Saturday, April 17, 2010

PaW 2010 Week 13

FRANKSTON PIER



Saturday I had to visit my parents in Carrum Downs which is close to Frankston
so I decided to put my gear in just in case the morning was nice and it was
The sea was pretty calm and although it was rather overcast at first soon the sun came out and the sky's cleared
I had intended to shoot an arched bridge that is on the foreshore but as i wandered about i found myself under the pier and decided this would make for a better subject with the newly refurbished pylons



OUTTAKES







WEEK 13 SUBMISSION



Saturday, March 27, 2010

Week 12 " Camberwell Station"



Waking up early again for a Sunday at least with our daylight savings ending soon the sunrises are becoming later it was about 7.30am today so I got to sleep in a little longer


Each morning on the way to work I drive past this area and one of the hotels which I had intended to shoot for the challenge has always interested me with its stunning lighting

so I shot a few HDR of the Palace Hotel as well
Camberwell station has a rich history as it caused a huge community fight a few years ago over a proposed redevelopment of the site
bringing a few well known celebs including Oscar winning Actor Geoffrey Rush to fight to preserve this icon
till next week thats it for week 12
thanks for visiting

Palace Hotel



Week 12 Submission


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Week 11 "March Sunset"

G'day
Welcome to Week 11
hasn't the year just flown almost the end of March already
this week I guess I wasnt feeling all that creative and as the week started drawing to a close I wasnt really all that keen on doing a submission but that soon evaporated when on Thursday night Mrs C rang me from Gym and asked to go get something for dinner up the street as I stepped out the front door I was struck by this amazing sunset I had tried to do a HDR of one before but failed miserably as I was just at the end of the sun setting that time.
I went back in grabbed my camera bag and tripod and went to get dinner {with a quick detour} to an agistment property around the corner where I had shot some of the horses previously
one thing that never ceases to amaze me is as soon as you set up to take an image someone will miraculously appear from nowhere and walk directly into your image these happened on two occasions and you should have heard what I was saying to myself they even said hello before strolling down the road.
luckily the sun cooperated with me at least







SETUP

knowing that there are these powerlines that run towards the sunset I set up to include them as well as the leading line of the rails that border the areas of the local council parks and vacant blocks in Endeavour Hills
I only captured 15 frames in total
to create 3 images with 5 exposures in each
-2, -1, 0, +1, +2. (.8s ,1.6s, 3.2s, 6.0s,13.0s - for the submitted image)
All shot @ F/22
ISO 100


PROCESSING
using Photomatix Pro I merged the images then tonemapped
set the increments back to default then {B}boosted or {R}reduced each of the toggles
starting with the amount of strength{R} then saturation{B}, luminosity{R} and microcontrast
{B}
I normally dont use the slide toggle for smoothing but check the box and then use the program settings this time I went with medium
then in the Tone Setting Section I reduced the white and increased the black and also just reduced the gamma a little
this gave the darker tones a bit more pleasing look
finally i increased the smoothing in both the highlights and shadows
then processed it and opened up CS4
in Photoshop I tweaked the noise and sharpness then saturated the reds blues and greens
and finally adjusted levels and curves


OUTTAKES
although these may look similiar in composition there is a slight difference in the road position









WEEK 11 SUBMISSION


Friday, March 12, 2010

Week 10 " Kurth Kiln"

Last Tuesday as I had the day off I had arranged to spend the aftyernoon helping a friend with his new camera
about a month earlier he was telling me of this place he took his dog to for a swim and showed me some of the images he had captured
when I saw the detail in the brickwork I knew that it would make a pretty interesting shot for my HDR images

what is Kurth Kiln?
I had never heard of this place nor realized the signifiant of it even tho it was only about 40km from me in the Dandenongs at Gembrook
from what I had learnt during World War 2 when petrol was heavily rationed they built a number of these charcoal producing kilns scattered around various state forests this one was named after Professor EE Kurth of the Tasmanian University who patented and developed these kilns as well as the converters used in cars during the war but was found to be not economical and was soon discontinued and is located in a state forest that now bears his name
the drawbacks with the charcoal fuel was it was dirty and less economical with the units costing 100 pound in 1941 which was 18 times the weekly wage and also produced 40% less power
this is apparently the only intact kiln left in australia


the additional images are of the caretakers quarters and where they have set it up as a small village that is well looked after which was a pleasing thing to see





















PaW 2010 Week 10 Submission













Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Week 9 " Scots Uniting Church"

Today I tried something different once again
as I wasnt to keen on the Color version I went for a duotoned effect
to give it a sort of B&W
I have often driven past this old church built in the 1855
the oldest standing church in Victoria
it has a small cemetery at the start of the grounds that really hasnt been maintained unfortunately
as it has been heritage listed I was a little surprised that the area wasnt all that looked after
the church is from what I could see very well maintained so that is a good thing I guess


OutTake



Week 9 Submission

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Week 8 " The Red Handbag"

I decided to try something different to the usual landscape HDR I have shot the past 7 weeks and went along the lines of a product shot
using Mrs C's red leather handbag I set it on the 1/2 wall at our entrance
using the EF 10-22mm lens on a tripod I shot 3 frames
+2, 0, -2 @ F/16
with shutter speeds of
30.0sec, 16.0 sec, 3.20 sec
ISO 400
16mm focal length


My Submission for week 8

Friday, February 12, 2010

Week 7 " Good Morning Melbourne"

G'day and welcome to week 7
The only real difference between the past few weekends is that I got out of bed on a Saturday at 5.00am rather than the usual Sundays I have dedicated to the PaW project
with all good intention of shooting the Eureka Tower for the constructed my man challenge
I decided to go with something else after all

I will add the shots of the tower to the outtakes.

Saturday Feb 13th 2010
The morning was exceptional so serene and still and very little activity but for the occasional seagulls piercing the stillness as they squabbled over a scrap of food.
As the city starts to come alive a few stragglers emerge from across a footbridge and in the distance music starts to become increasingly louder mixed with a whirl of a motorized wheelchair I had heard about this guy but this was the first time I had seen him
" The Legally Blind Busker " as his message board that hangs around his neck proclaims
he travels along Southgate and the rivers edge singing to a recorded tape.
he actually has a great voice.
I said good morning and then he was off on his escapade
so here are a couple outtakes and the image I submitted to PaW 2010
-
OUTTAKES
#1
Eureka Tower
#2
City Skyline
PaW Week 7 Submission
Southgate