Photography by norbs. (norbography)

Blogged Off

2008-08-14T22:36:00.002+10:00

As from this point on, all Blogging will happen over here.... http://toddnorburyphotography.com/blog/

Seeya there.

1st Frame of my 1st film developed right here at home.

2008-07-20T16:15:00.001+10:00

1st Frame of my 1st film developed right here at home., originally uploaded by norbography.

Yes, it is true, I have joined the film brigade. I have 4 film cameras, 2 of which I was given, and 2 I got off eBay. I have bought all the chemicals and the gear needed to develop to a negative. I also got myself a cheapo film scanner. The frame in this post is the 1st frame from the 1st film I developed at home. Looking forward to doing more soon.

Drops

2008-06-30T20:08:00.001+10:00

Drops, originally uploaded by norbography.

Water drops have always seemed to hard to get photos of, but now I know, it isnt that hard at all. Good light, nice drops and a macro lens is all you need to produce the goods.

Canon 5D, Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and 24mm Extension tubes.

Particle Beam

2008-06-12T09:18:00.001+10:00

Particle Beam, originally uploaded by norbography.

Oh, thats right, I have a Blog.

Well I better make an addition to it for the person that apparently views it once a week. Thank you fan.

This shot was taken on a windy night near the beach. I held a flash out in front of the camera and fired it. It caught the spray in the air and projected a blue-ish beam. I reckon it is pretty cool.

Tracking that bird

2008-03-20T08:17:00.001+11:00

Tracking that bird, originally uploaded by norbography.

More proof that I currently have a fascination with seagulls.

The yearly update

2008-03-14T15:10:00.003+11:00

Time for a yearly update.

Carrying on from where I left off, just on a year ago. February 2007 to February 2008 has been not as much a learning experience as an experimenting experience. Now that I have a bit more confidence in my abilities as a photographer, I have started to try different styles and
techniques. Many times, completely stuffing a chance at a good phot, but it has been rewarding none the less. In late February 2007, I once again upgraded camera bodies. Out with the 1.6X crop of the 30D, and hello full frame goodness of the Canon 5D. Here is the 1st shot I took out of the box.

All photos can be clicked on for a larger view

Holy moly Batman, thats some severe vignetting! As it turned out, it was actually the 50mmf/1.8 lens had been dropped and theplastic backing had come away slightly from the body. Only about 1.5mm, but with the added size of the 5D's mirror, enough to upset things. Once that was sorted, it was situation normal again.

March saw a few trips out, the 1st being to Olympic Park at Homebush one night with a couple of blokes from Flickr. I was starting to concetrate more on composition than just wildly snapping things and hoping for the best.

That photo fo Homebush Park railway station was one of the better ones from that night. The lowlight abilities of the 5D certainly made shooting at night alot easier. And, the fact that it didn't have a built in flash certainly made you think about things.

A trip to Melbourne for a party in March also got me out and about. It was about this time that I started taking photos that I knew I would turn into black and white in Photoshop.

It must be part of your development (bad pun) as a photographer that you go through phases, and see things slightly differently.

I knew when I composed this what I wanted. Some motion blur on the trams, but the rest as sharp as possible. I now knew enough to be able to execute this. Obviously I was no world renowned street photographer, but I know a few months earlier I wouldn't have been able to figure out the right aperture settings to get that shot.

Did somebody say phase? It took a storm of biblical proportions to jolt me out of the B&W phase. Laying in bed one night, it sounded like a 767 had landed on the roof. After laying there blinking and rubbing my eyes, I soon realised we were having a cracking thunder storm. Oooh,
lightning shots. Something I had never tried before, but hey, how hard could it be?

Actually, it was alot harder than I thought. A couple of things. It is usually persisting down during a storm. And the other thing that makes you slightly cautious, are those bloody great arcs of light crackling around the sky and looking for a path of least resistance to the ground.
I took the above shot huddled under a petrol station awning, shaking like a leaf. The noise and light was unbelievable. It was one of those storms you dont get to see very often, or when you do, you dont have a camera handy.

As I said earlier, it was a time to experiment. And part of this was getting out and about a bit more. I had driven past this site at White bay thousands of times with out giving it a second look. But when photography becomes a hobby, ney, passion, you see things differently.

Not a great shot when seen large, but I loved the colours and feel of this one. And I could see potential in these derelict night scenes.

Obviously March was a busy month. I cranked out some macro work.

And old hard drive stripped down is a fascinating thing to look at and photograph. Well I thought so.

Also in March, the Sydney Harbour Bridge had a little celebration.

75 years old and they were expecting a massive crowd. Not being a huge fan of crowds, I headed in really early and got some shots I was very happy with. This one of the Cahill Expressway was taken in a very strange light and I knew it would lend itself to some slight desaturation in post processing.

