These three portrait images are part of my initial portrait series from Rajasthan, India.  All three a worthy shots on their own accord but i have just started to play around with the HDR Efex Pro photoshop plugin by Nik Software.  I've been blown away by the power of this program and its capabilities to enhance photographs.

The control you have over the Nik software settings is astounding.  You can easily add control points to alter small sections / tones of an image.  You have mirco adjustment control over exposure / contrast / blacks / whites and other standard settings you'd see in Adobe Photoshop Raw.  But then you also have a series of presets down the left hand side that make editing a very quick and easy process to achieve stunning photographic results.

As these three shots were of elderly men, i wanted a very raw and contrasty finish that really amplified the textures and wrinkles in the faces.  Below is an example of the Nik Software HDR Efex Pro interface.

The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful, inspiring and indeed photographed buildings or monuments in all of India if not the world.  It is a truly inspiring structure not just in its attention to detail and shear scale but also in the story behind its construction.

For those unaware the Taj Mahal was built between 1632-48 by  Mugal emperor Shah Jahan as an offering to his his third wife Mumtaz Mahal who died during child birth.

So what do you expect when you visit the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.  The first thing to realise is that it’s one of the most visited monuments in the world with over 2.5 million visitors each year.  So it’s a given that you’ll need to prepare for crowds.

The best time to visit is at sunrise where crowds are lower (but still in abundance) and the light is softer.  An amazing feature about the Taj Mahal is it’s ability to change colour depending on the light.  As marble has both some translucent and reflective properties its colour is dependent on the colour temperature of the light bouncing off it.

It changes from a cool grey at first light into a warm yellow as the sun rises.  This offers a range of opportunities to take photos from the same view point at different times through the day with remarkable differences. 

The key position “The Postcard Shot” as  i like to refer to it as is dead centre looking down the water channel with the line of fountains lining up directly with the centre tear drop roof of the Taj Mahal.  This vantage point is very congested especially just through the main gate as every tourist is huddled around the centre waiting for their photo to be taken.  My suggestion is to bypass the first series of fountains and move closer until your just past the half way point of the gardens.  As the distance is considerable from the first view point through the gate and the Taj itself looks very small in relation to the foreground in between. 

Instead take some time to look for alternative view points to photograph from. Searching for view points or different perspectives on famous landmarks one of the great challenges and enjoying parts of photography. 

If you get the chance there are some great photographs to be taken from the reverse side of the Taj Mahal on the other side of the Yamuna River.  It runs dry during the tourist (cool) season but there are still good photographic opportunities.

My trip to Ranthambore National Park was an incredible experience.  Though i unfortunately missed seeing any wild Tigers i got to see a number of other wild animals in their natural habitat.  Due to weight restrictions i opted against taking my large telephoto as i couldn't justify the significant weight for limited use. 

Getting the right balance of photography gear vs versatility is a challenge.  The other challenge i faced on this trip was that i had been suffering from some significant lower back pain in the weeks leading up to this trip around Rajasthan so i made a choice to travel as light as i could with just the one DSLR body and three lenses.  The lense I ended up using for about 70% of my shots was the 50mm F1.4 which is an incredible lense. The other two lenses i brought on the trip was my 14mm aspherical fish-eye and a versatile 28-70mm F2.8 Sigma EX series zoom.

This shot of a mother and her young offspring was taken on the 50mm as the Monkeys stayed remarkably still as the Canter bus rolled alongside.

Very quick photo of a Melbourne laneway before i head off overseas for three weeks.  This quirky detail was found down a laneway which housed a hole in the wall coffeeshop and the back of a asian restaurant.  I love the little suprises that you can find in these laneways within the Melbourne CBD.  This will be the first of many shots i will be able to post.

Quick photo straight out of the camera with very little editing in Adobe RAW apart from the conversion to black and white and slight contrast adjustments.  Found the Melbourne markets fascinating and was very disappointed when i didn't get to discover the meat and fish produce sections.  Highly recommend anyone touring Melbourne to check out these markets.  They are located in the North West corner of the Melbourne CBD and are easily accessible by tram or on foot.  I hope to post some more images before i leave for India.

