Yearly Archives: 2015

Late-Night Antics

One of the joys of being an event photographer here in Canberra is I get to go out to all sorts of places at all sorts of hours –  typically night hours as that is when people are having fun and I must say I just love the idea of meet lots of new friends. 🙂

During the week I had an opportunity to photograph for the lighthouse pub in Belconnen where I didnt start at 11:30 PM and photographed till 2 AM.  I must say the time went super quick and it was such a blast that I didn’t want to leave.

Girls girls girls
Girls girls girls

One of the great things of the night was the staff.  🙂  They were all so welcoming and were more than happy to help and offer locations where I could get shots from. (even though they were really camera shy)

I must say when the owner has such a smile on his face for all this clients then its a good sign you are in the right place. 🙂

It must be tough being the owner as he looks like his is really sad about his job.
It must be tough being the owner as he looks like his is really sad about his job.

Doing what he does best… and that is puring the working event photographer a water… hahahahah Thanks mate for being my model 🙂

Throwing together a drink or two
Throwing together a drink or two

Well well well.. One of the things I take very very very serious… and that is people that don’t like their photo taken….  this young lass avoided me like I had the plague….  but what she didn’t know is that before she knew I was there I got this shot…  the rest of the shots was just me messing with her head.  haha

Camera shy staff :) - She will kill me if she see this so please share. hahaha
Camera shy staff 🙂 – She will kill me if she see this so please share. hahaha

This welcoming feeling washed through the place like a tsunami and effected everyone in the place.

And off we go
And off we go

All the people that were there had such a great feel and were super happy and just loved getting their photo taken, with some just loving the idea they can take photos of others. 🙂

I shot you!
I shot you, you shot me!

If you are out and about tonight have a great time, and be kind to the photographer as they are there to make you look freaking awesome. 🙂

You have an event, party, wedding, corporate  event and need a photographer…  Drop me a line and lets see if I can help you out. 🙂

 

Does Life Sometimes Feel Like Groundhog Day To You?

Just about every morning before I get up I look at what the weather is going be doing to my for the day, as it helps me plan what I am going to wear, carry and do for that day.

Is it going to be hot so I have to pack water bottles and ice creams in my portable fridges or freezing or do I need to take hot coffee?? Do I need to wear beanie or sunscreen?? Is it going to be so windy that I am going to be like Mary Poppins with all my portable lighting or still as a lake in the early morning?

These are very important questions I ask about the coming day and the days following as I need to make sure everything is taken into consideration for the success of the shoot and the comfort of the people I am working with,  be it a family, a wedding, board members of a large company, gala event, or even a conference with thousands of people attending.

Why I am telling you this by the way. 🙂

When I looked at today’s weather I noticed that it is almost identical to the same weather and time when I looked at a few days and it got me thinking.

Ground Hog Weather
Ground Hog Weather

Is it so bad that today is starting out and looking like it is going to be a repeat of the other day?  What happened the other day after I saw the weather? How did the day pan out? Was it good or bad?

All very important questions and ones I quickly asked and answered in my own head like a mad man talks to himself…. While the answers in themselves were not that amazing it was the act of self critiquing that I thought I would share. It is something that I do a lot,  after every shoot, event, or workshop I conduct.  After every meeting or interactions with key people and general people in my life.

It forms part or my personal and professional growth.

What are the areas you would like to see grow in your life and what do you do to make that happen or what first make that happen?

Are there areas in your photography that would like to improve in but not sure where to start?  Or other areas like post processing that you would like to pursue?

I would love to hear your stories as there may be things I can use or avoid in my life and business!

So please do share and comment below. 🙂

iAwards Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony – Official National Photographer

First I photographed the State iAwards gala dinner and award ceremony here at the National Art Gallery of Australia which I must say was a fantastic evening and I think I might blog about it when I did it.

The AIIA (Australian information industry Association) who hosted this evening was so happy with my work they are requested that I fly down to Melbourne and cover the national iAwards gala dinner and award ceremony at the Convention Centre. This my friend is going to be a massive evening as it is more than just a gala evening. It is a three-day event that includes judging, exhibitions, a conference and of course the gala dinner with subsequent award ceremony.

They will have speakers giving presentations throughout the Convention Centre to which we have to capture all of them along with being an opportunity for the AIIA board of directors to get together, so we’re going to use that opportunity to capture their portraits photos for their annual reports and publications. 🙂

All the images of the speakers and people getting the awards are being filtered out to the various media outlets as fast as we can after the images are taken with one of the key problems we faced in our planning was being out to tag and name everyone in the images, along with descriptions of what is happening in the photo they these images are in line with photojournalistic rules, all without missing any action on the media walls and the VIP areas.

With maybe about 1000 people attending the gala event itself and having to cover the entertainment along with the various areas throughout the centre it became fairly apparent that this was not a one-man job, so I enlisted various photographers including myself and an assistant to fly, drive, swim down there so make this a truly great success…. ok ok ok maybe no one will be swimming down there but you get the point.. lol

The gala event going till around 11 PM and that day starting around 8 AM is going to make for a very long day, and then you add around four hours of postprocessing straight after the event so we can get the images out to the media outlets so they have time to put them to press its going to be a very very very long day.

I must say having said that I’m so looking forward to it!!

There something about events that I just love, I’m not sure whether it is the excitement and the buzz in the air that goes with them or the pressure to ensure that you get the shot matter the lighting conditions and no matter the location. It’s just a buzz!!

If you know of anyone that is going to the iAwards or if you yourself are please say hello and we will make sure we get some special photos of you. 🙂

National iAwards to be held in the Convention Centre in Melbourne

Coastline Everywhere

Here in Australia we have a selection of places that we can go and photograph, and one of the favorite places which most of us tend to gravitate to because of our proximity to it is the coast. Its diverse, wide and spectacular.

I don’t often get a chance to get down to the coast as most my time is taken up hiding in events, studios and other places which don’t necessarily give me a coastal view so to speak. Some months ago I took the opportunity to sneak down the coast for a weekend some relaxation, to get some photos and also do some location scouting for some up-and-coming shoots once the weather gets warmer.

One of the places I ended out was at Merimbula and what a spectacular place it is. Along one of the main beaches has a rocky area which I think is kinda unique as it looks more like a boat ramp than ocean facing rocks. I snapped this photo and looking at it doesn’t do the place Justice is a details the rocks are hard to see but would you can see is the spectacular view is easily accessible in this location.

I plan to get back down there in the warmer months is a location is ideal for my portable lighting equipment as the ground is hard and even while offering a unique location with rocks that have texture and depth while also facing out to the ocean so I can capture the sunrise with models lit in the foreground using my Elinchrom Ranger Quadra kits.

So if you do get a chance get down that way and have look into forget to take your camera.

Rocky Merimbula coastline
Rocky Merimbula coastline