Serene

To many people, silence is the solution to a lot of problems in their lives. There is something quite serene to being alone in certain places. I'll admit that I prefer not to be alone in most situations, but there are a select few moments/places where the silence is golden. After all, silence is the real conversation between friends, not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts.

In situations like this, there is nothing like being alone. This is the foyer of The Venetian, often crowded with gamblers and tourists, it's rare to be able to get a photo with absolutely nobody around. For a split second, it is as if you own the place, and you're not sharing it with anybody else.

Leonardo Da Vinci once said "If you are alone you belong entirely to yourself. If you are accompanied by even one companion you belong only half to yourself, or even less, in proportion to the thouglessness of his conduct; and if you have more than one companion, you will all more deeply into the same plight.

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Light Show

Perhaps the hardest type of landscape to capture is cityscape at night time. The lights from buildings are contrasted against the dark shadows and a lot of the time it doesn't turn out the way you want it.

The easiest way to capture a night landscape is to use a long exposure on a tripod. This was a 5 photo HDR merged with Photomatix Pro 3 and processed in Photoshop CS3. It's a slightly different representation of HK harbour, with much more contrast and mood than what you normally see. Personally I quite like the big white halo of light suspended above the main tower, I actually have no idea what it is (but it's in most of these photos).

In any major city there will be photo opportunities like this, but here's my list of what I think are the best for night landscape:

- Las Vegas (Casinoes, bright lights, interesting personalities ... what more do you want?)

- Macau (like a mini Vegas, great if you're not 21 or can't afford Vegas)

- Paris (Art, fashion, culture)

- Beijing (those Olympic buildings look great at night)

- Alaska (aurora borealis ... enough said)

So ... if you live in or near these places, what are you waiting for? If I were you I'd be out night after night trying to improve on my shots. After all, Sydney only gives you a certain amount of options before you get sick of it.

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Why not

Every so often, we feel an urge to do this ...

Yes, you do

Maybe you don't go through the thought process of "I don't feel like waiting for the traffic on my side to clear so I'm going to take my bright red scooter through absolute chaos and see if I make it"

But surely there have been times where you just go "I'm going do something completely out of the ordinary just because I feel like it". Every once in a while, something like this will happen even if it makes no sense whatsoever.

Have a look around you, you'll see examples of this all over the place.

Maybe I'll even be there to photograph it ...

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Another game, another milestone

On monday July 20th 2009 Nathan Hindmarsh played in his 250th career game.

Over his years as a Parramatta Eel, Hindmarsh has been the face of consistency. Every single week, no matter how bad the Eels are playing, you can count on him to have a stat line of 45 tackles and 15 hit ups ... easy. If an opposing player was on the fly to score a try, he'll be there. If an opponent is trying to barge over the defensive line and score from close range, he'll be the one lying underneath the ball to hold it up. There was nothing spectacular about the game he had against Melbourne, but guess what, he had 48 tackles and 13 hitups while inspiring his team to a hard fought victory. If every player on the team played with the same commitment that Hindmarsh does, Parra would be a much better team.

Did I also mention all 250 games were with the Eels? In this day and age where club loyalty isn't a big thing, that kind of milestone is just unheard of. I'll throw in some examples:

- Craig Wing signing with Japanese RL (wtf?)

- When Willie Mason, Mark O'Meley went to the roosters (cmon now .. )

- Tahu to union

- Brett Finch (enough said)

I'll just say that not too many of these deals went down too well in public opinion, except maybe for Tahu, only because he's such a cool guy.

Let's not forget Hindmarsh is only 30 years old, there's plenty more mileage left in those legs and I have no doubt that he will make it to 300 games AND end his career with the Eels. When it's all said and done, Hindy will go down as one of the greatest forwards, second rowers, Eel to ever play the game.

Yes, he still hold the record for most tackles in a single game: 75 tackles vs ... Melbourne Storm in 2007. What kind of monster finds the strength to make 75 tackles? He has got to be the most underrated player in the league right now, he's so good that people take him for granted. The last 2 years he's been snubbed from Origin for players like Laffranchi and Learoyd Lahrs (how many people even know him?), yet he continues to play like a man inspired night in night out.

Good on ya Hindy, the way you play the game is a testament to rugby league.