April is a favourite month, as it is usually Royal Easter Show time. But this year, a friend of ours gave birth to young Jack, so it was my 1st chance to take some shots of a new born.

proud parents Paul and Ruth seemed happy enough with the shots to ask me to photograph their wedding. Gulp. But that was some time off. 1st, lets get to the show.

Fasion and Style indeed.

And how often do you see this?

An empty Show Bag pavilion?

Walking around the local neighbourhood at night, things are transformed, and something as simple as a speed bump, can look entirely different in long exposure photography.

Late April in Australia, we celebrate ANZAC day. A day for our war heroes to march and be proud. I would urge anyone who hasn't been to a dawn service, to get to one. To see these proud and brave men is a humbling thing indeed. It poured with rain last year and yet there they
were, in their thousands. It is a day full of emotion, and you dont have to be a terrific photographer to be able to get photos like this.

or

Before April was out, I got over to Cockatoo Island with a bunch from Flickr. Another must see for the Sydney photographers.

May saw me leave on my 2nd photographic road trip. This time I was headed for a mates 40th at Broken Hill. As it was, his mother got very ill and passed away. But I didnt find out til the day before i got to Broken Hill. Before that I had visited Bathurst, Parkes, Dubbo and
Cobar.

For someone who has never been to the outback before, it is a terrific experience. This is such a big country. With a few side trips and driving about, I had covered nearly 1500kms by the time I got to broken Hill.

Just to the west of Broken Hill is the old mining town of Silverton, a photographers dream location. red dirt, clear blue skies and derelict buildings.

In total I took about 2500 photos on the trip, of which, 139 are here.

Easily, one of my faves from the trip is the Moo Quartet.

June was a quiet month, we moved to the south coast and I had a cracking flu most of the month.

July was the wedding I had been asked to shoot earlier in the year. I had bought a new 50mm f/1.4 lens just for the occasion, and just as well. Lighting was terrible in a marquee out the back of a house. It was a top wedding, but hard work for me as a very amatuer photographer.

probably the best shot of the night wasn't even of the happy couple.

So my 1st wedding, and probably the last. I have nothing but respect for people that try wedding photography. It is a lot of pressure.

August, lunar eclipse time. Not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be, but I did manage to cobble this little montage together that was well received on Flickr.

Some odds and sods from September.

October started off with some more experimneting with some new ND filters. Hills Hoist take off.

And with the vege patch going in, it was time for some macro fun.

November, and I was lucky enough to spy a full rainbow, and have the camera, and a lens just wide enough to squeeze it all into frame.

It was also my 1st wedding anniversary, so the bride and I went away to
Bawley point and Mollymook for a few days. I had just acquired a Canon
80-200 f/2.8 lens. A magnificent piece of kit.

Both taken with the "Magic drainpipe".

November 24th saw the people do exactly what the sign said....

December was pretty quiet, but I managed a couple of animal shots I was proud of.

Both very different, but finally I was confident enough to try shots like this, knowing that I was half a chance at suceeding in what I was doing. It had taken the best part of 2 years, but I was finally getting somewhere.

January, 2008, and another animal shot.

I thought lightning was hard to shoot. At least you can open the shutter and leave it for 10 seconds and hope you jag it. Bloody Flipper wont pop up where and when you want him to.

February 2008. More experimenting. First, lets turn a very good camera into a pinhole camera.

Not my best image ever, but one that was very satisfying none the less.

Some more experimenting.

One of my better photos.

And that rounds out another year of norbs and his dSLR. Obviously I haven't learnt as much in the last 12 months as what i did in the previous 12 months, and I dare say, the calibre of photo taken may not be a huge improvement, but it does show with some persistance and sheer
bloody mindedness, you can achieve some reasonable results.

I hope it helps people get out and press that shutter button.
Photography is an incredibly rewarding hobby.

Lunar Eclipse August 2007

2007-08-29T11:00:00.001+10:00

Lunar Eclipse August 2007, originally uploaded by norbography.

What is quickly becoming my most popular photo on Flickr, is the lunar eclipse 2007.

Was certainly interesting taking the photos. I had some time to fine tune the process prior to the eclipse starting. It was surprising just how dark it got once the moon was half shadowed by the earth.

Crop factor cameras and zoom.

2007-08-14T08:08:00.001+10:00

A bird!, originally uploaded by norbography.

This BLOG entry has nothing to do with birds. Its all above zoom and cropped sensor cameras. I use this photo because it is perhaps one of my better shots with my 70-200mm zoom lens.

I must admit, I have had a bit of a bug up my arse for months regarding this topic. The thing that has burred me up is the statement you hear from some quarters re. cropped factor sensors giving you more reach! They dont. I am going to quote a few different sources here, but I am going to explain it as best I can.

A cropped sensor has no way of making the camera lense magnify the object you are taking a photo of. Full stop. Now, to quote some people far more eloquent than myself.

Dale Allyn says in a Flickr thread here Picture your film camera (or Canon 5D) capturing an image of the front of a school, from building edge to building edge. It doesn't matter what lens we use for the shot or the focal length.

