HONEphotography.com

A Shoot with Aerialist Free Coulston

2012-02-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

My personal favourite

Sarah Paints Her Belly

2012-02-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

Not long to go now.

More Mosaics from Julee Latimer

2011-12-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

On Monday I went out on location with Julee Latimer. Her commissioned work that she completed mid way through the year had finished being installed and needed documenting.

It was very exciting. I had seen the works in progress, but not the final creation.

We walked in and they were all there looking absolutely stunning. We are going to go back when everything in the house is sorted to photograph the other butterflies. I am really looking forward to this.

More in Black and White

2011-11-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

I am currently going through a pretty heavy black and white phase right now. I am enjoying the look of these processed images quite a lot. When I get time, I have been going back and looking at some of my older images and re-processing them.

Altona, again showing off in the sunset

2011-11-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

We had a gorgeous Saturday here in Melbourne, Australia. One that makes you go outside, sit back, relax and simply enjoy life.

It was a bit too hot to go to the beach in the middle of the day. We went in the late afternoon. And, as usual, Altona beach was simply stunning.

I would say that this is the perfect beach for young families. The water is shallow. The water is warm. And everybody is friendly.

Self Portrait

2011-10-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Originally this was in this gallery in colour. However, since I am going through a pretty strong black and white phase, it is now in black and white.

It was a bright overcast day. Initially I was using direct flash, but it looked too fake. So I fired the flash into a shoot-through umbrella to camera right at 1/2 power.

Camera was triggered with a pocket wizard. The flash triggered with skyports.
Black and white conversion done with Nik Software Silver Efex Pro

Another Full Moon

2011-10-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

13/10/11
My wife, Sarah, came bursting through the door after coming home in the early evening and said, have you seen the moon?
No...
Well, you should go outside and have a look. It is incredible.

I was excited by this because I am usually always the one telling Sarah to have a look at the stars, or Jupiter, or the sunset, or the crescent Moon, or the full Moon. For Sarah to tell me to look at the Moon must mean that it is quite spectacular. Also, Sarah has never told me to go outside and look at the Moon before.

I grabbed Ollie and headed outside.

Wow.

I was gobsmacked. Eventually I ran inside and grabbed my camera, telephoto lens and tripod and was back outside.

Timer on 2 seconds.
1/6s, f/5.6, ISO 400, 300mm.

Julee Latimer's Mosaics

2011-10-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

I love shooting Julee's work. They are amazing works of art. More and more Julee is calling me and asking for photos. Works that have been commissioned for various clients.

I particularly like her attention to detail---like the ladybug on the hat. Cool.Front View

Top View

A Sunset, A Beach, A Ballerina and a Photographer

2011-10-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

I thought it was time I took photos of a Ballerina doing what they do with a nice setting sun backdrop. I was on tour in Bunbury with a children's stage show, Ben 10 Live Time Machine (Facebook link). Whilst in Bunbury I thought it would be the perfect. Gorgeous cloudless days. Sunset over the ocean. Ok.Suddenly there were many clouds. Many dark heavy clouds.No worries. I'll use what is available.Luckily I had two of the cast as VALS (Voice Activated Light Stand). I took a shot of the sunset. Then dialled in the exposure to two stops below. I think it was about 2 stops.The VALS had a strobe each on either side, and voila.

It was getting dark rather quickly. Hence the background getting dark. Actually, I thought I might try for a more gloomy look, rather than a bright POW! look.

And my favourite. I think one of the VALS might have been distracted by a seagull here. So only one light.

Foot Juggling, Risley or Icarian Games

2011-10-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

Steph Lewis and Ollie Versteegen. A very talented foot juggling duo.

The main light was still recycling in this shot. Consequently it didn't fire. This is one of those happy/kismet moments and it turned out to be my favourite image from the shoot.

This is what happens when the acrobats do something cool. Almost. They do something cool, then you, as photographer, step in and extend what they are doing. And you end up with a SUPER cool photo. Yes!

"That's great. Umm, are you also able to salute in the middle of that skill?"
"I'm not sure. We'll give it a go."
"Fantastic. Now. While you are saluting, are you also able to look at the camera?"
"Gee... We'll try."

