Queenstown

Take off on a 3 hour flight east and you’ll find yourself in one of the best locations the eye can see, This is Queenstown !

Below are some photos from this magical place, From the starry nights to the snowy peaks, Queenstown is truly remarkable

Photoshop work flow

Just a quick 2 minute video screen grab of my work flow editing some of the images from recent photoshoot.

All edited in Photoshop CC

Swimwear Photoshoot with Tara Borich

Photoshoot with Tara Borich down at Little Bay in Sydney's east coast.

For the strobists, all taken on 5d with 70-200. AB800 with a beauty dish and the sun for overall fill.

more photos to come..

LOS ANGELES, San francisco and HAWAII

Some photos from recent trip to LA, San Fran ( i was told not to call it San Fran by the locals lol) and Hawaii (Oahu).

 

First test shoot with portable power pack !

I had a change to take out the power pack down to the local beach for a test shoot. We fired off 130 3/4 power shots with plenty of juice left in the battery to probably knock out another 300 shots if needed.

Happy to say it worked a treat and the images turned out great.

Canon 5d 70-200 2.8, F4@200mm.

AlienBee800 with socked AB beauty dish

DIY Power pack for strobe lights

So.. I decided on making a little power kit for myself with enough "oomphh" to power my 320W AlienBee 800 light with over 400 full power flashes or two AB800 with about 250 shots at full power.

I managed to come up with the following, all together this kit set me back $190 which is cheaper than buying an already made unit which isnt as powerful.

1 x 600W/1200Wpeak pure sin wave inverter

1 x 12V20AH deep cycle battery

1 x 12V battery charger @ 1.5AH charge (will charge the entire battery overnight)

This has since been upgraded to include an external fuse and main switch just make it safer/easier.

First tests with the power kit connected to one AB800 light showed great results with the flash however the recycle duration is a little longer than i prefer none the less it now allows me to be more mobile with my flashes.

Test shot

Canon 5d with 70-200 2.8 at 90mm.

B+W 0.9 ND filter

Sunrise Mahon Rock Pool

Had a early Sunday morning up at Mahon Rock Pool just north of Maroubra beach. First light was due at 630 so i was there a good 30 minutes before hand.

The only issue being there so early is its pitch dark which makes focusing a little hard, I used the lights in the distance to focus on which focused the lens to infinity and i managed to capture a few decent shots of the sunrise.

Canon 5d 17-40 @ F8~11 from memory, Nisi ND10 filter and a few tricks in lightroom and photoshop.

Mamiya 645 Pro mirror stop repair

As with all things that are a few years old, I had a little back focus issue with the 645 Pro. These cameras have a screw attached to a mirror stop which you can fine tune the focusing when looking through the view finder.

During this little adjustment it appears with my almight strength i broke the mirror stop, This is a small 12mm L shaped piece where the mirror sits, which is used to reflect the image back through the view finder to help you focus on the subject.

Many days researching i had seen that this appears to be the most breakable part for these cameras, unfortunately Mamiya discontinued the part in question.

Lucky for me in this day and age we have 3d printing available, I glued the part back together and took it in to have it redesigned and printed, Here are the results below.

 

Fitness

Two indivudal fitness shoots to show what it takes when an individual puts in the hard work and effort required to maintain a godlike physique all year round.

Film is life

Finally i made the jump and decided to purchase a medium format camera in the form of a mamiya 645 pro. I would say i am a film camera hoarder owning other bodies such as Canon EOS 3, Canon AE-1 and Olympus Trip just to name a few.

I have researched for a medium format body for a while and decided on the mamiya 645 pro as it produces quality images and the price is very reasonable for a camera that is few years of age. If you were to ask me if what would be my ideal medium format for fine wedding/engagement photography i would suggest the Contax 645.. Creme de la creme!

Here is a pic of the new family member, isnt she gorgeous