And another thing ... he blogs too

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Parra Eels vs Melbourne Storm (18-16)

In what was advertised as Parra legend Nathan Hindmarsh's 250th game for the Eels, this game quickly turned into a showdown between 2 of the best full backs in the league. Whenever one would pull off something brilliant, the other would answer back with a show of his own.

Jarryd Hayne continued his brilliant form sparked mid-season by State of Origin, and proved a handful for the Melbourne defense whenever he got the ball. On offense he continuously got involved in set plays and made half breaks to keep the Storm on their toes. On defense he ran down Billy Slater multiple times (which isn't easy) and saved a number of tries with his excellent positioning.

As always, Billy Slater looks dangerous every time he touches the ball and if it wasn't for some hard nosed Parra defense the score line would read a Melbourne victory. Slater played an important role, along with Greg Inglis (origin center) and Cooper Cronk to lead a late rush after being down by 10-0 at the half.

Don't worry I haven't forgotten that this was supposed to be Hindmarsh's game, I'll elaborate more on that in tomorrows post with some more photos from the game.

Both photos were taken with the EOS 50D and EF 70-200 f2.8L IS USM.

Settings: ISO 1600, 1/320, f/2.8

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New plug-in ... Color Efex

On a night where you're bored, there's really nothing to do but shoot.



The steps I used included:
- HDR merge 5 exposures using Photomatix Pro 3

- B&W conversion using Color Efex Pro 3 plug-in for Photoshop CS3

- Minor sharpening to finish it off

This is the first time I've used the Color Efex Pro plug-in, and its conversion of colour to B&W is way better than everything else I've used. Some people will simply desaturate a photo to make a greyscale image, more experienced users will use the built in channel mixer in Photoshop CS3 ... and they both work fine.

But why settle for the ordinary? In one step, I can now produce the same result as I used to when I needed to use 3 or 4 steps in photoshop.

So definitely check it out guys, Color Efex Pro

Oh by the way, this photo was done pretty late at night at ANZ stadium (in case you couldn't notice the big sign) ... and the rangers don't exactly like it. So if you want to get in there and do some shots, get what you need asap ... and if they show up, atleast you already have what you want. They'll just rave on about how the car is parked illegally and you're not supposed to be taking photos etc, ignore them and move along :)

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Small Planet

On August 24 2006, Pluto was officially demoted as a planet. Pluto is now known as a "dwarf planet", which is in itself an oxymoron (planets aren't exactly dwarfs). So I've decided to make my own planet, still just experimenting so hopefully I'll have some better ones up in the near future.

It's quite simple to do as long as you have the correct images to start with. I took a 360 degree panorama at Homebush Bay (bird sanctuary), merged the lot on photoshop, then used the polar co-ordinates filter. After that all you have to do is clean it up a little bit with the clone stamp and healing brush and you're done! More in depth tutorial can be found here.

You might also notice my font is different, many users will know that the basic windows fonts don't provide too many cool fonts to work with. Theres a website (click here) where you can download fonts, then simply drag them into your fonts folder in control panel to install them. The one I used this time is called Waltograph (actually looks pretty similar to what the name suggests).

Like I said I'll be workin on more stereographic projections, but in the meantime you can have a browse at this flickr pool dedicated to these images.

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Cokin neutral density filters ... not so neutral?

There is a saying that every photographer lives by. No matter what they major in, whether it be sports, landscape, wildlife or even paparazzi ... they all say "if I can get one good photo out of this shoot, I'm happy". After all, it only takes one great photo to make people say wow.

Today's shoot was pretty much based on one subject, and I worked mainly on one angle. Not something I normally do, I normally like to explore my options when I arrive on site ... but today I went there with one photo in mind and I wasn't going to go home without it.

This photo is actually not as photoshopped as it may seem. It is a 5 photo HDR (all photos approx 30secs in shutter speed). After merging the 5 photos, it was simply minor colour and levels adjustments to different parts of the photo.

One thing I should say though, that blue/purplish tinge in the sky and water are straight out of the camera. When I do landscape photos, I almost always use a Cokin graduated ND8 filter. Whenever I use this filter along with a long exposure, this colour cast always crops up. Some photographers hate this cast, but I quite like it, especially during the twilight hours.

p.s. This shipwreck is at Homebush Bay, Sydney. Yep, bet you didn't know that did you?

