A Quiet Afternoon Drive.. NOT! The Mazda MX5 SE

MX5 SE

A quiet afternoon drive turned into a howling ride through the twisties of the Royal National Park just south of Sydney. With the aim of getting some car shots, we headed off from the southern suburbs after 6.. for a trip down to Stanwell Tops and the lookouts for a backdrop. Even with photography in mind, I quickly changed my tune on the purpose of the trip.. it was definitely just for the ride.

My friend George has a stunning example of an 04 Mazda MX5 SE… it feels like a go kart on steroids with the grip and stability to match. Not to mention it has a certain character and look which definitely doesnt fit within the regular stigma for this car. Infact I would say it is up there with one of the best, most exciting and fun rides ive had the pleasure of sitting in!

So how about this photography business? Forgot about that for a second 🙂 Our intended location was the Stanwell Tops lookouts at the Southern end of the national park (on the northern border of the Illawarra region). This was a big learning curve for both George and myself as we have very limited experience with using Off Camera flash.. bolster this with having temperamental flashes, not the best triggers and no diffusers.. we had fun but our shots didnt quite turn out the way we desired.

Never fear.. this has only increased our hunger to improve and try more.. with a large variety of fun drives and shooting locations within short distance of Sydney there is no doubt we will get up to more mischief in the very near future. I would like to say a big thank you to George for taking me along and giving me some insight into his history of car ownership. He is very knowledgeable and experienced and he might just sway my decision on my next car purchase!

Ill leave you with a shot.. of us shooting back into the National Park on the drive home.

Till next time..

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

Chilly Sunrise at Little Bay

Well it has been some time since I have updated a sunrise.. because it has been sometime since ive attended! Not intentionally, my weekends have been filled with shooting.. off different kinds! IT was rather refreshing getting out again.. not so much the going to bed @ 2am and waking up at 3:55am.. but .. alas the things we do for getting that ‘shot’.

So back to Little Bay.. last time we attended we headed to the South Side of the bay which doesnt work at this time of the year (due to the rise path of the sun).. however scouting the north side of the bay there are many rocks which would make for a killer foreground.. unfortunately on this fateful day it was high tide.. and perhaps not the best time to visit.. never fear.. this is for another time, another tide.

Little Bay is tucked away, not many people know about it and infact unless you were told or shown I doubt anybody would head there. Must head back later in the summer for a swim.. and perhaps a fish. IN the past few weeks I received by B+W 110 ten stop filter. Much like my previous ten stop filter this one is a screw on, 77mm thread size. The B+W gets great reviews for little to no colour cast and this was a big point for me. The Hitech 10 stop, whilst being great on my D90 (yet horrible on my D40) really just didnt sell me with the way the IR isnt filtered correctly and the colour cast/effect it has on white balance in general.

So my goal was to head out for some milky water shots, really getting the most out of the 10 stopper as a test.. to see how it holds up.. and well from the example below.. you can see it performs well

F8 @ 604 seconds

Yes.. it really was 10 minute exposure.. I was able to finish a can of Red Bull.. and time flies doing these long exposures.. having taken only 3 shots in the previous 30mins it was suddenly 6am and we decided to go on the hunt for some coffee. Unfortunately for us the colour was there from first light, but it diminished very quickly as sunrise approached (cloud got too thick).. typical tho because Sunday turned out to have a classic and beautiful sunrise.. and we missed it!

My predictions are however that I am going to end up with a few sleepless nights this summer… and I am hoping I can get stuck into some gorgeous sunrises in the very near future.

f16 @ 30 seconds

Till next time..

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

Week 49 – Fashionable Trooper

Week 49 - Fashionable Trooper

They dont come like that out of the box you know. Makeup call before a quick show for Stormy today.. making an appearance at a Hunter Valley Bridal Show. The girls went giddy.. and to be honest why wouldnt you with a suit like that?

Till next time..

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

Miriam in the Hunter Valley | Bridal/Fashion Shoot Preview

Miriam

Just a quick teaser of a Bridal Shoot that I attended in the Hunter Valley on Tuesday the 14th of December. It was an epic day of travel, shooting and tomfoolery (sorry Tom). It all came about from Daniel K Cheung wanting to head up for a shoot with Miriam before she goes back to Germany.

I had a great day and learnt a lot.. played with some gear I cant really afford but Ill attempt too.. and met a couple of cool new faces.

Since Xmas is the time of giving.. ill give you one more 🙂

Till next time..

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

Week 48 – It’s not a Stormtrooper

Week 48 - It's not a Stormtrooper

Stormy Stormtrooper – “Honestly officer.. I warned him time and time again to not call himself that!”
Officer Brick – “Call himself what?”
Stormy Stormtrooper – “A Stormtrooper..”
Officer Brick – “Uhh why? Isn’t he a Stormtrooper?”
Stormy Stormtrooper – “No! He’s a Snowtrooper”
Officer Brick – “So? He’s still a Stormtrooper”
Stormy Stormtrooper – “That’s your first warning officer”

Stormy doesnt put up with no fakes or imposters. He will have none of that in his army.

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!

St. Street. Stereeet Photography

Well another week.. another new attempt at some photography. Street photography to be exact, with a bunch of friends and some new friendly faces. Dan had in his infinite wisdom decided to organise an OCAU mini-meet for street (how poetic) in Martin Place on Tuesday evening. With the idea of catching the peak hour in a rush of rain coats and umbrellas. This type of weather always brings out some odd behaviour from pedestrians, and some great reflections and unique looks.

So we all met up, I think 9 of us in all and I was stoked because I was finally able to meet a photographer who has been hiding in the shadows for some time now.. his name is George or ‘Two40’ and you can see his current ramblings here.

We headed from Martin Place to Customs House to Customs House Bar to Menya Ramen in Haymarket.. it was a lot of walking and I was tired by the end but happy overall. I think next time I would love to get out with a small amount of people. Stormy Stormtrooper even got a few shots in (at the Customs House Bar..) you can see that on my last blog post 🙂

To the shots!

All in all.. lots of rubbish but a few good captures! Really need to work on my hip shooting, and knowing exactly how im framing whilst not looking… I think this will take some practice! I also got half a roll through the Nikon EM.. using the 50mm 1.8/180mm 2.8 and some Fujicolour 100.

When I finally get them processed, Ill scan them up and put them up.

Till next time..

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

Week 47 – The Tap Master

Week 47 - The Tap Master

Master of the tap.. curator of the beer.. Stormy Stormtrooper here in the Customs House Bar choosing a pint of his old favourite.. (actually a hard choice for me, well 2 out of 3 aint bad ;))

Nice work Stormy.. wont even argue with you pouring me a Golden Ale.

Till next time..

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