Sydney Gets Vivid

The last week of May saw us take a quick trip across the Tasman to catch up with some friends in Sydney, this worked out well for me in a photographic sense as the Vivid Sydney festival also began that weekend. I’ve seen a few pictures of the last couple of years from Vivid Sydney and was really stoked to be there over this time to get some of my own.

Being based in Darling Harbour was a huge plus – along with circular quay this is where most of the action takes place in terms of lighting.  Darling Harbour has a laser symphony that runs for about 10 to 15 minutes every half hour or so; what is great about this is that you don’t have to race to get a “primo” spot for a one off show.  You can take your time and even change locations throughout the evening to get a variety of shots from different angles.

Now for me this was not a photographic holiday so I was more squeezing in shooting around other activities, however with a bit of planning and a patient partner I was able to get a few snaps in!

Lazer lights - f/8  2s  40mm  ISO 100

Night photography is always fun, it gives you a chance to play with shutter speeds and produce different effects.  Timing though can be a bit of an issue, especially in a show like this were you cannot always predict where the lights will be or what the fountains will be doing.  For me that adds to the fun and can lead you to finding new ways to shoot scenes like this that you probably would never have initially considered.

It is also important to remember to show the entire story.  The main event is definitely the light show but there are also the crowds that come down to see the show and they can also provide subject matter to shoot.

Captivated - f/3.5  6s  20mm  ISO 100

The other area where there is a heap of lighting going on is down at Circular Quay – with the obvious centre piece being the Opera House.  One of the shots you have to tick off the list is the classic, and much taken view like the one below.   I never feel bad about getting a picture like this, yeah I know it has been done a million times before but this time I am doing it so it is unique to me.

I think that is a really important philosophy to remember when you are taking pictures of significant land marks like this.  You are very rarely going to get a shot that is completely new or different to everything out there, but remember that it is your shot of it and no one can take it like you.

Opera - f/4.5  6s  36mm  ISO 100

Once I had this classical shot of the opera house it was time to experiment a bit.  Playing with focal lengths is a great way to get some shots that feel different and have a different look.  Another way is to 'zoom with your feet' and that is exactly what I did with the shot below.  By getting closer up to the Opera House I was able to concentrate on a group of the "petals" and get a shot that is different but still definitely recognizable as the Sydney Opera House.

Opera take 2 - f/4 1s  27mm ISO 100

City-scapes really shine at nighttime.  Really dull buildings take on a life of their own once the lights come on and when you through in some purposeful psychedelic lighting it is a no brainer that you have to capture it.  All of the buildings around Circular Quay really get the treatment during Vivid Sydney, ranging from simple coloured lights to more complex to entire stories being played out in front of you very eyes!!

3 Photo Panorama - f/3.5   8s  18mm  ISO100

Explosive colour - f/3.5  0.8s  18mm  ISO 100

Story Wall - f/3.5  1s  23mm  ISO 100

Needless to say it evenings during Vivid Sydney were a really exciting time to out with a camera in hand.  If you ever have the chance to get across there for the festival I cannot recommend it more.  I would definitely like to get back there again with the sole purpose of taking photographs and everything else taking a back seat.  However, even with that said by taking a bit of time out and really having an idea of what you want to capture in the back of your mind then while you enjoy the sights with friends you can come away with some really cool pictures.

Just beg for a bit of patience and shoot to your plan and you'll leave smiling - I know I did.

Thanks for dropping by!!  

HDR: Why I love it and why I think everyone should give it a go.

So I was a relative late comer to HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography.  This technique of blending multiple exposures together seemed really daunting; would I have the ability to pull it off?  I had also seen some really garish HDR pictures on the web, the kind that are really crunchy and slap you in the face with all their glorious HDR’ness.

It is also a really divisive type of processing and photography.  Some people absolutely loathe it and make no bones in letting you know that.  Others, and I think I fall into this group, really enjoy it and there is no question that there are some gorgeous HDR shots out there. 