Three frames. Got it!

Mosaic Close Up

2011-07-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some close up photos from Julie Latimer's Mosaics.

Strong Women

2011-07-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Female circus performers are the strongest women I know. Here are some of Australia's finest.

Thomas The Tank Engine

2011-02-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Another Storm Over Melbourne

2011-02-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

I only had seconds before we had to go to the shops. I raced up onto the roof with the trusty new G12 and snapped 2 frames.

NICA Showcase Promo Shoot

2010-11-24T03:20:00.000-08:00

NICA asked me back to do their promo shots for the upcoming 3rd Year Showcase. I worked closely with Maria, NICA's Marketing and Media Executive and the Director, Megan Jones, throwing ideas around.

It was great having Sash from Principle Design at the shoot. Having the person that was going to work on the images have input in the shoot is fantastic.

Still One Of My Favourites

2010-11-17T03:36:00.000-08:00

This photo of Sarah was taken with a 5Mp Casio point and shoot in 2004 on the beach in Darwin. The tide came pouring in, and just as quickly, went pouring out.

The photo is straight out of the camera.

Straps

2010-11-16T03:32:00.000-08:00

Third year NICA student, Renee Kohler.

Hone-O'Brien Family Portrait Shoot

2010-10-20T06:49:00.000-07:00

The Hone-O'Brien family portrait shoot. Down at the beach in Sydney.

VicMoves 2010 Show Montage

2010-09-20T03:32:00.000-07:00

A very busy week. Schools from right around Victoria participated in the VicMoves dance competition.

Here is a little video that was commissioned by VicMoves of the schools that I visited during rehersals.

Ford Falcon 1973 XB GS

2010-09-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

VicMoves---Go For Your Life at the Docklands

2010-08-15T02:35:00.000-07:00

We were meant to meet up with a politician and the TV station weather crew. The Polly cancelled an hour or so before we were going to shoot. The weather people cancelled 20 minutes before we were going to shoot... Due to bad weather. It was a shame because we had a ball.

It was cold. It was wet. And we made some awesome photographs!

I thought the shirts and the umbrellas were fantastic. "I <3 Melbourne", and "I <3 Rain". Very fitting.

VicMoves---Go For Your Life, Montmorency Secondary Collage

2010-08-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

Students enjoying a talk from VicMoves before trying out a dance class

Students warming up for their dance

What it is all about, having fun

Students in front of the VicMoves Van

VicMoves---Go For Your Life

2010-08-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

I have been working closely with John Read from Marilla Productions to document the schools that are participating in the VicMoves---Go For Your Life extravaganza.

The boys that are painting the banner

Working on the dance moves

Hula Hooping

2010-07-04T03:08:00.000-07:00

Hula Hoop expert and NICA graduate Tegan Carmichael.

For more images, visit HONEphotography.com.

You have just bought a shiny new DSLR and want to move past Auto

2010-06-01T05:04:00.000-07:00

Lesson 2

You should have noticed that Shutter speed and ISO have not made too much difference on the image (more on this later). Aperture, on the other hand, makes quite a difference.

Now. Change that little dial from M to Av.
Turn the little dial just behind the shutter release button. What changes (in terms of settings)?
Take a photo. Note the settings.
Turn the dial (the one near the shutter release). Take a photo of the same subject.

Look at the settings and look at the resulting photo. What has changed?

Do this 10 times and note the changes in both the settings and image.

You have just bought a shiny new DSLR and want to move past Auto

2010-05-30T01:22:00.000-07:00

Lesson 1

Remember that there are 3 ways in which the sensor reads light.
Shutter speed,
aperture, and
ISO.

Adjusting any of these will affect the other two in terms of a correct exposure (mostly, but more on this much much later).

Pop the 50mm on. Move the little dial off Auto, or P or whatever it is and onto M.
You still have the light meter to let you know what the exposure is doing.

The dial near your shutter button by itself will adjust the shutter speed.
I think you need to hold down another button to adjust the aperture.
And the buttons on the back (not sure if there is a direct ISO button on top) will adjust the ISO.

