Damien Oliver is a well known jockey in the upper eschalons of the Australian Horse Racing arena. I recently had the chance to meet and photograph him for Settlers Run, a new Golf Club for whom I have become the photographer of choice. It seems Damien is quite the hand at a round of golf too!
Nikon's first year of business as Nikon Australia has been a successful one with 30 percent growth of Nikon sales in Australia being recorded. That's a pretty good year!
The following day, my luggage having arrived, I wore a freshly pressed suit to the official launch of the Nikon D3 and D300. The launch was held at the Sydney Opera House and was again attended by fellow editors and journalists, photographers of note and many within the photo retail sector.
Looks like I'll have to find a spare $6000 dollars...Yeah, right.
Every year for the past seventeen years or so (maybe more! I've lost count!) I have enjoyed the annual ritual of gettting together with my son and a group of close friends and heading off somewhere for four days of photography. We do this on Melbourne Cup Weekend. My friends are avid photographers, some of whom are professional but most of whom are keen amateurs. 
This year we chose the area of Portland, Victoria and drove home along the Great Ocean Road.For me, its a chance to enjoy the company of my fellow photophiles and to be with my son, to have some laughs and to just simply enjoy photography without any of the normal commercial pressures that are placed upon it. For me this is very important. To thrive, I need to continue to enjoy the art itself.
It is just one of the ways I 'keep my eye in' and keep my heart beating alongside.I recommend it to all photographers as a ritual that is worth every endeavour. It keeps me in love with photography as something that brings joy, not just money. That is very important as one does beget the other.
For me, the joy of photography has often been not in seeing or experiencing the spectacular, although I have certainly had my share of it. Rather, the joy of photography that is available to everyone with a camera is in the art of seeing ordinary things and transforming them into personal visual interpretations. Not everything you see or everywhere you travel will be spectacular, wonderful, beautiful, incredible. But the great gift of photography is the one we give to ourselves - the art of seeing those qualities in the commonplace objects that surround us.
As mentioned in a previous post, I was in Albury for APSCON recently. While walking through the streets on the morning of the day of my presentation, I had my Nikon D200 and my all-rounder lens, the Tamron 18-250. This is an incredible piece of glass, considering what it is. I wouldn't use it for everything, although there is little it can't do. Just seeing the colours and shapes around me was enough to get the juices flowing again.
I have also attended other Australian Photographic Society conventions, or APSCONs, in Shepparton, where I spoke, and also in Canberra and Toowoomba, where I was also invited to speak. This year, the invitation was once again extended, 
and so off to Albury we went.I spoke on the subject of People Photography, and I am pleased to say it was very well received. We met some lovely people and reacquainted ourselves with some familiar faces. I was also tentatively invited to speak at a similar event in Christchurch, New Zealand, so I certainly hope that happens!
I was away for a few days getting my brain back and looking for my eyes. Those of you who listen to my weekly podcast, Shutters Inc, will know that. It just sometimes feels that I do more writing and speaking on the subject of photography than the actual doing of it. So, while I was away, I kept my camera on me as much as possible. If it wasn't my Nikon DSLR with the Tamron 18-250 mounted, it was my trusty Ricoh GR.
Well, after another mammoth struggle,the latest issue of Better Pictures and Total Image will be out soon. This Spring issue features a fairly substantial article on wedding photography and another on improving your landscapes. That, along with much much more, makes Total Image and Better Pictures the best value free photography magazine you can get! Hop along to your favourite Camera House store or participating photo retailer today for your free copy!
Well, I am back, tired but very much encouraged, from the Rockhampton, Queensland, where I held three workshops for the avid photographers who attended. Some actually attended all three - the Basic Photography Workshop on Friday night, the Portrait and People photography workshop on Saturday and the Wedding photography workshop on Sunday. 
The interesting thing about each person who attended was that while all learned the principles we discussed and work shopped, each person learned something individual and unique to them, things that were perhaps incidental to me and yet nonetheless important to them as a lesson to take home. 
They were a great group of people, and I had a ball getting to know them. I am looking forward to keeping in touch with as many of them as possible and hopefully watching as their photography improves. The other great thing was that I have been asked back! 
So it appears I will be returning to Rockhampton to catch up with this lovable bunch once more!And don't think I won't go! This was all too much fun to not do again! And the rewards from making new friends, helping others...just wonderful!
Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 is a fantastic photo editing suite that has some wonderful features for both enthusiast and professional alike! Since we started producing Total Image and Better Pictures magazines we have been offering tutorials based on this software and there is nothing we can say that could be in any way critical about it - especially for the price. There is one thing about this company that bothers me however...Why would they use my face to try and sell their stuff?
If you suddenly hear that they are no longer in business, yep, blame me. Actually, it might be a good idea to buy it while you still can...;-)
As I have often said, it is an honour to photograph any wedding, let alone the wedding of a fellow photographer. True, most couples know what they are looking for in terms of the images they hope for from their wedding day, but photographers have even greater insight into your processes.
Denh Lay is a fine photographer herself, so photographing her wedding is more daunting, and more of a privilege. Denh and Glenn's official wedding day began with a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and then followed on to Immerse Winery where their civil celebrant married them before a crowd of family, friends and fellow photographers. Its quite an off-putting thing to work in front of other photographers like Jeff Moorfoot!
Interestingly, I used a new lens I have acquired, one which I never thought I would use at a wedding. As a kind of Tamron Ambassador here in Australia, I have been allowed to borrow their Tamron 18-250 AF zoom, and it was just a great all-rounder that saved me alot of time and allowed to expand my vision from each viewpoint. It is very sharp, and very, very handy. I now own one!
