An interview with Bluedog Tutor and Photographer Anita Bromley

And another of our Bluedog Photography tutor interviews this time from Anita Bromley who toady is jet setting off to the UK for Christmas.

Q. Tell us briefly your photography journey to date.
A. My interest in photography grew after my first son was born in 2003 and I found myself at a Bluedog Beginners Workshop wanting to learn how to control my camera more. From there I did numerous Bluedog workshops and continued to learn and love photography. In 2010 I launched my business 'Splash Photography' where I specialise in portraits, newborns and corporate events. Quite ironic seeing I once used to say 'I don't do (photograph) people' !

Q. What inspires you – photographically?
A. I love long exposures, night photography and light painting - capturing things you don't see with the naked eye. Photographer Lance Keimig inspires me to get out, be creative and play.

Q. What is a highlight of 2012?
A. Introducing my husband Grant to Siem Reap, Cambodia - the place and it's people along with rediscovering my love for Outback Qld on Bluedog's Outback Odyssey tour this year. Such an amazing place we have just in our backyard.

Q. Do you have a ‘most memorable’ moment to date?
A. Considering I've sat here for the past 10min trying to think of just ONE I would have to say there are too many to have any one in particular in the 'most memorable' category!

Q. What lens can’t you live without?
A. 24-70mm f2.8. It's my 'go to' lens.

Q.  What is your favourite type of shoot (and why)?
A. Newborns, newborns, newborns! I love the smallness of them, their smell, their teeny little toes, fingers, ears, nose & lips. I love how in that very moment they have their whole wide world in front of them. That they will grow and change so quickly, each day, week, month, year......... I love how they give parents a new perspective on life.

Image by Anita Bromley

Q.  What do you do in your spare time?
A. Spare time.....that sounds familar?? Lol. Whenever I get any spare time the only thing I want to do is hang out with my 3 boys (husband + 2 sons) and my friends.

Q.   What's your best 2012 photography advice or quick tip?
A. Think about what you want to capture before you click the shutter. Image the outcome and think about the settings you need to achieve it.

Q. What are your plans or highlights for 2013?
A. I have so many plans for 2013! Revisiting the outback and Cambodia (I've fallen in love with both), putting the final touches on my Studio in early Jan, continuing to learn and push myself photographically, to start a few personal photographic projects, to find and connect with photographers who inspire me, to watch my husband realise a long term dream and finally (and not least) to spend more quality time with my family. *Phew!* See why that spare time thing is so foreign to me ;)

For more information on Bluedog's workshops, retreat and tours visit:
www.blue-dog.com.au

Images by Anita Bromley

CHASING YOUR DREAMS

Guest blog by David Alexander

“Don’t be afraid to chase you Dreams”. I have heard this saying all my life but only in the last few years have I realised how much satisfaction you can get by doing exactly that, your outlook on life will change.

With determination, hard work, support from family and friends and the right guidance/teaching from Bluedog Photography I have seen my dream of calling myself a photographer coming to fruition. I have been offered the opportunity to have one of my photo’s (taken at a Bluedog Test Workshop) made into a poster that will be handed out at V8 Race Meets during the 2012 season.

The SP Number 9 car is driven by Shane van Gisbergen who is currently running fourth in the 2012 V8 Supercars Series. The young Kiwi has driven the SP car for SBR racing since 2008 and is one of the up and coming stars of the V8’s.

So what I have discovered is don’t be afraid to step-up to the plate – tell the world you are a photographer (if that is your dream) be proud of what you produce and keep learning your craft and your dreams can come true.

 Image by David Alexander

Fraser Island Photography Tour Better than Books at School

Guest blog and images by Caitlin Allen

15 year old Caitlin is finalising some work experience with Danielle at Bluedog Photography and part of a special treat was a trip to Fraser Island. Here's a few of Caitlin's thoughts:

As a very special treat for my birthday in August 2011, my Mum took me along on the Bluedog Photography Fraser Island Tour.  As part of the group, I learnt a lot of amazing things about photography that helped me create better-looking images by getting to know my camera and being able to take it off ‘auto mode’ and try out lots of different settings, including manual!

