My new 2012 Calendar and Hanging Out with Ken Duncan

Hi again everyone,

Well the last few weeks has been pretty hectic, both with work and photography.

Handing over the proofs to Sam and Briony Breese after their wedding in October was so satisfying. They absolutely loved the shots, which always makes all the hard work worthwhile.

I also managed to get out for a seascape shoot at Portsea Back Beach on the Mornington Peninsula. This would be one of my favorite places on earth. The secret location was pointed out to me by good friend and fellow photographer Nick Skinner. A pretty cool spot by all accounts, a bit tricky to get to though, as some climbing over precarious rocks during tidal shifts is required. Slapping a polarizer and a couple of grad filters over the setting sun made this place explode with colour!

This shot is also featured in my new 2012 calendar "A Southern Exposure". It's my pick of water-themed shots taken over the last year along the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsulas, the Bass Coast, Phillip Island and the Yarra Ranges here in Victoria, Australia. Since the first handful arrived on my doorstep last Thursday they've been quite popular, and I already have to back-order another run to keep up with demand. I'm astounded at the quality of the product that Redbubble have produced for me, the A3-sized layout and sharp, vibrant images look amazing... and for just $25+ delivery, they make a great addition to the wall for the next 12 months, or grab one as a present for someone. "A Southern Exposure" is available here.

Last Saturday I was again lucky enough to spend a little time with Ken Duncan. For those of you who don't know who he is, Ken Duncan is probably Australia's most famous and talented landscape photographer, and probably most notable for his stunning 3x1 wilderness "panographs" and photographs of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. He was at his Melbourne gallery for an exhibition of his new work shot with the most drool-worthy Phase One P645 digital camera, and to launch his new book. So my friend Aidan Curtis and I hopped in the car and off we went. Ken and his wife are always so warm and welcoming, and Ken always has lots to share and will make the effort to spend time with every person there. It also gave me the chance to catch up with friend and talented large-format landscape photographer Chris Munn. Chris's work is absolutely beautiful, and like Ken Duncan, shoots predominantly in the 3x1 panoramic format that the 617 large format film cameras create.

So head to my store, grab yourself a bargain, and grab a print while you're there, or maybe some gift cards for your holiday presents, and until next time, catch you later!

Cheers,

Sean.

Sam and Briony - October 15th, 2011

I'd like to congratulate my long time friends, Briony and Sam, on their recent wedding. I had the honour and pleasure of photographing the day, and it made me so happy to hand over the proofs last week, and see the huge smiles on both of your faces.

 

Congratulations,

 

Back in the swing of things

Hi all,

Well many readers will know that I recently resigned from one of the sites I worked at doing IT and Network Administration. It was a tough decision, and one not made lightly. It's certainly made more time for myself, but had other negative impacts. On the plus note, I have a little more time to concentrate on my photography and starting to rebuild the relationships in my personal life which have been negatively affected due to my previous schedule.

I managed to head down the Bass Coast here in Victoria last Friday to have a bit more of a play with my B+W ND110 3.0 10-stop ND filter. It basically means that, paired with my Grad ND filters, I can produce long exposures, in the order of minutes, in the daytime, as long as the sky is a little overcast. It produces some strange results as far as motion and colour rendition are concerned.

Initially I was heading down to The Pinnacles at Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island, but decided last minute to try a new location, and turned off towards Corinella. At a not-so-clearly signed point in the road, I made a wrong turn and accidentally found myself in the township of Corinella, and not at Tenby Point as I'd planned. This is where the barge to French Island launches, and there's a rickety old landing point near the pier there which was a great find.

After a bit of a wander around the beaches and pier, I realized that photographically, Corinella has little more to offer, so I hopped in the car and drove down the road to Tenby Point. Now this little town literally has a handful of streets, a beach, a couple of farms, and that's it. I walked down the path to the beach to immediately find myself at high tide. This was great, as there's a bunch of trees which are on dry land at low tide, but are in the middle of the water at high tide. I took full advantage of the situation and grabbed a few long exposures.

At this stage I noticed some old jetty pylons sticking out of the water further down the beach. Shooting with wide lenses a lot I think warps my perspective. This old jetty looked a lot closer than it actually was.

15 minutes later I was standing on a rocky promontory looking at these pylons several hundred metres out in the water, far too far away to shoot effectively with anything but a telephoto lens, which would destroy the depth of the shot. I should come back here at low tide to photograph the old jetty. I wandered back up the beach and grabbed another couple of exposures of the tidal trees and hit the road.

It's amazing the artifacts that creep into a shot when you're working with such heavy filters and long exposures. The purple in the sky is infrared pollution, as the Grad ND filters allow a little of this wavelength through over such a long exposure. Sometimes very cool, sometimes annoying to get rid of!!! It plays havoc with your white balance.

On another note, this Saturday I have my first wedding shoot of the season. I'll be photographing the wedding of Briony Gill and Sam Breese overlooking Port Phillip Bay from Oliver's Hill. Should be a bit of fun, and I'm looking forward to it. For this shoot my good friend Aidan Curtis has loaned me his Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L glass, so it'll be nice to shoot with a good fast zoom. I've made sure this time to charge and take plenty of batteries... which past experience has taught me is a good thing. Flash guns use bucket loads of juice!!!

So until next time, Adios Muchachos :)

Sean.