Charlie's Worldclub night
Posted on March 15, 2010
I go to a photography club every month in order to learn from other people, but also to have my photos judged by some top class judges from locally in Western Australia and also nationally.
I’ve only been going for about 6 months, and so far, I’ve managed to get at least one photo each time I’ve been in the top 3 of the submissions – at least I’m doing something right then!
Last month was no exception – managing to get 1st, 3rd and 4th in the open (non modified) class – I was pretty pleased as I think I’m improving month my month.
The club has a monthly theme, which I aim to have a go at if I can – however I’m normally rushing about at the 11th hour trying to think of something to take a shot of! So, in order to avoid that this month, I thought I’d start early. The theme is “abstract macro” which is tougher than it sounds. It really requires a macro lens, which I do have, although it’s only a 50mm which is really the wrong focal length.
Umming and ahhhing over what I’d take, I had a go with some flowers and a chilli in the garden, but as nice as the shots were, they weren’t abstract.
see what I mean?
Nice, might even do well blown right up onto a canvas, but not abstract enough for me.
So, onwards and upwards, we try again, this time, a different subject
can you tell what it is? I think the first and last shots kinda give it away, but I’m not submitting those 😉
style
Posted on March 15, 2010
I was determined to be a cool street photographer.
I had designs on my camera collection down to a simple Leica M6 or M7 35mm rangefinder and a few tasty lenses, shooting exclusively in black and white and generally taking cool shots a-la Cartier Bresson and his ilk.
Well, the nearest I’ve got is my Trip 35 (which, despite being very cool and unflappable is still woefully underused)
and a couple of second hand autos from the 80’s
You might think I’m a bit gutted, and in some ways I am, but it transpires that I’m actually starting to like landscapes and also, rather incongruously, sports photography. Neither of which lend themselves to the Leica in any way shape or form.
I’m on the save up for an ultra wide angle lens for the D300 plus some very tasty filters that would enable me to take the shots that just can’t quite get with my current setup. Handily, I’d like to use said ultra-wide angle for sports photography too.
Here’s some recent landscapes that I’m rather fond of..
Okay, true, they are all sunsets, but I haven’t invested any time into daylight shots yet (plus I need better filters, mine are fine for sunsets, but tint clouds purple during the day). I have a few location ideas in mind which I think I’ll start to work upto in the next few months, especially as the cooler weather is coming.
So we’ll see how it goes, I might be getting up at the crack of dawn to catch that sunrise yet.
more Melbourne
Posted on March 8, 2010
Well, we had a good time, you should expect photos :p
this episode – details
Melbourne has plenty of nice things to take photos of – I wasn’t really there for that reason as it was supposed to be our honeymoon – but I did manage to get some snapshots of some the little details which give it some of its charm.
more of Melbourne
Posted on March 7, 2010
It’s just as well we went there last weekend – this weekend they’ve had torrential rain, golf-ball sized hailstones, wild wind and floods in the city! *eep* The news has been full of pictures of flooded streets and hail-drifts. Bloody hellfire!!
Anyways, just to rub it in for people who are visiting at the moment (and Ellie who lives there), here are some tasty photos – firstly, cityscapes
The first couple of days were a bit dull, so some of the photos are a bit on the grey side. Ah well.
Kite Surfing
Posted on February 14, 2010
Saturday afternoon I popped out to Shoalwater where the kite surfers hang out and took a load of photos.
It was earlier in the day than the last lot and there were a lot more kits out and the sun was higher leaving more blue sky to get decent shots against.
I usually just watch them for 15 minutes or so to see who the better kite surfers are and where the wind is blowing, thus where they are doing the best tricks. Then, I take a few shots, gauge the speed and the angles, the background behind the shots and how many other kites are in view.
Then I get right up close to the water and hope to engage some of the better kite surfers to show off for me 🙂
Had a corking session this time – there were a couple of guys out who were noticeably more confident than most – one of whom was really happy to try to do tricks right in front of the camera. He came in for a few mins and I asked him to get as close as he dared so I could use the wide angle and get him really filling the shot – to which he obliged and I got some awesome shots! Hats off to you, mate – I didn’t get your name, but hopefully you’ll see this when I email you 🙂
Chatted to another photographer who had one of those waterproof baggy things around his camera – he was standing (getting his toes bitten by crabs) chest high in the water getting some serious wide angle shots. I’ll see if he posts his stuff anywhere – it’ll look pretty intense I’d say.
