GK Photo blog

2012-01-04T14:38:00.001+11:00

Happy New Year to all!
A few things to blog about, considering I have not kept blog up to date as I promised.

First things first. Was invited to cover, I guess now it is last years, Karate Seminar out north. This time they were having a demonstration of self defence as well as what I call "black belt show off" session. Both were very entertaining to watch, but very painful to participants.

When you see a karate fighter bring a rope to a fight, you start to wonder what comes next ...

and then you see people thrown around and bent like clay, and then tied up and paraded

The demonstration did not disappoint either with everyone putting in their 101%.

To top it all off, two of my photos from 2010 event were featured in Blitz magazine

which made the time and effort spent all that much more rewarding.

For Christmas I have attended my first Google Plus Sydney meet. Met some great people and had loads of fun walking around Sydney CBD and taking pictures.

Through our wondering we ended up at Hyde Park and St Mary's cathedral light show. Which was very impressive, and if it is still on I highly recommend to go and check it out.

I've been thinking about doing another Project 52, seeing as I cannot bring my self to start "100 strangers" project going. I have enjoyed doing it in 2010, and it does force you to think more about what you can take a photos and not fall into snapshot mode. The more I think about it the more I want to do it. What do you all think?
GK

Wakie Wakie

2011-11-21T10:03:00.001+11:00

Summer is not the easiest time of the year for doing sunrise photography. Sun gets up at 5am, so if you have nearly 1hr to travel to your destination you should be out of bead before 4am. You should make sure you charge and prep everything the night before so that you can wake up, wash and grab the gear. There is not time to waist.
But knowing me, I get up a little too late and get out of the house even latter and so arrive to the Narrabean 20 past 5am. Rocks are littered with photographers who got there before me. Everyone is already shooting. So I am left with a couple of small spots to occupy without getting in any one's shot.
Picked my composition and setup. Spend maybe 40min or so taking photos and was done. Decided not to try and get too many different compositions, so only kept to a single rock formation. It was nice to be out early though. See the sun come up and hear the sound of the ocean. A great start to any day I think.

After this I went to Karate Seminar to photograph some exhibitions, results are to come latter on.Have a good week all!GK

Ride with Rockers and more

2011-11-10T18:03:00.000+11:00

Well it looks like I have not been keeping up with my postings. So this is sort of a catch up post to bring this blog up to date!

And on this colourful note i'm up to date with images.GK

2011-10-10T12:26:00.001+11:00

Friday morning walk to work through Sydney CBD. Camera in hand and looking for new ideas to come back to. Sometimes test shots make the best images!

GK

Catching the clouds

2011-10-03T19:21:00.001+11:00

Went out Saturday morning to Maroubra tidal pool for a sunrise seascape shoot, the same place that nearly claimed my camera last time. This time around though I was more accurate with where I place my gear. Saying that I did have to make a run for it while taking the below image.

It was a great morning and unlike most of the times I get out to shoot seascapes, the sky has something to work with.

GK

Inspiring

2011-09-29T15:13:00.003+10:00

Check out this video documenting a photographic project, and I dear you to say it is not inspiring for any photographer.

GK

Bronte sunrise

2011-09-23T08:20:00.000+10:00

Many times I have walked the health walk between Bronte and Bondi beaches, and many times I have looked at multiple rock formations along the path thinking they would make for some great seascape subjects. It was time to test one of these rock formations out.
Unfortunately after getting used to sleeping in, it was hard to wake up early enough so I arrived a little late.The sky once again was not willing to play along and provide at least one cloud to brake up the near monotone feel. But the rocks have provided some interesting algae formations as subjects.

Below are two photos, one is HDR using Photoshop CS5 and another is a manual composite of 3 exposures. The HDR feels to be overdone a bit, although it has good sky. The composite has a more natural feel to it, but the sky is lacking.

HDR

Non HDR

So which one do you prefer?

GK

Kick off

2011-09-15T13:34:00.000+10:00

Well it is time to pack my bags and head out to another world again. This time it was not planned, by which I mean it was not on the list of trips to be done. It just came up, and it will be great. Not only I'm going to a place I thought I would not visit again for a very long time, there will be a wedding to photograph.

Speaking of weddings, below is a photo taken of my friend who is getting married soon. This was a test of make up and hair to see how it looks in photos.

I think the MUA done a good job. This was shot with a couple of flashes pointed through a shoot through reflector above and 45deg left of subject.

Anyhow... Camera is packed and ready to go.

30hr flight here we go.

GK

Winter time in the sun

2011-09-05T21:50:00.000+10:00

Went up to Gold Coast for Tech-Ed conference. The view from the hotel room was so good that it was a shame not to risk camera and maybe life to get a shot worthy of the view

Dinner time

2011-08-08T16:08:00.000+10:00

What does one do when home alone and not much to eat apart from some raw material and an open cook book on the table. Well one cooks! And then takes pictures of the food with newly returned camera.

Above image is of Chinese Chicken Hotpot from Fast healthy Meals book, I think. lighting was very simple. Flashes through reflector right of camera. background is white paper taped to the wall and carpet. Zoomed in with Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and click. Tried a few angles and this is the best one that I liked.

Lighting food isn't the hardest of challenges, but styling is what makes a good picture. In this shot the quality of food and styling isn't up to scratch, and it shows!

GK

Snow time again

2011-08-05T10:25:00.001+10:00

Not having the camera for a while and then being overloaded with other things, I have not taken the opportunities I had to take out my camera and press that shutter button. Every morning I walk past the camera bag and mentally reach to grab it with me, but ... Never mind though, all is going to improve soon enough. Going to start waking up early again and going out for some sunrise shoots.

Now I have been thinking of building a dismantlable Cyc wall... and after this little tutorial I have no excuse not to at least find the same builder and get them to do mine!

GK

Not much

2011-07-15T13:32:00.000+10:00

Not much has been happening lately, photography wise that is. So I'm going to share with you a video that I found very interesting. It shows how a lens is made. Enjoy.

Leica Lenses (English) from leica camera on Vimeo.

Glamour, or what to do on a sunny Saturday morning

2011-07-03T01:05:00.000+10:00

Been without a camera for 3 weeks now. Missed so many great days and photo opportunities. Although not everything is doom and gloom. 4 weeks back I have signed up for Dave Reid and Ed Hor workshop. Having followed Ed's work for a while, it was a given to put my hand up for this as fast as possible. And got my brother to sign up as well, to get him some hands on practice with the camera.

The night before we found out that both cars will be taken. Which meant that the only way of getting around I had was my bike, which is still in building state. But one has to make do with what is available, so we go. 8am, cold but sunny. Riding though traffic to Little Bay talking away on the intercom. One camera bag with on 400D in it on the back.

Get there and find our group. Which wasn't as simple as first thought as there was another group of people with cameras that just finished a seascape shoot. They have pointed us to the correct area and we met our fellow students.

After short introduction to the gear that Ed and David use, and reasons behind choosing it, we headed down to the beach and split into two groups.

First was Ed's turn to unleash his knowledge on me and my brother. He setup his ranger with beauty dish and started explaining the reasons behind light placement, settings and what to look out for. Then Krystal stepped in front of the camera and we started applying theory to practice. Krystal her self has given a lot of great tips and answered may silly questions, as well as demonstrated some poses and explained which body types they suit most.

Then it was time to switch over to Dave and Heidi just down the beach.

Dave lent me his 70-200 to use with Ed's 1Ds, it was very nice of both Ed and Dave to let me out with their gear and I'm very grateful to them for it!

I've learned a great deal on the day from all involved, and am looking forward to putting it to practice on future shoots. Now only to resist the urge to buy some pro lighting gear for just a little longer.

GK

Diavel is out there

2011-06-14T09:26:00.000+10:00

Long time without an update, sorry about that. Had my camera and 70-200 away for calibration, and still don't have it back. But when an opportunity for a shoot comes up one should take it regardless of gear. So last Wednesday a friend of mine contacted me to ask if I'm able to take some photos of his 3 day old bike before he takes it for a long trip and puts some dirt on it. Naturally I said yes, and asked to borrow my old camera from my brother.

The idea was to use the alleyway that I did a shoot for my Golf a while back, but as luck has it there were a few cars parked in no standing zone. This meant I had to use the walls instead of the road for the shoot. Although cool looking and colourful they are not the best background for a motorbike.

At literally last minute we had an extra bike join the shoot. So now we had 2 Diavels and no alleyway. Hmmmmm. One great thing about Newtown though is that there are hips of cool walls to choose from. Although I probably should have went for a more classic backup location new Sydney Uni.

Most of the photos are composites of at least 2 shots. Each shot was light painted with a 430EX and EzyBox 60x60 softbox at 1/2 power. I have not light painted for a long time so thought it would be a great opportunity to get the skills back up to scratch.

Hope to get my camera back soon so I can start shooting again.

Track day of sun

2011-05-16T17:48:00.000+10:00

It was a beautiful Saturday last week. Sunny, cool and loud. Last one is because I went to Eastern Creek Raceway with some friends to watch and capture them ridding their bikes around the track.

I was considering doing a sunrise shoot before meeting up with the above gentleman, but slept in and watched some of the food photography workshop on creativelive.com. Great site and I've bought some of their workshops before, as they are amazing value and very informative.

In any case, after getting to the track and meeting some of the RATS and the rest of the riders I headed out to turn 2, which I think is the first turn everyone goes to for photos at EC.

With my 70-200 not calibrated to the new camera body, I've tried to use manual focus. This worked out to be very problematic with the faster riders and I had to switch back to AI Servo, but set a focus point that would focus a little behind the target to counter balance the back focusing I'm getting.

Once the focusing was adjusted for, I started getting more or less consistent results. Made sure to change my exposure settings as clouds were flying overhead, and started moving around the track for some different views

It was a great day at a track, and now I cannot wait to get out there my self for some skill building laps in the near future.

GK

Collaroy sunrise

2011-05-08T18:56:00.000+10:00

Had a great outing with my brother to Collaroy tidal pool for a sunrise session. The partly cloudy prediction did not eventuate, but that did not take away from the feeling of being out in nature watching sun rise over the horizon.

Surprisingly, regardless of cold temperatures, there were a few surfers and swimmers out in the water. Some people are way to committed to the cause.

FX Racing

2011-05-04T22:01:00.000+10:00

Went out to Wakefield park raceway to watch some friends partake in FX racing series and take some photos. Had my Sigma 70-200 with 2x converter out for some panning practice and to get my settings settled for motor sports.

Learnt a few things about the lens and my ability to pan with a 200mm. Overall it was a great day out. A few crashes with one rider taken to Canberra hospital, but from what I hear without too much damage.

5 days of Easter

2011-04-26T11:28:00.000+10:00

and Anzac Day public holidays.

Decided to have a sunrise seascape session each morning of these holidays. Ha... It is easy to say you will do something, it is a lot harder to actually do it. Was waking up at 4am every day and heading out, well I did miss one day as it was pouring down everywhere. I did substitute a sunrise by food photography attempt, Oh and I spent one day in Hunter Valley for a birth day. So overall 4 days of photos with 3 of them sunrise seascapes. Reading this back makes it sound like I have cheated. Oh Well.

Above image is of Coogee beach rocks, not far from private baths. Easy to get to and to get out from, but is full of mossies so cover your self with repellent or be eaten a live.

