Thursday, 26 July 2007
Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Lead Me By The Lavender
Lead Me By The Lavender - Copyright ©2003 Garrett Earl Johnson
Lead me by the lavender, beside the fields of green.
Lead me where you'd have me go, to places never seen.
Lead me beside the stillest waters where all your blessings flow.
Lead me precious Father, lead me where you'd have me go.
Lead me with your precious hands, marred by sins, not your own.
Lead me on before you Father lead me on before your throne.
Lead me with love divine and let my heart be thine.
Lead me on forever Lord let your love be mine.
Lead me ever constant, lead me ever kind.
Lead me on forever, ever gentle on my mind.
Lead me on to places never seen, to fields of evergreen.
Lead me on precious Father, ever bowed upon my knees.
Lead me by the lavender, beside the fields of green.
Lead me where you'd have me go, to places never seen.
Lead me beside the stillest waters where all your blessings flow.
Lead me precious Father, lead me where you'd have me go.
Lead me with your precious hands, marred by sins, not your own.
Lead me on before you Father lead me on before your throne.
Lead me with love divine and let my heart be thine.
Lead me on forever Lord let your love be mine.
Lead me ever constant, lead me ever kind.
Lead me on forever, ever gentle on my mind.
Lead me on to places never seen, to fields of evergreen.
Lead me on precious Father, ever bowed upon my knees.
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
My first Wedding Shoot: Lessons learnt
Shooting any event is always a challenge, none so more than shooting a wedding.
Well, I really haven't shot any other types of event other than a Police Pay Rally by the police union outside the Parliament house sometime back last year, so I might be wrong here.
Wedding shoots are usually a whole day, high pace affairs. I haven't heard or experienced a really easy wedding shoot yet. I have only done 3 wedding shoots so far, and thus, I am still pretty much a newbie at wedding photography. However, I think it will be fun reflecting on what happened to all my shoots and I will share my experience with you, the readers.
My first wedding shoot... it was fun, exciting, and a few oops and "oh dears". It all started when a good friend of mine whom I know for quite a number of years told me that he was getting married one fine day. Suffice to say, I jumped at the opportunity and asked if he had already found a wedding photographer. In Perth, Western Australia, good and cheap wedding photographers are limited commodity. Usually, Wedding couples have to pre-book photographers a year in advance to have any chance of securing a photographer on their big day. Therefore, there was really very little chance that my friend could have found any photographer willing to do his wedding unless he was willing to pay a real premium for the shoot.
Well, I got the gig. My friend asked me to shoot his wedding. Having told him that I was pretty much an amateur photographer and had never done any wedding prior to that shoot, he was fine with it. I was told that his brother-in-law will be shooting as well. The setup was perfect. His brother-in-law can be the main photographer and I will be the secondary, or an assistance. I grabbed the opportunity. My very first wedding shoot, and hopefully, the first of many more to come. I was on my way to become a part-time wedding photographer! How exciting. My wish came true!
Two days before the actual wedding day, the bride and groom had a rehearsal of the service. I went to the rehearsal and met my friend's brother-in-law only to realise that he was actually going to use a point and shoot compact digital. I, too, was also rather under equipped, having only own a FujiFilm S9500 prosumer/bridge camera and a newly bought Nikon SB600 flash gun. That would have to do with for this wedding. I suddenly found myself being thrusted to take the role as the lead photographer for the wedding. Oh dear, I suddenly felt the weight of responsibility on my shoulder.
Lesson 1: Always ensure we set the expectation right. As I was only an amateur photographer and have never done a wedding shoot before, it was most important to ensure my friend understood the risk involved in getting me to do their wedding as the lead photographer. He had no backup plan. If I or my equipment failed, he would have no photos for his wedding. I was fortunate that he was happy to go along with the risk, thinking that there would be lots of guest with their compact cameras. I also later found out that he did in fact ask another friend to cover the church service. However, I was the only photographer doing all the family and group portraitsm and all the outdoor shoots.
Lesson 2: Do lots of research. Refer to lots of wedding photos, what to do and what not to do, how people pose the shots, what to take, how to make the bridal couple look really good in the shots. One source that I use quite a lot is the Flickr website. It has groups for photographers to post their shots and discussion forums whereby I was able to get some really valuable information and last minute "free" lessons and "tutorials" on wedding photography. Use these resources.