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Abarth, it's poetry in motion

There's a lot to say so I'll get right into it. Here's a car that I wouldn't mind having ... Ran into it on my way home from work, it's not exactly a mean looking car ... but you don't see a whole lot of these in Sydney. In my street you see a lot of Range Rovers, R8, Cayenne S, 300C, and the occasional AMG or Gallardo (owned by rich real estate agents).

But this car ... you definitely don't see too many of these. Yep, it's the Abarth powered Fiat 500. If you're thinking "are you serious dude?" or "what the f@$*?". Well I like cars that are unique. There aren't even that many Brabus Mercs around here, so seeing an Abarth Fiat 500 was quite a sight. If you don't know what the fuss is about ... go right ahead and google it.

I know all my readers are lazy, so I did the googling for you. Read car reviews here and here, and believe me ... the Abarth treatment is definitely worth the extra money.

By the way, even Michael Schumacher drives a Fiat Croma as a family car. I'm not lying, just watch Topgear season 13 episode 1.

Last wednesday I posted a pre-hands-on preview on the Olympus Pen E-P1 (you can read it here). The Olympus sales rep for our store came in today to let us play around with the camera and see our input. The first thing you notice when you hold the camera is the exceptional build quality. The all metal body, with a shiny silver finish across the middle (undoubtedly inspired by the old Pens) puts it in a class of its own.

The next thing you notice will be the kit lens 14-42mm that retracts in a locked position (much like the LX-3) when not in use. Both zoom rings and manual focus ring are nicely dampened, reassuring the user that the Pen is more than a compact camera. All the camera functions are easily accessible, changing the shutter speed, aperture, ISO quickly became 2nd nature. Manual focus was VERY easy, I found manual focusing on the E-P1 easier to do than in DSLRs (I'm not kidding).

So you've heard me talk up the build, ease of use and how nice this next generation Pen is .... but what about image quality? I'm going to go out on a limb and say ... its GREAT, AWESOME, SURPRISINGLY GOOD.

This photo was taken with the Olympus Zuiko 17mm f2.8, wide open, manual focus and at 800 ISO. Yes, 800. You can't judge it very well from this image, so hopefully I'll put up some 100% crops soon. Take my word for it, it's sharp, colour rendition is nice, and keep in mind this is STILL not an SLR. Long story short, I love this camera.

So now that you're more informed about the world (or just my world) ... until next time :)

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Moment of madness

By the time you read this I may have already had a heart attack, possibly in the hospital recovering from a quadruple bypass (if that's even possible). No I'm not suicidal, but as I am writing this I'm trying to get into the website which reveals my uni results. After what seems like a million attempts of refreshing the page and retyping my password, I still haven't gotten in. There is a ridiculous amount of nervous energy and adrenaline flying through my limbs as I sit idly in this cold, wooden chair.

I think I'm in ... hold on

No ... wait the page didn't load properly

This must be what gameshow contestants and reality TV stars suffer through as they announce the correct answer (or the winner). Fuck, this is annoying.

Here we go, I'm in for real this time

FUCK YES!

Ladies and gentlemen, I stand undefeated.

If I was a boxer, this would have gone down to the wire, and it would have been a points decision. If this was basketball, it would have been like that 6OT game from the 09 NCAA Tourney.

The rush of relief when the letters P and C came up next to the subjects was comparable to hitting a game winning shot, or coaching a winning team.

Nerve wracking would have been an understatement.

Oh, and that photo above? That is the most correct representation of my mind through this state of affairs. No, not blurred (or bokeh), more like an organised mess. Please excuse the short, choppy sentences and the butchered english language. In this case, it seemed fitting :)

p.s. photo was shot at f/2, manual focus (deliberately out of focus) with the Panasonic LX-3

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Name this bug

Camera: Panasonic Lumix LX-3

Settings: ISO 80, 1/50 sec, f/2, manual focus at minimum focussing distance

Since I have a Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro for my SLR, I rarely use the macro function on my compact. This photo here ... I was walking home and saw this little furry bug glued to the glass window outside my door. Me being me, I took a photo (couldn't be bothered to run upstairs to get the SLR).

