hand, burger flipping utensil in the other) has already turned to dust. We're due to thaw in the coming month though. Soon, my dear spatula, soon.

Until my laziness masquerading as jet lag dissipates, nowt impressive is due. So tomorrow, I'll be hitting the job trail running, ready to begin the rest of ma life. Swish.

----------------------- ORIGINAL POST BELOW -----------------------

I'm sitting right now in the only spare room my Aunty and Uncle have; that of their caravan, outside. In six hours I will be getting out of bed to finish packing my bag and taking it with me to Heathrow Airport. The next chapter of my life will unfold down under.

So–reluctantly–I'll upload an almost unprocessed, natural, obscenely real photograph of myself. Black and white suits, on this occasion.

I'm lookin' forward to a fresh perspective on my photography, but no way in hell will I be forgetting the great places and people that have helped make me in England.

Please forgive the flurry of uninspiring posts that is sure to follow. I expect to be overwhelmed with photo-ops again, just like I was when I first laid hands on my 400D. Take care, all. BRB. :)

After Effect

Mon, 18 May 2009 02:25 +0800

Following an exhilarating experience shooting my biggest live music event so far at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, I was out again the next day to grab a few quick promo shots at the end of Empirenation's practice sesh, which weirdly, I found more stressful.

So we're in this kind of church, in what could easily have been a converted workshop. The available light was dreadful, so my first critical decision was to knock it out entirely with heavy flash. I recently invested in a Nikon SB-24 for just such situations, but without a second trigger receiver I had to ditch my snappy shutter speed and pop it from over the camera myself. My 430EX was positioned behind the guys here on a lightstand, shot through a pop-up diffuser (2ft distance) held with the much appreciated assistance of band member Sam's girlfriend, Nat.

If this photo works, I have Nat to thank. She had the idea to put the second flash behind for silhouettes, which then developed into a nice rim light with thrown shadows. I hadn't considered it, lacking the second trigger receiver, but her suggestion prompted my searching for an alternative: manual pop on a longer shutter. I was all afluster, working with a tired band after a long day practicing. I'm surprised I managed to snap anything worth posting to be honest.

Some heavy burn and vignetting has been applied here with Nik Silver Efex; a wonderful tool for when colour is best removed. Which in my mind is far more often than can be sensible. I also attacked the fish eye's distortion with Photoshop's fantastic Lens Correction filter. Hopefully I've not overdone it. Wack a comment in the box below if ya got a minute. :)

Late Exploration

Mon, 11 May 2009 04:36 +0800

Three looks, one location, one light (+available).

Seems all I do is post pictures from car parks. This one we explored in order to find our bearings with views over our surroundings in an unfamiliar part of Leicester. The sun as usual was saving its best for last just before setting. I left the flat with all the kit I'd need: 18-200mm all-rounder lens and 430EX on off-camera cord filtered with 1/2 CTO.

This was to be an experiment with high-speed sync. The top left frame was exposed at 1/2500, knocking down the power of the sun beautifully, but my harsh bare flash left all but Ethan's face in the darkest of shadow. I fill-lit this back in with Lightroom but paid the price in noise. If I were to do it again I'd have the light closer to him just out of shot... but that ain't easy with a two-foot coiled cord. All the kit I'd need? Yeah right. Making the best, once again.

The top right frame I decided to daylight balance. I like warmth, but put these side-by-side and you can see the AWB'd shot was a bit too warm. Naturally so, mind. This was taken at 1/4000, the maximum capable with my little ol' 400D. The entire shoot was done @ f/3.5... unwisely so with a couple, but again, lessons learned. The bottom shot's a little more of your average, at least technically. 1/320 on the shutter here with my own 'washed out' preset.

Time for another of these evening photowalks soon methinks. That light is just sublime. Maybe just before my biggest yet live music shoot. Clean underwear at the ready for that, yikes!

Oh yeah, guess what Ethan's holding there. :P

Begin Transition

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:08 +0800

After a while spent without even touching my camera it's fair to say I was destined to produce a few technically facepalm-worthy photos when I finally dusted it off last night and headed out with Team D12 (the flatmates) for an impulsive, boredom-driven street shoot.

The title refers to the official beginning of my relocation to Australia, as I've now begun clearing my room. I'll be on that plane in no time. Scary.

Having forgotten my flash gels, colour temps were all over the place (pretty, but painfully unprofesh), and my unwise decision to drag the shutter without a support (okay, my subjects were getting cold, I panicked) caused car tail lights to generate erratic squiggles, tracking my shaky hands. Why do I reveal the extent of my goofy thought process? Per'aps telling the world about it will help me remember the mistakes so I eventually learn from 'em. Here's hoping.

So it's unsurprising that most of the best shots are ones where the camera is steadiest. So how about this criminal colour inconsistency? Black and white conversion to the rescue! I really was making the best of a bad shoot this time. Sometimes though, the subject provides the image enough strength and visual interest to score some forgiveness. I bloody hope there's an Australian Ethan out there.

Oh, wait. Lighting! There's a 430EX shot through a small Ezybox from camera right, held high by willing assistant AK. Triggered by Cactus V2s (those terribly short-range eBay triggers for 'togs on a budget). =]