Go Barking

This idea may just save your sanity. Here in Dunedin it's that time of year many working parents dread: The primary school holidays. Don't get me wrong, parenthood is a blessing and young Miss C is an intelligent, sensitive and well behaved child - most of the time. It's just that during the holidays she expects Mrs C and I to work like cruise ship entertainment directors.

Thankfully the huge spring storm we've had to endure for the last two weeks seems to be abating so yesterday we all went to the botanic gardens for a walk and a picnic. Instead of the usual watching from the bench as Miss C runs amok on the playground equipment, or towing her around on the flying fox, I managed to convince her that some plant photography would be fun. What sold the deal was that since I'm so tooled up with DSLR's, I'd let her use my old Fuji S5600 ultra zoom.



After a brief talk about keeping it on the auto or program settings (I try to remember that despite her sophisticated put downs and masterful manipulation of me and her mother, she is only 6), we set about getting a few shots. To be honest, she still needs to learn to hold the camera steady and develop her eye but for me, the exercise underscored the idea of keeping your plan simple when you go out to shoot if you want a result.

Shooting whatever you find moves you is fine - I'm often moved by my subconscious to capture something and I'll figure out what it is on the bench later, but just so we didn't end up with random stuff that wouldn't give her a little creative buzz later on, I tried to get her to shoot different tree barks. Nice idea, unfortunately it was way too restrictive for this free-spirited six year old; she was still fixated on running amok in the playground and kept to her random shooting plan. She's not big on composition yet, but I do know that like me, she's attracted by saturated colour. Here's one of her shots. While she has a little to learn about graphic form and off-camera lighting, I so get where she's coming from with this:



Anyway, I decided to go through with the idea and make a little triptych.  I'm surprised it was so easy to make something nice. Now that she's seen it, she says she gets where I'm coming from, and might give it a go on another of our holiday photo expeditions.  Or she might just shoot birds. You just don't know. Her unshakeable faith that she knows everything and that I really don't - well, it could be a mark of young genius. Or it could just mean that she's a little girl.

   

If you've a kid you might like to try setting yourselves a little assignment like this. If you do, I'd love to see your results. I know it's fun and you might both learn to see something new. I always do.

Who Let The Spider Out?

It was me.  I let the spider out.  I didn't mean to. 



I was just experimenting with David Hobby's bug lighting setup - see my previous post for the link.  It works pretty well, giving nice even lighting to your invertebrates.  However it does have its drawbacks - the lighting is a little too even for drama, and you're stuck with the overhead view.

This morning I had a chance to experiment with the setup:  Big drama as I found a nice sized spider hunting in the mess on Miss C's bedroom floor.  I told her if she doesn't like spiders, then she should keep her room tidy, but that's another story.  I replicated David's paper cup, copy paper and flash set up and got some good results.  Then I started experimenting a little.  First with a dark background.  This was a quick exercise, so I just grabbed a bit of plastic.  With a smoother background, this would make a good shot.



Okay, then I decided I wanted a lower angle, and to experiment with more directional light.  So I made a large ring of paper, so I could shoot my beautiful arachnid from a lower angle, look into her eyes.  (For some reason, my default spider gender is female.  Maybe it's something to do with hairy legs.)

It worked okay, especially when I was brave enough to open up the loop and let a direct flash in, creating some leg shadows on the paper.



I like the lower angle the paper ring gave me.  But next time, I'll try to find something more like white plastic.  You see, paper is fibrous.  Unlike plastic cups, if a spider should suddenly decide to climb the barrier, escape and say, scurry across the dining room table, she can.  With alarming speed. 



Thank goodness Miss C wasn't around.  Or Mrs C for that matter.  Happily I managed to recapture my model and liberate her into the garden.

Lessons learned.  As far as I can tell from the 'net, this may actually be a male sheetweb spider.  Anyone care to offer a positive ID?

A Lesson From The Master

Just as I publish something on macro photography, David Hobby of the Strobist blog puts up his own much more useful post on the same subject. Check out his very effective (and cheap) set-up for shooting stink bugs here.