Now picture a smaller rectangle drawn on that image that is about 38% smaller than the field of view captured by the film camera shot. It would exclude the the ends of the school building, some of the sky and some of the foreground, just like we were using a longer lens – just like a lens that was 1.6 times longer in focal length. That's the view that we would record with an XT, 20D or 30D.

This is how a crop factor sensor "sees" the scene. It's a smaller sensor than the film (or full-frame sensor like the 5D) and so the rest of the view is just sort of splashed off of the sensor edges. (Not really splashed off, but for our purposes here). It's sort of like having a projection screen set up in your house, but the projector is set so that 38% of the projected image is cast outside of the screen boundaries. We don't see or enjoy the details outside of the dimensions of the projection screen.

There is an excellent explanation here.

When it is all said and done, a cropped sensor gives you the field of vision of a longer lense, but not the reach/zoom of one.

Phew.

Ominous Sky

2007-08-03T11:36:00.001+10:00

Ominous Sky, originally uploaded by norbography.

I love when there is a weird light and this was one of the weirdest.

The 28-135mm lens took a dive a few months back, and every now and then it vignettes quite heavily. It actually helps in this photo. There was a very weird light tonight after I walked the dogs, so I went down to the boat ramp for a better look and a photo. 1 out of 25 turned out. :)

norbs, a photographic history...

2007-02-26T15:50:00.000+11:00

Inspired by Admiral (at OCAU) and Mole2k (at RSC), I have tried my best to put together a bit of a dSLR journey, as done my norbs.

I got my very 1st dSLR camera in November 2005. It was a pre-loved Canon 300D. Add to that a couple of kit lenses and I was away. The very 1st photo I took with this camera is below.

All photos can be viewed in a larger size by clicking on them.

Shot using the Macro mode on the 300D, I was happy that it was a clear photo. I spent a good couple of hours out in the backyard snapping shots of all manner of things. Not knowing a damned thing about aperture or exposure, it was all done, Im ashamed to say, in Auto mode. At this point, I didn't even realise the exposure meter in the view finder was just that. Over the next few weeks, I dabbled with manual mode, only to take a hell of alot of over and under exposed photos. Hmm, this was starting to feel like I had made a bad choice. I knew bugger all about photography and it showed in my photos. I dont know how many times I went for a walk and took a stack of photos only to get home and find that most of them were rubbish. The read LCD screen on the 300D was showing them as being ok, but on the big screen, they were a mess. I had a lot to learn.

In December, Andree and I went away for christmas to her brothers place at Wagga Wagga and then to Albury and Culburrra Beach. Lots and lots of portraits, nothing too flash, but I got a few pleasing photos and people liked what they saw. Whilst in Albury, we went out on Andree's brothers speed boat for some wake boarding. Here is a challenge. Set the 300D to Tv (time priority) and away we went.

Seymour cuts a swathe.

And getting some air.

Wow, hey, look out, Im a sports photographer. Obviously, they aren't all that good, but they were a damned side better than I expected. I was still struggling with the whole photography thing. I had read about exposure, aperture and shutter speed, but it hadn't really sunk in. By the time the trip was over, I had a load of photos, but nothing that I really couldn't have done with the old IXUS point and shoot.

Late in January, we went down to my mums place in Culburra Beach. I was a bit nervous about using my dSLR on the beach. Sand and salt water aren't to kind to cameras apparently. Again, lots of experimenting, and again, lots of dud photos. But I did jag this one.

My foot.

It is still one of the most popular of my 1400 odd photos on Flickr. Nice and sharp and the colours aren't to bad either. February and March were lean months, the photography bug really hadn't bitten at this stage and I was fighting a bit of a nasty settlement case in court.

April, and the Royal Easter Show rolls around. Well, this has to be a good opportunity for a budding photographer. My girlfriend was overseas and I had heaps of time, so off I went. Movement, colour and lights. Wow! Snap, snap ..........snap. I had learned a little bit more by this stage, so I could almost figure out how to minimize depth of field.

Well I thought I had.

As you can see, I hadn't quite got the affect I wanted. That lovely blurry look as the clowns moved further away from the lense. What the hell I was I doing wrong. All would be revealed a few weeks later. I did manage another photo that was, and still is one of my faves.

This pup looked up just as I had finished focussing.

The next real photo opportunity I got was at Mount panorama, Bathurst. The Bathurst Festival of Speed was on. A couple of hours drive out west to see a stack of cars zinging around Bathurst. As it turned out, it was a crap day. Hardly any racing on and lots of waiting. Again, alot of photos taken and quite a few keepers.

The Torana goes over the mountain.

It was here that I realised there is a whole lot more to motorsport photography than just pointing and clicking the button. Panning became something I wanted to be better at. The changing light made things difficult, and it was after the day at Bathurst that I decided that I have to learn more about photography if I wanted to take a good photo.