I took the plunge when I came across a programme called Photomatix which is specifically designed for producing HDR images.  What makes this programme so appealing is it does a lot of the leg work for you. All you need to do is load up you bracketed shots and it goes to work putting them together and produces some stunning results.  It also allows you to tweak the final blend to you hearts content so if you want to go crunchy, eye-popping HDR you have that option and if you want to go for the more realistic HDR look then that option is there too. It is a great way to start dabbling with this kind of photography and really lets you start exploring your inner artist.

Now I get that a lot of people don’t like this kind of photography and each to their own.  I don’t think anyone should be put off though especially if you are taking your first steps and trying to work out what you like shooting.  For me it has let me make some of the landscape pictures I am really happy with, the ones you see here. 

As a landscape shooter primarily it allows me to capture wide ranges of light and colour and then conjure up something akin to what I was looking at – with a sprinkling of artistic licence.  For me that is the key; by having the option of tweaking and playing I get to add a little bit of me and how I was feeling into the picture and that is part of the whole reason I do it.  I get to show my version of a location or vision of the world.

Now I don’t apply it to everything I shoot, obviously there will be times when you want to capture a specific feel or look that HDR just does not suit.  I do love having the option though to squash those exposures together and pull out something possibly a wee bit fantastical and I highly recommend giving it a go. 

After all photography is painting with light and HDR photography gives you the option to go a little crazy with those brushes!

Noisy photo or blurry photo?

So I have been going through some pictures that I took while on holiday back in Zimbabwe and it lead me to consider the question posed in the title.  Be warned there is going to be some boring technical speak below, if people have questions I will do my best to answer them - still getting the hang of articulating my thoughts in crystal clear form. 

Let me back up for a second and set the scene so you are on the same page.  While on holiday I went with my folks out to Kuimba Shiri, a bird park on the shores of Lake Chivero outside of Harare.  Kuimba Shiri is a bird park that takes in orphaned or injured birds and gives them a second shot at a good life, it is an amazing place and definitely well worth a visit if you are at a loose end in town.

Every day at 4pm the birds are flown and this is a great way to witness natural behavior from a variety of different raptors up close.  Naturally I figured this would be a get time to get some pictures that are usually require a lot of graft to obtain.  Side note: I shoot with a Canon 600D (Rebel T3i) and on that day I had the EF-S 55-250mm kit lens on the body.  

Initially I was taking portraits of the birds in their enclosures, this allowed me to get some real up close shots and some great detail of the birds.  Now the thing is this area was in pretty deep shade at this late stage of the afternoon and shooting in Aperture Priority I knew I was going to have to up my ISO so as to avoid blurry shots. The obvious trade off though is that on a crop sensor, like the 600D has, at higher ISO I ran the risk of introducing digital noise into the pictures.

Here are a couple of portraits of a few of the eagles:

Martial Eagle - f/5.6; 1/400sec; ISO 400 at 250mm

Peregrine Falcon - f/5.6; 1/80sec; ISO 400 at 250mm

Now both of these pictures show a decent amount of digital noise - check out the right hand side of the Martial Eagle shot, there is loads of grain there or what is more specifically known as digital noise.  Now for the most you want toe be avoiding digital noise as the grain usually doesn't look that flattering on photographs.  I say usually because in some instances you may want that noise in there to add some artistic element.

Let me show you a couple of pictures I then got of some of the birds in flight.  

African Harrier Hawk - f/5.6; 1/4000sec; ISO 800 at 79mm

African Fish Eagle - f/5.6; 1/4000sec; ISO 800 at 250mm

So as you can see from the details below both of these shots have been taken at an ISO double of those of the portrait's I have shown above, why on earth would I have cranked it up even further??  Well the birds were going to be moving between really bright sunlight and some deep shadow thrown by a tree and I knew I would need as fast a shutter speed as possible in order to freeze the action.  I was shooting in aperture priority so that was no worry, camera sorts that out, put it to the lowest so the lens is as wide open as possible and now go for broke.

