Bogey Hole, Newcastle Day Photo Course

I’m really liking overcast days of late, there is so much more you can do during the day in lue of a totally clear day where the light can be harsh and un flattering and the light at the end is more dramatic as well

This is a shot from my Newcastle Day course that ran last weekend (27th June) where we were looking at the benefits of slowing down your shutter speed to achieve movement effects and colour shifts to your image.

The Bogey Hole in Newcastle is just one of many great spots to shoot and in this image you can see that the chain has been removed from around the baths to stop all the fools from holding onto it in large swell for thrills, only to wind up in the emergency section of the hospital with suspected skull fractures.

Soldiers Beach, Central Coast, NSW

Finally caught up with a mate of mine Christian Fletcher who is over this way shooting for a new book and also for PMA that is held in Sydney this year.

I took him down to Soldiers Beach which just like Forresters Beach has so much to shoot. There was a lot of potential in the sky for an amazing light show but it never got there in the end. Didn’t stop Fletch shooting like it was his last day on earth. It’s always great shooting new locations.

This shot is at 24mm and after seeing Fletch’s shots at 16mm on his 16-35mm f2.8 I know what I am going to be saving for next.

This is another exposure blend of three shots.

Forresters Beach, Central Coast

What to do on an overcast and drab day. Why photography of course.

This is a three image exposure blend of +1, 0 and -1. I personally love the water movement created by the several waterfalls off the rocks. Contrasts well with the whole look of the shot. Forresters Beach is a gold mine of textures and vantage point like this one.

I will be making this image into a video tutorial in the near very future so when it is done I will post on the blog to let you all know for those who will be interested to see how this image was put together. I have had quite a few requests for tutorials on exposure blending so this will be the first. So watch this space ok !!

The colour and beauty of Panoramic 6×17 on Velvia 50 slide film

A little preview and collection of some of my popular 6×17 slide images being previewed on my Imacon 343 for those who enjoy my work and are interested in seeing what the original slides look like and it can also answers the question of “Is that colour real”

It will give all you pure digital photographers something to drool over when you see the instant colour we get out of slide. If only our RAW files looked like this.

You can also download the .mov source file as well if you like so you can see the movie bigger or Click the vimeo title or here to also view the video bigger on the Vimeo website.

Leura Cascades, Blue Mountains, NSW

This shot was taken on my Blue Mountains course that ran last weekend (14th June 09). We had some great weather with a nice red glow on sunrise over the Three Sisters then we headed off to Hanging Rock and shot with nice warm morning light and as we walked back the dark clouds came over so after lunch we shot Leura Cascades as it poured down.

We then made a dash for the Three Sisters as a stunning rainbow was now out as the rain cleared very quickly, but we missed it (Dam !!) so we then shot the Three Sisters on sunset with the warm afternoon light.

Leura Cascades is located about 5 – 10 minutes drive from the Three Sisters and is an easy 10 minute walk from the car park (free parking). Shooting the falls is from a viewing platform (that you can jump over easily) and the area is surrounded by walking track safety railing that is unavoidable in your shot. (Top right in this shot). This is an 8 image stitch on the 5D Mk II with a polariser and also a ND soft grad.

Fuji G617 panoramic camera for sale with original case, manual etc

For sale is Quentin Mushins Fuji G617. This camera has the fixed 105mm and is a dream to use.

The camera comes with it’s original black leather case, 105mm centre filter, instruction manual.

He will be happy with $3300. The camera also has a ground glass as well that can be bought additional to the price.

As you can see from the pic it looks in excellent condition.

THIS CAMERA IS NOW SOLD

Canon 5D Mark II firmware update for manual HD video control

For all those who own the lovely 5D Mark II a new firmware version has been released by canon this month ( June 2009 ). Something that has been long awaited and demanded by those wanting better video control over the camera instead of having to trick it into the settings you want.
The firmware upgrade gives users a lot more manual control over Full aperture selection, ISO speed: Auto, 100 – 6400 and H1, Shutter speed: 1/30th – 1/4000th second.

The firmware can be downloaded from this link.

It is a 9.2MB download (you can download for MAC or PC) and you can also download pdf documents that guide you through using the new upgraded features and also how to install and upgrade your 5D with the new firmware. Nice one Canon !!

Fuji GX617 & Sydney Harbour Bridge

Shooting slide film is a harsh mistress. When you get it right it is amazing, when you get it wrong it is very unkind as all slide film shooter will know. This shot is one of the gems taken on my Sydney City Day Course last Sunday.

I composed the shot purposely cutting off the base of the tree and I think it works well and keeps the eye and focus on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. I haven’t seen this composition before either, so it is nice to shoot something that is different and unique… for now anyway.

Shot on the Fuji GX617 (90mm lens) | Velvia 50 | F22 for 5 sec | Lee 2 stop ND soft grad.

Splash

I had a full on long weekend with courses everyday and a great bunch of people as well.

Saturday was a group course on the Northern Beaches with an interesting purple sunset over Cabbage Tree Baths and Sunday was my Sydney City Group Course where we ended the day shooting from Observatory Hill with a crazy twin rainbow over the city with the sunset light. (images coming soon on that one).

Yesterday (Monday) I ran a private course for a well known NSW state cricketer and during the middle of the day we set up and shot this huge swell smashing into rocks at Maroubra. The whole idea was to shoot the waves knowing exactly how you were going to put the images together as a compilation. We ended the day with a beautiful orange sunset over Bondi.

Truly a weekend of great light.

This was my sequence of images made up of 7 individual shots all shot on manual with the 5D Mark II.

Ken Duncan Cairns Gallery

Well known panoramic landscape photographer Ken Duncan has just recently opened a new gallery in the popular tourist town of Cairns, in North Queensland.

Last year we saw Peter Lik pull out of Cairns and close down all but one of this Australian galleries (Noosa) and I think Ken has jumped at the opportunity to get into the scene in Cairns.

So if your heading off to Cairns be sure to pop in and check it out.

Kens new gallery is located at:

63 Abbott Street, Cairns
Ph: (07) 4051 3999