May came and it really was the month the penny dropped. It was prompted by 2 things in particular. The 1st one was when I finally got my head around how aperture affected depth of field. I can even remember the moment it happened.

Ahaaaaa......

I remember taking this photo and thinking.. "if this doesn't work, I'll give it away". When I looked into the LCD after the shot I felt a rush. It had worked. So now, I realised what happened when I used a large aperture. And because of the bizzare way we talk about aperture, I had been messing it up every time. Small f stop, large aperture, small depth of field was how I remembered it from then on.

The second thing that happened was a meet up with 3 guys from the OCAU photography forums. All three had alot more experience than I did, so it was terrific for me to go out with them and learn a few things. Admiral, or Kris Dick to use his real name was more than generous with his time and patience. Amongst a few fantastic tips, he demystified the whole apeture mystery by saying something like, "Apeture just means hole!" It was like someone had turned a light on in my brain. Sure, it sounds simple, and I must sound like a tool for letting something so simple befuddle me, but I can't explain the differance it made to my confidence.

Just one shot from that night.

June saw me out and about, taking photos of everything and anything. It was the 1st time I had tried anything approaching arty type shots. Im not a huge fan of the pretentious photo's that you see hanging in gallerys around the place. But I thought I may as well try and see how it works.

Not exactly stunning, but it was high art for this little black duck.

The photography bug had bitten. And how. I was starting to understand alot more about it, purely by doing it over and over. But it did get me out there, and even, up early in the morning.

Sunrise, the 1st of many.

July was a big month. Thanks to the conclusion of a long running property settlement, I splurged and bought myself some new kit.

mmmmmm, good!

Yep, a brand new Canon 30D. Wow, what a differance. It felt solid. Its was heavy. It shot 5 frames per second. 8 megapixels. A groovy dial doodad on the back. It really was too good a piece of gear for this rank amatuer, but hey, you only get divorced once (I hope). With this baby in my grubby mitt, it was off on a roadtrip. Time to give this baby a work out. Canberra 1st stop.

An experiment with light painting.

The to Wagga Wagga, Wodonga, Castlemaine, Melbourne, Lakes Entrance, Eden, Naroooma and back home. What a blast. Plenty of early morning get ups and late nights. Lots of walking and talking to locals. I had a ball.

One of my faves from the trip.

August 2006 saw me out all over the place. Night time in the city. Down to the beach. Batemans Bay with work. All the time with the camera. It was beginning to be my main hobby. More and more, photos turned out the way I had hoped they would. I was actually getting the hang of it. I bought a macro lense and found out how much fun it is to photograph tiny things.

A little hoverfly.

September and back to Eastern Creek for some more car racing photos. This time I was alot more confident, and guess what? I stuffed most of the photos up. :) I was trying to pan at 1/60th of a second. Nup, not good enough for that yet.

Cortina goodness.

Heaps of outings and lots more photos. Lots more learning as well. Photography is like getting older. The more you learn, the more you realise you dont know.

October was a busy month. 21 days I went out taking photos. Either after work, during work or weekends. Nights, early mornings and just arsing around at home. Again, another busy month of learning. It was the month I went to Lilyfield train yards and did some urban type shots. It was also the night I thought I was going to be killed by a train.

A long exposure.

November was a massive month. Sculptures by the sea was on along the coast. What a great opportunity for some photos. But the big one was my wedding and honeymoon. The wedding was a great day.

Bertie, Gerg and Macca try and calm my nerves.

The honeymoon in Vietnam was a photographers heaven. Click that link for more photos from Vietnam, but here is one of my faves.

See, I can pan.

After a month like that, and purchasing a house in December, it was time for a bit of a rest. Apart from the chrissy rush, not much was done in December.

January 2007 saw macros come back. Portraits and crash zooming. Lots of experimenting to be done and lots to learn.

Which brings us to February. Now. Present. No more rambling. I still have a long way to go, but judging by the reception this photo has got, I am getting better.

The Opera House.

Thanks for all those people I have hassled with stupid questions and have given their time to help me understand this terrific hobby that is photography.

Waiting to see Dawn's crack

2007-02-19T16:31:00.001+11:00

Waiting to see Dawn's crack, originally uploaded by norbography.

I have never had a Flickr photo as popular as this. Over 500 views in 2 days and 30 odd faves.

It has had a bit of work in photoshop to try and clear up the mass of dust bunnies. Damn Eastern Creek is too dusty a place to be changing lenses.

My mate and 10 bucks

2006-12-19T18:47:00.000+11:00

My mate
Originally uploaded by norbography.

There is a bit of a story to go with this photo.

The night before, Andree and I were sitting at the Can Cafe (70c 435ml bottles of beer) having a cool drink and a feed, when these 3 little kids came up and saw the camera. They asked me to take their photos. Fair enough. Click, click. 2 complete duds (it may have been the beer, but I am blaming the dark) As usual, they then put the grubby mitts out for some money. I gave them what was about the equivalent of AU$1. Well, they laughed and took off and we could still here them laughing a while later. I said to Andree, "I am going to give someone ten bucks, just to see the look on their faces". Those who know me know, Im not usually the one to be splashing cash around, but hey, I wanted to see what happened, and they needed it more than me.

