Midnight fireworks in Sydney to bring in the new year, photographed from Pirrama Park, Pyrmont.
Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens; Joby GorillaPod and Nikon remote control; ISO 100, f/9 at shutter speeds between 2.5 and 4 seconds.
Category Archives: miscellaneous
Aqua
I had my camera at the aquatic centre today, taking photos of children from the school where I work. The effect of the water moving over the tiles on the floor of the children’s play pool was fascinating.
Inspiration for a quilt? Yes, indeed.
Photographed with a Nikon D7000 and 85mm f/1.8 lens, 1/125 sec at f/2.8, ISO 250.
Autumn
I’ve just returned from the Southern Highlands of NSW, after spending a lovely autumn weekend sharing life with old friends and new, and making a few photos.
Shooting details: Nikon D80 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens; 1/500th sec @ f/2, ISO 400.
“Pear-shaped” can be good!
I’ve been looking at old images and choosing some of them to rework as conversions to black and white. For fun, and for ideas about future photographs. This one, three beurre bosc pears, is from a “kitchen bench” session in March last year. There is something rather lovely about the shapes of these pears, and I find myself inspired to get out and buy some more. For photographing, and for eating!
Shooting details: Nikon D80 fitted with a manual Sigma 55mm f/2.8 macro lens at maximum magnification; exposure 1/10 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 100. Black and white conversion in Photoshop Elements.
Kitchen bench photography
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve taken more than a few photographs at special events – my college’s graduation evening, and my school’s 25th anniversary celebrations and cross-country running day. It’s good to have been involved in my favourite way, and satisfying to have encountered (and mostly overcome) the challenges of shooting under pressure.
Today has been a welcome quiet day, and I’ve spent some of it in the kitchen with three beurre bosc pears and my camera. I bought the pears about a week ago and they have been sitting in the fruit bowl getting nicely wrinkly around the stalk – probably too soft for eating now, but perfect for photographing. Even the one that rolled off the bench and went sploossh! onto the tiles! That would be the one hiding in the middle of the frame.
There’s nothing terribly complicated about this set up … just a roll of white paper draped behind and tucked under the pears. The only challenges are to arrange the pears in a way that’s pleasing to the eye, and to choose camera settings that keep the right bits in focus, and the others not. Quite relaxing, really.
Shooting details: Nikon D80 fitted with an old (and therefore manual!) Sigma 55mm f/2.8 macro lens at maximum magnification; exposure 1/10 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 100.
Cross-processed in Capture NX2 with help from this tutorial in the Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook. Texture by ground*floor, added in Photoshop Elements.
An oldie, but a goodie
Tiny teddy in tiny tea cups
My late father-in-law collected second hand camera kit … quite a lot of it, in fact! As we sort through his things occasionally we unearth treasure that will work with my Nikon D80. The latest gem is a Sigma Mini-Wide 28mm f/2.8 macro lens.
Now, I should explain what I mean by “work with” my D80. When I use this lens I have no exposure metering, no auto-white-balance and no auto-focus. Every camera adjustment must be made manually.
So why bother? Isn’t that just more pain than a photo is worth?
Well, the first reason is that the lens didn’t cost a cent. And it’s a good reason, when the Nikkor equivalent retails for around $500. (Yes, I have Scots heritage.)
Another, even better, reason is precisely because every adjustment must be made manually! Back to basics. It makes me think carefully about what I’m doing with the exposure, and gives a better result for precise focus when shooting macro images (auto-focus systems sometimes fail because of focus hunting, or focussing on the wrong part of the image.)
The best reason of all, though, is that when I use this lens, or any of the other bits and pieces he gave me over the years, I remember what a nice bloke my father-in-law was, and how much he, too, loved photography.
ps … shooting details: Nikon D80 fitted with a Sigma Mini-Wide 28mm f/2.8 macro lens, maximum magnification; 1/80 second at f/2.8, ISO 400; handheld. Tiny Teddy button by Arnotts Biscuits, dolly tea set by T2
Blurring the boundaries
Late afternoon on Lighthouse Beach at Seal Rocks
I’ve been looking through the photos I took during our week at Seal Rocks in December, deciding what to print for the family album. Amongst them is this experimental shot I made while we were walking on Lighthouse Beach one late afternoon. Deliberately unfocussed and shooting into the sun, breaking all the rules. Interesting? I’m not sure. Perhaps the idea is worth further exploration, adjusting the degree of out-of-focus-ness (if that’s what you’d call it) and the exposure. Thoughts?