Rocking in Rockhampton

I have just returned from a warm and sunny few days in Queensland. It was an honour for me to once again be invited to run even more photography workshops in Rockhampton, situated along the central Queensland coast. I have now been there four times, and each time has been wonderful. This time, however, was unique.

I was asked by Rockhampton photographer, Sharon Mahoney, to come and run a complete wedding photography weekend, taking the local wedding photographers through the process of a wedding day and helping them overcome some of the difficulties they encounter that are unique to them as photographers and unique to their part of the world. This included offering a fresh perspective on everything from typical (and not so typical) Rockhampton locations and the harsh afternoon light that all wedding photographers battle with...especially in a place such as Rockhampton.

Sharon was wonderful in making everything happen. She had organised everything I needed - from a large church for ceremony photographs to a 1925 Essex vintage car...and much more! There was nothing I needed to do except turn up and run the thing....which is exactly how I like it! I can run a mean workshop but I am not the best organiser in the world...

So, Saturday morning found us emulating 'home of the bride' photographs', followed by the ceremony photographs in St Joseph's church. I had been asked to assist with these things particularly, and even though Goldstone House was the location for our 'home of the bride' photographs, we actually used it in such a way that proved to all there that no matter what the nature of the location, beautiful bridal portraits can be achieved - if you know how to use and meter for light. Essentially that was my message for the entire weekend.

After our meal together on Saturday night me met on Rockhampton's river bank for a photo session with a beautiful old Essex car. Not liking the light, we simply moved to a better location only a hundred meters or so away. I did this deliberately. I wanted the group to learn to never settle if a change can be made for better light and a better context. Sunday afternoon saw the entire group of us walking along the street that runs along the river, using whatever we could find to create wedding images. What was interesting was that the group soon learned that great wedding photographs are not created in beautiful locations. They can even be created in parking lots if you know how to use and manipulate light.

Monday found me tired but excited. I had an appointment to be on Radio 4RO with host, Michael Harvey. He is a lovely guy. In the studio with us was Rockhampton Mayor, Brad Carter. We all just chatted about photography for a little while. I do love being on radio talking about photography!

I pour my heart and soul into my workshops. They exhaust me and uplift me at the same time. They exhaust my energies and renew them also. I love the entire experience, despite its rather tiring nature. That being the case, its gratifying to get testimonials like this...

"It was totally awesome. The off camera flash shoots we did just rocked. I just ordered my 'cactus' gear. Shelton...you're a blast.....talk about laugh laugh laugh and laugh some more!The lessons were very very rewarding. THANKS SHELTON. YOU ROCK!!!!"

Thanks Tanya.Thanks to all of the fun photographers who came to the workshop and especially to you, Sharon, for making it possible. I am looking forward to coming up again soon!

A cover shoot

Waking up on a Sunday morning at 5am is not what Sunday mornings are supposed to be about. However, when new and potentially important clients need you to be somewhere for an early morning shoot, that's what you do!

So, Sunday morning found me in at the Hyatt on Collins for a 7am meeting with my new client. (All will be revealed when the magazine is printed). I brought with me my friend and fabulous assistant, Richard Annable and his lovely and very capable girlfriend, Tamara. Together we sat over coffee with my client to discuss the shoot ahead. This was very quickly followed by a fabulous Hyatt buffet breakfast, which really went down well.

The idea of the shoot was about Shopping in Melbourne. For that, we needed to show our fair city as the sunny summer destination that it is...except that in July - it isn't. It had been raining all day and all night the day before and there was little sign on sunlight for the day ahead. So, armed with a couple of Pocket Wizards and some off camera flash units we made our own sunlight and it seemed to work well.

Our model was Arabella Forge, a beautiful and very humourous nutrionist who also models for various clients. She was great fun to work with, especially considering that her outfits were not particularly made for a cold winter day. Nonetheless, she soldiered on through the various renditions of Richard and I singing "Tropical Heatwave" in a vain attempt to keep her thinking warm thoughts. She was fabulous!

My client had asked me to set the day aside, thinking that the shoot would take the better part of the day. However, I had impressed my client so much by the time 12 noon rolled around that she looked at me eagerly enough and said "I think that's it. I don't need any more. We're done!

When a client knows that the shots are in the bag hours before it was thought that they would be, you know you have done your job. There is also every chance that they will work with you again. And, after the fun we all had, I hope so. I really want to work with these fun and creative people again!

