Exhibition! Success! & Thankyou!

I type this as I finish the first day of manning the gallery this weekend. In front of me are walls full of art and inspiration. Four different unique approaches, views and finishes. Four different people who draw on life experiences, passions and love of sharing enable me to experience something that has changed my photographic vision looking forward.

I find it hard to put into words the emotions, anxiety, stress and almost naked feeling taking part in an exhibition puts you in. The fear that everybody/nobody will like your work.. the whispers.. the looks.. and the potential for nobody turning up is enough to make your stomach turn.

But the moment your friends and family start turning up on opening night.. seeing your work framed and up in the spot light on the bright white walls.. those fears turn into excitement and a craving for nice white wine.

The opening night was a blast.. with so many friendly faces and friends that I have accumulated from so many different walks of life. I admit I put myself out there, and in the process meet so many awesome people and you all mean a lot to me, and contribute a lot to helping me develop not only as a person, but as a photographer.

So it is here I sit about to close up for the day.. saying farewell to the last people to walk through and I have a massive smile on my face.

On Film | An Exhibition

It is with much excitement that I post about an upcoming opportunity for me.. my first exhibit! Ill be displaying my film work with 3 other great film photographers in a show in Sydney at the Salerno Gallery in Glebe. I have known the owner of the gallery (Arran) for a little over a year now, originally meeting through a good mutual friend George. We had discussed at a fleeting moment the opportunity of doing a show sometime.. probably focused on something like street photography. As it happens with another artists pulling out for this early Feb slot.. I had the opportunity to get into the gallery with a few other great togs and get the ball rolling on a show about film.

I love shooting film, it isnt hard to see that a lot of my recent work are uploads from scans of me shooting film. The whole image printed brings the process full circle, for this show unfortunately I didnt print right off the negative (I scanned the negative and printed) but the representation of an image on paper… something you can hold.. something you can see the imperfections.. colours and framing apart from on a monitor or a small negative is definitely something special.

So.. details? Yes details.. there is an opening night as well as about 3 weeks of show time.

Salerno Gallery

70 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe, Sydney

Opening Night: Tuesday the 24th of January.. 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Show Running Time: 24th of January – 11th of February

Website: http://www.salernogallery.com/exhibitions/on-film/

If you need any more information feel free to contact the gallery or email me on info@outsideinpixels.com

Till next time..

I’m Back Online! Yipeeeee!

With the massive year that was 2011… you have probably seen me struggle to keep this blog rolling on with consistent updates! Taking a little too much on board is probably an understatement, but rewarding nonetheless. I am still very much obsessed with my passion for landscapes/seascapes.. but in the latter half of this year it has really taken second place to me expanding my portfolio and interests into people and naturally.. weddings. I have touched from time to time through my posts (and well I am guessing the few that will read this also follow other social media) that I am doing a lot of wedding work for Daniel K Cheung.

For me.. personally it is amazing that someone has seen the ability and given me the opportunity to try something, which I now love. I remember saying upfront that I did not like weddings! But it only took one to sway me the other way.. but for that chance and now.. after having assisted/second shot at 14 weddings for 2011 I am really struggling to show the gratitude I have towards Daniel for the chance. Not to mention that September/October saw myself solo shoot a wedding and primary shoot another!

Where I’ve Been.. What I’ve Done.. What You See

I will be back soon.. I promise.

A frustrating couple of weeks for me with the phone line at home getting disconnected and a massive circle jerk causing me excessive downtime with no net! So I am still here.. I just have no time to blog the way I want too. There are advantages of having no internet… it actually reminds me of a book I read whilst growing up called ‘What No TV?!’

As a child who has grown up with the digital/technical revolution the reliance on internet for not only entertainment but social interaction, personal development, creative exploring and also sharing your photography is something  that takes up a large part of your life. Kind of like the attachment many make with their own phones, take it away and they have lost a communication channel and a valuable part of their ‘self’.

Never fear.. I am not a tragic who is crying themselves to sleep in the corner each night waiting for the modem to flash ‘sync’ once more. I have been using the time to re-archive all my film negatives, send my new completed rolls off for development, teach B&W development to a fellow photographer and generally process through some of the back log I have at home.

So hopefully ill get another post up early next week before I get the net back on in over a week’s time from today…

Till next time..

White Bay Power Station Panorama

An Appetite for Updates?

Happy Mothers Day to All

I love my mum.. and I try to tell her that as often as possible. But it is always nice to spoil them and not for just one day telling you to do so.. but just as an extra reminder and thank you for all that they do for you. I am very lucky in that my mum supports me very well.. and my work.. and my photography. She is a great cook.. and I have.. learnt a few things over the past few years but it was only in my recent moveout that I took over the cooking reigns for my and my partner and I must say.. whilst sometimes a chore it is overall very exciting to try new things and having them work out. So did I set the bar high? well not really.. but I seem to be attracted to creating  authentic foods by following authentic recipes. So I gave a thai chilli jam recipe a go and I must say.. I was half impressed myself. Sorry the food photographer within lost out to the hungry man wanting to devour his dinner after a glass of red.

In short.. Happy Mother’s Day to all mum’s out there in the world.