On the actual day, most of the shoot went ok. I was able to shoot pretty much what I had in mind. Thanks to the many wedding photos people post in Flickr. I was able to grab some idea of what to shoot and how to shoot the couple. The biggest "oops" and disappointment I had was the shoot during the service. I found the auto-focus of my camera rather slow for such high pace event. I missed too many shots simply because I wasn't able to focus quick enough. The flash worked as a treat though. However, the caveat was that I could only use it with my FujiFilm S9500 in manual modes, no TTL (or Through-The-Lens) metering mode. Every shot was pretty much a "hit or miss" :P God was kind with me that day. I believe I had far more hits than misses.
Lesson 3: Equipment is very very important in events like this. A good tradesman can never do a good job without the right tools. A good wedding photographer will need to be equipped with the right cameras, lenses and lighting equipment.
Lesson 4: It is almost necessary to have a backup or "fail-over" strategy. That means a backup photographer, a backup camera, extra batteries, etc. Needless to say that weddings are usually once in a life-time, not to be repeated affair. A photographer can not afford to miss too many shots or completely muck up the entire shoot. In the most unfortunate circumstances where an entire wedding shoot fails, I believe it is a quick exit door to this wedding photography industry :)
I'm sure there are many more lessons that I've not covered. This post is starting to look too long and I will wrap up pretty much now.
Final Lesson: Ensure that you make a checklist of what to shoot. That may include things like the bride's bouquet, the bride's shoes, the different sets of group photos of the bride and groom and their families and relatives, etc. I cannot stress enough that wedding is a fast pace event and good planning is required to ensure the success of the shoot.
All the best to the first timer. Happy shooting.
Well, I really haven't shot any other types of event other than a Police Pay Rally by the police union outside the Parliament house sometime back last year, so I might be wrong here.
Wedding shoots are usually a whole day, high pace affairs. I haven't heard or experienced a really easy wedding shoot yet. I have only done 3 wedding shoots so far, and thus, I am still pretty much a newbie at wedding photography. However, I think it will be fun reflecting on what happened to all my shoots and I will share my experience with you, the readers.
My first wedding shoot... it was fun, exciting, and a few oops and "oh dears". It all started when a good friend of mine whom I know for quite a number of years told me that he was getting married one fine day. Suffice to say, I jumped at the opportunity and asked if he had already found a wedding photographer. In Perth, Western Australia, good and cheap wedding photographers are limited commodity. Usually, Wedding couples have to pre-book photographers a year in advance to have any chance of securing a photographer on their big day. Therefore, there was really very little chance that my friend could have found any photographer willing to do his wedding unless he was willing to pay a real premium for the shoot.
Well, I got the gig. My friend asked me to shoot his wedding. Having told him that I was pretty much an amateur photographer and had never done any wedding prior to that shoot, he was fine with it. I was told that his brother-in-law will be shooting as well. The setup was perfect. His brother-in-law can be the main photographer and I will be the secondary, or an assistance. I grabbed the opportunity. My very first wedding shoot, and hopefully, the first of many more to come. I was on my way to become a part-time wedding photographer! How exciting. My wish came true!
Two days before the actual wedding day, the bride and groom had a rehearsal of the service. I went to the rehearsal and met my friend's brother-in-law only to realise that he was actually going to use a point and shoot compact digital. I, too, was also rather under equipped, having only own a FujiFilm S9500 prosumer/bridge camera and a newly bought Nikon SB600 flash gun. That would have to do with for this wedding. I suddenly found myself being thrusted to take the role as the lead photographer for the wedding. Oh dear, I suddenly felt the weight of responsibility on my shoulder.
Lesson 1: Always ensure we set the expectation right. As I was only an amateur photographer and have never done a wedding shoot before, it was most important to ensure my friend understood the risk involved in getting me to do their wedding as the lead photographer. He had no backup plan. If I or my equipment failed, he would have no photos for his wedding. I was fortunate that he was happy to go along with the risk, thinking that there would be lots of guest with their compact cameras. I also later found out that he did in fact ask another friend to cover the church service. However, I was the only photographer doing all the family and group portraitsm and all the outdoor shoots.
Lesson 2: Do lots of research. Refer to lots of wedding photos, what to do and what not to do, how people pose the shots, what to take, how to make the bridal couple look really good in the shots. One source that I use quite a lot is the Flickr website. It has groups for photographers to post their shots and discussion forums whereby I was able to get some really valuable information and last minute "free" lessons and "tutorials" on wedding photography. Use these resources.
On the actual day, most of the shoot went ok. I was able to shoot pretty much what I had in mind. Thanks to the many wedding photos people post in Flickr. I was able to grab some idea of what to shoot and how to shoot the couple. The biggest "oops" and disappointment I had was the shoot during the service. I found the auto-focus of my camera rather slow for such high pace event. I missed too many shots simply because I wasn't able to focus quick enough. The flash worked as a treat though. However, the caveat was that I could only use it with my FujiFilm S9500 in manual modes, no TTL (or Through-The-Lens) metering mode. Every shot was pretty much a "hit or miss" :P God was kind with me that day. I believe I had far more hits than misses.