Once again the high ISO has introduced some digital noise to these pictures.  The key thing for me here is am I willing to put up with that for these pictures?  The short answer - most definitely!!  In order to freeze the action and get the pictures I needed I had to compromise by bumping up the ISO value.  This is influenced by the fact that my lens could only stop down to f/5.6 and not get super wide (f/2.8) like some of the pro lenses you can buy.  Coupled with the small sensor on my 600D then noise was always going to be a factor but I do not regret that for a second.

I only had one shot at getting these pictures so I had to make sure I nailed it. I am not going to be back in Zimbabwe for a couple of years and more to the point I will not witness that exact bird display ever again.... no one will. In light of that it was an absolute no-brainer - suffer some noise to get the in focus shot, noise is a minor detail when you come away with pictures you are really happy with and I am stoked with these! 

I hope this was not too boring a post.  I guess what I am trying to say is when you have the opportunity to see something like this make sure you do everything you can to capture it.  For me it was about making sure I came away with some pictures that will remind me of that afternoon out by the lake watching some marvelous creatures exhibiting their natural behavior; I truly believe I achieved that goal.

If you would like to see a couple more along with some other pictures of some birds from Southern Africa have a quick flip through these.

Thanks for taking the time, I hope it made sense, if not I hope you enjoyed the pictures :)

Visual Pushups

I have often heard or read about this concept of doing "Visual Push ups".  The one person I can remember vividly talking about it was Jay Maisel on a Kelbyone course.  No I am paraphrasing here but his view went something like this:  If you want to be a body builder you don't go to the gym once a week, ergo if you want to take good pictures you don't go and take pictures every few weeks.... something along those lines, anyways you get the point.

I have often thought about this in relation to myself and how I take pictures.  Often it requires me planning a trip to a beach or some such location, keeping an eye on the weather, setting an alarm for an early start etc etc etc.....  What that does is it creates numerous opportunities for me to cop out - "the weather is looking shifty", "my batteries probably aren't charged", "man that is early!!" and the list could go on.

We are all human and we are all fallible, sometimes our inspiration can just dessert us.  The more I thought about it though the more I realised I have the opportunity to take pictures everyday and it doesn't even have to be with my DSLR.  Everyday I have my phone on me and that allows me to take pictures where ever I am.

 This epiphany lead me to figure out that I would be learning to train my eyes to see things that I usual would never see in everyday scenes.  Now I knew this would not be an automatic process but what I noticed was that more and more I was looking at the world in a different way.

If you have been following this blog or seen most of my other photography you know it normally centers around Landscapes and natural scenes and that is definitely my first love when I am going to pick up my camera and go shooting.  However, when I am on my daily commute or heading out of the office to get some lunch I find it really invigorating and challenging to really take notice of the world around me and try to capture it in a way that I am not used to.

 
What I have learnt from this process as well is that it is really important to keep challenging yourself.  I feel really comfortable shooting landscapes, this does not mean I think I have nothing to learn there, what I mean is that I feel comfortable in what processes I have to follow, what I need to look for in a scene and what conditions will help improve the chances of getting a picture that I am happy with.

This off the cuff shooting with my phone is far more challenging because it is something I am not used to.  What it does is it helps you develop your eye.  It helps see things in the world that normally you would never notice and that is a really good thing.  Seeing rather than just looking can help you craft something cool out of what could otherwise be described as a bland everyday scene.

Light is all around us all the time and if you are looking for it, it will be creating scenes for you that are unique and fleeting in their moments.  I guess it is our challenge to see and recognise these moments and then record them as photographs.

Once you've recorded those scenes then i think the most important thing to do is share them with everyone, and when you shooting with your phone it is only a couple of taps away to sharing with the whole world.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Foreground stepping stones.

Hi everyone.  So today I wanted to share a bit of knowledge that can really help in landscape photography situations.  It may seem really obvious to some of you, but for me it was a real 'light bulb' moment that allowed me to significantly improve my landscape photography.

What I am talking about here is using foreground elements to add depth to your picture and provided a visual stepping stone into the scene.  Initially when I started taking pictures they always felt a little flat and lacking, they didn't really draw me in like some of the other pictures I was admiring out there on the web.

