Our spot had views of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour, with a tiny bit of the Opera House. It was a great spot considering I live about just 10 minutes away, not having to brush shoulders with strangers all night and having worry about our camera equipment We were just next to the spot we were at last year but I think the fireworks this year was better. There was something different about it and it felt more ‘special’. Either that or I’m just getting old and content The fireworks lasted for about 14 minutes and I managed to cut the footage down to about 8 minutes to include the best parts. This will by my first all video production and I must say I really enjoyed it! I will definitely be doing more video in the future but for now, here’s the clip. If you want to watch a larger and higher quality version click on Vimeo.

Sydney has never looked this beautiful. 2010 marks the 7th year living here and after editing the footage and watching the final product, I couldn’t help but feel slightly nostalgic. Watching the Sydney skies exploding with bright colors somehow just brought back many memories. It was also a great reminder for me to never take anything for granted.

This is the aftermath of the fireworks. The wind cleared the smoke from the fireworks rather quickly.

For the technically inclined, video was shot using the Canon 5D Mark II in Full HD and also using the onboard mic. I used a regular tripod head so the movements are a little jerky. Time to invest in a dedicated video tripod head and external mic perhaps? The final product was put together using iMovie 09 on my MBP.

Thanks so much for watching! Feel free to share and pass this link on to anyone else you know who might enjoy this This one is for all my dear readers out there so I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did producing this piece!

Take care and all the best in 2010!

Best regards,
Justin Oh
justin-oh.com
justin-oh.com/blog

For example, I shoot almost exclusively with Velvia 50 for landscapes in both standard 35mm and medium format. I particularly like Provia for random street stuff for the grungy feel/color it produces. B&W film and street photography have undoubtedly, always gone well together. Not long ago, I gave a go at shooting panoramic B&W for documentary and photojournalism stuff which I am now, liking very much. The most recent example is a wedding I shot with Kodak’s E100VS which I think just works so well together. The warm but somewhat clean tones it produces makes it perfectly useable for portraits where skin tone is important whilst still producing a highly saturated and contrasty shot.

I find that I also have more keepers when I shoot in film compared to shooting digital. I think this has to do with the cost of shooting film, specifically slide film which has risen significantly over the years. This makes nailing every shot with the right exposure and composition so much more important since there’s no preview after clicking the shutter button! Shooting in film has in some way, helped me learn to think more before I take the shot. I think more about the composition, the exposure values. Would it work?  Check then recheck again to make sure I have everything dialed in perfectly.

My weapon of choice alongside the 5D Mark II for the recent wedding was my all time favourite camera (yes, more than the 5D!), the Hasselblad Xpan II, panoramic film camera. For a discontinued film camera, the XPan still commanded a very high asking price of about $3.5k and upwards for the kit with a 45mm prime lens. I was very lucky when I found one for sale which was in immaculate condition with only a 100-ish shutter count, for much less than the market price then. I of course jumped at the opportunity as this was one camera I have only dreamt of owning many years ago.

Shooting with the Xpan was a bit of a challenge since there is no auto focus and adjusting the aperture requires manual adjustment on the lens. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think I will be using it more at weddings in the future

Here are some pictures of the Xpan  just after the postman dropped by

I have always been a fan of DIY stuff. It has nothing to do with doing things on the cheap or anything like that but simply because I enjoy every step of the photographic process, from clicking the shutter down to the mixing of chemicals and hanging it to dry. As a photographer, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a perfectly shot and developed strip of film after waiting anxiously for at least an hour for the film to dry. Perhaps it is the delayed gratification shooting in film which makes it so much more exciting.

Here is a photo of the setup I have when developing film at home in my bathroom. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a dark room with red lights to develop film. However, yes, that is my washing machine!

The use of film has dropped significantly over the years. One example is when Kodak decided to stop producing Kodachrome and some time next year, the only lab in the world still processing this wonderful film will seize to do so too. I just hope there won’t come a day when shooting with film is no longer a possibility 

Very briefly, the camera used was a Hasselblad XPan II, panoramic and standard 35mm film camera loaded with Kodak E100VS slide film. What’s so special about this camera is that it takes a shot which is almost twice the length of a standard camera. I was initially writing a post to show the pictures here but then soon after I realized I had gone totally off topic. I started writing more about why I still shoot in film and why I love it so much.  I have separated that post to another one so I’ll post that soon after I put this one up so stay tuned!

Let’s get on with the pictures first shall we? CLICK for larger photos!

I absolutely love the warm tones here!

I’ve always been a fan of panoramics and here are some examples why!

Erm, what wide angle lens?

This will be my all time favourite panoramic portrait shot on film. Notice how panoramic, portrait and film don’t usually go together at all!

My 2nd favourite..

and 3rd favourite

Hope you guys enjoyed this! Somehow I’m feeling extra sentimental just looking at these photos and reminiscing Vanessa and Marcus’ wedding day. Thanks guys for having me there, and also Gemma for asking me to come along and shoot with her

Damn, I really love my job!

Ladies first!

Ladies & Gentleman

Asian James Bond?

Mr and Mrs Cheah

Cheah and Ford

Altogether now!

