Finding my 'style' what I don't want to do

I am still trying to find my 'Style' as a photographer, by trying a bit of everything I am sure I will get find it soon. I recently had the chance to do a maternity and  newborn baby shoot. What I learnt from this is I loved the maternity shoot - hated the newborn shoot. Perhaps hate is too strong, I did love having newborn baby cuddles and seeing how happy and proud Mum and Grandma were. 
Baby girl was wide awake and happy, this meant she was forever moving, I found it hard to get any of the stereotype poses that are popular for newborn photos. I also felt like I was intruding - which I didn't feel when doing the maternity shoot...I can now cross newborn photography of my list of 'styles'.

Now I will keep trying to find my 'style' ***I know what I want it to be...I have to prove I can do it before I advertise it*** in the meantime I will take my camera out as often as possible and search for the million dollar shot.

Last weekend I had a lucky find with a Jabiru (Black Headed Stork) in a pond beside the road near the local shopping centre,I tried to find a way to access the pond via a local park however the only way I could get close was to park on the side of the road...I was spotted 'stalking' the bird by one of my neighbors.   I thought the bird was one of the wetland birds from Australia Zoo on a bit of an adventure. This what they said to me G'day Roz, great shot! This is not one of ours. We have had reports over the last 12-18 months of wild Jabiru's in the area (mostly around Ewen Maddock Dam). It's very rare to see them this far south so you're very lucky. Sometimes they're seen as far south as Port Macquarie!I almost didn't read past great shot, LOL.

Until next time....see ya

Need to find a balance between work and play

This last few weeks have been incredibly busy at work, I have been starting work at 5am and often not finishing before 5pm. Not that I am complaining (well I did a little bit). I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms and missing my camera, I starting carry my camera with me in hope a photo opportunity would present. I don't really like taking photos at work - it is too much like 'work'. I miss a few weeks of the 52 week challenge on Flickr because I have been so busy and it has rained a lot on my days off. The conference that has kept me busy was an International Olympiad in Informatics (or my working title The Nerd Olympics) 300 students from 80 countries, competing for gold medals in mathematics.

http://www.ioi2013.org/

Every team of 4 had a leader from UQ who carried signs with the country names on them, the placement of them outside of the exam room appealed to me enough to take this photo.

On the last day of the Examination part of the Nerd Olympics, there was an hour delay due to technical issues, the students were getting a bit stressed and the tension in the room was high, 10 minutes before the start time there was a commotion at one end of the room. An announcement was made that this animal was harmless and to leave it be. A possum had run into the exam room, the international students were thrilled (and a little worried). With a lot of help I managed to get the possum to an area it would be safe and out of the way. The Dutch camera crew managed to get a good video of it, which I up loaded to You Tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Gt0bUY2Oc

The possum came out of his hiding place at the end of the day and was escorted outside.   

One night when I got home right on dusk HWMBO was burning the hard wood he had been collecting for charcoal - he is collecting charcoal for his forge.

if made an awesome fire. I took some photos, thinking I would be able to use the flames as overlays for photoshop sometime in the future. I was so pleased with the look of this one it has become one of my favorite photos of the month.

By bringing my camera to work every day I managed to convince one of my boys to let me take his photo - he was a bit worried I was going to make him 'pose and smile for the camera'. I told him I was after a tired hard working look...No smiling. HE HE this is one sure way to get anyone to smile. His girlfriend was very pleased with the result, she says it is hard to get him to look natural.

I finally set aside some time for a sunset shoot, I went to one of my favorite spots on the Maroochy River and waited for the beautiful clouds to turn to gold. As I was taking this photo the rain snuck up on me from behind, it was a mad rush to get back to my car....luckily I got my camera on the seat before the skies opened and I got soaked. 

I was so happy to get out with my camera and get a few nice photos I didn't care.

I also found a nice patch of fungi always a treat

Toowong Cemetery

Daughter #1 is always keen to help me with my photography ideas, you may remember when she willing walked in the freezing waters at Gardeners Falls for the lady in the lake photos. Here Recently I have been toying with an dark morbid idea using a cemetery as the back drop.  I was after a dark fantasy look. I think I pulled it off.

