Sparkography

59 days or 0.16 of the year are now in the bag. Or in other words February has just joined January in the Project 365 vault.

After the honeymoon of January when I was all excited and tried to take 365 photos per day, February slowed down from a gallop to a more leisurely trot.  Highlights included a Nova launch party, a shoot with two models, a trip to Noosa, and a tsunami. Almost.

Please take a look for yourself and let me know your thoughts:

Project 365: February

As for my pic of the month? Well I can never resist a good sunset and this pano with my iPhone from the balcony of the North Bondi RSL conveyed the spectacular light show as well as an SLR could have.

15th Feb: perfect sunset pano from the Rats

So, I’ve decided to become the next Mario Testino. Eventually. Fashion photography isn’t something you can just walk into. It’s like the Mafia. To be the Don you need to have started as a grunt and worked your way up through the ranks, proving at each stage that you’re prepared to do anything to reach the upper echelons of the Organisation. Of course you’ll get the odd hotshot who just rocks up one day with his smooth talk and a glint in his eye. He knows Little Big Mickey Blue Eyes in Kansas and manages to muscle his way in to the top deck. Whether he stays up their is another matter. If he’s found to be an imposter he’ll end up swimming with the fish in his nice, new concrete slippers. In any case he’s the exception, not the rule.

Likewise in fashion it’s a hard road to the top, especially if you’re trying to bypass the hard graft of assisting that most of the top professionals did for many thankless years.

As you may know I joined ModelMayhem.com to build up my experience of photographing models and collaborating with the other members of the photoshoot tool kit: the wardrobe stylist, make up artist, hair stylist, designers etc. The fallout of this massive online community (coupled with the accessibility and affordability of DSLR cameras) is that there’s a huge amount of wannabe fashion photogs snapping any model that will give them 5 mins so they can build up their portfolio. Likewise there are girls galore believing that their 32Cs will propel them to supermodel status if they can show them off in as many skimpy swimsuits shots as possible and post them to Zoo, Ralph and FHM. In summary: chaos, and a harder job for photogs and models who are seriously trying to develop their skills.

Ron Davis

Shawna Rencher

Enter Ron Davis and Shawna Rencher. Ron is a successful studio photographer and Shawna a model, actress and film director. They are both active on ModelMayhem and based in Seattle and their regular collaborating led them in a new direction – to create a podcast aimed at amateur photographers and models who are trying to break into the fashion and beauty industry. The result is The Photographer & Model Podcast.

Each week they interview a guest photographer or a model for around 30 mins, virtually all of whom are active on ModelMayhem. The interviews are very chatty, open and lighthearted and so make for easy listening. Content covers a range of topics including the guest’s background, current activity and future ambitions; what they think makes a good photographer and model (from turning up on time to being prepared to step outside comfort zones); horror stories and moments of controversy (some great “Guy With Camera” situations!); and their personal definitions of industry terms such as art, beauty, glamour, erotica and fetish. Plus there are insights into each guest’s particular field of interest e.g. fine art photography, pin-up photography, conceptual art, use of Photoshop etc.

It’s a format that is simple and very effective as each week brings a slice of life of fellow photographers and models who are on ModelMayhem to do essentially the same thing as me but with their own particular slant or objective. I love the fact that if I listen to someone that sounds interesting, I can then check out their profile and portfolio on ModelMayhem, send them a message and add them as a friend. It brings the site to life, giving it a much more human dimension than just a collection of avatars and faceless profiles. After all we’re people not numbers right?

The podcast is available on iTunes and on the photographerandmodel.com website. I encourage you to subscribe even if you’re not interested in fashion and beauty photography as the interviews, stories and insights make great listening!

One of my favourite exhibitions is back in town. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is now on at the Australian Museum and I highly recommend that you try to see it. Even if you don’t shoot nature photos yourself, I guarantee you will be amazed at the creatures and scenery that have been captured by photographers of all ages the world over. These are the very best from over 40,000 entries and 94 countries.