Our tutors, Danielle Lancaster and Peter Meyer, were always there to give me advice about the shot I was taking and were very knowledgeable about the wildlife and history of Fraser Island.  This made every day really interesting while I was also learning more on important methods of photography throughout the tour.  In fact, most of the time it didn’t even feel like learning as it was so much fun!   The photographs we took helped me to get a better understanding of the way my camera works and also important aspects of photography including composition, white balance and long exposure shots. 

During the tour we visited a number of well-known places on Fraser Island that were amazing to see and great to photograph, such as McKenzie Jetty, the rainforest, Indian Head and the Eastern Beach.  The Eastern Beach and Indian Head would have to be my favourite places. Then again, there was the whale watching tour, which would also have to be on my favourites list.  These majestic creatures were absolutely awesome to watch as they played around our boat!  We had to make lots of noise so the whales would come closer to check us out, which they did, and it was an amazing thing to be able to photograph them so close.  I am positive it is something I will never forget.

The enthusiasm of Danielle and Peter along with the untouched wilderness on the island, the amazing wildlife and the scenic views we experienced were among the things that have inspired me to keep taking photos and advance my knowledge on the subject.  Oh, and Danielle and Peter are the greatest photographers, tutors and tour guides on the planet!

 Fly's in a Field of Flowers

ISO 320 f9; 1/15^th; Focal length 60mm; WB shade
Canon 50D; 18-55mm

This Little bug was the cutest!

The image captures his hair and his eyes sharply while he was walking
around on top of the pretty yellow flower. 

 Emerging Darkness upon the Jetty

ISO 400; f10; 30secs; Focal Length 22mm

Canon 50D; 18-55mm

The Lighting in this shot was amazing as the jetty was painted with a torch light and the colourful leaves in the foreground made an awesome focal point.

As the Dust Settles on PSQ 2010

The dust has now settled on PSQ 2010 and no doubt the organisers should be having some well earned down time but as many of us know doing something for love means generally its back to the real world all too quickly and that well earned down time becomes a thing in our dreams.

PSQ 2010, hosted by the Brisbane Camera Group (BCG), has to be declared a roaring success. For those that attended there were exceptional speakers, workshops to get your creative juices flowing and the shutter button clicking, a range or professional advice readily given and some hot bargains from suppliers all in time for the end of financial year.

For me it was a time to catch up on with friends and industry acquaintances, see some fabulous images from camera groups members around Queensland, feel the excitement 12 years on after digital first came available to the masses (I do remember speaking at clubs 11 years ago where people told me it would not last), have a glimpse of where photography is leading us into the future such as the new NIK software –awesome stuff – and do a little photography shopping (a girl has to do what a girl has to do).

For those that missed it, maybe thinking PSQ was for camera club nerds only, think again. PSQ stands for the Photography Society of Queensland and each year they have their Photography Convention hosted by a club in Queensland – this is no mean feat. From my information from the organisers this conference averaged 180 people per day through the door plus organisers, sponsors, exhibitors, guest speakers and presenters. Take in a few logistics: international speakers and photographers, awards from entries pre conference to during conference, a convention dinner, auction (where thankfully the auctioneer could count after the odd rum or two), delegates from around Queensland, exhibitors and their stands, registrations, sales and the list becomes exhausting. 

Next year it will be held by the Goondiwindi Photography Group and I must admit this pulls a special string with me, as Goondiwindi is what I call my ‘home’ town. Now for those of you who do not know, Goondiwindi is not a suburb of Brisbane (or even Sydney) so put down the UBD. It is about 3.5 hours west of Brisbane, yes that does mean a drive, but I can guarantee you these people know how to put on a show. The experience will be well and truly worth it and we, as a team here at Bluedog are looking forward to attending and supporting the Gundy Crew.  

Below are a few images from the Goondiwindi Photography Club Members. 

Here is a link to their website which will be having more added as the members prepare for the big ‘do’. http://psqgoeswest2011.weebly.com/index.html We’ll also be keeping people informed through the Bluedog Photography web site and our newsletter updates as speakers are confirmed. 

We must make a special mention to Sue Black. Sue took out a huge amount of prizes for her club (Gold Coast). Since first attending a Bluedog Beginner Photography Workshop in October 2007 Sue has continued to grow her photography taking out many prizes. Well done Sue – it is so good to see someone living their dream! 