Thankfully there are plenty of handy videos on YouTube which I was able to start learning off - eventually they directed me to an online learning center, little place called KelbyOne, but I digress. 

Click for larger view

The point is I really started to appreciate how useful foreground interest can be in anchoring an image.  In some cases it can almost become the subject of the photo but it also helps to provide the viewer with a sense of scale and depth.  Take the example below, The rocks in the foreground are a size we can all relate to, roughly the size of a football or a bit smaller.  Our brain immediately knows that and as a consequence when our eye moves on to Lion rock in the back ground we immediately know it is a decent sized chunk of earth.
The rocks also act as a handy pathway into the image.  They almost form a 'v' that points towards Lion Rock and that also draws your eye towards the main even in the picture.

Click for larger view

In landscape situations it is also most likely that if you are going to include some form of foreground interest in your composition you will need to get low down.  Now this won't be in every case but in most of the pictures I have taken it has required me to get low and that can really help your end result as it will give the picture a different angel of view, one we are not used to seeing when we stand there and view the scene as we normally would.

Click for larger view

I guess what I am trying to get across is that looking for these elements or trying to include them in your pictures can really help transform a snap shot into something a bit more.  This last example below helps illustrate it as well.  

This is Karekare falls out on the west coast of Auckland.  It would be really simple to walk up to the waterfall, point the camera at it and fire off a couple of shots and then leave and I saw a few people do exactly that.  Now don't get me wrong some people will be more than happy with those photos and I don't begrudge them that for one moment; but by taking a little bit of time you can get something so much more.  

I noticed these rocks at the edge of the pool and figured I would see what they looked like if i included them in the foreground.  By setting up the tripod low down to the ground I was able to use the rocks like stepping stones to the waterfall in the background.  This waterfall is pretty tall but for me there was no need in this picture to try and get the entire span of it (with my kit lens I couldn't in any case but that is a matter for another day).  The water fall is still well represented and the picture has taken a new dimension by including the rocks.  I got a few odd looks while I was hunched over my tripod in ungainly fashion but those looks sure were worth it for the final result!

Click for larger view

So the next time you are out there and you want to try and get a picture that is a bit different to what everyone else is getting try looking for some foreground interest or getting a bit lower down than where we normally view a scene from, you might be surprised about the effect it has on your images.

Dawn musings

The alarm shrills at you, it is way too dark and way too early.  Quick you have to switch it off, can't wake anyone else, after all it was you who decided it would be a great idea to wake up this early.

Stumble off down the passage way to the kitchen, thank goodness you have packed your gear the night before it will save stumbling around in the dark looking for filters and cable releases.  While we are on the subject of thanking higher powers lets add the humble thermos to the list of thank you's - without this and its' scorching caffeinated contents you are pretty sure life would be unbearable at this hour.

Into the car and off down the road.  It should take about 25 minutes (give or take) to reach your spot.  You are feeling a lot more awake now, sipping on that coffee and enjoying how empty the roads are and the quiet drone of your thoughts..... "hope the sky is good, just the right balance of clouds and clear patches".

You arrive and park up, jump out and feel that clean cold morning air and the utter stillness of pre-dawn.  It is a short walk to the beach, you checked the tides last night and know you will have a shin-deep wade to get to the spot you want to be at.  The water is glorious, not too cold and not too warm, refreshingly right!  That is what is so good about these beaches along this part of the Manukau harbour, their long shallow stretches that are ripe with photographic opportunity.

You spot the tree lying out on the tidal zone you saw a couple of weeks back.  Mental pat on the back, this is exactly the situation you were hoping for, an incoming tide that will surround this fallen giant that has been battered and shaped by the elements.  Quick look up to the sky, yep it looks good..... if you being greedy you admit it could be a bit better but this is still what you are looking for.

The gear is all set up, a few experimental composition shots taken, you are now happy with what you have lined up time to just pause and enjoy, wait for the moment in time you are looking to distill into immortality.  Man it is quiet..... just so calm and peaceful, the world feels really clean right now.

