31 today.

So... today is my 31st year of life.

It has been a productive day at college and a good bit of fun thanks to my new friends and classmates of which i am very greatful to have, because it would have been quite dismal without them around.

I wasn't feeling 100% today (health-wise) but soldiered on in order to get things done.

Yesterday was a good day. Spent it with Gus, Simona and Kiki. We went to a camera market, then had some lunch before Gus and I wwent out to Uriarra Crossing for a swim in the river - that was nice!


Time for bed now i reckon.



D.

On the list with BMA = Yay!

(29-09-2012)

Out of the blue last week, i received an email from the editor of Canberra's local "scene magazine" BMA - http://www.bmamag.com/home/

It came from a recent chat i had with the sub-editor, who kindly passed on my details and hence this blog entry.

So i decided to cut short my weekend on the south-coast in order to make it back in time for a meet and greet with the staff of the magazine. I see this as a pretty good opportunity. It is not paid work, but the chance to network with a broad range of industries is in offer and the bonus of gaining FREE entry into some pretty cool gigs/events is nothing to complain about.

Long story short, i am now on the list of photographers for this publication and let me say i am ready, willing and able to start shooting for BMA and look forward to what it might bring for me.

D.

Lifeline book-fair (again).

Okay, so back on the morning of Friday, September 21 i made my way back out to the local show grounds to attend the spring Lifeline book-fair in search of some new photography books.

I feel I did okay and here's a photo of what I grabbed. In the end, 19 books for $85.50



D.

JOBY gorilla-pod for iPhone4/4s.

Fr some time now i have been interested in Time-Lapse photography/video.

Early this year i stumbled across a little product from JOBY that would allow me to make use of the application on my iPhone 4s and begin to experiment with time-lapse. I will ever be able to create a time-lapse anywhere near as good as the folks at timescapes.orghttp://timescapes.org with just my smart-phone and an app, but this new gismo will certainly give me a good start in the right direction.

It is a customised case that attaches to a small gorilla-pod - which keeps everything rock-steady. So simple yet so functional in so many ways.

Just the other week Simona, a classmate of mine was looking around for some remote triggers to go with the nice new speedlite she had just purchased and i let her know about the ones i have - she liked the idea and wanted to order a set - so considering they were at the same store in Sydney as this i recommended we order both and split the shipping cost. End of story.

I have used it in my apartment, at college and even in the car. It is proving to be a great little addition to the contents of my back-pocket and i look forward to using it long into the future to hopefully create some pretty cool stuff.

Great thing to have for $45 - example below.



D.

United Nations competition - awards night.

Last Tuesday (September 18, 2012) was when we students finally got to learn who the winners were for this.

It was a fun evening held at the CSIRO's office in the suburb of Acton here in Canberra. Most of the students were able to attend, which made for a good atmosphere - the free beer and wine also helped.

Anyway, how did i go? Well i didn't win any awards, but i am pleased to report that two of my three entries made it to the wall of the exhibition that evening - which i was very proud of. A number of us first-year students had our work hung, so well done everybody :]

After the gig, a few of us came back to my place for a feed, a few drinks and an enjoyable game of cards - cards against humanity was the game, and my god did it give all of us a bunch of laughs for hours! so much fun i tell ya.

So perhaps next year i can take out an award or two ay :P


Till then... here are a few snaps taken on my iPhone from the evening.



D.

That's mine on the left.

That's mine in the middle.

A panoramic photo of the exhibition.

An extreme panoramic photo of the exhibition.

Dru's Wedding in Woolongong!

my new mate Dru Maasepp is getting married this Friday and i am grateful to be able to attend the ceremony up in Woolongong from 3pm.

This will not only make for a special occasion to whiteness, but it will also prove to be a nice way to start my two week break from college. I feel i need to get away so i'm gonna do just that.

I plan to pack the camera gear, swag, fridge full of food and spend Friday through to Sunday just following my nose and seeing where it leeds me. I'll most likely go Canberra up to Woolongong then head south along the coast as far as Bateman's Bay before heading back up to our nation's capital before sun-down on Sunday.

