The best start to my day...

I've just returned from a few hours with some of my photographer buddies walking around Wentworth Falls near the start/end of Darwin's walk.

Early morning mist over the valley, through the trees, birds buzzing overhead and hardly a soul in sight as we wandered around with cameras and tripods.  The light drizzle and the clouds overhead made for perfect conditions.

I've always been a bit negative about carrying a tripod on a bushwalk but if you really want lovely photos, particularly when the light is not so bright, you need one.   So today I was good.  I took my tripod and more than that ... I actually used it.  I've just been through the images as they downloaded and everywhere I came across a new photographic opportunity, it's easy to see that the first couple of shots were hand held and frankly, I've had to ditch the lot.  It's only when I've then put the backpack down, unfolded the tripod, found the best angle ...... that my images are any good.  One would think that after all this time I might learn?? but it's always the same - a few hand held grab shots before I am convinced that the tripod is there for a reason!!

If you haven't been out in the bush recently, it's really worth making the effort.  There is good water in the waterfalls in mountains at the moment, the cool of autumn has arrived (away from the middle of the day) and the colours in the streets as you drive around reminds you that it's the best time of year to be out and about.

A few of my images from today.  As I am shooting this week I've been trying to do the set task from Lens School, so there are very few of my blurry numbers - in fact I don't think I had any.  Our challenge has been to develop our own set of rules that we live by in photography and work our way through breaking each one to see if it does anything for our vision and technique.  So, for me, I was working on macro, BUT on a tripod AND in focus.  I also had a few chances to play with my new ND 0.8 at the waterfalls and I just couldn't resist a bit of abstract beauty among the grasses.


Enjoy!

This fern frond (above) was just emerging.  It was glorious, and hidden away with drops from the last rain still present.  I am a bit torn between wanting the full frond in focus and wanting a more muted background.  However, I love it's beauty!

Another angle of the same frond.  This time, with F2.8.

Lots of mushrooms  but when you get down in the grass to see what you can do, it's magic to just capture them as they would be seen by the insects at ground level.  I never tire of the beauty shot from ground level.  So, here (above) is the mushroom glimpsed through the grasses.  The colours seen at this angle are like the old story books.

Was fascinated at what these little people looked like when seen thru a lens.  Really love the out of focus bits as well as the action from the creatures on the LHS.

I make my best decisions ..... part 1

I'm up to my ears in tradies (well, just 3 actually) boxes, new storage and a check list for the garage sale next weekend.  The only sanctuary is my study and it's pretty choc a block (spelling??) with camera gear.  I think someone should make an online calculator that estimates the amount of space each gig of camera gear uses in the home!!!  If they did no one would start to buy it.

The plan is ..... finish the kitchen and back study (Frida's old room - more of that later) and then see what else needs a home before we get to the garage sale next weekend.  That will leave my study and photo work area (that happens to be the one in full view of every guest??) till Easter hols.

So why is this of interest??  First there's Frida.  Frida is our very dear Swedish exchange student who lived with us for 10 months in the late the 90s and she and her new husband Micke are about to become new parents.  The back study is Frida's old room and in an act of sympathy I allowed her to paint the room any colour she liked - it was an instant cure for home sickness!  So, we now have a spare bedroom with a wall bed, office benches and deep purple and bright green and yellow walls and each time I think about repainting, it's a bit like throwing out old memories.  I've just had an email from Frida with a "belly update" and I'm a bit nostalgic.

So, I thought today I would try to find some photos of our lovely Frida and post them here.

What's that got to do with decisions???  Not much really other than in the early hours of this morning when I couldn't sleep I made a couple of decisions.  First, given that I've now converted all my Turkey 2010 images from raw to dng, it has made it awkward to link them quickly in Lightroom.  Added to that is the fact that some of my Turkey images seem to be missing from the Lightroom catalogue.  So this weekend I am going to build a brand new Turkey catalogue in Lightroom using only the dng images.

I will write more in the next few days outlining an overview of my workflow and why I've started to convert all my raw images to dng.  It'll probably be the most interest to those of you who suffer from poor sleep habits - a couple of minutes reading it will certainly do more than all the valerian tea in the world!!


But, back to my original thought, the development of a new Turkey catalogue.

It will serve 2 purposes.
1.  It will mean I get to have another very good look at all the images, free from my original edits and I will start a new keyboarding to identify those that I will be considering for my book.
2.  Although it is a bit of time, it will be faster than trying to connect each dng image to the Lightroom file.
3.  I will still have a copy of all the images I have previously edited to use if I prefer them.

Why am I telling you this??? A few reasons but mostly it's about security for your digital files.

