The Best Time of Year for Photography

Autumn, nuff said.
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Flat out in the mud - or more photography in horrible conditions

If there has been one thing that has been testing me recently it is the weather. If a weekend of 10m swells 30 knot gusts and the salt spray associate with both wasn't enough to test me and my equipment to the limit how about a day of constant rain, slick mud and riders bombing down hill at speeds of over 60kmph. That was the case for the SA State Downhill Mountain Biking race at Mt Fox at the weekend. I have been shooting this series for a national mag this year and been having a blast. Though the conditions were less than perfect we still managed to grab a few good images and as always I learnt a few things while I was out.


1. These guys (and girls) are mad. Actually I already knew this but seeing them in the wet reaffirmed my earlier conclusion.
2. Your camera can put up with a lot more grief than you can imagine. After the last few weeks and no camera fatalities I am impressed with the quality of cameras today, even those that are not billed as weather sealed.
3. Be careful when shooting with a hot shoe mounted flash as this exposes the connection to water ingress. Nothing a bit of gaffer tape won't seal.
4. Another use for clear shower caps (the ones you get in motel rooms) is to cover you strobes. Whack it over the whole unit and you have a raincoat for you flash that it can fire straight through!
5. Back lighting lights up rain beautifully.
6. You can get out and grab some great photographs in almost any weather. (again Sunday just reaffirmed my previous knowledge.)
7. Cameras are harder to clean than mountain bikes, you cannot just hose you camera down after a day in the mud like you do with your bike.

So get out and shoot! Read more...

World Wide Photo Walk

We are hitting the streets of Adelaide on the 18th of July to take part in the World Wide Photo Walk. This is going to be a great day with loads of photogs joining in to see what we can find and photograph. This is a great chance to meet up with like minded people, get out and share the passion we all have for photography. I am to lead the Adelaide group, now all I have to do is decide on a location. If you have any ideas/preferences let me know via the comments or email and lets get this happening. If you want to sign up, and why wouldn't you click on the picture above and if you are not in Adelaide then click here to find a Photo Walk in your area.

Hope to see you there! Read more...

Great Ocean Road Landscape Photography Workshop

Just back from a great trip down the Great Ocean Road with 10 of the nicest, keenest folk you could imagine. We had some amazing weather with waves crashing over the 45meter cliffs of Loch Ard Gorge, some fabulous light and the rain holding off long enough for us all to get out and get some great images.


On the first evening we had dinner and saw a short slide show of what we were hoping to achieve over the weekend before an early night, well the earliest for the weekend anyway. The following days the sun didn't greet us for our sunrise shoot but the weather did with some of the most amazing scenes I have ever witnessed along that stretch of coast. A king tide, with 10m swells and onshore gusts up to 30 knots lead to some fabulous images of the power of the sea. The sun did manage to find its way through the clouds on occasion to light up the cliffs, setting them off against the dark clouds in the background. We had planned to visit Gibson's Steps in the evening but the king tide put paid to that so we bustled with the crowd at the 12 Apostles. No glorious sunsets but we came to see the might of the Southern Ocean and we got what we paid for. Not at all surprising that there are fewer Apostles after seeing what that ocean can do.

The third day found us once again exploring Loch Ard Gorge, one of the most spectacular sections of the Great Ocean Road before heading off for lunch and a trip to the Otway Ranges and try our luck shooting waterfalls. They are called Rain Forests for a reason but after huddling in the car park for five minutes sheltering from the rain we trooped off down to Hopetoun Falls where some of the best images of the trip were found. We again battled the elements but this time we had the added advantage of fresh water spray over the salt spray of the previous sessions. Sunday evening was finished up with some fantastic pizza and red wine huddled around the laptops working on the days images with the talent of the group really coming to the fore.


Still not photographed out the group payed one last visit to the coast on the Monday morning to find the seas eerily calm after the previous few days. We visited a couple more sites along the coast heading back, late, to the apartments because we just couldn't get enough. After a quick edit we grabbed lunch and went back to for a slide show of the participants images and I have to say I was amazed with the quality of the work produced over the weekend. I would be happy to have many of the images shown in my collection. Peoples skills came on in so many ways over the weekend from technical, camera and computer craft to seeing and composing images. And the end result was some amazing photography.


Overall the trip was a great success and I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. The weather wasn't quite what we expected but I never once heard anyone complaining about it and everyone came home with fantastic images, some great memories and some new friends.



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Autmunal Workshops

Four workshops down and one to go for the Autumn and what a fun time it has been. Over the last two months we have been to a ton of different locations, made loads of new friends and just had a great time sharing photography with people. The last workshop for this utumn is going to be the best of the year so far so read on for more details...


The last workshop for the season is a four day trip along The Great Ocean Road. We will shoot some of the most dramatic coast scenery in Australia and explore the Otway Ranges. This is a workshop for the dedicated landscape photographer looking at advancing their photographic vision and skills. Taking the classroom into the field we will look at how to tame the vast contrast range that make shooting below the forest canopy difficult. How to maximise depth of field to create stunningly sharp images from foreground to infinity and seeing and shooting for black and white.

There are two places left on the course and we have great rates for non-participant partners. For more info and booking online click here


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