I switched the camera to manual focus, set it to minimum focussing distance (0.01m), and moved in and out until I got a sharp picture. It took a couple of goes to get a decent photo, and this is definitely harder to do with a compact compared to an SLR. After some basic processing in Lightroom and CS3, I flipped it to B&W to see what it would be like. Interestingly enough, the monochrome made the insect look even more alien the original photo in colour. I still have absolutely no idea what this thing is ... but if a moth had sex with a sea monkey (somehow), this is without a doubt what it would look like.

Being a macro post, I can't end this without mentioning the best (and affordable*) macro kits commercially available (SLR & Compact).

- Nikon D300 + Nikkor AF-S 105mm f2.8 micro ... totals to roughly $4k

- Canon 5D MkII + EF 100mm f2.8 macro ... roughly $4.6k

Compacts are harder to judge, as they tend to give different magnification ratios. From playing around with different types of cameras at work, the compacts that impressed me with their macro include:

- Canon Powershot G10

- Canon Powershot SX10/SX1 IS

- Lumix LX-3

- Ricoh R8

You might notice there aren't any Nikons in the compact list, and it's because I havn't been impressed with a Nikon Coolpix since 2001 (seriously). The P90 arrived in store today, and since it was one of the most hyped up Nikon compacts (EVERYONE asks about them), I decided to crank it out and do a quick hands-on analysis.

I was NOT impressed at all, and I DON'T understand what all the hype is about. First of all, it's an ugly camera, I thought the lens looked flashy but everything else screams 1980 (in a bad way). The rear LCD screen had terrible resolution, compared to some of the newer canon screens anyway (G10). I'm sure the camera had image stabiliser, but it might as well have been non-existant. Colours were a bit cold, but that's ok cos some people like that. Images were not particularly sharp ... and it performed averagely at ISO 800. It's not the most terrible camera, but it's not for me, and definitely not for that price (~$779)

As usual, I went off track near the end of the post but you guys should be used to it by now. I make this up as I go and I'll put down whatever pops into the front of the queue. My mind is a cluttered mess, and not even I know how to sort it out.

p.s. Have a click on the links on this post, the reviews give some good insight into the type of image quality that I'm so picky about.

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Photomatix Pro 3 (finally got rid of 2.5)

I finally decided to update my HDR software. The one I've been using since I discovered HDR was Photomatix Pro 2.5, I now use Photomatix Pro 3.13 (or something like that). The differences are subtle, a slightly modified UI (User Interface), and the menus are in language that the layman can understand (more or less).

To understand why computer generated HDR images are necessary, we have to get a little more technical. To start with, a camera with a higher dynamic range allows you to capture more detail in the highlights and shadows of scenes. When you look back at your images, you may notice blown out highlights (that stay white no matter what you do), and dark shadows (that stay black no matter what you do). A camera with a higher dynamic range will actually give you some detail in those parts.

This is getting more and more important as a lot more people (from a wider market base) are buying DSLRs. Traditional film has a dynamic range of approx 15 stops, the dynamic range for my EOS 50D is approx 8.5 stops. To get around this massive shortage of dynamic range, us digital users can do 2 things:

1) Live with it (and you actually can ... most of the time)

2) Take a few photos. Underexposed, correct exposure, overexposed (doesn't need to be in that order)

Once you have taken those photos, a program like photomatix can be used to blend all of them. After minor adjustments, we end up with a photo like the one above. There is detail in every single part of the photo (where there is supposed to be). At 100% view on the original edited photo, the detail is astonishing.

Apart from getting an incredible amount of detail, you can get quite a nice effect on the photos as well. Give it a try.

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Insignificant

"Ideas are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny"

Carl Shurz (1829-1906)

When looking up at the stars, we are in effect looking into the past. We see history unfold right before our eyes, we never see what they really are, just past representations of each of them. Their light takes so long to reach us that all we ever see of stars are their old photographs.

This image took 30secs for my camera to capture, at the end of those 30secs, and the next 2secs for me to press the replay button ... it is most likely that I took a photo of them from 8years ago.

Hypothetically, if I stood out on my balcony right now and an alien from another galaxy was to take a photo of me (right now), by the time his/her/its "camera" finishes capturing the image ... back here on earth years could have passed. Yet this would be happening in real time and parallel to each other. In effect I am coexisting at different stages in my life perceived from different locations throughout the universe.

Which brings me to this conclusion.