Can't wait to be honest, because it will allow me to re-trace parts of my trip from back in 2010 that i enjoyed so very much, only this time i will have a camera at my disposal instead of only an iphone 3g :]

Stay tuned for images,



D.

NEW BATTERIES :]

Okay so after discussing with my classmates about the horrible trouble i was having yesterday trying to get a reliable recycle time on my speedlite with the batteries i was using whilst trying to do a range of portraits.

So many thanks to Rachel, Ben and Joel for sharing with me what they use and strongly recommend.

I ended up dropping Dru home and afterwards knee could take a quick detour through Fyshwick to drop into The Battery Factory and try purchase some of these snazzy batteries.

Thankfully the store had them in stock so i grabbed a set of AAA's and a kit that included a set of AA's and a charger that caters for both sizes of batterie for a little over $60. Which when you consider how long these batteries are said to maintain their charge, output and ability to be recharged quite quickly is a very reasonable purchase.

Here is what i grabbed.


D.

eneloop batteries - another reason to love Japan.

RECENT MUSIC GIGS

(1-9-2012)

Went to the nearby TRANSIT BAR in Civic tonight to watch a band i that i have taken a liking to in recent months by the name of ALPINE. Their gig was part of their national tour to promote their new album A IS FOR ALPINE.

It was a great little performance, the support acts GEORGI KAY and CLUBFEET were a funky leed into what was a very energetic and upbeat ALPINE. Their was good vibes all around the bar and the band came off stage to mix and mingle with their fans afterwards which i think is always a really cool things to do :]

All in all a good night.


_


(9-9-2012)

I was fortunate enough to score a free ticket off Gus as part of his photographic duties for the Canberra times at the XAVIER RUDD concert at the PLAYHOUSE in Canberra's National Theatre building.

The last time i saw this dude play was back in 2005 when he was the support act for Dave Mathews Band in Brisbane at the Exhibition Centre.

Man i had forgotten how much this guy can play the shit out of an instrument. He must have played at least 5 different guitars, 3 different didgeridoos, a drum kit and harmonica and nearly all at once from time to time.

It was a great concert, he's a very likeable character, a good performer etc

All in all another great night out.

THANKS AGAIN GUS :]



D.

Request from Royal Canberra :]

Early Monday morning whist walking to class, i received a call from Royal Canberra Golf Club asking if i would allow them to use a selection of my photographs on their website. I was hoping that this might happen one day, because they all seemed very impressed by my photographs when i presented them to members of staff recently.

So yeah, this was very exciting and i will certainly allow them to do this as it is a great foot-in-the-door for me and i hope to build further contacts and possible business opportunities from this into the future :]

I will call them tomorrow, or maybe even go visit them in person to arrange things. The fact that i now also have a corporate portrait folio to produce i will put it to them as yet another way for me to supply them with some usable images for their website and/or future publications.

I MUST now also get some business cards organised and the coffee table book printed so they can be left at club's reception area and pro-shop as a way of marketing myself.

Let's hope this little opportunity turns into something promising!




D.


27-8-2012

On Friday of last week i met with the General Manager of Royal Canberra and we discussed a number of exciting opportunities to work together. I won't go into full detail in this blob entry as a way of respecting the privacy of my client, but i will say that i look forward to it all and am commencing work on the first of a few of these opportunities tomorrow morning and will be shooting all week.



D.

Recent purchase = a real winner!

A little over a week ago, Gus made me aware of this light-modifying kit to suit our speedlites he had found on e-bay for only $50 and wanted to know if i would be interested in buying one. I value Gus's input, he's a clued-up bloke when it comes to photography, so i expressed interest in it and asked him to go ahead and purchase on for me as well. I also asked him to add in a lens hood for my 50mm, if he could find one for under 20 bucks - which he did. What a champ !

I got my hands on all my new little additions yesterday and let me tell you, i was impressed by it all and felt very pleased i did go ahead with it.

I have location class today which is all about on-camera and off-camera flash, so i have brought most of the kit in with me to test it out during class.

Here are a few snap-shots of it.



D.

Sydney SUX ':[

12-08-2012

My evening in with the one and only Sir David Attenborough was 'truly remarkable' and something i will never forget to have witnessed.

The State Theatre is a unique venue. Can't say i've ever been to a theatre that fancy before.