Narrabeen beach is a known photographic location and has magnitude of ideas to explore. From the tidal pool, to the rock faces and two sandy beaches it is probably THE place to visit, photographically speaking, for anyone thinking of taking some seascapes.

The last, butnot least was Mahon pool at Maroubra. This place has a nice cliff formation and a tidal pool. At high tide the water goes up and over pool's walls for that click subject out of mist kind of look. The waves were somewhat strong and I decided to not risk it and setup at the rocks to the left of tidal pool. Had the camera set on tripod and composition sorted out. All that was left to do is to wait a little for the light to pick up. But no, I had to go away from camera to check out some more ideas. As I was walking away with my flash light I heard something tumble and bounce. Turning around all I could see was an empty rock where my camera used to be. It was blown off the rock around 2m down onto the lower rocks that were hammered by waves. I ran back and climbed down to get the camera out of there before any big enough waves hit. assessed the damage back in the car. Busted lens filter and a couple of small scratches. Damn 7D is build well :) Cleaned the lens and headed back out to the same rock so that the damage would not be for nothing.

So now I'm in need of new UV filters and a sand bag to keep my tripod from falling over again. Had a huge scare. Hope to continue with early morning seascapes as much as I can to get the technique sorted out and train my eyes to pick exposures and notice incoming waves in time to run away from them.

Thanks for reading,

GK

The K-Factor

2011-04-22T22:58:00.000+10:00

Was talking to a friend of mine for a very long time about taking some pictures of his motorcycle. Something always came up and nothing happened. So it was a great relive and pleasure to see this brief but productive photo session happen.

Time was set for 10pm.
Location, next to yellow light trees on Harris st, under the overpass.
Model: BMW K1200R motorcycle.

Decided to get to the location a bit early with my brother to get some lights readings and possible angles sorted out. Got the stands setup, took a few snaps and the subject arrived.

For these photos I used Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lens on 7D body. Had 3 flashes with Skyport triggers setup around front and outer side of the bike. What I'm regretting right now is not bringing a boom arm and not putting front facing flash higher up and above the fly screen to get a nice contour reflection. Live and learn i guess.

Did not take too many shots, and only tested two places in that location, but am happy with results.

Bring on the long Easter weekend!

GK

Decision time

2011-04-19T00:17:00.000+10:00

What an interesting weekend and Monday it was. On Saturday I went for a drive down to Wollongong through RNP. Stopped by Coalcliff to see if the rock pool and surrounds had some cool views. And it sure did not disappoint.

But now I have a problem deciding which version works best above or below

Both work for me. B&W more so, as it captures the stormy weather and the overall mood at the time. Yet this is not even the biggest issue I have. On Monday morning I got up at 3am and jut could not go back to sleep. So grabbed camera with tripod and remote trigger. Got in the car and drove to Kissing Point. Place I have never been before. Had no idea how weather would be and if I'll be able stay long enough for a sunrise.

What can I say. For a place with not much going for it, it sure has a few photographic ideas that just work. For a first visit I'm very happy with results. For all who is thinking of going there, be careful of the orange cast from the street pole illuminating the pier. If you have filters to warm up the sky, use them!

Now I need your help! Which are the better: colour or B&W versions. Post your vote in the comments.

Thanks,
GK

P.S.: The Lamb shanks was my meal on Sunday night. Slow cooked at 180deg in wine and herbs. MMMMMMM It was unbelievably good! Get the recipe in Dona Hays book if you want to try it for your self. Photo taken with 430EX at 1/16 power in EzyBox soft box to the right and hand held reflector on the left.

Rain and Wind ...

2011-04-17T21:26:00.002+10:00

Went for a drive to Wollongong on Saturday. It was raining and very windy. So much so that at Balled Hill most people were walking at 45deg angle. But braving the weather I went down to the rock pool at Coalcliff to see if it was possible to capture a scape for this month's OCAU competition. Got my shoes and pants went, but it was worth it in the end. Now to edit the rest of the images.

Above image is a single shot with some fill light, blacks and exposure adjustments. Taken with camera on collapsed tripod in Av mode.

Lesson of the weekend is - brave the weather and be rewarded.

GK

Book time

2011-04-15T06:37:00.000+10:00

Hi All,

Got a discount coupon for Blurb for 20% and thought it would be a good time to print a little book of some of my photos. Check it out...

M E T A L, F L E S H A N D N A T U R E by Gennadi Kutasevich | Make Your Own Book

Not the greatest book design, but I'm getting better at it. Should have it on hand in a few weeks to see how it really turned out and maybe do a review on it.

Cannot wait to see how my work looks printed. Let me know what you think of the book design and how I can improve it.

Thanks,

GK

trying things

2011-04-13T09:33:00.001+10:00

Trying a fake tilt shift using Lightroom. Basically a bunch of gradient filters with sharpness and clarity set to -100%. Kind of works, and kind of does not. Result is no where near the real thing when it comes to bokeh, but i'm yet to try photoshop for this. That should give better and more controllable results.

This was taken during a stroll through Botanical Gardens at lunch time. If any one feels like meeting up for a lunch time shoot in the city, let me know.

GK

Bird is the word

2011-04-08T09:23:00.000+10:00

Went for a weekend away to Hamilton Island. It rained non stop. But that is not an issue for the local bird life. it seems to have found it's ways of getting to you balcony just in time for any sort of food consumption.

Some more colorful then others I must admit. The more colorful the less scared of you they are as well. Had a few of them sitting on me while I was trying to eat my food. Crazy little things they are.

Hamilton is a nice place for when all you want to do is just relax and do nothing. One does not need good weather for that. It is a nice place to play around with some camera settings and try out new things, that you do need ok weather for though. So it was a very unproductive trip, photography wise. Which was exactly what was needed to relax and get some much needed rest.

Window View

2011-03-29T14:47:00.000+11:00

Had time to edit some of the photos taken on the last trip. Mostly looking at panoramic shorts i did. The one below was taken hand held at Salt Lake City airport. Through glass, without CPL.

Editing, apart from stitching, was not very dramatic. Although did involve a bit of masking. Image was masked into two main areas, sky and mountains. Each area had it's own level of exposure/levels/contrast/saturation adjustments. Mostly to remove the window glare while keeping clouds looking as dramatic as they were on the day.

This may not be as high quality image as I would like for print, but it sure looks amazing across two 24" monitors. Might print it to see how it holds up in larger viewing arrangement.

More to come soon.

GK

Fire hot!

2011-03-21T07:02:00.000+11:00

Did not have a great Saturday.

Morning shoot cancelled due to rain. Lost power to my apartment. Just overall an unpleasant day. So decided to sacrifice one of my lenses to photography gods to turn my luck...

Don't know if it worked, but I have power back and this shot makes this weeks Project52 photo as well.

I had this coffee cup for a week thinking what do I do with it now. Not the most comfortable thing to drink from, and isn't big on capacity. One thing led to another and I had an image of it with fire out of the middle stack in my head.

For interested people, I've lined the insides with foil and put 4 stick candles in there. Had to throw some used up matches in there to get a bigger flame, which you see in the photo.

Boost SurfPro

2011-03-14T09:42:00.021+11:00

The sun was... well... no where to be found. I kind of was glad as well, as I did not want to get burnt and 7D can handle high ISO with no problems. But that was not to be. Sun came out and it turned out to be a hot sunny day at Bondi Beach.

There was a distinct lack of spectators until about 12am. Either due to the overcast early morning or the lazy eastern suburbs attitude. Either way, apart from maybe 10 photographers with #@$$#@ big lenses, the beach looked empty. The surfing wasn't exciting either. Swell wasn't competition style, but competitors were trying to make the best of it. Closer to the celebrity competition at 12 the quality of both the swell and surfing picked up a bit.

I have found a few annoying things about 7D though. For one it looses settings adjustments for custom modes when camera goes to sleep. So if you dial in exposure compensation in your custom mode or change aperture, you loose that after sleep mode kicks in and have to remember to put it all back again before shooting. So I ended up with a few underexposed shots. Second thing is the focus tracking. It worked well for me at NBA game, but I might have changed the tracking setting from centre point to central matrix. This allowed the camera to skip between points at will and I've missed some good shots because of that.

Then there was the celebrity competition.

But there was more then just surfing to look at and capture. Lots of people filling every bit of sand possible latter in the day. Promo girls roaming around the towels handing out flyers and tasters. Ahhh never ending subject matter.

Some photographers couldn't decide what to photograph

Well it was a great half a day out, and a few more lessons learnt. Fast burst mode is a little too fast for normal shooting, but should be great for motor sports. Custom mode adjustments get reset after camera goes to sleep. Long zooms are great!

See you out there,
GK

Saying goodbye!

2011-03-04T13:14:00.001+11:00

Well the snow trip is over. Only the flight home is left. Back into heat and a desk job.But for now I'm still at the snow covered Park City. And it feels like nature knows this. The day started with light snow falls, turning into heavy snow falls. Followed by some sunny skies. We spent the day at Canyons resort, which is great but feels like it was designed by same people that design Las Vegas casinos. A number of time we were trying to get from one end of resort to another,only to end up at the same lift. Overall it is a good result, with powder runs, groomed and tree runs to choose from. Runs that go under and over roads as well as rope tows on uphill traverses that you don't need to unstrap for.

Back at the lodge I thought about starting to pack, and it started bucketing down with soft, light snow. It is so light and dry out here, that it accumulates even on leafs

For a moment there I thought of consequences of missing my flight and having another day with this new fallen white stuff. But yet again the nature read my mind and it stopped snowing. Good 2 to 5 cm of fresh has fallen in only 1 hour or so. All the night skiers out there on the mountains are sure having fun right now.

Dinner, some sleep and two flights left before I'm back home and start looking at all the other photos I have taken. So I'll see you all back in sunny Sydney soon!

GK

Night Park

2011-03-03T15:21:00.001+11:00

It is night skiing every night at Park City. I personally get enough snow time during the day, but there were a few people out on the slopes enjoying relatively warm weather.

With snow predicted tonight and tomorrow it was maybe the last chance for me to get out and try to take a night shot of the mountain.

First image was taken with 7D and Sigma 10-20mm at F9 and ISO100. Image just above was taken with Canon 24-105L. Played with different exposures and even used a micro fibre cloth to cover the light up runs for most of the exposure and then taking it away for 10sec, but I couldn't get the shape right and ended up with a band of under exposed halo around the runs. So went with this shot and did some spot exposure adjustment in lightroom. Turned out not too bad, I think.

Hope it starts snowing tonight so we get some nice fresh runs in the morning.

GK

Park City

2011-03-02T15:35:00.000+11:00

So far Park City resort is proving to be versatile. There are terrain parks, groomed runs and POW runs even after 3 days of no snowfalls. I spent the day doing a light hike that gave access to a number of runs of near untouched, knee deep, soft, dry powder.

After which we had couple of runs through terrain park with a great choice of features for all skill levels.
The snow is predicted for Thursday night, looking forward to see what Park City is like with some fresh snow covering the groomed runs and refreshing the tree runs.

Breck at night

2011-02-28T14:27:00.001+11:00

On the way back to lodge we stopped at one of lookouts to take some night shots of Breckenridge. I wanted to see how it turns out every time we drove by this look out as the lights of the town looked amazing.

These are all 30sec exposures at ISO 100 and f9 in manual mode using 24-105 F4L IS lens.

On this note I'm saying good bye to this mountain town. It was a good week with plenty of laughs and good skiing/boarding. Next is Park City.