Anwyay, for your viewing pleasure – kite action – I have so many I don’t know which ones to keep! This is about 1/2 the “keepers” from the session.
Monday Monday
Posted on January 26, 2010
So good to me…
Just like the Mamas and the Papas, my Monday ended up being awesome.
Work was boring, nothing happened at all all day, as this year, Monday is an odd day between the weekend and the public holiday for Australia Day (today). As a consequence, I was done early and “helped” Jay make pizzas for dinner and we went out to take sunset photos at Point Peron
We’d had a hot day, compounded by the aircon having given up the ghost and deciding that it was only going to blow hot air from now on (*sigh*) so it was lovely to get out to the beach.
Was a gorgeous evening, the girls had lots of fun, we saw a big brown seal lazing on a rock and lots of crabs in the rockpools
What more can I say other than to show you photos..
And to top that, if it were even possible, I went and got some wine.
Mondays, not always bad.
down south, part 3
Posted on January 24, 2010
3rd verse, same as the first.
Or so sang the Violent Femmes (one of my all time favourite bands of all time)
anyways, its a fib, this isn’t the same as part one at all (except that we took the same roads home)
The drive back was unremarkable except for the fact that the sun was going down and we were treated to an amazing sunset. If Jay hadn’t been suffering with her back and keen to get home I would have headed for the beach and set up the camera. As it was, I made do with my shotgun position to capture a few of the moments on the way back.
Then, I decided to do some long exposure shots with the camera on the dash – was really funny to see the crazy shots that came out 🙂
So there you go – that was the day trip to Dunsborough.
down south, part 1
Posted on January 24, 2010
As the girls were spending the weekend with their dad, Jay and I decided to take a day trip south to Cape Naturaliste and Dunsborough. Its a couple of hours easy driving down there and the weather was beautiful as usual.
We were aiming for a Yoga retreat with a vegan eaterie as our first port of call – Samudra – or Ocean in Sanskrit, apparently. We had a lovely coffee and then really yummy vegan lunch before heading to the ocean to cool down a bit.
Armed with new swimming togs thanks to a surf shop, we headed down the track to the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse, which was a disappointment as you had to pay to walk up to it. Pah to that, we drove down to Bunker Bay, which was ber-you-ti-ful!
Deserted beach, white sand, blue sky, azure sea – perfect. We went for a swim in the deliciously clear ocean, which turned out to be brass-monkeyingly cold. Very refreshing though. I must swim in the sea more often.
Bunker Bay was lovely, I’ll definitely be back.
More in part 2…
sunset
Posted on January 20, 2010
Typical, both yesterday and tonights sunsets have been magnificent but I’ve not been able to get down to the beach or Point Peron, so I just watched it from the porch instead.
scorcher
Posted on January 19, 2010
Was very hot in Perth yesterday – 43 degrees according to the news and I don’t doubt it. It was already over 30 at 7am when I caught the train and when I went out to get lunch, the air was so warm it felt like it was burning the inside of my nose. You know when you get a blast of hot air from the oven when you open it – like that.
The office started to heat up a fair bit in the afternoon, so I came home early – just as well as all the trains were on a slow timetable because of the heat. Over 40 degree days happen every summer, so why on earth would you build a railway that can’t take it? The A/C on the train was really struggling too, especially as it was packed full 😦
Anyway, I got home (via the bottle shop and 12 bottles of cold beer) and was melting by then – I really must retire my English smart office trousers – they’re too thick material for this country.
Was bliss to get my shoes and socks off and get into shorts!
Went out to take some photos at Point Peron as the heat was causing some clouds to appear over the ocean – good chance of a nice sunset, but the clouds really rolled in and the sunset wasn’t like it could have been. There was another photographer on the beach – a Belgian guy called Tim – who was pretty cool – had a good chat whilst snapping away. He was getting some great pics straight out of the camera – I really miss my filters that got broken when my camera fell into the sea.
Despite the sunset colours being nothing to write home about, I got some corking photos. I messed about a little in Lightroom and was pretty happy with what came out.
Charlie's World 