Image of the week (15)
June 29, 2009
The aim of Image of the week is to show you a little more of what I love to shoot, and sometimes its something a little different.
I guess this one also falls into the something different category… yes??
The nest of a Willy Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), expertly built on an old wire clothesline
Now, obviously this is not a recent photo, as the Willy Wagtail nests in the Summer, but I just found a batch of unprocessed RAW files from January, and felt the need to share. Because they are so cute in a real ugly kind of way!!
For those that are interested, It was captured by :- Canon 5D & 70-200mm/2.8 @ 200mm – ISO 200 – 1/500 second @ f/3.2
So there you have it and like I always say, please feel free to comment…
© 2009 Robb Duncan
But wait… there’s more Read more
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Anakie Gorge.
June 27, 2009
Spending time in the outdoors, I love it and so do the kids. This time of year is my favourite, its so much nicer walking in the bush in Winter than it is in Summer… A part from avoiding the heat and the obvious lack of flies, its a novelty to see the strangest things, like water in the streams and green grass…
The Boys, on a recent walk in Anakie Gorge, admiring the Tunnel and the old Water pipe which was built in the 1870's and used to supply Geelong with water.
"It's dark in there isn't it", says Ben. Emma agrees.
We stopped for a break about 1/2 way, a quick snack and a drink, and we were on our way again.
Then we turned around and walked out to the Car park again.
When you Consider that, excluding myself of course, the average age of the party was less than 5*, and the fact that we walked for over 2 hours, they all did a remarkable job.
* It has often been stated my mental age is not a great deal higher than that anyway, but I guess thats a different story.
All images © 2009 Robb Duncan and captured by Canon 5D mk II & 50mm/1.4 Lens.
And as always, feel free to comment
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Princess
June 26, 2009
I love to shoot details, I love to shoot the bridal preparations, things like make-up and hair… So it should come as no surprise that I jumped at the chance to shoot the Girls getting ready for their Debutant Ball… After all, it is just like dressing for a wedding.
The first series of images were captured in the kitchen/dinning area of Nan and Pop’s house, utilising the abundant soft natural light coming through the windows.
The second series of images were captured in one of the bedrooms, with the blinds closed, so not a great deal of natural light available. I came prepared and set up a flash & white umbrella
All images © 2009 Robb Duncan and captured by Canon 5D mk II & either my 50mm/1.4 or my sweet little 85mm/1.8 Lens.
And as always, feel free to comment
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More Sleepy Angus
June 23, 2009
You may remember a while back where I shared a few images of our youngest son Angus who has a real talent for sleeping just about anywhere…
(click here for the previous post)
Well… What would you think if you walked down your hall way and and saw this…?
I guess you would think someone is using the sofa as gym equipment right...?
If you did… you would be wrong…
Thats right, asleep over the arm of the sofa...
Now I did say he could sleep anywhere right…? Are you starting to believe me yet…?
Both images © 2009 Robb Duncan and captured by Canon 5D mk II & 50mm/1.4 Lens.
And as always, feel free to comment
Filed Under Personal, Photography | 5 Comments
Image of the week (14)
June 22, 2009
The aim of Image of the week is to show you a little more of what I love to shoot, and sometimes its something a little different.
I guess this falls into the something different category… yes??
Walking to Kinder - © 2009 Robb Duncan
And for those that are interested, It was captured by :- Canon 5D Mark II & 50mm/1.4 - ISO 100 – 1/640 second @ f/1.4
So there you have it and like I said, please feel free to comment…
© 2009 Robb Duncan
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The “A” Family – Portrait Session
June 16, 2009
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting the “A” Family in May to shoot a Family portrait session (given to them as a gift) and I am finally getting around to blogging a few images.
It was a beautiful afternoon, warm enough for shorts (well, I thought it was anyway), the light was perfect and we all had a blast.
Just a few images, as a teaser, because I am a little sort of time today.
And for those that are interested, It was captured by :- Canon 5D Mark II & a couple of different lenses, plus a flash on a light stand
So there you have it and like I said, please feel free to comment…
All images © 2009 Robb Duncan
Filed Under Photography, Portrait Photography | 2 Comments
Validation
June 15, 2009
I have been sick for a week or more, and honestly, its not any where near as fun as it sounds. But today I am feeling better… better than I have for a while, but still not 100%… So I needed a pick-me-up, some inspiration, something to get me moving… and I found it… in the form of a cute little mini movie that was easy for me to relate too. And so, I thought I would share it with you.
Here it is… Validation.
Filed Under Photography | 2 Comments
It’s true, there is no easy way to say this…
June 8, 2009
There is no easy way to say this… I have thought about it a great deal over the past 2 days…
But either way, it all just sucks, So I will just come out and say it.
My beautiful and loving and caring wife miscarried on Saturday night…
And I just wanted to let you all know…
What’s the key to creating great wedding photo’s…?