I have been following the work of Brooke Shaden, http://shadenproductions.com/blog/ she does a lot of composite work with photoshop, I like the story telling of her work and wanted to try my own take. #1 and her BF are keen gamers and love the game of Thrones and Medieval stuff, I am sure they are going to love these photos. ***Although I  am not sure how HWMBO will like them*** (perhaps I won't show him)

The Toowong Cemetery is one of Brisbane's most historical cemeteries a lot of Queensland's governors and premiers buried here, the most notable grave in the Toowong Cemetery is  possibly that of Jack the Ripper. This is an extract from Wikipedia In August 2008 Toowong Cemetery made world news with the revelation that Jack the Ripper may well be buried there. According to Queensland Historians Jack Sim and Paul Tully, Walter Thomas Porriott was in the Whitechapel area of London at the time of the murders and later migrated to Australia. The headstone over his grave is only engraved with "Bessie - Died 25th June 1957 - And her Husband". 

I could have spent hours walking about the cemetery, looking at the different graves, the new and the old...although the old are much more interesting. I have another photo shoot planned for a cemetery so I might spend a bit of time on my own looking around for another site.

This was the first photo I took when I got out of the car, I love the light and colour of the weeds.

From this spot you can see the newer graves in the background, it was really quiet eerie...there was also a very strong smell of incense around the newer graves yet no evidence of it.

The lady in red 

HWMBO looking at the headstones

Behind the scenes a little help with the hood

The BF floating above the grave of Sir Anthony Musgrave Qld's 6th governor

This is the image I was after, again I am amazed that I can execute and idea and it work just as I picture it in my mind. Thank you #1 for being so patient and obliging 

I am looking forward to my next photography adventure....now I just need some ideas.

***Any ideas would be appreciated*** 

Musical Instruments

One of Daughter #2's friends is a very talented musician, before #2 left to go overseas she asked if I would take some photos of her instruments as she is looking for some artwork for her bedroom wall. It was her fathers suggestion that she take photos and get them printed on canvas.... Pommy Chick is a much better musician than photographer. Her exact words 'I am crap with photos'.

It is not as easy as it looks to get photos of musical instruments, PC's favorite is the french horn and this is a shiny brass instrument as is her trumpet and flute. My favorite was the violin...although she doesn't play it.

All the instruments that she wanted photos of....in the bright light of the window. There is many more instruments that she didn't even want photos of 

Her dog Rocky wanted to play with us, he was a poser

Her second favorite clarinet 

Flute 

French Horn up close

French horn Pommy Chicks favorite instrument (at the moment) 

Saxophone 

This Sax is in need of a bit of love and attention, PC saved it from being thrown out

It is very hard as a photographer to avoid a reflection in shiny objects...I did well on this one

My favorite the violin, when it is played well I could listen for hours.

Pommy Chick was asking #2 what wine i drank so she could give me something for my time, we refused to tell her. Pommy Chick will be repaying me by being a model for me some time soon. I have a location and an idea in mind for her.

Photoshop Police

Any one who reads my blog or follows me on Facebook or Flickr know that I love photoshop....I embraced photoshop as quickly and as passionately as I embraced photography. I love it. This is not going to be a post on Photoshop VS SOOC (straight out of camera), I see and understand both sides of the argument and strongly believe that there is no right or wrong way. 

I follow a lot of photographers on Facebook, amateur, professional and  everyone in between, I love looking at other peoples work and getting ideas and inspiration. I don't think there is ever a new idea, only different peoples interpretations. 

Today I am going to critique someone's work - I do not know this person, I do not follow her FB page (nor will I) she has close to 3000 likes for her page with lots of gushing comments. Her photos are very good however she has added a bird in all her outdoor photos, the same bird in every photo. The editing is not good that even (as hubby would say) blind Freddy can see the copy and paste halo. In my mind she has distracted from good work not added to it. 

If she was a friend or one of my photography comunity I would comment on her page about such an obvious PS mistake - the halo not the bird, as she is not I would normally pass right by these images with a smug smile knowing I am better that that....then I read the description on one of the images. There will always be something I love about maternity sessions... and then there's that awesome moment when a bird flies into the shot... Seriously who are her clients

BTW she offers posing and Photoshop tutorials for $900 per day!

I get the whole add something to make it photo your own, like a trademark. I know of people who will photoshop a fly or a flower somewhere on all their photos so even if the watermark is removed there is an identifying mark on all the images they produce.  These marks are subtle and often hard to find. 

These are a few PS fails I found on the internet today....so many to choose from so little time

Lost - most of my horse....

The famous office chair in front of the Eiffel Tower - I wonder if #2 had this photo opportunity 

All the tutorials I have watched has been very clear about avoiding repeating patterns - I guess repeating people are OK....I wonder what was there in the original.

