Photos #217-244

 

 exposure: 1/125sec f/stop: 5.6 iso: 100

I did this in the studio and it was a fun and messy shoot. Using my macro lens, I love how the liquid is so sharp. This is pre-focused and I'm using red cordial for this.

 exposure: 1/500sec f/stop:25 iso: 100

I used one of old speakers for this shot. This was also a messy shot with the corn starch that I used was going everywhere. I tried different types of music to get the corn starch to pretty much dance but the best song that made it go off was the drum song by the temper trap.

exposure: 1/50sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 100

The Sydney International Food Festival was at Hyde Park. I found this stall quite amusing because of what they're called.

 exposure: 1/3sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 100

There's an annual photo contest in Hyde Park showcasing works of upcoming photographers and the one of the Harbour Bridge during the dust storm was my favorite out of the bunch.

 exposure: 1/250sec f/stop: 3.2 iso: 100

I was location scouting at Newtown looking for graffiti walls that would be suitable for an upcoming shoot for a competition I was going to enter. I didn't end up using this wall but I thought it looked pretty cool.

 exposure: 1/125sec f/stop: 3.2 iso: 100

'Life is fleeting' It sure is television. So make the most of the time you have.

 exposure: 1/8sec f/stop: 5.6 iso: 800

Adiano Zumbo has one of the best tasting macarons and this raspberry fruit tart with pistachio is just as good. If this cafe was closer to me, I would go here a lot.

  exposure: 25sec f/stop: 14 iso: 100 

The Harbour Bridge is one of the most photographed structures in Australia. Tonight is different though, because the City of Sydney is honoring Mary Mackillop on the pillars of the bridge as she becomes the first Australian saint.

 exposure: 1/13sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 800 

I was working for Verandah Bar this night and I have to say it was awesome. Riding around in a hummerzine taking photos of the passengers that we were picking up and dropping off at the club. 

 exposure: 1/15sec f/stop: 11 iso: 100

I did a similar photo like this in my previous post but I didn't like it as much as I like this one. 

  exposure: 1/640sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 400

Just a simple shot of some flowers that were in my garden. I like the bokeh and color of the background.

  exposure: 1/125sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 100

One word. Shiny.

  exposure: 1/4000sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 100

David LaChappelle was at Circular Quay on this day. If you don't know who he is, he's an American photographer who does a lot of fashion and fine art photography with a very unique style. He's promoting the Nokia N8 mobile by using it as his main camera. This is just one of the three setups he had during the shoot but I have to say his lighting and ideas are a major inspiration. 

  exposure: 1/30sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 100 

I love these places in the city with random artworks. Nothing beats the bird cages at Angel Place which was my first photo of the 319 project. 

 exposure: 1/13sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 400  

A mango sundae at Mizuya on George St. They have pretty good lunch deals at this place and they're food is delicious!

  exposure: 1/400sec f/stop: 11 iso: 100 

These burgers are so nice! I was at Bondi Beach with Marione just for these burgers. They taste great, they're healthy, its a decent size (bigger than Macdonalds burgers) and for that day only it was free! 

  exposure: 1/25sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 200

I don't remember what shop this was but I simply thought the boxes looked cool.

  exposure: 1/4000sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 200

This was a random site for me as I walked around the city. A woman with a pug carrying it like a baby with a shirt on. 

  exposure: 1/100sec f/stop: 1.7 iso: 100

Starbucks. A nice chill out spot where I drink coffee, read, talk and sometimes do nothing.

  exposure: 1/80sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 800

If you don't know who this is, its Cameron from Modern Family. Its a weird shot of him when you look closely at his facial expression. He's just having lunch with his girlfriend at QVB and I'm on the level above taking this stalker photo.

 exposure: 1/500sec f/stop: 4 iso: 100 

Sculptures at the beach is an annual event where various artists showcase they're sculptures. I especially liked  this one because it just stood out from the rest to me. I don't really have anything artistic to say about it other than I like the expression on his face.

  exposure: 1/320sec f/stop: 4.5 iso: 100

I remember taking a photo of something similar to this sculpture last year but nonetheless I like the shadows on the door.

  exposure: 1/125sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 200

Martin Place. A place where a lot of people in suits work, in their cubicles in tall buildings. I can't wait to do a shoot with office workers.

  exposure: 1/60sec f/stop: 6.3 iso: 100

A photo of a reunion of people from Catherine Mcauley. I think the class was 1997 but out of I think around 300 students, only 30 came. This was such a hassle to cover for this event as it was in Prospect and I had to drive all the way to the city to print out the photos in the lab and drive back to Prospect to sell them. 

  exposure: 1.3sec f/stop: 13 iso: 100

I love motion blur shots. I know its dangerous but I sometimes take a few shots of things whilst I'm driving.

 exposure: 1/20sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 1600

Congratulations to the happy couple taking their first dance as husband and wife. It was a pleasure shooting for them and it was Marione's first all day wedding shoot so congrats to her too. Proud of you.

 exposure: 30sec f/stop: 14 iso: 100

I was trying out some lightning photos on this day and I have to say it takes a lot of patience and luck to get it right. I took so many photos that but I didn't like 99% because I either didn't like the composition of it or there wasn't enough lightning or the photo was too blurry. I was using my monopod because I didn't pack my tripod this day.