Tips for photographing Christmas Lights

Yes it’s that time of year – the trees are going up and presents are being wrapped.

Here’s a few tips for capturing great photographs of Christmas lights:

Do a drive-by and scouting mission first then depending on what you were after consider photographing it later in the evening. Early evening (6.30-8.00pm) tend to be chocker block with people to the point where the lights may be obscured, especially any garden lights.

Setting wise, use a wide aperture (small number) to allow maximum light into your camera. Team this with a shutter speed high enough to be able to hand hold your camera, around the 1/60th-1/100th for most people. While a tripod will get you lovely crisp images at night it can be a weapon of mass destruction at a crowded house. If the light levels are too low to get your shutter speed up remember that you can always lift that ISO to make the sensor more light sensitive.

Make sure you apply plenty of mosquito repellent - they are out in force at that time of night.

All those pretty lights can mean the opportunity to play around a little as well. Bokeh photos are a source of delight for most photographers and Christmas lights make perfect bokeh. Ok, so what is bokeh you ask? It is little points of light that are out of focus, often in the background of photos, where there is a really shallow depth of field. Large apertures (small number) will often produce this effect but there are ways to get even more creative bokeh intentionally. This requires a little bit of prep usually best done at home. Trying to cut card in your car is not always successful, I know, I’ve tried.

Cut a piece of card the same size circle as the end of your lens eg:57mm diameter and cut or punch a shape into the middle of the card. I’ve done Christmas trees, Santas, stars etc. Then carefully tape the piece of card over the end of the lens so that no extra light can sneak around the edges. With the lens on manual focus and the aperture as large as you can get it start snapping. The effect will be lots of little lights totally out of focus but in the shape of your cutout. Very satisfying and very impressive for a fairly simple process.

Remember that while you hope to get good shots, these displays are really all about people getting into the Christmas spirit so be sure to be considerate of others while you get your shots and keep a sense of Christmas cheer.

Ho, ho, ho and happy Christmas shooting to all.

Image by Anita Bromley

Tips for Flower Photography

As the blood red hippeastrums that line our drive wilt and the white agapanthus flowers slowly open, I am reminded that spring is drawing to a close here in the southern hemisphere.

Here’s a couple of photography tips for capturing those later spring blooms:

• The ideal lighting for photographing flowers is soft, diffused light. Look at your bloom at different times of the day to see how the light changes it. Walk around your subject to see how it looks with light coming from different directions.
  
  
• Experiment with back lighting and try to highlight the transparency of the petal/s.
  
  
• Use flash very carefully. It can lend some stunning effects, especially at night, however be careful it can also kill the mood.
  
  
• Look for colour, contrast, texture, line, shape, pattern, framing, balance when composing your flower image.
  
  
• Make your flower image come alive. Fortunately for us here in Australia most of our flowers, especially wildflowers are filled with nectar thus attracting a range of animals from fruit bats to possums, bees to vibrant butterflies and honey eaters and parrots. Wait until something adds life to the flower - for example, a bee lands, or a spider crawls into it or a bird pays a visit. It takes patience, but it pays off if!
  
  
  
  
  
• Blur the background to get unattractive backgrounds out of view and to emphasise the subject.
  
  
• Know your seasons. No use getting disappointed, you are working with Mother Nature and she has her own timetable – get a copy!
  
  
• Use a spray water bottle to provide water droplets sparingly. While you may wish to depict a rainy day or a dewy morning the effect could either be splendid or look too artificial.

There are many different ways you can experiment when photographing flowers!

Enjoy your time with nature and always remember to take the time to smell the roses.

 All images by and (c) Danielle & Nick Lancaster

Clicking Like a Rolling Stone

Following in a parent’s footstep career wise is out and it has been for a while for  many of ‘today’s children’. Georgia May Jagger, daughter of Mick Jagger and the stunning Jerry Hall has it would seem it all; her mother’s long legs and fathers lips. Yet this young lady aspires to be a photographer and so has embarked on a modelling career to help her on her way.