GK

Nuggets

2011-02-27T10:45:00.000+11:00

Hello Denver! It was a sunny, but cold day. We headed out early to check out a Ski shop in search for illusive Snowboard. After another disappoint, but with new $30 goggles, we headed out to see the government buildings.

They were "old school" both outside and inside. Everything was gold plated and grand. Unlike Denver's Arts museum, which was very modern looking

And had compulsory these days external installations

After experiencing Denver peak hour traffic and going to Dicks Sports Store Stadium instead of the actual shop, we made it to Pepsi stadium for Spurs vs Celtics clash. It was first time using my Sigma 70-200 and 7D's fast burst mode for sports. Still have to read up on different AF modes and see which one I prefer for sports.

There were hips of Celtics fans,which was kind of surprising. Made for a good atmosphere though.

The game had a couple of heated moments, but this is not hockey, so no gloves or punches were thrown.

Celtics lost. But overall it was yet another good experience. Now back to the snow.

Some vids

2011-02-24T23:29:00.000+11:00

Still have no idea of how to use 7D for video, but here is a small snippet I took in Monterey Aquarium

This is hand held while leaning against a wall.

GK

Snow climb

2011-02-24T13:53:00.000+11:00

These were taken with my phone as that was the only camera I had at the time. To be honest I was happy not having my camera gear with me as the climb to this spot was hard. Well it was hard for me as I'm not used to going 20m through deep snow up a nearly vertical hill. Had to take 2 rest stops as the thin air and cross wind were not helping the effort at all. The view was amazing though! The run down was just as spectacular.

Above is image of the mountain face we went down. Dropped in just right of the image and went down and across the mountain face enjoying untouched snow.

This is the way it looks from the top. In real life though it is a bit scarier then this picture shows. You basically look at the edge without seeing what is behind it and once you drop in the slop is nearly straight down, at least that is how it felt.

After a little rest in one of the warming huts we made our way to the small terrain park to get out air feeling back. The way there was through advanced park and the Olympic size half pipe. Naturally I had to try it out, and convinced my companion to do the same. Let me tell you that Perisher pipe does not even come close to this monster. Event going only 3/4 of the way up generates so much speed that you get freaked out. Of cause the locals rip it up and make it look like they are not even trying.

Overall another great day out on the mountain!

GK

Sun is out

2011-02-23T11:53:00.000+11:00

Second day on snow and the sun is out. Temperature is above 0C and I've taken the camera up with me to take full advantage of the good weather.

The road to the mountain is scenic to say the least. Free shuttle is comfortable and being one stop from Peak 8 lift it does not take long getting from lodge to snow. With the good weather we all pushed a little to early and few first turns provided for some entertaining crashes.

With the views like this who can blame us for not taking it easy and trying to explore as much as possible

Warning signs did not bother or slow us down even a little

We stopped at good photo locations and did some panoramic shots, all of which would be edited once I'm back home and the required processing power.

Ridding with camera in hand does give unique opportunities such as one below. Taken by sitting low and bringing camera all the way down to the board while ridding down a slope.

After making our way up to the top of the mountain we searched for a good spot to take some photos. Ridding around and looking for a good combination of trees and untouched snow we found this little place and I've set-up a few "posed" shots

before going for some action shots

With all the setting up and walking through deep snow we still found time to have some fun

Above is how a skier brings a snowboard down the mountain, superman style! After all the fun in the snow it was time to have a little brake. What better way to do that then on some funky chairs under the sun, while watching people ski/ride by.

Lunch place provided for some more great views

At this point I packed the camera away and enjoyed the rest of the day just ridding around. Being careful of cause not to fall on the backpack. It was a great day on the mountain, cannot way until it starts snowing on Thursday to get some more photos with nice untouched POW.

Until then,

GK

Road to the snow

2011-02-23T01:52:00.000+11:00

Without any expected troubles getting to Denver and getting our rental car, we headed out to Breckenridge. Stopping to check out some snow gear and getting drive through we could see snow appearing all around us.

But our driver was concentrated at the task at hand even with snow topped mountains on horizon.

The view from our lodge was not bad either!

Weather wasn't camera friendly, but that should change soon. So far the first day on snow was good. long fast runs with what in Australia we would call a great snow season worth of snow.

GK

Chasm of Death

2011-02-20T12:34:00.000+11:00

6am pick-up is early, you either avoid casinos and head to your room for sleep or go through the night and sleep in 30min intervals on the buses and planes that take you to the Great Canyon. Although sleeping on the plane is near impossible because of all the aerial shots you can take. And opportunity for this does not happen often.

Once on the ground you get transferred to buses and taken to tourist spots, from which you are not allowed to walk away from in any direction. As I have found out when trying to walk down the road to a better photo spot then the one next to Sky Walk. Not very nice of them to restrict people ability to take in the beauty of Great Canyon to a few meters of concrete covered lad with a gift shop!

Next stop had a bit more terrain to explore, but time was limited due to the plain heading back.

Was given a challenge to take pic of canyon as reflection in the glasses. would have worked better if we walked up to the canyon in self instead of staying on the bus stop, but hey.

But what a view to go with the food!

We were not alone though. A watchful local was making sure we did not do anything inappropriate

Friend of mine took this picture with his mobile phone while I was setup and taking some snaps of my own. You don't notice how close to death you are when hunting for that perfect shot.

Soon I'll say good bye to Vegas and hit the slopes. See you out there!
GK

Viva Las Vegas

2011-02-19T13:32:00.001+11:00

What can I say about Vegas... It is not what you expect. It is not as crazy out there as movies show it to be, and at the same time it is no where near normal. It is hard to explain, but Vegas seems to be like you would if you never went to sleep and were always surrounded by strangers.

Excalibur was the place of residence for us, and apart from being a very nice hotel it has proved that they are designed to keep you in them for as long as possible. At one point we thought we will never find the way back to our rooms.

On the first outing to the street we saw a group of bikers with Australian flag on the back of one. So naturally we came over to say hi. This group of bike riders just landed in Vegas a few hours ago and were about to start their trip through USA. Safe riding and plenty of fun to them!

During the day streets are filled with people trying to get you to go to some show or bar. They are not very pushy. At night tough they get replaced by people trying to hand you cards with phone numbers that are waiting to keep you company that evening.

But even without the above mentioned there are plenty of characters out on the streets

Vegas does change at nights, I'm talking visually here. The lights turn on and everything sparkles.

The insides of casinos are just as entertaining as the outside. Below is the dinning area of New York, New York casino.

As with any city or area of a city, there are some entertaining exhibits that just roll by on the street

What would a visit to Vegas be without checking out world famous Bellagio water fountain show

Next I'm heading out to The Grand Canyon.

GK

Cheesecake, bicycles and hail

2011-02-19T08:48:00.001+11:00

Couple of quiet last days in San Francisco. Went around Union Square area to check out some shops.

It is a nice area of all the upper market stores and even our own Westfield shopping centre.

When it came time for some food, the choice was simple - Cheesecake Factory! Even though I was warned that meals are huge and even waitress saying that they are huge, I picked a Giant burrito :)

And it was GIANT to say the least. I eat just over half of it and gave up as there was still desert to come.

Desert was amazing, but after the burrito it was just a bit too much. Even a walk back to the hotel did not help settle things down.

That night the last member of our snow team arrived and the next morning it was time to revisit some places, but in a new way.

We decided to rent some bicycles and ride to the other side of the Golden Gate.

The weather held out until we were just over the bridge, then it started hailing on us. Getting out my puncho and wrapping the camera bag into it I continued on to catch up to my fellow travellers, who in true Top Gear style powered on to get some shelter.

Then the weather cleared up again and we had a chance to warm up and dry out before getting a ferry back to Fisherman Wharfs and catching cable car up the hill

And so end my introduction to San Francisco

Next stop Vegas!

Fish, Jail and Chilli

2011-02-16T19:11:00.002+11:00

Not even sure what to start with. Two big days of travelling around. The first trip was out to Monterey Bay. The day started early, well for the locals at least as most tourist places were closed and the ones that were not were only starting to heat up their grills

The reason why I'm not the biggest fan of tours is the amount of time and stops that the bus makes. There were so many great shooting locations on the way for San Francisco to Monterey, but we made only 2 stops and had total of 10 minutes, if that, at each. On the first spot I hopped straight over the rocks and onto the beach front to get the angle and composition right for the rocks on both sides of the beach.

The waves braking on rocks provided for some amazing visuals, but there was just not enough time to get closer and set-up to try and capture the perfect frame. So after 10 minutes we were back on the bus and speeding though great landscapes on the way to the next beach side stop.

Once in Monterey we hit the aquarium. It is not Osaka size, but it has it's good points.

It is a lot more family orientated place. Many school groups and children activities all around the place. Some very cool displays as well.

And there are more then just fish as well. Most other photos were shot with 24-105L, but the once below called for 70-200.

What can I say, so far I'm happy with 7Ds low light performance. There is noise, and sometimes there is more noise that one would expect, but it is very acceptable even at 3200 ISO

The weather was good to us yet again and a few people were enjoying the sun out in the outside sections.

Sea horses seem to be the biggest exhibit in this place. They are sure hard to photograph. Small, fast and nearly never stay still.

Plenty of parents recording their children and the fish.

On one of the stops we had I have notices this truck parked up on the hill near our bus. Looked kind of cool, so I took the pic.

While exploring the area at the final stop we managed to come across what Mike has been chasing for 2 years now.

With the sun setting and locals enjoying the view it was time to head back ...

The next day it was time to go to jail. Not just any jail either. Alcatraz was waiting, and so was the rain. On the way to the ferry we stopped by Pier 39 again to see if this time the seals came out to play

That they did. After hiding from rain for nearly 20minutes we were on our way.

There seemed to be a constant rotation of tourist going on the island. Ferry arriving every 30 minutes to bring and take away tourists. With the self guided tour taking over 2 hours there were three sets of "groups" walking around the place

Being my first jail visit everything was interesting for me. Although I had to slow down and try to work out which parts were brand new and which were original.

The place is kind of falling apart in most places, but it only adds to the overall feel.

It sure was a great experience and I was surprised on how well 24-105 has handled it on the crop body. I'm still getting used to the way 7D operates and learning the controls, but it is growing on me bit by bit. The hope is that by the end of this trip I'll be able to get the results I want from the camera and stop looking at which buttons to press.

Oh and in mid of it all we had some food.

U S A

2011-02-15T12:27:00.000+11:00

Let me tell you something. Flying Delta Air is an experience only better then their entertainment system on long international flights, shown above.The flight from Madrid to was meant to be direct, at least that is what I was told and what was written on my booking. But no... It's ended up being a flight with stopover at JFK. Which wouldn't be that much of a problem, until having the flight from JFK to FSO having to return to JFK because of a technical fault that developed 1 hour into the flight.Getting off the plane everyone were told to line up in front of Delta customer desk. Some smarter travellers stepped up to the phones and got rebooked to 7pm flight (cancelled 6:45 flight which sure made a lot of other people happy). I staid in line and started hearing that the 7pm flight was booked out now and people are going on to stand by list or getting booked in to next morning flight. Having a connecting flight ticket though I was one of the lucky ones and got a seat on the 7pm flight. Which was packed to say the least. They did not have enough space inside the plane to store carry on luggage 6 hours latter and nearly 5 hours after my original arrival time I was in San Francisco and on the way to the hotel room to get some much needed sleep.

