Decemberlicious

Greetings and salutations! I'm getting in early this month, for no other reason than the fact I am heading off road tripping for a couple of weeks! I have added to my arsenal of lenses: a manual 8mm fisheye lens (which is incredibly fun), and a new 17-70mm Sigma F2.8, which is replacing my really old 18-55mm kit lens. So while my bank account is now as bare as my fridge, my camera bag is now as full as Santa's sack on Christmas Eve. On that note, Merry Christmas! :)



Location: The Strand Arcade
(F3.5, 1.25, ISO 400, 8mm focal length)


Fisheye fun number one! I took this while venturing around the city, trying to figure out exactly how my new lens works (i.e., discovering what works well with it, how to make things warp and bend, etc). The Strand arcade was looking very Christmassy! Come to think of it, a lot of places were looking Christmassy, but they didn't necessarily work well with my new lens.... That was a fun evening - I'm pretty sure I spend most of the time looking straight up at skyscrapers through my camera - that's one way to look like a tourist in your own city!









Location: Wahroonga
(F4.0, 1/125, ISO 400, 54mm focal length)

This was taken while I was working with my brother Jason - there were two adorable shaggy dogs where we were; the kind of dogs where if you give them 30 seconds of affection you are automatically friends for life! After he had settled down (a couple of hours) and began to rest on his dog-futon-bed-thing, I got my camera from my car with the intention of taking his photo in black and white. He is just as cute in real life btw....




Location: South Head
(F5.6, 1/320, ISO 100, 120mm focal length)


This is the first of three photos taken around South Head. Just putting it out there - it is an incredible spot for weekend photograhy! This photo happened rather quickly - I was taking photos of the pylon, then i was taking photos of the boat, they came together for a brief moment, and then they were gone. So I'm pretty happy with the composition of this one :)

Location: South Head
(F3.5, 1/320, ISO 100, 8mm focal length)

Fisheye fun number two! I didn't know much about the lighthouse at South Head, but when I discovered it was striped like a candy-cane I was pretty intent on warping it as much as I could! I've come to conclusion that if you 'bend' a red-and-white striped building, it will give the illusion that it is actually edible... It's not though....

Location: South Head
(F3.5, 1/320, ISO 100, 8mm focal length)

The third fisheye fun photo, and the third from the South Head series... The fact that this location has dominated my six images for december speaks volumes as to how photogenic the scenery is! There's a lot that I like about this photo; for the most part it is that there is a definitive, physical line where the weather is wonderful, followed by the dark overtones of the impending storm...

Location: North Sydney
(F4.0, 1/25, ISO 800, 63mm focal length)

A cat after the storm... I thought I'd try and make a new furry friend while I was walking past what was quite clearly the cat's window. It sniffed my hand, and subsequently decided it had no interest in me. I'm pretty sure it was looking at me and my camera just to make sure that I kept on walking...


So once again, that brings my month of photography to a close. I am very, very excited about the opportunities I'm going to have in January, especially while I'm on the road. Canberra/Melbourne/Great Ocean Road, here I come....

November - in the books...

Another month, another 6 images!

While opportunities were a little more limited compared to last month, November has definitely been a fun month. For starters, I can now claim to have taken photos professionally - I helped my friend Frances shoot a 21st birthday party! Not exactly a big job, but I have to admit it was kind of cool knowing that photos I have taken will end up in an album which someone has commissioned :-)

In terms of what I've learned about photography, a few of the photos from this month (the Opera House, and the photos of old rusty doors around La Perouse) were taken with post-production techniques in mind. I found myself crossing a few things off my equipment shopping list, and just as quickly adding a few more things. Neutral Density filters are defiitely high up on my list, a little further down would be an Infrared filter. Either way the holiday season should make for some great photo opportunities! But enough talk of the future, here's my best 6 images from the previous month:




Location: La Perouse
(F3.5, 8 sec, ISO 200, 18mm)

 
While it doesn't look it, this photo was taken after the sun had set with a slightly extended exposure, and the darkness of the evening had just about set in. In this photo, and the next, I wanted to 'fade' the photos without losing too much of the rustic colours. The small building that is roughly in the centre of the photo is where the next photo was taken!


