What to do on a miserable day?

The more I learn the more I am getting better at previsualising my photos before I take them. This shot was taken on an overcast drab looking day here in Canberra and I always knew that this was going to be a black and white image with a slow shutter speed to try and capture the movement in the clouds.

The hardest thing about taking this image apart from the torrid wind and the threat of rain was that it is Reconciliation Place in Canberra and during lunch time (when the shot was taken) Public Servants and tourists make there way down this alley as a natural progression from Parliament House (Pictured top of image) to Lake Burley Griffin right behind me. I love the interesting shades and textures of this little structure and many a wedding photo has been taken at this location during summer and spring.

Back at work now and I must say that I would rather be at home playing with little Mia, but I guess the bills have to be paid somehow.

Cheers

Morning Spray

Hey all, sorry for the absence! As it turns out people were right when they said that parenting takes up a lot of your time.

To keep the photos flowing on the blog while I don’t have the time to get out and take new ones I have had to go back through my hard drives and find some of the photos that I was meaning to post but never got around to it.

One of my favourite things to photograph outside of landscapes is the surf and surfing. Living in Canberra doesn’t really provide much opportunity but whenever I get the chance I like to get out with the telephoto lens and snap away and even take the odd video footage. I haven’t really taken advantage of the D90’s movie capabilities as it is not that user friendly but I think next time I am down the coast I will give it a go. I am also keen to pick up a waterproof housing and give it a go out in the break but it just seems so expensive as a hobby!

This shot comes from the beautiful coastline of Eden in southern NSW. It was taken just after sunrise making the most of the beautiful backlighting and the offshore breeze to freeze the golden spray as the wave came crashing in.

Hope you like it, more new stuff to come soon (fingers crossed).

Nikon D90 and Sigma 70-200mm with Sigma 1.4x teleconverter

Little Miss Mia

Hi all

As you may have guessed my wife and I had a little visitor Sunday, Mia Tracy Olive was conveniently born at 12.33pm, 2 weeks early, weighing 2.85 kgs and measuring 46 cms in length. Both mum and baby are doing really well and we had our first night at home last night without any incidents.

As you may have guessed dad is pretty chuffed with his new little daughter and may be busy for the next couple of weeks (she is a great time waster) before I have to go back to work. Thanks to everyone for all their well wishes prior to the birth!

And here are a few photos from the first 5 days, I think I may have a new photographic passion!

As this is still a photo blog I have provided the details of the images below. All shots were taken in natural light and I used a little bit of Nik Software on the skin tones.

Cheers

Mike

Nikon D90, Nikon 50mm f1.8

Nikon D90, Tamron 90mm f2.8 Macro

Nikon D90, Nikon 35mm f1.8

Nikon D90, Nikon 50mm f1.8

Nikon D90, Nikon 35mm f1.8

Nikon D90, Nikon 35mm f1.8

After some feedback

I really want to like this image, but there is something that doesn’t really do it for me. I am hoping you clever people out there might be able to provide me with some suggestions on what I could do to make it a keeper or is it destined to find its way into the almost catergory?

For those who are interested it is a shot of the headland at Dolphin point on NSW’s south coast taken just after sunrise. I loved the way the headland was reflecting in the rock bed down below, I guess sometimes it pays to turn around instead of just focusing on shooting the sunrise and horizon.

Nikon D90, Nikon 50mm f1.8 @ f8, 1/125 sec, 9 images stitched and cropped.

The Dome

Another shot from the War Memorial, although this time taken from a different angle and a close up of the roof. I love the way the dome lights up as the last rays of light hit it in the evening letting all of the textures and shades shine through. The best thing about taking this photo is that I didn’t have to wait for all the tourists to move out of the way, gotta love telephoto lenses.

Love this time of year, when the Australian Open starts. I am kind of hoping the baby comes early so at least if I have to be up I can be watching some tennis instead of some crappy home shopping. Might have to tell the wife to start  doing some daily lunges or whatever else is supposed to make a baby come early.

Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200mm @ 200mm, F5.6 @ 1/250 sec.

Australian War Memorial

I have been attempting to capture the War Memorial right through summer and haven’t been happy with the results I had been getting until I managed to capture this shot on New Years Day. The War Memorial is one of the coolest museums I have been to in Australia and holds significant importance to me as my pop fought on the Kakoda trail in WW2.