In the morning it was time to start walking, and walking we did. Starting as always down hill on Van Ness Ave towards the water where a local beach and marina was located.

Walking around the place presents a lot of interesting things to look at and photograph

This being winter and around 15C in the sun, we were surprised to see an organised swim happening. With safety boats and megaphones, and even a front man on a paddle board.

While we watched the swimmers there was a sense of being watched as well. When we turned around we found what I would call the biggest seagull in the world watching us.

That thing was huge and mean looking, I don't know what they eat, but I suspect it's pet dogs that walk too far away from their owners. Another interesting thing is this 2 seater scooter with GPS tour guide. Have no idea how it makes it up the hills around the place, but it sure was popular with the tourists.

At one point we did wish that we rented one of them, but then it's a scooter!

Walking around the piers we found prove that one needs to be careful when naming a company in a country where sports is every ones hobby.

The area is very nice. Loads of people and great views..

The new markets had some cool stores. Mashroom only store, vine bars and meat bar

Getting to the end of the wharfs and taking some pics of the bridge we turned into town to check out Chinatown and get some food

Some times streets are not safe for children, accidental photo but I like it. The wink of turning signal makes me smile.

While looking for a food place we heard some fireworks going off and turned towards the sound. We found a celebration of the Wong family with Dragons, fireworks and music.

Then we walked into a random eatery for some food. Being the only non Asians in the place we were given forks to go with our meals. Leaving them untouched we had some nice Curry chicken

And some good advice at the end of the meal

Continuing our walking around we found THE cable car museum and climbed some real hills.

Below is what the street above is like when viewed sideways. It sure is a great place to train for snow spots, but you wouldn't want to just walk around the city with hills like these.

The tourist attractions areas that are within normal residential zones have restrictions on buses to keep traffic flowing and noise down.

And the attraction is ?

That is right! Lombard st in Russian Hill area. Plenty of cars driving down the street section with their phones and video cameras out.

Also there we found a ninja photographer. Very rear to see this creature out in the wild.

The hill also provides a great view of the city, if one can look away from the tourist trap.

On our way to find the Golden Gate park we walking into an area with some great houses

Be it near a wrong part, which we did not know yet.

Banjos in sunlight seems to be the thing to do

But then we found out why it was so

At the end of the walk we ended up at the Golden Gate bridge. With a sunny day and no fog we took the opportunity to take somepictures

After some standard tourist shots I've climbed down to the sands to take something with different point of view

With sun setting and temperature dropping it was time to head back to our hotel

One thing every tourist should know about Frisco though ... Taxis are hard to find on the street, and when you do find one it is hard to get them to stop. As if they don't want to have you in their car.

And so ends a day of 100km walk. After looking at the map I was impressed at the distance we covered. But that is how you explore a new city!

GK

Toledo

2011-02-13T17:10:00.000+11:00

The old capital of Spain was waiting to be explored, so we slept in and took our time getting to the train station. I mean it is an old capital, therefore a “has been”! To my surprise tough it is still a happening town. Getting off the train visitors are greeted by slightly medieval train station with one of the coolest looking ticket office windows.

Unfortunately they are not used anymore and in true Spain fashion the tourist office was closed still. So we bought a tourist map and headed out to the city.

It was 2C in the sun and a walk up the hill to the old centre kept us warm while providing some great views of the city from below.

The plan was to just walk around through different areas walking into what ever is open and looks interesting. And there is plenty of interesting in this town.

Keeping eyes open for angles and views that wouldn’t be your typical travel photo makes one notice places that would stay unexplored. Few churches and a couple of very cool sinagogs latter we stopped at one of the small parks for some rest under the sun.

After the rest it was time to see if we can get lost and discover what this town is hiding underneath it’s touristy bravado. So we picked general direction and headed out. One thing is for sure, and not only in this town, drivers have to be very aware of the true size of their cars. I mean I got brushed by a side mirror at least once.

While walking around we stumbled on a kitten that was ripping a rubbish bag open and munching on what we would call twisties. We felt so bad for the poor street kitten that we walked into a near by markets and bought two cans of cat food. Opened them up and fed the little thing. It was so enthusiastic that the food would break apart and roll away form it. Which made the kitten thing the food is getting away and it would jump after it trying to kill it and eat it.

Feeling good about our self we headed back to the train station. On the way we were passed by the tourist train.

Not a way I would like to see the world, but to each their own I guess.

The next day was filled with trip to Prada museum and lunch consisting of 3 course carbs and a side of carbs.

Spanish do love their carbs.

And so ends this short introduction to Spain. I will definitely be back here, if only to work out the working hours of clubs and tourist offices.

Next is USA time to shine.

A climb & a bit...

2011-02-11T10:11:00.000+11:00

Or what happens when you decide to make your own path... but about that later.

Arriving to a small town in the middle of nowhere, which we had no idea anything about, apart from raving reviews from a couple of Aussies we met in our now favourite market. Bullet trains... ahhhh! The speed, the comfort... why doesn't Australia have any? 19 Euros return and you go to Penrith and back in 45 minutes. Destination - Segovia or the town with a church, fortress and an aqueduct. What else does a town need, apart from a Roman aqueduct... maybe a tourist office that actually opens on time.

The aqueduct... a photographer's blessing and a curse! So many patterns, so many arcs, so many different ways to frame things. You can fill a 16G card in one minute and then spend days deciding which 3-4 photos you will actually keep. It helps to have a voice of conscience at the back of you that gently nudges you to say "let’s move on". Otherwise, all I would see of Segovia is the aqueduct.

Tourist maps designed to get you lost, the moment you decide where you are finally destined to go. Every street name being a sentence describing a short historic tale of one saint or another performing miracles, it's no wonder that half the street names are not marked on the map. A marker saying "You are here" only gives you a very general direction. But with streets designed Venetian style, direction is not always the only thing you need. And so we took a right... and started walking.

Getting lost, does lead you to discover little gems, you wouldn't normally find. Like that Flamenco restaurant in Madrid we talked about earlier. In ancient towns like this, the gems are sparkling all round. But this being Spain, they are usually closed.

The first of the two "must sees" - the Cathedral. Gargoyles on the outside and a fridge on the inside. I'm just glad they didn't make us take off our shoes like in Japan. We walked around the chapels just to be told that no photos are aloud. Greedy little bastards! Just like lizards, on exist from the Cathedral we headed straight into the spot of sun to gain feeling back in our extremities.

Once our body temperatures returned to normal, we headed on to the fortress through the old Jewish quarter. Where even Restaurante de Juderia served kosher pork. Considering Jews have been expelled from this part of the world in the 15th Century, I guess they would seem like extinct species with weird eating habits.

The fortress in all its glory had us bedazzled at the factor that we needed to pay to torture ourselves for the climb of 156 steps. Never thought I had masochistic tendencies. But the climb was well worth it, as the view was spectacular and the time you needed to catch your breath gave you ample opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous sight. Each room in the fortress itself resembled something out of a Disney cartoon, with suits of armour, grand paintings and lots of well kept rooms...

And now to the fun part... the night before, I did a quick image search for the town I was about to visit and found this awesome picture that showed both the Castle and Cathedral one after another, both in the same shot. Using a tourist map, I had worked out a general position of where this photo was taken. So I convinced my voice of reason, to undertake a trek through an ancient Jewish cemetery, down the mountain, over a creek, up a cliff, only to find a well paved road with a sign to the scenic lookout at the end of our trek.

Lesson learned - do better research! A bus and a quick stroll would have saved us an hour of climbing up and down trees. But in the end, all the hard work was worth it.

It was time to head back to Madrid... after a long and intense day!

Madrid, Madrid

2011-02-10T17:59:00.000+11:00

Time: 10am
Location: Madrid
Activity: Exploring

So we picked a main road and headed along it… following all the laws of physics, we ended up going down the hill. Which meant that at the end of the day, we would somehow need to get back up. But for the time being that didn’t worry us. Passing Plaza de la homeless people, the sun was shinning in our faces and the day was promising to be “estupendo”.

We hit Plaza Mayor, where we were distracted by the local little grandpas selling stamps, coins, notes, collectable lottery tickets and things to keep all this stuff in. Offcourse we spent the next hour just dazzled by the ability of a grandpa with a total vocab of 3 English words making a pass at my girlfriend.

The Plaza was filling up with tourists, Disney characters and balloonists, so it was time to pick one of the many exits to escape to a less tourist infested location.

This iny-miny-miney-mo decision has led us to one of the coolest little lunchtime markets, where you could get anything from a deep fried zucchini to an exclusively imported oyster. All served with your own cup of beer, wine or sangria… Like a Sydney wine bar on steroids!

Having pulled my coffeeholic girlfriend out of the market, we headed to the gardens of the Royal Palace.

The Palace itself was a next day attraction, as there were way too many tourists trying to get in, it being Sunday and all.

The gardens showed us that dogs in Spain have better manners than their counterparts everywhere else in the world.

It never ceases to surprise me how tourists find it entertaining taking a photo with a statue, even if they have to climb between the legs of a donkey, nearly fall off a 2m pedestal and then present a huge grin to a fellow traveller with a ‘point & shoot’ camera flashing 3m below them. And this was a statue of a couple of fictional characters nevertheless…

From there we started our long round about way back to the apartment. Taking the main streets, we stumbled upon a cool Spanish clothing store – “Desigual”. The store décor was only outdone by the colourful clothing it was selling. Two hours, 4 storeys and a small fortune later… we emerged back into the shopping lane.

Deciding enough was enough, we walked straight into the Zara store. But it really was enough. With the number of people queuing at the registers, it just wasn’t worth the effort. And so on we went. Ignoring the local siesta, which seems never ending in this country and gives the feeling that nothing is ever open or working. I mean you see people having a glass of wine at 10 o’clock in the morning, at 11, at noon, at 1pm, 2pm… then they go to sleep, then they have a couple more glasses and then they sleep again. In that process, it’s as if their stores never opened and then never closed to re-open. It becomes all clear, when you look at a local event flier – where life begins at midnight and finishes at 6am. I wouldn’t lift a finger either, until its time to have a nap, if I came home at 6am every day…

But even if you follow the rules and show up at the even at midnight, you will still find it closed. So, having a back-up is always a good idea! Especially when that backup is a place that has been voted “1000 Places to see before you die”, yet found by walking into a little side street and randomly reading a menu. Corral De La Moreria – the food was great, the show was even better! It was a great end to an amazing 2 days in Madrid. Next stop – Segovia.

SYD-DUBAI-MADRID

2011-02-07T19:41:00.000+11:00

And so it starts! Ahh Sydney airport... probably the only place in the world where you would pay same price as a dinner at Tetsuya's for a tea and a salad. But it is the only way to get out of the country, so one has to put up with it. After checking my bag in and spending some time with family it was time to board my plane and head to Dubai.

To my surprise, probably because I cannot read my booking correctly, the plane that was to take me to Dubai was A380. Only the part number on the side of entry door confirmed this fact to me.

Apart from a grand staircase heading up to the first class area of the plane, nothing really looks different from other planes. Although once you get into your seat you start to notice things. There is more room for your feet, the corridors are wider. There are more toilets and they are bigger and have better lighting.

The entertainment system is good as well. 3 outside cameras, good 7" screen touch and plenty of movies to watch. The Flight was long, but not too bad. The service was great and pleasing to the eye. Landing without issues or should I say any stories to tell, we were let out into Dubai International airport.