And just to spice it up there’s controversy this year as well. Yes, you heard correctly. Controversy. In a wildlife photography competition. The overall winner of the competition, José Luis Rodriguez, has been stripped of his £10,000 prize while a panel investigates whether his winning shot, The Storybook Wolf, involved a trained animal. If so then he has broken one of the conditions of entry and is a naughty, naughty boy. Here’s the photo – what do you reckon?

The Storybook Wolf

Time to rave about another app which improves the iPhone’s jurassic camera function beyond belief!

Introducing TiltShift Generator. TiltWho What you say? Ok, think of those really cool, fun shots of cities, stadiums and cars where they’ve been manipulated to look like miniatures, like in these examples:

This effect is called “shifting” and works by applying selective focus to a particular part of the image and throwing the rest of it into a blur causing an extremely shallow depth of field. In other words your eyes and brain overload and you think JetStar have dropped you off in Lilliput instead of Brisbane.

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Drool, drool, drool…

Well would you Adam and Eve it. There I was about to take the plunge and invest my future kids’ school fees into the Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS USM lens (as of course you would) and what happens? Canon go and launch the mk II version today, that’s what!

But you can’t deny it – this is a thing of beauty and a true object of desire.

I mean, just look at it!

But how frustrating! After weeks of exhaustively researching websites and magazines to establish which piece of glass would be my first purchase with which to adorn my beloved Canon 5D2, I knew the 70-200 was the lens I wanted and needed: amazingly fast, versatile and able to get up nice and tight for portraits and candids. And of course incredibly cool to be seen with!

Fashion and photography have always been inextricably linked, and no camera product range waves the fashion flag as much as Canon’s L series lenses. According to ancient legend, the “L” stands for Luxury which is easy to believe given that these are the most expensive lenses that Canon produce. Members of this exclusive club can be recognised instantly by their distinctive red ring, which means slinging one of these over your shoulder is the photographic equivalent of wearing Prada Sport.

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First off – Happy New Year! I hope 2010 brings you much happiness and prosperity!

So it’s a new year and indeed a new decade. What we should call it I still don’t know. The “Teens”??

Whatever the name it will have a hard act to follow as the Noughties was particularly good to me. Highlights included turning 30, moving to Australia, starting my photography business, and launching Sparkography.

Well as they say you never stop learning and so my first foray into cerebral expansion this decade is my Project 365, which you can read about and follow on its own dedicated page.

I’m keeping this post short and sweet as I’m still recovering from New Year’s Eve on Sydney Harbour. I celebrated with some of my closest friends atop the Sydney Glass Island and witnessed the world famous firework display live for the first time. It was tempting to bring the 5D2 with me as I still haven’t taken proper fireworks shots with it yet and opportunities don’t come any better than this. But knowing how messy the night was likely to be (and indeed was!), I left the big boy at home and used my iPhone and Best Camera app to produce these mementos:

Naomi's New Killer Heels

Jimbob's new Superdry shirt

Erin & Mark

Family fireworks kick off proceedings

Glo-sticks galore...

...and Mark couldn't get enough of them!

The Bridge and Harbour light up!

It’s another beautiful summer day in Bondi. The beach is full of sunburnt backpackers and the coastal walk  is the busiest I’ve seen since Sculptures. But there’s one area that’s empty as it always is at this time of year – the boardwalk.

Yep, it’s been closed off to make way for the massive stage that will host the acts for Shore Thing, Bondi’s NYE party. The past few years have seen the likes of Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx, Bob Sinclar, Groove Armada and The Presets grace the beach. This year the Noughties will be played out by some of the biggest DJs from the last three decades – Carl Cox, Danny Tenaglia, and Roger Sanchez.

Security fences are also up along the length of Campbell Parade to ensure only the paid up ticket-holders get in (although expect quite a few backpackers to scale them/impale themselves on the night after having a few Stellas at the Bondi Hotel).