It’s an interesting scenario as many photographers don’t like being in front of the lens however it does help enormously when you have to direct people into poses. Sometimes a factor overlooked by photographers.
Check out some of the latest images by Norman Jean Roy for Vanity Fair:
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/10/georgia-jagger-outtakes200910#slide=7

Halloween Photography Tips

It’s Halloween Time! Dust off the costumes and get the trick-or-treats ready. There’s loads of prospective opportunities for eerie and dramatic images.

However, did you also know that Halloween photos are some of the most challenging to get right? There’s low light, loads of movement, tricky lighting situations, contrasting brightness and darkness and maybe hyper kids. Here’s a few tips to get the best images of this night of spooks, spirits, gremlins and monsters.

Ask yourself before you click: What is the main subject, how can I simplify it, and how can I capture the spirit (of the character or scene that is)?  This means:

Get in close: You may have heard us say this before – ‘cut the crap’. Eliminate distracting backgrounds.
Try using a wide aperture: blurs backgrounds and isolates your subject.

Use dramatic Lighting: Shoot in low or dim light. Use your flash sparingly if at all and if you do use it, diffuse it and make sure there are no reflective surfaces behind your subject.

Flash is a harsh light and can kill any eerie effect you may be attempting to portray. Try using other light sources like candles, coloured LED lights and torches.

Try lighting your subject from below and using back lighting.

Have fun with glow sticks, torches, coloured LED lights, even turning your camera upside down so the flash fires from below if you don’t have an external flash.

Change the colour of your light: tinted lighting adds to the spooky feel. Particularly good colours to create eerie feeling as are red, orange, green and blue. Try using cellophane (you may need to over expose), coloured LED lights, glow sticks

Play with multiple exposures: fun, fun and fun!

Get on down: If photographing children get down to their level. Tip: try lying on the ground and having the child lean over you for a very dramatic image angle.

Play with White Balance:

For Jack O' Lanterns: A tricky lighting scenario! You want to be able to capture the candles glow inside the pumpkin and the see the outside form and texture as well. Flash will kill it so turn it off!

Place more than one candle inside the pumpkin to avoid it being too faint or even a flash light. Be careful your pumpkin does not start smoking! If you do want to use more candles you may need to cut a hole near the top at the back to act like a chimney. Try taking some images in the very last of the days light.

If you are making your own jack-o-lantern then consider that the more light they can emit out will make them appear more eerie so it’s best to maximise the size of the holes to let out as much candle light as you can (start searching for a big pumpkin!).

Angle of View: Try moving from eye level shots and create dramatically creepy images by changing your angle of view. Try shooting off centre, at extreme angles; close to the ground, above your subject – just make sure you angle is obvious. Tip: With most costumes the shoes are the part people mostly don’t match so often it’s best not to have them in the image at all – sometimes though they are great subjects. Just remember to check them out before you click.

Create a story: Take your viewer on a journey – this works great for kids making their costume, getting dressed and then heading out on their adventure (and for us big kids too). Don’t forget the candid shots too.

Use movement: Ah ghostly images with movement now that’s a shot! Use a slow shutter speed and low ISO. Yes you’ll need to experiment a bit but that’s half the fun. Try having you subject still for 2/3rds of your exposure time and then moving in the last 1/3^rd of the exposure.

Noise or no noise? Now we are talking ISO noise here. Generally you will not want noise in your images so keep that ISO low.

Don’t forget: Extra batteries, lockable cable release, tripod and plenty of memory cards!

Have fun!

Did you know? Halloween has its origins from an ancient Celtic festival known as the Samhain and more or less means ‘summer’s end’. Today, it’s a night festival of spooks and spirits, fantasy, bright and or bizarre costumes celebrated by all ages across the globe.

Using a Grey Card for Photography

Interesting enough lately I have been seeing more than one discussion on the use of a grey card for photography and if it makes a difference. The topics have been varied from photographers saying they are a waste of money to others who are misleading some on what they are actually used for and  how to use them correctly.

Recently on our Bluedog-Kingfisher Bay Fraser Island Photography Tour we revisited the use of the grey card and Judy has kindly sent in the images below that she took which demonstrates how it works perfectly. Neither of these images has been touched in Photoshop or another editing program.

What we need to understand when wanting correctly exposed images is how light works and how our cameras read light.