Considering it was early in the morning, there were not many people around. The place was a little colour less and not very entertaining. I was expecting a little more. At least I now know how to write Rolex in Arabic.

Some people could take the wait and snoozed, and I don't blame them. Without converting money you could not get even a drink, so all you had to do is sleep or walk around.

Walk I did.

After a bunch if stair cases and a long bus ride to the plane I got in trouble for taking the below picture

I guess the guard thought I was taking picture of the plane it self, so just to put him at ease I did take one once in my seat.

Dubai seems to have been amongst onset of fog, or smoke, or pollution. You couldn't even work out where the horizon was .

Above the weather and not predicting any major turbilance, we were making out way to Spain.
First signs in European landscape greeted me with snow covered mountain tops.

Madrid airport is a complicated beast. After what felt like hundred of staircase, lifts, walkways fast speed train and then some more walkways and security doors I got to baggage area.

Without filling out any customs papers or declarations I got a stamp in my passport and was let out into Madrid. Helpful train information girl told us that taking a bus to the city would be faster and so we did. Got out one station too early though, but it was a nice day so it was great being outside in what felt to be very clean and fresh air...

While walking to our apartment I noticed the trend of people just sitting around having drinks and food in the sun. Talking and relaxing. The apartment in located in Arabic part of town, or at least there are only eateries with Habibi in their tittles.

Forgot that you have to weigh your veggies and put price stickers on them you’re self before getting to the register. Was shown this process by the cashier as se did not speak English and I couldn't understand a word of Spanish. What can I say; so far Spanish people are very friendly.

Oh and our landlord rides a motorcycle!

More to come soon.

Portrait time

2011-02-03T08:25:00.001+11:00

I was driving past this construction site for quiet some time now thinking it would be a nice place to do a shoot at. Well after talking with some friend togs about getting together for some playing around with lights, the time was set. This place was going to get used and nothing is going to stop us. Well unless there are security guards and we get asked to leave that is. Which did not happen, YAY!

Considering it was pitch dark in the building, with only the glare of street lamps shinning through on one side of the room, I decided it was a great time to test out my new model/focusing light. I got this thing from Dealextreme, the most evil site a DIY person can visit.

What can I say... It is strong enough to work as modelling light inside an EzyBox softbox. The only issue I had was that it started loosing it brightness after maybe 40m of non stop use. Still was lighting things, but was not strong enough to be used as focusing light 2m away from subject. Considering it was $35 delivered and is rechargeable, I'm very happy with it. As a light painting tool and helping you get around your gear and dark places it is great. Might buy a few more of them and look at upgrading the internal battery to something more capable.

Another thing I have noticed is the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 does hunt a bit in auto focus in extreme low light. Even when part of subject has, what I would call enough light on them. It only happens while zoomed in as well, which I have notices a couple of times shooting motor sports. Although in that case it finds it's focusing point fairly fast if you zoom out, so is not an issue.

Well this probably is the last post from me until I get internet access somewhere in USA. I'm all packed and sort of ready to go. Madrid-San Francisco-Breckenridge-Park City here we go.

GK

Night Light

2011-02-01T22:18:00.001+11:00

Went out on Australia day to take some "discovery" shots at Bronte beach. By the time I got there it was getting really dark. Considering sunset isn't the right time of day for the area anyway I have decided to find some interesting angles and see what long exposures will give.

Eventually 30sec was not enough and I did not want to have too long of an exposure so I took out a couple of 430EXIIs and started lighting different parts of the frame to get some interesting action in the water and detail in the rocks. Overall turned out not too bad. I did nearly lose my camera and tripod when I pushed it over with my foot. But managed to grab it just before it tipped over the edge onto the rocks below.

Shooting on my own isn't as much fun, but it is better then not shooting at all!

See you out there some time, some place!

GK

Another walk home

2011-01-25T10:59:00.003+11:00

Every walk starts up top. Some time along the way you stop to check how far you have come and predict how much more you have to go. A photo walk is no exception, it is part of life after all!

It is fascinating to see the difference in how one looks at the world around them after picking up photography (or action sports for that matter). Normally one would just walk past the reflection giving it no second thought at all. I mean what is there to consider interesting.

But for a long time I have been looking at everything around me from a different point of view. Where others see hand rails as obstacles or eyesore, I see a grinding opportunity for when I'm rollerblading around. Where there are paddles of water on the ground, I look for reflections and try to compose a shot incorporating that paddle. Quality of light on buildings and people, clouds in the sky and tide levels all get registered and memorised for the future.

Structures make shapes and leading lines. Sun and street lights are light sources that can be modified and used. Walls become textures and backdrops.

Everything becomes a subject or part of a composition. Perception of the world changes and you start enjoying it on a whole new level. Same things you grown used to walking by are now interesting and enjoyable. Most of the time though you wish you had the camera with you. Which may P...ss off who ever is with you at the time. That is a small price to pay for having your eyes open to life!

I mean how can one complain when the simplest of things are turned into tool of visual pleasure. This is what draws people to photography. This is what makes us wale up before sun is up, climb mountains and seat on one spot with camera at the eye waiting for that little extra to enter the frame.

Photographers are people who strive to never having to say "This looked much better in real life". We capture, or try to most of the time, not only what is there, but how it is and how it makes us feel. It is that feeling that separates a happy snap from a photograph printed big and hanged on a wall of your home.

Well I think this is enough of my rambling. I better find more time to get out there and take more photos.

GK

Scouting mission

2011-01-24T09:07:00.001+11:00

Went on a scouting mission on Sunday to the Somersby Falls on Central Coast of Sydney. Was going to stop by some northern beaches for a sunrise shoot as well, but ended up waking up late and just going to Bondi beach for a swim :) Water is too good right now to pass up a swim in the morning.

The idea behind the scouting of Somersby Falls was for a possible model shoot there. So was looking out for a way of combining a model and the flowing water together. As with most AU waterfalls there was a lack of water falling :) but overall it is a very nice place with lots of area to play with. Not too far from Sydney CBD, but does not have any food places within walking distance, so if you are going to do a shoot there make sure to bring water and snacks to last you the day.

GK

Playing with water.

2011-01-22T15:08:00.001+11:00

Was sitting at home, editing photos, got a little bored with editing so decided to try some exploding water balloons shots. A dig in my props draw produced half a bag of colourful water balloons, I was in business! Cloth hanger, some clips and a flash were setup with 430EX at 1/8th to start, but that was way to much so 1/32th it went down to. ISO200 and fast burst mode on 7D with Sigma 70-200 at f5.6 to start and then moved on to f14 I think.

Tied the only needle in the house to the end of my monopod and hooked up remote trigger.

With nearly 10 balloons blown I was happy to call a couple of pictures keepers.

Getting this to work is a lot more complicated the I first thought, and I should try it out with better balloons and sharper needle.

GK

Had to share

2011-01-21T20:11:00.004+11:00

My snowboard sticker is done! YAY

Hope it lasts through this USA trip.

Oh yes I promised another seascape picture from the 5am outing. Here it is:

I try to keep my word. Well most of the time. This one has a few shots blended together for rocks,waves and sky. All with levels and other adjustments.

GK

Testing it out

2011-01-19T12:03:00.002+11:00

My new camera that is!

Bit the bullet and bought 7D just in time for another snow trip. That is right, I'm able to shoot keepers at 1600ISO or more now. The automatic ISO feature is great too. Now to read the manual and configure custom modes for street,sports,portrait.

So far I'm impressed with it. Coming from 400D it does take a little getting used to, and changing settings isn't as simple as it was on 400D. But it is all a matter of using the camera enough to work out muscle memory.

Have a grip and new tripod in the mail, hoping they get here before I fly out in couple of weeks. So I should be all setup for a good photography wise trip. Hopping to do a lot more street and landscape this time round. Oh and of cause snow sports.

The last thing left to get is 50mm f1.4 lens to replace the f1.8 one that is not off to my brother with the 400D. Which is nice, as I'll have a companion shooter for late night/ early morning outings.

GK

5am at the beach, or how to be stung

2011-01-10T15:40:00.002+11:00

Why, oh why does one decide to wake up at 4am and drive to a beach, climb around rocks and fight blue bottles all while lugging around 20kg worth of photo equipment?

Well a decision to do what one says in the new year might have something to do with it, but mostly because deep down we all love it! Photography that is. Getting out there, finding that frame, setting up and capturing the image.It is always better when you are joined by another photographer or just a friend. On this day I had a pleasure of having my brother come along and help me out. Then of cause processing it into something that you envisioned it to be in the first place. Which takes time.

This is the final image, after all the processing and manipulation. The original does not look as dramatic or eye catching.

I did take a number of brackets for the sky and foreground, but only ended up using single exposure as nothing else was needed. So what have I done to it you ask? Nothing radical or out of the ordinary! Some selective Level adjustments and Saturation adjustments to bring out the colour of the sky and rising sun. That is about it. Total of maybe 6 adjustment layers with some rough masking work.

If you think that getting the shot was easy, just put your tripod down and press the shutter, then you would be more then wrong. This outing has taught me, or introduced me to a whole new experience. One I have never felt before. Not to this extent anyhow.
My advice to any photographer who decided to step into the water to take "the shot" is to check for sea creatures that you might be stepping into/near of. In my case it was a blue bottle. Yes a little tinny colourful creature that makes you want to drive to Bunnings, buy a saw and cut your leg off. Pesky little jellies they are.

There is another seascape to come from this outing, so stay tuned for it.

That is all for now!
GK

Happy 2011 to All!

2011-01-04T12:58:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year to all! It was a good but not very exiting year for me, specially when it comes to photography. But a new year has started and I have a chance of making it best year ever. Hope you have the same outlook on this and wish you fulfilment of all your plans and dreams!

The above image is of the last Sydney sunset of 2010. No matter how many photos of Sydney I take, it still surprises me how photogenic and versatile this city is.

This NYE was spent in Sydney, which is sort of not the norm for the past few years. We were few of the limited number of people that had the pleasure of meeting the new year at Garden Island. Ok Ok ... So there were 7000 people there with us, but it still feels special.

The water traffic was annoying to say the least. As image above shows, boats were constantly moving around and getting in the frame. Maybe I could try and find a higher vintage point for the camera, but being front row, 100m away from one of the fireworks floats was too good to give up. (Thanks D!)

9pm fireworks where a good treat and gave much needed check for camera settings. Playing around between 1/3 and 3sec exposures produced some interesting results. For the main fireworks though I've opted to BULB mode to vary exposure time on the go depending on what is exploding in front of me. It worked well most of the time, but was complicated to get the timing right and delay between bursts was longer.

In the end though it was a pleasurable night and photos turned out well.

This year will have, but not limited to, Madrid, San Francisco, Denver (inc NBA game), Colorado snowboarding, Utah snowboarding (Salt Lake), NZ, motorbike and car racing, drag racing, portraiture, and street photography. So stay tuned.

Looking forward to exiting and beautiful 2011!

GK

Leftover Metal

2010-12-29T15:29:00.001+11:00

Had some free time in the evening, and had access to the mighty Golf. So grabbed my gear and my brother and headed out to Homebush Bay Shipwreck. This was a sort of "Not giving up" action on my part as weather has spoiled the planned outing to the area a couple of days before.

