Paul and Francesca's wedding

After speaking at the Understanding Your Camera workshop yesterday morning, my son Nathan and I had to head off to photograph Paul and Francesca's wedding. It was great to work with my son, and he worked very hard. His assistance in simply carrying gear, holding flashguns, getting lenses and second shooting was invaluable. He has quite an eye himself and I think he could become quite an accomplished photographer in his own right. We have already started a thread at the forum on my photography tutorials website to see who outshot who yesterday!

After their ceremony, Paul and Francesca had chosen The Silk Road, an exclusive bar in Collins Street for their unique shoot location. Never having been there before, I immediately went around scouting for light and locations. I realised quickly that this is a stunning location....and I had an hour to work with it. I decided on my locations and shots both inside and out and away we went.

Thanks Paul and Francesca for the honour of being selected to photograph your wedding. You and your families treated Nathan and I with such kindness and friendliness that we were made to feel as if we were guests ourselves. Here are a few images from your wedding....

Creative Flash Photography Workshop

Well, another Saturday, another workshop. But don't think for one moment that I am tired of doing them. No way Jose! I absolutely love running a photography workshop of any kind. It gives me the opportunity to combine two passions simultaneously - my love for photography and my desire to teach. 

Saturday's workshop at Abbottsford Convent was the Creative Flash Photography workshop. Because of the sheer logistics of the off camera flash element, it can be the most difficult workshop that I run. However, it all went very smoothly, and the assistance of friend and fellow Five Minute Photographer colleague, Berk McGowan, everybody was well catered for. Thanks for your help Berk! 

I don't get alot of opportunities to shoot at my workshops so the image of our model, Soph above was one of the few I managed. It was taken from a part of the day during which I was teaching the art of 'invisible flash', in other words, using the flash to gently supplement the ambient light rather than obviously overtake it. This was something that nearly all in the group had asked about during our morning introductions.

Thanks to all for attending and for Croydon Camera House for once again being such wonderful sponsors.

Saturday's workshop

Once again, I found myself teaching another group at my Creative People Photography workshop on Saturday at Abbottsford Convent. It was another great group of enthusiastic photographers who wanted to take their photography another step forward. My son Nathan and my nephew Jesse also attended. Jesse has a keen photographic eye but has not explored photography seriously as a pastime as yet. However, the chance to photograph a lovely young model might have given him some further encouragement! He actually came in handy while we waited a few minutes for Lisa, our model, to arrive. While she was stuck in an unexpected traffic jam, Jesse became my model for a few minutes. Being the handsome young lad that he is, I thought I could at least do some instructing while we waited for poor Lisa to arrive.
But arrive she did, and she was great. Thanks Lisa! I look forward to working with you again soon.
Incidentally, there is a Creative Flash Photography workshop planned for this coming weekend!

My Mum Goes Pro

My Mum and her new Nikon D60

Well, that is something I never thought I would see - My Mum with a Nikon SLR in her hands. But I will tell you this much. She loves it! My Dad, Nathan and I gave it to her as part of their recent wedding anniversary celebrations. The following day, my Mum and I spent an afternoon together doing something I never thought I would - walking around Queenscliffe seeing everything and taking pictures. 

Having a DSLR in her hands has given my Mum new eyes. Suddenly she sees the shadows that form on the footpath as the afternoon light sprays through a picket fence. She notices textures and shapes and even the drip forming on a tap in a park. Yes, she has found photography in the truest sense. My Mum has always enjoyed photography but never felt that she could do it 'properly' like her son does. But the 'point and shoot' ease with which she takes pictures now has made the entire process so much easier and so much more enjoyable.

There was a time when photography was difficult. Those were the days when cameras required that you knew what you were doing, that you understood metering - both incident and reflected and knew how to set the camera to match. They were the times when you needed to count the cost of film and processing and thus each image was a financial investment and needed to be worth the materials, let alone the effort.

However, digital has changed everything about that. Cameras are designed with such automation that nowadays you can’t even capture your subject with so much as a grimace. The smile technology makes sure of that. Exposure is automated in more ways than we ever thought possible and if you still don’t get it right, you can delete the image and take it again without it costing a single cent. So far, so good.