Lesson 3: Equipment is very very important in events like this. A good tradesman can never do a good job without the right tools. A good wedding photographer will need to be equipped with the right cameras, lenses and lighting equipment.
Lesson 4: It is almost necessary to have a backup or "fail-over" strategy. That means a backup photographer, a backup camera, extra batteries, etc. Needless to say that weddings are usually once in a life-time, not to be repeated affair. A photographer can not afford to miss too many shots or completely muck up the entire shoot. In the most unfortunate circumstances where an entire wedding shoot fails, I believe it is a quick exit door to this wedding photography industry :)
I'm sure there are many more lessons that I've not covered. This post is starting to look too long and I will wrap up pretty much now.
Final Lesson: Ensure that you make a checklist of what to shoot. That may include things like the bride's bouquet, the bride's shoes, the different sets of group photos of the bride and groom and their families and relatives, etc. I cannot stress enough that wedding is a fast pace event and good planning is required to ensure the success of the shoot.
All the best to the first timer. Happy shooting.
Friday, 13 July 2007
Becoming a Wedding Photographer?
Lately, I have been so busy doing post processing of photographs I shot recently in two weddings. Both weddings were for colleagues of mine at work. Well, I am still officially an IT guy, not a true blue wedding photographer yet.
Wedding photography is not as easy as I thought initially. Other than the pressure of getting the "money shot" during the big days, there is also the post processing and presentation to be done after the actual shoot.
For the last couple of weeks, I have done nothing but post processing the wedding shots that me and my buddy photographers have captured, sort the photos and arrange them for slide shows and finally burn the photos into DVDs for the wedding couples - 2 to be exact.
I think for the next couple of blog posts, I will share my experience in different aspect about wedding photography. I hope sharing this experience may prompt many to think about doing wedding shoots and how to get prepared for a shoot.
If you are interested to see some of the shots I took, you can find them in the following Flickr address:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnleafphotography
Wedding photography is not as easy as I thought initially. Other than the pressure of getting the "money shot" during the big days, there is also the post processing and presentation to be done after the actual shoot.
For the last couple of weeks, I have done nothing but post processing the wedding shots that me and my buddy photographers have captured, sort the photos and arrange them for slide shows and finally burn the photos into DVDs for the wedding couples - 2 to be exact.
I think for the next couple of blog posts, I will share my experience in different aspect about wedding photography. I hope sharing this experience may prompt many to think about doing wedding shoots and how to get prepared for a shoot.
If you are interested to see some of the shots I took, you can find them in the following Flickr address:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnleafphotography
Saturday, 19 May 2007
A Lighthouse Unto Thy Feet
Jesus is a Lighthouse
A Tower in the dark
The One who holds the lantern
A great enduring Spark.
Like a flame that burns eternal
He’s a Torch, forever true
The One who holds the answers
When I don’t know what to do.
He’s the One who holds the candle
Over angry waves so steep
He’s the lifeline that doth save me
In a raging sea, so deep.
He’s a strong and steady Pilot
An answer to my plea
The One who throws the anchor
When I’m drifting out to sea
He’s a brightly shining Beacon
Always steady like a rock
A Fortress when I’m weary
A Harbor on life’s dock.
Jesus is a Lighthouse
In Him, I will abide
A Hand when I am weary
A never-ending Tide.
Author/Written By:
Marilyn Ferguson
©2006
Vintage Lighthouse Hosted on Zooomr
A Tower in the dark
The One who holds the lantern
A great enduring Spark.
Like a flame that burns eternal
He’s a Torch, forever true
The One who holds the answers
When I don’t know what to do.
He’s the One who holds the candle
Over angry waves so steep
He’s the lifeline that doth save me
In a raging sea, so deep.
He’s a strong and steady Pilot
An answer to my plea
The One who throws the anchor
When I’m drifting out to sea
He’s a brightly shining Beacon
Always steady like a rock
A Fortress when I’m weary
A Harbor on life’s dock.
Jesus is a Lighthouse
In Him, I will abide
A Hand when I am weary
A never-ending Tide.
