A couple of days off from all things photography related, a cold beer, a comfortable chair in a great Aussie backyard and some delightful company was all that was needed to start me thinking.
What if... manufacturers of fast foods were allowed by legislative oversight or intent, to add addictive chemical compounds to their products, causing the population at large to slowly but surely become addicted to their products?
What if ... Obesity was no longer considered a condition but was by legislation defined as a disease?
What if... there was a cure for cancer, which was a freely available to the general population, was cheap and was totally natural?
What if... What if powerful lobby groups convinced governments to ban naturally occurring and beneficial substances such as vitamin C ?
What if... we were continually fed with misinformation by all available media outlets? Would this cause us as a general population to be manipulated into acting in a manner which was directly opposed to our natural instincts?
What if... there were available renewable and entirely environmentally sustainable energy sources? Would we be encouraged to use them or would powerful fossil fuel lobby groups prevail?
And so the list goes on, I'm would like to think that that the above what ifs are hypothetical but are they? My younger brother has a saying "Remember its all about the money." May all our collective gods be with us if that is the case.
Thursday 27 December 2007
Monday 24 December 2007
Merry Christmas everyone.
1Ds II with 70-200 f2.8 IS lens @ 200mmHey... everyone have a great and safe holiday season, we've got tow days off so I'm outa here.
The image above is of the lovely Rhian, and was captured using available light while she was sitting on a bed with lit form a large window on one side of the room.
The image above is of the lovely Rhian, and was captured using available light while she was sitting on a bed with lit form a large window on one side of the room.
Friday 21 December 2007
How to make a small fortune from photography?
Canon 1Ds II 70-200 f2.8 is lens shot way after sun downA chance meeting last night with fellow photographer Paul Dickeson was both brief and pleasant. I have for a long time admired Paul's art photography, and hope that one day the rest of the world will also recognize this mans gift. However I stray from the point. Paul reminded me of a something that I use to tell aspiring photographers.
I would ask them How do you make a small fortune from photography? After a bit of time considering that question and a few puzzled looks I would then tell them the secret...
"Start with a large fortune!"
The image posted above is one that I shot about twelve months ago, after finishing an ideas test shoot for a client, we had the model stand in the river, bathed in the last light of twilight and with the reflections of the coloured sky dancing in the water behind her shot a series of images just for the fun of it. We get to photograph lots of beautiful women, but rarely do I shoot pretty girls in bikinis. So I figured I'd post this one just because I can.
We're off to shoot the wedding of another photographer today, which we're looking forward to greatly. It's always an honour to be chosen by a couple to create their wedding images, but when the clients are also photographers its kinda special...
I would ask them How do you make a small fortune from photography? After a bit of time considering that question and a few puzzled looks I would then tell them the secret...
"Start with a large fortune!"
The image posted above is one that I shot about twelve months ago, after finishing an ideas test shoot for a client, we had the model stand in the river, bathed in the last light of twilight and with the reflections of the coloured sky dancing in the water behind her shot a series of images just for the fun of it. We get to photograph lots of beautiful women, but rarely do I shoot pretty girls in bikinis. So I figured I'd post this one just because I can.
We're off to shoot the wedding of another photographer today, which we're looking forward to greatly. It's always an honour to be chosen by a couple to create their wedding images, but when the clients are also photographers its kinda special...
Thursday 20 December 2007
Getting High..
Nikon D2x 17-35 f2.8Still the busy times roll, so just a quick post today. The above pic is of the flight crew for a recent aerial shoot, left to right are Rob our great pilot from Sunraysia Helicopters, the outback photographer himself, minus hat because hats blow off when your working out of aircraft with the doors off, and of course Stephanie who normally spends her time in front of our computer but doubles as card changing, camera handling data logging assistant when we're in the air.
The aircraft is a Bell Jetranger which is a beautiful aircraft to shoot from, stable and plenty of room for assistants and equipment. Expensive yes but worth every cent... All we have to do now is convince clients of its value.
The aircraft is a Bell Jetranger which is a beautiful aircraft to shoot from, stable and plenty of room for assistants and equipment. Expensive yes but worth every cent... All we have to do now is convince clients of its value.
Wednesday 12 December 2007
Not enough hours in the day!
More to do each day and less time to do it in. The magic date, 25 December is fast approaching and the pressure will continue to grow.
Today started at 4:30am, checking equipment and loading the truck for a two day shoot in Swan Hill. It could be argued that I should have loaded up last night but when I finished up my last job at midnight, nothing was further from my mind. Before hitting the road for the two hour drive to Swan Hill, I had an aerial shoot to handle first. I'd booked the helicopter for 6:30am and by first light at 5am it was becoming apparent that suitable light was going to be a problem. Casting an eye towards light overcast building by the minute it was going to be touch and go as to whether we could justify taking off as scheduled or pulling the pin and going another day. One of the jobs we were shooting had a narrow window of opportunity so I finally made a decision to fly. Picking up my assistant for the job, Stephanie, and arriving at the airport right on time.