Reflected Light:
This is the light our cameras light meter reads. It measures the light reflecting off the subject. A dark object reflect less light than a bright subject and therefore this can trick our cameras light meter.

Incident Light:
Is the light falling on our subject. This was the light our hand held meters usually read. And therefore were not influenced by the subject's reflectance. Many hand held meters can read both incident and reflected light. Incident light meters can be identified by their white translucent dome over the light sensor.

In summing up, the grey card is one of the most useful, inexpensive tools you can have in your kit and knowing how light is read by your camera and how you can adjust your exposure means you are in control. You are the one that can get exposure right in camera – your whites white and your blacks black - which means, you are the photographer!

Tips for Using a Grey Card:

Always position the card parallel to the front surface of your lens.

Don’t tip the card towards the light as it be reflecting too much light and not give an accurate reading.

Don’t tip the card down – then there’s less light, the opposite of above.

Be careful using other grey objects just because they look ‘close enough’. Their reflectance may trick your cameras meter.

This image was taken using what the cameras meter said was the correct reading.

This image was taken using after using a grey
card to set the cameras meter reading.

Images courtesy of Judy Watts

Tips For Keeping Your Camera Sensor Free of Dust

At present South East Queensland is experiencing, the worst dust storm, so they tell us, in history. Well this got me thinking, what are we to do? Keep our cameras safe and sound in doors or get out there and record it? Well the answer is fairly obvious for us all, isn’t it?

Dust is a killer to the digital camera’s sensors! The sensor acts like a magnet and sucks that dust right in.

When working in dusty conditions, and let’s for the sake of things include windy beach conditions as well, keep your camera in a sealed bag when not in use. Consider using a cover for your bag to decrease the amount of dust/sand that can rest on it and then fall into it during opening.

If you can, DON’T change lenses in dusty/sandy conditions. If you have to, try to get into a closed space such as a vehicle to do this. Before changing your lens, turn your camera off and clean around the lens on the camera with a fine brush and cloth. Point the camera to the ground, not upwards – it’s the old law of gravity here working to help us keep dust out.

Try and predict which lens you may use the most for that shoot and have it already on. This is where all purpose lenses are handy in the kit.

Have a UV filter on every lens you own.

Keep wiping your hands. Dust and sand will settle on your hands and if you then go and change a lens could fall into your camera. Dust particles can be minute and unable to be seen by the human eye.

Keep a clean cloth for wiping your lens – DO NOT clean your lens with scratchy material such as a shirt. Use the special clothes to gently remove the build up of dust/sand from your lens.

Don’t clean your own camera’s sensor. I know there are people out there with all sorts of gimmicky equipment to allow you to do it yourself. Our advice is don’t do it!

Keep your camera bag clean. Vacuum it out and shake it upside down. Don’t forget the pockets too.

This image was shot during the dust storm sweeping acorss south-east Queensland today.
Image by Danielle Lancaster

Tips for Printing Your Digital Images

With the Bluedog Photography-Photo Planet Weekly Challenge giving participants the chance to win an enlargement of one of their prints we thought it perfect timing to pass on a couple of tips for that perfect print.

There are numerous ways to bring your photos into the ‘real world’ and photo printing remains the most popular still today. So why are so many people finding it a challenge?

• Make sure your monitor is calibrated to your printer’s. Most respectable printers will assist you do this and you WILL notice a great difference. What may look like just right on your monitor may print too dark or too light.
  
• Resize your image to the size you need the print. You may ask for a 6”x4” and due to your cameras aspect ratio and you not resizing your image correctly you end up with a cropped image. The relationship between the height of your photo to its length is called the aspect ratio. Traditional 35mm cameras produce a photo with a 3:2 aspect ratio which is the ratio that 6”x4” prints (and 5”x7” and 8”x10”) are based on.BUT we are now in the digital era and our digital cameras are different! And digital cameras vary amongst themselves. There are Olympus cameras that use a 4:3 ratio; other brands use a 3:2 and this does make a difference. We’ll talk about this more in a later blog but beware you may loose if you don’t resize properly.
  
• Don’t skimp on cheap paper and ink. Quality paper and inks mean quality prints and today these are not dear.
  
