I had seen a technique of photographing refractions (light being reflected through a medium) through water droplets, and had to give it a go! This technique can be tricky and something that requires some patience, as you will be required to take several images to focus stack later. Equipment required is modest and no too expensive to get fair to great results. Using a tripod, some sort of macro or sliding rails, a small piece of glass and some water and an interesting subject you should be able to product some weird and wonderful results.

Here's a macro shot of a feather, and then refracted through water drops...

This would be one of my favorites! I love the repeated patterns and the tiny sphires giving a planet spacy feel to it.

You can checkout some of my other images from this shoot here:

http://www.cleabeaterphotography.com.au/p926640658

This was a great wedding with loads of suprises! a fun loving couple sure made for some interesting pics!

Rain was no match for Craig and Brooke they were deteminted to have a great time, and this shows in their images.

What and entrance.....something different;)

The ceremony took place at the Talli Golf Club on the Gold coast, it was an outside ceremony which soon became an inside event.

Another Cracker event with many memories shared by all.

Congradulations Brooke and Craig

Album

Last month I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful wedding at the prestegious Sanctuary Cove. With a super back drop of manicured gardens and architecture, this was the recipe for some great images!

The lovely couple Adam and Belinda were nice and relaxed and had in tow fabulous family and friends. All were in great spirits and ready for a cracker of a day. There was the threat of some rain but luckily it held out creating some nice soft light perfect for pics! Hooray!

The Ceremony was in the Intercontinental Chapel, nestled behind the Hotel by the water. With a calm airy feel, this was the perfect place to announce their union.

After the ceremony it was onto the reception at Black Angus resturant. Some great food and company ensured a great time was had by all.

Congratulations to the lucky couple! Stay tuned for some more images!

This is what I managed to get.

Looking forward to the next one!

Here's the pic's from the shoot

http://www.cleabeaterphotography.com.au/p90554888

Flashy LightsA commisioned photo for Sanctuary Cove Security.

Well another composite complete for the hard working guys and gals at Sanctuary Cove. I was recently commissioned for another photo to help celebrate a mile stone in an hard working individual, the completion of 10 years continuous service is a great achievement. And the hard working individual requested something with flashy lights on the work vehicles and since it is his job to maintain these cars well it was very fitting.

To plan for a shot of this scale with my equipment meant finding a suitable location and some pre-planning. And since I'm always on the go that went out the window;( However I was able to scout the location earlier that evening, as usual my previous location was hindered by obstructions......hmmmm seems to be the normal! Anyhow with a new spot found I went about deciding where to place the vehicle.......yes THE vehicle peeps, I only had one vehicle......the thing is these vehicles do not stop, so I was lucky enough to get one for 30 mins at 400am! so another problem was time ........I had to get it right!

With over 40 shots taken the images were edited and combined to create the final image, and just to help make this image sing a sexy blingy frame was made by the expert team at "Cheaps as Chips Framing" they even had the option for a plaque set into the matt board which really is a nice touch! I think even if the image sucked the frame would make it!

Anyhow I also hadn't used my current camera (Pentax - K5) to get some stars, so I played around last month and was capture these

A good program which put the above image together was StarSTax both available for PC and Mac, real fast easy.

I also put together some timelaspe from the above shot.

So anyhow I was at my secret location again recently and wanted to try something  some new techniques in capture and editing. I wanted to put in a foreground subject with the stars as the background. So the 4WD was the object of choice, here you can see i've used a nice wide lens 10-20mm  in order to get the car and milkyway in one frame.

I had plenty of fun trying to focus but managed to get some, wide angles lens can be forgiving!:)

here's and pano of 3 shots combined

And of course I just had to use the nifty 50, man this would have to be my favorite lens sooooo sharpe and soooo bright!

Next adventure I'll be trying to get better results of the timelapse........so until next month!

Later

I had a place which wasn't too far for the boat to go and also an area were the cars could pull up in the background (all going to plan) So I had my trusty 50mm 1.4 tripod and some flashes and also a video light I headed to the location at about 4am and we ran into our first problem.......a boat moured at the spot were I was considering the shot, so a new angle was sorted.

Now the idea was to set the camera on a tripod and take a pano of the boats and cars and combine in photoshop. So first off would be the boats as these would be moving/drifting and then take as much time as need for the cars. The boats would need to be lit by flash so one flash was placed off to camera left set on 105mm 1/2 power and another from the right rear 1/2 power 105mm all wirelessly fired. Camera settings from memory was about ISO500ish 60th sec at f5.6, now all I was worried about the exposure of the boats and not the background know that i would be basically cut them out, so if they were too bright i'd either stop down or use a smaller ISO. Also since I couldn't have two boats I just got the driver to move over to the right and took another snap when I was happy with the exposure.....boats done.

