Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2016 i Australian Photography

There’s a story – maybe apocryphal – about an auto manufacturing executive who visited his US plant several decades ago to inform the workers his company had decided to set up a production line using robots. The satisfied executive apparently turned to the union rep and said to him, “How are you going to sign up those machines to a union?” The unimpressed union rep replied, “And how are you going get them to buy cars?” Many decades later the executives (if they still have a job) may get the last laugh. In the interim many American auto workers have lost their employment forever, and the techies are optimistic that a few years from now cars won’t even need drivers because they’ll be driverless. But maybe the long lost auto…

Q Nikon D7000 and Metz flash wiring QI have a Nikon D7000 and two Metz 24 AF-1 flash units which I’m hoping to mount on a flash bracket with adjustable arms for macros. (I mistakenly thought these flashes would be compatible with the D7000 command feature. The command feature works with some of the bigger Metz flash units.) I wanted to use TTL (Through The Lens) cords with hotshoes. Triggers, I believe, would add some weight and it’s another lot of batteries. Do you know of any "Y" cords that fit in the hotshoe of the camera and then there are two hotshoes for the flash units. Any other options? Brett Roberts, via email. A The Metz Mecablitz 24 AF-1 digital (with a Guide Number of a relatively low 24)…

In 2013 pro shooters Chris Traill and Tony Stewart had a great idea for a photographic project. The two members of the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP) proposed making portraits of New Zealand returned services personnel. The resulting collection of portraits would then be gifted to the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association (RNZRSA), and in the process the NZIPP would hopefully gain some exposure in the media. In early discussions on the NZIPP’s Facebook page 50 photographers volunteered to photograph one or two portraits each; the only problem was no one was prepared to coordinate the whole idea. That’s how I became involved. In late 2013 I was on a call to Mike Langford, the then president of the NZIPP, when he asked if I would…

Because he was travelling on his recent assignment, the need to avoid carrying weighty equipment made Weinstein highly selective with his kit. He took two 35 mm Canon bodies, a 1D X and a 5D Mk II, with a 35mm prime, an 85mm prime, and a 70-200mm zoom lens. His tripod was a Manfrotto 050 and head. For lighting and shaping he packed two Elinchrom ELC 500s, a Pro flash-head and a Ranger kit, stands, umbrellas, honeycombs, and a soft box. Other equipment included a MacBook Pro, iPad, a CamRanger which creates a Wi-Fi network, enabling the download of images to an iPad or iPhone, “a beautiful way to share images while you’re working”, battery chargers for everything, and two hard drives. It was all packed into Pelican cases and…

I am from New Zealand, but I moved to Queensland’s Gold Coast in 2007. I had an art background, doing window dressing and creating murals as backdrops for theatres. I used my first camera, a venerable Box Brownie, to photograph my art. I continued my photography with compact cameras but I’d always wanted something more. In 1997 I bought my first digital camera, a Nikon with a huge shutter lag! Five years later I moved to a Canon. It took a year for me to be comfortable with that camera, but there was no going back. After moving to Australia my photography improved greatly and in 2008 I entered my first International and National competitions. The year 2010 was a very successful one on the circuits and my success, nationally…

Unique photo opportunities are a special chance for a photographer to tell a story. While this isn’t always the goal, it’s invariably a part of all images that are made. Sometimes we don’t even mean to tell a story. Perhaps we’re thinking creatively, rather than as a story teller. Why not do both? These images were shot on a recent adventure to Tanzania. I’m lucky to be able to return to some locations many times. I am always looking for new angles or locations and this boosts my enthusiasm to continue travelling the world. Our third Maasai visit on a recent tour offered less quantity of images, but more quality. The light wasn’t soft, yet it was perfect, as this is how these tough people live, day in and day…

Based on the success of the New Zealand project, the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) initiated its own World War Two Veterans Project in 2015. The AIPP Reflections Project was launched last ANZAC Day, but rather than concentrating the effort only through RSLs, the AIPP decided to create an online form where veterans could be registered for a portrait. The project was promoted through the media, and by October over 6500 of an anticipated 8000 veterans had registered to be photographed. Past AIPP Chairman and Queensland-based photographer John de Rooy has been managing the Reflections project and he describes the overall response to the idea as excellent, both from the photographers and the veterans involved. “So far we have had 415 photographers involved covering every corner of Australia. One…

Last time I described how I’d begun to take images with Ultraviolet (UV) light. Photography gives us the chance to see the world in new and different ways. There has always been a conflict, right from the earliest days of photography, between the technical and artistic visions of image makers. We can now capture images that we can’t see with our own eyes, like highspeed action or time lapse, or the very small or very large. Creative people will find ways to use new technology to express themselves and produce images limited only by their imagination. As photographers we don’t exist in a vacuum, but rather as part of an ever expanding network of friends, colleagues and associates. We all value personal contact with those we see as our peers…

WINNER PHOTOGRAPHER Mike Fuller EDITOR’S COMMENT We think Mike Fuller met our brief admirably with this clean and simple image. While elongating a scene is a common approach, in this instance we think it has been exceptionally well done. Fuller says, “On a walk around Perth one evening earlier this year I noticed the juxtaposition of two buildings, one a single story from early on in Perth’s development and the other a multi-storey glass tower just being completed. As well there was a reflection of another, shorter multi-storey building, which I later found out had been Perth’s tallest for some time last century. I was pleased to record this transition from old to new.” This juxtaposition has been well captured and neatly arranged, and the post production has been subtly…

Recently Richard Weinstein was criss-crossing Victoria by road and air on a major 14 day multi-location shoot which he says has marked a turning point in his career. It’s a project which involves adding a more ‘human’ element to his work, which up to now has distinguished itself with the creation of highly skilled images involving a range of commercial products. At his studio (in Alexandria, Sydney) in a lengthy and generous conversation Weinstein explained about the assignment, sidestepping too much detail because it was still under wraps. Essentially the project was about capturing portraits of real people who have recovered from an illness using a particular medication, for a book of ‘good news’ stories the pharmaceutical maker plans to publish about the efficacy of the medication. The job dovetailed…

I love photography and travel. But so often my photography takes a back seat to other things, so the idea of going on a photography tour ticks all the boxes. One such tour is the walking and photography week on Lord Howe Island, off the coast of NSW, put on by Pinetrees Lodge. Lord Howe is a part of New South Wales and it’s a two-hour flight from Sydney. It was made famous by Richard Attenborough in the seventies when he came to the island to shoot one of his iconic nature documentary series and declared it “so extraordinary it is almost unbelievable… Few islands, surely, can be so accessible, so remarkable, yet so unspoilt.” Recorded by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site of global natural significance, Lord Howe is…

FUJIFILM X Image Doctor Online Now there’s another way to get feedback on your images. We’re now offering an online version of Image Doctor at www.australianphotography.com, moderated by professional photographer Anthony McKee. Submit an image and find out what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong and, most importantly, what you can do to improve your photos. To upload an image go to www.australianphotography.com and click the ‘image doctor’ tab on the home page. www.australianphotography.co THIS MONTH’S WINNER! Wonderful reflections Peter Morton writes, “I saw the girl waiting outside the hairdresser from the other side of the street in Paris and noticed the reflections in the window behind her. Every time I look at this photo I see something new in the reflections; the hairdresser in the foreground, the cars…