Tag Archives: Canon Australia

Invest in yourself

Today is not only my birthday but it also marks a new beginning in my photographic journey. It is a day in which 2 new Canon 5D IV arrived on my doorstep to close off the final pieces in part of my photographic business plan.

It marks the day which I now have all the equipment I need to be able to shoot on location at events and the images I take are sent live across a wireless network to portable Wacom Workstation Pro table, where an assistant will process before uploading the images to either my online store or a Google Drive account where my clients can access them within minutes of the images being taken.

For competitions, I can now shoot while these images are being worked on in the background and never need to walk away from the action. Competitors can now get access to view and purchase images of themselves and their achievements within minutes, not hours, days or in some cases weeks.

Gala and awards clients will now have access to their images before the celebration drinks have been finished and allow them to capitalize on their own marketing of their events.

For weddings, the bride and groom can have access to their images in the fastest possible time as they can not be processed while we are still shooting the event.

2 Canon 5D IV's with battery grips and 64gig super fast SD Cards
2 Canon 5D IV’s with battery grips and 64gig super fast SD Cards

Over the last month, I have been investing heavily in equipment as to bring the dream of being able to delivery super high-quality professional images to you in lighting speed, speeds that are not normally associated with progressional event photography.  I know you are going to love this new service as it takes event photography to a whole new level.

Bring on a new beginning and remember to always back and invest in yourself. 🙂

Waterfalls and steps

After dropping my gear off at the Boyd River camping ground I did a quick run down to the Kanangra Walls which also holds a fantastic waterfall at the bottom of a rough bush track that is made up of slate and what only seemed like around 400 steps on the way down.

It’s a scientific fact that if you count the amount of steps going down to a place any account the amount of steps coming up from the exact same place on the exact same path, there are always four times as many steps going up. It’s really weird like that, and this place was no exception.

It’s return walk of about an hour but I think you can actually do it in about half an hour if you reasonably fit. You do have to be really careful however as there are no fences and the ground is made up of shale and can be very slippery in places with no chance of forgiveness for a slip could see you fall off the edge of the cliff. 🙂

It is however worth the walk because at the bottom you come to a fantastic little waterfall that has a fairly deep hole at the bottom of which makes for a very refreshing place for a swim on a hot day.

Kanangra Walls Waterfall
Kanangra Walls Waterfall

Given that this was peak season I had this waterfall all to myself which I thought was kind of amazing.

After all who wouldn’t want to be here!

I sat down there for around 45 minutes or so admiring the waterfall and testing out the cool freshwater, especially as it was really hot.

Kanangra Walls Waterfall
Kanangra Walls Waterfall

It was started to get dark down there so it was time to head off back up the 8 million steps so I could reach the top just in time before the sunset and giving me a fantastic opportunity to photograph Blue Mountains and the Kanangra Walls in all its glory while I enjoy the last few hours of 2015.

Where Will 2016 Take You?

As the last sunsets over the evening sky for 2015 we all generally like to sit back and bot reflect on the year that has gone and look forward toward the year that is ahead.  Most of us will have grand plans of what it will be like and the amazing things we will achieve.

Most will move on from new years day with little direction toward the grand plans they made just a few hours before.

 

I see the world through a lens and in a series of frames, with each frame different from the next and all frames unique and can never be repeated, so if you do just one thing tonight take a photo of yourself with all the warmth of these new and wonderful grand plans you have for the year ahead, and when you lose faith or just get busy in life pull out that photo and remember…..  Remember that moment in time where you were for just a fraction of a second free to dream and become whatever you want to be.  🙂

The process of capturing a fraction in time that lasts a lifetime is an amazing thing and one I don’t think I will ever get sick of.

Now for me I will be spending tonight not alone but with the love of my life.  Under the stars with my photography 🙂

For me the night life and the crisp early mornings make for fantastic photos so I will be spending it under the stars with my camera by my side to capture one of Australian’s true wonders……  The Australian Blue Mountains.

What are you planning for tonight? and what amazing things will you be doing over the next year?

Wishing on a star, night photography, camiping, rhino rack, foxwing sunseeker
Wishing on a star

PS: If you are interesting in learning how to capture night shots like this one and the technique of painting with light let me know as I am looking and conducting some workshops if the interest is there. 🙂

Technical Info:

  • Exposure: 30 seconds
  • Aperture: 2.8
  • Focal Length: 24 mm
  • Lighting: Used a flash light to paint the trees and everything in the foreground.

With The Sounds Of Christmas Fading

It makes for a great time to get out and capture all the Christmas lights while they are still around. 🙂

Christmas lights and lights in general can be hard to capture especially if you want to also capture a person or some other subject that is not lit up by the lights.  The resulting images will be that the either the subject will be dark or the lights will be over exposed.

The trick is to use some form of flash to light up the subject so that you can even out the exposure across the entire image and in doing so reduce the contrast between dark and light.  There are lots of ways to do this and some I will go into in the coming weeks.

If you are just out to capture the lights you may not need a tripod but it is a good idea if you are after sharp images due the the camera needing to open the shutter longer than you can hold the camera steady for.

What I tend to do is go out and give it a try.  I start with hand holding and then move toward using other supporting devices if the need arises.

Why?  because then I can travel lite and I have less equipment to get in peoples way.  After all they are also there to experience the joy that is Christmas lights.

So before the lights fade away for another year, grab your camera and head out to capture some lights.  Experiment a little, play with your shutter and aperture and just have a bit of fun.

Out to capture some Christmas lights
Out to capture some Christmas lights

 

Anyone Got Any Spare Speedlite?

With a free afternoon it is a good time to go out on location with a couple of speedlites and light modifiers to try out a few ideas that have been bouncing around in my head. yay for having some creative time. 🙂

These little lights are great for all sorts of things and give us as photographers great flexibility and creativity.   You can stick them in all sorts of location and put light modifiers on theme like umbrellas.

Do you struggle with using speedlites?  If so what do you find the hardest thing to understand?

Canon speedlites
Canon speedlites