Whilst in Kaikoura in the South Island of New Zealand I was able to spend a few hours photographing the native Sea Lions after returning from a morning shoot photographing Sperm Whales. The Sea Lions congregate amongst the extensive rock formations right along the side of the road as it winds its way along the coast – there are actually signs on the side of the road for drivers to watch out for them. I found they are quite approachable as long as you stay out of their threat range; which seemed to be something in the order of twenty feet or so. I shot a couple of hundred frames of the seals waiting to capture one of them actually doing something (most of the time they just lie around in the sun and open an occasional eye to keep a look out how close one gets). I was told by my guide that many people mistake the New Zealand Sea Lion for a seal; which it is not. Apparently they are distinguishable from seals by their ears. This fellow kindly posed for me and let out a growl (yawn) for me to show off his teeth. Photographing the wild New Zealand Sea Lion in its natural environment was very enjoyable and was possible without a super telephoto lens. This frame was shot at close to 100mm on the full frame Canon 1DS MK 3.
Uncategorized
Buckland Valley
Australia, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, UncategorizedSometimes a photograph presents itself even when you think the day might be a lost cause. Which, is exactly what happened to me this morning. I had set the alarm the evening before to get up just before five AM to drive up to the top of Mount Buffalo to photograph first light on Lake Catani. Unfortunately it turned out to be ‘just one of those mornings’ when there was too much low cloud in combination with the wrong atmospheric conditions for any colour or decent light. As the sun came up it was buried behind layers of clouds and instead of the transparent soft light of a rosy dawn it just got lighter – bugger.
Somewhat despondent I packed up all my gear for the forty five minute drive back down the mountain with a view to salvaging the morning with a nice cooked breakfast (it seemed the decent thing to do!). I rounded a bend on the trip back down a good twenty five minutes or so after sunrise, just as the sun broke through the thick layers of cloud and threw a warrm glow into the morning fog in the valley. I slammed on the brakes, grabbed my camera and had time to squeeze off just two frames before it disappeared into cold grey monotones; which it stayed for the rest of the day. Sometimes in landscape it just lasts for a few seconds. And much like air travel, landscape photography can be hours of sheer boredom… followed by ten seconds of sheer panic (during landing) when the light is right. The joys of landscape photography.
New Zealand – Fire Fall
Landscape Photographs, New Zealand, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, UncategorizedContinuing in the same vane as my previous post and indeed from the same helicopter-shoot this photograph was taken within a couple of minutes of ‘Last Light’. With one side of the Southern Alps completely ensconced in cloud and the sun setting the heavy moisture laden clouds began to spill over the mountains. With the warm orange light of sunset it created a fire fall of cloud and light that was both spectacular and beautiful. Nature at its best.
New Zealand – Last Light on the Southern Alps
Landscape Photographs, New Zealand, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, UncategorizedThis photograph was taken from a chartered helicopter flight with the doors off (for better photography) at an altitude of approximately eleven thousand feet just as the sun was sinking below the horizon. Mount Tasman can be seen on the left and it’s taller brother Mount Cook (the tallest mountain in New Zealand) to its right. Fox Glacier can be seen in the lower right hand corner of the frame. There is something quite magical and elusive about Alpine Glow. The normal crisp clean whites of the snow and ice are cast in pink and mauve hues that add a wonderful dimensionality and colour that exists for only a few brief minutes when the conditions are perfect. I was very fortunate to be in this spectacular location with perfect weather in the dead of winter and to be able to photograph a wonderful example of Alpine Glow.
This photograph was technically quite challenging. The light levels were already very low which meant punching the camera’s ISO right up to 800 in order to keep a shutter speed of at least 1/400th of a second. Shutter speeds of at least 1/400th of a second are needed to avoid any camera shake as a result of the helicopters vibration. I find the Canon EOS 1DSMK3 excellent up to ISO800 so was able to capture this image and apply minimal noise reduction in post processing and achieve an extremely clean tack sharp photograph.
Apples New iPad – A New Tool for Photographers?
Equipment, News and Updates, UncategorizedThe rumours have been flying for months and we knew it was coming… And now its finally here (we’ll it has been announced and will be here soon) – Apple’s new iPad. If you have not seen the press release head on over to Mac Rumors and have a look at the video.
