Scout Images

I was lucky enough to be dragged off to the Gold Coast for the June long weekend. Although I was not initially planning to go on this trip I made the most of it and took some photos. Due to the restrictions on baggage (I decided to save a bit of money and fly with carry on only) I only brought along my D60 with my new AF-S DX 16-85mm VR and this was complemented by my Sony CyberShot TX5.

Now most people would head to the Gold Coast in search of the thrills of the various theme parks up there, but this is not what I found myself doing. Instead I visited Springbrook National Park and Burleigh Heads National Park. Although both these trips were short ones, I did manage to get a few images worth sharing. There were countless points in time when I wished I had lugged up my D300 and associated lenses, and other moments when I wished for my tripod and graduated ND filters, but I made do with what I had.

I was recently up in the Blue Mountains, with a few intentions. To get away from reality, to get out there and take in some of the beautiful landscapes that are so close to us here in Sydney, and to try to re-shoot some of my lost photos (refer here).

So what does one bring on a trip like this? I didnt actually think too hard but settled for a quality over convenience kit, which in many ways I probably regret (the weight made me not so happy whilst we were hiking).

• Nikon D300
• AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8
• AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR
• AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8
• Tokina AT-X 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 Fisheye
• Nikon SB-400
• Phottix Geo One
• Phottix Duo Cable
• Cokin P-Series ND4
• Cokin P-Series ND8
• Lowepro Fastpack 350

Some Panorama action (Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 + Cokin ND4 + Cokin ND8)

Some HDR action (Tokina 10-17mm, 7 frames)

Over the last week or so I have not had much time to take photos (been trying to get this website up and running again) but I did manage to get a few shots in last night at dinner and today at the Fish Market and in Glebe. So here are a few shots that I thought I would share.

These were taken with my Nikon D60 and the Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8. Some of the photos in this gallery used the Phottix Duo Cord + Nikon SB-400 combination as well.

On another note, my venerable Nikon F80D is out on loan again, this time accompanied by my Tamron SP 28-205mm f/2.8 and my Nikkor AF-D 28-80mm. This means my current gear status is….

I just thought I would share some pictures that I have taken recently. This first set was taken during a Breakfast meeting at Badde Manors (Glebe) with my trusty little Fujifilm FinePix F100fd. I have to admit that the food was as good as it looked.

Here are some pictures from today, I went for a walk around Darling Harbour, visiting the Brazilian Festival before heading over for a roam of the Rocks.  Once again I found myself with the wrong set up (it seems to be a happening a lot more often these days when I decide to go for a roam) having brought the Sigma 180mm macro instead of the Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, however I did manage to get some decent shots with the Sigma used as a telephoto (one of the key reasons why I picked the Sigma 180mm over the Tamron 180mm – the slightly faster AF speed).

As promised I have uploaded a selection of photos from that last shoot that I have been mentioning. Without any adieu here are some taken with my Nikon D300, Fuji S5 Pro  and a variety of  Nikkor lenses.

Just back from that shoot mentioned in my earlier post, not quite what I expected but having prepared for the worse I did not find myself unable to work. It turns out it was simply a shoot, not a covering a performance so the whole kit got a good work out and over 12gb of photos were taken. Pictures will be a while to come because I will have to spend a bit of time weeding out the bad ones.

On another note, my new bag has finally arrived! I now have another bag at my disposal, a Lowepro Inverse 200AW. First thoughts are that it is well built, but not quite as big as I wanted it to be, not quite able to take the D300+MB-D10+24-70 f/2.8 load that I intended for it. As I use this bag more I’ll fill you all in about my experiences.

I have been busy, so busy in fact that it took a friends birthday for me to take a night off. As I have not been posting photos recently here are a few from my friends party at Cohibar, Darling Harbour.

A few days ago I attended a forum meet that saw me down at Minnamurra Rainforest and at Cataract Dam afterwards. I did not take many photos but here are a few taken with my lightweight kit (Nikon D300 and Tamron SP 17-50/Di 70-300).

White balance? What is it? For those of you who are not sure, white balance is essentially how the camera sees white. On most digital cameras (even in some mobile phone cameras) there is the option of choosing a white balance from a number of different options (incandescent, fluorescent, sunlight/daylight, flash, cloud, shade, colour tempreture and custom as well as automatic), but what do all these options mean and how do we use them? What difference does it make?…more

I would just like to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Go out there, catch up with friends and family, eat, drink and have fun. Christmas is a time for giving and receiving so I am sure that there will be many of you out there that are going to receive new cameras or camera gear (Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, Fuji, Panasonic or Pentax) so whether you use digital or film, get out there and record the moment!

Remember DIGITAL means your shots are inexpensive, so take those pics!! If you use film then you should still take plenty of shots!