An interview with Bluedog Tutor and Photographer Sheryn Ellis

And we continue questioning of our tutors, this time Sheryn Ellis based on the Gold Coast who also runs Live in Love Photography a successful portrait photography business. She's a quiet achiever; every day she shoots something and makes a great image; she's a one click at a time girl; always trying out new things.

Q. Tell us briefly your photography journey to date.

A. I've loved photography for as long as I can remember. I'd sit and look through books and photo albums for hours - I still do. I didn't start to learn photography until I was about 19 when I got my hands on a Canon SLR film camera and just started shooting anything and everything around me. Having 3 children under 3 gave me endless photography opportunities and I quickly discovered I loved portraiture above all else. I continued to learn and 'play' during my 8 years as a stay-at-home-mum and when my youngest went to school I went into  photography full time, working for Bluedog and building my own portraiture business on the side. I never thought I would be any good at teaching, let alone enjoy (love) it like I do and I never tire of the 'lightbulb' moments I am able to share with people.

Q. What inspires you photographically?
A. Too many photographers to name them all however my top 2 would be; Annie Leibovitz, an amazing woman who has achieved so much and her portraiture is both raw and captivating; and Dorothea Lange who's images I can look at day after day and still feel the same as I did the first time I saw them.  My mum inspires me to be all that I want to be in life and it is wonderful to have that constant support and push to achieve what I want to do.

Q. What is a highlight of 2012?

A. There are many. Photographically it would be the purchase of my new camera with the 100mm macro lens which happened in August - it was a huge purchase and not one made lightly. Also two trips this year stand out as having impact on my life; Cambodia in June/July and a holiday with a best friend and all our children in September. I love to be around my friends and family as much as possible, they are who keep me going as I juggle my crazy busy life.

Q. Do you have a ‘most memorable’ moment to date?

A. No, I have many moments that have shaped who I am and that stand out as moments never to be forgotten or changed. The most memorable moments always happen when you least expect them.

Q. What lens can’t you live without?
A. At the moment I can't live without my 100mm 2.8L Macro - I use it for everything!

Q. What is your favourite type of shoot and why?

A. I love photographing children above all else, I love to capture their funny faces, their serious faces, their laughing faces, their hands, their toes and everything about them. I believe today is the best day to capture that expression, that chipped tooth, that black eye, that first lost tooth, that first broken bone - they don't have to be all dressed up and on their best behaviour, children are children and we should capture every possible moment of their lives.

Q. What do you do in your spare time?
A. What spare time? I love to pick up the camera and shoot random life moments, I love to hang out with my family and friends, I love to read and on a rainy day there is nothing better than a good movie and a glass of red!

Q. Your best photography advice or quick tip?
A. Never stop learning. Pick up your camera every day if you can and shoot the most boring item in your house and make it look interesting. Learn my mantra; f8 is great :) 

Q. Plans/highlights for 2013?

A. My biggest plan for 2013 is to not have a plan. I have so many ideas on who I want to photograph and how and a list of places I want to visit so I've written them all in a book and intend on ticking off as many as possible - 2013 will be great (say and believe it)!

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

For more information on Sheryn please visit Live in Love Photography 

 

Sheryn playing with some time lapse this year.

Photography Tips fo Germinid Meteor Shower

By Kelsey Brown
The final meteor shower for the year is almost upon us and for photographers this may be the best show all year. And why is that I hear you asking?

This year's Germinid meteor shower coincides with the new moon giving us nice dark skies in which to view and photograph the meteor shower. The meteors in this shower radiate from the Gemini constellation which in the summer months, for southern hemisphere viewers, can be found in the north eastern night sky. Meteors from this shower may be seen in the sky from as early as the 7^th December and as late as the 17^th December with the height of the shower being visible from late evening on the 13^th December through the night.

What makes this meteor shower a great one to photograph is that the meteors are moving at a speed of 35km/second (a moderate speed for a meteor) and that as these meteors burn up in our atmosphere white, yellow, green, blue and red colour trails can be seen. At the height of the meteor shower it is predicted that we may be able to see up to 60 meteors per hour. So how as photographers do we capture this event?

There are a number of ways to capture stars in the night skies. I am a fan of long exposures so I would be aiming to do either long exposure star trails or use the star stacking method to create an image. This way I have a greater chance of capturing a meteor in my exposure and if I am lucky I may even get more than one meteor in an image.

My quick tips would be:

•    Try and get away from bright light sources if possible.

•     Use a tripod for long exposures.

•     Pick your widest lens to get as much of the sky in and increase your chance of capturing a meteor.

•      A cable release so you can set your camera up, open the shutter and then sit back and enjoy the show.

•       Make sure your batteries are fully charged as it would be awful to run out just as the show is heating up.

•      Bring a friend or fellow photographer as there is always safety in numbers.

The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium at Mt Cootha in Brisbane is the most reliable local source of up to date information on the event for viewers in this part of the world. All you have to do is Like their Facebook page for more information. https://www.facebook.com/BrisbanePlanetarium

Good luck and happy photographing to anyone heading out to try and capture this event we look forward to seeing any images on the Facebook page.

