Prints Available upon request.

ANZAC Day March, Melbourne 2009

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

Today I photographed the ANZAC Day march in Melbourne.

I had a roller coaster of feelings watching the ol’ diggers march down St Kilda Rd, it was an incredible and emotional scene.

I felt so proud to be an Australian, with a massive crowd there to cheer them on, and have so much respect and admiration for what the diggers did for us, lest we forget them.

Hopetoun Falls, Otways, VIC – Waterfalls/Landscape

Monday, April 13th, 2009

What better way to spend Easter Monday than getting down to the beautiful Otway Ranges.
I just love it down there. Hours photographing nature, hiking and wading on the slippery rocks in the cold water is what I call fun !

Here’s a few shots from different perspectives of Hopetoun Falls.

Weerama Festival, Werribee 2009

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

Hi Everyone,

On Sunday 29th March, I photographed the Weerama Festival held in Watton St, Werribee with Neil, Lee, Di, Kathryn and Belinda. Weerama consists of colourful multicultural groups, community floats, street performers, local schools and roving entertainers, celebrating the multiculturalism of the city of Wyndham.

I’ve split these up into 3 albums, Parade, People and Performers

Parade

People

Performers

Photographic Competition 1st & 3rd Place – Weerama, Ted’s Camera Stores 2009

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

Hi Everyone,

Tonight (25th March 2009)  at the Official Opening of the Weerama Festival, I was awarded 1st & 3rd prizes in the Ted’s Camera Stores Photographic Competition 2009 Open Category for the Weerama Festival (Werribee Community Festival) held by the City of Wyndham.

The competition was for photographs taken in the last 12 months which showcased the City of Wyndham, capturing and celebrating the Municipality’s diverse landscape, seascape and character.

I entered two of my photos.  “Unknown” was awarded 1st place and “A Brief History of Time” got 3rd place.

Unknown

“Unknown” – Campbells Cove, Werribee South beach at dawn

A Brief History of Time

A Brief History Of Time – Werribee River at sunset

Melbourne F1 Pre-Race @ Fed Square

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

In the week leading up to the Formula 1 in Melbourne, the F1 teams came to Federation Square and the grid girls and fans were out in force.

Here’s a few shots from the event.

The Blowhole at Flinders, VIC – Sunset Seascapes

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

An amazing sunset at the blowhole on the Flinders coastline, Victoria.

Got nice and wet, and the drive home was not pleasant in my saturated clothes, but worth it.

Avalon Airshow 2009

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

It finally rained in Victoria, although, it happened over most of the airshow weekend.
I was lucky enough to catch a few shots with some blue sky, and contrasting stormy skies.

While waiting for some action in the outer (cheap seats) of the 2009 Avalon Airshow, we watched the storm pass over the bay.

Neil, Lisa, Campbell and I were there to catch some shots of the amazing machines of the sky this afternoon.

Moomba Melbourne 2009

Monday, March 9th, 2009

Hi Everyone,

I photographed the Melbourne Moomba Parade and wandered down to the banks of the Yarra River where the carnival is held with my dad today.

Each float in the Moomba Parade represents the cultural diversity of the Melbourne community, plenty of colour, character and fun.

Click below to see a selection of photos of how I saw the parade, community, streets and river bank, hope you enjoy.

Geelong Pako Festival 2009

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

Hi Everyone,
Yesterday we photographed the Pako festival in West Geelong.

The Pako Festa is a multicultural event for the broader Geelong region. The event has performances over five stages, cultural food, workshops, art and craft exhibitions, street performers and a range of free activities for children.

Victoria’s Alpine Region (Summer) – Landscape Photography

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Wild flowers come to life in Victoria’s Alpine Region during summer.

During certain times, fields are covered in them, depending on the weather conditions. This year I didn’t see endless fields, but there were plenty of flowers on show displaying their vibrant colours and hardiness.

The mountains have many tracks for four wheel drivers to attempt, and many winding roads. Mountains and valleys dominate the land in this region always provide spectacular views.

This year, the stark white trees were a reminder of the terrible bush fires that the region is prone too. But the beautiful wild flowers and new growth provided a reminder that the cycle continues and the local flora and fauna was returning.

During summer, venturing up to the peak of Mt Buffalo at sunset is definitely worth the drive. Approximately 1 hour from Porepunkah, the lookout at The Horn Picnic Area has breathtaking views. You can just sit back and watch in amazement as the sun goes down behind the ranges, colouring the sky and exposing the sheer grandeur of the region. Layers and layers of ranges can be seen in shadow.

During twilight, a walk up to The Horn is something special. At 1700m, The Horn is the highest peak at Mt Buffalo. A popular spot for rock climbers, it also offers magnificent views both during the day and at night. Make sure you bring a torch and you’re not afraid of bats or moths !

Mt Buffalo offers so much for outdoor enthusiasts. The air is fresh and the steep rising granite cliffs, grand. Wildflowers flourish in amongst the snow gums.

