ramblings

ramblings http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/ Thoughts, notes and ramblings on all things photographic, web based and whatever else takes our fancy. en-US Copyright 2009 Wed, 20 May 2009 15:23:04 +1000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Portraits and good company

A photogroup I am involved with, Five Minute Photographer run by friend Shelton Muller, has been organising regular monthly meetups for all of the Melbourne based members.

Last Sunday saw us head to Montsalvat in Eltham, Victoria. Montsalvat, founded by Justus Jörgensen, is Australia's oldest artists' colony and is home to practising artists. Set on 12 acres the historic buildings include charming mud brick cottages and the impressive Great Hall and the photographer's best friend, the Loft.

I'd been wanting to take some portraits of a friend of mine, Ed, for some time now and thought this would be a great location as well as provide a subject for the rest of the group attending to photograph. Ed did a stellar job considering he's not a model and has never done this sort of thing before.

It was also great to catch up with the 5MP guys as well. It's never a dull moment when we're all together.

Hope to have some more updates soon.

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2009/05/portraits-and-good-company.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2009/05/portraits-and-good-company.html Photography Portraits 5MP Ed Portrait Wed, 20 May 2009 15:23:04 +1000 Portrait with Bounce
I asked my friend in the team John if he would be willing to pose for me. Once I explained the idea he was really willing to help out.

I now needed to get use of the stadium as they are a busy centre that always has something on. A phone call, email and another phone call later and the deal was done mind you a nice early 7.30am start!

I give John top cred - he came into this with as much enthusiasm as I did which was good, gave the whole shoot a great vibe from the word go. He had about 10 changes of clothes which was great as I had only had one in mind but ended up using a few.

Set up for images was a mixture of varying Nikon SB units. The beauty of the speedlights is that it gives you the ability to change up the scene quickly without having to move a ton of gear around. The above shot was an SB800 fired through a shoot through umbrella camera left with an SB600 camera right firing at the back of John's head through another shoot through. I also had an SB28 bare on a stand down the back pointing at the backboard to light it up. All units fired by Pocket Wizards.

Was great to shoot John. Here's hoping I can come up with another shoot to use him in. Maybe even an outdoor setting this time!

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2009/03/portrait-with-bounce.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2009/03/portrait-with-bounce.html Portraits Sport Basketball Strobist Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:45:20 +1000 Maternity Photos

I've done a couple of maternity shoots prior to this one (the main one being my own partner Kylie) and jumped at the opportunity as they are a lot of fun and something that doesn't happen everyday.

Kate, Neil and Lottie were all a pleasure to work with and I was humbled to hear they felt relaxed and comfortable with myself and how professional I came across - always a nice thing to hear.

Thanks again guys and hopefully all goes well on the big day!

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2009/02/maternity-photos.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2009/02/maternity-photos.html Clients Maternity Photography Maternity Pregnancy Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:07:50 +1000 New addition

Now i've been somewhat slack in my postings as of late... hopefully that will change over the coming month(s).

More ramblings soon...

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/12/new-addition.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/12/new-addition.html Blog Family Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:07:51 +1000 Flashing It Strobist.com as well as through workshops held by Shelton Muller.

I had the fortune during the week to get my hands on a copy of David Hobby's (from Strobist.com) much acclaimed Strobist DVD series. Pouring through it just got me all excited to get out and try some off camera flashing! Well Sunday being such a nice day I decided to rope in my daughter to pose for some outdoor type shots.

Well, I was given all of about 2 minutes "face time" with my model. In messing around setting up the shot she had grown bored and I only managed to get a couple of keepers out of it all before Abby decided there was much more interesting things to do in the back yard. Prima donnas... I dunno...

For the photo geeks here's the setup: Shot in my backyard during the afternoon with Abby standing in the shade. Camera left has a Nikon SB800 mounted on a stand with a shoot through umbrella plus a black backing on it sort of turning it into a softbox. It's a bit more cumbersome than a standard shoot through but decided to try it out. Camera set to manual and metered for the sky - should have dropped the ambient by a couple of stops at this point but was trying to get everything else set up as well so missed that. SB800 is set to 1/4 power and fired by PocketWizard II's.

