Time for a yearly update.

Carrying on from where I left off, just on a year ago. February 2007 to February 2008 has been not as much a learning experience as an experimenting experience. Now that I have a bit more confidence in my abilities as a photographer, I have started to try different styles and
techniques. Many times, completely stuffing a chance at a good phot, but it has been rewarding none the less. In late February 2007, I once again upgraded camera bodies. Out with the 1.6X crop of the 30D, and hello full frame goodness of the Canon 5D. Here is the 1st shot I took out of the box.

All photos can be clicked on for a larger view

Holy moly Batman, thats some severe vignetting! As it turned out, it was actually the 50mmf/1.8 lens had been dropped and theplastic backing had come away slightly from the body. Only about 1.5mm, but with the added size of the 5D’s mirror, enough to upset things. Once that was sorted, it was situation normal again.

March saw a few trips out, the 1st being to Olympic Park at Homebush one night with a couple of blokes from Flickr. I was starting to concetrate more on composition than just wildly snapping things and hoping for the best.

That photo fo Homebush Park railway station was one of the better ones from that night. The lowlight abilities of the 5D certainly made shooting at night alot easier. And, the fact that it didn’t have a built in flash certainly made you think about things.

A trip to Melbourne for a party in March also got me out and about. It was about this time that I started taking photos that I knew I would turn into black and white in Photoshop.

It must be part of your development (bad pun) as a photographer that you go through phases, and see things slightly differently.

I knew when I composed this what I wanted. Some motion blur on the trams, but the rest as sharp as possible. I now knew enough to be able to execute this. Obviously I was no world renowned street photographer, but I know a few months earlier I wouldn’t have been able to figure out the right aperture settings to get that shot.

Did somebody say phase? It took a storm of biblical proportions to jolt me out of the B&W phase. Laying in bed one night, it sounded like a 767 had landed on the roof. After laying there blinking and rubbing my eyes, I soon realised we were having a cracking thunder storm. Oooh,
lightning shots. Something I had never tried before, but hey, how hard could it be?

Actually, it was alot harder than I thought. A couple of things. It is usually persisting down during a storm. And the other thing that makes you slightly cautious, are those bloody great arcs of light crackling around the sky and looking for a path of least resistance to the ground.
I took the above shot huddled under a petrol station awning, shaking like a leaf. The noise and light was unbelievable. It was one of those storms you dont get to see very often, or when you do, you dont have a camera handy.

As I said earlier, it was a time to experiment. And part of this was getting out and about a bit more. I had driven past this site at White bay thousands of times with out giving it a second look. But when photography becomes a hobby, ney, passion, you see things differently.

Not a great shot when seen large, but I loved the colours and feel of this one. And I could see potential in these derelict night scenes.

Obviously March was a busy month. I cranked out some macro work.

And old hard drive stripped down is a fascinating thing to look at and photograph. Well I thought so.

Also in March, the Sydney Harbour Bridge had a little celebration.

75 years old and they were expecting a massive crowd. Not being a huge fan of crowds, I headed in really early and got some shots I was very happy with. This one of the Cahill Expressway was taken in a very strange light and I knew it would lend itself to some slight desaturation in post processing.

April is a favourite month, as it is usually Royal Easter Show time. But this year, a friend of ours gave birth to young Jack, so it was my 1st chance to take some shots of a new born.

proud parents Paul and Ruth seemed happy enough with the shots to ask me to photograph their wedding. Gulp. But that was some time off. 1st, lets get to the show.

Fasion and Style indeed.

And how often do you see this?

An empty Show Bag pavilion?

Walking around the local neighbourhood at night, things are transformed, and something as simple as a speed bump, can look entirely different in long exposure photography.

Late April in Australia, we celebrate ANZAC day. A day for our war heroes to march and be proud. I would urge anyone who hasn’t been to a dawn service, to get to one. To see these proud and brave men is a humbling thing indeed. It poured with rain last year and yet there they
were, in their thousands. It is a day full of emotion, and you dont have to be a terrific photographer to be able to get photos like this.

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Before April was out, I got over to Cockatoo Island with a bunch from Flickr. Another must see for the Sydney photographers.

May saw me leave on my 2nd photographic road trip. This time I was headed for a mates 40th at Broken Hill. As it was, his mother got very ill and passed away. But I didnt find out til the day before i got to Broken Hill. Before that I had visited Bathurst, Parkes, Dubbo and
Cobar.

For someone who has never been to the outback before, it is a terrific experience. This is such a big country. With a few side trips and driving about, I had covered nearly 1500kms by the time I got to broken Hill.

Just to the west of Broken Hill is the old mining town of Silverton, a photographers dream location. red dirt, clear blue skies and derelict buildings.

In total I took about 2500 photos on the trip, of which, 139 are here.

Easily, one of my faves from the trip is the Moo Quartet.

June was a quiet month, we moved to the south coast and I had a cracking flu most of the month.

July was the wedding I had been asked to shoot earlier in the year. I had bought a new 50mm f/1.4 lens just for the occasion, and just as well. Lighting was terrible in a marquee out the back of a house. It was a top wedding, but hard work for me as a very amatuer photographer.

probably the best shot of the night wasn’t even of the happy couple.

So my 1st wedding, and probably the last. I have nothing but respect for people that try wedding photography. It is a lot of pressure.

August, lunar eclipse time. Not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be, but I did manage to cobble this little montage together that was well received on Flickr.

Some odds and sods from September.

October started off with some more experimneting with some new ND filters. Hills Hoist take off.

And with the vege patch going in, it was time for some macro fun.

November, and I was lucky enough to spy a full rainbow, and have the camera, and a lens just wide enough to squeeze it all into frame.

It was also my 1st wedding anniversary, so the bride and I went away to
Bawley point and Mollymook for a few days. I had just acquired a Canon
80-200 f/2.8 lens. A magnificent piece of kit.

Both taken with the “Magic drainpipe”.

November 24th saw the people do exactly what the sign said….

December was pretty quiet, but I managed a couple of animal shots I was proud of.

Both very different, but finally I was confident enough to try shots like this, knowing that I was half a chance at suceeding in what I was doing. It had taken the best part of 2 years, but I was finally getting somewhere.

January, 2008, and another animal shot.

I thought lightning was hard to shoot. At least you can open the shutter and leave it for 10 seconds and hope you jag it. Bloody Flipper wont pop up where and when you want him to.

February 2008. More experimenting. First, lets turn a very good camera into a pinhole camera.

Not my best image ever, but one that was very satisfying none the less.

Some more experimenting.

One of my better photos.

And that rounds out another year of norbs and his dSLR. Obviously I haven’t learnt as much in the last 12 months as what i did in the previous 12 months, and I dare say, the calibre of photo taken may not be a huge improvement, but it does show with some persistance and sheer
bloody mindedness, you can achieve some reasonable results.

I hope it helps people get out and press that shutter button.
Photography is an incredibly rewarding hobby.