You see the moment you are here for, frantic but controlled activity takes place.... you've got it, you know inside of you that you've got it.  You cannot really explain how you know but that feeling is there... that inner smile of satisfaction.

The alarm is gone and forgotten, the groggy hall way stumble a distant memory, you breath in deep and close your eyes "it is so good to be alive!!!!"  This is why you wake up this early, the pursuit of natural glory that is shared everyday first thing with the few who are there to witness it.

Mental note: Gotta do this more often...

Looking back at 2014 - Part 3

So this is my final look back to 2014.  In the last two posts I have looked at some wildlife and travel photography I did last year.  Those are two types of photography I really enjoy but they are restricted to a degree by budget and time off work availability - especially the African wildlife photography.

What I concentrate most of my time on over the course of the year is landscape photography.  This is probably the most accessible type of photography for people to start off with and I really wanted to make a conscious effort to improve my landscape photography over the course of 2014.  I spend a fair amount of time on websites like 500px and there is some absolutely superb and awe inspiring landscape photography on that website.  I wanted to start on the road of getting my pictures up to that standard so that they could stand alongside those great shots.

Now by no means do I think I am there yet but over the course of 2014 I truly felt that my pictures took a huge step forward.  They have matured in terms of their composition as well as the feeling of the photo.  I have also reacted better to landscape opportunities and I think this is down to putting more thought into a picture and the process that goes into making a good picture and recognizing the conditions that can contribute to a good picture.

These two pictures are a good example of what I am alluding to above.  Auckland can often be cloaked in early morning fog during the colder months so there is always an opportunity to shoot something with a bit of drama. 

Mount Eden glowing in the early morning (click for larger view)

In this instance I headed up Mt Eden before work, the entire summit was shrouded in fog and I knew I was looking for a situation when the sun would start to break the fog up and the that provided the opportunity to get these fingers of light reaching past the tree.

Auckland domain 

This is another from early morning before work.  It is hard to believe this is in the middle of town but once again waling up on a foggy morning and taking the camera to work paid off.  The bird entering top right is a huge bonus as well and totally unplanned!

What both these pictures taught me this year is keeping your mind open to opportunities and recognizing that landscape photographs can be made in a wide variety of places.  The other thing (which I need to make more of a habit of) is to carry your camera with you whenever you are out, you never know when a picture comes knocking!


Planning has also been a major factor in helping take my landscape photography a step forward.  Keeping an eye on the weather and what the clouds are doing has taught me to understand when favorable conditions are brewing and when that sky could be gearing up to put on that light show landscape photographers crave!  These two are from a memorable evening out at Karekare.  As I headed onto the beach with my gear I passed a photographer coming the other way and he said to me, "Good luck there is nothing happening out there" and off he trudged cutting a pretty disgruntled figure.  An hour or so later this is what happened and I have always wondered if that guy kicked himself for the rest of the evening.  I was the only person on the beach when I took these photographs and I remember how exhilarating the feeling was knowing I had seen the potential the sky had shown early in the evening and that I had followed my gut to get out there and give myself a chance.

Karekare

Adding depth to a two dimensional medium can also be a bit of a challenge but goes a long way to improving a landscape picture.  When I look at pictures of landscape photographers I admire there is usually and element of depth to their pictures so this is something I have tried to work hard on over the last year.

Karekare waterfall

Lion Rock, Piha

Piha - low tide

2014 allowed me to explore and learn more about landscape photography.  I think that over the course of the year i have been able to really move my skills forward in the craft and hopefully that has translated to some enjoyable viewing for you all.  

As 2015 continues I am going to make sure that I keep heading out to the beach and other areas of New Zealand (or where ever I may be) and work on my abilities in this genre of photography.  It is really rewarding and there is nothing better than putting in the effort of getting up before the sun or staying out and missing cocktail hour when the result is an image you are really proud of.  I think that is what draws me back to this type of photography.

Thanks for stopping by!