From my perspective, this also has its distinct disadvantages. The foremost among these in my mind is the lack of understanding that is perceived by the masses as no longer being required. I mean, after all, if the camera is going to do everything for you, why learn anything? However, it is that kind of thinking that not only prevents many gifted photographers from improving and reaching their full potential but also deprives them at core level of the absolute joy of having created the image and controlled its creation at as many levels as possible. That part of the joy of photography should never be overstated.

Conversely, as I say, my mum has just become the proud owner of a new Nikon D60. Once upon a time a Nikon SLR camera would have frightened her beyond thinking. But you see, its all different now. The camera is a point and shoot DSLR with the ability to remove all the confusion of exposure and focus and simply allow her the fun of taking photographs. She is allowed to see and to shoot without any problems of cost or the frustrations of not completely understanding the technology. In fact the technology exists for the sole reason that she doesn’t have to understand it.

Will my Mum ever get past using the camera on the ‘little green camera on the dial’ setting? I doubt it. And if she does, it will be slowly and with limitations. This is not to say that my Mum is unintelligent. In fact the opposite is true. But there are some things you perhaps don’t want to learn at her age. I might have to give her a complimentary membership to my photography tutorials website! In the meantime though, she is enjoying her new found love of photography immensely.

And that is good enough for me.

A snapshot, a rite of passage

There are only a couple of images on this blog that have not been taken by me. 

This is one of them. It was taken by John, the bartender.

"Now John at the bar is a friend of mine

And he gets me my drinks for free.." 

Billy Joel

The snapshot above is of me and my son at the Chelsea Hotel. Last night we went out for our first official beer together. It was his 18th birthday yesterday and ordering two beers at the bar was a natural rite of passage. 

So while this is only a snapshot and not in any way creative, it is more important to me as a photograph than perhaps anything that has appeared on this blog at any time. It is a moment in time captured to recall the precious relationship I have with my best friend - my son Nathan. He is the blessing in my life that no words of gratitude can possibly convey. So this photograph represents something more precious than my love of photography. It is probably the most important photograph this blog has ever contained. It is a snapshot of my son and me having our first beer at the bar. It is a photograph of a simple rite of passage that represents the passage of time, the blessing of our friendship and the hope we share for our future as father and son.

I shot a model - and fed an elephant.

Yesterday was an interesting day. Yes, I shot a model, and fed an elephant. Allow me to explain. For some time now I have enjoyed working with a Melbourne model named Soph. She and I first worked together when I needed a model for the cover of Total Image magazine. She has often worked as the model for my photography workshops and I would be happy to work with her for a number of other projects as well. She is a great poser!

She asked me some time ago to help her with some corporate fashion photographs and I was more than happy to oblige. We just needed to work out a time, which, between her schedule and mine was not easy to do. But yesterday morning, it all came together. I picked her up from her home and we drove to the ruins in Sunbury where I photographed Samantha Bennett recently with my old friend, Glynn Lavender. Whereas corporate fashion is often photographed in corporate surroundings, I wanted something different. Hence, the return to these ruins. Soph was a trooper, risking her ankles and her shoes on these broken bluestone bricks at her feet and even standing in the archway being blown about by the wind knowing that behind her was only a sheer drop and a jagged end to her fall. But, we had fun. 

After that, I had to get to Eynesbury Estate for a wedding I had to photograph. This time however I was not the official wedding photographer, but rather a commercial photographer capturing candids of an actual wedding in process for Eynesbury's own wedding advertising. The professional covering the wedding allowed me a few minutes to set up this photograph so I could incorporate the wedding cars, the couple and the Eynesbury main building for an advertising photograph. I had a about three minutes to do it, so I quickly had the cars put in place, set up my off camera Nikon CLS flash system and took a few photographs.

I had been informed that the real reason Eynesbury had asked me to come to this wedding was because there was going to be an elephant here. Somehow, some way, an elephant had been organised for the bride and groom to feed on the wedding day. Because the estate boasts a lot of old National Trust fences etc, the elephant was not allowed to leave the truck. Nevertheless, the bride and groom got to feed it, have their photo taken with it and get a few blasts of elephant snot in the process! I mean, who wouldn't want elephant snot stains on her wedding dress? It makes perfect sense to me! After seeing me try to get photographs of the elephant and the bride and groom, one of the guests asked if I wanted a photograph taken feeding the elephant. Hey! Why not? I mean, I have seen some bizarre things at weddings, but this was entirely new!

