Haunted

Haunted Hotel.

Canon 600D
ISO 400
f/5.6
Exp. 1/1000s

This photo gives me an uneasy feeling. The building looks menacing and the angle makes it look powerful. The derelict nature of the building adds to that haunted feeling. I think I'm becoming slightly obsessed with post production... is this a good thing or a bad thing? It definitely increases the impact of my photos... but when is a photo perfect in itself? Perhaps I need to pick up that film camera again, go back to my roots!

www.smudgeshots.com

Wild Party

Wild House Party in Melbourne.

Canon 600D

ISO 400
f/4.0
0.3sec
Flash Fired

This was a photo from a crazy underground party in Melbourne, it was wild! Now my problem with this photo was do I like the one I did post production on (the one I've posted) or the original? I cant decide! I went for a grungy vibe with the post production and I feel it gives a better impression of what the party was like. The unedited version seems a bit too soft. Stronger contrast and harsher shadows makes this photo more underground/grunge/rock&roll. Very cool set up for the party, that's all cardboard on the walls with black market drawings on it. That skull is amazing!


www.smudgeshots.com

BMX Silhouette

BMX No-Hander Silhouette.

Canon 600D

ISO 800
F11.0
1/1250s
10 - 20mm lens

While i was taking photos at the skate park I got a photo wrongly exposed that gave an almost silhouette effect. After that I decided I wanted to replicate that properly. This is one of the planned silhouettes and the better one I think. Its the clouds and little bit of sunset that got me. And considering the slower frame rate on the 600D the timing was great any earlier or later the back wheel may have been touching the trees and this shot would not have been the same!

www.smudgeshots.com

Moving Lights

Moving Night Lights.

Canon 600D

ISO 100
f/ 4.0
@ 3.2seconds
10-20mm lens

The standard cars moving at night shot really, everyone has to have a photo like this haha. Well, I took this photo impulsively, I was driving, just pulled into a side street and took a few shots! Good result I think, there are a few things I'd like to have improved (as usual). Interestingly I didn't have a tripod to take this shot... amazing I know! Guess how I got such a steady shot without a tripod? I think it's pretty obvious from where I'm standing...

www.smudgeshots.com

Posters

Door Behind Posters.

Canon 600D

ISO 400
F5.6
1/400s
10-20mm Lens

On Brunswick St. Melbourne, this corner just caught my eye. This street has posters everywhere! But this was an extreme. It is that almost black and white aspect of the shot that I really like. The symmetry of the corner, the lighting across the middle of the middle, and the white dust on the floor all make this one for me.

www.smudgeshots.com

Skater

Skater Benji on the Coping.

Canon 600D

ISO 200
F5.6
1/1250s
10-20mm Lens

One of my favourite shots from my day at the skate park. The skater is centered well, his face is lit, arms in nice position and spot on in focus. Very happy with this one.

www.smudgeshots.com

Cat Walk

L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2012.

Canon 600D
ISO3200
f4.5
1/80s

Trying to shoot the models from the second row, seemed like a simple task, just get between two heads and voila! But that wasn't the case... This was extremely hard to shoot and you might be able to see that this image isn't extremely sharp, but for my first time I feel I did pretty well.

So during the show I tried all sorts of tricks to try and get great shots. It was harder than it seemed, models moving fast, light conditions changing constantly, and moving heads in front of me. This particular shot was taken in Live View mode. Everything was automatic except one thing; the focus. Automatic focus wouldnt work because it would focus on the heads in front of me or behind me. Perhaps I should have set the focus point to the center and used AL SERVO focusing to keep models in focus. I'll keep that in mind for next time. Also metering, might have been the same but get the right meter and maintain those setting for the shoot and try shoot models in the same position.

It was challenging, but fun, and next time I'll try get front row seats, that should hopefully make my job easier.

www.smudgeshots.com

Stacked

Stacked Coffee Cups.


