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.

For those that have been on one of the Perth Photography Tours that i run through the port city of Fremantle, Western Australia you may recognise this location?  It's our meeting point at the Fremantle Town Hall.

From this point I take photography enthusiasts for a leisurely photo walk through Fremantle passing iconic locations such as the Fremantle Markets, Historic Wedding Wall, Limestone Tunnel under the Fremantle Round House as well as taking in the fabulous heritage listed architecture that dominates the "West End" of Fremantle.

Along the way I aim to teach a series of creative principles and elements of photography that participants are then challenged to achieve in small groups with their cameras.

As well as hopefully imparting some creative tips that customers can take away, I mix this with a series of technical points to encourage participants to go beyond the Auto mode on their DSLR or compact camera and start getting a greater understanding of the modes and capabilities of these cameras.

If you're interested in coming along for what i believe is Perth's best value photography course, tours run every Saturday morning all year round.

As mentioned earlier, the meeting point is at the Fremantle Town hall at 8.30am and finishes down at the Fremantle Harbour near Little Creatures Brewery, which can be a great place to unwind and discuss the mornings events.

Perth Photography Tours run for 3 hours and is limited to a maximum of 10 participants to ensure plenty of one on one tuition and opportunity to ask questions and feedback.  These tours are great value at just $99.00

Please click this link to take you straight to the online and secure booking form.

Just out of interest i'd love to hear peoples opinions on which composition they prefer out of the two photos above. 

This shot was taken in the picturesque mountain town of Dalat in the south of Vietnam. Having taken a scenic cable car voyage to the top of the mountain where the Buddhist Monasteries dotted the hillside I came across this couple having their wedding amongst the carefully sculpted gardens which were meticulously maintained by the monks that called this place home.   I wanted to test out some of the colour profiles that were pre-set as a test to using this filter to batch process a series of portrait shots for future photography shoots in Perth.  I thought this would be the perfect image to shoot as I wanted to test how the fine details in the white clothes of both the bride and groom held when the remaining colours were enhanced.  

Overall I found the highlights stayed together quite well and was able to boost the saturation of the green tones of the foliage both in the foreground and background of the key subject matter.  This plugin is very kind to skin tones and naturally smoothes out blemishes and softens the skins complexion subtly without over doing it and becoming a glamour style shot.  I can highly recommend “Portrature” as photoshop plugin or a stand alone program.  I also believe its available on Aperture as well.

Another shot of a commercial photography job i did late last year for Deltaforce Paintballing in Baldivis, south of Perth. This shot was also taken on the Canon 5D II with my 14mm F2.8 EX Sigma aspherical fisheye.  This is an amazing piece of glass and has paid the $1,400 price tag many times over. 

With this shot i would of been no more than 30cm away from the closest person. I originally bought this lens taking landscapes though with the development and improvement of stitching software i now use this lens mostly for close-up wide angle shots.  Most of my landscapes now seem to be stitches of my 28mm lens.

If you're looking for any action or sport photography in the Perth area don't hesitate to contact me for an obligation free quote.

I have been sifting through a backlog of commercial photography jobs completed over the past year and wanted to post a couple to my photography blog.  While travel and landscape photography is certainly my passion, commercial photography pays the bills.

My question to photographers is, what criteria does a commercial job need to satisfy you creatively as well as financially. Secondly where does the satisfaction/financial line fall with most projects? 

Late last year i did a commercial job for Delta Force Paintballing down in Baldivis, South of Perth.  Having never shot paintballing before presented me with a few challenges but i was wrapped with the results.  Unfortunately i can't publish the majority of the shots as they are going to be released over coming months and they maximum exposure and wow factor.

I have to say of all the places that I've been paintballing in Perth, Deltaforce (At Bonneys Water Ski Park) blows its compeditors away with the facilities and courses they have.  If you're looking for a event to take your staff or host a bucks party...This is the place. I'll try and post a few more pics over the coming weeks but for now I'll let you stare down the barrel of a gun.