The above image is a composite of two long exposures. One for the sky and another for the ship. I went for high aperture to make sure exposure times are long and water ends up as smooth as possible. Added a little contrast and saturation to parts of the image to bring out the colour and detail. That's about it. Maybe 3 adjustment layers in photoshop at most.

Cheers,
GK

Lessons we learn

2010-12-23T11:15:00.001+11:00

Hi All,

~~Last~~ A few weekends ago, I was doing second shoot for Ink And Stitch. This time I have set up a home studio at friend's, and model for the day, place.

The setup was simple. Background stand with white cotton material background, that I have bought from one of the cheap on-line stores. Two flashes aimed at it to blow it out to white and a 430EXII shooting through a 103cm white umbrella as main light.

After a few test shots to get exposure right, we started spreading the seeds. Don't worry these are just bird seeds. Which is probably isn't the first thing you want to do with background that you cannot vacuum clean.

So after the bird photos, we had to collect the seeds by hand. Some were left behind and had to be edited out in the following shots. Lesson learnt!

The background it self, being cheap internet job, was working very well either. I tried ironing it to get rid of cresses, but they just would not disappear. So more photoshopping to be done. Next time I'm using a wall or buying paper roll for background. Will save hours of editing and give a much better gradation of white to grey on the background.

It was a fun shoot, and even though I'm not 100% happy with the results so far I can say it was not a failed attempt. Maybe I'll re-shoot this in near future to fix up the errors I've made and get a few more looks.

For now go check out the bags this Sunday at Bondi Markets!

Next is a shipwreck ... so stay tuned.

GK

A little street

2010-11-30T11:50:00.000+11:00

Had a little time before a concert in the city, so decided to have a go at some street shooting. Considering I'm too "shy" when it comes at pointing camera at strangers, this was very intimidating experience for me.

Weapon of choice was the trusty 70-200. Just so that I don't have to be anywhere near the subjects :)

Don't know if I'm getting the street photography idea yet, but it was getting kind of fun closer to the end.

Will need to do this more often, and maybe do 100 strangers project some time in the future.

GK

Kiyaaaaaa - Shotokan Karate Workshop 2010

2010-11-24T10:36:00.000+11:00

A while back I have signed up to learn some karate, but as with a good number of activities I kind of stopped having fun after a while and stopped going. The cost of doing it may have had an impact as well. In any case, I still have friends that do it. So last weekend I was invited to attend 2010 National Seminar with Sensei Arie Farkash, Sensei Ron Richmond and Sensei Yossi Litvin. I didn't think much of it. Had a late night on Friday and did not charge any of my equipment thinking that there should be enough spares to find something charged in my bag. Grabbed my stands, umbrellas and reflectors. Got into the car and headed out to make pre lunch time session.

After driving around the Academy like an idiot and not finding where the seminar was I decided to check with administration only to find that it was closed on weekends. Although through shear luck I notices a white board inside that stated the need to go to Dorms for some karate action. Another 15 minutes of trying to find where these dorms are and I have learned a valuable lesson #1 - "Find out exact location and directions before heading out to a shoot."

The light inside wasn't too bad. There was plenty of space to step back and try to isolate subjects using my trusty Sigma 70-200 f2.8. Although I did have to pump up the ISO to have a fast enough shutter even at 2.8. I guess that is the nature of indoor sports, no matter how much light you think is there, it is never enough.

I started shooting using aperture priority mode, but soon noticed as I walked around that changes in backgrounds where fooling my camera and shots did not have a constant exposure. This lead me to first use exposure compensation for white uniforms and then backgrounds, and then switch to full manual and just keep settings static all the way though. Which is something that I should have done to begin with. Which brings me to lesson #2 - "Camera is good, but photographer is better! Keep it in manual for sports"

With camera setting locked in I could concentrate on angles and "action". The session I was shooting was mostly brown belts and above, so the level was high and emotions were evident in every punch. With three Dojos represented all the Senseis were there helping out their students, practising and assessing students who were doing grading over the weekend. Not sure of who all the head instructors were, I went by belts and attitude.

After the session was over I said hello to my Sensei and chatted to my friend. Packed up. Walked out of the dorm. Said "It's a nice day, would Senseis be interested in some portraits?". Here I should have been more precise and added "after lunch", as I was thinking i'll find some open shade, set-up the lighting gear and catch them on the way back from lunch for some quick shots. That is not how it turned out to be though! My friend goes "One sec..." walks back into the dorm, comes out and ways me in to start taking photos. I get a bit scared. What does he mean take photos now. Nothing is set-up. I don't even have all the gear at hand. Panic grips me, but I don't let it take over and give him my camera bag and ask to place it in particular area of the dorms while I run to the car and get the rest of the gear.

Stand with 430EXII and large shoot through umbrella set-up I turned to background and dropped YN460II on gorilla pod in slave mode. But I forgot which mode was with pre-flash compensation and which one was without. Then one of my Skyport triggers was discharged and the subjects where already there. I took two shots while there were fixing up my friends stance and then started directing, kind of.

Even though the flash was on a stand, the subjects where a bit more mobile then expected, so I had to recruit a VALS to move the light around and keep it at the right distance to subjects and out of the shot.

Two minutes latter and my subjects headed off to lunch, and I was left wondering how badly I have done. And why have I not checked all my gear the night before.
This brings us to lesson #3 - "No matter what you think will happen, always check and charge your gear the day before!"

Overall I'm happy with the photos taken, now to find out what the Dojo students think.

GK

City of Sydney

2010-11-20T22:49:00.001+11:00

It was a nice evening, I had a few hours free, what better thing to do then take some sunset photos.

Looked at a nice spot on google maps and set my gps to take me there. The spot was Cremorne Point. Right at the end of the walk way. I've set-up on rock's edge and waited for the sun to go down. The sky wasn't the best so I have concentrated on the buildings. The photo above is a composite of around 12 portrait orientation shots.

Good evening, nice view, camera and some music... nice few relaxing hours.
GK

Wireless Tethered Shooting on cheap warning

2010-11-08T16:18:00.000+11:00

Hi All,

Some time ago I came across a few articles on line where a cheaper alternative to OEM wireless tethered shooting was presented. In it the writer was using one of Wireless USB Adapter kits to connect camera to computer without wires. So I have decided that is would be great for product shoots and portraits, plus you can use it for other things like remote web cams and usb keyboards.

After some searching I was able to find only one adapter on like for acceptable price. It was the Olidata WUSB adapter kit. It is a great bit of kit. Works just like the tutorial explained it should. Although here is one word of warning, it does not have 64bit drivers. Not only that the device drivers would not install with "This drivers only work on x86 cpu" message. So even compatibility mode does not help.

This issue makes it useless for anyone with 64bit OS. I still run 32bit XP on my laptops, so this should not be an issue for when on location or in a studio. At home I'll just soot to CF card and then import.

So if you are all progressive and 64bit everywhere, consider not spending AUD$100 on this kit and look for something with 64bit support.

Hope this saves some of you money.

GK

Australian International Motorshow 2010

2010-10-18T15:00:00.000+11:00

Between all the hassle and buzz of last weekend, in an unanticipated moment of calm, a friend of mine gave me a call with an offer to join him for a trip to Australian International Motor Show. Considering the nerve wrecking Friday morning, it was a very welcomed invitation.

I grabbed my camera and Sigma 10-20mm and headed out. CPL filter would have been great, but it was not accessible at the time. The lighting at the show was horrid to say the least. With the multitude of projector style lights hanging under the roof, nearly every single car was littered with bright dots.

The show it self wasn't very impressive. Every manufacturer showed of their hybrid or Eco offerings/prototypes. But that was not what everyone wanted to see so most people were hanging around the limited number of super car stands

Some were more accessible then others, overall though it was a nice walk around

I mean it is not every day you get to sit in a car that you thought you'd like to buy one day and decide you don't like the inside of it. Or see a car that you definitely will not drive

And some you wouldn't even want to be seen in

It is funny to see the extent marketing teams would go to in order to "branch" out and make more money off passionate and loyal fans

Then of cause why wouldn't they if the main product has the kind of appeal and respect that makes people buy anything with the logo on it, just to have it in hope that one day they can buy the car wearing the same badge

I was happy to see some of the cars in flesh for the first time and actually like them. With all the hype and sponsored reviews on the internet and in magazines it is hard to make up your mind without "getting your hands" on one.

Overall it was a good show. The lack of a number of big players was a bit disappoint, but i guess we have to take what we can. For anything else - go to the dealer showroom.

Drive on!
Gk

Replacement.

2010-10-10T21:16:00.000+11:00

After what seemed to be ages of thinking, test riding, searching, saving and researching I have bought the replacement to my previous sole mover;. This one is not as photogenic, but it is not as big either. Had to travel for 6 hours one way to get this two wheel smile inducing machine. That is a story on it's own. Lets say night+rain+tinted visor is not a good combination. Golf TDI can do 950km before it has 0.8l of fuel left in the tank. And skin can turn purple.

Anyhow... without further delay here it is

Sigma 70-200 f2.8

a bit closer

and something I might print for a wall

All shot with natural light and CPL filter at ISO400, I think. The location is a pedestrian pathway near EQ. Taken during an overcast day.

Now to start riding it.

GK

Unexpected

2010-09-27T10:23:00.000+10:00

To my surprise one of my last years Canon Photo5 entries made it into their 2010 promo video

I've got my box last week for the 2010 comp. For some reason i'm not very inspired by it. The briefs seem to be more restrictive. Which kind of limits a creative approach some what. Still hopping to attempt all 5 categories. It is going to be hard as the deadline is 17th of October, and i'm fairly busy until then.

Better get photographing i guess!

GK

A new toy (24)

2010-09-20T09:17:00.002+10:00

Well after a couple of weeks of searching and test driving, there is a new toy to play with :)

Even though it is a 2005 model, the condition is near brand new. I could not resist the temptation to go out and test light painting approach to automotive photography. This image is a blend of 5 independent shots. Light with a single YN460II flash in a EzyBox 60x60 softbox. Triggered manually by pressing the test button. To be honest, I could have done it in one shot as well, just did not feel like putting an ND filter and remote trigger on the camera to get a much longer exposure. These were 10-30 sec exposures, which isn't as much time as one would think when shooting cars.

The location is an alley way off King st in Newtown Sydney. I drive past it every day and note to my self to do a motorbike shoot there. Finally I managed/had subject to go out there and test it out. Looks fairly well suited I think. Might have to bite the bullet and order some rig gear to see how that would turn out.

There will be a few things changed on this TDI, so consider this as a "original" photo before I get the mods delivered and installed.

P.S: Yes Nico, I have joined the club :)

Cheers,
GK

52 update

2010-09-14T16:12:00.000+10:00

well i'm barely keeping up with my 52 project, but so far I have not missed a week yet. Which is sort of a impressive realisation, as I was sure that I'll stop going on week 4 or so. But here I am, going strong.

Went to a motorcycle insurance event at lunch time a couple of weeks back.Was good to see that there are people willing to spend their time and money to make it better for all of us. Big thanks goes out to organisers of the event and volunteers.

Although it would have been good to have a little bit of a "more presentable" crowed. But we are who we are, and we dress how we dress.

GK

I Can Fly ...

2010-08-31T09:07:00.000+10:00

Well maybe not. Gravity keeps winning, but one can still have fun trying.