"Bubble Gum" Photo Shoot with Ria

Hello everyone!

I had a quick shoot recently with Marione assisting and Ria modelling for the Canon EOS Photo five competition where the brief was portraiture and the photo had to feature bubble gum. Unfortunately, I only did one of the five briefs because I left it to the last minute so lesson learned. I'll enter again next year and won't do the same.

For the shot I was going for, I wanted Ria to pose in front of graffiti to give that "cool" factor wearing skates so this was a bit of a hard pose to do and I also used an orange gel attached to my flash to give that summer feel to it. We went to a park in Newtown first to have some practice with poses and so Ria could practice using the skates for a bit and blowing bubbles from the bubble gum. It was pretty funny cause we had to help Ria move around with the skates and try to stop her from falling. The following are just a few practice shots.

 

After some practice shots we headed off to a place not to far but still in Newtown where there was a colorful wall of graffiti which was exactly what I was looking for but the only problem I had with it was that the wall was a bit short and it was just off the main road (didn't want to attract too much attention). 

The following shots are used with an orange gel attached to my flash. There was no off-camera flash for this shoot. I initially wanted to do this but I wanted the shoot to be quick and setting up with all the flashes and stands would have taken a while to set up. Just to give you an idea of what I first planned to do here it is.

2min job of my plan made on Paint

 

Even though I didn't go with my original plan the photos turned out great and I was really happy with them and Ria did a great job, especially with the roller skates. Here are a few shots that from the shoot. 

  

After the shoot, I was trying to figure out which shots to upload to the comp cause I had a lot to pick from. I read the brief on the competition book again that I received and the portrait had to "convey a sense of character and personality" so take a guess at which photo I ended up submitting. 

If you haven't figured it out yet, I picked the last photo. The reason for this is that, you can clearly see her personality here. Ria is an outgoing and fun type of person and its evident to me in the photo. Plus the graffiti background adds to her personality too as she is a hip hop dancer. 

 Thanks for reading!

"Fun" Photo Shoot with Nikki

Hello everyone!

I've been meaning to catch up with my blog and write about whats been happening but its been really busy lately and I found a little time to write about one of our past shoots. This shoot was organized for our friend, Nikki who at the time was entering a competition for Sportsgirl. The theme of the shoot was "fun" and to make it interesting we added a few props in the shots such as jumbo cards, a pink wig, lollipops, delicious cupcakes, a few outfits by Nikki and more. Myself, Marione and Kristel were shooting in rotation and we were also eating a lot of food that we prepared beforehand. Overall, it went pretty well with no hiccups and no major problems which was great. I won't get technical with how we shot and our shooting plans but a lot of the shots were taken with our flashes and some off-camera too and a few shots with our reflectors. Enough of my ranting of the shoot. Here are some photos that the group took on this day.

Photo by Marione

 Photo by Marione

 Photo by Kristel

 Taken by John

(btw my shot doesn't really show anything "fun", more curiosity by Nikki looking over the edge)

Thanks for reading!

Ne-Yo Style Shoot

Hello everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, JMCK had a photo shoot inspired by Ne-Yo. It was a studio shoot where my cousin, Phillip kindly volunteered. For a Ne-Yo look photo shoot we had the task of making a spotlight effect as we were basically trying to make the following photo.

To achieve this look, we were considering buying a snoot but opted to make it ourselves. We don't usually make our photo equipment but to save some money and make our own snoot was much more rewarding. After researching how to make a snoot, we needed to gather a whole lot of black straws (thank you Oportos for providing us with this), some glue and cut out some white cardboard. We followed the instructions on how to make it and this is the end result, mounted on my flash.

 

It was perfect for the photo that we were going for and props to Marione for finding it. Click here if you want to check out how we made it.

Taken by Kristel

While the photo isn't exactly the same, the spotlight effect was achieved and worked brilliantly with our do it yourself (DIY) snoot.

The rest of the shoot was great as we were trying to do some more Ne-Yo like poses. We did some off camera flash with our cameras and focused more on shadows and used the vintage mic as an additional prop. With each shoot that we have, our work flow improves, our organization gets better and we get a chance to practice with our models. Anyway, good job to everyone involved and thanks to Phillip for volunteering. Here are a few more shots of the day, taken by the group.

Thanks for reading!