• Stay with one printer. Develop a relationship with your printer so they know what you like.
  
  Thanks again to the team at Photo Planet for providing the weekly winner with an enlargement!For more info on Photo Planet and their printing services call Gerard on +61 7 55312227 or email pplanet@bigpond.net.au

Digital Vs Film

With our first poll about to close in 19 hours its time to look digital versus film.
The Effort: Undoubtedly one of the biggest benefits of digital is there are no rolls of film to take down to the lab or process in the darkroom. And for dark room users the wait for negatives to dry, then make proof sheets, print and........ Our most expensive digital photograph was the first one we took! The cost per image has been drastically reduced and allows us to experiment and improve our photographic techniques quicker with the meta data supplied. This ease ways strongly for digital but.....

The Delete Button: Are some of us pressing it too early while still on camera or on the computer? Photography is part of history recording and we no longer end up with those shoe boxes of negatives under our bed and even more worrying is that many don’t understand JPEG lossy compression.

Seeing Before Clicking & Reviewing Afterwards: We can now exactly see the composition and take the time to compose our shots with digital – yes we could do that to some extent beforehand but its heaps easier with digital. After we’ve pressed that shutter button we can instantly review the image and information through the histogram and then reshoot to perfect our composition and exposure (means less to do in your photo editing software and more time shooting).

ISO Before You Go: Now this is one of the best things with digital for me. I can change the ISO from one image to the next and not have to load another roll of film or lose the photographs before I change the ISO ratting on the camera for film. Plus on higher end cameras we are now getting a much higher rating ISO then offered on film. On the negative, many digital cameras over 400 ISO in low light produce far too much noise – an improvement I think we’ll see in the not so far distance future driven by consumer demand.

Let’s All Share: Digital has made the sharing of images so much easier and quicker – someone across the other side of the world can view an image you have uploaded almost immediately. Yes you can scan images and do the same so this is not just a benefit of digital cameras but rather the technology. But hey, let’s be honest, scanning is just another job to do in our every busy life.

Keeping It For Ever: Do you archive your digital files or are you someone who has the last 6 months of shooting sitting on the card in the camera? This is still a new technology and I have had hard drive, CD, DVD, memory stick and card failures. Back up devices such as hard drives are cheap – do it and make that digital shoe box! It’s smaller than a garage which is what it would take to store those digital images on film and don’t forget if you can, to enter keywords, it makes it so much easier to search for an image.

So what’s Best? They both have their advantages and disadvantages and we have not sold off our film cameras and do not intend too. What we want from digital is the equivalent of what we got from transparency (slide) film and I believe that is sooner rather than later.

Focusing for Motor Sport Photography

Since we are heading out tomorrow for a Bluedog Photography ‘Fast Shutters Fast Cars’ session we thought we’d look at focusing in motorsport photography.

Most of the time we use the autofocus operation, and once again there is a ‘but’ to this and that's when we are doing panning. On autofocus we choose continuous and usually keep the focus sensor in the middle of the frame.

While continuous focus will chew through your battery power, the real advantage of it is it helps minimise shutter lag - the time your camera takes to confirm focus before the shutter is released.

15 Tips for Landscape Photography

1. Create Depth: Position subjects so you have a foreground,
midground and background and all are in sharp focus!

2. Choose a small aperture anything from f/11 to f/32 or smaller and watch your shutter speed – when it falls below what you can hand hold at, use a tripod.

3. Use a wide angle lens – gives a greater angle of view, the depth of field will always be greater with any given aperture than with a telephoto lens.

4. Choose either aperture priority or manual mode.

5. Don’t forget composition! Are there lines you can use to lead the viewers eye into and around your image; look for frames, contrast, colour, what about that rule of thirds?

6. Keep your horizon level – yes another you have heard before but do it!

7.Shoot both vertically and horizontally.

8. Look for a different view point – what’s it like close to the ground or from higher up?

9. Use a low ISO.

10. Learn what your hyperfocal distance is and how to use it.

11. Try not to shoot into the sun and if you really have to use a lens hood or something to reduce or avoid flare.

12. Don’t delete on the shoot – wait till you get home and see it on your computer – you may be pleasantly surprised!

13. Every day is a good day! Look at what’s around.

14. Clouds should be included and are often very dramatic as the rain is going!

15. Study the work of others and learn.

BLUEDOG’S TOP TIP:
At full moon the sky in the opposite direction to where the moon is rising or setting will often be more exaggerated in the hues of pinks and purples!