Adjust the shutter speed only, take 10 photos -- adjust the shutter speed between each photo. Look at the preview of the images on the back of the camera and see if you can see any difference.

Now, adjust the aperture only and take 10 photos. Look at these and see what differences there are. Now do the same thing (10 photos) and focus on something about 1m away.

Ok. Now, only adjust the ISO. Take 10 pics. Can you see any difference when you are reviewing them?

When this is done, we'll move on to lesson 2.

Altona Photo Walk

2010-05-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

Gabi's Portrait Shoot in the Graffiti Lane, Melbourne

2010-05-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

Julee Latimer's Mosaics

2010-05-25T04:25:00.000-07:00

Check out Julee's website: http://juleelatimermosaics.com

Will's Photo Session

2010-05-25T04:12:00.000-07:00

BMW

2010-04-24T04:23:00.000-07:00

After it got a bit darker, we went back to his garage to try that first shot again. I do like the first one, however. I think seeing the garage adds to the over all feel of the image.

I had two 430EXII on ettl firing into shoot through umbrellas both left and right of camera, fairly close to the car. My mate was up on the rickety tin roof with an SB-26 at full power blasting into the laser light for the windscreen reflection.

In post, I added a vignette and set the blacks slider to about 25. As well as a slight curves adjustment.

Melbourne Body Painting Competition

2010-04-20T05:14:00.000-07:00

Another great day, amazing artists, and great models.

Artist: Elena Lieu
Model: George Butcher

Artist: Laurie Faulkner
Model: Chris Carlos

Artist: Teresa Borjesson
Model: Dan Goronszy

Artist: Juliette Bradford
Model: Alison Fenton

Artist: Janie Fearon
Model: Allister Lyne

Artist: Janie Fearon
Model: Allister Lyne

Artist: Natasha Chant
Model: Pauline Halfpapp

Artist: Yolanda Bartram
Model: Sharon Hoch

Another Lovely Day.

2010-04-11T04:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I took Ollie for a walk. I decided to walk to the local lookout and suss out the area for the proposed Photo Walk.

Ollie in his pram ready for our walk.

I do not trust swans.

Melbourne.

At 11 months old, Ollie is walking so easily now. I turned to take a photo and he was off!

I thought that this plane looked like the A380.

Melbourne Photo Walk, Sun 2/5/2010, Altona, 1:30pm

2010-04-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Photo Buffs,
Thought I'd put it out there.

I am proposing a photo walk on Sunday the 2nd of May. Link to Google Maps.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

It is approximately a 6Km trail, with excellent views of the city, as well as encompassing some of Melbourne's fantastic wetlands.

Getting there
Car.
Your destination is here [Google Map].
Parking is easy. There is a car park at the bottom of the lookout.

Public Transport
This website says that it's a 45 minute trip from Flinders St Station.
Enter:
Flinders Street Railway Station (Melbourne City)
Into the "from" station/stop field, and
altona sports centre
Into the "to" station/stop field.

Time
I say lets arrive at 1:30. This should allow plenty of time for the PT crew that catch the 12:25 Flinders St Train (If you miss the 12:25, there should be a 12:45 train that should get you there by 2pm), hoping that there are no delays.

The Plan
Say hello. Chat about stuff. Geek out on each others camera gear. Why we use what we use. What we like to shoot. What we'd like to learn.

And then at about 2pm, head off venturing South, following the bicycle path, then cutting across the short cut and heading East through the wetlands.

What To Bring
Well, besides the obvious (jacket, umbrella --- it is Melbourne!) don't forget your camera and associated gadgets. A sandwich. And maybe a drink.

There are some nice places on the main St of Altona to grab coffee and cake, or pizza afterwards if that is what we decide to do.

It doesn't matter of you only have a casio-z57 or your iPhone. Everyone is more than welcome.

Also, it could be good if somebody has a video camera that they'd like to film bits and pieces. And we can edit the footage later on.

Another possibility is to get all your favourite images afterwards, and we'll make a Book or Calendar or make a Christmas something... Just an idea.

To give you an idea of the views and the area, here are some pictures that I have taken over the years.

You can see more of my images at HONEphotography.com.