Up next Cars.... ok so from the same position I needed a long shutter speed as I was lighting using a video light. So I when with f9 ISO200 for 8 seconds this was just enough time for my trusty assitant to walk around the car with the light. When lighting using this technique you must be extra careful not to shine the light towards the camera or you will see light streaks. I'd done some previous testing and was happy with the results, future shoots I'd like to use something wider.

And again with the cars was to move the same car four times and place into the final image. The result is a pano with plenty of detail that can be printed at 70 inches by 30. The client however agreed that this was going to be an expensive exercise and opted for a 30 x 12.5 and I must say the framing chosen is excellent. If you in need fo framing go and see "Cheap as Chips Framing Solutions" 16 Kortum Drive West Burleigh 4220 Ph.07 55 764 164. They do a fantasic job.

I have recently had this printed on a metallic paper and is now waiting to be framed.

The products were new Led light globes, for the home and Led writing boards which use very little power and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. I was quite surprised by how good these suckers are! They even come in different colour temps which I find quite an avantage for the consumer not only can you save $ but you can have your home look and feel the way you want! Happy Days! And its good for the planet! Check out the range at http://www.switchtwoled.com.au/

OK now back to the shoot now these bulbs etc are very reflective so it pays not to be shooting in the nude!Or you might end up getting a rude shock! So you need to be aware of what is happening with the surface of the object your shooting, lighting them is fairly straight forward but if you have a dark reflection it certanly shows up! So you will need materials and reflectors to put in place to stop this from happening or you can move you camera position or move the object or move the light.

Also if your shooting mutiple objects to be used in avertisment, think about the angles try and keep everything constant.

http://cleabeaterphotography.wordpress.com/

All new post will be found here at www.cleabeaterphography.com.au

A while back we had the Super of super moons...yep that big bright sucker was large and brighter than ever and well I couldn't resist having another crack at taking a shot. So into the backyard with the 70-200mm lens and a 2 x tele convert , tripod and remote and were good to go.

Now trick here is to under expose you shot as the camera will make the moon bright to compensate for the dark background, so try spot metering if you in an auto mode, (aperture priority, P mode, etc) and dial in - 2 to 3 stops and see what you get. If it's still too bright try -4 to 5. I went into manual and settled on 1/60 sec at f/22 ISO 100, this was the best exposure and nice and sharp, I did try similar exopsures but was happy with these results.

A bit of a tickle up in Photoshop and looks pretty good (from a distance!)

I did do a similar shot infact on the 13 sept 2011 with the same set up this time round I wanted to test the sharpness using the same exposures but stopping down the aperature to see which gave me the sharpest results. I really couldn't see too much difference between f10 - f22, but on the otherside of these apertures there was a noticable difference.

So if you had images on my old website and you can't see them here and wish to purchase new products or view the pic's let me know. And they will magically appear.

Let me know what you guys think of the site and sign the guest book at the bottom.

Ok so after a great afternoon we managed to get heaps of pic’s get home unscathed and now it was my favorite time…….editing and bring these pics to life. And of course I pumped out these to share my excitment…….and yes there not perfect but ……it was fun!

I love Photoshop your imagination is your only limit……I will be posting more of these type of images later after some more though and crazy ideas! And if you plan on tackling anything like this …..eg compositing……..use the pen tool! it rocks!

I recently acquired one of these beasts and well what a delight ! The form factor is great and there are endless options…..although there is a down side to these suckers! I’ll get to that later…..

Now I’ve been doing these slide shows thingys incorporating stills and video for friends and well they have been a real hit, combining music and visuals can be heart touching and really stir the emotions. I’ve never charged anyone for this as I know that I’d be done for copyright infringement etc because of the music. But I recently looked at Sue Bryce’s stuff and learnt some industry Do’s and Don’ts and well “Showreels” as she puts it are the way of the future….and well Id already started doing that very thing ……just not the right way! So getting back to topic…..the gopro is a welcomed friend and just in a nick of time!

You see my classy Pentax top of the range camera only shoots at best 30fps 1080p which is good , but the gopro can reach 60fps at 1080p, 100fps at 1440 and 120fps at 720p just to name a few settings, can even go as high as 4k! So the Pentax really struggled with high frame rates were as the gopro has no problem slowing action and with the benefit of being tiny and encased in a waterproof shell really lets you put this sucker anywere….making clips hasn’t been so much fun!

