I recently spent a couple of days in Cataby for work, and drove up to Cervantes one evening to watch the sunset from the beach. A low belt of clouds above the horizon provided some interesting colour, and I used some dune grass to provide a silhouette in front of the setting sun.

sunset through the dune grass

Cervantes, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @50mm, 1/250 sec, f/13, ISO400

Earlier today, Canon released firmware version 1.0.3 for the Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera.

According to Canon's website: Some people have experienced "Err 99" issues with the 50D, and this topic has been widely discussed. Apparently it's due to insufficient gold used in the lens contacts on the body. However, this story has not been officially verified, so it could just be an unsubstantiated rumour.

The release notes for firmware version 1.0.3 specifically mention a fix relating to "Err 99", but indicate it's related to a timing issue with the shutter button, rather than a hardware issue.

In the four weeks since buying a 50D I haven't had any occurrences of the infamous "Err 99".
My 50D arrived with firmware 1.0.1 installed, and I've now upgraded it to firmware 1.0.3.

I suppose we'll need to see how many 50D users still experience "Err 99" after installing the 1.0.3 firmware, to see if the updated firmware has really addressed the issue.

Be sure to read Canon's firmware update procedure when upgrading your firmware, because you don't want to brick your camera!

This is a slightly different composition to the Pelican and the Paddle Steamer Decoy photo I posted recently, also from our South Perth photoshoot.
This version brings the Paddle Steamer Decoy and Perth city skyline closer together, allowing the image to be more tightly cropped, without as much empty sky.

Click the image below to see a larger version of it to better appreciate it.

Paddle Steamer Decoy and Perth city skyline

South Perth, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @24mm, 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO100

In hindsight, it's almost exactly the same composition as another photo taken about 12 months ago, but this time, the early morning lighting provided a much more golden glow on the Paddle Steamer Decoy and its reflection.

The post is a follow-up to this review that I published yesterday.


I have to admit that the brief review of the Compassion, Courage and Friendship from RedBubble.com that I posted yesterday was written in a hurry, as I wanted to get it published yesterday. I did not get much of a chance to look through the book, but quickly took some photos, jotted down my first impressions, and posted it.
Since then, I have let some work colleagues look through the book, and have also had some more time to look through it myself, so I thought I'd post some additional thoughts on it.

As mentioned yesterday, the quality of the book is great, with very good colour reproduction on glossy pages. All text is very legible, and the choice of fonts works well, and the cover of the book is a creative creation based on four art items from RedBubble members.

The editor has done a great job of trying to keep pages with similar themes together. In most cases, the content (photo, drawing or writing) of the left hand side bears some relation to the content on the right hand side, and definitely helps to provide some cohesion when reading through the book.

Most of the photos included in the book are fantastic, with the following ones being my favourites:

• Brothers by Katrina Lenarczyk / Zash Photography
• Jodhpur, India by Karen Cook
• The Proud Mother by Margriet Meintjes
• Generations by Shane Smart

2 of my favourite photos in the book

I recently received a pre-release copy of a book titled Compassion, Courage and Friendship from RedBubble.com, an Australian-based company that provides print-on-demand services.

I've previously posted a review of a canvas print from RedBubble.com, and was very happy with the quality of the print.

This book is no different, with the presentation and print quality being very good.

The book consists of a variety of photos, drawings and writings submitted by RedBubble members. A number of judges chosen by RedBubble staff had the task of narrowing down the submitted material, to determine which items would be included in the book, The resulting book contains 71 submitted items from RedBubble members.

With each page containing a single item (photo, drawing or piece of writing), the layout is clean and simple, and the choice of fonts does not detract from the subject material.

The reproduction of the photos and drawings is very good, with the colours being represented correctly, and the photos have lost none of their sharpness. (I compared some of the photos in the book with the large versions on the RedBubble website, using a colour-calibrated monitor.)

front cover

photo

While going through some older photos, I found a few more suitable candiates for digitally tilt-shifting. The tilt-shift effect on this photo makes the shipping containers at the Brani Terminal look like tiny lego blocks.

containers at the Brani Terminal on the island of Palau Brani

as seen from Sentosa Island, Singapore
Olympus C-770 UltraZoom @12mm, 1/800 sec, f/5, ISO100

The Pulau Brani island is located between Sentosa Island and the Singapore mainland, in Keppel Harbour. This photo was taken from a lookout on Sentosa Island.

On Saturday, I attended a workshop called "Photographing Real People", conducted by Greg Perry, at the London Photographic Studio in Rockingham.

I was one of 8 students, and Greg spent a few hours talking us through various ways to pose individuals, couples, and groups, and how to interact with the subjects while you're taking photos of them. He threw in plenty of useful tips, tricks and techniques, ranging from lighting suggestions, clothing guidelines for subjects, through to some information on post-processing.

We also had the opportunity to put a lot of it into practice immediately, by taking some shots of three models in a studio environment, with Greg providing assistance and commentary.