 Location: La Perouse (again)
(F3.5, 1/125 sec, ISO 400, 18mm focal length)


Another set of old rusted doors - as with the previous photo I wanted the post-production to come across as weathered, but without diminishing the strong colouring of the rust. I tried to frame it so that the graffiti on the back wall created some interest - giving just enough letters and leaving enough blanks. A photographical crossword! "'conquest', 'famine', 'war' and 'death' all fail to finish with a place at Caulfield"...





Location: La Perouse (and again)
(F9.0, 0.6 sec, Iso 200, 18mm focal length)


This is the part of my excurion to La Perouse where I learned the most... Firstly, I need to get a set of ND filters. Secondly, a Circular Polariser helps. Thirdly, exposures over about a second lose too much detail in moving water. This was taken around the corner from the shipwreck - which I have to admit wasn't as photogenic as I had anticipated. The water swelling through the rocks as the tide came in however, that was definitely photogenic!



Location: Silverwater
(f5.6, 1/2000 sec, ISO 200, 290mm focal length)


Another photo taken out of opportunity, virtually the same time and location as my very first '6 image' when I started this blog back in August! Overlooking the industrial area from Silverwater Bridge, however rather than capturing the whole landscape I used my telephoto lens to get the sun setting over one of the factories. I know it is a bit of an artistic cliche, the burnt red sun, the sillhouette of the factory, but hey - it works for me!




Location: Quayside, The Rocks
(F13, 1/4000, ISO 400, 155mm focal length)


Ok, with this photo I have to admit that the artistic license isn't mine - I really can't remember where I came across a similar photo, but the technique is something I wanted to emulate. Before I took the photo, I was trying to picture how it would look in black and white, and trying to find strong an angle where the contrast would be at its strongest. From there, Photoshop is fantastic at B&W conversions, I completely blackened the blue tones to make the sky black, and adjusting the yellow tones before the conversion allowed me to keep the detail of the tiles... This photo was a lot of fun :-)



Location: Strathfield Station
(F10, 30 sec, ISO 200, 18mm focal length)


I tihnk the best thing about this photo was that it was close to home (literally a minute walk down the road), and required very little post-production work. Taken from the footbridge on Wentworth Rd looking back towards Strathfield station, it was a good opportunity for me to practice my timing - watching the tracks towards Burwood, waiting for a train to start coming, then timing it so the train passed through the frame during the 30 seconds of exposure time. I was lucky enough in this photo to get two trains passing...

So that brings a photographical close to the month of November for me. I think December is going to be promising - the holidays mean plenty of time to go out and experiment at locations I've been scouting, and over the New Year I'm road tripping to Melbourne and along the Great Ocean Road. Opportunities for photograhy: endless. Opportunities to recharge my camera batteries: not endless.

Octoberfest

So October has been an incredible month for photography for me. I've taken a lot of photos at a lot of different places, and in general - I think I'm improving. I bought my first new lens (canon 50mm F1.8 - allows for an incredible depth of field!), and I have my eyes set on some new equipment over the coming weeks (another new lens, filters, etc). All of which will hopefully make for some better photos for November :)

I have learned a lot this month; about balancing the aperture and focal length to get the desired depth of field, using smaller apertures, higher ISOs and neutral density filters to allow for a longer shutter speed, how to take better panoramic shots, the list goes on. But I have also learned a lot about post-production techniques (i.e., Photoshop). I've learned that Photoshop can be an incredible tool which can greatly enhance your photos, but a friend of mine (thanks Frances!) uses the analogy that using it is much like cooking with salt - using a little can really accentuate what you have done, but if you get carried away and use too much, it can ruin what you have done. In saying that, these are my best 6 images for October!



Kite-surfer at Scarborough beach, W.A.
(F4.5, 1/1000, ISO 200, 34mm focal length)


This was taken early in the month while I was in Perth. I spent an evening out at Scarborough Beach for some rest and relaxation after a wild week at the Australian University Games. While the kite-surfers made for some good photos, I think the photographical highlight was definitely the sun setting over the ocean - something which we obviously don't get on the eastern coast!