Next morning, I was up at 4am to go to the markets and see how the real people lived, with no tourists around. I headed off and had a ball.

I originally saw this old bloke walking across the bridge towards me when I was taking a shot of the bridge in the sunrise.

He then approached me and posed for a photo. Right, snapped a couple of quick shots and put the camera down. He nodded and walked off. I motioned for him to stop, then grabbed 100,000 Dong (very roughly, about 10 dollars) and put it in his hand as I shook it. He looked in his hand and his face lit up. He then grabbed me by the arm and dragged me off. I was trying to put my wallet away, secure the camera and not tread on the hordes of tiny Vietnamese minding their own business.

He dragged me through the markets and into an alleyway. There were about 6 old blokes playing Mahjong and eating breakfast. He spoke to jis friends and showed them the 100000 Dong. They all laughed and I thought it was going to cost me a fortune to get out of there. But no, they sat me down and all started chatting away and laughing and eating. They then handed me a plate of food (I still dont know what it was I ate, but it was very tasty) and some steaming tea and I ate breakfast with them. It was a highlight of the trip. They were all nattering away and I didnt have a clue what was being said, but they seemed happy enough and loved the fact that I ate with them. I was a bit apprehensive to begin with, but it was one of those rare occasions that only happen once in your life. And I am glad i met them all and had the experience.

So, to my unknown mate, thank you to you and all your friends. You made my day.

Footnote: I realise some people will frown on giving people money for a photo, but it created a fantastic opportunity and made me just as happy as them. So please, no more emails about how poor my morals are.

Under a train

2006-10-19T17:50:00.000+10:00

Under a train
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Yes, thats right, it is the under side of a flatbed train carriage. I have been driving past some railyards at Lilyfield in Sydney for years and years. When ever I drive past, I always have a quick look and think, "That would make some terrific photo opportunities in there". So last night, I took a stoll through there.

I ended up wandering around for over 2 hours, trying to get good angles and exploring different areas. You can walk from Victoria Road at the Eastern end, all the way to Balmain Rd (about 1.6km), and maybe further. Access is very easy. But you do need some rather sturdy shoes. My feet were killing me by the time I got home.

At one point, I had just crawled underneath the carriage you see in the picture above, and was setting the tripod up. You have to realise, it is pretty cramped under there, and I am not a hobbit. I had a backpack on my back, camera on tripod and I was under a train carriage. I used the torch on my mobile phone to light the axle and wheels and did a longish exposure. I had just taken the photo, and was thinking about another from a slightly different angle, when the noise of carriages clunking and moving gave me a rather scary moment. I didn't realise right away, but the line of carrigaes, next to where I was, had just been shunted by a loco further up the yard. I dived out, quickly reached around and grabbed the camera and tripod and then realised it wasn't the train I was under. Oh boy, nothing like a bit of adrenalin coursing around your system to make you feel alive.

That little fright aside, I had a ball. It is pretty dark and have to say, I was a bit spooked a couple of times, but I hope the photos show it was a worthwhile trip.

More can be found on my Flickr site.

Flying flags

2006-10-12T18:40:00.000+10:00

Flying flags
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Ok, something that has been bothering me for a while now. Night time focussing. How the hell do people do it. I reckon 90% of my night time photos are all out of focus. Is there a secret to getting the focus pin sharp at night time?

BTW, this was one of the all too rare in focus night shots. (Yeah, yeah, there was plenty of light, but it was still dark :) )

Rungs to no where

2006-10-06T23:06:00.000+10:00

Rungs to no where
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Well it isn't often I get home and download my photos and see one that came out exactly how I had planned it. But today, I struck it.

Whilst wandering around the northen end of Pyrmont, I came across these weird, but terrific, sculptures. They are located in Pyrmont Point Park. You are probably wondering why I called them sculptures. Well, I am just going off a sign I saw that said "Don't climb on sculptures". They are actually moving structures that are powered by the waves/tide and wind. The black part you see holding the ladder is cantilevered off the wharf and has a large float at the other end. When the waves hit it, it move up and down. The ladders have 2 panels in them at the top. You can see them in the photo. The wind hits them and pushes them over. I would love to be there in a southerly buster with a huge sea.

I was pleased with this shot, as I took quiet a bit of time setting it up. I wanted to get exactly in the middle of the ladder. I wanted it to be in a position where it looked like you could climb into the clouds. And the thing that took the longest, was waiting for the clouds to give me a gradual light to dark look in the background. It took some time, but I reckon it was worth the wait.

Security guards.