Landscape Photography - Don't Forget to Look Over Your Shoulder!

I often talk about looking over your shoulder while doing landscape photography and yesterday I experienced a classic example of this. I was out touring around on Thurlby Station, a 33,000 acre cattle property west of Charleville with Peta Debney and we thought there may be a good sunset so picked a possie and crawled into the back of Peta's 4WD ute.

We were right, the rain was looking like it was going to do one thing or another, drench us or go away and there was a band of cloud heading towards the horizon which we were hoping the sun would beat, and it did.

But while we waited we were treated to an array of colour as the clouds, sky and mulga covered country changed hues as the sun set. Then behind us we saw a rainbow trying hard to form against the storm clouds while the mulga glistened golden.

The whole scene didn't stop changing and our heads were continually swivelling and my finger didn't stop clicking.

Here are three from the arvo shoot - if you look closely at the one of the rainbow you can see the shadows of Peta and I as we stood in the back of the tray. Sorry these are also unprocessed but thought too good an example not to share. Yep I ended up soaked as well but hey it was worth it!

Peta and husband Justin have opened a camping/caravan ground on their station - Evening Star -am thinking this and Bonus Downs would be a great outback trip if anyone would like to tag along with me again. Check out www.eveningstar.com.au

It’s Autumn!

One of the most colourful seasons of the year, autumn has many photographers stopping in their tracks to capture it’s beauty.

How is the best way to photograph that vibrancy and beauty in a meaningful way? A way that shows the emotion, the colour yet add your own personal touch.

Here’s a few tips for your autumn photography:

Choosing Your Subject

It’s not all leaves! Yet those leaves do draw our attention, don’t forget autumn also means other things: birds are migrating, if autumn rains have fallen fungi are sprouting, other plants such as cactus and autumn perennials are flowering and what about that fog wafting through the valleys, around the tress and along the creeks early in the morning?

Back to the leaves, which always rank high on our list of ‘must get’ shots. What a palette of colours Mother Nature provides us with and this is where we have to have a little think as each day of autumn presents another array of changing tones. If you’re out early in the season there will still be a lot of green, later the deciduous trees will be almost or completely stark and around their trunks the ground will be carpeted thick with leaves ranging from reds to bronzes, oranges and yellows – a wonderful contrasting yet colourful sight.

Know where to find deciduous plants. Grape vines are deciduous so vineyards can provide us with great subject choices.Try botanical gardens which often have specimen plants from across the globe. Remember not all tree species change their colour at the same time.

Position, Position, Position

Look for the best angle – sometimes this is pretty obvious straight away but look around and take images from not just head-on and eye level. Ask yourself what is the best view point? Is it better from a worms eye view, lower to the ground or higher up? Try lying on the ground – look up, along it or gain more height. There’s nothing actually wrong with carrying a step ladder around in the back of the car, climbing a tree or using the roof rack on your car. Don’t limit your choices. Always remember safety first!

Composition

Yep, there’s that word again! We are capturing a tiny slice of our huge world and presenting it in a 2D rectanglar image. Be creative, know the rules, use them and of course know when and how to break them.

Aim for balance, use contrast supplied by nature wisely, bring elements close to the lens, get in close, isolate your subject, try some with angles and look for the tiny details as well as the overall scene.

When to Shoot

We all know the mornings are getting cooler and its much nicer to snuggle in bed but......
Photographers love the ‘Magic Hour’ though here in Australia it’s not really an hour. It’s a tiny slice of time before and just after the sun breaks the horizon on its way up and down each day. This is when we get the golden light where the sun emits a warmer or orange tone and is a softer and more diffused light source.

Check out the grass, now being burned by the falling overnight temperatures – look at its contrast and texture in this light. And what about those leaves? They will glow and shadows can be dramatic and moody. Then there’s that fog drifting through the valleys, along the creeks and around the mountain ridges only available early in the morning.