So lately its been down to the waves and capturing some fun!

Only problem now is were to put all the files….and a good work flow.

And the dreaded down side…….the battery life is very poor in both the camera and remote, so don’t expect all day filming without extra battery’s. I’ve bought some cheap spares and a charger to keep me going for now.

There are also several add ons , extra battery and LCD screen which could come in handy, doubling battery life and being able to play back and frame shots….but the main issue would have to be the freezing up, and the only fix is to take out the battery. Hopefully there’s a software update soon for this.

The Gopro also takes ok photos 12 mega pixels, but lacking in the exposure area a little hit and miss , but some times you get a gem!

Ok time to GO PRO

When for a lovely skate with the young fella , and well could resist taking the camera! It’s a horrible affliction I have …….I am rendered useless when trying the make the decision whether or not to take a camera …….if yes ….which one ……then which lens and assortment of goodies …….man the decisions can be sooooo difficult!

So after a short internal debate fighting the fors and against I finally made up my mind ….. K5 DSLR with the nifty 50 1.4. I love this lens super sharp and loves a wide open aperature……bring on the milky bur backgrounds! As you can see this image is a great representation of what this lens is capable of ……..a super shallow depth of field and a blur which is super smooth!

Lighting was nice and warm as the sun was about to go down, the street cars and houses were in the background but as you can see there you can’t even make out what is there. So this is a great way of making the viewer look to what is focused. Compositionally I’ve used this crop before and well I like it ….and I can see me trying to perfect this angle in years to come.

Ok well enough chit chat as you can see focus was dead on the eye , framed nicely to the left, golden rays directly on the face and a nice shine in the eye. And that milky smooooooth back ground!

Cheers

Abit of a tweak in Photoshop ready did the trick also the full moon also add to the drama!

Next stop South wall, now I’ve been on the gold coast for almost 9 years and haven’t been to the wall yet so this was the optimal time…..2am dead no one around , so some longer exposures which yielded this.

I was worried about the focus but it seemed ok in the end. Then along the spit and noticed some more interesting reflections of the Southport skyline Click!

And finally down along main beach SheBam! Then home to sleep!

Picture postcard heaven!

Here’s the first time-laspe

In my travels I came across another local photographer Bill, he and his son run a great site capturing the gold coast mornings and posting on the net, check out their website here http://liquidboulevard.com/ anyhow Bill gave me some inspiration and mentioned a good spot by the surf club, so the next morning I dragged my trusty assistant along so we coud have a look and see were the sun rises etc. and got these

I also grab the gopro for another time-lapse (couldn’t help my self)

We then move further along the coastline as I wanted to check out a park an snapped these

So yes I missed a maternity shoot but grab some great shots along the way! And that would be my SILVER LINING !

Cheers

I have been seeing a slow increase in followers, but I have a funny feeling that the platform is more aimed at the teenaged market, we’re as something like 500 pix is more for photographers. That said I can be a good place to share Images across multiple social networking applications e,g Facebook twitter email tumblr flicker in one go so I’m liking the ability to increase productivity.
Anyhow that’s my 2c worth will keep u posted and see where this goes!

Ingredients:

Camera

Flash

Beautiful woman

Clean Background

Patience

OK so I had everything …..almost……the last one was debatable depending who you spoke with! It only took me say 30mins to make a clutterless corner and setup some black material as a backdrop. Setup some flashes with one softbox and one shot through umbrella on stands and were ready to rock! Speaking of rocking a good idea is to put on some background music to help you and your model get into a grove.

Settings for this shoot when something like this Camera in Manual 1/80sec f4 ISO 200  flashes in P-TTL this way I was able to set and forget the camera and let the flashes do the rest of the thinking. Worked out pretty well only a couple of times the metering was off, the flashes I set at -2 stops as they seem to blast out too much light without it. I was going to use manual flashes at around 1/4 power but for some reason my wireless triggers weren’t playing ball. But I was happy with the results. I really wanted to work on some posing so light was almost secondary…… so the P-TTL did an okay job.

With the posing I had a short list of shots wanted most worked well …..although a couple needed a little more work, the model did complain about being uncomfortable but soon became more enthusiastic once she saw the results. You see our model here is not a professional and has never done anything like this before….and i remember her comment “I don’t know how the pros do it…this hurts!” so hats of to you models twisting and turning for them good angles!

So here’s a sneek peek of some of the shots more soon to come!