And tomorrow evening the beach will also be closed off as the sight of floating revellers the next morning is never a good way to start the year.

Nice clouds today though. Cirrus I believe.

So about a week ago I arrived at Luna Park on a Friday evening to shoot the Xmas party for Mitchell Communications. I was really looking forward to it as Mitchell’s is the largest media buying agency in Australia, started by the famous Harold Mitchell back in the 70s, and so I was expecting a big night. However, I was also a bit nervous.

Not nervous because of the large scale of the event; not because of the range of shots required of the guests, entertainers, band and location; and not because it was a well paid job. No, I was nervous because I work for OMD, their main competitor! Both agencies are powerhouses in Australia and regularly slug it out over pitches and bragging rights for largest billing figures. This year both agencies billed over $1 billion, ranking 1st and 2nd out of all Australian agencies.

And there was no hiding my allegiance either as several OMDers had moved to Mitchell’s and would recognise me straight away. And sure enough as the coaches arrived and the guests made their way into the venue, I was greeted with a range of comments about whether I had left OMD, whether I had joined Mitchell’s, or whether I was just plain spying on them!

But it was all in good humour and I was quickly over that hurdle and into my stride. The party went really well and so did the shoot. The crowd were up for a big night and very comfortable in front of the 5D2.  I filled a whole 8GB card with over 700 photos which were later distilled into a final cut of around 200. Here are just a few of them, starting with the venue:

The Crystal Palace

There was also an outdoor area which provided a range of excellent backdrops throughout the evening and into the night, including fairground rides and The Harbour Bridge

And of course there was action on and around the dancefloor!

At the end of the night the coaches returned and took us to the after party. And that’s when the camera went back in the bag!

At the risk of sounding like a groupie, here’s another name-check to the great Chase Jarvis.

Many of you will know of Chase and his famous philosophy that the best camera is the one that’s with you. And you’ll probably also know that while Chase is a world famous advertising photographer, he LOVES his iPhone and uses it every day to capture hundreds of shots of virtually everything he sees!

What you might not have realised though is that he recently launched his own iPhone App “Best Camera“. This brilliant app allows you to apply, stack and create a “recipe” of effects to any iPhone pic including high/low saturation, contrast, mono, retro, cropping and framing etc. The resulting pic can then be uploaded to the Best Camera website – a real time photo wall of iPhone photos as they are created and uploaded from Best Camera apps all over the world. Or you can upload your shots to any of your social networks such as Twitter and facebook.

I’ve started using it on my iPhone and it really is fantastic! Incredibly simple to use with stunning results, and really makes the most of the iPhone’s very underwhelming 2MP camera that has no settings and only one button to press!

Here’s a great vid from Chase explaining his philosophy and app in his own words:

As I mentioned in my last post, silly season is in full swing and there are Xmas parties kicking off left, right and centre!

I covered one last week at Sydney’s Luna Park for Mitchell Communications Group – Australia’s biggest media agency. It was a great night and I’ll be posting on that soon, but at the end of an exhausting night of shooting (and partying with them!) I had the task of reviewing around 700 photos and culling them down to a final cut of around 200.

If you’re an event photographer you’ll know how time consuming, tiring and (let’s face it) monotonous this can be. But today I found an amazing alternative solution courtesy of  legendary photog Chase Jarvis. He hosted his own company’s birthday party recently in his studio, and rather than rove around with a camera to shoot his staff, clients and guests, he stuck a 32GB card in a Nikon D3, set it on timelapse and just got everyone to have fun in front of it. Genius!

In just under 5 hours the camera took an incredible 21,112 photos! That’s around 1.5 shots every second!

And the result? A 12 min timelapse video of a great party requiring no sorting, no culling, and no editing! Ok, so DSLRs are capable of shooting HD video these days and he could have just used that facility, but there’s something about timelapse videos that makes them a hell of a lot more interesting and artistic. I think it could be the way forward for capturing events! Check it out:

And read Chase Jarvis’ own blog post.