Hay Day, Country NSW

Taken down near the Snowy Mountains a few years ago. On an overcast day with light drizzle. Shot on the Fuji G617 with Velvia 50.

New images in the main gallery

The images below are just a few that have be added to my main gallery. More to come over the coming week. I’m loving the GX617 with the 90mm.

The morning light baths our beautiful city and harbour bridge in tones of pink and gold. This was the sunrise that greeted me on the morning of my Sydney City group course in September. The early bird catches the worm !

Fuji GX617 | Velvia 50

This shot is taken on Soldiers Beach on the Central Coast, NSW. When driving to the beach I could already tell that it was going to be an colourful sunset. On sunsets like this the one thing that stresses me is trying to find the location to take the best shot.

Fuji GX617 | Velvia 50

At the end of my recent Blue Mountains day course we all huddled at the end of the viewing platform surrounded by bus loads of tourists. As we waited we were asked frequently “Is there something special you are waiting for” by tourists who hung over the ledge and shot the scene with their tiny point and shoot cameras.

Fuji GX617 | Velvia 50

2007 Beachley Classic ASP Womens Pro Surfing

In October last year (2007) when I had my work on display for six months in Warringah Mall shopping center on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Pro Surfer and 7 time world surfing champion Layne Beachley stopped by my display and selected two of my images to be used as 1st and 2nd trophies for the ASP Womens Pro Surfing Tour of the Beachley Classic held on Narrabeen Beach, prize money $100 grand. The winner here is Stephanie Gilmore holding my 30 inch framed Manly Beach shot on the winners podium. 2nd place took a 18 inch framed shot of my image Sydney Reflections.

The shot to the right is the display I had in Warringah Mall at the cheap low rental price of $130 grand a year.

The top image is copyrighted by the ASP World Tour.

One on One Private Course | Sydney City

I have had a busy schedule of late with courses and shooting for myself. On Friday the 19th of Sep 08 I did a private course with a nice lady all the way from from Lightening Ridge, NSW (the home of private Opal Mining) who was in Sydney on business.

After a day of shooting and teaching we ended the day at Observatory Hill and while we waited for the light to change I quickly picked up my Canon and shot a few different compositions. This shot was hand held at 1/50 of a sec at F8 / 200 iso.

If your looking to get the most out of your digital or film camera and are wanting to understand how to shoot and create images like this of your own, then my courses run every month at numerous locations around Sydney and private courses can be booked at any time.

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Official Canon Press Release on 5D Mark II

I just had a read of the official press release on Canons latest addition to the EOS range the Canon 5D Mark II on their US website. There has been a lot of speculation on what the camera is going to have. After reading the article I can honestly say the specs this camera has is amazing.

Anyone want to buy my 1ds Mark II (Haha)

The link to the press release can be found by clicking here.

Sensational Sydney Day Course 13th Sep 08

On Saturday – 13th of Sep 08 – the group on my Sydney City day course were blessed with a perfect hot sunny day which was a nice change from the freezing days only a week ago.

After shooting the city from Milsons Point on a pink sunrise we caught the ferry into the city where we discussed and explored composition shooting. Focusing on shots that didn’t need the whole picture to tell the story of the city.

Our day ended with a ferry trip back to Milsons Point and shooting the evening light over the city.

These images were taken by me on the day as I illustrated to students the techniques behind capturing digital panoramic’s and depth of field / focus point shooting. Just some of the cool skills and tricks taught on the day.

Get the most out of your digital or film camera and book on my next Sydney City Day course which is on the 11th of October.
6 of 8 positions are remaining.

Circular Quay, Sydney

I had visualised this shot for some time as I wanted to shoot something different other than the typical wide landscape shot and I scouted several locations where I could make this happen, it wasn’t easy to get, but I got in the end as waiting for the right day and conditions is a factor as well seeing Circular Quay is so busy.

This shot has so much detail in it that on the wharf second in from the right there is a Telstra pay phone booth and at “Actual Pixels’ you can see the while phone icon set in the orange roof on the booth.

Windows Live Writer

I’m finding blogging is an exciting and fun way to broadcast information across the Internet that’s separate from your main working web site. But one problem I was finding was the poor rendering of my images when uploading via the WordPress dashboard. As your image is uploading the status bar indicates at the end it is “Crunching” the image and they ain’t kidding. The image will more than likely look fuzzy and de saturated killing all your hard work of taking and displaying a great photo.

Well there is a solution to your problem if you have a PC it is called “Windows Live” and it is FREE and within the package is the program Windows Live Writer (I am yet to see a mac based program like this). The application connects and syncs with your blogging account and server allowing you to write and post via the application. The images you upload retain all their colour and detail quality which is fantastic.

The application will also let you write articles in advance and save them either locally on your computer or you can save them as a draft to your WordPress account. You can post date articles to automatically list for you which is a nice extra especially when you maybe away for a week or two and you want to make sure your viewers have something to come back too each day. I’m sure WordPress has all this somewhere but with Live Writer it is all in front of you at the click of a mouse.

Aside from the image quality benefits and little extras as you use the application you enjoy the ease of use to write and design your blog topic with familiar features you see in the Word program tool bar.

So if you have a PC and haven’t seen the light and bought a MAC yet then Live Writer is for you. At least now I have found a use for my PC that might extend its life around here.

Curious Pelican, Turimetta Beach

On an cold and wet day I decided to go through my huge archive of transparencies and I came across this one taken about 6 years ago. When looking at the image it is funny how you are taken back to that exact moment. So I scanned the shot on my Imacon 343 scanner and when viewing the shot in Photoshop memories of the morning I took it started to come back to me. I recalled shooting in the other direction waiting for the sun to come up when I heard a sound behind me. I was initially taken by suprise when I turned and saw this curious fellow standing right behind me. I took one shot before he realised I was actually quite boring and he waddled off.

The shot to the right is taken on my Canon on a recent trip to Terrigal Beach on the Central Coast and the shot below is the sunrise shot I took that day after my feathered visitor left as the sun breached the horizon.

The shot below was taken on my Fuji G617 camera on Velvia 50 slide film. Wish I could remember the settings but it is a while ago now though I usually shoot at f16 and this looks like a 1/4 or 1/2 sec exposure.

ALL IMAGES ARE BEST VIEWED LARGE

Linhof 617 – SOLD

My Linhof 617 has been sold. My Fuji G617 is still available and details on the camera can be seen on this blog or via my main website.