Amazing...

I went to the park today for a walk and decided that I should take my camera. I'm glad I did as there was lots to see and plenty of photographic potential...

While I was wandering around I spotted a couple of trees with the most amazing branches. Everywhere you looked in these trees the branches were convoluted and twisted together. It seemed to be the way these particular trees grew as they looked very healthy (and large). The photo is of a single branch that has just about done enough to qualify as a yoga master...

There were also a few places that Rosella's were nesting so I'll be back there to see what I can manage over the next couple of weeks...

Self portrait...

Did you know that when you look at a mirror the distance that you need to focus to see your image is twice the distance from you to the mirror? If you focus on the mirror itself this is what happens.

This was taken using an old mirror in my bedroom. The reflective film on the back of the glass has broken down causing the blotchy effect.

Cornucopia...

It's winter at last. The cold weather has set in and the comfort food has been added to the shopping list. Mind you, there isn't really a requirement for winter to set in to enjoys these "fruits"...

My fascination with colour continues; I watched a show about it a few nights ago and may even buy the DVD series. The show explained a lot about how we perceive colour from the purely mathematical physics of it through to the psychological/subjective interpretations of it. There was one interesting experiment that was done to demonstrate the difference: The subject was to look at a 3D shape as colours were applied to it with a projector. They were to say yes or no when the colour was what they thought the colour of a banana should be. They rejected more than half of the options. When the shape was changed to that of a banana they accepted that all of the colours could be the colour of a banana.

Years ago my dad built a cover over the BBQ. He found some old, green, corrugated sheeting that allowed light through and put it over the top. What this did was change the colour of uncooked meat from red to a purple/magenta (just not "right") and cooked meat to a grey colour. Nobody, and I mean nobody could eat that lovely, cooked BBQ meat under the green light... It just wasn't right!

Unicycle hockey...

I went out today to see what I could see... I found a unicycle group that were warming up and playing hockey. I admit to having looked up what was on so I didn't just "find" these guys & girls... I read about a guy who is to ride his unicycle from Perth to Sydney and it piqued my interest. I also see a guy riding a very large wheeled unicycle past my work in the mornings. I must admit to always having wanted to give it a try...

The people at the Melbourne Museum last Sunday meet on the last Sunday of every month to play unicycle hockey it looked very cool and lots of fun for all ages. I heard someone say once that the reason people go to the Grand Prix is to see either the world champion or the crashes. I'm not sure if there were any world champions there that day but I didn't see any real crashes so that inspired my confidence. In the second photo you can see a young boy, he mixed it up with the big guys with no apparent fear.

I may just have to give it a try one day!

Concentrate...

I've just had an AAARRRGGGHHH/GRRRR moment...

I have been up since 5:30 this morning to go and shoot some images for a client. It was a magnificent morning and the sunrise was brilliant...

I shot the images, came home, started processing the images and all was going well.

What the client wants is a collage of images of the buildings that they design and build. I have made up a template of sorts and spend a bit of time processing the images then creating the collage for each building. All of this is fine and I pretty much just get into the zone and go through the process.

I normally work with layers within Photoshop so that if an image needs to be changed I can just delete the layer and replace it rather than doing the whole thing again. The last layer I create is a text layer with a copyright notice.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about that's ok. Just think that the copyright notice is written on a clear layer over the top of the images and it can then be removed when I want to send the image to the lab for printing. Works perfectly........ When you concentrate...

The next step is to create a small version (megabyte wise) by flattening all of the layers and resizing the image for the web. I then send that copy to the client for approval and the original, full size version is ready for printing or fixing as necessary.

The problem arises if you don't concentrate and close the flattened file as is and tell Photoshop to save changes as it closes the file... That's the AAARRRGGGHHH/GRRRR moment right there... As soon as I did it I realised that if I would have to redo two of the collages because once the file is flattened and saved you can't get rid of the copyright notice!