Kelsey Brown is an assistant tutor with Bluedog Photography.

Photography Workshops, Retreats and Ttours.

www.blue-dog.com.auhttp://www.blue-dog.com.au

Photographing autumn foliage

Words and images by Danielle Lancaster
 

For the past ten days I have been visiting Japan during the changing of the leaves as autumn kicks into full swing. Japan is renowned as one of the best places on Earth to witness the colours of autumn. While many of the locals are saying this year the colours are not at their best, the sea of golden yellows, oranges and reds have for me been a thrill to see and photograph.

Colour is an important compositional tool in photography and we use it in all genres. Colour can tell a story, therefore the placement of colours in the image is very important.

When photographing the colours of autumn try using the strongest colours in the foreground as this will really grab your viewer’s full attention. Look for patterns and line to connect elements from the foreground to the background.

 Red is a stronger colour then green or yellow.
The image above is not as dynamic as the red is in the background while the
image below is more dramatic as the red is now in the foreground.

Find colours that are complementary, this is easy in autumn. For example: brilliant yellow leaves contrast against a bright blue sky. Try looking to the ground for a red leaf on green grass or against a pile of yellow leaves can make for striking images.

Keep your images simple. Minimalism is powerful so look to isolate a tree or leaf to make a strong focal point.

I generally find underexposing my autumn images brings out the vibrancy and gives the colours the saturation level as seen by our human eye.

We’ll have more tips for photographing autumn coming up both here on our blog and on You-tube.

For more information on the Bluedog Autumn in Japan Photography Tours please visit www.blue-dog.com.au or email us at info@blue-dog.com.au

It’s Friday and What’s New in Apps?

For those of you interested in your family check out ‘Ancestry’. This helps you build multi-generational family trees complete with images of original family records and photos. It's been designed for the iPad, although a scaled down version for the iPhone and iPod Touch includes features for navigating a family tree and viewing records already attached to a tree.

Platform: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad

Price: free

A Lady We Met Yesterday

Little towns are full of characters, Anita and I did not have to go far to find our first example on our walk around Rolleston yesterday afternoon. Across the road from our rooms at the hotel sits a little store. Many may pass this by as a boring little country store, hand painted signs and nothing chic to draw you inside. A cow bell sits on the top step and with a sign claiming to sell ‘a bit of this and that’, this may be less than intriguing to most and perhaps overlooked by those that pass through town.

Before entering we read the towns’ information sign outside the store. Here in Rolleston many of the buildings and blocks have historical signs telling the history of the buildings and its owner’s since settlement. This particular sign informed us Rolleston was originally named Brown Town and that a young man, Thomas Eyles, arrived here from England in 1856 and built a general store – this store is now across the road from the pub, our abode for our stay.

Some years later this store was purchased by Harry Moir (1929). He then on sold it to Elsie Hodgson who in turn sold to John and Norma Lowth – Norma as it turns out is the great, great granddaughter of Thomas Eyles. The sign says Norma is the great granddaughter however she is adamant a generation is missing from the dark black text of the outside sign.

Norma Lowth, aged 70 years in her store at Rollestone
Image by Danielle Lancaster

Upon acknowledging our arrival Norma apologised profusely for the spiders and dust however for Anita and I it adds a character and charm, one not found in any corner store within the bright lights of the city. Our cameras were clicking, we were checking histograms, contrast and composition whilst Norma followed us amazed at our intrigue in her little family store. On departing we purchased an ice-cream each , a small deed to show our appreciation for the time spent chatting to us and allowing us to capture an image or two.

Goods for sale.

Image by Anita Bromley

It made us realise when we spoke with our participants at today’s workshop, when some giggled at how intrigued we were at the corner store and it’s owners, how easily it is for all of us to overlook what is around us. The message is simple: Don’t take your back yard for granted and sometimes it simply takes, what to us may be a token purchase, a gratifying gesture that makes someone’s day.

Anita’s Note: This simple effort of making a purchase was something I learnt from Danielle prior to visiting Vanuatu a few years back. Many forget to say thank you for the opportunity to see a snapshot into someone’s lives and leave without acknowledgement. When we come across characters in small towns, or small villages for that matter, it is a way we can show our appreciation. Most often, the simplest and most effective way is to buy a little something from their store or business. Norma was so appreciative for the purchase she refused any offer of a tip and went to lengths to ensure we were handed a proper receipt for our troubles.

Nuts and Bolts
Image by Danielle Lancaster

The 127th Hughenden show has Augustine Snapping Happily

By Augustine Mathews

As a famous movie once said – if you build it they will come – and they did!! The 127^th Hughenden Show opened yesterday and people were rushing around trying to see how they’d done with their entries in the various categories.

There was a lot of really positive feedback from the judging of the photography section. Sherliee (my Hughenden host) had asked me to make a few comments about some of the winners and the non-winners so that people would know what went wrong. Those comments apparently were viewed as being a really good idea. Indeed I had people coming up to me to get clarification of why I would have chopped out some of the big white cloudy sky, and why putting something off-centre is better compositionally. It was great.