Cahill Expressway, Circular Quay
(F3.5, 1.6sec, ISO 400, 18mm focal length)

This was taken late one night, obviously when there wasn't much traffic around. I think this photo appeals to me because of the converging lines from the street lights, road markers and walkway railing that all lead to the headlights of an oncoming car. I found myself on the walkway with the intention of taking extended exposure shots of the harbour bridge and circular quay, but in the end it was the expressway that grabbed my attention.



Spring at Parramatta Park
(F1.8, 1/1250, ISO 400, 50mm focal length)


My first '6 image' with my new 50mm lens! Taken at Parramatta Park as the bees were pollenating flowers (I'm not exactly sure what type of flowers thay are? Anybody?). Hooray for Spring. This photo kind of shows off the depth of field possible with a larger aperture (F1.8, compared to roughly F5.6 if I zoomed in using my standard lens). The other thing I really like about this photo is the rosemary.... What can I say, I just really love rosemary....



Glebe Tram Sheds
(F4.0, 1/60, ISO 800, 21mm focal length)

I only recently learned about the tram sheds in Glebe - I had no idea that they existed until I heard about them from another friend (much appreciated Steph!). The sheds hold several abandoned and graffitied buses and tram carriages. It is apparently a popular location for photo and film shooting (they have filmed several things here - the most prominent would probably be an episode of So You Think You Can Dance). In fact they were filming a music video on the day I was there (or at least the 'story' part of the video, rather than the music), so unfortunately there was a decent portion of the shed which was taken up by film crews. I'm definitely looking forward to going back and exploring the rest of it!



The Footbridge Theatre, Sydney University
(F22, 10sec, ISO 100, 18mm focal length)

For me, this photo was a culmination of a few photographical lessons: Firstly there was balancing the ISO and the aperture to allow for a prolonged exposure time, which allowed me to capture longer trails of lights from the cars going past. Secondly, I have learned not to always trust the light meter inside the camera - I deliberately underexposed it a little to enhance the colours of the sky, rather than balancing the photo as a whole... I'm definitely happy with how this one came out...




Mort Bay - 'Panosphere' shot!
(F6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, 24mm focal length)

This photo definitely requires some explaining! I recently read in a photography magazine about how to create 'panospheres', and this image is the result. I took a panoramic sequence of 40 photos from the tip of Mort Bay, which covered a 360 degree view. I let Photoshop stitch the panoramic series together for me, and from there it was more creative techniques of distorting the image to look like a miniature globe. So while this image obviously isn't something I have taken with a single click on my camera, I'm still happy that it has been effectively been produced with my photos. I took them with a specific post-production technique in mind, and it worked! I may do more of these in the future, it was definitely a lot of fun seeing it through :)

 

So once again, that is my month in review. I am hoping to invest in another new lens sometime this month (I have already done a whole heap of research into what I want to get - it is not nearly as straight forward as I would have thought!). But regardless of whether a new lens makes it into my camera bag or not, I am definitely looking forward to the month ahead...

September's done!

So here's my finest from September! A little premature I know, but I'm heading over to Perth for a week and a half, and I don't think I'm going to have much of an opportunity to sleep - let alone put photos up on my blog! No doubt I will have the opportunity to take some snaps around the west coast (looking forward to beach sunsets!) so I'm expecting my photos for October to include a change of scenery :)

Location: Avoca Beach, NSW
(f5.6, 1/3200, ISO 200, 55mm focal length)

One weekend the Macquarie Uni boys had a training camp up at Avoca to prepare for the Australian University Games (hence why I'm going to Perth - Coach Jones!!!). I had some time to burn, so I took my camera down to the beach. After trying a few things (longer shutter speeds with the rolling waves - something which DOESN'T work without a tripod for me!), I started making my way back to the car when I was presented with this! I think it was more fortunate timing than anything else :)








Location - Charles Sturt Uni, Bathurst
(f4.0, 1/60, ISO 400, 18mm focal length)


They say that every picture tells a story. I have NO idea what story this picture tells - but I guarantee that there's one behind it! I was out at Bathurst celebrating my friend Tristan's 21st birthday, and I took this on Sunday morning after crashing at his dorm. This photo is also the first that I have adjuested in photoshop - I reduced the vibrance and saturation just a little, to make everything seem a little more 'worn'. I like the way it turned out... Except for whatever that orange thing is. In retrospect, I should have kicked that out of the way!

