Surprise Sunrise

Thought I'd head back to the spit where I was the other morning as I was not 100% satisfied with what I get at the time. I guess the point of this post is the show how diverse the conditions can be for a given location. Even after looking up tide and weather charts, I had the idea that I might be able to get a certain image. I had the image in my head all lined up and ready to fire. However, the sunrise turned out a lot different that I anticipated. In some ways, it made for  a cool shot with some nice colours. Although still not perfectly satisfied, I was able to adapt to the changing circumstances and still get a shot or two. Here's the before and after shots. I found it quite interesting how the two colours were reflected on the water in different ways.

And anothery for good measure...

Key Point: Even though pre-visualising a shot can be important and helpful, it is even more important to go with the flow and adapt to the circumstances. 

Enjoy. 

Point Walter

Here's my favourite shot from this mornings trip down to Point Walter. By chance, I happened upon another photographer this morning. I haven't really bumped into anybody in that context before, so it was rather unusual for me. 

I will have to make a second trip down for a sunrise soon as there is another little spot nearby which I would like to photograph.

Enjoy.

4 AM

Thinking that I'll probably be getting up for a few more sunrises over the next 12 months. It is a good feeling to have already been out and about by the time I get to work. Reasonably happy with a mornings labouring behind the camera.

Here's the results...

I always come away from shoots like this with the desire to work on better, more compelling compositions. Regardless, as mentioned I'm OK with what came of the morning.

Have a great day!

Decoy Sunrise

As a sequel to my previous post, I returned this morning to one of the more commonly photographed locations in Perth.

Although the sky didn't turn on anything special, it certainly feels good to be up early, out and about, and getting a sunrise. So, here's the result of a 4 AM start to a November day.

Plenty of things to get finished, so I must now shoot off.

Have a great day. 

Photographer in Focus

Local Perth photographer Dylan Fox has recently re-ignited a personal desire to capture the beautiful surrounds of our capital city. Hailing from rural areas, I am the first to admit that I find the concrete jungle a rather inhospitable, uninspiring photographic environment. With an ever-present camera and his trusty tripod, Dylan has already demonstrated that he is a well-capable photographer and doesn’t hesitate to voraciously seek out the beauty in life.

Some of my favourite shots from his collection

He is the image (so to speak) of a budding young photographer at the beginning of a highly decorated photographic career. The guy's got a lot going for him: great images (in colour, composition, and elegance), great marketing strategy, great direction, and plenty of years up his sleeve. He clearly has his financial head screwed on with his marketing emphasis and decision to complete business school. People-savvy, tech-wise, and money-smart would be just a few very apt descriptions for this boy from Perth. Sinking his teeth into the industry is paying profile-raising dividends for him with a variety of accolades and media articles already up his sleeve.

However, these things and the unfolding potential in his career are not what I find intrinsically inspiring about Dylan. Many people piss up their youth on nonsense and trivialities only to regret their rash behaviour once their opportunities have come and gone. To me, it appears that Dylan has possibly grasped something important: this life is here one moment, gone the next. Photography is undoubtedly a part of Dylan’s life that he values – it runs hot in his blood. From reading his personal reflections on various photographs, I know Dylan also – very importantly – enjoys the company of good friends and partaking in the lighter (unintended pun) things in life.

Yes, there are fleeting thoughts that I too could have followed an attractive career path such as this. Yes, when playing with our beautiful six-month old monster, I have the occasional twinge of jealousy at the flexibilities I was afforded at his age. Have I been one of the aforementioned rash individuals? No, I think not. However, I am glad to be inspired by individuals such as this. Specifically, I hope and aim to continually push my own boundaries in life rather than to sit back and ultimately languish in the sorrow of my own laziness. 

Back to Dylan. Without having actually purchased any of his prints, I would guess that they are high quality. Have a look at his website or blog and if you like his style, I'm sure he'd be happy for you to hit him up for an image. 

Have a good week!!

Sharing Sites: Cambridge in Colour

Technical skills for photography should only remain a limiting factor for so long. Inspired photography is rather a product of a person's imagination and their state of mind.

I have had many questions regarding photography, how to improve, equipment, etc etc. Whilst I agree with a recent post by Bruce Percy, a certain level of technical understanding is always required. Hence, the reason why I thought I'd pass on a great website I recently stumbled across that gives a fantastic overview of all the technical aspects you need for photography.

It's called Cambridge in Colour and it includes information and guides from everything to basic exposure concepts through to lens corrections, histograms, and stitching. I noticed also a photographically thought-provoking section regarding the human eye.

Anyway, there is plenty for you to peruse so the rest I'll leave to you. There are lots of other sites, but this is one of the best I have seen.

Enjoy.

Cold Front on the Horizon

When I heard there was a cold front coming through, once of my first thoughts was the imaging potential. Although I don't always get out when there is good light, it is the atmospheric changes that always provide the lighting for your photos. So, a storm or a cold front certainly hold potential for some dramatically lit scenes.

I guess this post is actually concerned with photography planning. Regardless of how much time has gone into planning a photo, it is great to be aware if there is something dramatic happening. At the very least, this means you might take the camera out more often. Photographers always say to take the camera everywhere you go. However, for some of us this is simply not the reality; so, it sometimes requires a little more motivation for keeping the camera handy.

Below is the satellite image from this afternoon's BOM website which I find to be a great resource. As you can see, there's a whole lot of cloud coming in from the west here in Perth which will hopefully bring with it some great photographic opportunities.

