A black-necked stork, captured at the Perth Zoo.

Black-Necked Stork

Perth Zoo, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @70mm, 1/640 sec, f/4, ISO100

Canon have announced the release of the Canon 50D, as well as the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. You can read the official press release on the Canon USA website for more details.
A detailed review of the 50D is available at dpreview.com.

The 50D annoucement comes approximately 12 months after the release of the 40D, while typically, Canon have waited 18 months between successive releases.

There's still no firm details on the 5D replacement, other than plenty of rumours, with the 5D replacement expected to be announced at Phototokina 2008 (23-28 September 2008).



Nikon have announced their D90, and one of the much-talked-about features is the ability to shoot video with it. For more details, see Nikon's press release.

There's been some interesting responses to the inclusion of video capabilities on the D90. Vincent Laforet also raises some interesting concerns about video on the D90, particularly with regards to events such as the Olympics, where tv companies won't be too happy with the idea that photographers can shoot high-def video with their still cameras.



Canon are apparently working on powering a DSLR with a fuel cell. They're looking at using the fuel cell to not only power the DSLR, but also external accessories including lenses, flashes, etc.



Here's 41 Amazing Tilt-shift miniature faking photographs that are definitely worth looking at. Tilt-shift faking involves digitally applying a tilt-shift effect to a photo to give it the appearance of being a photo of a miniature model.
I wrote a tutorial on how to fake tilt-shift in Photoshop to create realistic miniaturised photos a few months ago.

Here's a great collection of creative photos by Chema Madoz, where he takes ordinary every-day items, and uses them in interesting ways as props for his photos.

And finally, here's some great collections of photos from the Olympics:

• Opening Ceremony on dpreview
• Amazing 2008 Olympics Photos
• Beijing 2008 - It's a wrap

Taken during a boat cruise on the Tamar River, in Launceston, Tasmania.
The stark shape of the silos against the dark stormy clouds drew me to this, and the reflection of the silos in the river balances the image.

Tamar River reflections

Tamar River, Launceston, Tasmania
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @26mm, 1/50 sec, f/11, ISO100

A limo chauffeur waits for a wedding party outside the Round House, in Fremantle.

waiting

Fremantle, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @98mm, 1/320 sec, f/4, ISO200

A padlock on a well-worn door somewhere in Fremantle.

locked!

Fremantle, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 10-22mm @22mm, 1/60 sec, f/4.5, ISO200

Not only were some of the fireworks faked, but the little girl who sang as the flag entered the stadium was lip-syncing to another girl's pre-recorded singing.

A Windows Blue Screen Of Death was also spotted at the Bird's Nest stadium during the opening ceremony.



On a non-Olympics note, some people have re-enacted childhood photos, with interesting results.

Here's a collection of 60 amazing pictures you should see on flickr.

And finally, here's a great collection of 60 incredible aerial photos you must see.

While out shooting in Fremantle on Saturday evening, one of my kids pointed out the reflected sunset sky in a window. We all took some photos of this window, and this was the best of the photos I took. I love the contrast between the bright colours of the reflected sunset, and the dark colours of the corrugated iron of the building.

reflected sunset sky

Bathers Beach, Fremantle, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @85mm, 1/15 sec, f/5.6, ISO200

The Beijing Olympics is garnering a lot of media attention, and there's plenty of photos showing up on the web. Here's a selection of great photos from the Olympics:

• The Bird's Nest
  An excellent photo of the fireworks over the Bird's Nest stadium, taken by Jonathan Newton from the Washington Post.
• 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony
  A selection of 24 photos from various photographers from the opening ceremony.
• Visions of China: Day 1
  Thirteen photos from various sports from the first day of the Olympics on newsweek.com.
• Opening Ceremony
  A selection of phtotos from various photographers on the Canadian Toronto Star website.
• The Night is Right
  Some photos of The Cube (officially known as the National Aquatic Center) and the Bird's Nest.

Quite a few photographers in Beijing to cover the Olympics are blogging about their experiences, and here's a few interesting stories:

• In a post titled Lucy in the sky with diamonds, Lucy Nicholson talks about her experience taking photos of the opening ceremony from the roof of the Bird's Nest.
• Vincent Laforet describes his frustration trying to take photos of the Olympics opening ceremony fireworks from the Great Wall in a post titled Fireworks Show Fizzles at The Great Wall.
• Canadian Richard Lautens had a ticket for the opening ceremony, but it was hotter than he expected.