Location - Kings Cross
(f4.5, 1/2, ISO 400, 21mm focal length)

It took me a fair few goes to get this photo right! Recently I have been trying to practise adjusting the zoom while the shutter is open, this time I thought I would try turning the camera around in a circle instead! Because the fountain is essentially a ball, you can't really see any blurring as the camera is turned. But because of the low light behind it, everything else seems to be turning... If there was a feeling that this photo would emote for me, it would easily be 'drunk'!



Location - Kings Cross (Porky's!)
(f10.0, 1/3, ISO 400, 18mm focal length)


The red light district - think Underbelly - The Golden Mile! I had to up the f-stop to allow for a longer exposure, so that you get the ghosting of the people walking in and out. I'm still learning stuff :) So I was taking photos for a good few minutes, with heaps of people walking past - funnily enough only one person approached me and said he didn't want to be in the photo I just took. He was cool when I showed him he was all blurry (he was actually the guy in front of the cop car). That's in contrast to the group of tourists who asked me to take their photo outside of Showgirls! And yes, they were all guys........



Location: Newtown
(f3.5, 1/3, ISO 800, 18mm focal length)

Taken in the back streets of Newtown, not far from the train station. Another photoshop project - once again I reduced the vibrance of the photo just to make the alley/street seem a bit colder. Some of the graffiti was quite artistic, some of it was just lame. Apparently someone felt compelled to tell the world (i.e., the back streets of Newtown) about their distaste for designer babies and PRAMS! Oh, the ethical dilemma faced by society when parents start using strollers! I thought global corporations and non-conforming to society would be more the hot topic in one of our more alternative suburbs.... Apparently I was wrong - it's prams....




Location: Newtown
(f4.0, 0.6sec, ISO 800, 18mm focal length)


And more graffiti in Newtown! While I was reducing the vibrance and saturation in photoshop for the last photo, for this one I definitely wanted to increase it to bring out the colours! This photo was pretty interesting to take, I didn't have my tripod on me, so I rested it up against the base of a wheelie bin... Late on a monday night, sitting in the gutter next to a wheelie bin, wearing my favourite hoodie, surrounded by graffiti.... Thankfully no-one came up to me and asked if I was dealing!








So, that's my 6 images for September. I'm also going to enter a couple of these in a photo competition, as well as some of my other photos - so once that's done I'll post some links to that as well. It's pretty much a popularity contest, so if you've read this far - make sure you vote and leave some comments for me!!!

July in retrospect

So while it is bending my own rules just a little, I thought I would retrospectively post 6 images from the month before I started blogging - for no reason other than the fact it was a good month for me for taking photos! These were taken while I was in Vietnam and Cambodia - so while they are a bit on the 'touristy' side, I have still chosen them based on my opinion of their photographic merit, and in some cases what the photo means to me. In terms of my own objectives (in particular being selective with what photos I display), narrowing down 2700 photos to these 6 was not an easy task!

Location: Wat Ta Prohm, Siem Reap - Cambodia
(F5.0, 1/125, ISO 400, 18mm focal length)

While this photo doesn't reflect any particular experience I had while I was away (other than temple-hopping around Angkor!), I chose it as one of my 6 because I find the expression on the face of the carved figure almost hypnotic! Kind of smiling-sad...

Location: Wat Ta Prohm, Siem Reap - Cambodia
(F3.5, 1/25, ISO 400, 22mm focal length)

I think I like this photo because even though it is a empty temple corridor, it's pretty visually dense. The light cutting through the smoke from the incense, the irregular shape of the spotlight on the floor, the wooden support beams and the fallen blocks at the end of the corridor... Incidentally, this was one of the last photos I took before my battery went flat - i was taking photos with my compact the rest of that day! Which reminds me - I still need to go out and buy myself a spare!!!