I recently stumbled across another planning resource used extensively by photographers across the world is the Photographer's Ephemeris which is essentially a pictorial, map-oriented version of rise and set azimuths of celestial bodies. This is certainly something that I will be quite excited to try out as I have arrived on location numerous times to find the sun setting at just the wrong point. With this tool, it should make the precise azimuths much more predictable. Although long-term weather predictions are quite unreliable, it is certainly helpful to know the climatic conditions of your shooting location.

Key Tip: Be aware of what's happening or going to happen to future light conditions!

The Old and The New

An interesting exercise is to review some old photos and revisit them with some improved skills and photographic thoughts. My apologies in advance for the fluffiness of the post - it is unashamedly a little arty farty. 

The photo below was from a while back and I re-did it the other day. Interestingly enough, I don't think I would have done anything differently at the time of photographing for this one as it's got a certain style that I enjoy.

I suppose it is this style that hopefully remains in any image. Looking back at older photos, I am less than impressed with many of the technical aspects of my photography. However, it is some of those photos that hold some style which I am more happy to revisit. Maybe it's just an odd perspective, an unusual feeling, or a strange sense of reality. The much more recent photo below was taken of a joey  relaxing with its mother and has some similar attributes. Although I would love the larger kangaroo to also have her head down, there is just something about the photo which appeals to my own imagination; this may not appeal to the imagination of another. 

Moral of the story here is this: an ideology that I believe perfuses my photographic drive strips a photo away from it's technical aspects. If photography was purely about technique and image quality, the person with the biggest camera, most gear, and most money would be the winner. However, from this perspective, EVERYBODY can enjoy being part of a creative process. In doing so, they can also communicate something good for themselves and their viewers. Ideally, what someone communicates in their photography is also common to man and can be appreciated by all who see it. 

Takeaway Tip: Enjoy your own artform and practise seeing the good in that of others. 

Black & White Crush

Over the past couple of years, I have developed a strong passion for distinctive black and white images. I think this could be partially attributed to the fact that there are millions of over-saturated and poorly constructed colour photographs. So, as much as I enjoy a great colour photo, I'm always keeping an eye out for scenes that would make good monochrome conversions. Most times, these turn out best if they are pre-planned rather than an afterthought; however, there is always the occasional exception to the rule.

Some fantastic black and white photographers include those earlier people such as Max Dupain (Aus), Frank Hurley (Aus), and the renowned Ansel Adams (US). 

Max Dupain

Ansel Adams

Frank Hurley

                                                                           

I suppose these men did not have the same access to colour that we now have. They were forced to utilise the tools that were available to them which I believe accentuated their ability to use monochrome to its full potential. After taking away the colour, it draws the eye then to the other photographic elements, primarily composition and texture. Correct exposure is critical.

The image above is in some ways a little peek at my next possible exhibition; a compilation of a few portions of most images. Some time ago now, I spoke about the possibility of putting together an exhibition; mostly due to baby circumstances, it didn't come to fruition at that time. I am happy to say that I currently have twelve un-exhibited  black and white images selected. Most of the images have, however, been presented on my blog at some point over the past twelve months or so and it will roughly follow a Southwest WA theme. 

Post-Processing Extremes

When people write or talk about post-processing in photography, they are simply referring to the work they did (generally on a computer these days) after taking the initial frames in camera. It is an inevitable part of every photographers work regardless of exactly what they let on. It is also rare to find an explanation of this side of things outside a good magazine or workshop. For this reason, I thought it would be helpful to present some of what a photographer does off camera.

There is clearly an editing spectrum along which every digital photo can be placed. Here, I will display two from rather opposite ends.

The first is pictured below and sits on the less-edited side. Pictures taken on camera should always aim to have ideal exposure, focus, and composition prior to pushing the shutter. Although I'm not quite 100% satisfied with the composition here (I would like to have included the entire shadow of the man), it is a great example of where things have worked well in the field. From memory, it was taken in one frame, cropped, and minimally tweaked in post-processing.

Compare this with the one below which is closer to the other end of the spectrum. At the time of shooting, I was quite limited by a number of things: extremely limited shooting time, deteriorating camera quality, very low battery level, and quickly changing light conditions. Unfortunately, this resulted in frames requiring greater work in post-processing. I have made a number of editing attempts at this one with yesterday's result being the most satisfactory to date. The quality has been reasonably maintained whilst still getting the image and look that I was after.

Photoshop's in-house stitching function is now quite suitable for most stitching jobs. The image is comprised of a five-frame stitch in order to encompass the desired scene.

The next steps aimed to bring out the details and colours in the shadows below the skyline. This is where pixel count, sensor size (and quality), tripod quality, and file format (JPEG or RAW) become important. I was able to pull out all the detail I wanted. Regardless of the above-mentioned factors, all post-processing such as this always reduces the overall image quality (even if you are working from a medium and large format cameras).

Although the image does not have maximal quality, it has still sufficient quality to use in a reasonably large print. Considering the impossibility of returning to precisely the exact scene for a reshoot, I am pretty happy with the result.

Key Tips:

1. If possible, get high quality images in camera prior to shutter release.
2. Shoot in RAW (or highest possible quality on your camera) to preserve pixel exposures.
3. Remember that every photograph requires some level of post-processing (even if only a slight crop).
4. Get practising and attempt your own edits!

For more detailed tutorials on some photoshop techniques, www.ephotozine.com looks like it has a number of good ones including curve tool, horizons, and dodge & burn. Another place to go for detailed photoshop tutorials is www.smashingmagazine.com some great info on masking, colour correction, and  sharpening.