The next 3 would be the funniest sequence I have ever photographed! We were playing an impromptu posing game for each shot I took – none of the poses were planned!  This is what they came up with hahaha!

The 2 brothers thinking exactly the same, much to the dissapointment of their dad! LOL!

Since everyone was so impressed with the umbrella light setup, here are some behind the scene shots:) This is the wall we used as the background with just ambient light coming in through the blinds.

Lighting setup: 580EX II and 430EX triggered via Pocket Wizards, shot through umbrella, Sekonic L-508 Lightmeter

I used the Pocket Wizard to trigger the 580EX II and had it set to Master with the 430EX set to slave. This way I only needed a pair of PW’s to trigger the 2 flashes simultaneously although using this method, the sync speed is cut to 1/125 instead of the max 1/200.

Hope you guys enjoyed the pics and the mini behind the scene segment! If you’ve got any questions about off camera lighting, feel free to contact me!

Copied from the Canon website:

Firmware Version 1.1.0 incorporates the following improvements and fixes.

1. 1. Includes a function to enable the manual exposure setting when shooting movies.
3. 2. Disables the function of the depth-of-field preview button when images are played back or when the menu screen is displayed on the LCD panel.
5. 3. Fixes a phenomenon where the peripheral illumination of images cannot be properly corrected, even if the images were captured with the lens peripheral illumination correction function set to Enable.
7. 4. Fixes the algorithms of the Auto Lighting Optimizer function when Custom Function C.Fn II-3 Highlight tone priority is enabled.
9. 5. Fixes incorrect indications on the Arabic, Romanian, Spanish, and Ukrainian menu screens.
11. 6. Changes the battery information displayed on the camera when using the optional Battery Grip BG-E6.

Head here to download the new firmware: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos5dmk2/firmware.html

I guess now there’s no excuse to not learn Final Cut Pro anymore Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture to go along with this post but I’ll be heading to the Southern Highlands for a landscape shoot this weekend. Stay tuned guys

We got there at first light, quickly parked the cars and hastily made our way to the spot via a short but tiring walk on the sand. It doesn’t help when you’re carrying almost 10kg’s worth of equipment either

I was of course excited since this is my first outing with the 5D Mark II and 16-35 lens. Here are the shots from the shoot

First light

Same scene, different exposure and a cooler post processing method

More clouds would’ve been better but a great location and a great sunrise nevertheless

Pink clouds, my favourite in any sunrise or sunset

This is probably my favourite shot, full of drama

Behind the scene

The sun above the horizon

I like how the golden light paints the rocks

Jeff emptying his shoe full of sand

My lonely tripod

Jeff and Alex posing for the camera

The tide rising!

More behind the scenes

As the tide rose, the water started making its way inwards separating us from the group!

Then I thought why not take more photos while waiting till the water is low enough to pass through

Jeff trying out different compositions

While exploring I found this puddle of water

After awhile Jeff and I rejoined the group. You can see here how much water made its way through from the edge of the rocks

Picture of me setting up the tripod for a group shot

As always, a group shot for every outing Thankfully I brought the flash out for some much needed fill in lighting. I exposed for the background and flash manually set to 1/2 power to fill the foreground

Definitely another great day out shooting! Now that the group has expanded the shoots are getting much more fun with more of us around. Thanks guys for making it such a fun trip! It made it so trivial getting my whole left foot covered in water and having endure it the whole 1 1/2 hour drive back to Sydney. As per our tradition, big breakfast all round was next

A brief review on the 16-35 II combo with the 5D Mark II:

The 21.1mp sensor on the 5D II is remarkable and the amount of detail captured is just astounding. Definitely a huge difference from my 40D and 10-22 combo. I guess I finally understood why those who made the move to a Full Frame sensor never look back. The 16-35 II is very sharp and reproduces nice, contrasty colors. My only gripe about the lens is the drop of sharpness around the corners but it’s something I can live with. I spent a good amount of time looking through the images at 100% and I’m constantly amazed with the amount of detail captured. The jpeg images posted up here really don’t do it any justice at all.

From all accounts, these batteries are used by many photographers and most seem to swear by it. I just tested them in my 580EX II and 430EX out of the box and they charged up both flashes almost instantly! On the 430EX I also heard the distinct ‘zing’ while charging up – something I haven’t heard for awhile with my now old Energizer rechargeables. When I’m done charging these new Powerex ones I’ll condition the Energizers and hopefully they’ll come back to life. More batteries is definitely better than less 

I thought why not take a picture of the batteries that feed my camera too

These should last for tomorrow’s wedding and an engagement party later in the night. Catch you guys later!

The other main objective would of course be to enjoy a fun day out with your significant other! This is your chance to be the models for the day but in a fun, relaxed environment where we photograph you just being YOU! It’s no different than say heading to the bowling alley or driving range except you get photos to take home later

That said, I hope this post will also be beneficial for other photographers out there to gain an insight on how we work and the equipment we use to get the images from the last session . I have always been very interested to see how other photographers work and so I’m sharing this with you guys in hopes you will find it just as interesting if not helpful in some way.