Behind the Scenes images courtesy of Tamara Bodor.

Saturday Night...

Saturday was a day off. I had a workshop planned but lack of numbers meant that it could be postponed. Wow! A day off! Woohoo! Not that there was nothing to do, but rather that I didn't actually have to do anything. What I did was a matter of choice. Except for one thing...and that was perfectly ok by me.

My nephew Jesse and his girlfriend Nicky had made an appointment to come over for their first official portrait of the two of them together.

Nicky is an exquisitely beautiful girl with a sweet, soft and endearing face, beautiful lips, fabulous cheekbones and two of the most beautiful and engaging eyes I have ever seen. When she smiles her entire face brightens the room. Combine these wonderful physical attributes with her sweet personality and kind heart and you have someone very special. And she is. No wonder Jesse is so enraptured with her. And she lights up when he enters the room. I saw it in her eyes when I was photographing her.

Jesse is himself a fine young man and I am very proud to be his uncle. He is also rather handsome. Its in his family, on his uncle's side....

So, as you can imagine, photographing these two young people was going to be an absolute pleasure. My sister, Christina is a professional make up artist and her work on Nicky's face was exceptional. Her attention to detail makes the nuance of difference that only a real professional can see or make.

As for me, I kept the lighting simple. One main light, one hair light and a reflector. I prefer to work that way and find that it usually works best to keep everything simple. I already had two fabulous faces to photograph and so much of my job was already done!

Thank you Jesse and Nicky! I had fun!

Another Workshop

Yesterday saw Glynn Lavender and me at Abbottsford Convent once again, running our Creative People Photography workshop. It was a small group but the day was a roaring success. Our model, Natasha Humble, was once again in fine form, brightening the atmosphere with her infectious humour and her gorgeous smile. She is a wonderful model for our workshops as not only does she have a beautiful face but also a bright and willing spirit. She told me later that she was not actually feeling very well, and I really appreciate how wonderful she was. Thank you Natasha!

For more information on upcoming workshops, click here or email me at shelton@total-image.com.au

For my online tutorials, click here

Back from PMA 2009

Well, I actually got back on Monday, but this is the first chance I have had to update my blog! Yeah, I kinda hit the ground running! This year's Imaging Technology Show 2009 was fabulous. There were so many stands and the public support was wonderful. I got a chance to get my hands on the new Olympus Ep-1 and the promise that very soon I will receive a review camera for my magazine. The problem Olympus are going to have is actually getting that little beastie back! I must admit to not really having been a huge fan of Olympus cameras over the last couple of decades, but this is different. I really do like it, and I want to take one to India with me when I go there in late October. It is a great little 'street camera'.

Apart from that I had my new DVD's with me and managed to sell a few dozen of them, which was nice. I also spoke at the Picture Place, the theatre where the public were welcome to sit and listen to professionals and industry figures give half hour lectures. I was scheduled to speak last on each day as apparently I tend to go a little overtime...

Having my son, Nathan and my friend Richard Annable with me was also great, and being able to catch up with my business partner, John Pospisil was also fun. He is a great guy and a pleasure to work with.

It was also refreshing to have so many people from my digital photography tutorials website The Five Minute Photographer come to the stand and say Hi. This was enhanced by the constant stream of 'G'day Shelton' from listeners to the podcast I do with Bruce Williams, Shutters Inc.

Speaking of which,...our time in Sydney was celebrated on our last evening when Bruce invited Nathan, Richard and myself into his home to record a mammoth episode of Shutters Inc. Basically, it was four guys who love photography sharing a glass or six of red wine, some pizza and a three hour chat. To hear the madness and the philosophical banter than ensued, click here... From what I have heard from those who have endured it, its rather fun to listen to!

Well, it was another year, another chance to catch up with some fellow editors, photographers and friends. I look forward to next year...

My New Venture

Hello Everyone!

It is with breath drawn and held that I announce the brand new venture I have been spending several sleepless nights bringing to its conclusion. Yes, I am pleased to announce my new "How to Become a Wedding Photographer" instructional DVD.

This DVD, the first in a planned series of instructional DVD's on various photographic subjects, addresses the needs and questions of any photographer considering a career - part time or full time - in wedding photography. It runs for around 80 minutes and its ten chapters are slide show based, using instructive and inspirational images to match its educational narrative.

