Scout Images

Waking up well before dawn, when it is freezing cold, heading to a beach, then rock hopping in the dark whilst carrying a tripod and a bag full of camera gear does not excite many. The early start, the chill and the stumbling around in the dark would put off most, however this morning I headed out to Clovelly in the company of two friends with one thing on our minds. SUNRISE.

Like most landscape photos, it is the ones that are off the beaten track that look the best, so the rock hopping is mandatory. With the tide due to come in, our window of opportunity is tight. The conditions were not perfect, but being there was worth it.

So what does one take on a sunrise shoot? I took my Nikon D300, Tokina AT-X 10-17mm Fisheye, Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8, Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, Manfrotto 055 ProB + 322RC2, Phottix Cleon, Phottix Geo One, Cokin ND filters, C-Pol filters and most importantly my Wolfeyes Defender 260. Despite all the gear, it is the torch that is probably the most vital, it is the one that will light your way in the dark, it is the one that will help people see you if you run into trouble.

The pictures? The experience? PRICELESS. There is a sense of satisfaction gleaned from the early morning, the cold, the wet (I soaked my shoes and pants in a rockpool) when you get to see nature at its best.

Actually it is 270mm equivalent, but today I spent some time at Taronga Zoo with my Nikon D300 and Sigma APO EX DG 180mm f/3.5 Macro. Using a prime at the Zoo made things interesting to say the least, but also strangely comforting. I didnt really feel like I was missing out on shots, and in many ways I felt that I was being more careful and patient with my photos. I had the camera mounted on my Manfortto 680B + 234RC2 monopod to help keep the shake down. In the end I came home with a few images I thought were worth keeping.

PS: I also have gallery links working for everything up to June 2009 and inclusive

It has been a while since I have uploaded anything (well 9 days in fact) so I thought I would share some of the adventures that I have been up to.

Yesterday, I headed to the Australian Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, which included an interactive photo studio component this year. Armed with my Nikon D60, Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.8 and Sigma 180mm f/3.5 Macro I headed in. A prime kit? Between these two lenses I have everything I want, from close focus ability to candid captures, throw in the SB-400 and the Phottix Duo Cable I am ready to take on anything.

That evening I attended the DSLRusers/ex-SURCAS/current SURCAS fire night, an event that I had organised with the help of my friends from SURCAS. Although I was officially there as part of the photographic party, I was too tempted with the thoughts of playing with fire and spent a fair bit of time with the staff in hand. My D300 spent most of the night in the company of the Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 and my Manfrotto 055 Pro B/322RC2 combo. The Tokina 10-17 fisheye and Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR also made appearances.

Just thought I would share some of the pictures taken over this last week. The D300 has been out and about a few times lately.

First up was Wednesday night’s photos of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we headed out there with the intent of recording the illuminated symbol from NYE but to our dismay the signage had been switched off early. Regardless we took a few snaps to continue what is becoming a New Year’s tradition.  These were all taken using the Nikon D300 and a variety of lenses, but most importantly they were all placed on top of my trusty Manfrotto 055 Pro B tripod, GPS data captured using a Phottix Geo One.

The D300 came out again on Friday night, when I headed over the Strathfield with some friends for dinner. This time it was no tripod, high  ISO and the Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 + Nikkor AI 135mm f/2.8 coming out to play.

Finally, Sunday was spent out and about along the coast south of Sydney. Thirroul, Sea Cliff Bridge and the nearby beaches. Once again the combination of the D300 and the 24-70mm was given the work out. Interestingly, I used a mates Nissin Di 622 flash for some shots, this flash works really well and would be a worthy SB-600 alternative especially with the very low import prices for them available at the moment. Included in this set is a 9 shot HDR bracket which has been processed with Photomattix, not my best efforts with this piece of software but an interesting result all the same.

Apologies to anyone who is on a slow connection. This is going to be a pretty big post with quite a few pictures.

