PictureOffice

Assistants galore!

This photo was taken on a very windy and sunny day in a backyard pool however water and electrical don't mix!
The AC powered smoke machine was kept well away from the pool area and we managed to use the pool cleaner hose as a conduit for the smoke.
Shade was provided by a portable table shade which had to be held due to the high wind.
Background was provided by the pool cover.
Lighting was one fixed off camera strobe, gelled blue and aimed at the background where as the main fill light was an off camera strobe, bounced into a brollie attached to a monopod and held by an assistant.
All up a very assistant intensive shoot. Just remember when working around water, electronic components don't like it and humans don't like electricity!

Get involved with the community!

SA6 (1 of 1)
Originally uploaded by Clive Girdham

Group shot from todays Sydney Strobist Flickr meeting. These regular events are a great way to develop your skills and tee up with like minded folks!

These organised events are cheap and educational, what more do you need?

Blog from your iPhone

If you are the type of person who can't survive without a 24 hour connection to online communities or likes to Blog on the run then you need an iPhone. It really is true, this gadget does everything including allowing you to post a Blog from wherever you can find a wireless network or telephone service.
Oh yeah it takes photos too!

Opportunity knocks

Sometimes you just walk by a place and see something you like. You think "why haven't I got my camera?" So you rush home load up the gear and rush back. In this case it was the Tram Sheds at Harold Park in Sydney. Normally the doors are bolted shut but the wind had blown them wide open and I had to investigate, and investigate I did once I'd raced home for my camera. If you'd like to see the results of my 5 minutes sortie followed by 2 minutes of creative adjustment in Lightroom then follow the link below.
Glebe Tram Sheds

Annie Leibovitz - At Work

Ok it'll cost you around $65 Aus but the inspiration and incite into a wonderful life of photography is priceless. Not your run of the mill coffee table book, this one not only has stunning images but great text! Annie has photographed everyone from John Lennon, the Rolling Stones through to war torn Bosnia and Somalia.
Put it on your Xmas stocking list!

Worlds best camera comparison site

Thinking about buying a camera, enjoy confusing yourself with internet comparisons? Then this is the site for you! More technical comparisons than you acn poke a stick at. When you've finished, go shoot some pictures! http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/DxOMark-Sensor

Beware the Colour Cast!

Great location for a photo huh?
Wrong, checkout the unhealthy green colour cast that the foliage has caused. Another reason to shoot in RAW, however just be warned that the digital camera will interpret a more radical version of the light you see. Our brain compensates for these colour casts however the digital camera will record the light it receives!

Wedding Lenses

So which lenses do you really need to cover a wedding?
Well ideally you'll have two camera bodies for a number of reasons, one being as a backup the second to hold a different focal length.
The must have range is 17mm through to 200mm on an full frame camera like a Nikon D700 or Canon 5D
So a 70-200mm F2.8 fits the bill and is a must have. But what about mid range? Well more importantly think about your wide zoom, 17-35mm is a great range as it covers the very wide group shots at 17mm while out at 35mm it's excellent for candid portraits.
So what about the mid range? This has to be one of the most asked questions. Well you could spend $2.5K on a nice 24-70mm F2.8 or alternatively $200 on a fixed prime 50mm F1.8 and just use your feet for zooming.
Unfortunately one lens does not do all so a second body and occasional lens change will be required. Don't have a second body? Don't fret, just hire one for the weekend for around $100!

Just be prepared for sore arms at the end of the day, in the photograph above I'm holding both cameras just to make sure I have the most important shots covered, it takes some coordination but it can be done!

Go Square!

A quick and easy way to make a good photograph stand out from the crowd is to crop into a square format. It works so well because 99.9% photographs are presented in a traditional 3:2 ratio.
Ok light test, if the sun is behind Annie how come the right side of her face is lit? Answer: an off camera flash positioned to the left of the camera. If this were taken with an on camera flash then all of her face would be evenly lit and that nice shadow on her left cheek would have gone. The result would have been a flatter, duller image.

High ISO advantages

This photograph is a great example of the advantages of modern DSLRs with low noise/high ISO capabilities.
The shutter speed used in order to fully freeze the model in mid tantrum was 1/400 sec. The only problem was it was in a dimly lit room so an ISO of 3200 was in order. If I'd used my older DSLR, I wouldn't have shot above ISO 400, so what eh?
It works like this, in Aperture priority I'm getting an exposure of 1/400 sec @ F2.8 @ ISO 3200.
If I adjusted  the ISO by half to 1600, then the shutter speed required would double to 1/200 sec.
If I adjust to ISO 400 (the limit of my old camera) the shutter speed would slow down to 1/50 sec.
So what? Well 1/50 sec is just not quick enough to freeze human movement, the result would have been a noise free but motion blurred image.