 A late afternoon handheld capture on my Canon G1X from early December. We decided to go for a short drive after a afternoon celebrating the Eagle Bay Brewery's 5th Birthday celebrations. This was handheld at 1/60 sec at F8. Processed in photoshop using a 3 layer sandwich for sky / rock / ocean each with a different tonal adjustment layer.
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 Storm on the Gold Coast The extent of preparation and travel i had to do for this shot was to take my tripod out onto the balcony of the apartment i was renting on the Gold Coast to capture the incoming storm. Timing is everything in photography and the lightning storm started just as the sun started setting. The composition worked out nicely with the lightning strike to the left of the shot balancing out with Skypoint (Gold Coasts tallest skyscraper) on the right. 30 Second exposures allowed the colour to creep back into the and show the threatening storm formations against the warm lights of the city in the foreground.
 Cottesloe Beach - Perth, Western Australia Whats the best camera? The one you have with you... One of my favourite photography quotes.
Driving past Cottesloe beach last week highlighted the appropriateness of this very quote. I could see the sun setting quickly and the only camera i had was my trusty iPhone 5.5 but felt compelled to stop and see what could be achieved with this device. I've recently seen billboards showcasing the photos that have allegedly been taken on an iPhone 6 as shown here and have been most impressed with what's possible. I do have my doubts about how they can reproduce an iPhone image across a 6m wide billboard but that's a discussion for another time. Needless to say Mother Nature put on a fine display witnessed by the rare few (including a solitary surfer) braving the wind and rain to see such a fine sunset. I was able to shoot a few shots that i was happy with, making me wish i had a better camera available. I normally carry a Canon G1-X compact that can shoot RAW files and produce exceptional shots. I promised myself the reason for getting this camera was to take everywhere / everyday to enable me to capture shots on days like today, but for whatever reason, i neglected to have it on me. This image was processed on the phone in the Google Snapseed app, which i highly recommend. Great interface, easy, simple, fun presets. Give it a go!  Matilda Bay, Nedlands at Sunset Quickly took this shot before a function photography shoot at the Matilda Bay Restaurant. For most function photography, i shoot with the Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens as it's just so versatile for function work where space and light situations vary considerably from shot to shot.
Another benefit of this lens is it's ability to handle low light situations with it's image stabilisation capability. This shot in particular was shot at 1/25 Sec at F5.6 on a floating (Wobbling) jetty at an ISO of 800. Even blown up it's remarkably sharp. I like he reflections of the yacht masts against the warm tones of the setting sun resting on the water which has that slight softness to it due to the slow shutter speed. 
Caves Rock Jetty, Dunsborough Western Australia
This shot was taken a couple of weeks ago while staying in the tourist town of Margaret River, in the heart of Western Australias premium wine region. While spectacular during summer with warm weather, stunning beaches and plenty of outdoor activities to participate in, Winter down south can be just as rewarding.
This photograph was shot in-between storm fonts coming in on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon at Caves Rock. I set the graduated neutral density filter to 4 stops in order to allow the sea to get that milky smooth effect with the water blurring with the slowed shutter-speed. The shot did cost me a dry pair of pants as i danced too close to the surging tides and almost cost me a drenched Canon 5D MKIII as i hoisted the tripod above my head just in time. Post production in photoshop included cooling down the colour temperature of the RAW file to give it the cool blue tones as well as upping the contrast to allow the jetty to silhouette against the background. Using Nik Softare Viveza filter i have highlighted the ocean infront of the jetty to bring out the "white water" and emphasize it's smoothness.  Bicton Forshore, Western Australia - Prepares for cyclone Bianca With news of the impending cyclone Bianca coming to wreak havoc on the city of Perth, Western Australia i was salivating at the thought of the capturing Perth's best storm photography since the storm that tore through Perth's Western Suburbs in March 2010. Fortunately for Perth and unfortunately for storm photographers cyclone Bianca had faded dramatically by the time it hit Perth and we received little more than a good soaking for our lawns. What cyclone Bianca did provide was some dramatic cloud formations that i knew would create powerful landscape images. Heading out on Saturday i was looking for a good vantage point to capture the sky's looking into the sunset. My first stopping point was Point Walter, though with the focal point being either the Sandbar facing North or the Jetty facing East, it wasn't right. Moving on i started heading to either Leighton Beach / North Fremantle or Cottesloe where i knew i could look straight over the Indian Ocean as the sun set. On the way, I stopped in-between Blackwall Reach in Bicton and the Bicton Baths. This beautiful stretch of river is so scenic and the wind had died down making for ideal conditions for landscape photography. The image above is at a little beach landing where people store their boats. This shot is a 9 image stitch created in Photoshop CS5. I also used a neutral graduated filter to help emphasise the power that mother nature can create when angry. As with all my photographic expeditions lately, whenever i seem to get a landscape that I'm really happy with i manage to break something in my rush to get the photo. This time shortly after this set of photos was taken the leg of my tripod wasn't secure and it my canon DSLR smashed onto one of the boats smashing the graduated filter. Little damage for a great shot unfortunately but i must remember to not rush so much and enjoy the landscape photography experience a little more.  Sunday i ventured out in the hope if getting a decent sunset photograph of Crawley Bay / Nedlands foreshore in Perth, Western Australia. I was relatively happy with the resulting image. I've also got some panoramas to work up as well that should make for a great feature shot on a wide wall. These will print at over a 1 metre long at full resolution.
I havn't had a chance to add this image to the online shop as yet but if you're interested, please let me know and i will organise ASAP. I'm trying to make an effort to get out and capture some decent Perth landscape photographs while winter is still here as it offers the chance to get some interesting lighting and cloud formations that you don't commonly see in summer. This is a shot from about a while ago when hiking in the Porongerup Ranges in the South West of Western Australia. The Porongerup Ranges are right next door to the more famous Stirling Ranges though without the crowds and just as equally beautiful. There are some challenging hikes that are of about 4 - 5 hours return to the summit. It was on my way down from the highest peak that i twisted my ankle quiet badly. The bad part of this was obvious. I was about an hour and a half walking away from the car with a twisted ankle and a 8kg Camera backpack as well. The good part came to me when rolling on the ground in pain i saw these flowers below hanging to the edge of the "cliff" from a ground perspective. I thought the square* composition suited the image. * I also had to crop the image as the pain in my ankle clearly left me slightly delusional and the horizon was crooked.   Another image after one of the most remarkable storms in Perth in recent history. This Mother and son took advantage of a clearing of the clouds just before sunset to visit Cottesloe beach, Western Australia and see the aftermath of the storm. I like the fragments of the setting sun that are starting to break through the heavy cloud cover and the "happy" colours of the umbrella.
| AuthorChris Bishop professional commercial, landscape & travel photographer based in Perth, Western Australia. ArchivesMarch 2015 CategoriesAll |
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