I really like this type of lighting and the results show in this image when viewed in full at hi-res. It's just a nice even light that gives the image a different feel. If I can plant the kids down long enough I'll try some more otherwise i'll try and rope in some willing models!

(ps there was a delay posting this due to computer issues... more on that soon!)

More ramblings soon...

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/09/flashing-it.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/09/flashing-it.html Family Photography Portraits Abby Kids Off Camera Lighting Sky Strobist Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:07:31 +1000 5 Minutes of Phun
Managed to catch up on Saturday with a group of people I deal with regularly through an online forum as part of Shelton Muller's wonderful site Five Minute Photographer.

We decided to head into the city and meet up at Fed Square and take it from there. 8 of us in total made it along and the experience levels ranged from newbie's to those working in the industry. It was great as we could bounce ideas off one another and learn and share as we do on on 5MP (hence the silly title of this post).

I guess a big thanks to Richard Annable for organising it to begin with but also to all the others for coming along - except Shelton (no Shelton I haven't forgiven you yet!)

Looking forward to the next one.

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/09/5-minutes-of-phun.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/09/5-minutes-of-phun.html Photography FiveMinutePhotographer.com Melbourne CBD Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:55:40 +1000 Father's Day

No socks or jocks for this dad!

Hopefully all dad's had a great day.

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/09/fathers-day.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/09/fathers-day.html Family Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:44:42 +1000 Handles like a dream
Managed to get my hands on a new Nikon D300 not too long ago and let me just say it handles like a dream. I've had the D200 for quite a while now and it is an awesome camera that just feels right and Nikon have done all its followers justice by delivering that same feeling in the D300 plus adding in some awesome advancements. Aside from the standard updates the big kicker for me is how well the new CMOS sensor handles the high ISO range. The D200's CCD sensor was not the greatest when you started pushing the boundaries of ISO 400 and was pretty awful for anything over ISO 800. Enter the D300 with it's big brother's, the D3, awesome sensor and Nikon have delivered something that competitors are losing out to.

The above image was shot handheld (1/80th @ f2.8) at ISO 1600 with available light in an dingy office environment that would have otherwise warranted a flash setup or tripod to achieve a similar result.

You can see in this above crop of the top image how little noise there is at this ISO. There is no editing to these images except cropping and resizing and are straight out of camera.

Short of my old Hasselblad 503cx this is one of the best cameras I have ever owned for not only the high ISO handling but just how good it feels in the hand as well as the additional features (which I might go into in another post). I've not had a great deal of time testing it out but hope to do so over the next month or so, so stay tuned for more!!

More ramblings soon...

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/08/handles-like-a-dream.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/08/handles-like-a-dream.html Gear Photography D300 Nikon Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:25:24 +1000 Snow Country
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

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/snow-country.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/snow-country.html Family Photography Holidays Marysville Sculpture Snow Waterfalls Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:30:20 +1000 Round Ball Footy

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).

I will definitely be back for more of the round ball soon!

More ramblings soon...

Berk

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/round-ball-footy.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/round-ball-footy.html Photography Sport Albert Park Competiiton Soccer South Melbourne Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:08:12 +1000 New Website Launched 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.

More ramblings soon...

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/new-website-launched.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/new-website-launched.html Photography Web Design/Development Website Website Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:46:28 +1000 Footy Fever 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...

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/footy-fever.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/footy-fever.html Gear Photography Sport AFL Football Melbourne Telstra Dome Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:00:55 +1000 Nikkor 85mm f1.8 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.

More ramblings soon...

Berk

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/nikkor-85mm-f18.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/nikkor-85mm-f18.html Gear Photography Portraits 85mm f1.8 Gear Kylie Nikkor Nikon Photography Portrait Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:34:51 +1000 iPhone has landed! 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

]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/iphone-has-landed.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/iphone-has-landed.html Gadgets Gear Photography Chadstone iPhone Optus Photography Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:02:32 +1000 Leap of Faith
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
]]> http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/leap-of-faith.html http://www.bigcat.net.au/blog/2008/07/leap-of-faith.html Blog blog Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:31:56 +1000