The 15 minute walk there Saturday night was made interesting by drizzling rain, however along the way i did pass two the new Lambourgini Aventador and McLaren 12C super cars on display along William Street.

After an extremely special evening at the delightful State Theatre in the heart of Sydney, i woke to the sound of music and human voices. Once i reached the window of my motel room it became clear that all the workmen i had past on my walk to and from seeing Sir David Attenborough the night before, was actually the final stages of setting up for the annual City 2 Surf marathon. So i had masses of participants in all shapes and sizes, age groups, genders and walks of life making their way past my window - pretty cool huh.

However once i had checked out of my accomodation and made my way to my car i discovered that some cheeky bastard had busted my driver's side door lock and gotten into my car at some point between checking in on Saturday and checking out on Sunday :[ This kind of pissed me off, but thankfully the damage was only evident on the actual lock and nothing else. The thief had ransacked all parts of the vehicle, but only stole the ARB tyre deflator that i had in the door well. Even though it had left a bitter taste in my mouth, the positives from it all was the fact my car was a) still there b) not trashed c) still able to be driven home.

Sir David Attenborough !!

The following information has been sourced from - http://www.statetheatre.com.au/MovieDetails.aspx?EventId=235

Sir David Attenborough has accepted Lateral Event Management's invitation to travel to Australia to appear live on stage in Sydney and Melbourne for the first time, for a series of public events entitled Sir David Attenborough - A Life on Earth.


Sir David Attenborough is arguably the world's best-known natural history film-maker, a much loved naturalist and broadcaster whose career has spanned nearly six decades. He is the quintessential intrepid traveller, sometimes changing continents mid-sentence. 


Sir David's distinguished career in broadcasting began in 1952 when he joined BBC Television Talks Department. In 1954 he launched the first of his famous Zoo Quest series which over the next 10 years took him to the wilder parts of the world. In 1965, Sir David became Controller of BBC2 and was responsible for the introduction of colour television into Britain. In 1969 he was appointed Director of Programmes with editorial responsibility for both of the BBC's television networks. Then in 1973, he resigned to return to programme making, claiming "I haven't even seen the Galapagos Islands." First came Eastwards with Attenborough, a natural history series set in South East Asia, then The Tribal Eye, examining tribal art.


An estimated 500 million people worldwide watched the 13-part series Life on Earth, written and presented by Sir David. At the time it was the most ambitious series ever produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Its sequel, The Living Planet, came five years later in 1984 and in 1990 the final part of the trilogy, The Trials of Life was broadcast. He also wrote and presented two shorter series, The First Eden, on the long history of mankind's relationship with the natural world in the lands around the Mediterranean, and Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives, about fossils.


In 1993, Sir David presented the spectacular Life in the Freezer, a celebration of Antarctica and in 1995, he wrote and presented the epic The Private Life of Plants. In 1996, Attenborough in Paradise fulfilled a lifelong ambition to make a special film about the elusive but beautiful birds of paradise. In 1997, he narrated the award-winning Wildlife Specials, marking 40 years of the BBC Natural History Unit. In 1998, he completed an epic 10-part series for the BBC, The Life of Birds. In 2000 he presented State of the Planet and in 2001 narrated The Blue Planet. In 2002 he worked on the innovative new BBC1 series, The Life of Mammals and in 2005 he fronted Life In The Undergrowth.


Knighted in 1985, Sir David was awarded the Order of Merit by the Queen in 2005, which recognises exceptional distinction in the arts, sciences and other areas.


Sir David Attenborough - A Life on Earth will take audiences on an incredible journey through Sir David's extraordinary life, his untold stories, the evolution of filming techniques and his passion for bringing us closer to nature. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to share Sir David's experiences with the great man himself, in person.

Sir David Attenborough - A Life on Earth will take audiences on an incredible journey through Sir David's extraordinary life, his untold stories, the evolution of filming techniques and his passion for bringing us closer to nature. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to share Sir David's experiences with the great man himself, in person.

Running Times

1st Act                    1 hour
Interval                20 minutes
2nd Act                   1 hour

* Running times are approximate and may change without notice.