Firstly I just wanted to a few more pics from my trip up to the Blue Mountains, these include a 9 shot HDR (using Photomattix) of Siloam Pool, and a few panos (stitched using Auto Pano Pro) taken from Echo Point and Gordon Falls. All of these shots were taken using my D300 + MB-10 and Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 mounted on my Manfrotto 714B with my Phottix Ball Head. This set up is light enough to carry when hiking, but tripod and head combination really is a bit too light for the load of the camera.

Next up is a series of black and white conversions I did of the beautiful cakes and coffee from Lindt Cafe, Darling Harbour. These were taken using my D60 and the RAW files processed using Capture NX2.

Finally, I wanted to share a few shots that I took whilst I was out at Fiesta at Darling Harbour. I was feeling like a film day so I am yet to see a lot of the results as they are still sitting on Pan F 50 inside my FM2n, but I was smart enough to have brought my D300 with me. So there I was snapping pics on both cameras using a Series E 50mm f/1.8 and my AI Nikkor 135mm f/2.8.

I posted some images of a beautiful 1966 Ford Mustang (289) last night, so I thought I would follow up with some processed images. If you know me well, then you will realise how rare it is for me to post process my images as I shoot to get it right in the viewfinder, however the light painting exercise has led me to remove some big white stripes from a few images to see how they look.

These have been adjusted and the big, white softbox lines have been removed. All shot with my Nikon D300 with Nikkor and Tamron lenses mounted on my Manfrotto tripod.

I have just come home from a meet where we experimented with the technique of light painting. Using various light sources, including high powered LED torches (my Wolf Eyes Defender 260) and camera flashes (SB-600 and SB-800) in conjunction with soft boxes we painted up a beautiful 1966 Ford Mustang. I used my both my D300 and D60 with my Manfrotto 055 ProB and that Phottix Ball head. The lenses of choice for this exercise were the Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 and the Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8.

There is still a bit of work to be done for this technique but getting some form of result was very rewarding!

Yesterday I was out and about with this Phottix gear, this time with my Nikon D300 and I just thought I would give you all an update on how they are performing. I will get some pictures up soon…hopefully before I scratch the units (although my ball head has already lost some paint as it was a demo unit).

Firstly, the Geo One on the D300 works well. As on the S5 Pro, the Geo one rapidly and reliably locks up the GPS satellites and inserts your position into the EXIF. The bonus of using the Geo One with the D300 is the D300′s ability to turn off its meter (and the Geo One) when the camera goes into standby, you may recall that I mentioned that the S5 Pro went through its battery very quickly as the meter and the Geo One did not turn off.

As for the Ball head….well since I last mentioned it I have moved the head to my trusty Manfrotto 055 PROB from its home on my Manfrotto 714B. It was rather annoying that I dont have more ArcaSwiss style quick release plate, but other than this, the ball head did a good job. My only gripes with this ball head was the amount of tightening that was required to prevent slippage of my camera (D300 + MB-D10 + Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 or Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR), this means the ball head will get moved back to my 714B to to save it from being regulated to being purely a light stand.  Otherwise the ball head was both easy to use and dealt with the load adequately. It will work nicely when smaller lenses are and lighter loads are in use.

Yesterday’s project was mainly panoramic and my experiences indicate that a ballhead is definitely better than a pistol grip head for this work, although a levelling base or a self centreing column is really needed to get the best out of any tripod.

Looks like I will be getting some more ArcaSwiss style quick release plates and the Phottix ball head and Geo One will remain in my arsenal. I will have to consider a levelling base and a larger ball head in the future…maybe a Markins M20.

You may or may not have noticed that I had an earlier post relating to Vivid Sydney which has since has been removed, the reasoning behind this was so I could group all my shots into one gallery.

There are lots of shots here, including some large stitch pano’s and a HDR.

It has been a bit of quite period for me, with work and other commitments severely limiting the amount of time that I have to take photos. But there were some flowers at home this week so I took out the big Sigma EX 180mm f/3.5 and snapped  a few shots. Just whilst I was at it I decided to play with a watch that was given to me as a present.

These were taken using my D300 and my Manfrotto 055PRO B + 355RC2.