- If you stand in front of me, I will appear as I am (19yrs old)

- If you look at me through a telescope (a massive one) from mars, I would appear younger (lets say 16years old)

- If you look at me from pluto (through an even better telescope), I would appear to be 8.

- From the next closest star (proxima centauri), to you I would not have been born.

Some food for thought

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Who killed Black & White?

From the days of the Daguerreotype, calotype and even the tintype, a majority of the history of photography was captured in monochrome. The images were a black and white rendering of real life scenes and situations. Even when colour photography first came around, it made more sense to capture in black & white. Colour processing was very expensive, and the images were poor.

The quick expansion and improvements in colour photography made black and white processing a chore to find and develop. Less and less stores carry B&W film, less labs process in B&W, and colour was a breath of fresh air to a tired and worn out hobby.

Good news is ... black and white is back!

In a world where everything is saturated in colour and dominated by pixels, B&W gives off the illusion of "real", and to many ... it seems fresh (we love the retro stuff). The driving force behind this movement is that shooting in B&W allows the photographer to learn more about how highlights, shadows, lines, patterns, exposure all affect the final product. A lot of times, colour assists in hiding the imperfections of the final product e.g. a saturated photo can make a low contrast photo look acceptable. As a result, many photography students learn the basics of photography with B&W Ilford film and darkroom processing.

The image above was taken with my EOS 50D, but I decided I needed a different outlook to a tired and overblogged landscape. Initially it was a 5 photo HDR, but the post crop and monochrome afterwards made the difference.

NB: Need some new locations to shoot, let me know if you have any suggestions

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Why we love panos

Panorama photos have always held a spell over me. When I first saw them, I couldn't see what the big deal is. If anything I thought panos were stupid, they're long, odd shaped, hard to frame, and have no standard in sizing.

Soon after the purchase of my first SLR, the EOS 400D, I realised the limitations of taking a single photo to capture a landscape. When working with lines such as the horizon and the contours of mountains, valleys & coastlines, it is natural to utilise a wide format frame.

This technique in photography have become such widespread that some photographers have dedicated themselves to panoramic photos, Ken Duncan is a well known example. What makes him so well known is not only his dedication to panoramic photos, but his style of image processing after taking the photo. In this day and age, an artist's post processing style is as unique as his signature. All successful photographers have a fine tuned way of processing their images that are instantly recognisable by those in the field.

Post processing has become especially important as almost anybody mildly interested in photography is likely to own an SLR. No longer will resolution and turn around time separate the amateurs and the pros, the market has become much more diverse and it will come down to how well you process your photos that will set you apart.

Me, I'm still working it out :P

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Somebody say Pen?

The original Olympus Pen camera, revolutionary, sharp, simple, ingenious. By using the half frame format (rather than 35mm film), Olympus was able to reduce the size of cameras while still maintaining great image quality. These Pen series cameras sold over 17 million units before eventually giving way to the Olympus Pen F cameras which were capable of interchangeable lenses.

In mid 2009, amidst masses of leaked information and rumours, the camera gods stepped beyond the golden arches and sent the son of the Pen down to earth.

I present ... The Olympus Pen E-P1, a new breed of compact digital cameas that utilises the "micro four-thirds" system (used also by the Panasonic Lumix G1/GH1). Camera enthusiasts will appreciate the retro look despite almost 30years since the last Pen camera was made.

Key Features/Specs

- 12.3 mp Live MOS sensor

- TruePic V Image processor

- Micro four-thirds mount

- Sensor shift stabilization

- HD (720p) movies with stereo sound

- HDMI output

- SD card! (thank god, those flimsy XD cards were the downfall of Olympus)

- Interchangeable lenses

- Hot shoe

- Built in pop art filters (much like the Olympus E-30, E-620 DSLR)

- 3in Hypercrystal LCD

- In camera RAW processing

In other words, this is an SLR without the mirrors in the camera body, allowing it to be much smaller while still retaining SLR quality to an extent. Regardless of how the camera performs, it will almost certainly outperform most compacts released to date. If not for the Panasonic G1 and GH1, this new generation Pen would be in a class of its own (it could still be).

If you are as intrigued as I am about this camera, you can read more at the Olympus website here. No doubt this camera will be a hit and you can order this camera at most camera houses.

Why is it so good?

