Dog tired

WHAT

This is my dog, Nelson, having a lie down in his kennel. He's a 7 year old labradoodle and the first dog I've ever owned.

WHY

Why else do people take photos of their pets? Because they love them and want to capture their personality and antics. Plus, I'd recently been asked to photograph the pets of some friends and I wasn't 100% happy with the results, so I thought I'd practice.

HOW

Before venturing anywhere near Nelson, I had the camera already set to what I'd anticipated would work for the outside lighting conditions. This was on manual mode, aperture of 8 and a shutter speed of 1/13s (gauged from using the camera's light meter). This ensured that should he decide to suddenly move and ruin the cute pose, at least I'd have a fleeting chance of getting 1 or 2 quick shots in.

This shot was taken from just outside the back door to our house which is where Nelson's kennel is located. I had to move very slowly out the door with the camera in order to capture him lying down like this because usually as soon as I even look like going outside, Nelson comes flying out of his kennel excited and thinking he's going to get walked, fed or patted (or all three).

I focused on his eyes and got down very low so that I was at his level. I also used the side and floor of his kennel to frame the image.

I used aperture f/8 because this usually produces a good focal length and ensures most things are sharp and in focus. I've encounted problems previously using larger apertures (eg. f/6 and below) when photographing friend's pets with long noses - when you focus on the eyes at these larger apertures, the nose and mouth become soft/blurred and can ruin the shot as you're often trying to capture a dog's smiling mouth at the same sharpness as his eyes.

In the image above, Nelson's nose isn't 100% sharp, however I wasn't worried about that in this instance.

Because it was a very dull/rainy day, there wasn't much light available to produce a fast enough shutter speed for my liking. Therefore I increased the ISO to 320.

POST PRODUCTION

The image was firstly converted to greyscale in photoshop. I then made slight adjustments to the contrast, black point and clarity of the image.

Graffiti man

WHAT
This piece of street art was located on one of the walls of the Fortitude Valley Firestation, Brisbane City. I'm not sure, but it looks like something done by the notorious street artist, Banksy.

WHY
I liked the idea that the 'simpleton' holding the camera up to his face (most likely to photograph the nearby landmark Storey Bridge) is likely to get smacked in the face if the fire door suddenly opens.

This piece of artwork amused me because it reminded me of myself when I'm taking photos - a bit of a 'simpleton' and oblivious to what's going on around me :)

HOW
I used a tripod as this image was taken at about 8pm. I used an aperture setting of 8 and a shutter speed of about 2.5 seconds. ISO setting was 200.

POST PRODUCTION
This HDR image was created using a single shot which was then converted into 3 exposures of -2,0,+2 using photoshop. At the time of taking the photo, I'd been taking three shots at the previously mentioned exposures, however when I tonemapped the 3 images in photomatix I wasn't happy with the results, hence why I ended up using a single original image to create three exposures.

After creating the HDR image (which was originally in colour) I used photoshop to produce the black and white version and increased contrast and clarity.

Shorncliffe kids

WHAT

Shorncliffe pier taken at approximately 3pm. Approximately 40 mins north of Brisbane City.

The wooden pylons at the upper right of the shot are the same as those in Shorncliffe sunrise.

WHY

I love the whole beachfront area at Shorncliffe, particularly around this pier which is popular with locals for fishing and sea-gazing. This shot was originally going to be of the pier only- the kids (not mine!) ran into the shot just as I was about to take it. I prefer the scene with them in it as it gives interest to what otherwise would be a large empty space on the right.

HOW

I used aperture priority mode and because it was very sunny on this day, the camera automatically used a fast shutter speed to prevent over-exposure. The high speed of the shutter can be seen by the mid-air suspension of the water being splashed by the children, as well as their 'unblurred' movement.

POST PRODUCTION

Contrast was increased using photoshop.

Masonic Lodge Kitchen - one of my favourites

WHAT
This shot was taken during a recent 'Open House' day in Brisbane where buildings that are not usually open to the public threw open their doors for the curious to see what secrets and treasures lurked within.

The Masonic Lodge is the Brisbane headquarters for the mysterious "Freemasons" group. Seeing as the general pulbic (and especially women) are not allowed to enter its hallowed halls, I decided I must go.

This scene was taken in a general storage room which leads into a kitchenette.
While I was taking this shot, many people would poke their heads around the corner at the left of the shot trying to see what I was taking a photo of. I think many of them were disappointed when all they saw was a door leading to a
kitchen!

Even though I've learnt so much more since taking this picture, it's still one of my favourites and has its own dedicated page in my portfolio.

WHY
I was taken by the creep vibe of this scene and the many questions it raised for me- What's in the box on the table? Who sits on those chairs? Who rings the bell and for what purpose?

HOW
I shot this using 'black and white' setting on my camera. As previously mentioned, I have since learned to shoot in colour then change the image to b&w afterwards.

Ibis bathing

WHAT


This shot was taken at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre picnic area, Brisbane. The entertainment centre is Brisbane's premier concert venue and has some nice lagoons and picnic areas in its grounds.





At the time, I was taking shots of a beautiful purple waterlilly flower:

when I heard a kerfuffle taking place next to me. I saw an ibis (a long legged waterbird often viewed as a pest in Australia due to its scavenging behaviour) having a bath at the edge of the pond.

HOW

I quickly attached my lens with the largest available zoom and switched to 'sports' mode to capture the fast flying droplets of water. I took many photos in quick succession but this one was my favourite because of the way the water flicked up from the Ibis' tail feathers.

I shot this using the camera's black and white mode. However I've since learnt that it's probably better to always shoot in colour and then use image manipulation software to change it to black and white in order to have more control over the tones produced in the photo. But as I have said before - I'm only a beginner and am constantly learning!