While the opportunity to shoot the models was certainly useful, I believe the value was in the large amounts of practical information shared by Greg during the afternoon.
At a cost of $77 for 3 hours, I reckon it was very good value.

Here's some of my photos from yesterday afternoon:

Geoff

Amy

David and Amy

David

London Photographic Studio advertise workshops on their website, and the "Photographing Real People" workshop was also advertised on flickr and redbubble.

The early morning sun highlights the Paddle Steamer Decoy at the Mends Street Jetty, as a pelican swims past, with the Perth city skyline in the background.

This is another photo from our early morning meet last week.

pelican and the Paddle Steamer Decoy

South Perth, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @24mm, 1/320 sec, f/4.5, ISO100

Here's another photo from last week. There were quite a few darters (often mistakenly called "shags" or "cormorants") along the river's edge early in the morning, drying out their wings in the sun.

The sunlight on the feathers on the outstretched wings drew me to this bird, so I got down low to get the Perth skyline in the background.

While I've previously indicated I wasn't sure how useful Liveview would be on my new Canon 50D, in this situation, I found it useful, as I had the camera on the grass, and used Liveview to compose the shot, rather than having to lie down to get my eye to the viewfinder.

Darter and Perth skyline (vintage gold)

South Perth, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @46mm, 1/640 sec, f/4.5, ISO100

One of the last steps of post-processing this image was the application of an action called "Vintage Gold". It's one of the actions included in Mulletgod's free photoshop actions.

I like taking photos of silhouettes, particularly if the silhouetted person is doing something that's quite recognisable and/or easily recognisable.

I've taken photos of photographer silhouettes before, and last week Thursday's photoshoot in South Perth provided another opportunity to get some shots of Bas, one of the other photographers who had joined us.

Bas shooting South Perth, Western Australia Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @70mm, 1/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO100

Bas chimping South Perth, Western Australia Canon EOS 50D, 24-70mm f/2.8L @70mm, 1/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO100

Early this morning, a few keen souls met in South Perth to catch some dawn photos. We had the following group:

• Andreas
• Bas
• Adrian
• Sam
• myself

After catching some photos of the somewhat disappointing sunrise, we wandered up the river to the Narrows, had a hot breakfast at a nearby cafe, and then headed off to work for the day.

Here's the very first photo I took this morning:

Perth skyline before dawn

Perth, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @22mm, 15 sec, f/8, ISO100

I'll post more photos from this morning once I find the time to go through them.

Then Canon EOS 50D body was announced by Canon in late August, just 12 months after the 40D. Historically, Canon has typically waited 18 months between successive releases, and as a result, the 50D was a somewhat unexpected announcement.

After having used a Canon 350D (Digital Rebel XT) for two and a half years, I decided it was time to upgrade, and purchased a Canon 50D body just over a week ago.

This post isn't intended to be a full review of the 50D, but I'll share my initial thoughts and impressions after using the 50D for a week.



While I've bought photography gear from the US previously because it was significantly cheaper than local prices, this time, due to the Australian dollar slipping, it was cheaper to purchase it locally.

I bought the 50D from Gerry Gibbs Camera House in Cannington. They had received their first batch of 50D bodies a couple of weeks ago, but they had all been pre-sold. Their second batch arrived on Thursday 25 September, so they had stock that was immediately available, and I picked one up on Friday 26 September.

In response to a blog post by Jamie for a meet and greet session for photographers in Fremantle, a few work colleagues and myself made our way down to Fremantle on Saturday afternoon.

It was a cold, wet and blustery afternoon, and some of us got a little damp making our way to the agreed meeting place at the E Shed markets.

If my memory serves me correctly, the following people turned up:

• Jamie
• Neal
• Kirk
• Mel
• Clint and girlfriend Bree
• Adrian with wife Pauline and 1 year old son Chris
• Sam
• myself with 10 year old son Ashley

Dylan joined us briefly when we stopped at Kailis for a drink.

Apparently Jamie and Neal had met at one of Christian Fletcher's workshops, and so had Kirk, Mel and Clint. Sam, Adrian and myself work together, and have been out shooting together numerous times.

After introductions and a chat at the E Shed markets, we wandered around Fremantle, looking for the perfect door to shoot ;-)

Later in the evening, the majority of the group decided to head across to the North Mole, but as my car was in the opposite direction, and it was getting cold and late, we split up.

It was great to meet these guys, and share some stories. I'm certainly interested in getting together with them in the future for some more photography action.

Over the last few months, I've blogged a few photos of my youngest daughter, Samantha, but my other three children have rarely made an appearance on my blog.
Here's some photos of the other three, taken in the back yard a couple of weeks ago.

Ashley

back yard, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 50mm f/1.8 @50mm, 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO200

Michelle

back yard, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 50mm f/1.8 @50mm, 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO200

Nicholas

back yard, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 50mm f/1.8 @50mm, 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO200