I’m so excited that my new facebook page for Milton Gan Photography gathered the support of over 100 fans in its launch week!

To celebrate this first milestone I’ve launched a special promotion for fans: the 10x1o Sushi Sessions! This imaginatively titled promo provides easy access to the world of professional portrait photography through 1 hour bit-sized sessions for just $100 each! There are 10 sessions up for grabs and each session will deliver 10 professional shot and edited images. What a bargain huh?!

I’m hoping that this taster promo will make professional photography more appealing and accessible to those who had previously not considered buying any, and also grow my supporter base.

For more details on the Sushi Sessions just click this link!

Blog post two about the Vivid Sydney festival for Tourism NSW is now live! This one is about Lighting The Sails, the projection show on the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Please have a read at their blog bestcityintheworld and let me know what you think!

One more to go which will be up in a week’s time!

I’ll have two more blogs going up over the next two weeks so stay tuned!

5th June: Creative Sydney about to kick off

Today saw the start of Creative Sydney, part of the Vivid Sydney festival I’m covering for Tourism NSW. The theme for this first day was Creative Futures and consisted of 17 presenters delivering a whole wealth of insights and theories across five one-hour sessions at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I sat through the whole day, mesmerised by the styles and content of the presenters, and fuelled by copious amounts of coffee!

I’m sure you would have loved to sit through it all as well, but in case you didn’t, these are some of my key outtakes:

Session 1: Technology + Behaviour

• At Japanese fashion shows, you can instantly purchase outfits via your mobile by taking photos of the models as they are on the catwalk
• In Los Angeles there is a cult following for a truck that serves Korean BBQ in tacos and which can only be tracked via Twitter
• In China, mass groups coordinate and turn up at retailers to collectively demand volume discounts in return for not trashing the store
• Darth Vader has been plastered all over Japan asking who his boss is

• Book publisher McSweeney’s has a loyal following from its intentionally lo-fi approach to technology
• Collaborative consumption is a societal revolution that has truly arrived

Collaborative Consumption Groundswell Video from rachel botsman on Vimeo.

• The average power drill only gets 12-13 minutes of use in its lifetime so why buy one when all you actually want is the hole?

Session 2: Agents + Managers

• Never steal a mobile phone from Ivanna
• Drawing Book Studios‘ artists shine through from behind the studio’s mask
• The way you see your business is probably very different to the way that equity companies do

Session 3: Crowds + Collaboration

• If you’re an artist in Australia you need to join The Loop
• Crowdsourcing is an incredibly powerful resource
• The Detours and Destinations project held at the Sydney Opera House Studio, harnessed and channelled the creative energies of “at risk” kids

Session 4: Creation + Curation

• The Sydney Film Festival now gets Cannes entrants before Cannes does
• On average you have a 4% chance of getting your music played on Triple J’s Home and Hosed; otherwise you join the Pile Of Broken Dreams

Session 5: Networks + Clusters

• The “Catch and Release” project uses GPS to track artists’ movements in order to analyse where the new creative hubs are likely to be
• Marrickville could be the next Surry Hills…

Did you go to Creative Futures? If so I’d love to hear what your highlights were so please leave a comment!

Vivid Sydney

The Vivid Sydney festival has returned for its second year. I missed most of its debut as I was away on holiday (although I managed to take the above shot on the opening night), so I was absolutely thrilled to a) be in town this year, and b) have been invited to photo-blog the festival on behalf of Tourism NSW!

The festival runs for 4 weeks, and the most obvious sign that it’s on is the sight of the Opera House lit up with colourful projections. But the festival consists of a lot more events, including music, art and seminars. Fortunately I’ve been given free reign to attend as many of the events as I wish to (brilliant!), and in return I’ll be writing up my experiences across three photo-blogs over the next three weeks. These will be published on the Tourism NSW blog as well as Sparkography – so stay tuned!

If you’re thinking of heading to the festival then the Vivid Sydney planner is a great tool to work out your schedule!

Last week was particularly busy as I started shooting as a contributing photographer to Sydney fashion blog http://www.2threads.com/. I probably couldn’t have picked a busier time to start as RAFW (Rosemount Australian Fashion Week) is on next week and so lots of other designers and fashion accessory companies piggyback this time of heightened style awareness to make their presence known. And hence I had three events to shoot in three days.