Little Things Mean A Lot

With my photo guiding business in mind, I'm thinking there may well be clients who are interested in shooting macro .  Life's little things can be overlooked but uniquely local photographic subjects, so I'm working on those skills and destinations at present.  The first and last time I went bush with my new lens, I learned that if you're going to shoot macro, shoot macro, don't go out with all your gear just hunting for any good shots.  You've got to be more single minded, eyes down and moving slowly, covering a much smaller distance than you would if you were prospecting for larger prey. So, that determined, I headed up to McGouns track on the edge of town the other day.   It's still a little cold for invertebrates and fungi to be in abundance but I did find this great little red-capped fungus to play with.  I got my flash and extension cord out and set it to ETTL - full auto and fired off a shot. 



The directional light and narrow depth of field were pleasing but just like with regular photography, the subject needed some fill or bounce light to bring out the detail in the shadow area.  The great thing about macro is that your reflector can be pocket-sized.



That's my HTC Magic phone on the right, bouncing light back onto the 'shroom.  Worked a treat.   Think I'll stash some white cloroplast in my bag, handy for next time.  Of course it wasn't until much later that I noticed the little mite crawling around on the fungus.  I didn't shoot anything to give a sense of scale, but the 'shroom is about the height of a match.  I guess it's as big as an apartment block to that mite.



Next I experimented with the tiny fern tips from the forest floor, placing them on a live leaf like I'd seen on my last expedition. A little contrived looking, but I like the result.  This was an exercise in background management.  Every time I took a shot I'd notice yet another bit of background distraction. 



By the time I'd discovered some dead leaf skeletons, it was getting dark and time to head home for a meal.  These were a great find, and something I definitely want to work on in future.

Celebrity at last!

No not me.  My fame stretches about as far as the waistband on my undies does and these days, that's not far at all. I'm more D-lebrity than C-lebrity but I am taking part in one of the Hump Ridge Track's celebrity walks next March. The real celebs doing it are Kiwi sporting hero Barbara Kendall and Fiordland's greatest Moose hunter Ken Tustin. Ken's a former scientist and helicopter pilot who has spent years in the Fiordland bush, many of them trying to confirm the existence of Moose. My mate Max Quinn made a film about Ken a few years ago: "Wild Moose Chase".

I know with their wealth of stories, Ken and Barbara will make great walking companions. I could always share a story from my adventures in blues bands, or in television, but I'm planning on spending more time helping folks make great pictures along the way. It's going to be a blast.

Anyway, click here for more details, and join one of us on one of NZ's best walking tracks!

The Grass Is 17% Greener Over The Fence

OK, please don't panic if you see blank pictures on some pages.  Some of my links accidentally got broken while I was adjusting my Lightroom Flickr export settings.  It's going to take me a little while to fix them all again, so thanks for your patience while I get that sorted.

Meanwhile, as well as working on mastering that new Macro lens, I've been doing more commercial work thanks to some referrals by my good friend and bandmate Lindsay Somerville of The Big Picture.  Last week involved a fun and cowpat-filled day at Inchclutha near Balclutha.



I'd got a call from Janet Wright at Ravensdown about popping down there to get some shots of Paul and Joanne Barton in a paddock they'd been testing a new fertiliser in. The forecast was for grey skies, so I thought I might be doing some cross lighting from the rear for the group shots of them and Ravensdown rep Mark Crawford, just to give things a little lighting effect to match the scientific element of the subject. As it was, the sun was shining, so I used that and my Canon 580EXII on half power to cross light.



Morning milking done, we had a little time to relax and try a few different angles. Paul, Joanne and Mark were very good sports, and I think we all had some fun.



Posing in the grass done, the rest of the brief called for some general farm shots - with a welcome 'feel free to get creative' into the bargain, so I began with the farm labourers and their office.  I made sure to get down nice and low to get plenty of grass in and make the most of that blue sky.







