The Lake

I got a very interesting and extremely annoying result in my latest test shot. I went down to the lake just to try another test image. It was just going to be quick and simple; I was also extremely short of time due to work. Any who I ducked down to Warners Bay and took a shot or two.

 

 The whole thing was pretty much a failure, the sun while extremely bright and glaring was not providing enough light for what I wanted. I think it was the reflection that caused the strange gradient on the left hand side of the image. I plan to go back there on my first chance and re-shoot the image. I think the scene has good potential, just needs some tweaking.

I have also come across a great blog for slow exposure and black and white work. It has taught me a few things and the articles are very insightful and interesting. It goes by the name Bulb Exposures, if you are interested in this sort of work then I recommend giving it a read.

The image was shot for about 4 minutes, using a stacked ND 3.0 and 1.6, Silver Effex Pro and Photoshop used for adjustments

8 Minutes

It has been a while since I've shot any more landscapes.
I've had a pile of things get in my way, such as have my wisdom teeth removed and come down with a bad cold.

Well today i dragged myself and one unfortunate friend of mine down to the Stockton break wall to practice what i hoped would be some good experimentation towards slow exposures.
I think it went down pretty successful.

I stacked a ND3.0 with a ND.18 to cut 16 stops of light. I also used a guide from Alex Wise's blog to help meter the exposure, it worked a charm!

Although i learned that stacking the filters also causes some severe noise in the image, i have never dealt with noise before so it was rather grainy in the final image.
I have noted down that my camera has a noise reduction function and with a brief test it seems to work rather well. So i guess i will use that next time.
The only down side is a 8 minute exposure will then take a further 8 minutes to process.

That's all for today.

The Bogey Hole

Afternoon,

Yesterday i took a day trip out to the bogey hole to try out some shots and angles i had been wanting to do for a while now. It was pretty much a spectacular day so it seemed a little hard to take a bad photo. I was there for a while, shooting different scenes and waiting for the right waves.

I so far have processed two images from that day and i am rather proud of both.

I shot these images using a 17-40mm L, with a B&W ND 1.8 filter.

Landscape

After receiving my new B&W Nd 3.0 in the mail, i was somewhat bouncing with joy.
I've recently been obsessing with landscape and panoramic photography and cannot wait to try some more.

I deem my first two attempts as a success but of course there is always room for improvement. That and an even horizon, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong(okay i have a little idea) but i keep getting wonky horizons.

This has also made me start questioning my new urge to indulge in a full frame camera, the Canon 5D has never looked more sexy. Also am planning to purchase the 17-40mm 4.5L lens, although all this thought of impulse buying would make me beyond broke. So it's a good thing i haven't.

Here are the shots from my first trip to Merewether.

I have to admit that i am happy with the current result and cannot wait to go out and do more.
Just waiting for weather to clear up.

Chapman, Alex

Hi

I brought a friend over the other day for an assignment and we took some other images as well.
Just for fun, i enjoyed how they look and so here they are.

 I used a very basic lighting set up, two softboxes either side like a clam shot and one strobe for the background.
The black and white gave it an elegant look, which i was rather fond of.

Hey,

Been a bit run down with assessment week at university, i have been shooting frequently in this time and have much to update with.

For now i will just do a brief post since i am in class at the moment.

I just noticed in the campus YAK Magazine has featured a small excerpt on the Watt Space Gallery residency using my portraits of the other artists and myself.

It was a nice little moment seeing my own works in a publication, even though it's a university based one.

Including: Manon Marguerite(Top Middle) and Gany Erlano(Top Left) Barbie Procobis(Bottom Middle)

Well there it is, i'll be sure to vainly cut it out and stick it on my wall at some point.

Have a great afternoon!

Retouch

Howdy

A post with real work on it!
Who would have thought.

Well, it's clear by this point i don't know how to start a blog post.

During my time in the residency i had been looking a lot into retouching of images in an attempt to push my photography work further, to really make the images stand out.
I'm aware i still have a long way to go before my images are any where near standing out.

I found a new method of retouching, which is apparently a popular one called the dodge and burn technique. Essentially it's a method where you laboriously go over the image with a fine brush making any uneven light on the model even. So lights to dark, dark to lights.
In order to create a delightfully smooth, yet entirely textural skin.

Here is my first attempt with this method. I'm really happy with how it has come out. Of course it has been a good week or so since I've created this image so there are many things i can point out that i don't like or what to change.

The entire image is not how i would shoot it, its very vibrant, the background is too bright for it. The reason for the image itself was for an assignment. We needed to incorporate a print from another student. The blue background is actually a cyanotyped image my collaborator made using leaves and other foudn objects.

At this point, while still very happy that i was able to retouch it properly, i know want to be able to create better images to experiment with. I know i can do better, so i really feel i should simply start doing it.

I also think it is about time i finish with any blue background images. White and grey from now on i think.

Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated on this subject.
Thank you.