The first shoot was a cocktail party for the holy grail of hair straighteners, ghd.

20th Apr: ghd cocktails and canapes

They have strong associations with some of the leading stylists who will be bringing RAFW to life and so were throwing a pre-event to wish them well. It was a small and intimate affair, “select” some would say, held at the dark and moody Eau de Vie bar in the stylish Kirketon boutique hotel. Cocktails were mixed and canapé trays waltzed their way around the fashionista crowd. The MD of ghd was also there to give a short speech.

The next night was a lot more buzzy for the launch of Smashbox Cosmetics in Australia.

21st Apr: Smashbox Cosmetics launch

The brand, started by Dean and Davis Factor (grandsons of none other than make up legend Max Factor), has been established for the good part of 20 years in the US but is only just arriving Down Under where it is being distributed through Kit Cosmetics stores. So this launch event was held at Kit’s bright and white Paddington store on Oxford Street. Davis Factor, who is also an established celebrity fashion photographer, was in store to give a speech and chat with the loyal Kit customers who had been specially invited a whole day ahead of the media launch. There was a good, fun vibe in the store, created by the customers, staff and PR girls, who insisted I partake in the champagne that was being flowing like it was going out of fashion (god forbid).

Night three escalated in scale dramatically as I was covering the Being Born Again couture fashion show at the Cell Block Theatre in Darlinghurst.

22nd Apr: Being Born Again couture

This event was created by the two girls behind a new fashion label, D&Em, Davina Reichman and Emily Fitzgerald. They had forged a collection of ten unique outfits by pairing ten leading Australian fashion designers with ten Australian artists to collaborate on ways to express their art. The resulting catwalk show was amazing, and enhanced further by the dramatic surroundings of the sandstone theatre.

Luckily I managed to find myself a great spot for shooting. The traditional end of the catwalk was full of photographers who had staked their spots since the doors opened, and as I turned up a bit later and was also moving around taking my usual event documentary shots, I found myself at the back of the pack struggling to see over the four deep crowd of photogs in front of me. Then I realised I could simply position myself at the other end of the catwalk, which was completely empty, and shoot the models on their way back! Lateral thinking worked a treat and I was really happy with the results. And so was Davina who has since circulated my shots around the media and invited me to shoot her next show!

So three evenings on the trot equals a whole heap of post processing! The events themselves probably only took up 6 hours of shooting, but my ancient MacBook kept me indoors all weekend, just doing simple adjustments! This meant I missed the ANZAC Day celebrations of beer and 2 Up, but the resulting photos are great additions for my portfolio!

A year goes by pretty quickly these days (is that another effect of climate change?) and at first I thought I’d struggle to find ten images that I’d proudly mount on pedestals. But a trawl through my library reminded me just how many shoots, jobs and photos came out of those 12 months! So the problem was then drawing up a shortlist of the best ten.

And then there’s the subjective part: what defines a top photo? Should it be a personal favourite of mine or others? Should it feature a person or place that’s dear to me? Should it have captured a unique event or moment in time? Should it be technically well executed? Or all/some/none of the above?

Well after careful consideration I’ve selected my top ten images. Some of them I honestly didn’t expect to make the final cut, but for some of the reasons mentioned above, I felt that they deserved a place. Please have a browse and let me know which is your favourite.

Here we go, in no particular order (as that would take another three months!):

Disco Condo

This is one of my all time favourite shots and it’s also by far the standout favourite amongst my friends and those who have looked through my work and given me feedback. I suppose the thing that surprises people most about this photo is the fact that it was spontaneous. I just walked out onto my hotel balcony in Waikiki and this is what the building opposite looked like. No scouting for a location and no waiting for hours for the lights to come on. And that’s the magic of photography: the ability to make the everyday things around us look amazing. Read more about Disco Condo.

Lake Taupo Trance

On many photographers “to do” lists is a long exposure of a jetty leading out into the water, and it was certainly high up on mine for quite a while. But a trip to Lake Taupo in NZ finally gave me the opportunity to cross it off. This was taken at sunset after a day of unsettled weather. My west facing position gave me a nice golden glow on the horizon, while my ND grad filters blurred out the water, gave the clouds movement, and saved the sun’s highlights from blowing out. The ghostly blur of the swaying boat adds extra atmosphere. Read more about Lake Taupo Trance.

