Been a bit slack

Well with facebook and other modes of showing photographs, I must admit i have been a bit on the slack side with uploading photographs to my blog.  Well I will be back very soon with some updates :)

Melbourne Rebels

Action photography is somewhat challenging. Not only for the camera settings themselves, but also being able to catch the action as it happens, afterall if you miss the shot, you won't get the opportunity again. The most important thing when capturing action photography is the shutter speed. You need a fast shutter speed so that the subject you are photographing is in focus. Then because the shutter is clicking so fast, this lets a reduced amount of light into your lens, so you will also need to adjust your f-stop and possibly iso/exposure compensation to obtain the exposure you are looking for. But the thing I love about action images the most, is being able to see things that the eye couldn't see at the time as everything was moving so fast.

I know that I should be talking about Rugby and the fact that Melbourne now has its first ever rugby union team (of which I am a member), but this blog is dedicated to photography. So, if you would like to find out more about the Melbourne Rebels visit http://www.melbournerebels.com.au/

These photos were all taken at Ballarat yesterday against Fiji.

Autumn

We headed up to the Dandenongs for today's photo shoot at Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens. It was so beautiful there and a lovely spot to play around with our camera settings and try some new things. I just love the colours of Autumn.

Out of action for a bit

As much as I love my photography sometimes things happen in life where you have no choice but you just don't get the opportunity to pursue your hobby. So while things have been quiet on the photography front for me I am now able to get out again. Here are a few pics from the last couple of months.

Low light lens

These are the first pics taken with the 35mm low light lens. Taken overlooking the Yarra in Melbourne. So far I am very happy with this lens, it is my only lens that doesn't zoom but it produces a very sharp photograph and photographs as "the eye sees", and can see already this one will be getting the most use.

Toni Childs

Well this was a great opportunity to try some concert photography. ISO needs to be increased dramatically to combat shooting in low light along with the constant light changes of the show, however I was very happy with these photographs that I managed to shoot. The show itself was very entertaining and a great night, Toni has a beautiful strong voice and she sounds just as good live as her cd versions.

Light Trails Photography

This photograph was taken of the Eastlink tunnels on Eastlink at Ringwood. I have seen articles about light trail photography in magazines but did not realise how easily it could be done if you follow a few simple rules. I love the colour of the sky and the streeetlights that turned out to look like stars and of course the light trails on the road from the cars. The effect of continual light from the traffic is produced by leaving the shutter of the camera open for a longer period of time to allow more light onto the sensor.

The most important factor to lowlight photography like this is:

Take your photographs within half hour of the sun going down and not waiting until the sky is pitch black.

Use a tripod as there can be absolutely no camera shake for long shutter speed times. I also use a remote for the shutter so that I am not touching the camera at all to avoid movement when releasing the shutter.

Taking a few shots with different exposure times to create the image that I liked.

Settings I used for this shot were:

f/22

shutter: bulb (I left the shutter open for 2 minutes)

iso: 100