People with Camera’s is On Again for 2017
Once again this year, I am partnering with Fujifilm Australia to host the "People with Cameras" event. People with Cameras has been designed for you to meet like-minded people in your city. No matter what camera or smart device you use, we encourage you to join us at 2:45pm in either Sydney or Melbourne. People with Cameras Sydney The Sydney event will be held on 29th October 2017 where we expect close to 300 people attending. Last year we had unprecedented turnout and there were some amazing prizes given away. You can register by following the link https://goo.gl/69Av81 People with Cameras...
VLOG 04 – Hyde’s Mill Wisconsin
Continuing on from my last vlog about my trip to Wisconsin, this is the second but almost a mini vlog from Day 2. I took some time to research on the wide web what other locations where nearby where I could get some interesting shots. I came across many waterfalls or landscape spots but many were 4 hours away from Madison and I didn't feel comfortable driving this far solo just in case I run into any trouble. I came across this old abandoned mill known as Hyde's Mill which was about 40mins away from where I was. So I decided to drive down there and check it out. I gathered it would be...
VLOG 03 – Photographing the Wisconsin State Capitol
On a recent trip to US, I decided to capture another VLOG of my trip and this time I was stepping up the game using the Canon 80D for all the filming. I had just purchased a wide angle lens with Image Stablisation, the Canon 10-18mm STM lens which would let me capture more stable videos. First thing though I claimed GST (Tax) refund on the lens as I left Australia. I talked about maximising your GST refund in a recent post. Once I arrived in Madison, Wisconsin after a 15hr delayed flight, missed my connection and waited for another 6hrs in Dallas and finally reached Madison after a final...
Maximising your GST refund when travelling Overseas
It's not a secret that when travelling overseas you can claim GST from Australian Government for any items or invoices over $300 dollars. However, there are a few things misunderstood about who it applies to and how it works. In this post, I will hopefully clarify this for you with some examples from my life and help you maximise your GST refund when you travel overseas. The Myth People often think that this Scheme is for Tourists only!! As a resident and a citizen of Australia you can also claim GST on items you have purchased 60 days prior to your departure. My work requires me at times to...
Getting started with Editing Photos on Smartphone
Lot of people tell me wow you have some great photos, to which I often reply. Taking photos and making them beautiful requires some additional work. A lot of people will just use the basic tools available to them but not venture out into other photo editing Apps. For example, they will edit the photos using standard Instagram or Facebook filters before uploading their images to these platforms or sharing them with their friends. But it doesn't take a lot of work to actually use dedicated Apps to create something amazing and beautiful. I am a big fan of Snapseed (download via App Store or...
Why I didn’t move to Panasonic G85 for Vlogging and YouTubing?
Let's be honest, Panasonic is killing the Vlogging game. The smaller form factor and micro four-third sensor is really good. The built in five axis image stabilisation is to die for. Focusing But what fails me is the contrast based focus. There are a ton of arguments and YouTube video that shows you how to fine tune the camera to improve the focusing in the camera but for me focusing is key. When I'm recording a video it's all about delivering the message to the audience and I need to focus on that rather than being distracted by the fact "if I'm in focus". I went to several stores to try...
Creating a Matte Cinematic Look using Lightroom
In this post, I will take you through a really cool post-processing technique that seems to be all the trend at the moment. It's almost a cinematic look that gives your photo a very graceful, washed out and matted feel. Gives you this warm and fuzzy feeling that the photo has come out of a movie or has been sitting in grandma's old photo box. In fact, this technique is often referred to as Colour Grading which is everywhere in Hollywood and Bollywood. You can also DOWNLOAD this effect as a Lightroom Preset which is available via the link below, just subscribe and I will email you a goodies...
Is There A Future For Recreational Drone Enthusiasts?
Drone flying is a great hobby for individuals who are searching out new perspectives. They are sure fun to fly around although the real treasure rests within breathtaking aerial videography. This sensational new hobby has taken the attention of many people. With many enthusiasts devoting their time to master the art of flying their drones, we’ve become used to seeing incredibly beautiful aerial shots. We no longer want the ordinary terrestrial shots. One great means to creating stunning videography is to use a professional quality drone and a GoPro camera. It is almost impossible not to get...
Can Blurry Photos Be Good?
Can Blurry Photos Be Good? 12 AUGUST, 2017 From the moment you decide, you want to get a camera, all you hear or read about is focus, focusing speed, sensor quality and sharpness. It seems that getting a 'sharp and in focus' image is the ultimate goal. Without this, we fail as a photographer. Is that really true? I wanted to take a moment to talk about my thoughts on 'out of focus' or 'blurry' photos and consider can they be good? Blur can be intentional and can be accidental. Blur introduced by moving objects in the Photograph Photo by Andreas Kind on Unsplash Motion Blur Motion blur is a...
AUTO ISO on Fujifilm X-Series Cameras – Good or Bad?
A little while ago I saw a discussion on the Fujifilm X Australia Photographers where a question was posted "Do you use Auto ISO and if so what are your setting?" by Joe Jongue. He is one of the Admins of the group and a pretty nice guy. I happened to meet him at the Fujifilm XT-2 Launch event in Sydney. This was a very interesting discussion which got me thinking and curious to what people were going to share. And that it would make for an interesting blog post to write about, small selfish interest. The kind of responses people had were, and I am paraphrasing: I like control so I want to...