One wedding from late last year was a for a friend so we had an agreement that I would take my sweet arse time editing and creating a multimedia slide show. And well I wasn’t lying I did take my sweet arse time…..not by choice though…….I always seemed to have another clients deadlines to meet etc so her wedding was continually being put on the back burner. And also since they had also paid a so-called pro wedding photographer…… well that just made it seem no so urgent…….UNTIL. The pro decided that they couldn’t, wouldn’t or shouldn’t produce the goods after he’d skipped town with a horde of angry clients looking for him….thats another story!

Anyhow so after digging in and finishing the editing I created a short multi media slide show which came out great…….which as you could say saved the day!

I told the couple to put some time aside for viewing and have some tissues handy as these shows tend to hit home and really bring back the memories and emotions.

Here’s the final production!

The second wedding was for a client who was looking for a photographer for a more intimate occasion 30 or so people. I met the couple over coffee to see if we were right for each other. And well  we spoke about their plans and things that would be happening on the day. And more importantly the details which would help me capture their special event. We came to the conclusion that I would indeed take on the challenge and well here is the results.

And here’s what they had to say:-

Hi there Cary I just wanted to let you know that we have received our photos and the look fantastic.

Testimonial

We were extremely lucky to have found Cary, he went out of his way to make sure we had the most perfect day.
With the help of his wonderful partner Kylie there was nothing that they couldn’t do to make our day run any smother,
you certainly just don’t feel like another client.
They made the whole experience really easy and relaxing and I would highly recommend Cary to anyone looking for a
photographer for their special day.

Alana & Josh

A chance to get some likely images of a famliy which hasn’t been together for a while is a no brainer……it is your obligation as a person who is remotely interested in taking photos to capture this moment!
So as you can tell this moment presented it self to me….and I tookup the challenge. I had some loctaions in mind, but one stood out. I had been their previously but hadn’t explored its full potenial. The wheather on the day was overcast and spots of rain were appearing, this is usual a sign to packup and come back another day…..BUT this is actually a great time to get some shots! The cloud cover is your most valuable asset when doing portriats, you are not limited to just the goldern and blue hours (morning and afternoon times) but midday is now a option! No need to seek shade…..just wait for them clouds to do there work!
Now as I was saying I’d be here once before and really hadn’t taken in its full potential! This time around I wasn’t overcome by the surroundings and really looked at the lighting and composition. I had a group of four people and needed to arrange them into the scene. I’ve found the walking tracks to be natural backdrops as they create a natural frame aournd the subject(s) as seen this photo here.

And as you can see the light is nice and soft, no nasty shadows….gotta love them clouds!

Well the guys down at Integrity asked me to come along down the Marine Expo and capture the evening. And well what an event! despite almost becoming lost amongst the exhibitors I finally found the boys. And just in a nick of time! the sun was quickly disappearing so before it disappeared over the horizon I needed to get some shots using some of that ambient light (and no flash). After that it would have to be on camera flash

So the location was very short on space…..there was only about a 4 metre width on the jetties, but luckily I’m not the biggest guy…… I could weave my way through the crowd. In light of the minimal room I decide I would only need 2 lens – the 24-60mm and the 10-20mm, medium to wide and a tripod for those ambient light shots.

Plan of attack….so first some super wide angles to get everything from a distance and create some atmosphere, then move around the group where possible and then move in for the up close and personal shots and etc.

Now you’ll see in most shots I tried to include the signage, this is important especially to the client as it tells the story, it helps the viewer instantly know what the picture is about. There are very sneaky ways of doing this….it could be an inclusion of a logo or a reflection certain colours….you know what I mean…. so something to think about when considering your framing/cropping. For example in the image bellow I have included the writing on the podium in the foreground and also the signage on the office in the background. There is no possible way you don’t know what company is in this picture! (well for most of us!)

So after the sun had all but gone I grab the whole mingling shots and some of the speeches. It’s interesting to find out that clients almost never us any speech photo’s , and it reminded me of my past efforts . It is almost impossible to get a good speech shot …the timing needs to be spot on, I like to wait for the moments where the subject has stopped talking and their lips are not opened or when there smiling. Other wise you get some weird expressions…..good for a laugh i suppose!

And finally  of course we can’t forget the final group pic…..so with limited room I lined these guys up, remove any distractions from the background and blasted them with flash! Shoot done!

This shoot was not without any fatalities though…..I did loose my lens hood from my 10-20mm….. one down side to working in and around water! Just as I was changing lens it decide to go for a swim. No to worry …think i’d be more upset if it was a lens!