I know I am not perfect and have made some pretty fake PS photos, I was going to show them here only I have not saved them. I am getting better at seeing my mistakes before I publish anything... and I have a very good family who let me know what they think of my finished work. The good the bad and the ugly.

I don't know why this upset me so much today....I guess I never will know. It just did.

(perhaps it is the guilt of not finishing my latest edits....perhaps it is envy for all the likes on her page...maybe I am just a bitter old lady with too much time spent on FB.....)

Too much to do not enough time

I have had so many photo shoots in the past few weeks I have not had time to edit my photos... this is a problem I am very happy about. I have found that I usually get  edit a few photos as soon as I can, then never go back. Last week I decided I need to finish one set of photos before I work on another. Even if it takes me a few days....weeks.

I completed another goal of creating my Facebook site and registering for a Domain name. I am now www.rozbannanphotography.com. I need to build the website....after I finish HWMBO's (for the record I have done 4 pages for him and I have set aside all day Saturday to work on it. The sooner his is complete the sooner I can work on mine) My Facebook page is Roz Bannan Photography,https://www.facebook.com/RozBannanPhotography?ref=hlI was so thrilled to get 50 likes on the first day...of course it has slowed down since, all in good time. 

I often say I am distracted by shiny objects and will often find ways to avoid doing the job at hand, this weekend I thought I would get my photo for the Flickr challenge done, this month themes are Toys and Winter Up Close. With a $10 budget I hit Kmart looking for the perfect toy, I got 2, a dragon from a game called Skylander and a Ballerina doll.

I still did not have a plan as to how to photograph the toys or even if I used them together, HWMBO came suggested I use the doll as a pole dance.... 20 mins later he made me a dancing pole. As this the Flickr group is a diverse range of people, some young and some old I thought I better keep it a bit PG, so he made a balance bar as well. After  editing a few different poses with the doll I went the the family for their favorite. As normal no-one could agree and the best one for the competition, I made a collage of the three most popular.
It was a fun afternoon and NOT what I had planned.

The secret life of toys

I felt this guy was lacking something so didn't even consider him for the comp

The only other photos I have to share this post, is a red belly black snake. I love snakes and will always take the opportunity to handle them if I can. This snake is deadly...I was glad I have the zoom lens and even then I was shaking. I emailed these photos to the Sunshine Coast City Council and was very please to be asked if they can display them and use for educational purposes at the park. 

Swisse Color Run

The happiest run on the planet, this is how this event was sold to the public, my Niece (related by friendship not by blood) told me all about this event, it sounded like a great photo opportunity and it was. The first date for this event was cancelled - lucky for me because it was a day that I was not able to make it.

This run is sponsored by Swisse and was every bit as fun and colourful as all the advertising, the rules were very strict *** insert tongue firmly in cheek*** this is my favorite bit from the FAQs 

How strict is the “white clothing dress code” for the start of the event?
We will have white clothing police inspectors located throughout the event.  You will be arrested and put in The Color Run™ jail if more than 11.8% of your clothing is a hue other than white.

Were you kidding about the question above?
Yes we were.  As long as runners wear shirts that are mostly white, you are totally good.  They can include team logos and any other image you see fit.  Shorts/pants don’t need to be white, especially if it’s after labor day.  To the point… It is really just more fun to run starting in white and ending, well…. COLORIFFIC !!!!!

How is the color administered?  Will I be hurt, maimed, or killed?
Ha ha ha! we love this one.  No, it doesn’t hurt at all.  It is like getting into a powdered sugar food fight.

You are sure??? Teenagers with paint ball guns are not involved at any point?
Yes. We are 100% sure.

Daughter #3 and I went only to take photos, we were not participating...this did not stop the crowd from sharing the love of colour, my camera and I were covered by the time we left, a few friends offered concern for my camera....apparently bad thing can happen if you get dust on your sensor DUH...I didn't change my lens at all and avoided it when possible. A wipe with the inside of my shirt every so often kept the lens and LCD screen clean. 

Before

After

 not on the camera OK....

The crowd

Everyone had a huge smile at the end of the day....how could you not be happy on a day like this

sharing the love, with clean spectators.

Not so clean now

exhausted after a big day

I can't wait until next year, I will 'run' and not take my camera. (or maybe just a point and shoot camera, I will need to record the event). There is already dates planned for Brisbane, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast for 2014. I