• When I travel I always make sure I have 3 copies of images for as long as possible.  I travel with a tiny notebook with Lightroom 3 installed and I have 2x500g plug and play external hard drives.  
• I shoot methodically thru the whole collection of CF cards (all numbered) At the end of each day's shooting I download (and keyword in Lightroom) all images to 1 x ext drive and copy as a back up to the 2nd.  This might take a couple of hours but it's pretty much set and go so I can leave it while I have dinner or overnight.
• I own about 8-9 CF cards ranging in size from 2G-16G (the 1G have gone and the 2G are about to go as well, leaving me with 4, 8 and 16 only).  I try to start shooting on the 1st card and work my way thru.  In some cases, I am home again before I have used all cards, therefore giving me 3 copies as security.  At worst, I reuse them and I have 2 copies to bring home.  One copy is always in my backpack along with my wallet.
• Back home I then transfer the files to my home computer and move the backup set to a separate external hard drive.  I don't delete any of the files from the small drives I took on the trip until I absolutely need to and that means I can always use them in an emergency.

More of my decisions or indecisions later, but for now, some photos of my lovely Frida taken in Umbria in October 2010 when we spent a week with our extended Swedish family in a cottage in the hills outside the tiny but beautiful village of Montecchio.  One of the loveliest holidays we have had.

The image (above) is taken @ Lake Bolsena quite near Orvieto, Italy.  It was early Autumn and beautiful clear crisp days that encouraged us to drive, walk, eat, drink and just absorb all that Umbria in Autumn could offer.  In this image Frida is standing and Agneta, Ron and Bo (L to R) are sitting.

This image (above) of Frida and her mother Agneta is one of my favourites - in fact I intend to print and frame it.  I love the silhouettes and the rich dark colours including Agneta's red scarf, balanced against the bright light behind.  I love the wind swept hair and their elegance, although the may disagree!

This little number (above) is Frida and Ron as is the one below.  Just sitting and taking it easy in Spoleto if my memory and notes are correct.  We were intent on hunting down some ancient arena and having fun with the map while these 2 just lazed about!!

Here (next 2 below) are Frida and Micke looking very very happy and showing off their trim backsides! Both taken in another Umbrian village.

Today's inspiration

Back from a few days away, last night's photography class in my mind, a couple of projects on the backburner demanding attention, Autumn moments just around the corner ..... what do I/should I/can I focus on???

Part of my dilemma in photography is the distraction of photography.  To take my photography to the next level demands time and diligence.  Time to read, look, research, listen, compose, edit ... and sometimes in all of this the discipline needed to actually complete one thing gets lost.  Seriously, where do I put my energy? Do I follow up with some extra P/Shop practice that's desperately needed if I'm to complete the next project or should I be heading out with my camera in the late afternoon (I've missed the morning!)

So, because the days are getting away from me, I have just gone looking for some advice.  John Paul Caponigro has a fabulous site.  I'd often been there for information and inspiration and last year Len Metcalf, confirmed for me the value of this man.

Look what I have just found!  Blog entry March 7, 2011 "Keep Current projects Visible".

http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/blog/?p=5245

I'm off now to print a couple of images to display and remind me where I'm going and what I've set out to achieve in a reasonably short timeframe.

Enjoy!

PS  And because it's my blog and I love to see my photos on screen, I must add a couple ....

Mum has an old fenced area up in the corner that used to be a chook pen.  The palings are nicely spaced and have a lovely patina with the odd bit of vine twirling around.  I've been trying for a few years to get a handle on how to photograph it and this last week, I had a go at a creative capture and I like the result! Does anyone else? or is it just about my emotional connection???

The coke and bottled water were on our table in Santorini last October.

When we were in Rome in October, we wandered over to Trastevere and I took many photos of marvellous colour and texture.  At some point I had a thing for house numbers - just loved the old marble.  This one has a bit of an angle, but it still appeals.

A few days in the Hastings

Just back from a visit to mum's in Wauchope.  Had a few opportunities to get out with my camera - to visit spots that I knew well and also to check out for future shooting opportunities when next I return.



Attaching here a few of my favourites.

Beach grasses (above) late afternoon Nth Haven

Lake Cathie (above)

Nth Haven (above) late afternoon with rich overcast sky using ND filter.

Mop head (above) caught in the late afternoon light leaning against the fibro wall.  Beauty in the least expected places!

Old corrugated iron (above) being used as a shelter for firewood given a beauty treatment!!

A weekend of photography OR a trip to a cemetery??

Had a great opportunity last weekend to attend Camerally over @ Yarramundi.  Great speakers, good company and lots to learn and talk about.