Location: The Bayon, Siem Reap - Cambodia
(F6.3, 1/800, ISO 400, 105mm focal length)

Two of the many faces around the Bayon. Each face had its own unique character, it's own look. And, they were massive! I think what I love about this photo is the detail of the carvings, and their literally weathered faces... Literally a portait of stones :)

Location - Temple name forgotten? Siem Reap - Cambodia
(F8.0, 1/125, ISO 800, 35mm focal length)

This is the other 'tree temple' around Angkor - the name however escapes me. There's just too many to keep track of, and after a full day of walking around in the heat taking photos, all of a sudden the names of temples are no longer important! As for the photo, it was spare of the moment that the monk walked into the frame, so my camera was still on the settings from the last location - hence the high ISO. At least I was using 'shutter priority' mode, so despite the added noise from the higher ISO at least it came out balanced! So the reason for this photo - firstly there's the contrast of the monk's orange robe. Secondly, I like the way the tree and the dark step kind of frame the temple in the top left hand side. Like a photo within a photo... Plus it's just a cool looking temple!

Location: The Killing Fields at Choeng Ek, Phnom Penh - Cambodia
(F4.0, 1/500, ISO 400, 18mm focal length)

Ok, so this photo is really quite dark, and not in terms of the lighting. When I left for Cambodia, I knew of the killing fields and of the Pol Pot regime. I had no idea of the extent of it though. This photo was taken at the memorial, which holds 8000 sculls that had been exhumed from a site which is probably the size of a few football fields. Approximately a quarter of the population were killed under the regime. I like this photo because there is so much meaning to it, on so many different levels. The feelings it emotes clearly aren't of happiness; I don't think I need to elaborate further.

Location: Sapa, Vietnam
(F5.6, 1/160, ISO 400, 55mm focal length)

So, this is obviously a much happier photo for me! I love how much detail there is, but I find myself always drawn back to the subject: the girl on the large rock. You can just make out the terraced rice field at the top of the photo as well. The story behind the photo - I had set off one afternoon to take photos down towards Lai Chou (I think?!), and ended up hitching a ride on a scooter with Tho - a Vietnamese girl from HCMC who was on holidays touring the country. We quickly became friends, and before I knew it we had walked through several rice fields (which were the backyards of several families), accompanied by the children who lived there! They sang songs and collected rocks as we walked through the river. All I could do was take photos :)

Ok, so those are my 6 images from July. individually, they are holiday photos, but they are by no means a summary of my holiday album! My friends on facebook may have seen the shortened album I posted on there, while my closer friends would have seen the extended version. I don't think anyone has the patience to see the entire uncut collection!!! So that's that - I'm still taking photos for this month, and learning more as I practise. I will start posting for September when I feel I have something worthwhile :)

August....

So I started taking photos some weeks back - for my own photographic development, and thus also for my blog. It was not an easy task narrowing down my photos to my favourite six, but these are the ones which grabbed my attention the most. As it stands they are unedited - although that will change in the future as I learn more about Photoshop!

Location: Silverwater Bridge
(1/6, F4.0, ISO400, 18mm focal length)

Driving home from my folks' place, I noticed the converging pattern of the clouds and the blue-orange gradient of the sunset over the industrial area of Silverwater. That was more than enough for me to stop and take a few snaps!
Unfortunately I didn't have my tripod on me, but with a large apperture and lower shutter speed it came out quite well (especially considering I was resting my camera on the hand-railing on the bridge!). I would have liked to try longer shutter speeds, but the bridge would 'bounce' slightly whenever a decent amount of traffic passed over it!!!

Location: The Rocks (particularly The Lowenbrau!)
(1/640, F5.0, ISO200, 210mm focal length)

The main reason I chose this photo was because of the refraction of light through the turbulent air created by the temperature difference (and I know that sounds an aweful lot like the high school science teacher I am studying to become - "wavy heat lines" might be more appropriate description to use!).  But yeah, I just thought it looked cool - especially with a larger depth of field, blurring the people in the background, etc., etc. When looking at it I found my eyes wandering around through the swirls of heat, I think that is what appealed to me the most...

Location: The Rocks
(1/2000, F4.5, ISO200, 80mm focal length)

This was an interesting photo for a few reasons - mainly because despite the similarity in the silhouettes, it was unscripted! I was quickly trying to change lenses, to take a photo of a young boy leaning with his back against the stone carving. By the time I was ready to shoot, the situation had changed for the better, and I had a man in a hat inadvertently imitating the statue! One real life silhouette, one stone... Plus the texture within the sandstone is kind of cool :)

The end result of my experience - I now want to invest in a lens that covers wide angles all the way through to a decent zoom! And an image stabilizer!