The DoF my new 24-70mm 2.8 L delivered was really cool. I had my circular polariser and UV filters stacked on it at times to give me the natural vignette effect.



I used the 70-200mm 2.8 L for the longer shots. The two lenses make a great working combo for most commercial jobs and having the 7D and 5DII means I don't even need to stop and swap lenses.



Sometimes it's hard to believe, but once you get as far south as Balclutha and into Southland, the grass really does become this intense green. It's got to be a combination of the climate, the soil and the light down there.





As usual, there were many lessons learned that I can share. The cross lighting worked on the whole, but composing the trio the way I wanted gave me some shadow issues I'd resolve next time with some on-axis flash. The time of day and position of the livestock meant I couldn't quite get the rim-looking cross light I wanted, but that would have been doable on a duller day.  Tempting to add a contrasting gel to one strobe to see how that works.  I didn't want to scare the cows with my flash, but next time I'd try adding a little fill once I got some good unlit shots.

All in all, not a bad day at the office. Best of all, Janet's happy with the pictures she got.  Young Miss C is now begging me to take her back and show her some of Paul and Joanne's calves.  I might just have to arrange that.

Viva Viv

With Spring upon us and the tourist season warming up here in the south, I've been working just a little on the Southern Photo Guides website.  There's a lot more to do, but for now I've included a little gallery where I'll post (with permission) images made by my clients.

I really enjoy being able to share what I love about this special part of the world - it's natural heritage, amazing scenery and beautiful light, and to help people make their own wonderful images of it all.  Not that the creator of my first client gallery needed much help.  Please enjoy the vision and style of Viv Adamson.

Too Much Gear at Once

OK, for the gear heads out there, here's what I've collected in the last couple of years:

1 Canon 450D + EF-S 18-55 and 55-250mm IS lenses. My original kit, and the gear I've made most of my favourite shots with.

1 Canon 7D. Got that a few months ago. 6 more megapixels than the 450D, 8.5 frames a second for action and wildlife shooting, better low light performance and Hi Def video.

1 Canon 5DII The new baby. Full frame 21 Megapix with Hi Def video.

Lenses: A Canon 10-22 EF-S for really wide angle shooting.
A Canon 70-200mm L series 2.8 IS tele zoom
A Canon 2x extender

And bought with the 5DII, 100mm f/2.8 L series IS macro and another L series f/2.8 24-70mm wide zoom.

Great gear. Problem is, it takes a while to get used to. When I first took out the 10-22 ultra wide lens, I really struggled to use it - but then it became part of me. So when I took the new 5DII and lenses out the other day, I expected a workout. I got one.



I headed for Sullivan's Dam, 10 minutes from the city at the head of Leith valley. It's a drinking water reservoir surrounded by native cloud forest, but no clouds on this day. As usual with new gear, I just wanted to play with the extremes it was capable of, so quickly shot some wides with the 24-70. It's a really sharp and versatile lens. Good in low light, it's going to be my new walkaround lens.



Then it was on quickly to the 100mm macro. Wow, what a beast. With a new toy like that, I'm just obsessed with what it can do before I actually start seeing good pictures. So I shot a whole bunch of close-up stuff, none of it noteworthy, just fun seeing mosses and ferns up way up close.



And bugs.

With a macro zoom, the narrow depth of field is a great creative tool for focusing interest, but it's also a real challenge to work with. It's pretty hard to get more than one small plane of a bug in focus when you're zoomed in tight, but I know I'm going to have a lot of fun with it, and start making some great pictures one day soon.





Just as I was starting to get the hang of things, I had a call from a local tour operator about hosting some pho-tours. I'm slowly developing Southern Photo Guides product range, so this was a very welcome chat, and a long one. Stay tuned for news on that front.

Back down at the reservoir, I nosed around an old shed, shooting with the 24-70. Again, the depth of field was cool to play around with, and after a while I stopped seeing what the lens could do, and started seeing some pictures.



Yeah, right now all this new gear is a little overwhelming, but soon, it'll be part of me.