Author/Written By:
Marilyn Ferguson
©2006
Vintage Lighthouse Hosted on ZooomrFriday, 18 May 2007
Poem "An Autumn Leaf"
An Autumn Leaf
by Frank Maguire
A leaf once green, a vibrant green
Laced with a silken gown
Now hangs it's head, a weary head
The leaf has turned to brown
A rushing wind, a bracing wind
That blows incessantly
The leaf is weak, so very weak
As it falls down from the tree
A spiral path, a weary path
Is woven without a sound
The sun it sleeps, a deepening sleep
As the leaf falls to the ground
A thought of life, a fragile life
Now hanging by a thread
A thought of death, a seasonal death
As the leaf will soon be dead
A bed of leaves, a grave of leaves
Lie motionless today
The summertime, has had it's time
Now Autumn is on it's way
----
This poem was found here:
http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/nature/poems.php?id=780587
by Frank Maguire
A leaf once green, a vibrant green
Laced with a silken gown
Now hangs it's head, a weary head
The leaf has turned to brown
A rushing wind, a bracing wind
That blows incessantly
The leaf is weak, so very weak
As it falls down from the tree
A spiral path, a weary path
Is woven without a sound
The sun it sleeps, a deepening sleep
As the leaf falls to the ground
A thought of life, a fragile life
Now hanging by a thread
A thought of death, a seasonal death
As the leaf will soon be dead
A bed of leaves, a grave of leaves
Lie motionless today
The summertime, has had it's time
Now Autumn is on it's way
----
This poem was found here:
http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/nature/poems.php?id=780587
Thursday, 29 March 2007
Thinking out of the box?
A colleague of mine today said something about "thinking outside the box"... and I replied that was just so cliché. That little episode also set me thinking. We seem to be in a culture where we unknowingly bring all these business clichés into our daily conversation.
Robert Trigaux of the Times Business Columnist wrote this his article "Cliche cachet":
:
Interesting thoughts. In other words, we are bringing all these business clichés into our daily lives and we can blame that to the advancement of technology.... How's that for "being in the loop" of technological advancement in human history, or are we to find the excuse of simply "joining the party" because everyone's using clichés like "Nobody's business"?
The question that springs to my mind immediately is how do phrases like "Thinking out of the box" come about? What's thinking outside the box got to do with creativity? What box? Who put us into one? Is the box square, triangular or round? I certainly don't have the answer.
Ok, lets do a quick "brain dump" and lets see how many common business clichés we can come up with, and perhaps some of you can "fill in the gaps":
I'm sure there are many more interesting ones. I just can't think anymore at the moment because I am working with "limited capacity". Too jaded "at the close of business" day to make my brain work "effectively, efficiently and productively".
The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day there is nothing, like, value-added about using cliches 24/7 -- with all due respect, it's not just awesome, but it is at the moment in time, a fad, a fashion statement. The bottome line is that utilising and socialising with these mumbo-jumbo terms in your daily business dealings is like making you intelligent or something, and making you sound like you know what you are talking about.
I "bet my ass off" that you will be able to "dig out a few more" good ones too. Remember, just think outside the box! You can always try some "brain storming"!
Robert Trigaux of the Times Business Columnist wrote this his article "Cliche cachet":
Business-speak is full of jargon, buzzwords, meaningless phrases pretending to be English and cliches.
:
Business clichés are proliferating, despite growing attempts to speak and write plain English. Part of the problem is the technology boom, which not only has multiplied tech jargon but allowed it to spread to the general business arena.
Interesting thoughts. In other words, we are bringing all these business clichés into our daily lives and we can blame that to the advancement of technology.... How's that for "being in the loop" of technological advancement in human history, or are we to find the excuse of simply "joining the party" because everyone's using clichés like "Nobody's business"?
The question that springs to my mind immediately is how do phrases like "Thinking out of the box" come about? What's thinking outside the box got to do with creativity? What box? Who put us into one? Is the box square, triangular or round? I certainly don't have the answer.
Ok, lets do a quick "brain dump" and lets see how many common business clichés we can come up with, and perhaps some of you can "fill in the gaps":
- At the end of the day . . .(it's when I go to sleep)
- it's not rocket science (then what is it? computer science?)
- ballpark figures (would that be baseball or football park figures?)
- touch base
- 24/7 (that's 3.4285714285714285714285714285714 or 168?)
- Taking it to the next level (Are we playing games?)
- socializing the idea (I rather socialise with real people)
- caught between a rock and a hard place (a rock is a hard place!)
- singing from the same hymn book (now are we good Christians?)
- at this moment in time (what happen if there is a time warp?)
- moving the goal-posts (obviously you haven't seen AFL)
- the fact of the matter is... (a matter contains an atom, electrons, neutrons and protons)
- put all in one basket(are we off to the market now?)
- the bottom line (is where we put our footer information like the page number)
- blue-sky figures (are there red, orange, purple, silver skies figures too?)
- a problem raises its ugly head (are we dealing with an ogre now?)