Just so that you know the correct way... Before you save your images as a flattened file go back one step in the history to an unflattened file and save the image as a TIFF or PSD file.

It's a good idea to learn from mistakes. Very wise people learn from the mistakes others make...

Photography, walking, tutorial...

I'm trying to come up with a "snappy" name for the photography tutorial I am planning to run in the next few weeks. I'm open to suggestions...

All About Light is a bit of a mouthful... Someone in the USA has already used Photo Walk Pro... Hmmm? I'll need to keep my thinking cap on for a little longer...

Anyway: This is the news.

I did a course at work last week and one of the tasks we had to perform was to state what we wanted to achieve from the course. I thought long and hard and finally concluded that to tell the truth was the best option (there were senior management people in the course with me). So I declared that what I wanted to achieve from the course was to focus (no pun intended) on being a succesful, creative and sought after professional photographer.

Part of that ambition is to teach people the basic principles of photography and to do it during a walking tour of a photogenic part of Melbourne (or wherever I happen to be)... Maybe a coffee and a chat first followed by a walk around shooting everything in sight with your camera. All the time aiming to master, or at least improve, your understanding of using your camera to capture your creative vision. I've been thinking of doing this for quite some time but the course last week crystalized it all and made me put a date on the first course.

So if you are around Melbourne on the 13th of June and you would like to improve your skills with your camera drop me a line.

Gang Gang Cockatoo...

I went for a walk in the sunshine today and saw a small group of Gang Gang Cockatoos eating the flowers in a large gum tree. They were way up at the top of the tree and I watched them for a short while and kept walking. About 20 metres away, in another tree, there was a pair of rainbow lorikeets sitting outside a hole in the trunk. As I watched one of the pair went into the hole and didn't come out...

So, now that I know where their nest is I will try to get some shots as things progress.

The Gang Gangs were kind enough to wait for me to go home and get my camera. The lorikeets were taking the opportunity for some sun and were not to be seen when I got back.

These guys were probably 10 - 20 metres above the ground and seemed to have the "hide behind a branch or leaf and look the other way" skills honed to perfection.

This is the only sharp image (and even then it's not that sharp) I managed of the male.

Introducing Sarah & Leigh...

Last weekend I shot a wedding for the friendliest couple ever. Congratulations Sarah & Leigh.

Sarah & Leigh were a pleasure to work with and they picked the most amazing venue to hold their wedding. Kilmany Park Mansion near Sale in Victoria is an old farm homestead in only the loosest of terms. It was built in the 1800's and is still a working farm. Today, however, the mansion is a B&B with lovely gardens, serenity and just the right amount of space to hold an intimate wedding for up to a couple of hundred guests...

The manager told me of a couple of weddings where people had arrived by helicopter!

The main building is huge and old and quite dark inside with wood panelling everywhere. This provided me with some lighting challenges and I'm still working my way through the images.

The photo was taken in the gardens as the sun set and the weather threatened. At one stage a turned and saw a guest totally rim lit by sunlight and we rushed over to take advantage...

This is the result...

Frangipani...

The frangipani is still trying to flower. I think it may be getting a little cold for the poor thing now. There are still a number of buds and the flowers smell divine.

A short walk from home...

I live in Richmond, Victoria, Australia and it has an interesting history.

Richmond used to be quite an industrial area and this shows in the old buildings in the area. Not to mention the small terrace "workers" houses that are now trendy and very close to the city (read: expensive). There are also numerous pubs (to cater for all of the "workers") and one of them was frequented by a notorious gangster from the early 1900's, Squizzy Taylor. I just can't remember which one...

I have been meaning to take some photos around home for quite a while and went for a short walk this morning and these are a couple of the results...

This building has been coverted into residential units but they kept the old frontage...

And not far from there is a large painted sign letting people know that their orders for wood, coal and coke from T. W. Blundy will be attended to next to the hotel...

The last one a shot of the autumn colours I found on the way...