- It's small

- It's EASY to use

- Timeless design with good build quality

- Interchangeable lenses

- It was made to be perfect for EVERYBODY (in EVERYDAY situations)

- SD and SDHC cards :)

This camera actually makes me want the original Pen camera to have in my camera cabinet. if anyone is selling, let me know :)

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What ... it doesn't come with a card?!

As a salesperson at Camera House, I get a lot of camera enquiries. Most of the time, the conversation goes well, and the customers leave either with a brand new camera or freshly learnt info about photography and what's right for them.

The end of the conversation typically goes like this (other salesmen will feel my pain)

Me: Yep so this seems like it'll do what you need. Good sized screen, Li-ion battery, 10x zoom.

Customer: Sounds great

Me: mmmhhhmm

Customer: So how big's the memory card that you get?

Me: It doesn't come with one, but it takes SD cards, and you can have a look at our range of SD cards over here *points to accessories cabinet*

....

and from here I generally get a variey of responses ranging from complete understanding to complete outrage. Depending on that response I'm either cracking jokes with the customer or left trying to defend the manufacturer (I seriously don't get paid enough to argue this every single time :P)

Today I had an absolutely brilliant classic from a customer during this conversation. When told that the Panasonic TZ-11 doesn't come with a card ... he said "But when you buy a car, it comes with batteries". I stood there and thought "This guy just threw the worst argument at me", but me being on the clock I restrained myself and politely said "Well when you buy this camera you get a battery too". Needless to say, this sequence of events left him wondering how on earth he lost that argument.

Everyday I wonder why people expect to get a memory card with the camera (free). I always tend to end up saying to the customer "When you bought your film camera, it didn't come with film either ... and I'm also pretty sure that it didn't come with free processing". This notion of NOT getting everything you need is not new, it's been around for ages ... so I just can't understand why people ONLY expect this kind of freebie when buying a camera.

To assist my argument I will come up with a list of examples (just off the top of my head) that I have/will use when people complain about not getting a card.

Customer: Well the camera's useless without a card, why don't they give you one?

Me: - Toasters don't come bundled with free bread, what good is a toaster if you don't have bread? Go complain to Myer about that before you ask me that again.

- Your CD burner didn't come with blank CDs

- That wallet you're holding didn't come with free money

- The toy that your kid's playing with ... I'm sure batteries weren't included

- Did your iron come with free shirts?

- These photo frames don't come with photos either

- My car didn't come with free air con ... and I didn't complain

- That $4000 camera over there *points at the 5D MkII*, that doesn't come with a card either

- Those professional photos you got printed a week ago, you had to pay extra to get the photos didn't you? That's what I thought ...

I can go on and on and on about this, and if you work in this industry you'll know the frustration so feel free to go ahead and use these arguments. If you are a customer, and have asked that question before, I hope you now know how annoying and how wrong you were (or still am). Since manufacturers (Nikon, Olympus, Canon, Sony etc) don't have to deal with these questions, I'll take one for the team (for FREE) and I hope I've changed your way of thinking with this blog. I guess what I'm saying is ... take this advice, it's FREE advice and it's good advice.

Tomorrow's blog will be less ranting and more reviewing, stay tuned for a preview of the much anticipated Olympus "Pen" E-P1 camera that even the layman can undestand.

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Royal National Park

Camera: Panasonic Lumix LX-3

7 photo Panorama

The Royal National Park in NSW is located south of Cronulla, near Waterfall and Engadine Station. The actual national park covers a huge area of land that is impossible to cover on foot. After being defeated by the Wentworth Falls trails, we decided to tackle one a little closer to home, giving us more time.

We chose a circuit style track which goes along the edge of the coast and back through thick bushes and steep inclines. Overall we covered a large variety of terrain, including coastal, tropical, bushland, and marshes. The panorama above is a typical view during the coastal section of the track (if you're lucky you will also find small herds of deer in low lying, high incline bushland).

As with any day of hiking, travelling, roadtripping ... there's always a time when everything goes wrong ...

Camera: Canon EOS 50D, EF 24-105 F4L IS USM

Strobe: 580 EXII with diffuser on camera hot shoe (1/2 power),

580 EXII bald 5m to the right (1/1 power)

Photo inspired by the multitude of potholes and unpaved roads leading out of the national park.

Finally, if you want to try out these hiking trails, pack food ... we didn't, and we starved

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More Surprise

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a Panasonic LX-3 to complement my SLR, mainly for the times when I don't want to carry around the SLR (first post with the LX-3 here).