Was up at Gold Coast last week. Stayed at a nice top floor apartment overlooking the beach. So what does one do with a little spare time, jump on the bed of cause :)

This just shows that I'm not as brave as I once was. Hands out and ready for impact way to early.

GK

Australian Junior Snowboard Series

2010-08-22T16:40:00.000+10:00

With great sadness I have to tell you that my 4 day snow trip is over. It did not help that we were blessed with some great days and fresh snow falls. Late night alcohol induced snow dancing works! I am an eye witness of this.

I have dedicated half a day on staying at what now is known as Torah Bright's SuperPipe and taking some photos of Australian Junior Snowboarding Championships Superpipe competition. But before that happens I had a day to improve my own skills. First couple of days, including the comp day, were sunny. Blue skies and little fresh snow did not bring too many smile, but there were still some stashes to be found between the trees.

The young guns in the pipe were sure not holding it back. It was impressive to see such young boarders push them self to their limits while still having competitive approach to their runs

The turn out was great. Lots of people came to support friends and schoolmates.

Considering it was not a "pro" comp, everyone were either taking a T-bar up and going through trees, or hiking it up

But this did not tier anyone done, as I'm sure they all are used to walking up pipe and park runs.

There were a few photogs and 3 or so video cameras setup, so look out for more detailed coverage in your fav snowboarding magz and tv shows.

After most runs were done I headed off to do my own runs on the mountain. The snow was starting to fall and I was starting to get cold.

Some more photos are posted on my flickr and a lot more are on my computer. If you were there and want to get some of your pics, let me know. Hope I got you on camera.

Now to plan my next trip :)

GK

Not long left now

2010-08-11T15:31:00.000+10:00

Well that was one uneventful week, photography wise anyhow. Was so busy that I couldn't even find time to call people I should have and take photos of events that I wanted. But that is life!

What keeps me going in this some what unpleasant and busy times is closeness of my snow trip. I'm nearly packed, and just got my DIY 808 key chain camera helmet cam contraption working. Should have 4hrs of non stop footage, as long as the batteries hold up in the cold. Only 4 hours due to using 16gb microSD card, otherwise it would last for much longer, how much longer I am testing right now.

In any case, 24 hours left until I will be leaving work and heading towards the snow covered hills. Snow covered they are, with total of 1m of fresh snow falling in past week or two. With another 15cm predicted to fall by the time I get there.

On the Saturday there will be Australian Junior Snowboard Series Superpipe competition that I am planning to shoot. Not sure how well the stuff will be enforcing access rights, but i'll try to sneak in to the ledge of the pipe. Just need to remember to charge all I can before heading out. And take my monopod, for self defence reasons of cause.

For now though I have been helping out in the kitchen a little. The results were not only photogenic, but also tasty.

Soft-centred Chocolate cake ... mmmmmm.... Used a fluorescent light and a reflector (cooking book) for this shot. Going to cook some brownies tonight, I hope. Should be a nice addition to a long drive down to Jindabyne.

Let it SNOW!

GK

Time to be formal

2010-08-01T16:02:00.000+10:00

Another week is coming to the end and I was way overdue for a formal photo of my self for profile image on a professional community site. So I have put the two together and went to work for image number 17 in my 52 week project and a formal portrait for other uses.

Originally I was going for a 360deg all round light. Light above, below and to each side. Took a few images, did not really like the result. Lets just say it did not suit my facial characteristics :) So started switching lights off and moving them around to end up using only two lights. One in my DIY beauty dish just above and left of camera with my new poverty flash at 1/4 power. Another into half collapsed shoot through right of camera and behind me, pointed at the wall. This one was powered by 430EX at 1/16 power.

The results:

Not bad for a my mug. Would have liked more detail in the shirt and actually having a suit on, but that was impossible as I don't keep a suit at home, and it wouldn't be me anyhow.

Hope to have something more that is not limited to 52 project soon.

GK

What it takes

2010-07-29T09:25:00.001+10:00

A fresh (pun intended) look at pizza advertising. it is amazing to see what goes on into a 30sec pizza commercial.

Enjoy and don't forget to take out the screws before eating.

Speaking about food, there is a workshop in Sydney that might interest some of you. It is to do with food photography and styling. Run by fellow Australian flicker member Food Pixels. You can check out details and book a spot HERE.

GK

Early 16th

2010-07-20T23:37:00.000+10:00

Considering I will not be home or next to the camera this weekend, I had to get into gear and take my week 16 photo... so here it is :)

GK

Getting close

2010-07-19T15:47:00.001+10:00

It is nearly snow time! Not that there is a good amount of snow on the ground, but we take what we get here in Australia. AS long as there is something of correct colour on the ground, we will be excited to have a chance of sliding on it.

This brings us to this week. With possibility of going to the snow on weekend, I have pulled out my snow bag and taken my board off the wall. mmmm shiny snowboard. Like a school kid at an ice cream van, I have goggled over everything. Testing the flex of my new Solomon Grip board. Trying on goggles and gloves. Took off Whistler lift passes from jackets. Waxing the board and arranging all the little bits and pieces in tool bag. While I was doing all that, I remembered that it is the end of yet another week. There is a need for another 52 photo. "Hmmm..." I though to my self "I wonder if my goggles would make a good subject".

Remember nearly all bad ideas start out as "wouldn't it be cool if...".

Without giving too much thought about the reflective properties of the goggles and limited amount of gear I have on hand, I jumped at the task. Ran to my room, got a stand, flash and an umbrella. Set it all up and took a shot. NOT GOOD. the umbrella reflection in the goggles looked real bad as you could see the metal parts, and the shape was not very pleasing. So I flipped out my meter wide ... am ... 5-in-1 reflector and used it as a shoot through. This gave a nice reflection on the lens as well as a nicer spill on the BG and goggles over all.

Looking at the image it still looked like something was missing. It felt like ice cream with the cone. Still tastes good, but just isn't pleasing you. So I started to play around with reflections. Put some fabric on the other side and the image got better. So I set-up a soft box and started moving things around. After a while this is the setup I was most pleased with.

and the resulting image

of cause what works for one subject does not work for another... and placing goggles with spherical lens on them ruins everything.

But gives an idea about placement and what effect this kind of surface can have. Will have to come back to this setup and see if I can make it work.

Let it snow, and hope to see you on the slopes.

GK

Song of the month

2010-07-14T17:49:00.000+10:00

A step away from usual posts, but I am sure most people will find something in this song that they can relate to. I had this song on my play list for a while now, and still find it a pleasure to listen to.

Enjoy.
GK

Another meeting of LHP

2010-07-09T21:05:00.001+10:00

Another week night meet of the LHP gang... you know who you are!

This time we had a guest model and a guest photographer come along. She was no ordinary model either. Dr. Mandana Phd. Smart, fun and beautiful, what more could a photographer wish for. Well maybe two of them
:)

There were a number of setups in different locations that we had a go at, and the rest of the LHPs will post their picture up at some point in time. Mine was indoors with two 430EX blasting at a curtain to blow it out. The original idea was to capture a silhouette of motion. Hair flowing through the air with a bit of a lens flare. But that did not work out, partly because of hair extensions not being flowing and partly because of low sealing bouncing too much light forward and bringing details up in the shadows of the subject. So with that in mind I have decided to take some "dreamy" portrait shots.

Later on in the week, as I was stuck at home with a cold, I decided to take my 14th photo for the project 52. This was originally intended to be an image of just one pea strand, but has grown into a food style photo of a bowl of peas. Which were eaten at the end of the shoot.

This was taken with 430EX at 1/62 power through a small EzyBox placed to the right and behind the bowl. About 40cm away or so. Then I places some white foam board as a reflector opposite the soft box to fill in the shadows and give a little more definition to the shape on peas.

This is probably the best food style photo I have taken so far. Which does not say much about food photography technique, but this did show me how to use my Sigma 70-200 to get similar results to the famous 100mm macro lens.

GK

More baby time

2010-07-01T00:31:00.000+10:00

Well here is more from the Indiana's photo shoot.

I will not go into individual photo details due to it being late in the night. The bedroom photos were shot with two 430ex pointed into corners behind camera to bring up the shutter speed.
Low key shots are done by bouncing sun light with two reflectors through a balcony door. The outside photos either use a flash to fill in shadows or a reflector, in case of the beach shots.

Hope you enjoyed them!

GK

Baby time

2010-06-22T15:39:00.000+10:00

A little while ago I was asked by one of my friends if I would be interested to take a few baby photos for her. Usually I would say that I'm not a pro and recommend some of my fellow photogs that I know would do a good job, but how would I ever progress if I'm unwilling to step up and start doing photo shoots which are not just for fun. And so begins my first "real" photo shoot. Not just a normal shoot either. Baby shoot. Unlike cars or models this little ball of energy does not hold poses or looks at the camera. Directions are degraded to primitive Boohoo, Ghahaaa, and so on.... You spend more time crawling around the floor trying to keep up with the subject, then you ever did before.

The shoot it self was to be hosted by another friend of mine in her flat. I was told that the bedroom and living room have large windows. What I have not asked was the direction and how close they are to neighbouring buildings. The windows were there, but the amount of light going through them was only good for ISO400, f4 and 1/50th. Which isn't anywhere near fast or deep enough for fast moving baby and her parents.

So what does one do? Bring in the strobes. For the bedroom I've put two 430EX with small shoot through umbrellas either side of the room pointing away from subject into top corners. At 1/8th and 1/16 power they brought the bed sheets to pure white, which is what I wanted to begin with. Found out that a couple of my "hot shoe to audio jack" conversions are playing up and only firing every second time. Most probably because I have left optical trigger connected and it could be screwing things up. Will have to cut the wires and see if that solves my problems. This did provide for some interestingly light photos though.

I'm still processing the taken images, so for now will just post the last image taken on the shoot. This was at the little beach behind Rose Bay Yacht club. nothing but ambient light.

Only pp was to convert it to B&W.

More technical write up and images to come as I process them.

GK

Master Chef .. ish

2010-06-12T22:13:00.000+10:00

I've always liked the visual on Master Chef Australia TV show. One in particular I always wanted to try and replicate. It is the one where the contestants are being interviewed and on the background there are kitchen utensils silhouettes hanging in front of white out wall. So here I am giving tribute to the show as my week 10 photo.

But first the setup shot:

two flashes to give vertically even light. at 1/32th power. Taken with 50mm at f13 and ISO100

The result:

I like it :)

GK

Rain, rocks and helpful guidance.

2010-06-08T17:17:00.000+10:00

It is always beneficial to continue learning your craft. The best way for photographers to improve is to take more photos, but this is limited by your experiences and technical imagination. After all, there are more then one way to tie your shoe laces. Same goes for everything else. You learn things along the way, usually from mistakes. You develop your own ways of doing things and adapt to characteristics/limitations of your gear and knowledge up to a point when things that used to piss you off are considered as normal and accepted. Then you meet a fellow photographer on one of your outings and he shows you a little trick that he came up with which solves your long time accepted annoyance and allows you to take the shot you would give up on before. This is when you realise that you cannot work everything out for your self. Some time you need to rely on brilliance of others.

This makes attending workshops becomes an worth while proposition. Sure they are not cheap. Some run into new camera territory. But the benefits that knowledge of a seasoned pro can bring to your resulting images are ... well... unmeasurable! Apart from their online portfolios and some hand picked reviews by former students, you have nothing to go by. Specially when you are looking at the lower priced offerings. Even professional courses from well established companies/organisations may be a waist of your time if the person hired to teach them is no good of a teacher.