Lightroom 3 beta 2 Noise Reduction

2010-03-24T03:50:00.000-07:00

I have been testing out the new noise reduction features of the new Photoshop Lightroom beta that has just been released.

This is from a Canon 50D at ISO 2,500 viewed at 100%

Without

With

A Quick Backyard Portrait

2010-03-12T23:19:00.000-08:00

The Full Moon

2010-03-03T00:39:00.000-08:00

Paul and Kat's Wedding

2010-01-30T04:59:00.000-08:00

A small selection of photos from a beautiful day with a beautiful couple.

Attidude

2010-01-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

A thread that I have been following on the photography part of the MacTalk forums inspired a bit of a lengthy post that I thought would be make a good blog post.

The thread discusses having done a photoshoot and simply not liking any of the images.

Forum member rodeodee posts:

I hope I'm not out of turn here - I've only ever shot very occasional gems - but I can't help but see the similarity with musicians. The better you get, the further along in you career, the more gigs you do, well, the more disappointed you are in yourself. People say "that's great" but you're honestly ready to quit at times. Exactly why established artists with a few albums under the belt take much longer to get out an album. You're fussier, You've learnt something. You don't want to repeat yourself etc etc. Anyways, I think there's a really strong parallel between music and photography, where technique and creativity need to get along somehow.

To which I responded with:

I do not think that you are out of turn. Actually, I find it refreshing to be reminded of the different perspectives that are out there.

I think that I am lucky in some ways because I do not think of my photography like this at all. I am happy to take the cheese shot. I am happy to repeat myself. I am happy to take the safe shot and then move along to the experimental shots that may or may not work. And also, I am happy for the oopsy daisey's to happen.

For example, the shoot where I forgot to bring my flash trigger. So my planned lighting went out the window. I had to quickly and calmly come up with an alternative solution. I ended up triggering the flashes optically from the on camera flash (as it turned out, my flash trigger was in my camera bag. And it was in a very obvious position. I have no idea why I could not see it when I searched those seven times!). And this resulted in one of my favourite images (I do have a fair amount of favourite images).

Another happy accident was in another shoot when the flashes did not fire due to recycling times. This photo came back very dark and for some reason, I did not go past it. The final result triggered something inside. The tone/feeling/whatever.

I know that my photography does not suit everybody. I think I have high standards with regard particular images that I like -- that I like to look at over and over again. But this does not make me get depressed and not want to go out and shoot.

Again, all of this is subjective.

As well, there is the challange of completely hopeless situations and turning them around to something that you can use.

I shot a function at the Albert Park Hotel not too long ago. Dimly lit. Not really much space to even move. And full of guests that were not there to have their photograph taken (Although you would not know considering how most of girls were dressed at 9am!)

I think I did a great job of making people look better than how you would have seen them on the day.

I could look at these photos and get depressed because they were very ordinary -- ordinary in the fact that they are people at an event posing for a photo. Or I can look at these photos and think, I did a great job, the subjects were well lit, the images are very flattering, and, most importantly, I am very happy with the results.

I guess that everything is, again, subjective, and perhaps attitude goes a little further than anticipated?

Anyhow, I shoot to take good photos -- and by good photos, I mean images that *I* like and that I am happy with. Images that satisfy my criteria of what I think makes a good photo. I do not go for artistic, technical, whatever photos.

I think one of the things that I really like about photography is that I am in control. Well, up to a point. Then you get a client brief and you think that you have an understanding of what they want, and then it turns out that they actually want the same drivel that they have had before. This then becomes a whole different kind of challenge... Subsequently HUGELY rewarding when they love the final image.

That is all.

New Years Eve 2009.

2009-12-31T03:33:00.000-08:00

What a fantastic storm! What a fantastic full moon. These shots were taken from the lookout at Altona. The wind was blowing at least 30Knots, so I am stoked that any of the photos were not ruined by camera shake on the tripod.

These photos are pretty much straight out of the camera. A slight horizon straightening, and a very very slight curve adjustment and jpeg export from lightroom is the only treatment applied.

The storm heading towards Melbourne.

The full moon rising over Melbourne

This last shot you can see the storm just creeping into the frame.