June 7, 2009
This was supposed to be an Ask Your Photographer post, but it didnt really fit in with the others…
I get emails all the time from different people asking all sorts of questions, and one I have received a couple of times lately is “What’s the key to creating great wedding photo’s…?”
This is a broad question and has many variations and of course depending on the depth of the reply, many different answers. Most of the questions of this type have come from people who are just starting out in Photography, or just starting a wedding photography business, and I would have to say just quietly, that if you have to ask a question like that, are you really ready to photograph someones wedding? I mean seriously…?
As a side note, I currently have the flu, so forgive me if I come across as being a little critical…
Well, anyway, there can be many things that go into creating a great wedding image… But, there are 2 important factors to consider when creating ANY photographic image… they are Exposure and White Balance… Gaining an understanding of them will improve your general photography immediately and should be every new photographers goal.
I wont go into too much detail, because once I get started, I might not stop. But there are a few notes.
1. Exposure
Repeat after me…
There is no substitute for correct exposure.
There is no substitute for correct exposure.
There is no substitute for correct exposure.
Of course a “Correct Exposure” is subjective… It does all depend on what you want your end result to look like… But there is still a common misconception among many “photographers”, that if you make a mistake, you can just fix the errors using software like Photoshop etc… And on the surface, to the in-experienced (or ignorant), that may appear true… but there is no substitute for correct exposure, even if you shoot in RAW file format (although you do have a little more lattitude with RAW files).
And it all has to do with the way in which a Digital Camera captures and processes an image. (But its way outside the scope of this little post). But if you want some more info on this subject, start with the expose to the right tutorial from Luminous landscape, and take it from there.
2. White Balance
The definition of White Balance refers to adjusting the colours (or colour temperature) of an image to make the “neutral tones” appear neutral… ie making your whites white and your greys… well… grey. Now, because of the wide variety of light sources we are likely to encounter in a typical wedding day, we can end up with a wide variety of colour casts in our images. Typically, there are 3 ways of dealing with it…
The most logical (and the most sucessful if you shoot jpeg images) is to adjust your white ballance as you shoot, getting it right “in camera” and then changing settings as the lighting changes. It takes some practice to do quickly and accurately, but is not hard once you learn how.
Then there is the “Adjust afterwards” method, very simple if you shoot in RAW, not so simple if you shoot jpeg. I shoot RAW and while I always try to get it close in camera, I have the ability to accurately set my White Balance once I have the images in software… In fact, I can adjust it more accurately than the camera is capable of achieving.
The third method is the “ignorance” method… Ignore it altogether and its dealt with… And you would be unpleasantly surprised at how many so called “photographers” are using method 3.
So, there you have it, please feel free to comment.
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More Skate Park Action.
June 3, 2009
This is a follow up post to the image of the week 12 skate shot…
Damo Again - By Robb Duncan © 2009
Young Skater- By Robb Duncan © 2009
All shot using Canon 5D Mark II & EF17-40mm @17mm – ISO 400 – 1/1600 and 1/3200 second @ f/5.6
So there you have it, feel free to comment.
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Image of the week (13)
June 2, 2009
The aim of Image of the week is to show you a little more of what I love to shoot, and sometimes its something a little different.
I would like to start off this weeks post by asking a question… “Any idea the sort of location in which this image was captured…?? ”
By Robb Duncan © 2009
I will only answer the question if enough people have a go !!
And for those that are interested, It was captured by :- Canon 5D Mark II & EF70-200 @200mm – ISO 50 – 1/200 second @ f/4.0
2 flashes on a light stand in a modified butterfly setup… the bottom flash was about 1/2 a stop brighter than the top.
So there you have it and like I said, please feel free to comment…
All images © 2009 Robb Duncan
Filed Under Image of the week, Photography | 1 Comment
Can I see some ID please?
June 1, 2009
My awesome assistant Ryan attends a local community college and we were recently asked to shoot the ID photo’s for the various classes.
Its something I have done before, and its not a difficult task, but it can take a little time if people are not organised… So we made sure they were organised !! And they are a colourful group, which made it enjoyable. It was a little like a trip to the zoo, except they let you IN with the monkeys…
So, we shot 1/2 the images late on the first morning and then took the rest of the day off to play (seen some of the skate shots lately?).
I will be going back again a couple of times to get the remainder of the students from various classes, and I can’t wait !!
Here is a little sample.
School ID Photo's © 2009 Robb Duncan
I know its not the most exciting photography… but you guys are always asking what I have been up too… Well, now you know.
Shot using Canon 30D and 70-200mm/2.8 IS, an ST-E2 Controller and 3x 580EX flashes.
2 flashes into umbrellas set up Butteryfly style, and the third flash to light the background, nice and simple.
All images © 2009 Robb Duncan
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