It has been completed just in time for us to sell them to the thousands of attendees at the upcoming Imaging Technology Show 2009 which is being held in Sydney over this coming weekend. If this product interests you, come and see it being run on our 42" screen at the Total Image stand, # 566.

If you are not there and you are still interested in this DVD, please contact me at my digital photography tutorials website, The Five Minute Photographer or at shelton@total-image.com.au .

I look forward to seeing you at the Show! If you are there, pop by our stand or look for me as I make my way around. Be sure to say hi!

Mantini

It was a longer shoot than I was briefed for, but that's ok. It was alot of fun. Today found me in Silvan for Mantini, makers of fine Jewelery. Mantini specialiases in "Secrets" lockets which are quite lovely. That's the SNAG coming out in me. The photographer in me says they were great to photograph!

The shoot called upon my talents as both a studio portrait/glamour photographer and product photographer too. And I got to catch up with my sister, Christina, who is one of the best Make-up artists I have ever worked with. And I am not just saying that because she was my bodyguard when we went to school either! Or because she is my sister. She really does know make-up and her ability to adapt to each face and each situation is excellent. I often recommend her for wedding work also.

We accomplished much in one day..with the entire range of jewelery being completed and some glamour style portraits also achieved. Our models Suzi (above), Lauren and Anthea were great fun to work with too, and Christina did a simply wonderful job of the make-up.

Not much more to say really...just a great shoot that went longer than I thought it would...which is just fine.

Laura and Obed's Big Day

Saturday found me camera in hand, photographing the wedding of a good friend, Laura. Laura used to come to our place with a block or two of Dairy Milk, a DVD and make herself at home on our couch. That is, until she met Obed. Ah, true love. It has to be if it can replace Laura's penchant for a quarter kilo of Cadbury's, our couch and a chick flick!

You never know how its going to be - photographing a friend's wedding. Would they feel more comfortable with someone they don't know, or are they going to respond to you better? I suppose it is different for each person. All I know is that they both loved being photographed and we all enjoyed the day very much.

Its winter here in Melbourne, Oz, and June is not known for being a great time to get married. But Laura and Obed weren't going to let something as small as the weather get in their way. It was a little cold at The Briars in Mount Martha, but they were warm enough. They were in each other's company and they were married. They were warm enough. Mind you, my Argentinian leather jacket helped a bit as well, it appeared.

Because of a distinct lack of actual sunlight, I decided I would use the ole sunshine-on-a-stick method of rim lighting our couple. Old...but not to me. I never used it before. It was a lighting method I was hoping to find reason to use somewhere, sometime, soon. Why not at a wedding? It seemed the perfect day for it.

So I put my Nikon SB800 on the end of an extendable painters pole with an old Manfrotto joystick head attached. I used Nikon's trusty CLS flash system and Voila! I had sunshine! Thanks to Walter, their driver and our friend, who was my very reliable portable sunshine machine and to Joedy Bowden of FotoLanguage who also came along for the fun and helped me out. Mind you, she did find my gadget bag a little heavy. That's ok Joedy. So do I sometimes.

The same thing happened at Mt Martha. It was freezing, but Laura and Obed were keen to have some photographs. It was a typically beautiful winter sunset but the light on Laura and Obed was fairly average. This time, Walter just needed to stand camera left with my SB800 in his hand for me to achieve these results. Thanks again Walter! You were a lifesaver. Laura braved the icy winter winds long enough for me to achieve some images from the day that I am very pleased with. While I lay in the cold sand looking up at her, Joedy kept a watchful eye on the approaching tide to ensure that Laura's wedding day didn't become a Trash the Dress Session. As it was, Laura jumped out of the way of a wave just a split second after her photo was taken, thanks to Joedy's rather vocal warning.

Following that we headed for the Mt Eliza Safeway.

Why? Milk? Bread? A kilo of Dairy Milk and a DVD? No. Actually, Obed had come up with the concept of shopping for a bride...and so we walked in (after having previous approval of course) and started having a real laugh. taking these conceptual photographs. The shoppers were wondering what level of lunacy had suddenly struck Mt Eliza. I think most of them thought they were on candid camera. But their quizzical looks did not phase Laura, Obed or me. We just got in and got on with the photography.

I had too much fun. I really did!

It was a few years ago now but I remember telling Laura that I would not permit anyone else to photograph her wedding. That's a fairly arrogant demand really, isn't it? Nonetheless, Laura respected my wishes and allowed me the distinguished honour of being there for her and her husband. Thanks Laura and Obed for not going anywhere else...and allowing me the honour of photographing your wedding.

