Good friend and photography trainer extraodinaire Shelton Muller has put out a new instructional DVD for those aspiring to be wedding photographers. Titled “How to become a Wedding Photographer” it runs for 80 minutes in a slide show format.
A must see for those wishing to start out in the business.
Good work Shelton! Look forward to seeing more on this…
![IMG_0102[1]](http://www.berkmcgowanphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/IMG_01021.JPG "IMG_0102[1]")
I finally got around to downloading a new app for my iPhone called Camera Bag. I first heard about it after reading Chase Jarvis’ blog post “5 Tips For Making Great iPhone Photos” many moons ago but never bothered to check it out until now. It’s not a free app (AUD$3.99) but it does help to spiff up those photos you’ve grabbed using the iPhone. I take my iPhone everywhere and regularly pull it out to grab a quick snap of something that might catch my eye if I don’t have my camera with me.
The top image is using the Helga style which I think is my favourite at the moment.
This quick grab below of my kids messing around together (low light hence the blur) is styled using the Magazine style which is quite a nifty effect too.
![IMG_0106[1]](http://www.berkmcgowanphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/IMG_01061.JPG "IMG_0106[1]")
With 10 different styles it certainly improves on the standard image that comes out of the iPhone. Be interesting to see this app on the updated iPhone 3G S when it’s released. Will definitely be using this app and the iPhone more as a quick grab tool for images I see in my travels.
First off, been a while since I posted… my bad on that one, sorry. Got sick then had to catch up on everything else and this took a backseat. Back on track now though!
Managed to get my hands on a new Nikon D300 not too long ago and let me just say it handles like a dream. I’ve had the D200 for quite a while now and it is an awesome camera that just feels right and Nikon have done all its followers justice by delivering that same feeling in the D300 plus adding in some awesome advancements. Aside from the standard updates the big kicker for me is how well the new CMOS sensor handles the high ISO range. The D200’s CCD sensor was not the greatest when you started pushing the boundaries of ISO 400 and was pretty awful for anything over ISO 800. Enter the D300 with it’s big brother’s, the D3, awesome sensor and Nikon have delivered something that competitors are losing out to.
The above image was shot handheld (1/80th @ f2.8) at ISO 1600 with available light in an dingy office environment that would have otherwise warranted a flash setup or tripod to achieve a similar result.
You can see in this above crop of the top image how little noise there is at this ISO. There is no editing to these images except cropping and resizing and are straight out of camera.
Short of my old Hasselblad 503cx this is one of the best cameras I have ever owned for not only the high ISO handling but just how good it feels in the hand as well as the additional features (which I might go into in another post). I’ve not had a great deal of time testing it out but hope to do so over the next month or so, so stay tuned for more!!
More ramblings soon…
My dad managed to arrange tickets for what turned out to be a family affair at Telstra Dome on Saturday night to see St Kilda (my team) take on AFL premiership hopefuls Hawthorn. We weren’t mingling with the common folk on this occasion as we had scored the ultimate prize of the corporate box (Dad works for Australia Post).
A brilliant spread was put on, the beer flowed and the Saints got up and beat Hawthorn! What more could you ask for. I didn’t get to take my camera gear with me but did take along the little Canon IXUS 75 point and shoot and took a few quick shots of the ground once it had emptied. It’s pretty impressive to see it empty as well as full.
Hope I can get back one day with the good gear and get a proper panorama.
More ramblings soon…
I was introduced to Nikkor’s 85mm f1.8 lens through Shelton Muller at one of his most enjoyable workshops (SheltonShops as they shall be called from here on in). He lent me his well used one and I was an instant admirer. I had never had a prime of this focal length or one with such a small aperture. The low light possibilities suddenly opened up and whole raft of ideas came to mind – the first of which was “I have got to get me one of these!”.
I managed to get one and did a few low light shots one night of it. But was struggling getting a chance to drag it out of the bag for a proper shoot.
Anyway, as I was cleaning up my gear and organising my camera bags I noticed the gorgeous afternoon light coming through our front window and thought this is a good time to get the 85mm out and give it a whirl. I managed to convince Kylie to pose for a few frames and came up with this:
You have to be dead on with the focusing (when using it at f1.8) and it is something I am going to have to work on with regards to portraits as the eyes are the most important and if you move off the focus spot the whole feeling of the image is gone. Not the greatest portrait of Kylie (hello stare-y eyes!) but the light was gorgeous and gave me a chance to get the camera out.
I tried to get my daughter Abby to pose for a couple after her mum had enough and walked away but she just wouldn’t sit still so most missed the focus mark.
Will post some more when i’ve had a play with this lens some more.
Berk
Apple’s new flagship product, the iPhone 3G, touched down in Australia (as well as the rest of the world) yesterday. Having hopped on the hype bandwagon myself I was still undecided as to whether I would join the other devotees and wait inline to see if I could score myself one.
Well i’m definitely a sucker for new toys and this has to be the biggest of the lot.
After weeks of hype and anticipation I joined the queues of loyal Apple fans (or those just wanting to cash in on the newest gadget on the block) at Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping centre where the Optus store was opening at 7am. I managed to get there at around 6am – not bad I thought, but was presented with a queue of about 30 already.
We all waited patiently and were treated to cupcakes and drinks by the friendly Optus staff.
There was one bloke who had lined up from about midnight to be the first to get his hands on the iPhone (he was still in the store when I left with my iPhone – not sure he was that organised with all his papers etc).
The staff helped us wait out the time we were there by bringing around actual iPhones for us to hold and play with – was nice to actually touch when considering the closest I had been to one was the ads and reports on the internet!
From a gadget point of view it is awesome! I’ve not put it down since I got it. I’ve explored nearly every feature and am still finding some new things which is good.
From a photography point of view, the camera is pretty weak (not something that was a concern to me) but is handy for those times you want to grab a quick snap of something. My previous phone (a Nokia N70) had the same sized 2mp sensor in it and for what it produced (for what I shot) it suited me fine. Here’s an example straight out of the iPhone:
Not too bad. I just wonder how long before the next version of iPhone will be out to replace this one – hopefully not anytime soon!
More ramblings soon…
Berk
Find us on Facebook
Follow via Twitter