Listened to Ron Willems http://www.ronwillemsphoto.com/ and loved his images.  If you haven't had a chance to see what he does I'd recommend a visit to his site.  Great composition and images that convey wonderful ambience and emotion.

Brent Pearson http://brentbat.wordpress.com/ achieved the impossible by giving a succinct and very clear lecture on the use of flash and then topped that by managing 200+ photographers out in the hot sun with a couple of models.  We got to see him set up 2 separate lighting situations (both outdoors) and although we had to line up and have a quick turn at shooting, it worked so well.  Highly recommend him if ever you get a chance to listen to him speak or attend a workshop.

Sue Robertson was her usual brilliant self and shared some great images and talked us through her sort of creative photography.  Sue's work can be found here if you don't already know it.  http://www.pbase.com/srobertson

My photography hit for the weekend was a visit to Richmond cemetery with my friend Robyn, late Friday afternoon before Camerally got underway.  I'll include a few shots here.

Never quite sure how you photograph cemeteries.  This cemetery is quite beautiful and very old - St Peters Anglican Church is opposite.

This one (above) was a bit of camera movement trying to capture some of the age and style of the iron fences that surround some of the graves.

This image was taken quite late as the heavy storm was approaching.  We had a few goes to try to catch the lightening but thought we should get out before it caught us.  If you know my work you know that I  love the odd weed and grasses that decorate the edges.

This darker image was taken late in the day and I tried to capture the very ordinary yet very beautiful scene in the corner of one of the larger graves.  The artificial flowers on some form of pebblecrete (I think??)

A couple of gravesides had these quite beautiful shaped headstones with a sort of urn shape on top.  In this particular image I noticed the snippets of iron fences from neighbouring graves peeking over the top.

Just a simple view between two headstones.

These flowers were bright yellow and wonderful to photograph.  I like the mono one here as it allowed me to show the strands of vine? and a hint of the typeface on the headstone.

I think this post was probably more about the cemetery than Camerally???

Wenty Falls Field Trip

Had a great day on Wednesday with other photographers and Len Metcalf from Lens School.  http://lensschool.com.au/

The day was spent wandering along the Charles Darwin Walk, cameras in hand, tripods at the ready and an overcast sky for the the first half of the walk which made the light so easy.

Every time I get a chance to shoot with other photographers I learn so much.  Just watching the way others work, hold, look, see, talk makes me think.

On this walk I had my 5Dmark11, a Sigma 105macro (often my favourite lens) my 17-40L, a tripod AND for the very first time I took some ND filters!!  And what opportunities I had to play with them.
Not having a great history with filters (see earlier post about my penchant for cross threads) I put them in their new carry bag and each time I took one out I tried to show a little respect!  It worked!!  So, BINGO! my horror stories are a thing of the past (fingers crossed.)

The walk is quite leisurely and there are a number of entry points if you wanted to shorten it.  The walk out at the end was more strenuous but beautiful views over the valley.  

I'll attach here a couple of images I took on the day.  Quite a few opportunities to practise moving water, some lovely white gums, beautiful ferns, beautiful grasses and native plants.

This photo (above) was taken around the middle of the day using a tripod, 17-40L, ISO 100, F22, 30s + ND400.

I love abstract images and images that are dark/moody and mono as well.  Not always confident with my skills in mono and therefore am trying to learn more about the medium.  Hopefully when I get better skills in P/S I can play a bit more with some of the tones??  Not sure.

This image was a blurred image achieved with camera movement, I was shooting with my sigma 105mm macro @ ISO 250, f2.8 1/400sec.

I was trying to compose with some of the light spots you can see in the image and I was attracted to the mesh type effect I could see thru the ferns/grasses.

This image (above) was another one using camera movement.  I love dreaming abstract images of trees and I keep practising in the hope that one day I can make a hero image of my own!  This was again with the sigma 105 macro, f45, ISO 100 and 0.8secs.

Another shot where I was trying to get an abstract impression that also showed some of the ferns surrounding the tree.  It took a few shots before I could get something that began to look like I imagined. What do you think??  Settings: 17-40L lens @ 40mm, ISO100, f5.6, 2.5secs.  Camera movement and converted to Creamtone in Lightroom 3.

Productive Weekend 2

Also fitted in a 21st and although I was dressed a bit like Terri Erwin(??) I was the photographer.  If nothing else, my confidence in pulling out my camera to shoot "record shots" at gatherings of family and friends, is increasing.  I attached the flash - and that brings it's use up to the grand total of 3 times in 12 months, all being in the last 6 weeks!!  I actually eventually got sick of the flash - it's cumbersome and it limits you in many ways so after I'd done my 1st round of guests I ditched it in preference to adjusting my ISO.

