July 2008 Archives

Managed to get out of town this weekend just gone with the family and we headed for Marysville in country Victoria. The aim was to take our two kids up to the snow for the first time. Lake Mountain Alpine resort is only about a 20 minute drive from Marysville so snow fun it was!

My other aim was to get the camera out for the weekend too and have a much needed shoot with hopefully some wonderful settings. I was having too much fun on the toboggan with the kids to drag the camera out so only got the happy snaps as far as that was concerned but did manage to duck away on the Friday night to Stephenson's Falls, which was very close to where we were staying, and is also one of the highest falls in Victoria.

It was getting on to dusk and stupid me had forgotten to pack the tripod for the weekend so hoped for the best with my shaky hands. Found some solid ledges to lean on and the light was really nice so pulled out the slow shutter speeds to enhance the effect of the falls.

There was also plenty of friendly locals (of the feathered variety) who would come and greet us each morning. The kids had a blast feeding them fruit, biscuits, seed, chips - whatever was around these birds tended to eat it!

Not too far from where we were staying was a somewhat famous sculptor by the name of Bruno Torfs who has an amazing property filled with over 200 of his sculptures in the densely packed grounds out the back of his workshop. One of those places that you could go back to time and again and find something new on each visit. I managed to get quite a few good images of his people sculptures - some look almost lifelike.

After driving up and down the mountain for the two days beforehand and seeing some wonderful photo ops (tired kids don't get the need for a photo op!), I decided to venture back up the mountain early Sunday morning to a lookout point that boasted a fantastic view back towards Marysville and Melbourne. I think it was about 4 degrees celcius when I got the point but the scenery didn't disappoint. I snapped off a couple of quick frames and realised that my trusty D200 was disappointing me. A nasty black smudge was appearing on each frame I had taken - change of lens showed the smudge in the same spot; not good! I realised that something had gotten onto the sensor and I was not prepared to do major surgery in the back of the station-wagon half way up a mountain side. I did manage to salvage a shot that I quite like.

Apart from one of the kids being sick in the car on the way home (gotta love that smell), a good trip was had by all. I think I missed a few opportunities as a result of not bringing my tripod (something I realised about 45 minutes into the drive). Will just have to make the effort to head back again soon.

More ramblings soon...

Berk

I had the good fortune on Sunday to tag along with my good friend Peter (from Panos Photographics), who was shooting for Goal Weekly magazine, to the soccer. I've spent a couple of years taking photos of the Aussie Rules version of football but have never peered down the lens at a game of the round ball. Grabbing all the necessary gear we headed down to Bob Jane Stadium in Albert Park for the clash between South Melbourne Lakers and arch rivals Melbourne Knights.

There were a huge amount of police present for this game and their presence was seen very early on with Knights supporters asked to move to the other end of the ground away from the South Melbourne supporters. Everyone behaved from a spectator point of view which was good.

With the game underway I quickly got to shooting anything and everything. Whilst understanding the rules and knowing the general flow of the game I find myself struggling to stay up with the action in some cases. I guess I was trying to liken it to AFL shooting where I can predict the flow of the game and each play is a bit more smooth than soccer. I found the game would suddenly take off and I would miss a header or a kick that would have proved a great shot. Lessons well learned though which is all part of being a good sports photographer - understanding the sport you are shooting.

I eventually got into the swing of things and even managed to try out one of my newer lenses - the Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8. I've had this lens for a little while now but have not really had much of a play with it. I must admit I was very impressed. The focus was fast and the zoom dial very smooth and easy to turn. I was able to zoom into action as it moved away from me and keep the players framed without getting too much background in and the constant f2.8 is just awesome for keeping up the exposure the way you want it when zooming in and out. Highly recommended if anyone is in the market for a mid range zoom.

In the end I couldn't let my trusty Sigma 300mm f2.8 prime go unused. The light began to fade but still some good action was played out right in front of me (one of the downfalls of a long prime is this type of action is hard to capture).