Sydney Dust Storm: Centrepoint Shroud

The Sydney dust storm was memorable for anyone in the city that morning and especially those, like me, who woke up at dawn to find they had relocated to Mars overnight. I took a heap of shots to commemorate this special event (and put the 5D Mk II’s dust proof claims to the test!) but this one is my favourite. It was taken in the CBD as I made my way to work. The dust was starting to clear but there was still an eerie silence as the city’s commuters tried as best they could to go about their daily routine as if everything was normal, despite this golden mist cloaking them! I like the perspective in this shot and how the silhouetted Centrepoint Tower in the distance gives a sense of how widespread the dust is. Read more about Sydney Dust Storm: Centrepoint Shroud

Sculptured Sunrise

Every year Sculpture By The Sea is one of the most popular events in Bondi, with amazing works of art adorning the beautiful Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk. There are opportunities galore for photographers, but if you want a nice clean composition you need to get there early, as in dawn early. And for that effort you may be rewarded with a shot to remember. Read more about Sculptured Sunrise.

Balance Beam

I spent quite a few mornings during the summer weekends at Cooper Park in Bondi. It was a haven for dragonflies and damselflies, and after the first morning of using my macro lens to get up close and personal with them, I was addicted and couldn’t wait to go back and take more! Most of the inhabitants were these Sydney Flatwing damselflies. They were amazing models! Very photogenic and totally unfazed by the camera despite the lens being just millimetres from their tiny faces! One of my shots (Red 5 Standing By) became an instant hit on my RedBubble web gallery, but my favourite is this one. I’d identified a broken stalk which I thought would be make a great perch and staked it out. Several hours and meat pies later (kidding) and this little fella decided to drop by and pose.

Red Vent

I’m a big fan of photo genres based around buildings, from clean architectural photography and lifestyle interior shots to eerie derelict warehouses and gritty urban cityscapes. Sydney offers a whole host of these opportunities and I try to make the most of them. This shot was taken very close to where I work. It’s a composition that called out to me as I was walking past, so I duly obliged. I like this for the vent’s splash of colour against a neutral canvas, and also because my decision to position it off-centre paid off and resulted in a more interesting image.

Opera House Streakers

This was one of the first images I shot with my 5D MkII. It was taken on the opening night of Vivid Sydney, a festival of light. Amazing installations had been set up all over the CBD but the centrepiece was the Opera House as a canvas for a series of light projections created by Brian Eno. I was taking long exposures to flatten out the water and enhance the ambient light, but as a working harbour there were boats constantly going through the shots, causing ghost images and light trails. I decided to use this to my advantage and waited for a small sailboat to approach, then I hit the shutter and soaked up its light trails as it bobbed past, adding extra colour interest to the shot.

Nintendo Launch Party

This shoot was memorable for me as there was a lot of pressure to perform (ahem). It was my first corporate event, there was decent money involved, and clients and celebs were present. Nintendo were releasing four new games at the trendy Oxford Arts Factory and had divided the venue into zones with each one set decorated to reflect one of the games. The zone for Style Boutique resembled a star’s dressing room with big mirrors surrounded by lightbulbs. I like this shot for two reasons. Firstly it was technically well executed given the cramped conditions. I needed to avoid catching myself or the flash in the mirrors and so I ended up in a corner on tip toes with elbows all over the place. But the resulting composition is strong, and the exposure and bounced flash balanced out nicely. Secondly I like this because it was taken just at the right moment when the main subject looked up and realised she was in my crosshairs! Plus the all important products are in clear view.  There’s a lovely natural energy to the shot and most importantly the client was very happy with the results! Read more about Nintendo Launch Party.

Renny

Renny is an agency model with Platform Models and she was my first proper model shoot. I met her when I was shooting the NSW finals of the fashion tv Diamond model search and soon afterwards organised a shoot with her in a few locations around Bondi. Renny is an absolute star and a true professional; very easy going off camera, but when she’s in front of the lens she really knows how to work it! I’d scouted a few locations around Bondi that I wanted to use and this is my favourite – the entrance to an art deco apartment block at North Bondi. It has a very Miami feel to it and the outfit my stylist Ali picked out for Renny suited it perfectly. Another of the photos I took during the shoot is now featuring in Renny’s portfolio and the Platform Models website gallery. I’m really happy that the preparation that went into my first model shoot paid off and resulted in some great photos for both myself and the model. Read more about Renny.