I'm sure there are many more interesting ones. I just can't think anymore at the moment because I am working with "limited capacity". Too jaded "at the close of business" day to make my brain work "effectively, efficiently and productively".
The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day there is nothing, like, value-added about using cliches 24/7 -- with all due respect, it's not just awesome, but it is at the moment in time, a fad, a fashion statement. The bottome line is that utilising and socialising with these mumbo-jumbo terms in your daily business dealings is like making you intelligent or something, and making you sound like you know what you are talking about.
I "bet my ass off" that you will be able to "dig out a few more" good ones too. Remember, just think outside the box! You can always try some "brain storming"!
Friday, 23 March 2007
Learning how to shoot people
I haven't been blogging for a while, attributing mainly to two major events that happened recently:
Recently, I have just done a photoshoot for a friend in her graduation gown. It has been an interesting shoot. You see, I am not quite a portrait photographer yet. I have been shooting landscape for a while, and have only recently venture into portraiture photography.
It has been an interesting experience for me, trying to get the right lighting, and posture in portraiture shots. I constantly had to pay lots of attention on the lighting on the subject (my friend). She, having really fair complexion also made taking light metering challenging. Getting the right postures for the shot was also the major challenge in portraiture shoots. I constantly had to remind myself... I must make the subject looks the best possible in my shots.
Frequently having to make mental notes such as ensuring that the background behind the subject, my friend, does not having things "sticking out" of her head or make her look awkward while trying to work out all the different angles and perspective I could take as I moved around her to find all the best position angles to capture.
Here are some of the photos I took of her:
I guess, I am starting to really enjoy shooting people. This is definitely one area in which I hope to make significant inroads in terms of my skills and capability.
- I have been caught up moving my Dotnet Commons Open Source project from GotDot net host site to the new Microsoft Open Source hosting site called Codeplex.
- I am doing (and will do) a couple of shoots for some of my friends
Recently, I have just done a photoshoot for a friend in her graduation gown. It has been an interesting shoot. You see, I am not quite a portrait photographer yet. I have been shooting landscape for a while, and have only recently venture into portraiture photography.
It has been an interesting experience for me, trying to get the right lighting, and posture in portraiture shots. I constantly had to pay lots of attention on the lighting on the subject (my friend). She, having really fair complexion also made taking light metering challenging. Getting the right postures for the shot was also the major challenge in portraiture shoots. I constantly had to remind myself... I must make the subject looks the best possible in my shots.
Frequently having to make mental notes such as ensuring that the background behind the subject, my friend, does not having things "sticking out" of her head or make her look awkward while trying to work out all the different angles and perspective I could take as I moved around her to find all the best position angles to capture.
Here are some of the photos I took of her:
I guess, I am starting to really enjoy shooting people. This is definitely one area in which I hope to make significant inroads in terms of my skills and capability.
Wednesday, 14 February 2007
More photos from the beautiful Williams Bay, Denmark.
This place is so beautiful and I couldn't help taking heaps of photos of the place. Trust me, I haven't done justice to this place.
These 2 photos are taken at section of the bay called the Elephant Cove, also known by Elephant Rocks (The rocks looked like elephants from high elevation).
Perhistoric Earth? Hosted on Zooomr
I took these 2 shots during sunset. It was a cloudy day and was drizzling a little.
These 2 photos are taken at section of the bay called the Elephant Cove, also known by Elephant Rocks (The rocks looked like elephants from high elevation).
Perhistoric Earth? Hosted on ZooomrI took these 2 shots during sunset. It was a cloudy day and was drizzling a little.
Thursday, 8 February 2007
My photo has been digged!
I was surprised too see a comment left on one of my photos in Flickr this morning. My photo has been digged by a photography blog called Fotodirt. More surprising was the kind comments left in the blog about this particular photo:
This shot was actually taken in colour. I adjusted the contrast, added vignetting and converted the photo into black and white. And the result is as such.
The colour version of this shot is as follow:
Boats and Yachts by ~The-autumn-leaf on deviantART
The fotodirt.com blog is actually quite an interesting site. It contains some great topics and discussion about photography. I believe any amateur photogs, photography buffs or aspiring to be professional can definitely learn heaps from the blog site.
This shot was actually taken in colour. I adjusted the contrast, added vignetting and converted the photo into black and white. And the result is as such.
The colour version of this shot is as follow:
Boats and Yachts by ~The-autumn-leaf on deviantART
The fotodirt.com blog is actually quite an interesting site. It contains some great topics and discussion about photography. I believe any amateur photogs, photography buffs or aspiring to be professional can definitely learn heaps from the blog site.
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