Sir David Attenborough is arguably the world's best-known natural history film-maker, a much loved naturalist and broadcaster whose career has spanned nearly six decades.


-



I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THIS. I AM SO!! EXCITED BY THE THOUGHT OF SEEING ONE OF MY LIFELONG IDOLS IN FRONT OF MY EYES. IT IS HARD FOR ME TO EXPLAIN HOW MUCH THIS MEANS TO ME. THANK YOU SO!! MUCH TO MY NEW FRIEND TAMZEN FOR MAKING ME AWARE OF THIS AND FOR COMING TO SYDNEY WITH ME TO SHARE SUCH AN EXPERIENCE.


IT IS A SHAME THE STATE THEATRE IN SYDNEY ONLY MADE AN ELECTRONIC PRINTOUT AVAILABLE FOR THIS - I FEEL AN EVENT SUCH AS THIS IS MORE THAN WORTH HAVING A NICE TICKET ON OFFER AS A WAY TO SAVOUR AND REMEMBER SUCH AN OCCASION.


THAT SAID, THIS EVENT MAY CHANGE ME LIFE.





D.

Related links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough
http://www.davidattenborough.co.uk

hmmm..

My brain is racing right now, because i am excited by the thought of possibly purchasing some new photographic equipment this week!


The idea came into my head all thanks to an email from CamerasDirect on the GoldCoast QLD, advertising two lenses i have wanted for some time, that are now sitting at a very affordable price for me - as well as some ridiculous prices on a few other smaller items of interest.


I am about to come into some inheritance money, some back-pay from Centrelink and a possible tax return - for a change. So i think i might just go ahead and do it.


It's not really an impulse buy, more of a smart buy in a hurry before i miss out on a fantastic opportunity - like always. I have been patient and feel my patience has now paid off and is beckoning me to grab hold of it.


Those who know me, know i am not a greedy person. This is equipment that will allow me to shoot most assignments and basically complete my kit (as far as i'm concerned). It should also avoid me purchasing anything as substantial as this for quite some time. It will also ALL fit into my current camera bags.


After doing a lot of research into these lenses recently, i am confident that they have proven to be some of Canon's best performing, well built, highest quality, light-weight and affordable releases that should perform beyond my lifetime if i look after them. They will work perfectly on my current 'cropped sensor' camera body and will do even better still if i upgrade to a full frame camera body in the future. They will also sync perfectly and help compliment the Canon EOS 50E 35mm film camera body should i purchase one one day.


The f/4 17-40mm equates to a 27-64mm focal length on my 60D, which covers landscapes, group/environmental portraits, architecture and documentary work and is roughly the same as the commonly desirable 24-70mm that a lot of photographers use and love. The f/4 70-200mm equates to an impressive 112-320mm focal length, which covers portraiture, wildlife and landscapes. Add to this my 50mm (equating to an 80mm focal length) and you could say i have most areas covered :] Everyone tells me i "need f/2.8" - sorry folks but i disagree.


The fact i already own the ultra-wide Canon EF-S [non-pro] 10-22mm (16-35 equivalent) doesn't bother me too much either . It is a nice lens, i purchased it because i couldn't afford the 17-40mm back then, but i feel i shouldn't have too much problem selling it if i chose not to keep it in my bag. The ironic thing about all this is that the thing cost me more than what i can now purchase the 17-40mm [pro] lens for now - bugger!!.




The equipment in mind is as follows:

• Canon 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM zoom lens - $1187.00
 (normally $1,476.00) 

• Canon 17-40mm f/4 L USM zoom lens - $767.00 
(normally $1,085.00) 

• SanDisk 8GB SD memory card - $10.21 
(normally $53.90) 

• Giottos lens cleaning kit - $14.47 
(normally $28.95)

So yeah, this might help exlain why i am so invigorated right now and can't settle myself off to sleep. The fact i also had a good nanna-nap this afternoon is also a factor. Oh well, good excuse to update my blog i guess :]

D.

bargain buy !

(02-08-2012)


After collecting my car from its 25,000km service at the mechanic up in Gungahlin i dropped into SALVOS in Mitchell to donate a box of unwanted goods. After i had unloaded my items into the donation bin at the front door i thought to myself i should go in and see if they had any lightweight sweaters or jackets lying around - so i decided why not, and went in for a look.