Just because the clouds gather don’t put the camera away and reach for a book on the couch instead. Overcast days give us lovely even lighting providing an added hand from nature for richer colours and contrast.

How to Shoot

Our rule of thumb is to choose the lowest ISO you can depending on your cameras capabilities. But most cameras can comfortably shoot up to 400 ISOO without too much noise.

Shutter speed you may not think should matter when you are photographing leaves or a tree, however if there is the slightest breeze that leaf/leaves may be blurred if your shutter speed is too slow. Keep an eye on it and if it falls too slow go to 1/250th of a second or higher to freeze that action.

Why not try using the wind to your advantage and painting a picture? Put your camera on a tripod, set a slow shutter speed, use a cable release, or remote or the cameras self timer and expose for a ¼ second or longer depending on the wind. Add to this zooming your lens in and out for an abstract effect. Who said photography was not art?

Trees can be so big! So if you are wanting that whole tree/s sharp you’ll need to use a small aperture and focus to gain maximum benefit of your focusing thirds. If you have a depth of field preview button use it!

Over and under exposing: overexposing can bring out the subtle tones while underexposing gives deeper and richer colours.

Use a polarising filter to enhance those rich colours by increasing the saturation and the wonderful blue skies we have in autumn will be captured beautifully by the polariser decreasing the haze.

Unless you can really capture something unique try not shooting directly into the sun as this will often produce lens flare and decrease saturation. When you do shoot into the sun, make sure you use a lens hood and if you don’t have one use something else: a hand, cap, notebook or anything to shield the lens.

Change the white balance and warm up those shots – we love cloudy or shade and play with your custom settings.

Don’t delete on the shoot. Wait till you get home and have a look at the images on the computer screen. You’ll often see something you may like and could have overlooked while out shooting.

It’s not all over when you finish your shoot. Back up immediately when you get home and then process your images. If you have shot in RAW you need to post process but don’t overdo it.

Have fun – get on out there and capture this wonderful season!
The birds are singing, the trees are turning and it’s time for us
to get those shutters clicking!

(c) 2009
Written by Danielle Lancaster - Bluedog Photography

Great Skyscapes in Australia

We are so fortunate in this vast land down under to have some absolutely brilliant opportunities for capturing great skyscapes.

Often people ask me what makes a great skyscape? I think one of the most important factors is compositions and the other is clouds.

Composing a sky scape so it looks pleasing to the human eye is vital. Where is your horizon? Unless you image is a reflection your horizon should run along either the bottom or top third of your image. Ask yourself what is more important - is it the sky or the land. If it is the sky, then place your horizon along the bottom third, if it is the land, then place you horizon along the upper third.

Double Rainbow (c) Danielle Lancaster

Clouds also help make wonderful skyscapes though saying that we are very proud of some our own without any clouds in them at all. Generally when there is some atmospheric turbulence then the clouds will appear and the sun reflecting through them can make for stunning images.

While we do not have a long twilight in Australia our sunsets are often very rewarding especially if you can get into the outback where the sky stretches from horizon to horizon uninterrupted.

Australian Outback Sunset (c) Danielle Lancaster

If you'd like to see some more skyscapes log onto our website and visit our image gallery. http://www.blue-dog.com.au/

Cheers till next time - Danielle

Photography - It's Not All Serious!

Hi,

My name is Danielle Lancaster and I am based at Tamborine Mountian, Queesnland Australia. I have been a professional photo/journalist for too long than I care to share with you! However, what I do love is to help people refine their photography skills and be proud of their images and as I travel extensively with my work I'd also like to share with you the special places I have been to and people that I have met.

So my blogs will be on simple photography skills you can put to use and turn those snapshots into something you would like to hang on your wall! And on people and places. I hope you enjoy!

Photography should be fun and sometimes we get so caught up in making the composition, exposure and lighting just right there seems no room for any fun.













It's human nature to 'have a laugh' and people will often do funny things, always when you least expect them to.

Or you can set up your own funny photo - it can be a creative exercise and provide a few good laughs not only looking at it afterwards but doing the photo shoot as well.

As they say a picture can tell a story! Why not give it a try?
For more information visit http://www.blue-dog.com.au/ or to subscribe to our free e-newsletter simply e-mail danielle@blue-dog.com.au