Wednesday, March 31, 2010

And now i'm going to show another..

wedding? no.. no weddings today.. but i am shooting another on Sunday.. busy busy week ahead.. anyways, like i said last week i'd try to get some CFA photos up. *hooray* So went up on Tuesday and spent a whole day there shooting. They were only just starting their practical training and this day was spent by blindfolding the recruits and making them do drills in the dark (pun intended)

Nice guys, let me roam around and do what i want. Had a quick induction to assure that i am ready to go on the 'hot fire' exercises. I got given a fireman suit which i'm pretty stoked about. I'll get a photo of it soon, overalls, jacket, helmet and gloves. best.

It's the old uniform so it looks pretty retro. The new one is a bone colour and thye are 3k a set. the recruits get 4... damn.. Like the Army, these guys march around all over the place


Pretty nice place at the CFA training grounds, like a hotel, there's rec. areas and i get free food! best.. can stay for lunch and dinner. Home cooked meals. 



Basically today was all about the recruits learning how to use their breathing apparatuses and walking around blind. the theory is that, if you can do it blind you can do it anytime. true i suppose. there's lots of photos so i'll just post a few that i like.





this reminded me of a line of ducklings haha






Search and rescue in the dark. 



Ok, all that from one day isn't bad. Shot 99% of the shots on the D3s which i must say is AWESOME.. if i haven't mentioned that already. Those last 3 shots were shot at 8000iso and look good to me. Got about 36 keepers from the first day, so im pretty confident i'll get a few good shots for the rest of the time i'm up there. Nice guys, looking forward to going back up. Next Wed, hopefully stay over till Thursday. see how we go. Anyways, watch this space for more CFA and weddings.. 

Happy Easter.


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

So this might just become..

a wedding blog? lol i hope not.. but i wouldn't be surprised if it did.. i mean, i probably am shooting more weddings currently than assignments. Will be shooting my CFA assignment next Tuesday, so look out for that one, hope it doesn't fail like my circus one... worst.. I need to get in contact with some industries. I've emailed a rodeo, and iron foundry, might need to chase them instead..

Anyways, another wedding, 19/3/10 this one was more organized and a little easier for the shoot. Things didn't change within the last second, better looking..... place...


The D3s certainly does do well in low light situations, Most of the shots which were indoors were shot around 6400iso. Having the ability to shoot this ISO really does make a huge difference. I'm not a fan for on camera flash and more into the 'natural' look and lighting of things. 



My friend made a really god point with some of my photos... there's a god damn mother f*cken fan in some of them.. I didn't notice it until i started shooting and the ceremony started.. if i REALLY have to, i may clone it out. Well i'll Simon to do it.. 






Yeah that'll do for now, just a quick look into some of the photos i picked out for Simon. I like the going into weddings taking it like a documentary and doing it in a real documentary style. Am struggling to find a reason to shoot my D80 now in wedding situations, but i really need the 2nd body when shooting. If this wedding photography gets serious and I start getting some income from this, a D700 is looking really tempting. Anyways, that's all for now. Until next time.. and maybe another wedding..

Thursday, March 18, 2010

First Wedding


So, for those who keep up to date with me, i've gotten a gig as a 2nd shooter for weddings. Had my first gig last month and i tell you what.. its tough.. running around trying to be at the right place at the right time, focus, aperture, shutter speed, composition.. everything running at 1000 miles an hour.. sure, i've shot doco's before, but.. when i do that, i'm in my element.. cool, calm, clear idea of what i want. There's no pressure but for me to succeed.. weddings.. it's my neck and THEIR DAY if i stuff up.. argh... anyways.. had a go at it, and i did it my style.. doco.. 

The 28-70 is working well on FX, first "proper" run with it, and it's wide enough. most of the time. I'm still thinking about investing in either 17-35 or 16-35.. who knows.. wait till i get the money first.. still need the SU-800 first.. fk..



Shallow as it sounds, weddings don't look awesome unless you have awesome looking brides and grooms. This one was.. one of those.. But hey, as long as they think they look good. job complete.
Loving the 2.8 on FX. DOF just fades out, loving it. Funny thing, i thought that having a DX and FX body would compliment nicely, but i'll have to tell ya.. once you go FX.. man.. never wanna go back. Seriously considering a D700.. i'm happy to lose the "reach" on my longer lenses for the versatility of FX, and better noise control.



I'm quite enjoying being second shooter. Less pressure and the ability to just roam around and snap at things which Simon misses (photog)

Simon. Number 1 shooter. There's not much to it really being a second. Just get the FK out of his way if he's shooting. I made sure of this by staying behind him. playing it safe.

These kind of shots are what i'm pretty much paid to do lol.


like mentioned earlier, as a second i'm out of Simons wat when he shoots. No i didn't tell them to look at the sky like hero's, Simon was up on a ladder doing a high vantage shot, so.. being a 2nd, stay low and snap away!


Different angle from Simons but it's nice to have choice. So thats it for now kids.. Weddings.. who woulda thought.. I'm still not used to it yet, but i'm getting used to it. Got another gig tomorrow, another trial, before my first proper paid gig for Simon. don't wanna look like a noob >_< Anyways, i'll keep you all posted. CFA and circus shots up soon perhaps? we'll see how we go. Also, although early days. Might be off to HK to work by January.. but hush hush for now....




Monday, March 8, 2010

Absence makes the heart grow fonder..

OK, so here we are.. been a busy few.. weeks? yeah i think weeks. Sorry for those who read my blog, i haven't been around for a while.. I've been busy organizing shoots for Uni, one being the CFA and the other is a local circus just up the road from my place, so it should be a busy few weeks! which is good.. need to get back out there and start shooting..

Gotten myself a job as a... wait for it... wedding photographers assistant.... yeah..  -_-" look, not the thinkg i want to do ideally, but its money.. Simon, my wedding dude, is a pretty nice guy. First real gig is April 25th.. arghh so watch this space for that.. Anyways.. my point.. been shooting some video lately, and having shot my Tasmania video and really getting into the whole video thing, thought i'd do a proper one this time. more constructed, more thought out, more everything.. so here it is. i'll link you.





Sorry, not the greatest quality. i Dunno how to upload to youtube properly.. i know.. fail.. anyways when i finish the vid i'll upload a HQ version of it, i'll make sure of it.


Anyways, got a busy few weeks ahead of me, and this video to finish. hopefully it'll be done in a few weeks.. i think i'll take this slow and edit better etc etc.. anyways.. hope you're all well. let me know what you think of the video or just to comment on anything.


Ciao. =]