At dawn and dusk, keep your eye out for native animals such as wombats, wallabies and lyrebirds. With over 90km of walking tracks, summer is a great time to get outdoors and trek. Mountain biking, canoeing and swimming are just a few of many other activities on offer during the warmer months, see www.parksweb.vic.gov.au for more information.

Tumbling waterfalls aren’t as prevalent in summer, but it makes for ease of access across Eurobin Creek at the base of the mountain.

Accommodation is scattered all throughout the region and there are plenty of places to choose from depending on your budget. This summer, my family stayed at Ted’s High Country Lavendar Farm.

Purple covers the ground and it’s a perfect location for both couples and families. Set on a few acres, the farm offers a great getaway as well as plenty of room for kids to get up to mischief and get to know the local animals like Ted’s donkeys, chickens and sheep to name a few.

Consisting of four river basins or valleys, created by the Ovens, Buffalo, Buckland and Kiewa rivers, this region’s high altitude, hot summer days and cool nights allow its small vineyards to make distinctive wines (sourced from www.visitvictoria.com).

Wineries in the region are a perfect place to have a delicious lunch and try many of the fabulous wines on offer from the region.

During summer, Feathertop Winery’s cafe is open and offers a wonderful selection of local produce for lunch, as well as fantastic wine.

And on your return journey…keep an eye out for the never ending views, or even just interesting yards !

Star Trails

Friday, January 9th, 2009

On our recent trip to the Grampians, Neil and I did some late night star trail photography at Lake Fyans.

A few people have asked me how I did it, so I thought I’d share my information with you all.

With digital cameras and remote shutter releases, it’s fairly straightforward to take star trail photos. I recommend taking multiple shorter exposures and merging them because digital sensors build up heat over long exposures, causing red/purple casts to appear at the edges of the sensor and ruining your shot. Using shorter exposures is a way around this.

For my photos above, the details are below.

Camera Settings

Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: EF-S 10-22mm
Focal Length: 10mm
Aperture: f4.0
ISO: 800
Shutter Speed: 30 seconds x 114 shots & 111 shots
WB: Auto White Balance
Format: RAW
Tripod
Remote shutter release cable
Drive mode: Continuous shooting (burst)
Focus point on the tree (using a torch to illuminate the tree to get the focus point)

Processing

Step 1: (RAW file adjustments to all 114 shots)
Exposure adjustment: +0.9 (to get the exposure level I was after)
Exported the 114 shots as JPEG

Step 2: (Merging photos)
There are a couple of methods of doing the photo merging.
Achim Schaller has written a wonderful Startrails Application to merge all exposures into one JPEG.
It also can create a time-lapse movie ! (see mine below)
Another method is to use Photoshop and combine all layers using “lighten” merging.  A handy and time saving method is to use Chris Schur’s Photoshop action.

Step 3: (JPEG Adjustment)
Sharpening (50%)
Noise Reduction (100% colour & luminance)

Celestial Positioning

Depending on what effect you are after, compose your shot accordingly.

For my photo above, I composed the shot using the south celestial pole  (see image below sourced from wikipedia) which give the circular effect.

The north and south celestial poles are the two imaginary points in the sky where the Earth’s axis of rotation intersects the imaginary rotating sphere of stars called the celestial sphere.  The poles appear directly overhead to an observer at the North and South Pole’s.

For those living in the southern hemisphere, there are a few methods to find the south celestial pole.

Southern Cross Method

The south celestial pole can be located from the Southern Cross and its two pointer stars.

Looking up at the Southern Cross, draw an imaginary line from the two stars at the extreme ends of the long axis of the cross and follow this line through the sky.   You can either go four and a half times the distance of the long axis on the Southern Cross in the direction the narrow end of the cross points, or join the two pointer stars with a line, divide this line in half, then at right angles draw another imaginary line through the sky until it meets the line from the Southern Cross.  At this crossing point is the south celestial pole.

Magellanic Clouds Method

Using the Magellanic Clouds clouds in the southern sky, make an equilateral triangle, the third point of which is the south celestial pole.

Compass Method

Using a compass, locate true south and point up to an angle equivalent to your latitude.
For example, if you were in Melbourne CBD (-37.814056,144.96168), then using your compass facing true south and looking up at an angle of 37.8° will give you the south celestial pole.

Celestial Movement

Below is a compiled video of all of my 114 exposures from Lake Fyans in the Grampians, showing the celestial movement around the south celestial pole, located at the end of the tree’s branch.  (Thanks to “Achim Schaller” for this wonderful application).

You’ll notice too that the light seems to fade on the lake and the tree goes in shadow.  This was because the moon was behind us and was fading to the horizon over the hour of exposure.  Also the bright light appearing across the lake at the end of the sequence was a car.

For a great article on Night Sky Photography from NightSkyPix, showing it’s not that difficult to get into the hobby, see this link:

How To Photograph Star Trails – We Show How Easy It Can Be To Capture Your First Star Trail Photo