BigCat Web Design & Photography has finally launched its new website. The site will feature a gallery of selected images from our extensive portfolio, which will be updated regularly, as well as examples of our recent web development work plus this blog!

Please have a browse around the new site and come back regularly to see what we're are up to.

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My dad managed to arrange tickets for what turned out to be a family affair at Telstra Dome on Saturday night to see St Kilda (my team) take on AFL premiership hopefuls Hawthorn. We weren't mingling with the common folk on this occasion as we had scored the ultimate prize of the corporate box (Dad works for Australia Post).

A brilliant spread was put on, the beer flowed and the Saints got up and beat Hawthorn! What more could you ask for. I didn't get to take my camera gear with me but did take along the little Canon IXUS 75 point and shoot and took a few quick shots of the ground once it had emptied. It's pretty impressive to see it empty as well as full.

Hope I can get back one day with the good gear and get a proper panorama.

More ramblings soon...

I was introduced to Nikkor's 85mm f1.8 lens through Shelton Muller at one of his most enjoyable workshops (SheltonShops as they shall be called from here on in). He lent me his well used one and I was an instant admirer. I had never had a prime of this focal length or one with such a small aperture. The low light possibilities suddenly opened up and whole raft of ideas came to mind - the first of which was "I have got to get me one of these!".

I managed to get one and did a few low light shots one night of it. But was struggling getting a chance to drag it out of the bag for a proper shoot.


Anyway, as I was cleaning up my gear and organising my camera bags I noticed the gorgeous afternoon light coming through our front window and thought this is a good time to get the 85mm out and give it a whirl. I managed to convince Kylie to pose for a few frames and came up with this:

You have to be dead on with the focusing (when using it at f1.8) and it is something I am going to have to work on with regards to portraits as the eyes are the most important and if you move off the focus spot the whole feeling of the image is gone. Not the greatest portrait of Kylie (hello stare-y eyes!) but the light was gorgeous and gave me a chance to get the camera out.

I tried to get my daughter Abby to pose for a couple after her mum had enough and walked away but she just wouldn't sit still so most missed the focus mark.

Will post some more when i've had a play with this lens some more.

Apple's new flagship product, the iPhone 3G, touched down in Australia (as well as the rest of the world) yesterday. Having hopped on the hype bandwagon myself I was still undecided as to whether I would join the other devotees and wait inline to see if I could score myself one.

Well i'm definitely a sucker for new toys and this has to be the biggest of the lot.

After weeks of hype and anticipation I joined the queues of loyal Apple fans (or those just wanting to cash in on the newest gadget on the block) at Melbourne's Chadstone Shopping centre where the Optus store was opening at 7am. I managed to get there at around 6am - not bad I thought, but was presented with a queue of about 30 already.

We all waited patiently and were treated to cupcakes and drinks by the friendly Optus staff.

There was one bloke who had lined up from about midnight to be the first to get his hands on the iPhone (he was still in the store when I left with my iPhone - not sure he was that organised with all his papers etc).

The staff helped us wait out the time we were there by bringing around actual iPhones for us to hold and play with - was nice to actually touch when considering the closest I had been to one was the ads and reports on the internet!

From a gadget point of view it is awesome! I've not put it down since I got it. I've explored nearly every feature and am still finding some new things which is good.

From a photography point of view, the camera is pretty weak (not something that was a concern to me) but is handy for those times you want to grab a quick snap of something. My previous phone (a Nokia N70) had the same sized 2mp sensor in it and for what it produced (for what I shot) it suited me fine. Here's an example straight out of the iPhone:

Not too bad. I just wonder how long before the next version of iPhone will be out to replace this one - hopefully not anytime soon!

More ramblings soon...

Berk

Well I've decided to take the plunge and have a go at this blogging thing.

I'll focus mainly on new web design/development projects and all my photography related adventures. Hopefully some of my photography work will get some exposure through here.

Would love to get feedback (both good and bad) which can only help me improve, so sign up and comment away. Please let me know if you have any dramas with the system via berk@bigcat.net.au

More ramblings soon...

Berk