Canon 600D
ISO800
f4.5
1/30s
Focal Length 105mm

Not much to say about this really. I had to manually focus on the cups. Also maybe stacking the cups in a different order may have been nicer, thinking of having the pink cup in the middle and blue cup on top. But then maybe its pink cup on top that really makes this shot because its backed with the green grass. Let's just say it's good the way it is and we don't need to change it.

Distance

Tram Tracks and City Rd.


Canon 600D
ISO100
f4.0
1/640s
Focal Length 10mm

People seem to really like this photo. It's definitely the symmetry; very attractive! I enjoy it too but am not 100% convinced, I never really am with my photos but I don't tend to think this is one of the better shots. Nonetheless, it is currently my desktop wallpaper so I obviously like it to some extent. Or I'm just talking utter garbage... who knows.

Backflip

Breakdancer Kool Keith Backflip.


Canon 600D
ISO800
f4.5
1/500s
Focal Length 11mm

This is a wide-angle shot that I have cropped. This is the first photo where I have done some serious post production. I used Adobe Lightroom 4! The photo has a much more dramatic effect now, and I darkened the bystanders who were wearing quite bright colours, taking away from the breakdancer. I reminds me of a Nike ad, but that might just be his shoes...

Light on Lighthouse

The Byron Bay Lighthouse Wide Angle.

Canon 600D
ISO100
f10.0
1/200s
Focal Length 10mm

This is a wide angled photograph of the Byron Bay Lighthouse. This is a previous post of this same lighthouse:
http://smudgeshots.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/byron-bay-lighthouse.html

I considered copping out the shadow but felt it was more dramatic with the shadow so I left it. Still undecided though!

Bubbles

Amanda playing with bubbles.
Canon 600D
ISO200
f5.0
1/200s
Focal Length 102mm

My younger sister playing with bubbles. For some reason kids love this, and I know I did! This shot was actually unplanned, it came out great i tried to replicate the photo by instructing her and none of the shots came out as good as this one!

Tennis Shot

Eleni Daniilidou taking a shot.
Canon 600D
ISO 125
f5.0
1/1250s
Focal Length 105mm

This was taken at the Australian Open in 2012. I only had my 28-105mm lens and they actually checked the focal length of my lens before letting me into the event. Which I did not even consider as a possibility but luck was on my side.

Summer Fun

Summer Fun.
Canon 600D
ISO 200
f4.5
1/1600s
Focal Length 28mm

Imagine doing this everyday... Cruising along the beach on skateboards, knocking back a few ciders on the grass in the sun, not having a worry in the world.
I do not understand how some people don't like summer! It is the best, even just waking up and seeing the bright blue sky and sun shinning just makes me feel great. I love winter too, because dressing up during winter is more interesting. But we all know summer is more fun.

Sunrise Beams

Sunrise Beams.
Canon 600D
ISO 500
f4.0
1/40s
Focal Length 10mm

This is the sunrise one morning in Broadbeach. I love the beams coming from the sun. They were actually visible in the sky; not simply a side-effect of the camera. Amazing.
 

Old & New

Bank of New South Wales.
Canon 600D
ISO 100
f4.0
1/400s
Focal Length 10mm

I will be uploading a series with the theme of "old and new". Attempting to capture the contrast between vintage and modern as they are integrated with each other. 
 
I am strangely attracted to this contrast. 

It is all around us.

Sunset Reflection

Sunset Reflection.
Canon 600D
ISO 100
f5.0
1/50s
Focal Length 10mm

This shot was taken at 6.30pm in February in Broadbeach Queensland.

You may have noticed this is not a conventional photo of the sunset. Most of us are used to the glowing red sunset that is usually captured. Is this even a sunset?

Byron Bay Lighthouse

The Byron Bay Lighthouse.
Canon 600D
ISO 100
f5.6 
1/100s
Focal Length 28mm

This shot was taken at mid-day in February.