Once inside i bumped into the guy who did an exceptional job of cleaning my digital sensor a few months back. We chatted for a while before he went on his way. That was nice.


Anyway, would you believe i then found a few light-weight sweaters and a cool jacket (which i'm wearing right now) and managed to snap them all up for only $41. Now that's hard to beat and a perfect example of pop-shop karma don't you think :]


Here a shot of my bargain buy, taken with my iPhone4s.






D.

PhotoAccess - volunteer :]

Today was my first stint as a volunteer at PhotoAccess over the lake in Manuka (pronounced Marn-e-ka). This is something i reckon could prove to be yet another valuable way for me to network within the art and culture scene of Canberra. By volunteering, i also gain additional access-hours at PhotoAccess to utilise their facilities, which is a fair deal i reckon.


I spent 4 hours there from mid-day until 4pm.


Think i had a total of 7 visitors, but that wasn't of any real concern to me, because it allowed me to get some research/study done for visual culture class. My first visitor was Julia Boyd, a local artist here in Canberra. A new friend of mine and regular at PhotoAccess, Robert Agostino also popped in to process some negs in the wet darkroom for his up-coming exhibition.


It was also nice to be in the luxury of central heating, because today was ICY cold outside thanks to an overcast sky and severe wind gusts. Robert and I walked out into falling sleet around 3pm, which was quite cool :]


To top things off, Robert brought in a circular polariser for me to have - for FREE!! It fits my Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens and will not only prove extremely useful at reducing unwanted glare in future outdoor photographic endeavours, but it will also double as a protective filter for the lens overall. How nice of him.


Not a bad day today. Here is a quick shot of the filter, taken with my iPhone4s.






D.

Trip to Sydney 4 camera market.

(22-7-2012)


Early this morning myself and two new friends (Alex Dickson and Malcolm Sharp) traveled up to Sydney to attend a camera fair/market that i had heard was on - in search of a bargain or two on some old film cameras.


The weather in Sydney was quite ordinary and we struck rain all day on and off, but we enjoyed getting away for the day and two of us came home with a new toy.


Here are some pictures.




D.

Sydney was miserable - like always.

The delightfully nice LEICA M4 (body only) that
Alex purchased for just under $1000 '=|

Malcolm's effort to make Alex's camera look a little
more complete.

My effort to make Alex's camera look a little more
complete.

The RICHO XR-! camera that i bought for only $90 :] 

(31-7-2012) Just finished my first roll of 35mm film
in the newly purchased old camera. Will develop asap
and post the results.

MADE THE MOST OF IT :]

Well, what an awesome few weeks i have had here in this dead-sexy city of Canberra!!!

I was going to list everything in individual posts, but i doubt i could have gotten it all done before i start work at 7pm.

So instead i have decided to simply compile a list of what i have been doing.

• I have been fortunate enough to have had the spare cash to see Boy and Bear perform @ the ANU Bar (June 1) as well as my old mates (well more like acquaintances) from my home town of Rockhampton BusbyMarou perform @ the UC Bar (June 23) with some of my new friends outside of college.

• Purchased my very first pair of thermal underwear/clothing @ a bargain price of $60 for a full-length pants and shirt combo from the Kathmandu run-out sale (June 22).

• Bid my new friend Kylie Dolan a safe trip up to the Sunshine Coast with her family to live - just when we were starting to get out and take lots of photos together, oh well.

• i have been fortunate enough to lend out that Mamiya RZ67 Pro film camera from CIT for the entire holiday break (pump fists in the air) to which i have since shot through one roll of 120-film last weekend whilst on a 12-hour adventure with my classmate and friend Michael Masters (July 1). He was a great person to have as a passenger :]

• Had the joy of meeting a bunch of creative young people whilst at The Artists Shed, Queanbeyan whilst taking in an art exhibition by three local talented school age artists (June 30).

• Managed to acquire information on the up-coming camera market in Sydney (July 22) and may have a few people interested in joining me on a road-trip up and back that day to hopefully  pick up a bargain or two and perhaps that something a little more precious. Can't wait for that, i'm even happily doing a bit of overtime at work to help boost my bank balance in readiness haha!

