A mixed bag

Over the past few weeks I've done quite a bit of photography (which has been awesome), but I've had precious little time to edit them. I recently had the chance to sit down and have a decent crack at the images. Here's what I created.

The first set of images was captured at The Bogey Hole, Newcastle, NSW. It was an extra special photography session since I had my little cousin Christopher with me, who was visiting from England for Christmas. Christopher had his own high-end Sony point and shoot camera, so I dragged him out of bed for the sunrise and taught him a few tricks of the trade.

The Bogey Hole, Newcastle, NSW

Behind the scenes with Christopher and Kane - The Bogey Hole, Newcastle, NSW

Behind the scenes with Christopher - The Bogey Hole, Newcastle, NSW

Over the week that Christopher spent with us, he became quite the avid photographer. Here is a little project shoot that we set up in the lounge room to master the skill of depth of field. I liked the shot so much that I decided to edit it and include it in my photography album.

Depth of field with a delicious bottle of Port

The next image is from Mt Tomaree, a spectacular location in Port Stephens (about 1 hr 15 from Newcastle). I've long wanted to capture the surrounding beauty from the top of the mountain, but never seemed to get there. Finally, the chance arose while giving a tour of Port Stephens to a Canadian intern (Erika) from work. I had in mind a panoramic shot, since the landscape is quite vast. Though I am still very much getting used to panoramas, I think this one turned out ok. While I like the composition, I think this shot would be greatly improved with some nicer clouds and some colour in the sky.

4 shot panorama of taken from Mt Tomaree, Port Stephens, NSW

Some of you might recall seeing my previous new years post featuring the Sydney fireworks. The following image was captured earlier that evening. This shot was a single image, cropped into a panoramic ratio. I just love the city lights and the boats swaying in the harbour. I think this one might need to be framed up!

New Years Eve on Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSW

And the last image in my mixed bag is a portrait shot of me with 'my precious' - a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, which I recently acquired (Merry Christmas to me!). This photo was captured by my partner  in photography crime Kane.

New Years Fireworks - Sydney Harbour

First entry for 2013 - New Years Fireworks from Sydney Harbour. What a spectacular display! A great way start the new year.

Kane, Cassie and I caught the early train from Newcastle to Sydney, to visit some friends (Simone and Nick), in Waverton (North Shore, Sydney). We arrived around 9.30am and relaxed for little while. At around 11.30am, we decided to investigate our vantage point for the evening firework display. A short 5 minute walk from their place and we were greeted with an uninterrupted view of Sydney Harbour Bridge - simply spectacular. We had a quick look around and picked out the prime real estate, a large and tall rock ('pride rock', as we called it). This really was the best seat in the house. Because it was so tall there was no possibility of anyone sneaking in front of us and obscuring our view. We decided to mark our territory with a rug and a chair (that we picked up from the side of the road...haha) and then proceeded to the pub for some lunch and cold beverages. Six hours later we returned and amazingly our territory had not been invaded. Brilliant we thought. We got to enjoy the afternoon, consuming beverages at the pub and avoiding the scorching sun. Meanwhile, a hoard of people had slogged it out through the hottest part of the afternoon...melanoma anyone?

Kane and I took up our positions while Cass, Simone and Nick returned to the house for food and drinks. We set up our cameras and tripods and sussed out the best composition. Before we knew it, the 9pm fireworks display erupted and the sounds of exploding fireworks echoed around the cove. Kane and I fired our shots away, capturing some great images. But these were just the warm up for the main event at 12pm.

New Years Fireworks - Sydney Harbour

New Years Fireworks - Sydney Harbour

The wait from 9pm-12pm went by a little more slowly as the early start began to take its toll.
But it was all worth the wait. Once again the fireworks boomed across the harbour and it was soon alight with all manner of shapes and colour. Since the camera was on a tripod, the composition locked in and the camera settings dialed in, all I had to do was look to the sky and click my remote shutter cable. Too easy.

New Years Fireworks - Sydney Harbour

New Years Fireworks - Sydney Harbour

New Years Fireworks - Sydney Harbour

Well that's all for the first blog entry for 2013. I think I can safely say that this was a trip well worth its while. Hopefully there will be many more successful photography outings to come.

Cheers
Roy