The Glamourous Life of the Professional Photographer...?

Yesterday saw me in my own backyard with a clothesline, 4 wooden clothes pegs, 4 Sticky notes and a 70-year old woman. What was I doing? I was producing a magazine cover for a long time client of mine. The clothes line, the four pegs and the sticky notes are all apparent in this image. The 70-year old woman? That's my indomitable mother who willingly acted as my assistant, holding the clothes line straight in the wind and checking that the pegs and the sticky notes were all as they should be. Thanks Mum! The cheque is in the mail!

Yes, the glamourous life of the professional photographer! No, I wasn't on a tropical island or in a large studio bustling with busy boondogglers. There were no large lighting setups, pony-tailed assistants, curvaceous swimsuit models or European sports cars to be seen anywhere. No art directors, clients or other superfluous hangers on. Just me, my Mum, a blue bed sheet and the aforementioned items. Naturally, I used my Nikon D700 and its incredible CLS off camera flash technology to provide a simple but effective lighting setup. Setting the camera on manual, I underexposed the ambient light by about two stops allowing the flash, camera left, to become the primary light source. A little bit of levels and curves with the RAW file in PhotoShop, and Voila! A cover is shot! Just don't tell the client, ok? He thinks I slaved for hours over this shot when in fact the hardest part of it was simply finding wooden clothes pegs in a plastic world!

My clients appreciate that I am able to create interesting images from simple things, using quick, reliable and simple setups that enable me to move quickly through a shoot and produce twice the amount of quality images in half the time of other photographers. That philosophy keeps me in work and maintains my place with my clients even when other young mavericks come along with their portfolios. I am happy to be known for that as it also implies a compliment to me and my skills. I suppose the years behind me have taught me how to produce images in situations that are less than favourable. Taking those lessons even into planned and less difficult shoots has gained me a reputation as a photographer who gets in and gets it done. In these economically recessive times, I think my clients will appreciate my approach.

A Bride in Ruins

A long time friend in the industry, Glynn Lavender and I spent a good part of yesterday discussing plans we are making for certain business ventures for 2009. Once that was done, we grabbed our cameras and did some photography. Glynn has found some incredible old ruins in the western suburbs of Melbourne and so we decided to organise a model and do some photographs. Samantha Bennett was first to put up her hand and so she became our Bride in Ruins. 

Glynn has posted so many images of these ruins at my photographic tutorials website that it was impossible to ignore their potential for great locations. Together we used available light and even did some Strobist work, using the textures and frames of the ruins to produce some interesting images. Surprisingly, Samantha fit fairly well into the wedding dress I use for my wedding photography workshops and so it all went quite smoothly. Considering that Glynn and I have known each other for 25 years or so, it is interesting that this was the first time we had ever photographed together. Lets do it again Glynn! Now, where are all the other secret ruins you know about...

Me Doing My Thing, with a Sony A900...

As anyone who knows me will understand, I am a little one-eyed on the subject of Nikon. I love 'em!
However, that does not mean that I believe that they are the only ones who make great cameras. Its just that they work in the same way that I think.
When Camera Action in Melbourne approached me to do the Sony A900 launch a few months ago, I was happy to have a look at their latest offering and speak about it at a Melbourne Launch. I am impressed with the camera in many ways, and while it does not have the ability to produce the same 'noise free' images that my Nikon D700 will at higher ISO's, it nonetheless has a resolution to die for. Sony would argue that higher ISO's are not needed as much due to its incredible Steady Shot technology, which I was (in all honesty!) quite amazed by. Along with their Zeiss Lenses, the Sony A900's ability to produce incredibly high quality images is quite astounding. Below is an excerpt from the video of the evening.

Another Creative People Photography Workshop

This past Saturday had me back at Montsalvat for yet another Creative People Photography workshop. I love Montsalvat as a location. I love photographing people and I love running workshops. So all in all you could say it was a fabulous day.

The light was interesting on Saturday. The recent fires in this state have changed the sky into a large hazy brown softbox. The light of early morning and late afternoon was particularly warm and soft.