On a recent trip out of Sydney, I originally planned to bring only my LX-3 ... photography wasn't the main reason for the trip. On second thoughts, I decided to bring both my 50D + 24-105, and the LX-3. I covered most scenes with both cameras, and surprise surprise, the LX-3 photos came out better.

The question is why?

There is actually no plausible reason to justify this result.

After further speculation, I narrowed it down to being:

- All i had to do is point & shoot with the LX-3

- My fingers were way too cold to navigate the controls in the 50D

- I just wanted to get my photo and get to somewhere warm

Conclusion

I'm not saying the LX-3 is a better camera, it's lower res, has lower quality lens, settings are actually more fiddly. BUT in certain situations, such as the one listed above, the LX-3 wins out. To top it off, the camera fits in my pocket ... unlike the SLR.

I won't be carrying the LX-3 to jobs anytime soon, but as a complement to my 50D, it's perfect. To all the photographers out there contemplating about a compact to add to the collection ... GO FOR IT. I personally suggest Lumix LX-3, Canon G9/G10, Sigma DP1/DP2

(also eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Olympus E-P1)

For reviews of all the cameras, click on the links.

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Featherdale - More Photos

This is more or less a continuation of the last post, with another example of the ability of telephoto lenses to take great photos of subjects behind fences. Sometimes at places like this, we think that if I was to be an animal, I'd like to be one in a zoo/national park etc.

Sure you don't have the luxury of being completely free, but you're not exactly a prisoner either. It would be a life of free food, drinks and accomodation, with people at your service everyday.

This photo is an example of the type of food certain animals are given in an attempt to make life as normal as possible. Only in this case, the animals don't even have to hunt their food, it's served to them on a golden platter.

As easy as it seems, you can never have enough space to fly, so the next step is to expand the area.

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Featherdale!

If there's one type of photography I like more than sports, its wildlife photography. If you live in Sydney, and you want to try it out then I really suggest you head to Featherdale Wildlife Park at Doonside.

It's better than being at a zoo in several ways:

- its closer for most people

- its cheaper ($18 for students compared to $28 at Taronga)

- less crowded

- wallabies, emus, and some birds are allowed to run free and be fed

As a result of all this, the photos that you get are generally more intimate, closer cropped, and more natural.

When you get there, you'll notice many of the exotic birds are within cages, and for good reason, some 0f them are birds of prey ... capable of ripping people into shreds if necessary. Here's how to successfully take a good photo of a bird (anything really) behind a cage/fence with an SLR:

- Use telephoto (100mm or more)

- Put the front of your lens as close to the fence as possible

- Try to use highest telephoto setting

- Use flash (preferable external) to increase contrast

And there you have it! By putting your telephoto lens as close to the fence as possible, you're focussing past the fence, rendering it almost invisible. Sometimes you still get a slightly hazy effect in the photo, so that's why you use an external flash to increase contrast and subsequently reduce that haze effect. And finally some finishing touches in Photoshop for more contrast, colour, cropping and you'll get something like the photo above.

Both photos were takne with the Canon 50D and EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM, but you can just as easily do these photos with most camera gear as long as it's fairly telephoto.

Will post up more photos in the following days :)

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Undiscovered

It's true when people say that you can make a good photo out of nothing. With the right timing, right inspiration and the right processing you can do a lot with some very ordinary photos. The pano above is a little different to what I normally do, I tend to be conservative and keep my photos looking as real as possible. In this case, I went crazy with the levels adjustments, masks, and colours ... and ... I like it. If not for the moment of madness, this pano would NOT catch your eye the way it did (don't pretend it didn't) and you wouldn't even take a second look at it.

This HDR is another example, the subject is more interesting, but there isn't a whole lot to it. After processing in Photomatix Pro, I played around with the sliders in CS3 until I created an effect that I was happy with. It's all about trial & error, and when you finally get the right blend of elements you'll be very surprised with what you've created.

Both photos were taken in Vietnam when I was on holidays earlier. I tend to dig back at my old photos in the hard drive and find undiscovered potential like these two photos. To the photographers out there that snap as much as I do (more than 1000/month), then keep them safe in an external hard drive ... keep looking back as much as you can, every now and then you'll be rewarded.

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