Like a car engine, it has to be warmed up properly for optimum performance. Humans are not that different in this regard so take the time to allow the couple to get comfortable and warm up to you. Have a chat with them about your style and guide them along the way

For engagement or portrait sessions like this, you will have to take charge and guide them with the poses. When they have a laugh about how weird it feels, they’re probably feeling comfortable and usually good to go That way you get very natural photos and almost candid looking at times.

For off camera lighting, it is best to expose for the background and shoot in manual for full control of exposure levels. The flash has to be set to manual power too and adjusted appropriately for proper fill lighting

My setup for off camera lighting – Canon 580EX II flash connected to a Pocket Wizard II transceiver and a Benro carbon fiber monopod as my lighting stick

This is how it looks like extended

A much cheaper way to achieve some amazing fill lighting during the day is to use a reflector

Chimping session after getting a great shot. This can sometimes encourage the couple to do better and be more adventurous…

… as seen here. Sorry Jaydee but I just had to put this up

My favourite combination for portraits – Canon 5D Mark II and 70-200 2.8 IS

Apparently I look like a cyborg here with my wireless flash trigger eyepiece

It’s an extremely heavy setup so whenever possible, lean on a rock for added stability and comfort

As the sun was setting we moved to a location where we could capture the beautiful sky. More off camera lighting here for foreground fill

In this pic you can also see the crowd gathered towards the end of the bridge, facing what I believe was a comet or something else in the sky

And to end this behind the scene series, a flash fired into an umbrella group shot with the 5D II just for fun

From left to right, me, Jaydee, Clara, Amanda(upcoming photographer and videographer), Aaron(behind the scene and upcoming photographer), Vicki (upcoming model), Dennis (upcoming photographer) and Alex(assistant and upcoming photographer). Thanks for making it such an enjoyable day guys!

I hope this has been both informative and entertaining for everyone! At JOWP, we do our best to not only produce beautiful images, we make it an experience to remember

Anyway this was taken before we got the BBQ going with Aaron doing his thing too

Green prawns, chicken wings and lamb in a bag

Wings and sausages… yummm!

Prawns lightly seasoned with sea salt and pepper

It was blistering hot that day so I guess it made Aaron and Jeff look sort of brownish

Sausages ready and the wings almost there!

As usual, I stopped taking photos when the food was ready    As you can see it got a lot darker too. This shot was taken at ISO2500,  f/2.8, 1/15 sec

This one was taken at ISO4000, f/2.8, 1/15 sec. Yes, I’ve got steady hands

Jaydee and Clara at ISO4000 too!

Alex rehydrating at ISO4000, f/2.8, 1/20 sec. There’s almost no noise visible at all!

The aftermath of it all!

Kit Loong – enough said

Shells and bones!

Round 2 begins!

Wings cooked to perfection…yummm!

I also took some High Def videos with the 5DII that day but I haven’t quite figured out how to edit it. Anyone got any recommendations for something easy to use for either Mac or Vista?

To add to that, the battery also has a lifespan of up to 1000 recharges, which according to the Apple site is three times more the lifespan of typical notebook batteries. Absolutely amazing! I have to keep convincing myself that that my now, 1 generation old MBP is still more than sufficient for me I’ve had mine for about half a year now and i’ve only had 11 battery cycles so it will still last me some time to come.

Other improvements worth mentioning would include a 60% increase in color gamut for better color reproduction – again another welcomed feature, especially for photographers and digital artists. All 17″ MBP’s now ship with 4GB of RAM as standard up to a maximum of 8GB! That’s how much RAM I have for my desktop work horse!

Now you may think i’m one of those Apple snobs who hates everything Microsoft Sorry to dissapoint, cause I actually like using Microsoft’s Windows Vista too. It is a rock solid operating system and has never given me any problems. I run a quad core system with 8GB’s of RAM and Vista 64 really flies through most of the stuff I throw at it. Lightroom makes instant changes and so does Photoshop

When it comes to notebooks it’s a different story though. I don’t believe there is any other notebook that comes close to the MBP’s for the digital artist, regardless if you’re a photographer, graphics designer, musician, etc. Fast CPU, more RAM, high resolution display, crazy battery life – plus it looks so damn sexy!

Last week Canon also released a firmware update for perhaps one of the most highly anticipated cameras, the Canon 5D MKII. Most of you who have been following news about the 5DII would be familiar with the ‘black dot’ phenomenon evident in some night pictures and also vertical banding noise when shooting in sRAW mode.

Canon acted quickly this time around and an update was released soon after users discovered those issues. Here’s a link for the update to 1.07: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos5dmk2/firmware.html

And a review of the 5DII by The-Digital-Picture.com: Click Me!

By the way if anyone is wondering, JB Hifi have yet to contact me about the 5DII I preordered from them last year. I rang them just after the New Year break for a quick check and apparently the ETA has been pushed back to Feb. When I placed the order the ETA was mid to end January so I really hope that will still hold true. I have several shoots lined up but thankfully they all start in March.

*Keeps fingers and toes crossed for an early delivery*

]]> http://www.justin-oh.com/blog/2009/01/macbook-pro-5d-mkii-updates/feed/ 0