2006-09-20T16:55:00.000+10:00

Lights n Lines
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Last night, I had to pick my girlfriend up from the airport, so I ventured out about 15 minutes early to see what I could find. As part of my "Learn a lense" trips, I only had the 70-200mm f4L lense with me. I have tried this a few times, forcing me to learn how best to use my gear.

So, there I am, driving around the back of the airport, when a find a terrific spot, near the control tower, where you can get reasonably close to the domestic planes taxiing out. Out of the car and try as I might, it was just too damned dark to get any good clear photos. It seems with shutter speeds longer than about 1/20th second, I just don't have steady enough hands. Whilst I was there, a car with Protective Services stops, and I see him looking towards me. I was done, so I wandered over to see if I was being a naughty photographer. The bloke was great. He told me my car was bit bit close to an access lane and would I please move it. No problems, I am off any way.

I drive over to the domestic terminal and wait for my girlfriend. Hmm, she is taking a while. Might just jump out and grab a few snaps around the terminal. I noticed the luggage trolleys all lined up, so fired of a couple of shots of them, one whilst laying flat on the ground. Then I noticed the lights and the line on the road across from where I had stopped. Check for traffic, nothing. Wander across the road to get the shots. Just as I finished, I notice a woman with traffic control on her vest signalling me to get off the road. I crossed the road to tell her I was just getting aphoto and she launched into me. "You are not allowed to take photos!" "This is private property!" "Delete the photos!" "Why are you taking photos?" She had lost me at delete the photos, so I told her in a not so courteous manner to piss off. I then walked back to my car.

I was having a look at the photos when bugger me, not 2 mins later, 3 Protective services cars appear and approach me. It seems miss bossy boots has been on the blower. Luckily for me, the same guy that asked me to move my car was there and he handled the whole thing. Basically telling me that I should stay off the road, and in the current climate, wandering around late at night with a rather large camera and lense might not be the best hobby in the world. He took some details and gave me a few places that I could take photos in peace. Overall, a top bloke, just doing his job.

Now, the point of this rather long winded rambling is this. The real guys looking after security, that is, a branch of the federal police, were great to deal with. Why is it that a traffic control person and last weekend, some security monkeys are the ones with the attitudes? I say good on the Protective services fellows, they were professional and explained the situation. The other knuckle heads need to wake up and realise there are better ways to deal with situations than to heavy people.

The more the merrier.

2006-09-18T20:22:00.000+10:00

Sails
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Well, the last couple of days I have spent with my mate Macca, taking photos all around Sydney Harbour. I must say, it is so much more enjoyable taking photos with other people. You get to chat about setting up a shot, watch what they are doing and learn along the way. Its amazing seeing someone else frame a shot you completely missed or thought looked rubbish. Macca , like me is still learning about this dSLR malarky, but it was great fun chatting and bouncing ideas around. Check out some of his ripper photos here.

Where does photography stop.......

2006-09-11T22:35:00.000+10:00

Really? (PSD)
Originally uploaded by norbography.

....... and digital art begin?

I ask this question mainly to start a bit of discussion. The picture to the right has had a fair bit of contrast enhancement done on it, but it is pretty true to the original as far as composition, colour and sharpness. But, I would say this may have over stepped that rather blurry line between what I consider a photograph, and what I consider digital art.

I have looked at many photos on Flickr, and 12 months ago I would have marvelled at how rich the colours were, or how amazingly sharp the image was. But now, I know better. Alot of ordinary photos, can be turned into extraordinary images by some digital shenanigans. Thus the (PSD) on some of my photos. That is a sign that I have given it a bit more than an Auto-Levels and Auto-Colours treatment.

I have heard the arguement regarding people not doing anything that you couldn't have done in the photo lab, but really, how many of the people could have?

Now I know I am sounding like your typical luddite, but I do have some concerns about this, mainly because alot of people don't know this is happening.

Is it right or wrong, I suggest most people don't care, but it certainly matters to me. I don't know where that blurry line is, but I would love to hear other peoples reactions.

norbs

Pinkle

2006-09-11T12:22:00.000+10:00

Pinkle
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Another shot with the 50mm f2.5 lense. I love using this little lense. Not a really great macro lense, but plenty for what I want it for.

My 1st prime lense, and apparently a good lense for portrait photography.

Green

2006-08-24T15:52:00.000+10:00

Green
Originally uploaded by norbography.

One of my 1st photos with my macro lense. A Canon 50mm f/2.5 macro. Boy, f/2.5 at full macro is a bloody shallow depth of field. Its going to take a hell of a lot of practise to get used to using this sucker.

The picture you can see is of a rather large leaf being backlit by the sun. If viewed large, you can see a hell of a lot of detail in the leaf.

Mooning the bridge

2006-08-14T08:28:00.000+10:00

Mooning the bridge
Originally uploaded by norbography.

A forum I am a member of has a monthly photo comp, and this month the topic is bridges. So off I went to try and capture the ANZAC bridge from a new angle at night with a wide angle lense.