My day was spent racing around taking promo shots for the show. I must admit I had a ball. The people here are so friendly. When I would explain to the equestrian riders what I was doing and would they mind if the shots were potentially used for future advertising the beaming pride in their smiles said it all. A few of the younger riders came looking for me throughout the day to give me an update on their progress as they accumulated more and more ribbons.

During the lunch break for the riders in the main arena the goat races are held. Yep – you read that right – goat races. It seems that this sport actually has a fine tradition and was an event big enough to attract bookies and punters in the past. Now it is staged mostly for the children, and boy, did they enjoy it? It is quite something to see these little children, wearing their silks with pride, hurtling down the race way being towed by a goat whose incentive is a bucket of oats. These goats must love oats because they were flying. The joy on the faces of the children and the amusement for all the spectators makes this an event for the whole crowd and everyone was really getting into it. 3 heats and a final produced a very proud winner and some great photos for me.

Having a camera around the neck sure does open some doors. I was asked to go and photograph the awarding of the prizes for the fleeces (as in wool shorn from the sheep’s back) and after a bit flash testing I had it all sorted and got shots of one family team that scooped the pool this year in the fleece judging. I asked the champion fleece growers (? – haven’t quite got the jargon right yet J) if I could take their photo in front of their fleece. Well it turns out the gentleman in the shot was the town mayor, and after letting me know which of Hughenden’s sights were a must see he offered me a car if I needed one. Imagine that – me in the mayor’s car! Did I mention that the people of Hughenden are generous as well as friendly? 

My country education certainly got a lift today. I had the chance to learn about cows? Cattle? Cows? I should have found out what I was learning about. I want to get the wording right. Either way, I learnt that cow’s hate a crush, but more than a crush, cattle hate having their teeth counted. Apparently knowing whether your beast has no teeth, 2, 4, 6 or 8 teeth is very important. It seems that teeth come in at certain ages and they use a tooth count to class the animals so that “you are comparing apples with apples” (hang on; I’m sure the fruit was in the main pavilion?). It was quite amazing to hear these 600kg+ animals bellowing at the indignity of having someone pry open their lips and count their teeth. Wait til they find out what happens to them after the show. 

Tonight should be an event to behold. The sashing of “Miss Showgirl” at the Basalt Bash Ball. Unfortunately no one mentioned the ball before I left home so I have nothing to wear (says Cinderella). I did consider going to the local boutique and seeing if I couldn’t find something more appropriate than the jeans I have packed but it is show day public holiday here in Hughenden .... and I’m not even sure they even have a boutique? Sherliee does assure me that as the photographer I’ll be forgiven for not being in a ball dress and really, for practicality it’s probably not a bad thing.

Catch you all tomorrow. They do the chicken judging tomorrow which is apparently a photographers dream 

Mayor Brendan McNamara and Champion Fleece

 Goat Races

  Horse Events for all ages

Bluedog Photography Heads to Injune and Carnarvon Gorge - Day 3

Day 3 started for us at the end of Day 2 as we saw midnight come and go sitting under the stars on a nearby hill - yes we could hear the dingoes. The shooting star count was won by Therese who also discovered a new essential to take on any star trail shoot you do. As you may already know a bottle of fine red is a fundamental; we'll now add to that a requirment to wear red clothing - the stains from Therese spilling more than what went in her mouth are a testament to this.

Jake learnt photographers do long hours and the teen who needs so much sleep has now done a day with less than four hours sleep. It has been worth it as Jake nailed his first star trail and he keeps telling us, ‘it’s totally sick’. He’s on a steep learning curve: he now knows what the Southern Cross looks like, how to wash dishes (we hope his Mum is proud), how to resize images for the blog, and that cattle here are bred for meat not milk.

The countryside around Injune is the prettiest I have ever seen it. The rolling hills carpeted in an endless green of waving long grasses that reach upwards and nearly hide the cattle growing fat in their rich pastures. A heavy band of cloud hid Mount Hutton when we awoke this morning threatening more rain may be on the way. In fact, as we headed out of Injune a few rain drops splattered across the windscreen.

One of our main subjects today for photography was road kill and we can now add a Wedge Tail Eagle and Dingo to our list of road kill images and a wedgy feather now adorns the vent inside the Bluedog Discovery.

A highlight today for Therese was checking out the local ‘talent’ at the Injune Hotel. She found two hopefuls (see below!) but I took the opportunity to decline any offers.

We are now settled back at the homestead With Daggy and Puddy now back from their sojourn to Brisbane and yes we have a wine in our hands and are ready for another adventure tomorrow.

Therese chatting up the talent at the Injune Hotel.
'On the Tune'.
Photo by Jake Campbell.

Jake taking the oppurtunity to get a photo of
a sleeping birdie.

Photo by Danielle Lancaster.

Doggie having a nanna nap - we have to stop Jake writing captions.
Photo by Jake Campbell.

Jakes first star trail.

Photo by Jake Campbell.