But is it a new tool for digital photographers? Michael Reichmamn over at my favourite photographic website the Luminous Landscape has a good article on the new iPad and gives his impression and thoughts as well. Well worth a read.
Time will tell, but my initial impression is this is probably not a tool for most serious digital photographers.
One of the biggest disappointments for me is the new iPad wont run Adobe’s Lightroom or Photoshop (the full versions anyway); which makes it pretty useless for anything except showing a portfolio of images to clients. A task which works perfectly well on my macbook pro (or any laptop for that matter) without any issues (as well as running my image editing software).
In terms of view of using for preview of captured images…. I can ‘sort’ of see this in the field… but in the studio… forget it. A nice big 26″+ monitor is what the client wants to see images on – not a 10″ screen.
The new iPad for me is going to be a great tool for browsing the web and email – unfortunately, I don’t need yet another tool for this purpose. I already have an iPhone, a MacBook Pro and a Mac Pro; all of which serve this function. I dont even know if it will be as good as a kindle for reading books as I prefer the ‘kindle’ style of paper like screen.
Time may well prove me wrong.. but initially.. I can’t see this a tool that will be all that useful for the majority of digital photographers. Or rather, it is not a tool that is going to add anything that is not already widely available in a good laptop.
You Yangs Victoria
Australia, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, UncategorizedThis photograph was taken back in Summer 2008 just outside the You Yangs National Park in Victoria Australia. This relatively small park is often overlooked by landscape photographers given its close proximity to Melbourne; but scattered amongst the granite boulders and gum trees lie many potential photographs. What I really like about this photograph is the juxtaposition of the quintessential (somewhat cliche’) dead gum tree to the line of blue sky through the brewing clouds. The blue sky leads the eye deep into the photograph and adds a dimensionality and balance to the photograph that would have otherwise have been missing – and most likely otherwise resulted in a flat and boring photograph. Taken in the height of summer this is text book Australian drought conditions. This photograph has also been featured on the Channel Two News Weather segment in Melbourne.
2010 – What’s in Store?
News and Updates, Travel Photography, UncategorizedI will be heading to Iceland in July / August this year for three weeks of dedicated landscape and wilderness photography, with a short stopover in Denmark and London for a few days rest and relaxation – a trip I am very much looking forward to. Although I have never been to Iceland before I have read a great deal about it. From a photography perspective it is widely regarded as one of the finest locations for landscape and wilderness photography in the world. With everything from volcanoes to glaciers and icebergs (and just about everything in between) there is a huge amount of interesting subject matter to photograph. It never truly gets dark in Iceland during the summer; which means the best light for photography (the golden light) lasts for hours. The combination of great light and subject are two of the key components in a good landscape photograph (composition is the third) and I am hopeful of getting all three and capturing some unique and interesting photographs. I am also planning quite a few local photographic trips in Victoria and will head back to Tasmania later in the year for another visit. Another trip to New Zealand is also not out of the question for later this year if time permits.
From an equipment perspective it is likely we are going to see an update to my much loved Canon EOS 1DS MK3 in 2010. The new MK IV will undoubtedly offer even more mega-pixels as well as video capability. Whilst I am not overly excited by video per se I am interested in seeing how adding this capability to my equipment will affect my photography. The small pocket Canon S90 that pretty much travels everywhere with me already has video capability and I have used it on several occasions. I will not be rushing to upgrade my MK3 just to have the new model, but am interested in the evolution that is occurring with video in still photography and will undoubtedly rent or borrow one to try.
My next landscape outing is most likely to be to Cape Shank near Flinders in Victoria (weather and time permitting) in the next few weeks. With its black basalt cliffs and rocks Cape Shank is one of my favourite locations for ‘ocean-beach’ photography. I want to photograph this location during some stormy weather to best capture its wild essence, so will wait for ideal weather before making the trip.
Mathesons Lake – New Zealand
Landscape Photographs, New Zealand, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, UncategorizedMathesons Lake in the South Island is an icon for New Zealand landscape photography. Situated at the base of the Southern Alps it is possible to get near perfect reflections of the alps in the right conditions. This photograph was taken late in the afternoon while the reflection was at its best during my 2009 New Zealand trip. I made a total of three trips to this location in the hopes of capturing the mountains reflected in the dark waters. Two of the trips the mountains were covered in cloud and there was no photograph but I did get lucky on one visit. Despite appearances I did not use a polariser for this photograph; just a three stop soft neutral density filter to bring down the sky and hold the scenes dynamic range.