Now Brent Pearson may not be a great educator per say, but he comes across as someone who would take on any task and complete it to the best possible standard. And with each time he attempts the same task, he raises the bar that little bit further. When I was deciding the first time if it is worth attending his workshops I based it purely on his work and tutorials posted up on his blog. The second time I did not need to decide, I just hoped that I was free on the day.

I arrived late to the pre evening shoot theory lesson. As I entered the room Brent told me that I have only missed 2 slides of his presentation. After settling on a free chair I found a big folder in front of me with copy of presentation, a laminated work flow diagram and a DVD with more goodies and tutorials. "WOW" run through my mind.

Brent went through gear in detail, which included non photo related items like shoes, flash lights, clothing, and water protection. This was very beneficial to me, as I like to be prepared for almost anything when I'm out and about. Usual things like filters, tripods, heads and lenses were covered and, while continuing to claim partiality, reasons behind choosing the gear he has were given with demonstrations. I must say I loved the tripod L bracket. Brilliant idea I say!

After the theory we all headed out to the location, which was beautiful Turimetta beach. After stopping for a very nice chicken burger and baked cream potato, hey I was hungry, I arrived to the meeting spot and was directed to go down to the waters edge.

Brent gave us some words of wisdom on composition, shutter speeds needed for different effects, and safety. After which we all scattered in hope of finding a good spot.

I found mine

Played with bracketing and different shutter speed to see what water will bring to the table. But still kept liking the above image for it's contrast and lack of distracting information. I still think that this one is a little to busy.

Sure the water looks great, but it is distracting attention from the contrasty lines and detail in the rocks that guide you into the image. Allowing you to pause and examine all the little holes and cracks in the rocks. Although most people would probably prefer the latter image, personally I choose the first for a wall print.

Just to show how careful one had to be not to include others in the image, here is a landscape shot of the same location

with a fellow student in the process of taking their own masterpiece.

When the sun was down, and we could not squeeze out any more light, everyone packed up and headed home to get some sleep, before a very early sunrise shoot at the same place.

I was late, again. Everyone were already on the beach and Brent was getting all to take some long exposures. Guiding through settings and technique. After this we were told to find a spot as sun is rising fast and the sky is looking too good not to be ready. In my "awake" state I thought that using a nifty fifty (Canon 50mm f1.8) is the way to go. Having a crop body though, lens was some what long. Although it did give me a perspective that I would not have even considered with a 10mm.

and even stitching seemed like a good idea. Although timing and trying to match water levels was time consuming, but result was well worth it

Brent walked up and suggested to try shooting around 30mm (20mm on crop) to see what effect that would have on composition. So I have moved to a different spot and experimented a little bit.

By this time the sun was getting high and there was a little too much light even at f22 and an ND filter. So everyone started packing up and heading back to classroom for some energy food and a step by step image processing tutorial.

After some "pick me up" food, Brent guided everyone through his work flow step by step. He made sure everything is done at slow enough pace and that everyone understands what is going on and why this changes are made to the image. Although my own Photoshop approach is some what different in places, it was great to see the little things that Brent pays attention to and why he dose what he dose to achieve the final result.

Overall I am very pleased with the workshop and would recommend it and Brent as an educator in general to anyone interested in improving their skills.

Cheers,
GK

P.S: It took a while to write this post, so long in fact that I am forced to add my week 9 photo here.

CYA

Music for the soul.

2010-05-28T09:25:00.000+10:00

Hey,

Went to a performance of a friend at The Basement on Wednesday night. Brought my camera along to see if I can snap some images as the venue is well known and usually hosts well established and famous performers. It was exciting to see Karina play there and enjoy the experience too.

The piano was not very well placed for photography as the light was a little behind and to the side of her with nothing on the other side and she was sitting angled away from audience with microphone in the way of more pleasing shots. But maxing out my 400D at 1600ISO and shooting at f2.8 seemed to have worked ok. The more I shoot, the more I feel the need to get a camera with better ISO range and performance.

This weekend though I am taking part in a seascape workshop. Should be fun, as long as I remember to bring all the wet weather gear with me.

GK

New place, New toy

2010-05-23T22:16:00.000+10:00

Hey all,

Through the last few weeks, what felt like month though, I have been slowly moving to my new place of residence in Sydney's funky/crazy suburb of Newtown. The move was slow, and a lot of things I wanted/needed to do before I could move in. Moving out from a place you spend last 8 years making look like you want into a rental place that you cannot even put shelve in without begging for it is not easy. But will a little creative remodeling anything can be made to look acceptable. So it is nearly complete. Here are couple of pics of the lounge area.

and from another angle

Both were taken with available light, which I have swapped to daylight bulbs for home studio reasons of cause.

What would all the hard work be if one cannot use the place as a studio for some practice .... First try with CCF lights and coffee table.

CCFs are going to take a while to learn to use to their full potential, but it is clear they sure make a good instant BG.

More experimentation and more photos are sure to come.

GK

Fish and Bokeh

2010-05-18T17:12:00.000+10:00

Hey all,

It is interesting what waiting, camera, nifty fifty and car lights can result in.

Nothing like f1.8 to make pretty abstract images. Was deciding between white or black background for a while and white won. Still not sure about the spacing though. slimmer spacing gets dissolved in the image and provides no separation, while their overweight counterparts isolate the cut up image into separate images and make it hard to link them all together into one visually juicy burger.

Speaking of food and it's ability to transport it self from one place to another.

Over the weekend it so happened to be the start of whale migration season. I have booked some tickets to the first trip out to open water in search of soup meat.

The day was windy, coldish, but overall enjoyable. Well on land it was. We boarded the ship and set sail. The Opera house, as always, presented it self to be photographed by nearly everyone on board. Not to feel out of place I snapped a shot as well

As we were leaving the safety of calm waters and ability to take a water taxi to shore I could not help but take a photo of Sydney skyline

We were not the only ones on the water either. Other people were too enjoying the day. Some were doing it in style

As we moved further out into the open ocean, waves started picking up. At first everyone was laughing and screaming like on a roller coaster. Eventually that has stopped. People were near silent. Some started moving around trying to find vomit bags. Being surrounded by people filling up plastic bags with what used to be food only 1 hour ago, does not help to stay in control of your own energy source. Not because you are feeling sea sick, but because yet again you feel left out. This time though I was more then happy not to give in to pear pressure!

We did not end up seeing any whales, but we did come across some oceanic dolphins

We were told they grow to around 1 ton. After cruising with them for a little while we went back to full speed and people went back to their plastic bags.

Overall it was an enjoyable trip for those of us who did not leave the boat lighter then when they boarded.

GK

5 and a bit

2010-05-14T17:13:00.000+10:00

Firstly another rushed job on my part for the 52 project. Inspired by the shoot out video that i posted in one of the previous posts. Set-up two 430EX flashes bare zoomed in and at 1/16 power, I think. My old National flash at 1/8 power into DIY beauty dish up front just above head level and a little to the side. Due to low ceiling and closeness of walls I was getting a lot of bounce to the rest of the room. Image does not look as pro, but it proves the set-up works and I can use it in the future.

While doing some research I have come across this interview with one of the more interesting Motorcycle Racing photographer out there today. Some of the things he says are very interesting and his imagery is backing up his words. Next time I'm at a track, I'l ltry and capture not only the knee down craziness but the human part of the day as well.

Well worth watching!

That is it for now...
GK

Story behind

2010-05-05T13:02:00.000+10:00

It is always interesting to hear the story behind some of the photos one is amazed by. Here in one of TED talked you get to hear and see stories and related images. Worth a look:

GK

It is on the way

2010-04-30T08:59:00.001+10:00

No I have not fallen behind! Image 4 was taken last week, and this week should prove productive as well. I'm just between houses/flats and internet access is scares.

Here are some more pictures from my Hunter Valley trip, to keep you interested and blog alive.

This was an out house of our base of operations and champagne breakfast.

Sigma 70-200 f2.8 was used for the above shot. The second balloon has drifted a bit below us and over the fog. The colour inconsistency you see is due to the rising sun peeking trough the clouds and fog.

Look at the bigger version of the above image. This is the view over the Hunter valley from one of the highest wineries of the region.

Below is an attempt at holding camera steady during long exposure

Worked out nice and spooky. I like the feel of it.

That is all from me for now.
GK

Above the clouds

2010-04-22T14:29:00.001+10:00

Well maybe not clouds, but fog. In any case, up in the air above it all.

Last Weekend I made a trip to Hunter Valley for a nice relaxing weekend and a hot air balloon flight. The idea was to try out some strobist style shots as well as something more "wedding/ES". I must admit to being proud of my self to actually try a few things out and get the flash out of the bag. Had a few mix ups with placing remote triggers in wrong pockets and therefore thinking I left them at home, but otherwise it was a good experience.

Waking up at 3am though was not easy. It was nice that the drive to meeting place for the balloon flight was only a few minutes. The flight it self was great and nature has taken all the stops to bring visual pleasure for all involved.

After a short safety briefing the balloon began to be inflated. Two fans where pushing air into it, and when it was big enough the burners were switched on to put some hot air in and get it rising up off the ground

The patterns of the balloon where to irresistible not to take a picture of

The other balloon was first off the ground and started floating over a pond which was covered in fog

with the sun rising up and fog moving over ground feature one could point the camera in any direction and walk away with a keeper

and the second balloon provided for a good subject to the overall beautiful landscape

As our pilot was saying, this kind of fog is very normal for this time of year. It some times even rolls in around 2pm. But we were lucky, and after getting our feet a little wet while gliding over another pond, we had a clear landing without any fog to cover the ground.

Overall it was a nice weekend. A few boxes of good wine, some cheese and a very early morning flight. What more could one ask for? Except maybe more sleep :)

GK

Rushing it

2010-04-20T12:43:00.000+10:00

Had this idea of creating a few images using Ice Age characters. Nothing fancy, just good simple images that look good and interesting.

Was moving some furniture from one place to another and had a couple of minutes before my dad comes over to help out, so decided to take a couple of fast pictures to test out some ideas.

Setup my DIY dish left of camera pointing across the subject to make sure there is no spill on the bedroom door behind. Then set a snooted flash with a few CTO gels to point at the door for some interesting BG effect.

A few lessons learnt from this. Will have a go at this setup again, but with a soft box and some better BG configuration. Hope to have a series of images that I can print and put on a wall at home. Well that is the plan anyhow. As always other image ideas are popping up every day and are pushing this one back. I'll shoot one of them though, some time.

GK

New year starts

2010-04-09T15:01:00.000+10:00

And so a new year has started for me. Apart from getting older, nothing is really changing. I'm not getting any smarter. Still doing same thing I was doing years ago. Still leaving from pay day to pay day without a visible way out. Still being lazy.

This year I did not really make a list of things to accomplish, last years list did not really get a second look at so what is the point. Just going to try and get into photography side of things a little more and get back into rollerblading as well.

Have a personal "project" going that I will try to keep doing. Moving to a new place very soon so that will be huge impact on a lot of my daily things. This will give me an opportunity to explore a new area and find new shooting locations.

For now here are two recent shots.

Shot with 50mm f1.8 lens, hand held and manual focus with 430ex shooting into my DIY beauty dish.

This one was shot using a reversing ring and Sigma 70-200 f2.8 on tripod and same light source as image before.

Hope to have more photos to come each week.

GK