• Was fortunate enough to have the spare cash (well available credit) to purchase two small soft boxes to suit my Elinchrom portable lighting kit @ a fantastic discounted price as part of Kayell's end of financial year sale (June 21). the two items plus delivery was only a little over half the usual price. They are small, but should prove useful for a number of tasks until i have the funds to purchase some of the more advanced range that Elinchrom produces.

• In addition to the previous dot-point, i have begun setting up my apartment for use as a small photografic studio that is suitable for portraiture and other personal endeavours i have in mind. i might now also set up the light table again for product photography and things in the spare room - the joys of not having too many other belongings to clutter all this usable space :]

• I have made tracks to apply for further assistance from CIT, Centrelink and ACT Housing in order to help me save a bit on course fees for semester two.

• Initiated a membership with Photo Access - a wonderful little photografic gallery and film processing lab here in Canberra. Put my hand up as a volunteer to sit-in for a day and help keep the place running smoothly on August 5, feels good to do something like this and as a reward they will give me some free time to make use of the facilities (wet darkroom, digital darkroom, scanners etc) There are also a few exhibitions coming up that i will try attend now that i will have more nights free to do so.

• Renewed my membership with the AIPP as a student member.

• Have my self portrait printed in the ACMP's monthly magazine publication CAPTURE as part of their campaign to help promote up n coming photographers gaining experience/work as an assistant to professionals.

• i have gone and gotten everything done and am ready to have my Australian Passport application submitted on Friday. Thanks to my old school-mate Kim for being my guarantor, otherwise i'd have been stuffed! Let's hope i can use it in the not so distant future for some form of photografic endeavour/adventure :]

• The mighty Maroons (Queensland NRL Team) won its SEVENTH consecutive State of Origin shield against the Blues (New South Wales NRL Team) in the annual National Rugby League series. It was an actioned-packed and riveting game to watch and went right to the final few minutes, but thanks to the brilliance, persistence and determination of the Queensland players - oh and Cooper Cronk's field-goal the boys did it :]

• Finally, thanks to persistence and speaking to the right people in the right way, i also had the opportunity to present my anti Drink Driving poster concept (via email) today to the head of ACT Road Safety. - I was unfortunately unsuccessful, but it felt good to try and it was suggested to me, by him, not to totally give up just yet and that it might be worth my while presenting it to one of their ad agencies for consideration.

• Made the trip down to Cooma to see a dear old couple i met whilst traveling through parts of Australia a bit over 2 years ago, to catch up, share a meal with and sleep the night before heading up into the snow-fields the following day to see and experience REAL SNOW for the very first time in my life. IT WAS AMAZING & BEAUTIFUL :]

• Managed to return to good old Centrelink's AUSTUDY program to hopefully help my plan to remain focussed on my course and allow me plenty of spare time to get out and involve myself in what i love most. Money is going to be even tighter now, but i'm confident i will survive!!

• Took a trip up to Sydney with new friends Alex Dickson and Malcom Sharp to attend a camera fair/market. . . . of which was a lot smaller than i expected, yet still worth the trip, especially for Alex who purchased the Leica M4 that he was after. I purchased a RICHO xr-1 at a great price and can't wait to use it.

All in all it has been very exciting holiday break for me that and has kept me busy and fulfilled enough to forget about feeling bad i couldn't afford to travel home to see family and my beloved dog. My cousin in Sydney also extended a last minute invitation to take a trip with him up to Cape York, i literally couldn't afford to, but wish i could have because it sounds like it was quite an amazing trip. Another tim perhaps.

Only negative out of all this is that i continued to work late nights :[

Hope you enjoyed reading all this.

D.

Mid-year break.

I am now happily on a four week break from college.


It feels like a well deserved break, but i can assure you i intend on keeping busy. In addition to the long list of personal things to do on my To Do List i might also try find the time (and money) to get out and explore more of what Canberra and it's surrounding areas have to offer :]


I would like to take a trip to the coast, because it has been so long since i saw the ocean and hopefully a journey down to the snow fields.


Here is photograph of a collection of brochures i collected from the Information Centre in Dickson yesterday.






D.