Fooling April

So.... My blog is a little behind schedule this month - we’re almost half way through May as I post my photos from April! But it has been an incredibly busy month - the wedding of two of my closest friends Chris and Dale last weekend, organising Chris’ bucks party the weekend before, National League Water Polo finals (my team ended up with the bronze medal - not too shabby!), university assignments, the list goes on. But on the plus side, I managed to get away to Rockhampton and Great Keppel Island for 4-5 days, which made me very happy! And it goes without saying that my camera came with me. In fact, if I hadn’t taken my camera with me, I would have been very light on photos this month!!! All that aside, (and before I start getting into the next lot of uni assignments), here are my best six photos from April:

Location: Cabarita Park
(F4.0, 1/125, ISO 400, 70mm focal length)

In addition to my normal job, I also occasionally drive wedding cars for our family business, (*cough*, Bonnie and Clyde Vintage Wedding Cars, *cough*). On this occasion I decided to take my camera along and take a few bonus snaps for the newlyweds - seeing as I’m standing around the cars all day anyway! There’s a lot to this photo, and I think it captures the moment in a lot of different ways - the photo is just as much about the bride/groom/parents sharing a moment in the background, as it is the girl watching them in the foreground. I should also note that post-production work include decreasing the saturation and vibrance, as well as applying a gaussian blur to the background to draw greater focus to the subject.

 

Location: Cabarita Park
(F5.0, 1/60, ISO 400, 70mm focal length)

 Taken at the same wedding, and with a similar idea to the last photo - except I have replaced the girl with a pair of shoes! Once again, the thing I like about this photo is that there is so much happening in the background, as the bridal party get ready for their professional photos on the grass. At the same time, there’s a lot which goes unsaid about the shoes sitting on the fence - it’s not exactly a mystery as to why they’re there, but the fact that they’re there says a lot!

Location: Rockhampton
(F9.0, 30sec, ISO 400, 17mm focal length)

The first photo from my Queensland adventure - one night in Rockhampton and this is where we stayed. I believe it was a converted railway office (it was opposite the infamous Great Western Hotel, and right near the railway depot). Anyway, I think this photo epitomises how traditional the hotel was. I really loved the detailing of the railing - unfortunately the converging lines don't lead to anything of great excitement (a fire hose!). But still, I do like how this photo came out :)

Location: Svendsens Beach, Great Keppel Island
(F9.0, 1/800, ISO 400, 17mm focal length)

This photo, as surreal as it is, was taken at Svendsens Beach, Great Keppel Island. The modest accommodation that we stayed in was run by Carl Svendsen and his wife (I don't think his surname is coincidence - I have no idea how many generations have to have lived there in order to officially name the beach after your family!). Anyway, it was entirely pleasant being on the 'quiet' side of the island. Of the 4 nights we were there, this was one of the two sunsets which we managed to catch. I have to admit I felt a little daft, as I wondered to myself why I didn't make the time to watch the sunset over the water while I was back at home. Bit hard to do that from old Sydney town.........

Location: Svendsens Beach, Great Keppel Island
(F5.6, 1/1250, ISO 400, 300mm focal length)

I just had to put this one in. I can't even put my finger on whether it is technically good or not, (I had to crop the photo just a little, after using my telephoto at full zoom), but yeah - I just love this little guy! We had a posse of these birds come by each morning at our accommodation. It was nice to practice a bit of nature photography from the comfort of my own balcony! I really like the detail of his feathers and beak, although I think there's a bit of chromatic aberration around his eye. I cannot wait to upgrade my telephoto lens to something which isn't cheap and nasty - but hey this one seems to be doing the job for now!

Location: Butterfish Bay, Greak Keppel Island
(F8.0, 1/200, ISO 200, 50mm focal length)

Taken just around the corner from where we were staying, from a hill overlooking Butterfish Bay. There was some rather unsuccessful fishing done from the point in the background of the photo - just catch and release stuff (although turtles did keep coming up to the surface to say hello, which was really cool!). Anyway, I just really like the composition of this photo, I think I got the depth of field right (the background isn't overly blurred, you can still make out a lot of detail).








Once again, that's the best I have for April. My aim for May is to get a greater range of subjects and locations, as my photos for April were pretty much dominated by two outings. Plus, I got myself a couple of graduated ND filters from ebay which I'm looking forward to experimenting with. Hopefully I'll have something worthwhile this coming month to show them off!