At this gathering, as well as Ross' exhibition, the lighting was a challenge - not the ambient light but the spots, fluorescents, reflections of lights in glass!!!  Urgghhh!!!  It drove me crazy BUT the good thing is I began to try to compose with the lights and in a few shots I used the lights as part of the composition and in others I worked around it ... and in different "others" I stuffed it up!!

At some point in the night after I had done the birthday cake and speeches I found my "sweet spot" and drifted off into this other world.  Anyone reading this who knows my passion for blur and ordinary things will recognise this moment.  The small decorations hanging around looked brilliant with the muted colours in the background if I opened the lens right up.  I had fun!!

Have attached a couple of images.  This is a photographic blog after all.

This one is NOT the birthday boy!  It's my son Jesse and I happen to like the shot.

Now, this is the birthday boy, Tom.  Tom has just graduated from a film and TV degree and has started work in the industry, thus the decorations that appear in the 3rd image.

A productive weekend

Missed Mardi Gras but was able to take in Ross Roorda's exhibition at Lawson on Saturday afternoon instead.  It was fabulous and highly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance.  Ben Roberts Gallery (behind the Lawson pub).  He has about 2 dozen portraits, including  self portrait.  I'm in awe of his skills!!  This exhibition focuses on "the gaze" and the next aspect of his work will feature animals.  Can't wait to see it.
The Lawson locals who feature as portraits were chuffed and stood proudly in front of their images.
I will upload 2 images I took on the day and have a link to a picasaweb site where I put everything up for Ross to see.  (NB  The picasaweb site has not been culled except to exclude dud shots.  It's the way I am sharing with Ross.)

https://picasaweb.google.com/shirley.steel/RossExhibition#

Spoilt for choice OR I can't do everything?

Saturday morning - cool and dull outside so looks optimistic for photography.  Have just collected my partner form hospital so it seems as if I can't head into Mardi Gras preparation this afternoon.  Have had some fantastic photo ops at that time of the parade in previous years.  Thanks to my friend and photographer Greg Dickens,  http://www.photosydney.com.au/  for showing me the best time to capture Mardi Gras.  In case you are in doubt - head over with your camera to Hyde Park area and surrounds any time after 2.00pm and just go with the flow.  I usually head home just before the parade gets underway.  If you miss this year, mark it in your diary for 2012.

Ross Roorda has the opening of his exhibition "Felons and Fighters - The Lawson Project" this afternoon at Ben Roberts Cafe and Gallery in Lawson.  I will attach a copy with details.  Ross is an amazing portrait artist and this exhibition concentrates on his fascination with the "gaze"and his subjects are locals from Lawson.  The exhibition is open until 24th March and works are not for sale.

Ross studied @ COFA and eventually went into teaching and over the years his path led him to be principal at a behaviour school.  Not only is he an artist of note, he is also an amazing teacher and mentor to troubled youth in Western Sydney.  If you get a chance, it is worth your while to call by the gallery and check out Ross' work.

So, for me today, I can't do both so will head up the mountains in the early afternoon to join Ross at his opening - I am going to take my camera and my challenge will be to use it at the opening and to get over the fact that I will feel like a dork pulling it out!  However, what I have learnt is that once it is out and I have it up to my eye, no one cares but someone will treasure the images that I make.

Happy shooting!

My favourite Photographer - An interview with Ursula I Abresch

http://www.photoweeklyonline.com/an-interview-with-ursula-abresch/

My new love affair with filters

Until quite recently I'd never really used filters in my photography. I'd had UV filters and a couple of circular polarisers and realised that I was quite skilled at cross threading (as opposed to cross dressing!) I'd managed in a very short time to cross thread an expensive UV, a costly circular polariser and that was just the start. I'd also managed to drop my new 5D on it's head and jam the UV on the lens! The latter was saved eventually by Len Metcalf's skill with some sort of new toy.

My wonderful trip to Turkey in 2010 with Peter Eastway and other photographers convinced me that I really wanted to get my head around filters and their possibilities.

I picked up a couple on the way home. A 10 stop ND which is marvellous in sunlight and a 0.8ND.

Today my order from d-dphotographics arrived with a bundle of new NDs and a couple of other toys. Great price, fantastic free delivery within 24hrs!.

Not that I ever need an excuse to use my camera, but I'm ready to head out and experiment over the next couple of days so that I am confident about lens choice and filters for Lens School road trip next wednesday to Wenty Falls.

Welcome

Having been a passionate photographer for many years, I have recently been fortunate enough to spend even more time learning, understanding, seeing, meeting, clicking .... This blog is the next step and hopefully will allow me to look back in 12 months time and see what I have done, how I have grown and where I might go next. Thanks to those who choose to follow my journey.