Monthly Archives: February 2012

29/02/2012
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How To's

Fish Photography – Bidkev

…Photographing small community fish, which can be moved to a small tank purely for photography purposes, bears no resemblance to the photography of such big fish, because of the problems of catching such fish in large tanks and moving them to another (confining) tank in order to photograph them. Apart from that, the moving of any fish to a different environment causes them to become stressed which, in turn, can lead to sickness such as White Spot (Oodinium). I therefore decided that any photographs that I took, would be of the fish in their permanent environment.

This is "Al" (Capone) so named by Jake because of the battle scars on his face. Snook have a protrusible mouth which extends to allow them to swallow prey half their own size

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26/02/2012
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Image Sets

The first 48hrs…

For some people, turning 30 is an event that brings much anxiety. For me, however, it provided two wonderful gifts. The first was my Canon 600D and 50mm f/1.8 lens, the second was a weekend away with my lady and two great friends at the rain forest retreat at O’Reillys. This allowed me two full days of fun and exploration of the countryside with my new camera. I also had the opportunity to use my friend’s 17-85mm and his telephoto.

Enjoy. (Click images for larger versions)

AiM

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26/02/2012
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How To's

Wildlife With a Telephoto Lens – Neville

Frustrations and Lessons Learnt

Photographing wildlife can, on the one hand, be exhilarating and awe-inspiring, and the other, downright frustrating and depressing! A weekend away in Noosa enabled me to experience all these feelings in the space of a few minutes.

Beware the automatic focus!

Trying to capture a good snap of birds in a Casuarina tree is nearly impossible. Turn off the automatic focus function and concentrate on the subject (IMG 0350) taken at 200mm, the willy wagtails are visible but obscured by the Casuarina leaves. Pull back to 115mm and get both tree and birds in focus (IMG 0351)

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20/02/2012
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How To's

Vehicular Photography – Brent

VROOM VROOM!

What can taking pictures of your car teach you? This is no pro shoot and she’s not even a top model! Still a poser though… I would like to share things I’ve learnt and hopefully you can apply them and get some great results for yourself.

Positioning was challenging, with little or no experience I took around 90 photos at various random locations and only 5–10 were what I felt good. When you look at your car, ask yourself some quick questions like “What are the features of my car?” Example: body kits, badges, logos, spoiler, or anything that stands out when you look at your car.

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16/02/2012
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Image Sets

Macro Addiction

I think I’ve made it fairly clear already that I have a growing infatuation with Macro photography! I find the world that Macro photography unlocks completely fascinating, so much is unseen with the naked eye. My first (and definitely not last) Macro lens, is the Tamron 90mm 1:1 f/2.8. To test the lens out, along with the Manfrotto monopod, my insect spotter (read girlfriend) and I headed to the Boondall Wetlands (about 20km north of Brisbane CBD) for my first Macro excursion. This set of images is the beginning of an obsession…

(Images are only cropped, click for larger versions)

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13/02/2012
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Reviews

Seth Casteel – Underwater Dogs

The internet is an amazing device, it allows us to share and discover some fabulous things… one such thing is the work of Seth Casteel from Little Friends Photo. These photos were passed onto me by a good friend of mine.

The latest offering from Casteel is a series of underwater shots of dogs. Here are a couple, check the rest out on his Facebook  page or the main site.

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12/02/2012
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How To's

Challenge One – How to photograph your art work.

The first challenge for the blog was given to me by my artist friend Kylie (Kylie’s wonderful work can be found in the ‘Links’ section), she expressed that she was having difficulty taking photos of her artwork and wondered if I could give any advice. I accepted and went about trying to find the best way for her to do this. The guidelines of the challenge were I would only use my Panasonic DMC ‘point and shoot’ and no other photographic equipment. Kylie is using a Canon IXUS so using my 600D would be pointless. I only broke away from these guidelines in the use of a tripod due to the fact they are available so cheaply.

So after a few hours trying different things out, I came up with three basic setups.

Setup One: Indoor, light assisted.

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05/02/2012
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Image Sets

Boxing Day Flowers

This first set was taken on Boxing Day 2011 in my parent’s garden. After a lovely relaxing breakfast it seemed perfect timing for a wander around their garden with the Tamron 90mm 1:1 Macro lens in tow.
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05/02/2012
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Reviews

Climbing Gear Mountain

Like with any hobby, you start off with not much and end up with a mountain! I’ll go into further detail on certain items later, but for now here is a quick overview of my current ‘pile ‘o’ gear’…

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05/02/2012
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Articles

Who? Why? What?

First of all… WELCOME!

The Who?

Have you ever seen a photograph that someone has taken and wished you could take something similar or just plain wondered how they did it? When I was younger, we’ll call it “pre 20’s”, I first borrowed my fathers 1970’s Canon AE-1 35mm SLR. This camera seemed like the peak of professional photography to me at the time, and in many ways is still an amazing piece of kit. After some basic instructions from Dad I went about trying my hand at 35mm photography (I’ll post some results later on). Skip forward into my “post 20’s” and I’ve rediscovered the wonders photography in the digital age.

The Why?

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is the noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. – Confucius

I believe this is very true of my experience so far with photography. I’ve had no formal training, and have learnt from doing, reading and watching.  After some thought, I decided to start this blog as a way to share my findings with people who may be looking at taking or already on a similar journey.

I’m not going to fill the blog with technical jargon and complicated explanations… not because you as the reader will not understand, but purely as I believe that such information is not needed to enjoy photography (at my level).

The What?

I’m planning on sharing my photo’s, “how to’s”, DIY’s, educational Youtube clips and reviews of gear. My main areas of interest are Macro, Nature, Landscape and Architecture; I’d love to cover some area’s I struggle in such as portraits with the help of guest  authors. I’d also like to have people write their own articles and I’d be happy to post them up.

So rounding this epically long inaugural post up, I’ll promise to keep things simple, light and short… with lots of pictures: D I’m also open to suggestions on the blog and its content, so sign up, comment, email, subscribe, share, tweet etc.

Thanks and happy clicking!

AiM

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