Photos #192-216

exposure: 1/320sec f/stop: 5 iso: 100

I was at the park at Broadway trying to photograph the birds in flight. As you can see, its not a great shot but out of all the ones I took and the time that I had its the best out of the bunch. 

exposure: 1/500sec f/stop: 4 iso: 100

Taken at Bicentennial Park. Not much to say really. Its swimming in something =P

exposure: 1/250sec f/stop: 8 iso: 100

I was at the Bay run today and after a lap around the course I decided to take a few snapshots of the area. Here's a man walking dogs along the rock area.

 exposure: 1/15sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 200

This is a photo of my old rusty bike from when I was about five. I really like this shot because of the angle and the lines that are running through it.

exposure: 1/15sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 400

It was the Vogue Fashion's Night Out today and lucky for these models, they had some shade in the rain. They were promoting the new HP laptop with a competition during the night. I did not win.

 exposure: 1/100sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 100

The best shot of the matchsticks that I had as it lights up. I wish I had more so I can try this out again.

exposure: 1/30sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 400

I had a shoot with my good friend, Justin today. This is just one of the shots that I took while we were mucking around. I particularly like it because of the movement of his fists. You can also notice some barrel distortion on my lens.

exposure: 1/30sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 400

Time for me to pose! After a hard days work of bathroom renovations, I decided to take a rest. I must say, it was fun destroying my bathroom.

exposure: 1/10sec f/stop: 29 iso: 100

It was the Blackmore's Running Festival today. After the race, you receive a medal. Its probably my fifth or sixth year running marathons with my friends and I have to admit they're pretty cool and once you get to finish line, you have to strike a pose for the photographers.

exposure: 1/100sec f/stop: 6.3 iso: 100

I love the light shining through the leaf. It looks like a painting to me.

 exposure: 1/60sec f/stop: 4.5 iso: 200

This was the best fashion show I've been to so far. These are the models of the Dirty French Word fashion show at the Ivy.

exposure: 1/40sec f/stop: 22 iso: 100

I was practicing on my panning techniques and this is the end result. The cyclist is in perfect focus. My only problem with it though is that I didn't get all of the bike in the shot.

  exposure: 1/640sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 100

After a rainy morning the plants in front of my house had drop of water on the leaves. Great opportunity to take a photo. They always look so cool.

exposure: 1/1000sec f/stop:8 iso: 100

I was at Bondi Beach with Marione today and we decided to buy a deep fried mars bar. It was our first time trying one and when we bit into it, we burnt our tongues. It was a funny moment. I'd sure like to see deep fried snickers bars.

exposure: 1/1000sec f/stop: 13 iso: 200

This photo was set up as I sprayed the flower with water. Nonetheless, its still a great shot with the stigma of the flower in sharp focus.

exposure: 0.8sec f/stop: 32 iso: 100

I was feeling a bit experimental today and I wanted to see how it would look like if I took a photo of graffiti while zooming out and turning my camera. Its pretty twisted but since this shot, I had better ones where it looks like its a sink that's draining colorful water.

exposure: 1/1000sec f/stop: 1.7 iso: 100

Apart of my last 319 update post was about the environment. Since then I've started throwing my rubbish in the bin and more cautious about the environment. I took this photo at a site where people are beginning to cut down trees to clear way for new buildings that will be built. 

 

 exposure: 1/500sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 200

Can you guess what animal this is? Its a turtle and shifty looking one as it is.

exposure: 1/160sec f/stop: 8 iso: 100

A quick shot of one of the JMCK group. We had a Ne-Yo style shoot at the studio and during this shot we were testing out the lighting. I'll write up how it went in an upcoming post.

exposure: 1/160 f/stop: 9 iso: 100

I was in Canberra today with Marione attending Floriade. It was a great photo taking opportunity where we had the chance to practice using our camera. I like this colorful shot with the ferris wheel in the background.

  exposure: 1/10sec f/stop: 2.8 iso: 400

My package from Canon for a photo competition arrived today. Its called the EOS 5 Photo Challenge where Canon send you five items and you have to take a creative photo of each item. Its a great opportunity to practice and if you win that would be even better. I'll post up the final photos that I take for this competition in a future post. I wish Sony had a comp like this in Australia.

  exposure: 1/500sec f/stop: 9 iso: 100

I was location scouting with Marione today and we ended up here. I think this is West Ryde but I love this spot. The clouds look pretty cool in this shot too.

exposure: 1/125sec f/stop: 32 iso: 100

This is our DIY snoot that Marione made (props to Marione on this one). Its a great lighting tool that we used for the Ne-Yo style shoot that we had recently and its made out of straws! We saved ourselves money here.

exposure: 1/125sec f/stop: 32 iso: 100 

 

 This was taken in the studio with some spare strawberrys that I had from the last shoot. I love the splash and it looks so vibrant. I'm probably going to do this shot again cause it was so much fun.

exposure: 1/250sec f/stop: 6.3 iso: 100

A different day, a different shot of the splash photos. This time using milk and with the same strawberry (I froze it to preserve it) I managed to get this shot. Unfortunately the battery from my flash died but this still ended up being a pretty good shot. Also, the other shot I had where the strawberry just hit the water wasn't in focus. I will again, re-do this shot. I love these types of photos.