Incidentally, the exposure techniques for these off camera flash images can be found explained at my digital photography tutorials website, The Five Minute Photographer

Not Giving it the Flick

For a bit of fun and experimentation, I have owned a Flickr site for some time now. There are some photographers who disagree with some of the alleged problems that are apparently particular to having your images on Flickr, and that is up to them of course. But it has actually worked quite well for me. I have kept in touch with several photographers and have been able to promote my various services with it. Also, ot has been yet another URL I can place in an email to a couple who enquires of me regarding their upcoming wedding, for instance, and it is a great place to advertise by means of your images and posts your upcoming workshops and of course my digital photography tutorials website, The Five Minute Photographer.

But I received a Flickr mail the other day from a woman in Portugal who really loved one of my images and asked if it could be used for a magazine cover. The image is uploaded in low resolution, so I was asked to supply a high resolution image, which I did. The result is the cover (above) and a nice payment in Euros for the use of the image.

I don't blame photographers who are concerned with the unpaid and unlicensed use of their images that certainly takes place. However, so far for me it has only been beneficial.

Monochrome at a Workshop

Yesterday's Creative People Photography workshop found me doing something I have never done before with my digital SLR - shooting monochrome in camera. The logic to me, as it is to many people is that you shoot everything in colour and then alter the RAW file later to produce a monochrome image.

I still believe that is the best way to produce a high quality black and white image. Lets not get me wrong here. However, I have to admit that the Nikon D700's ability to produce a monochrome image directly from the camera was pleasantly surprising. I was able to tell the D700 what colour filtration I desired and therefore set the tonal range somewhat in camera - just like the 'old day's when we used to shoot using black and white film and coloured filters over our lenses.

It was an interesting return to that mindspace yesterday as once again I found myself thinking in black and white as I shot.

Naturally I had the camera set to produce a black and white jpeg image and a full colour RAW image simultaneously in case I wanted the colour image too. Such is the advantage of digital. But it was an interesting exercise and an interesting way to return to a former way of thinking.

The workshop itself went very well, and I take this opportunity to thank our model, Eshini Perera for her sweet personality which endeared her to all of us and made the afternoon prac session such a delight!

Keep an eye out for more workshops! There are plenty being planned. For my photography tutorials, click here...

Lifesaving Glass...cheap!

A few posts ago, I was talking about my experience of being asked to photograph a front cover for Connections magazines in the bowels of a shopping centre. I had to photograph two men and some pipes. Remember that post? If not, just scroll down...

Well, here is the cover. There is one really cool thing about this whole experience though. I photographed it with an old Sigma 14mm f2.8 manual focus lens I bought at a flea market for $150. I knew that I would need to employ the dynamic perspective of this focal length in order to give the photograph some visual interest, along with some off camera flash to add some lighting effect in  an otherwise boring lighting situation. This old Sigma 14mm lens did the trick. And it was very sharp too.

I have used this lens since then on commercial shoots and it has been quite wonderful. I am very satisfied with its performance and don't feel the need to buy anything more expensive at this stage. Because my Nikon D700 can be programmed to meter with this lens, I am very happy to use it. Also, seeing as I was raised on manual focus and it is a 14mm lens, I have no issues with the fact that I actually have to turn the focus ring at the front myself....

I would have to say that I have rarely spent $150 on anything better than this...

Another Wedding Workshop today

Today saw Glynn Lavender and me at Abbotsford Convent...again, running a Creative Wedding Photography workshop. Once again, Natasha Humble fronted as our bride with Glynn taking the honours for himself to pose as our groom. The problem was trying to stop these two characters from laughing and fooling around! We had such a great time!

I am however reminded of one sad truth whenever I run photography workshops, especially the wedding one. That truth is that there are photographers who are photographing weddings who have the incorrect perception that having a creative eye and a digital SLR will get you by, no matter how little you may know about the science and technicalities of photography. So many who come to these workshops have little knowledge of these aspects of photography and rely far too much on their cameras to get things right.

This is a misunderstanding and an overstating of any camera's ability, and this is especially true of wedding photography. At my workshop today, I was able to at least show some of those who attended what they really needed to learn...and that is a good thing.

So let me clarify. This is not a criticism of those who attend with little knowledge of their cameras. It would be a criticism if they were to continue along those lines after realising the need to learn. I hope that doesn't happen, of course...