Andrew and Jin's Wedding

It was once again an honour to photograph a wedding, this time for Andrew and Jin. Interestingly, their wedding was held on a recent Thursday and my assistant Richard Annible and I enjoyed an hour of the most beautiful light with Andrew and Jin at Montsalvat, one of my favourite places for photographing people. Congratulations Andrew and Jin. I wish you both every happiness and thank you for the privilege of photographing your wedding.

Making it Shine

Once again I was called upon to make it shine...sunshine that is, all golden like. You see, we photographers are called upon to know the light and use it. But what happens if there is no light, or its not the kind of light you want? Well, its imple. You make it happen.
The late afternoon light we needed for this 'signature' shot of the golf course was just not happening for us. So I once again placed a few square centimetres of orange cellophane over an off camera SB800 flash and Voila! You have late afternoon light. Just ask the art director to hold the flash just out of frame...Combine this with my newly acquired Nikkor IF-ED 180mm lens and you have the shot.

New Tutorial website a hit with subscribers

A photography tutorial website has been a hit with subscribers due to its fast and easy to understand approach. The Five Minute Photographer offers photographers quick, five minute tutorials that help photographers understand photography using visual references to explain techniques. I came up with the idea after an unexpected response to his YouTube tutorial on depth of field. "When the numbers went beyond 100 000 hits, I couldn't believe it!" he said. "But I also realised from their comments that there was a place for this kind of teaching."

The Five Minute Photographer also hosts an open forum for members who can ask questions and receive answers from accomplished photographers from different locations. Also, well written articles can be accessed on a variety of subjects. Video tutorials and articles are constantly being added and the forum is alive with interchange.

Here is what some of the site's subscribers have already said about Shelton Muller's teaching style and the benefits of The Five Minute Photographer...

"Shelton Muller's engaging and informed presentation makes all those wonderful images look so easy. With a lightness and humour that makes everything much more fun, he brings his years of experience as a working photographer and photo journalist to easy-to-learn material that will bring new creativity to your pictures. Having worked with him for more than 15 years, I can thoroughly recommend him as a first rate teacher, who makes learning a complete joy , and always helps you get more from your pictures." - John Swainston - Maxwell International Australia Pty. Ltd - importers of Lowepro, Tamron, Cokin, Velbon and other leading photo accessories.

"Five Minute Photographer is one of those sites that you can't help but keep visiting. I find myself drawn to it on a daily basis to read the forums and see what new articles and videos have been uploaded. I love the short informative approach that Shelton has achieved with the five minute video tutorials. If you are looking for an idea on how to achieve a particular photographic technique or simply want some inspiration from a thorough, highly knowledgeable master of his craft look no further than Shelton and Five Minute Photographer." -Berk McGowan

"Shelton Muller would have to be the most energetic and entertaining teacher I have ever had the pleasure to learn from. He has an uncanny knack of making subjects I thought were difficult to get my "head around" a breeze to learn. He teaches with a level of energy and enthusiasm I have never encountered before. There is so much information "out there" about photography it becomes confusing - Shelton has taken the "confusion" out of it all for me on several points. I have learnt a great deal from Shelton and I look forward to learning much more. Thanks for making it easy Shelton!" - Sharon Mahoney

"I have known Shelton for several years and attended several workshops with him, inspiring me and teaching me how to do and see better - and it has worked. My photography, and my ability to see light, composition, and all related matters has improved markedly with his tutelage. I term Shelton my invisible mentor.Already, The Five Minute Photographer website, with it’s video and written tutorials, have made me think more about my photography.Shelton’s method of teaching with demonstration, humour, and his ability to share, make him stand above his peers.” - Graham Anderson

Take five minutes out and have a look at The Five Minute Photographer today. Subscriptions begin at only $29.95 and are refundable if you are not happy with the results!

Robert and Catherine's wedding

Well, another wedding. I just don't seem to tire of them. Perhaps its the SNAG in me, or maybe I just love this kind of photography. Perhaps both! Either way, I know that there are many photographer who are either daunted by the task of wedding photography or think I am crazy for doing it. But I am neither daunted nor crazy.