Mitchell’s Christmas Party

It’s probably fitting that we finish on this image as it’s from a Christmas party. The setting was Luna Park and the company is Mitchell’s, the highest billing media agency in Australia (and one of the main rivals to the agency that I work at!). Everyone was up for a top night so I went full throttle and took a great collection of images. This one in particular stands out for me. It’s one of those shots where you see something new every time you look at it as there’s so much going on, such as the main subject spinning around while balancing her glass, the trumpet player in action on the stage, and the girl off to the right posing with her friend in front of her own camera. A nice amount of ambient light has been soaked up, giving the image a lovely range of colours, the flash has frozen the moment perfectly, and the angled camera position delivers a very dynamic (and almost dizzying)  feel. A nice event to end the year with! Read more about Mitchell’s Christmas Party.

So that’s my top 10 of 2009. Would love to know which one was your favourite?

Trippy Trip Hop Shot: ISO 3200

Monday nights are generally pretty relaxed right? It’s the start of the week so most people want to take things easy and stay dry until the inevitable crescendo towards the frenzy of drinking, partying and debauchery that is the weekend. Or is that just me? But if that also happens to be the case for the masses, is a Monday the best night to stage a concert? Well, possibly not if you’re a full on dance DJ or Marilyn Manson. But for British trip-hop legends Massive Attack, a Monday evening seems perfect, and the serene setting of the Opera House Forecourt would almost make you think you’re out for a Sunday evening of sophistication.

So this week I headed to Circular Quay with a few friends, all of us looking forward to reliving more youthful days circa 20 years ago. Our years of all night illegal warehouse raves are now distant memories (although some of us are still deluded convinced we can handle one more big night!) so the prospect of a chilled evening sitting on the Opera House steps was something we were quietly savouring. It was a perfect autumn evening: warm, clear and just a slight breeze coming off the harbour to keep us cool.

However, when we arrived the steps were already full so we headed into the standing section in front of the stage which had been erected a couple of days before, facing the iconic Opera House. This was actually the better option as the stage looked a bit distant from the steps and for this type of music you want to be as close as possible to the source to feel the dark, womb-like intimacy and comfort of the soothing beats. And so you can take good photos of course!

I brought the 5D2 with me, which surprisingly made it through the security check without as much as a flicker of interest in the steward’s eyes. From my position in the crowd I was able to get a nice full shot of the stage at the maximum focal length of 105mm. The gig started and I fired off a few shots with the 580 EXII speedlite attached, but due to the tight crowd and several Hagrid types around me who were being overly-illuminated, I opted to lose the flash and employ the high ISO, wide aperture, steady hand technique. Fortunately at this type of gig there’s not much crowd surging (if anything they become inanimate bordering comatose judging by the strong scent of a certain “medicinal” substance wafting around) so it was pretty easy to keep the camera steady. But regardless, this was one of the occasions when you fully appreciate the sophistication of modern DSLRs to deliver high ISO images with minimal noise. The lowest ISO I used was 3200 while some shots were taken at 5000 and 6400. I also tried a couple at 12,800 just for kicks and those were amazing albeit unnecessary! But looking at the results coming up on the viewer and later on the laptop, it’s no wonder ISO is now the battleground rather than megapixels. Judge for yourself! I’m really happy with these shots by the way, particularly as there was no post-processing done at all apart from some straightening and cropping. The colours, contrast and exposure and (lack of) noise are exactly as captured in camera!

So back to the concert itself and Massive Attack didn’t disappoint, taking us through a compelling combination of new and old tracks with amazing guest vocalists and great use of the backdrop screens to deliver thought provoking political and social statements. Without a doubt the highlight for me and many others was the revival of their groundbreaking hit “Unfinished Sympathy” with powerful vocals delivered by the fantastic Deborah Miller.

3D and Daddy G: ISO 5000

Guest vocalist Martina Topley-Bird: ISO 3200

Guest vocalist Deborah Miller: ISO 3200

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!