post-sunset sky

Point Peron, Rockingham, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-105mm f/4L IS @60mm, 3.2 sec, f/18, ISO100

Last night, I went to Point Peron with a friend and my oldest daughter, to photograph the sunset. It was a hot evening, but we witnessed a great sunset, and some fantastic colours in the sky after the sun was below the horizon.

The top photo was taken about half an hour after sunset - one of my favourite times for photography.
The photo below was taken a few minutes later, and my daughter used a torch to light-paint the hearts on the left hand side.

As the 2012 year draws to an end, I thought I'd post my favourite ten photos that I blogged during the year (some were shot prior to 2012, but never posted until this year).

Here they are, in the order that I blogged them. You can click each photo to view the blog post for that particular photo.

boats along the Prinsengracht

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands

straight down

Kwinana Beach, Western Australia
GoPro HD Hero2 (suspended from a kite)

old boat in the canal

Marken, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands

Flinders Street Station after sunset

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @14mm (10-stop ND filter), 179 sec, f/5.6, ISO100

Last month, I spent a few days in Melbourne on a brief business trip. While in Melbourne, I met up with Alex and Ben for dinner.
I have admired Alex's photography for quite a few years, but for various reasons, haven't been able to meet him in person in either Tasmania or Melbourne prior to this visit. I have been on a few photowalks with Ben in the last few years, both in Perth and in Melbourne. It was great to be able to catch up with them over dinner.

After dinner, Ben and myself headed to the Flinders Street Station, one of Melbourne's cultural icons, completed in 1909. Apparently it was the first railway station in an Australian city.
It's a lovely building, and we spent some time taking long exposure photos of the building from across the street.

Flinders Street Station after sunset

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @10mm, 10 sec, f/11, ISO100

Zoe

home, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 24-105mm f/4L IS @85mm, 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO200

strobist info: a 580EX into reflective brolly on each side of camera, triggered with Phottix Odin

Now nearly two years old, here's a recent photo of Zoe, the daughter of some good friends of ours. I first shot Zoe when she was just a new-born, but she is growing up fast!

sunset down the road

near home, Western Australia
Instagram | Samsung Galaxy S II

I have had my Samsung Galaxy S II Android phone for over 12 months now. When I bought the phone, I mentioned that having a phone with a reasonable camera in my pocket would provide me with the opportunity to take photos in situations where I previously did not have a camera with me.

In hindsight, I haven't used my phone for photography much at all. I want to use my phone for day-to-day photography, and to make it easier for me to take photos and share them, I have installed the Instagram app for Android.

The sunset photo above is an example of something I wouldn't have been able to capture without my phone. I was walking around the block in the evening with my wife, and didn't have my DSLR camera with me, but I always have my phone in my pocket.

You can view my Instagram photos online by visiting my Instagram profile page or if you are an Instagram user, feel free to follow me.
I will also occasionally repost some of my Instagram photos here on my blog.

When you are on a photoshoot, juggling multiple memory cards for your cameras, you need to be able to quickly and easily identify which memory cards have already been used and are full, and which memory cards are still empty and ready to be used.

You do not want to have to try each memory card in your camera, to see if it already has photos on it.



I have been using a quick and easy solution for the last few years that allows me to instantly see if a memory card has been used, or if it is empty. I cut up the sticky part of a post-it note, and stick one piece on the inside of the compact flash memory card cases.

When putting a memory card into a case, facing the front of the card towards the post-it note label indicates the card is full, and facing the back of the card towards the post-it note label indicates the card is empty.

This method allows me to easily identify which memory cards are full, and which memory cards are empty, just by looking at the case. Have a look at the photos below to see how it works.

two empty memory cards in their cases
(front of memory cards facing AWAY from the label)

two full memory cards in their cases
(front of memory cards facing TOWARDS from the label)

banksia at the Salmon Holes

Torndirrup National Park, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @22mm, 1/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO100

The Salmon Holes is a fantastic looking beach in Torndirrup National Park, in the south-west of Western Australia, in the region of Albany, and is renowned for being a great spot for salmon fishing.

This location also has a reputation for being dangerous, due to numerous people being swept off the rocks while fishing, due to large waves and surges.

Salmon Holes

Torndirrup National Park, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm @10mm, 1/400 sec, f/4.5, ISO100