For some reason, many people seem to take photos of pegs on a clothes line when first using a lens with a wide(ish) aperture. I took this photo when I first got the 70-200mm f/4L lens last year, taken with the aperture wide open, and at full zoom.

hanging around

back yard, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @200mm, 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO100

Taken late one afternoon at Rockingham Beach, this shot shows the interesting shadows created by the corrugations in the sand on the ocean floor. The blue and white structure in the distance on the left hand side is the Kwinana Grain Terminal.

shadows in the water

Rockingham Beach, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 10-22mm @10mm, 1/200 sec, f/10, ISO100

This is the second cascade at Liffey Falls, in Tasmania. It's one of several cascades that is upstream from the main falls, along the walking track from the top carpark.

It's a shame about the branch in the middle of the frame, but my options for composing this shot were very limited, due to the need to use a tripod, and the fact that there wasn't anywhere else on the steep river bank to stand.

Second Cascade at Liffey Falls

Liffey Falls, Tasmania
Canon EOS 350D, 10-22mm @21mm, 8/10 sec, f/11, ISO100

Here's a summary of the 10 most popular posts during the month of July:

• Review: Canvas Print from RedBubble.com (posted 2008-07-16)
  Ever wondered exactly what a RedBubble.com canvas print looks like? This post provides a review of a large canvas print purchased from RedBubble.com, along with plenty of photos of the canvas print.
• Photo: Young Gouldian Finches (posted 2008-02-24)
  Some photos of our first batch of baby Gouldian finches, after they ventured out of the next for the very first time.
• Tutorial: Faking Tilt-Shift - a Tutorial for Realistic Miniaturised Photos (posted 2008-03-21)
  This tutorial provides a detailed description on how to create realistic looking miniaturised photos in Photoshop. Most tilt-shift tutorials rely on a blur applied to a simple gradient, but this tutorial takes it to the next level, showing how to create complex gradients to provide a much more realistic result.
• Photo: Port Arthur Penitentiary (posted 2008-06-12)
  One of the many photos taken during our Tasmanian holiday, this shows an unusual view of the Penitentiary at Port Arthur, underneath a rainbow.
• Photo: Paddle Steamer Decoy (posted 2008-02-10)
  The Paddle Steamer Decoy is an iconic paddle steamer in South Perth, and this photo was taken early one morning, with the city of Perth providing a background skyline on the other side of the Swan River.
• Photo: Photographer Silhouette (posted 2008-04-02)
  Another photo taken during the same photowalk as the Paddle Steamer photo listed above, this is a silhouette of one of the other photographers, taken while he was composing a shot near the river edge.
• Photo: Spider Macros (posted 2008-04-06)
  A collection of four photos of an Australian Garden Orb Weaver spider, taken with one of my favourite lenses, the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. This was the first time I've tried macro photos of a spider, and I was quite happy with the results.
• Photo: Sydney Opera House Before Dawn (posted 2008-03-31)
  A photo of the well-known Sydney Opera House, taken just before dawn on a cold and windy day during a photowalk with some local OCAU Sydney photographers.
• Rant: Health Issues with Compact Fluoros (posted 2008-04-08)
  With Australians being forced to switch from incandescent globes to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), this post takes a closer look at the issues relating to the mercury content of CFLs.
• Photo: Mozzies Beware! (posted 2008-03-27)
  This photo, taken during a dinner party at a friend's house, is a simple composition, with the a Citronella burner starkly silhouetted against the blue sky.

Here's an overview of all the photos I blogged during the month of July. Some more photos from our Tasmanian holiday feature again, as well as some photos of my youngest daughter, Samantha.





Click any image to navigate directly to that blog post.


A review of a canvas print from redbubble.com proved to be particularly popular:

folded canvas on the corner

solid wooden frame

Some of the other posts from July include:

• New Toy - Cokin Z-Pro ND Grad Filter Kit (posted 2008-07-29)
• Street Photography and People's Privacy (posted 2008-07-24)
• Canvas Print from RedBubble.com (posted 2008-07-16)
• Quick Links #2 (posted 2008-07-06)
• AVG LinkScanner causing headaches for webmasters (posted 2008-07-05)