Despite its wild appearance this location is actually extremely easy to access. A short and pleasant 15-20 minute walk along a well maintained forest trail from the car-park leads to a convenient viewing platform. This was the only location during my entire two week photographic trip that I actually encountered a fellow landscape photographer. For all its magnificent beauty and stunning scenery New Zealand sure is a quiet place!
Canon Updates the 70-200MM F2.8L IS
Equipment, News and Updates, UncategorizedCanon has today issued a press release announcing an update for the venerable and well respected 70-200mm F2.8L IS tele-photo zoom lens. Full details are on Canon Rumours website. The 70-200mm F2.8L IS has been my workhorse telephoto lens for the last five years and it’s optical quality has been superb. I can’t say I will be rushing to upgrade to this new version; although curiosity is likely to get the better of me at some stage and I may well rent or borrow one for comparison purposes in the future.
Australian Press Release
Sydney, 6 January 2010: Canon Australia today announced an update to its extremely popular EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM telephoto zoom camera lens. Professional photographers and serious enthusiasts alike will be keen to get their hands on the new EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, which promises high-performance and quality regardless of the shooting conditions.
“This new lens will delight any professional photographer or serious enthusiast with its advanced features,” says Cathy Hattersley, Brand Manager – EOS Professional, Canon Australia. “A robust L-series lens, the EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM allows photographers even greater flexibility in low-light conditions and in subject composition.”
This new high-performance lens improves upon its predecessor with its new Image Stabilizer, which gives the equivalent effect of a shutter speed approximately four stops faster, allowing photographers to shoot in even lower lighting conditions. The EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens also boasts improved optical performance, achieving high-resolution, high-contrast images and reduced chromatic aberration – thanks to a fluorite element not used in its predecessor and an additional UD lens element (bringing the total to five). Optimised lens design and lens coatings minimise flare and ghosting. The combination of these technologies also delivers improved colour balance. The minimum focusing distance has been reduced to 1.2m/3.9 ft throughout the zoom range, which allows photographers another step closer to the subject.
Photographers will welcome the improved usability that the EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens offers with its enhanced switch panel, which makes it harder to accidently knock the selected settings, and the new feel and grip of the lens, improves the usability during manual focusing.
With improved durability and moisture and dust-proof construction, the lens is built for professionals operating in the most demanding conditions.
Key Features
• L series telephoto zoom lens with Image Stabilizer
• Five UD lenses provide compensation for chromatic aberration
• 5 x UD and 1 x Fluorite elements offers unparalleled performance and low distortion throughout zoom range
• 1.2m minimum focus distance at all zoom focal lengths
• Highly dust and moisture resistant
• Inner focusing design plus ring USM for near silent, high-speed AF
• Telephoto zoom lens, 70-200mm focal range, fast f/2.8 aperture
• Inner focus design with Ultrasonic Motor (USM) offers fast and virtually silent operation
• New high-performance Image Stabilizer with optimum control system offers up to 4 stops of compensation
• Increased moisture and dust protection prevents water and dust penetration in extreme conditions
• Manual focusing enabled even during AF mode (full-time mechanical focusing)
Pricing and Availability
The Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM (RRP TBC) will be available from March 2010 through select Canon dealers nationally. For more information customers can contact Canon on 1800 021 167, or visit the website at Canon Australia.
Australian Drought – Mitre Lake
Australia, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, UncategorizedThis photograph was taken at what used to be Mitre Lake at Mount Arapiles near Natimuk and Horsham in Western Victoria. I scouted this location on a previous visit and new it would make a great photograph with the right light. The composition works for me with the parched land and dead wood in the foreground leading the eye off to the distant Mount Arapiles and dawn sky. In the end I took this photograph just before sunrise as I felt it would offer the best light. The colour in the sky was greatly enhanced by smoke from the bushfires that ravaged Victoria in Summer 2009. Mitre lake has been dry now for many years; a result of the more than ten years of drought Australia is suffering from. Scenes such as this are now an all to common site throughout the country with many of the countries lakes and ponds now no more than dustbowls.
Holko's Test 