So you think you know what we've been upto...?

Ok, finally time for a bit of an update, this time with a video!

So it's been a little over a week since our Epic Missions southwards to the region near Coffs Harbour, Australia. And the going through of photos and videos has been time consuming, but enjoyable, and after much deliberation, I've decided to show you a video of the making of the above shot, Post-Processing excluded. If you want PP details, click through the above pic, and read the details on the associated Flickr Page, email me...or read on...

I apologise for my extreme Australian accent/drawl. I was quite tired while making this video. I also apologise for the Quality of the Video, I'm yet to find a free video editing program that will let me handle the *.mov files off the iPhone 3Gs. (if you know of any, let me know!)




If you didn't catch the equipment in the video or can't see the video,
Here's the equipment I was using:

• Canon 40D + Sigma 10-20mm f/4.0-5.6 DC EX HSM
• Cokin P-Series Slimline Filter + Grad 8 filter (P.121s)
  
• Manfrotto 488RC Ball Head on Manfrotto 055XPROB Legs

...and the Settings:

• AV Mode @ ISO100, f/22.0

The Post Processing Work flow for this shot went a little like this...

• Imported the Canon RAW files directly into Photomatix3.2 64-bit Edition
• Applied Tone-mapping (Detail Enhancer) with settings that made this shot look like pure awesome.
• Processed and saved resultant image in a 16-bit *.Tif Format
• Imported *.Tif into Lightroom
• Applied the Auto-Tone and Punch Presets
• Added a slight Vignette (-40)
• Sharpening (+55) and noise reduction (+45)
• Gradient filter to the sky, with -0.40 Exposure, +20 Contrast, +22 Saturation, +87 Clarity, and a slight green colour cast to counter-act the purple from the Cokin Filter
• Gradient filter to the ground with -1.00 Exposure
• Spot removal (because my Sensor is dusty as!)
• Borders were added using the Mogrify Lightroom plugin, available here.

And that is what went into making that shot. Hopefully you've gained something from that.

We'll see you in the future with some more Videos!

J.P.

WE'RE BACK!

Hey all, well Matt, Kane and Myself are back form our awesomely super Epic Missions to Coffs Harbour, and we're thoroughly enjoying going through and processing the photos. If their collection of photos from the trip is anything like mine....it'll take a while.

Slowly but surely photos from the trip will be released on our individual Flickr Streams, as well as a special write-up for this blog. W'e ve got photos, video panoramas, video tutorials and plenty of great location talk to bring your way, so please hang around and check back in for that...

But for now, we've got a million photos to sort. ^_^

Matt's Flickr Stream
Kane's Flickr Stream
J.P's Flickr Stream
Epic Missions Regular, Mel Sinclair's Flickr Stream

Road Trip Time

Since the great floods of NSW in May this year, and Josh and I couldn't make it to Kane's wedding, we've had two nights stay stashed away down at Coffs Harbour.

So that means weekend roadtrip time.

A rough itinerary is as follows:

Friday:
- Leave Brisbane in the afternoon between 4 - 5pm.
- Arrive in Coffs Harbour around midnight, depends if we stop for some star trails on the way.

Saturday:
- Sleep for a few hours at the hotel
- Go somewhere for a sunrise.
- Breakfast/sleep some more/scout
- Shoot Sunset
- Dinner
- Star Trails

Sunday
- Sleep for a few more hours
- Shoot Sunrise
- Breakfast/sleep some more/check out
- Head home via the Waterfall Highway
- Arrive home sometime late afternoon/evening

Well try and put a few updates up when we are on the road and keep you all updated.

Fun with light....

Matt and I spent the afternoon with some local photographers learning all about lighting and portraiture. A special thanks to David deGroot for walking me through this standard 3 strobe lighting setup.

It was a great afternoon, and the Cyber Syncs are so much
better!

Here is a simple lighting setup diagram...

This is a very common setup, nothing too new going on here, but it's a good setup to know. The fill flash umbrella was a reflector, and the main light was a shoot through. Back light was just a bare strobe with a 1/4 CTO gell to add a little warming.

All strobes were fired using Dave's Cyber Sync triggers....

Main flash, Canon 580 EX II, 1/4 power, reflector.
Fill flash, Canon 580 EX II, 1/8 power, shoot through.
Back light, 1/32 power.

Enjoy.

Simple Introductions...

Well, well, well... It's been a long time since I've had time to write a blog entry, so here goes. Since the other two have already posted some useful posts detailing what we've (yes, we) been upto, I thought I'd start with a simple introduction, I may even post a photo or two.

So, My actualy name is Josh, and I've kind of been designated the "flash/technical guru" of the trio. I also run a small photography business specialising in Weddings, Portraits and Events. Which at present has just been a few Weddings, a few Live music gigs of local bands, Band promo shoots, and a few TFP (Time For Print) model shoots. A sample of everything I've shot is slowly making it's way onto my website (linked above). I also have a rather healthy (or un-healthy, if you count the amount of sleep we sometimes DON'T get) addiction to shooting landscapes and startrails. My Flickr stream is a testament to that. I also love to travel to new places and embark on Epic Missions, with these two guys and shoot the views.

Here's a few to hopefully whet your appetite for what we have in store for your reading pleasure:
Taken at a wedding back in June (click through to see a larger version!):


This was taken on a fairly recent Epic mission a few weekends ago where Kane, Matt and myself chased the fog well into the day:


And when I say Startrail, I mean it! Here's what an hour of your life looks like:


So there you have it.

Please stay tuned, because we'll be bringing you all kinds of updates on what we've been doing, both collectively, and individually, as well as tips, tricks, turorials and behind-the-scenes video footage.

Peace.
J.P.

Trainyard, models and a lot of balloons in the back of the car. Models are Cynthia and Gabby.

Ambient light mixed with bounced flash off the ceiling. Does it work? Well, kinda. It needs to be re-shot again sometime for sure.

Kane bought an I Phone, so now we have video, so here's a quick behind the scenes video.

Matt.

A funny afternoon.

I was driving home, I'd not thought about the weather all day, and then I saw how the clouds were forming. Sunset and sunrise photography is addictive, I've shot half a dozen panoramic's from here over the last 6 months, but the clouds tonight were just right.

This is a 36 shot image, 12 sections with 3 shots at each section. The final size is about 3m wide by about 1m high, so if someone wants a to fill the pool room back wall, let me know ;)

I've almost finished my HDR/Pano work flow, guide thing, so stay tuned.

First storm of spring/summer

We are about to get drenched by the first storm this summer, funny
thing is, it's kinda still winter. Photos to come later.

Last week, we meet Gabby and Cynthia at the local train yard location in Brisbane, this spot is well known and well used by many local photographers.

Josh had setup a nice portable studio in one of the old train cars, once we snagged a few keepers from that location, we moved onto shooting some natural light shots outside. This was a morning shoot, so the sun was still low, casting some really nice light from camera left.

Pictured is Cynthia, hanging form a train car.

I often think that the location and the clothing the models wear always make my shots.... Cynthia is a natural.

Flash Practice

OK, I've had my new Canon 430 EX II for almost a week now, so I felt it was time to try some macro box stuff.

Here is a test shot, I kinda like it.

Lots to learn and improve, this shot is my benchmark.

Enjoy.

Welcome to our new Blog!

Hi everyone.

Matt, Josh and I have decided to blog our crazy photography outings and adventures. Over time we will be positing videos, behind the scenes photos and all sorts of fun and mayhem.

So, follow up and join in the fun... comment and leave us ideas.

Stay tuned!