This image of pocket watches on chains was taken on my Sigma 50mm at F1.4 at 1/40 Second.  The shallow depth of fields works well to highlight the second watch face while bluring the remaining watches.

A few weeks ago Perth was rocked by the news of yet another Shark attack this time at one of Perths most iconic tourist destinations, Cottesloe beach.  As the office is only minutes away and could hear the news and search helicopters overhead, i headed down with the camera unsure of what would be happening.

It surprised me as it seemed business as usual, though this was Bryn's bathers had been discovered at the bottom of the ocean (which would force the immediate closure of the beach).

This photograph is a 10 image stitch which has some nice cloud formations (perfect shark attack weather) as well as reflections of the sun bouncing of the glorious Indian ocean.  When you blow this image up you can see that below the Indiana Tearooms is closed off to police and there is both a helicopter and police boat within the scene.

The scene is nicely book-ended by the Tearooms and the boy gazing out to the ocean.

Western Australia's South West is well known for its picturesque beaches, old growth forests, world class wineries, spectacular caves and other tourist destinations.  What is not well known is that just south of Yallingup and Dunsborough at the end of a decent 4WD track is the amazing Quinninup Falls only a few hundred meters from the beach.

We were able to access the falls by taking what i believe was Quinninup Road which runs off Caves Road, though you can also apparently get there without a 4WD by taking Moses Rock Road.

It's quite surreal that this small valley appears out of seemingly nowhere.  Unfortunately i didn't have my tripod on this day so most images where taken by balancing my Camera on a rock with the aid of a towel to both protect the DSLR body from scratching and also to enable me to position the lens exactly where i wanted.

Fortunately on this day was relatively overcast which enable me to shoot waterfall which was facing into the sun. This was also helpful to reduce the tonal range and eliminate any harsh shadows that facing the sun would normally present. 

As with most waterfall photographs, the best results are often achieved with the slow shutterspeeds and motion of the water to create the soft white tones of the movement and impact of the water.  I used a 4stop Neutral Density filter to slow down my shutterspeed to roughly 1/3 second. 

My other shot of these falls wanted to indicate the scale and surrounds by taking a panoramic shot.  This image was a 10 image stitch taken vertically on 28mm Sigma lens.  Post production included work on the sky and tones on the rock faces.

This is a quick shot i took from a shoot for the Perth Demons WAFL Club at their end of season corporate sponsors golf day. It certainly looked to be a fun day with food, beer and a social competition that no-doubt turned more serious as the day went on. 

This photograph was taken on the T behind the lake at the entrance of the course.  I'd never been to Collier Park Golf Course and it certainly appeared to have some challenging holes for amateur hacks like myself through to seasoned pros.  Most shots i took on the day focused on getting in front of the player and capturing their face and expression but i like the composition of this photograph and if you look carefully you can see the golf ball in mid flight directly above the golfer.

For the uninitiated Roller Derby has been described as Rugby on Roller skates.  As part of a commercial job for Voyeur Magazine i shot this series out at the Midland Rollerdome.  I must confess while it was highly entertaining and exciting i'm still left confused as to what the "Rules" if any are.

For the publication these shots were provided in colour as was the brief, though as part of my personal photography folio i liked the feel of these gritty shots after processing them with a cool monotone photoshop action.  The challenge in this shoot was most definitely the light availability.  I found the best compromise was to set my ISO to 800, open up my lens and utilise some of the slow shutter speeds to capture what the sport is about...Speed.

I can thoroughly that if you get a chance to get along to a Perth Roller Derby event as they seem to be great fun and great action.  Check out: http://www.perthrollerderby.com.au/ or http://warollerderby.com.au/

My first time playing with iMovie.  Still getting my head around it.  A bit of fun, though i'm clearly a beginner in the world of video edition.  The music track is by Active Child.