Ok. Maybe I am crazy...its a distinct possibility that has nothing to do with my photography.

Robert and Catherine's wedding day was a mixture of weather - hot and sunny to cold and wet...a typical 'four seasons in one day' Melbourne Autumn day. But we enjoyed ourselves very much and my assistant Richard Annable and I had a great time with a fabulous bridal party. Thanks for holding the flash in that shot Richard!

The Morning After the Night Before

Melbourne was hit by 100km winds last week. At the time they were blasting us down on the bay where I live, I was out buying candles, knowing that I was already without power and possibly would be for a couple of days.
It was right at this moment that an old friend of mine, Bill called me, telling me to get my backside down to Mornington. He was already there, photographing the bedlam that was the Mornington Yacht Club. Quite a few of the yachts had already been torn from their moorings and had crashed into each other as they were beached.
I could not be there that evening, but the following morning my son and I grabbed our cameras and headed for Mornington. This is what we saw...

Photo Workshop a Success

I am very pleased to say that yet another workshop has gone well. Yes, with my good friends, Camera Action, another Creative Photography Workshop has come and gone, with more in the planning. If you are interested in what I am doing next....we are running one more Creative Photography workshops at Montsalvat on April 26th, and a Flash Photography workshop on May 17th at the same location.

New Website Launched

I would like to introduce you all to my new project...
www.fiveminutephotographer.com

This website is the culmination of an idea that began with the simple upload of a tutorial I had running on Youtube. This has had over 100 000 hits with requests for more. So, together with my business partner, John Pospisil, I have built a tutorial website for enthusiast photographers - Five Minute Photographer.
That website again? www.fiveminutephotographer.com
The website runs five minute tutorials that teach photography to amateurs and enthusiasts on various topics. At present we are still adding to the site, but there are a few videos ready to watch. More are being prepared.
So, if the idea interests you, click here and have a look. We promise that you will learn more about photography in five minutes than you ever thought possible!

Back from Kangaroo Island

Well, another year, another photo tour - although this one was a little more local.

Kangaroo Island is just off the South Australia coast and is a great place for photography. Ravaged by bushfires in December last year (the result of 30 000 lightning strikes!), it is showing incredible resilience in the regeneration of its national parks. Kangaroo Island was recently the location for a relatively new film starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter Fame. The movie is called December Boys, and Daniel does a very convincing Aussie accent in it! I ran the photo tour on behalf of Safari Wise and my old friend Darran Leal. It was a great opportunity to once again stretch my photography legs and hopefully teach a few things in the process.We were up at sunrise on a couple of occasions, but of course you can't be a slave driver all the time. But our sunrises at the Remarkables and at the Cape De Couedic Lighthouse were worth the lack of sleep. Otherwise, we were chasing the last glimmers of light well after sunset on several occasions. It was my second time on the island and without doubt the one that yielded the best photographs.I'll let you know the next I am going eh?

Three Versions Out Soon!

It won't be long until you see these three versions of my magazine, Total Image, on the shelves of your local photo retail specialty store. Total Image and Better Pictures have been around for some years now, but Photo Plus is a new version of the magazine that will be distributed around Australia by member stores of the Photo Plus Group.
It is a wonderful thing to have Photo Plus on board, and the advertisers benefit from an extra 10 000 copy circulation. I am pleased that another 10 -20 000 readers or so will benefit from my little, but powerful, publication.

When Your Little Sister is the Boss

Like her elder sister before her, my little sister, Natasha, (left) has recently become a qualified Make Up Artist. She is very good, so let me know if you need an MUA for any events, ok? To initiate her folio and have some material ready for an upcoming Expo, she called on her big brother to shoot some of her friends. I was happy to oblige. I have shot some of her friends before - in the nicest possible way of course!

So, on Saturday morning, it was up early to drive the one and a quarter hour distance to her home where the marathon shoot was to take place. We started at around ten, and finished at around ten. But it was a fun twelve hours! I used various combinations of studio lighting and the fabulous natural light that Natasha's place has plenty of. I was able to create different kinds of images in short spaces of time and with minimal need to change location or lighting. It was a great lesson for me and gave Tash the chance to see how her make-up photographed. It was a confidence boost for her and a whole bunch of opportunities to learn some new lighting techniques for me.