It proved to be a bit more difficult than I imagined. Firstly, I was standing in mud the whole time. The tripod kept moving and getting it level was a chore. But I wanted it to be where it was so as I could get the moon reflected in the puddle just in front of the camera.

Once I had the camera set up, it was quite difficult to try and get the exposure right and as you can see by the bridge, I didnt acheive it at all.

One thing I am finding I am having alot of trouble with, is focusiing at night. Auto focus is bloody hopeless, and to be honest, I am not much better.

Whether I will actually enter this shot or not in this months comp is still undecided. I might have another crack at it, but I wont have the moon as full as it was on this night.

More on DOF.

2006-08-08T17:37:00.000+10:00

Well after a lot of positive emails about the previous post, I thought I would post another link to a very good explanation of Depth of Field. This one is a little more dtailed, naturally, but just as good a read.

www.cambridgeincolour.com

Remember, DOF can greatly affect a photo. It helps to put the attention on a particular point. Also, it isn't just things in the background that you can throw out of focus. Things in the foreground OOF can help a photo too. Here are a couple of examples.

This is a perfect example of the background thrown out of focus. I only wanted the sugar container in focus on that photo, so I set a low F stop, f/5.6, and focussed on the container itself.

You can still see the other sugar containers in the background, but they aren't the focus of attention.

In this example, I have again gone for an f/4.5 and focussed on the musician on the right and the one to the left is out of focus (OOF)

I hope that helps. I know when I realised you could actually control this sort of thing, my photos started to look better.

How I figured out DOF.

2006-08-07T22:57:00.000+10:00

Ok, before we go any further, let me just point out, I am no genius when it comes to photography. I learn by doing things. So if you are like me and need to go and do things to learn, this little BLOG entry maybe of some help to you too.

This whole dSLR business was completely new to me about 10 months ago, then I bought a second hand Canon EOS 300D and I had a rather steep learning curve to try and come to grips with. f stops, apertures, exposure, shutter speeds etc etc etc. Having only used an old IXUS II before, point and shoot had been my world.

One thing that always intrigued me as a photographic ignorama (that may not be a word) was how those slick photos with something in focus and the rest out of focus was done. So I asked a few stupid questions, Googled like a demon and found out the answer was Aperture settings. Ah, so off I go. Change to manual mode on the dSLR and everything is stuffed up. As I go for greater depth of field, every thing got dark and blurry. As it turns out, exposure is a VERY important thing in photography. Well I'll be buggered. More reading and it turns out that aperture and shutter speed have a relationship. One that I may venture into when I understand it better.

f5.6
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Ok, so set the camera to Aperture Priority and have another crack at it. Now you can see from the picture to my left, or your right, and you might have to click it and see the larger version to appreciate it, that I have focussed on the front of the formula 1 car (thats the red car at the front for the car racing ignorama). Notice the dark green car at the back is out of focus, or OOF if you are reading photographic forums. Ok, that was taken with an aperture setting of f/5.6.

f10
Originally uploaded by norbography. Ok, here we have one that was taken at f/10. Again you may need to click it to see it in its massive glory. You should be able to tell the differance pretty easily. Forget the stuff up in exposures, look at the sharpness on the next couple of cars back. They are slightly sharper.

f20
Originally uploaded by norbography

Now, this one was taken at F20. Note the sharpness of all the cars now. That, in a very, very basic form is how aperture settings effect depth of field.

Obviously, there is alot more to it than just that. For a much more in depth look at it, and better pictures too I must say, see this terrific site.

I hope that helps. Thanks to daisydingletoy at Flickr for the prompt to pull my finger out.

mmmrrrr mmmmrrrr mmmrrrrrrrrrrr

2006-08-03T16:28:00.000+10:00

mmmrrrr mmmmrrrr mmmrrrrrrrrrrr
Originally uploaded by norbography.

These little buggers were behind glass, and moved around at a rather rapid rate.Yes, that is a grape in his mouth, which gives you some idea of his size.

I would reccomend the Mogo Zoo to anyone going near Batemans Bay, it is well worth the trip.

Narooma first light

2006-08-02T14:46:00.000+10:00

Narooma first light
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Well, this was to be my last pre dawn get up of the trip, so I was glad to see the sky was clear and it looked like being a good day. Apart from the fact it was bloody freezing, it was a good morning with plenty of shots taken. This photo was one fo the better ones.

After grabbing about 120 photos, I headed off to Batemans Bay for lunch. Just 10kms south of Batemans Bay is a place called Mogo. And at that place they have a terrific little zoo. More on that in the next installment.

Here comes the sun.

2006-08-01T21:56:00.000+10:00

Here comes the sun.
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Another early rise to try and capture a nice sunset. I was at Eden last night and because I arrived pretty late, I didnt get any pics or an idea where the sun would rise. So I took a bit of a punt and drove down a very dark driveway marked coastal patrol. As you can see from the photo it turned out to be a reasonable spot.