I was there to capture the last rays on sunlight as the way the shadows stretch across the parade grounds and the way the dome lights up is a sight to see, however I didn’t really capture it how I’d imagined. As I got about half way back to the car park I turned and noticed some cool clouds in the distance so I made the decision to hang around to see what I could get as the sunset wasn’t looking great anyway.

Just as the clouds rolled into position, luck would have it that the lights at the memorial came to life to add further interest to the scene. I patiently waited for the people walking on the grounds to clear (I think I was cursing them under my breathe whilst smiling politely) and once they left I started snapping away. This is the result, a shot that I am very happy with not only because I like the way it turned out but also because I don’t think I have ever seen a photo of the War Memorial like this (most are during the day or at Sunset) and I think the mood suits the subject perfectly.

The other thing I loved about shooting this image was that it was the first time I have used my new Lee ND Grad filters and they are awesome. No colour cast and smooth as silk.

Nikon D90, Nikon 17-35mm @ 35mm, f11, I think about 10 second exposures, 10 images stitched and cropped.

Coppins Crossing

I took this image before Xmas on the tip off of a friend that this area was looking really nice due to the dryness that summer had brought. I only had the chance to check it out on evening on the way home from work and only managed to spend about 20 minutes here as I had to be somewhere. This is the best image I could come up with.

this is a shot of the road leading to Coppins Crossing which Canberran’s will know well but for outsiders connects one of the Northern Suburbs to one of the South/Central Suburbs (actually where my parents live) and it is totally rural along the way (about 5km’s). That is the great thing about Canberra, 5-10 minutes drive and you can be totally isolated. This road however is actually quite busy during peak hour and therefore I had to try and time my shots, especially as this is a stitched image albeit only 3 horizontal images as was getting frustrated with the cars. I was quite lucky with the storm rolling in from the left.

Let me know what you think?

The latest on the baby front, is that we are as of last night living day to day and totally in the hands of when the baby decides to arrive, could be today could be weeks, so if the posting and commenting suddenly stops then something is going down.

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-70mm @35mm, f11, 1/250 sec, 3 images in horizontal format stitched and cropped.

Old Royalla Train Station

*Edit* I have re posted a saturated version of this image as requested by Chloe. Chloe/others let me know which one you prefer? My money is still on the desaturated version but then again that is just me and I tend to lean towards de-saturation for nearly all my images of this nature, I must have a problem!

I drive past this old station every time I return from the coast down south but have always been too lazy to photograph it even though it is only 20 minutes drive from my house. I have always wanted to photograph it but wasn’t sure that I could make a good photo out of it. Anyway this is what I think is my best shot from this shoot, this train station is obviously not in use anymore and is completely over grown but I still love the atmosphere that it brings with the old carriages and station office itself just sitting there decaying. Its amazing that just 35 minutes from the heart of the Canberra City is this run down station which is an ode to the past.

I was lucky enough to have this large cloud front pass into the frame while I was shooting which I think added a bit more interest to the scene.

The weather has been blisteringly hot this weekend in Canberra and is supposed to reach 39 by Tuesday, I am hoping that there will a cold front soon to try and cool it down a bit as it is not very conducive to photography at the moment especially with the dull blue sky’s we have been getting.

Shot with Nikon D90, 70-200mm @ 70mm, f11, 1/500 sec. 9 images stitched and cropped in photoshop.

A few more

Just a few more from my outing with the 17-35mm as a test run on Sunday, this time down at Royalla about 15 minutes south of Canberra. This thing and me a new besties by the way!

‘The Crossing at Royalla Station’

‘Sign post for the Old Royalla Station’

‘Can’t get enough of the crossing signs, sorry’

First shot from 17-35mm

Hi guys

Just thought I would post a quick photo taken with my new 17-35mm lense from the other evening near Captains Flat just south east of Canberra. You probably can’t tell from this photo but this lense is super sharp and contrasty and photos look great when viewed at 100% (if I nailed the focus that is), plus it screams professional with it’s size so maybe I will start commanding some respect  .

I was getting some weird looks from passers by while taking this photo, I don’t think they get to see too many photographers in thongs and boardies out there way, hmmm don’t know why!

Later