Croydon Camera House were my agents for this workshop and it was great to have my son along as well. Nathan has a great eye for photography and our Father/Son roadtrip through Canada in October 2006 revealed his talents to me. But he hasn't had much experience photographing people.

After today's workshop I think he has found the very thing he enjoys photographing the most. Mind you, Charmaine was an attractive girl, so that helps! More than that, she was a lot of fun to work with and that makes the day more enjoyable for everyone.

Once again, I endeavoured to bring home to the attendees the simple principles that enable great portraits and people pictures. I taught them my three simple mantras for people photographs and showed them why and how they work. The group enjoyed their day very much and each of them went home with some great portraits. The most important thing is that they are now able to take these kinds of images themselves. For me, that is perhaps the greatest reward.

Face Retouching Techniques

One of the great challenges for portrait, glamour and and wedding photographers ( among others ) is facial retouching. Where do you start, and at what point do you stop? 

Some of the magazine covers we see show images of faces that are beautifully retouched. Some are ridiculous, impossible. 

The art of retouching has been around since the inception of photography. Before that, painters made sure to blur the lines between reality and complimentary. In these portraits of Belinda, a rather beautiful bridesmaid who hated having her photo taken, I have used a few techniques that I believe were complimentary without taking away or distracting from the reality of her near perfect features. 

The first image is from the camera, untouched, uncropped. I shot this image with my Nikon D700 and my Nikkor 85mm lens. 

The second image has been retouched in PhotoShop. 

First of all, I cropped the image slightly. 

Then, I removed some small blemishes using the heal tool. 

Then, using a soft paintbrush with an opacity and flow of about 15 each, I softly painted over the hot spots on her forehead and nose with a sample of colour taken from her skin. 

Then, using the burn tool, I whitened her eyes a little. 

Then, back to the paintbrush. Using white, I softly painted over the catchlights in her eyes to highlight them a little more. 

Finally, I made a duplicate layer and applied Surface Blur to her face. Surface Blur retains sharpness in the edges. It does not create the haloed effect of Gaussian Blur. I set my Surface Blur settings to about 15 for radius and 15 for Threshold. Then I changed the opacity settings between the top layer which had the Surface Blur effect and the sharp layer beneath to about 66 percent. 

Flatten and Save. 

What are your thoughts? Too much, or too little?

Victorian Bushfires

Still Standing

The world has no doubt been made aware of the bushfires that have ravaged this beautiful state of Victoria, leaving over 750 homes destroyed, hundreds of thousands of hectares of land burnt and charred and nearly 200 precious lives lost. It is without doubt one of Australia's saddest times. My heart goes out to all those who have lost much this past weekend, especially to those who have lost friends and family in this disaster. May you be granted peace and consolation.
My sister and her family live in the Yarra Valley and had their property ravaged by fire. Thankfully their house was saved and they suffered no damage to their health in any way. They lost a watertank and fencing and their pastures are blackened from the fire that raced mercilessly across their property.Their two beautiful Friesian horses, their sheds and their home were not damaged in any real way. But it came very close.

This image (above) gives you some idea just how close they came to losing their home...

My son, Nathan and I went up there as soon as we could. I live about an hour and a quarter away from my sister so we were already at a disadvantage. Arriving in the district, we had to sweet talk our way through roadblocks that would let us pass so we could access the area to help in whatever way we could. Naturally by the time we were able to get through the worst of the fires had passed, leaving its black scar on the landscape and its contents. The photojournalist in me also could not help but photograph what time allowed me to capture.

By the side of the road we saw homes, completely destroyed, others spared by only metres from imminent destruction. Near roadside fences we saw bloated and burnt livestock so heated in the passing cataclysm that their contents literally exploded from inside them. There were calves still in their amniotic sacs that had literally burst through the skins of their dying mothers. I had never seen the like of it before. The image posted above is among the least offensive I could have placed. There are others I felt would have been to much for some to see. They must have suffered so terribly.

The title image to this post is of my sister's family home, still standing. The smoky sunset over it was a perfect context of light to take the image above that begins this post. I felt was a testament to their hard work and bravery of my sister, her husband, her two sons and one of their girlfriends as they fought together to save the house, my niece and her baby who huddled inside and themselves. I wish I could have been there to see it and to fight alongside. I believe it would have been a moment I would have been very proud of and remind me of the honour it is to be a member of my amazing family.