I set the tripod up and bolted on the wide angle lense and waited. I could smell rain and was worried that I would get wet. But, once again mother nature was a good old girl and the rain came once I was done. While I was snapping away, and things were getting brighter, I turned around whilst having a stretch and a yawn and spotted a ripper rainbow. I quickly spun around and grabbed a few shots of it. See them on my Flickr site.

I left Eden and drove to Bega and Tathra. The famous historic wharf at Tathra was being rebuilt and it was pretty much closed off. Bitter of a bugger. So after a quick breakky, it was off to Narooma.

I had heard a bit about Narooma, all good and it didn't dissapoint. Like Lakes Entrance, it is a photographers dream. Snapped off a load of shots this afternoon and got a few nice shots. Up early tomorrow and off to Mogo Zoo, Batemans Bay and Culburra Beach. Due to the fact that I don't have internet, this post will have to go up when I next get net access.

Our shadow

2006-07-30T20:19:00.000+10:00

Our shadow
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Well as you can probably see, I had a ride in a light aircraft today. My very 1st actually. And it was great fun. I imagine it is what it would be like to have a massive kite strapped to your back in a gale force wind. It was a 4 seated Cessna (Cessna 172 I think it was) and it was cramped. I was up front and was asked not to touch the intruments or controls. Roger that.

Was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to all and sundry.

Have to thank the guys at http://www.eliteairways.info/ for the ride. Look them up if you are ever in Lakes Entrance.

More to come later tonight.

Desserted ship

2006-07-29T20:25:00.000+10:00

Desserted ship
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Well I went back to St Kilda today armed with the wide angle 10-22mm Sigma lense. Had a crack at getting a few more photos fo the "ship wreck".

I find the wide angle a bugger of a lense to use, but when they work, they really work.

I am on a bit of a road trip and have taken a load of photos. Will try and update the site a bit more often over the next few days.

I have been to Canberra,

Wagga Wagga, Wodonga, Castlemaine and Melbourne.

Had a lot of rain up until 2 days ago so have had some catching up to do.

Boy vs Dog.

2006-07-23T20:50:00.000+10:00

Boy vs Dog.
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Sometimes, and very rarely for me, you manage to click the shutter button at just the right time. This is one example. Although it isn't all that sharp, I am happy with it as I have only used this lense (Canon 70-200mm F4 L) a few times and am having a hard time coming to terms with it.

Im not sure who won this little battle, but there was a very loud thud when Ben got in Lexi's

way while she was running for the Frisbee. If I get time, I might even photoshop some horns on Lexi as she does look like a mini bull at Pamploma. :)

Tree backlit.

2006-07-18T21:15:00.000+10:00

Tree backlit.
Originally uploaded by norbography.

This tree is just down the road from me and I love the way it looks some nights. Last night it was getting dark and overcast and the light behind it lit the tree so well.

It was also my first real go at shooting in RAW mode. I can appreciate the advantages, but I think until I am a bit more familiar with Post Processing, I will leave it alone.

And with the power of Google maps, here is the tree. Smack bang in the centre of the screen.

Fatso

2006-07-14T16:55:00.000+10:00

Fatso
Originally uploaded by norbography.

This morning, by request, I made a detour on my way to work to get a photo of the hugely popular Fatso, the fat arsed wombat. Created by Roy And H.G. on the show "The Dream" broadcast in Australia for the 2000 Olympics, Fatso was loved by Australians and Australian athletes more than the official Olympic mascots Syd, Millie and Ollie.

It is quite hard to get a reasonable photo in the drizzle and overcast weather, so I may yet venture out for another crack at photographing this Aussie icon.

When Hydroponics go wrong.

2006-07-11T21:44:00.000+10:00

When Hydroponics go wrong.
Originally uploaded by norbography.

I have been working for Telstra for a long time now, and been in and out of North Sydney exchange numerous times, but today was the 1st time I had the camera with me.

I love the way this tree just grows out of the roof. It was a windy day here in Sydney today, and I managed to get this shot off when the wind had died down a bit. A perfect blue sky with no clouds was a great background.

Photos from the 1st trip out.

2006-07-07T22:31:00.000+10:00

Leaves
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Well I took my son and the dog for a trip up to the Blue Mountains today. A couple of reasons for that. To take the old 300D to its new owner and secondly, we all love bush walking.

Well the camera was great. It has quite a few differances to the 300D so I suppose I will have to risk the loss of my plums and take a look at the manual at some stage.

A few more shots here.

30D and stuff.

2006-07-06T21:58:00.000+10:00

30D and stuff.
Originally uploaded by norbography.

Well today I replaced the 1st Digital SLR camera I owned with this nice shiney Canon 30D and a few lenses. The old 300D was a terrific camera to learn on and I am glad it is going to a good home.

I will be going out tomorrow to take some shots with it and see how it feels. I know already it is a lot heavier the the 300D.