I am sure there will be more shoots like this one, but I know that I won't be the only photographer who sees the benefits of her art. She is a very talented woman and I am very proud.

Love your work Tash! Love you.

An article in The Age about my workshops

The Grand Illusion
by Terry Lane
February 14, 2008
Imaging motored out to Eltham last week for a one-day workshop designed to help photographers improve their people shots. The day was organised by Camera House and was run by professional photographer Shelton Muller.
Shelton loves doing wedding photos, which makes him something of a rarity among professionals, most of whom seem to do it grudgingly to make a living. But Shelton is a showman who enjoys nothing better than directing a cast in a big production.
There were 13 of us there in the chapel at Montsalvat. For $249 we had the run of the grounds, lunch, the co-operation of three models and the experience of the professional.We were a motley crew with varying degrees of expertise. One wanted to take better pictures of his bonsai. Another had been sent by his wife to learn how to take better photos of her with the camera she gave him. There were a couple of camera club enthusiasts and one chap who just wanted to recapture the pleasure he got taking photos for the school year book a long time ago.
There was a bloke who took pictures of yachts and a couple of women who wanted to take better photos of their children.
We got started with the warning: "There's no more difficult subject in the world than people." Then we learned about light - avoid the on-camera flash, use available light wherever possible and become an observer of light and how it falls. Look for the most attractive, diffused light - think Rembrandt and window light streaming in from above and to the side. When you find the light, place your subject in it.
Then attend to composition. It isn't a good idea to place the subject's face in the centre of the frame with lots of "negative space" around the head. Put the eyes of the subject a third of the distance from the top to bottom of the frame.
A medium telephoto lens, preferably a prime, is best for portraits. Shelton's in love with his 85mm Micro Nikkor. It gives a flattering perspective and keeps the background attractively out of focus.
Now comes the hard part. We all want to take spontaneous, unposed, relaxed, natural pictures. As our teacher said: "Often the spontaneity is contrived." You have to work at it. The photographer is the director, drawing a performance - an illusion of spontaneity - from the subject. Which is where we shy introverts are at a disadvantage.
Shelton has a personality somewhere between Jim Carrey and Tigger. When he pulls a face and bounces, you smile. His exuberance comes from unfeigned pleasure in his work and in making people have a good time while he is buzzing around putting them into their contrived, spontaneous poses. He is free of the embarrassment that most of us feel when pushing people around in front of a crowd.
Imaging, being a fairly dour party, is confident that we know all about the rules of lighting, composition and lens selection. But when it comes to energising the subject, we can only envy Shelton. We don't think that wedding photography is for us.
We will stick to still-life capsicums and zucchinis.
This story was found here

Make it a Hero

My client calls. That's always a good thing. You know that the conversation will lead to work, and that's a good thing, right? It also means that once again you will be called upon to create heroes. I was told we needed a double page spread and perhaps a cover image. That is a fairly daunting request considering that what I was given as a subject was not particularly visually dynamic. As I have often said, that seems to be what photographers do more than anything else. This time, I was asked to make something visually heroic from a fairly basic machine in tin shed. The machine saves tens of thousands of litres of water each day, which is a great thing in a drought ridden country. However, it in itself is a fairly basic looking piece of equipment in an even more basic context.

I think it is here that photographers earn their real keep. My client had already taken some photographs and sent them to me. Clearly they were not dynamic enough to use in their magazine, so I was called, and yes, I had to earn my keep.

So, using a combination of my personal vision, experience and equipment, I managed to create images within this context that were more visually dynamic while also keeping to the editorial. Therein is where photographers work their way into the hearts and chequebooks of their clients.

Successful professional photography is not about photographing beautiful swimsuit models on tropical beaches. Well, sometimes it is, but lets face it - you have a pretty good head start there. Photographers who can make something from nothing are valued by their clients. In this regard I know I have several clients who turn to me when this is needed.

Apparently they get the other guys to shoot the swimsuit models. Where did I go wrong?