Breakfast For Breast Cancer, The Albert Park Hotel

2009-12-26T01:35:00.000-08:00

I recently photographed the Breakfast for Breast Cancer event (2009) at The Albert Park Hotel. Renee Walker from dtdigital.com.au put a call out on twitter looking for a photographers---I answered.

My Mother is a survivor of breast cancer, so I was happy to donate my time and expertise for a worthy cause.

My job was to take photographs of all the guests, as well as I was asked to take some shots of the venue before the guests started to arrive.

There were a couple of featured guests. Aside from Lillian Frank, can you tell who they are?

Mosaic Time Again

2009-12-24T01:40:00.000-08:00

Local artist Julee Latimer needed a piece to be photographed.

Julee's mosaics have been the trickiest things yet that I have photographed. Shiny little objects that are either semi-opaque, shiny and reflective, or both. As well, the latest piece is not flat, but a sculptured wavey shape. So I also wanted to have some nice shadows to show the shape.

I went with pointing a flash at the wall to cast a nice soft shadow on the piece. As well, I used the Orbis Ring Flash to fill the shadows.

Once we got this piece finished, Julee had a few more pieces that had not yet been photographed.

This piece is installed on the fence outside. I took a few shots without any flashes, and then had a flash on either side. The difference was subtle, but I think very important. The flashes added that "pop" that lifts the image just that little bit. Each tile has a tiny little glint. As well, the grout looks good too.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T04:17:00.000-08:00

Another Photo Shoot With Stui

2009-12-23T01:18:00.000-08:00

Stuart Christie called me up and said, Can I get you to come over and take some more photos?
And I said, Sure. Not a Problem.

This one was a little tricky to light. The main aim was to keep the warmth and ambience of the setting, and at the same time putting some nice light on Stui.

This time around I put two lights on justin clamps behind stui, one carefully balanced on a broom, and one clamped to the curtain rail. The third flash was behind me and pointed at ceiling.

I went for a slow shutter speed to pick up the relatively low intensity of the wall lights and light stand.

Enjoy.

Saturday Morning Walk

2009-11-28T02:16:00.000-08:00

I took my camera on my Saturday Morning Walk with Ollie today.

Preparing for the NICA Showcase Photo Shoot

2009-11-24T04:29:00.000-08:00

Nica's annual showcase is drawing near. This show highlights what the third year NICA students have been training towards and gives them an opportunity to go for it in front of Melbourne and industry specialists.

My job will be to take at least 6 images of each act. This is so the students have professional photos for their marketing once they have left NICA.

The schedule is a busy one. 15 acts in one day. That is about 1/2 an hour per act with a 1/2 hour break for lunch.

Here are some shots that I have taken of NICA over the past couple of years.

Stuart Christie and Kane Peterson Photo shoot

2009-11-21T05:31:00.000-08:00

These guys are great. Very funny.

Stuart Christie

2009-11-20T02:35:00.000-08:00

Stuart Christie from Circus Oz fame has again asked me to take some more shots of him. I like stui. He knows what he wants and he trusts my judgement as well.

Here are a few photos from previous shoots.

Circus Oz tech run at Port Lincoln

One of Stui's characters

Exercise Stui

This one I tricked Stui by holding the camera at my waist and looking off to my left. I wanted to get a totally natural, un-forced, without the---I'm being watched look.

Anna Lumb, Stui's Trapeze and Acro partner

And finally, Anna and Stui again

Photos from NICA

2009-11-19T03:12:00.000-08:00

A selection of photos taken for the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA).

Shots from NICA's Rhapsody show.

A collection from ariel's Dream

Some Pictures of Circus Oz

2009-11-18T01:58:00.000-08:00

A small collection of photos that I have taken of Circus Oz.

Professional Circus and Stage Photography

2009-11-17T02:38:00.001-08:00

Need Professional Photography for your Act, Stage Show, or Circus? Visit my Professional Photography website, or click here to send me an email.

I have photographed for NIDA, NICA, Circus Oz, Strange Fruit, Little Devils Circus, and the Melbourne Juggling Convention. As well as a host of Local and International Circus Performers. Here is a selection of Circus related photos. Enjoy.