Till next time..

P.S – I also have a Nikon D700 to play with for a week.. and this was my first shot with it 🙂

My 2010 Reflections..

My 2010 in Photos from Jack Chauvel on Vimeo.

So let’s take a walk back through 2010… it was an interesting year and ill spend some time within the next week and post MY personal favourite photos of 2010 and why. It has been well over 18 months since my galavanting throughout Europe. It feels like it was just yesterday.. and I would love to go again in the near future 🙂

2010 saw me take my photography to a new personal level. I say personal because it is all relative to me and how I have progressed. To many others I would hope you can see my improvements, but also the creation of my own style. I also felt that I definitely begun to move outside my initial comfort zone (landscapes) and try something new.. with mixed results. Mixed being my choice of words because whilst I feel I grabbed some amazing shots, I also feel like I am now pushing myself to a higher standard.. partially due to the way friends like Daniel Cheung, Rob Gjessing, Alex Wise and George Miskovski have all pushed me to think more about my shots.. how they are composed.. how they are cropped.. how they are processed and what story I am trying to tell through them.

So what milestones did I accomplish in 2010?… let’s take a trip down memory lane.

I…

• Processed my entire Europe trip into albums ready for a photobook
• Assisted my first Wedding Shoot
• Assisted my first Model/Fashion Shoot
• Got up for sunrise 8 Saturdays in a row.. even though they werent the best mornings..
• Got my camera bag wet no less than 3 times whilst shooting at the beach
• Tried and failed at Off Camera Flash
• Met some amazing photographers and made some great new friends
• Obtained a 17-55mm 2.8 which hurt my bank account but gave me instant street cred and I instantly fell in <3
• Was given my first film camera and had my  first two rolls processed
• Ordered my first 4 prints on canvas
• Completed my Stormy Stormtrooper Project 52
• Tried street photography and capture some nice shots
• Tried long exposures.. again.. and again.. and again.. and finally I think I have the knack
• Realised the key to a good photography sessions is BBQ Chicken Rolls and Red Lea Chips from Cabramatta
• Was asked to assist on further weddings in 2011.. which much joy
• Obtained my first ongoing photography job which is due to start soon (first quarter 2011)
• Gained a lot of knowledge for myself, and hopefully passed on some of that good knowledge to fellow enthusiasts & beginners
• Gained the respect of fellow photographers (I hope)
• Travelled to different parts of Australia and captured some wonderful images
• Planned to travel to new parts of Australia to capture more wonderful images
• Understand myself better as a photographer

And well that is where Ill leave that for now.. I have a lot more planned for 2011… a lot more themed shots.. a lot more camera time and I just hope you keep on reading and enjoying. I am still looking at a website change, that is amongst my goals of 2011… but there shall be a post about 2011 in the not too distant future (well I hope so.. since it already is 2011)

Till next time..

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/outsideinpixels

To Change? or not to Change?

Undecided

Not a quiet week, just a busy one 🙂

A blog post without any photos? What is going on you might say! Well I am stuck in a bit of a conundrum 🙂 At this point in time I am enjoying blogging and sharing my photographic escapades a lot more than I realised! I feel that I am slightly let down by my website.. which is hard for me to say since I wrote it myself. I like the front page, and the way it is simple with my latest blogs displayed, however I am lacking that portfolio and gallery section that I desire. My other qualm is the fact my blog theme is different to my site, now my blog does link back directly to the site and works as if it was just another page within, but I feel that it lacks the flow I want.. where it fits in perfectly with my theme.

So i have now come to a crossroads.. do I look at moving my entire site over to a Photoblog theme WordPress setup… a site that has a front page with the latest blog posts and some feature images and galleries for people to look at. Or do I give making my own theme a bash, and converting the blog page into an integrated website.. or even better.. making wordpress theme based around my current site/look at feel.

I never usually shy away from a challenge, it is the time sink I am worried about.. I do spend a lot of time looking into new coding styles and website integrations. Reading through tutorials and blog posts and guides.. but the time sink is in the finer details. I can build you a site, I can get it 95% there but I always find that 5% takes 95% longer than the rest of the site!

My plans are to integrate the Fotomoto service into my new site too, so that people can order some prints from my portfolio if they wish… it has its ups and downs but I would love people to simply have the option. Why? Well .. I dont really know why you would want to have some of my photos on your wall but it seems that quite a few of you do! And whilst my blog and site is still a fledgling in the size and numbers of visitors I receive… I get enough now to think that perhaps people like my ramblings.. or like the way I show you how someone who is really still such a novice breaks into new styles, and new adventures. It is pretty fun, I think I have somewhat of an eye for Photography and I would like to share it a lot more. It all comes back to time doesnt it…

I might make up a new blog post soon about ideas for guides/tutorials.. what would you like to see? Where would you like to go? Suggestion a location perhaps? And i can go and capture my view of the spot (perhaps only in Sydney.. unless you shout me the airfare :D)

So my faithful few readers.. what do you think? To change or not to change?

Till next time..

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/outsideinpixels

P.S – If you can actually offer me a hand in taking my site/blog to where I want it to be, I would be eternally grateful!