Pre-flight briefings out of the way, we took off to our first photography site, while the lighting gods came through and gave us some great light, buy the time we reached our second target things were strarting to look a little worse but Rob our pilot was able to manoeuvre the Jetranger quickly into position so we were able to get the required shots. Just to the east of our second target there is a large billabong of water, which I decided to get Rob to do a low level pass over just to see if there were any shots going to happen. I can't wait to see the results I think I got some nice shots here but unfortunately once back on the ground I had to reluctantly hand off the memory cards to Stephanie who was hading back to the studio while I continued on to Swan Hill. Its now 4:30pm and I've got a 2 hour break before I start on the final location shoot for the day and I can tell you I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep.
Talk to you tomorrow I hope..
Today started at 4:30am, checking equipment and loading the truck for a two day shoot in Swan Hill. It could be argued that I should have loaded up last night but when I finished up my last job at midnight, nothing was further from my mind. Before hitting the road for the two hour drive to Swan Hill, I had an aerial shoot to handle first. I'd booked the helicopter for 6:30am and by first light at 5am it was becoming apparent that suitable light was going to be a problem. Casting an eye towards light overcast building by the minute it was going to be touch and go as to whether we could justify taking off as scheduled or pulling the pin and going another day. One of the jobs we were shooting had a narrow window of opportunity so I finally made a decision to fly. Picking up my assistant for the job, Stephanie, and arriving at the airport right on time.
Pre-flight briefings out of the way, we took off to our first photography site, while the lighting gods came through and gave us some great light, buy the time we reached our second target things were strarting to look a little worse but Rob our pilot was able to manoeuvre the Jetranger quickly into position so we were able to get the required shots. Just to the east of our second target there is a large billabong of water, which I decided to get Rob to do a low level pass over just to see if there were any shots going to happen. I can't wait to see the results I think I got some nice shots here but unfortunately once back on the ground I had to reluctantly hand off the memory cards to Stephanie who was hading back to the studio while I continued on to Swan Hill. Its now 4:30pm and I've got a 2 hour break before I start on the final location shoot for the day and I can tell you I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep.
Talk to you tomorrow I hope..
Sunday 9 December 2007
Great photos...
Like to see some great examples of modern photojournalism, then head on over to the VII website and enjoy.
It gets busier by the minute...
Canon 1Ds II, 70-200 2.8 IS lensOne of the drawbacks of working in the bush is that it is hard to find appropriate people and when you do and you spend time training them to a standard where they are useful they become unavailable do to other commitments. So its back to the same old long hours and impossible deadlines for another year.
Monday 3 December 2007
Water... are we serious?
The other day while driving back from a location check, we took a small detour through an area that I hadn't visited from probably 20 plus years. A once thriving farming area is now not much more than a wasteland. As water for irrigation has become more expensive, the farmers, mostly dairy producers have been forced off the land, leaving vast tracks of land weed infested and unused. Now you could argue that poor farming practices led to the downfall of these farmers, and I would have to agree. flood irrigation of crops, to me seems to be entirely wasteful.
A number of resilient an innovative producers are making a go of farming their land, turning to newer farming and management practices, while producing higher value products. But the one thing that stood out most to me was the method of delivering water to the farm. Open earthen channels criss crossed the area. Large wide dirt channels. A channel system right out of the stone age, in fact this is the most primitive way of delivering water in existence and its still in use. These channel systems are maintained by semi government authorities and have been for over a hundred years. In that time it seems to me that these delivery systems have had nothing other than cosmetic changes made to them. Farmers have paid ever increasing amounts of money for their water. The revenues from the sale of water have been steadily flowing back into government coffers and in return the irrigators have been getting little in return. They have admittedly received their water, delivered to them in via the most primitive methods available.
It must really hurt farmers to be now hear governments talk about taking a long hard look at the viability of these areas and closing down pumped districts which still use channel systems. Favoring instead to make land available to large corporations who will bring to the areas modern irrigation practices that small farmers are unable to do. Quite funny in a way. Successive governments have milked the water cash cow for years, by taking the farmers money, but refusing to reinvest any of the earnings back into the irrigation schemes, then when the going gets tough, pointing a finger at farmers, telling them they are inefficient uses of a vital resource and they'll have to go.
A number of resilient an innovative producers are making a go of farming their land, turning to newer farming and management practices, while producing higher value products. But the one thing that stood out most to me was the method of delivering water to the farm. Open earthen channels criss crossed the area. Large wide dirt channels. A channel system right out of the stone age, in fact this is the most primitive way of delivering water in existence and its still in use. These channel systems are maintained by semi government authorities and have been for over a hundred years. In that time it seems to me that these delivery systems have had nothing other than cosmetic changes made to them. Farmers have paid ever increasing amounts of money for their water. The revenues from the sale of water have been steadily flowing back into government coffers and in return the irrigators have been getting little in return. They have admittedly received their water, delivered to them in via the most primitive methods available.
It must really hurt farmers to be now hear governments talk about taking a long hard look at the viability of these areas and closing down pumped districts which still use channel systems. Favoring instead to make land available to large corporations who will bring to the areas modern irrigation practices that small farmers are unable to do. Quite funny in a way. Successive governments have milked the water cash cow for years, by taking the farmers money, but refusing to reinvest any of the earnings back into the irrigation schemes, then when the going gets tough, pointing a finger at farmers, telling them they are inefficient uses of a vital resource and they'll have to go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