Location: QVB, George St.
(F16, 1.3sec, ISO400, 18mm focal length)

There are a few things I like in this photo - The manequin 'staring' at the people waiting in line for the bus, the reflection of the lights in the glass (particularly of the roof), the blurring motion of people walking past presumably on their way home... Or maybe rushing off to somewhere a little more sinister... Well, probably not, I'll never know :P It seems the only thing that isn't going anywhere in this photo is the manequin! This is also the first time I was trying to balance the f-stop and shutter speed to allow for the blurring of the people moving around - I think it worked well with the woman who was walking towards the camera... Although maybe with a slightly quicker shutter speed she would be more obvious - something to experiment with I guess! :)

Location: Luna Park
(6sec, F4.0, ISO400, 18mm focal length)

It is hard to explain why this photo appeals to me. It was taken at Luna Park during a photography outing with my friend Frances (if I could tag people in my blog facebook-style, this is where I would start!). One thing we both learned about photography is that security won't let you use tripods at Luna Park! So that provided a completely new challenge :)

As for the photo, I guess it is just the absence of 'action' at an amusement park which makes it different. Kind of like a 'ghost-town' effect. While you can tell the cars don't seem as vivid and bright as they ought to, you can imagine them coming to life when the ride is in action! Plus the lighting in the apartment block in the background adds a bit of interest as well :)

Location: Koolewong (Central Coast NSW)
(20sec, F5.6, ISO400, 50mm focal length)

Finally, this photo was taken after Allyson (my cousin) and Miro's wedding, during the reception at The Boathouse Waterfront Restaurant, on the NSW Central Coast at Koolewong. I have been trying to slightly overexpose my night-time shots, and I think this one worked out quite well! I was also pretty lucky in the clouds covering the moon while I was outside shooting, (especially when taking into account the over-exposure), because I think the light shining through the clouds adds a lot to this photo... And I have to admit I rather like the blurred reflection of the pier in the water - I'm guessing a result of the long exposure time? That gives me another variable to keep exploring! As was the case with the photo from the Silverwater Bridge, I didn't have my tripod on this occasion... Hooray for large, flat rocks :)

So that is my photographic month of August. Those that I have had the pleasure of showing the photos that didn't make the cut will know there were quite a few which I was excited about. But as is my aim with this blog - I think these are the cream of my crop. If all goes to plan, next month I will be posting new photos at random intervals - not in one big go like the end of this month! At some stage I will also retrospectively post my photos from July, when I was holidaying in Vietnam/Cambodia. That will be a massive challenge for me - narrowing down an odd 2700 photos to a mere 6! However, at least for this month I can say that I am happy with my work :)

Aaron.

The beginning...

To anyone who comes across this blog - most likely my friends,

Those who know me will already know that I have always enjoyed taking photos, almost to the point of annoyance. This blog is my attempt at keeping a journal as I try to learn more about photography; about using the manual controls on my camera, shooting in RAW format, digital 'darkroom' editing, and basically learning to take better photos in general.

I am not a professional photographer, nor do I wish to be. For other photography enthusiasts, I use a Canon EOS400D with the standard 18-55mm and 70-300mm lenses. For those who really aren't into it, I have a Digital SLR with one small lens and one big lens :) It is nearly 4 years and over 40,000 photos old - at the moment I can't really see any limitations with it, it works well for me. But in saying that, I'm already picking out different types of lenses I want to get!

So the whole "6 images" thing... As I started reading about photography (In this case - "Creative Black & White by Harold Davis), I came across a quote that I really liked - which basically passed on the advice that you should never have any more than six images that you feel you need to show. That really spoke to me for a couple of reasons: Firstly, I generally take a lot of photos. Secondly, there are generally a decent handful of photos that I like; that I want to show off. So I decided that would be the aim of my blog - not only to act as a diary as I try and learn more about the art of photography, but to force me to be much more succinct in what I would like to display. Hence, my goal is to post a maximum of 6 photos that I take each month. It would be incredibly easy for me to show all the photos that I have taken a sense of pride in - but to limit myself as such is the real challenge. I'll see how I go...