My year in review. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the blog this year. Well done to the top 5 people who left comments and the numerous regulars who like and sometimes dislike my photos and stories. You are my inspiration. I have a massive year planned for 2013 and I can’t wait to share my ideas with you all in mid January. I’m off to photograph a wedding today so until next time have a safe a happy New Year!
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 53,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 12 Film Festivals
In my view the Tamron SP 24-70mm with the new VC gets the big tick of approval. Let me tell you why:
To start there are a number of great reviews online already showcasing the many advantages and some disadvantages of the Tamron SP 24-70mm f/28 DI VC USD lens. I wanted my review to be a little bit different. I haven’t really seen many low light photographs from this lens so I decided to pursue some lightning and star photography to show something a little bit different.
As you can see from the above specs the lens has a whopping 82mm filter. Most photographers who have a wide-angle lens will find the filter size to be different from their kits. The only other lens I can think of that uses this size is the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L lens.
Personally I had an 82mm Hoya Pro1 Digital UV filter lying around so I was able to utilize it for the lightning photos shown below. To be fair on image testing I only used the filter on the lightning photographs due to the wet weather. As a side note if you are using a filter on any good quality lens be sure NOT to purchase the cheapest filter out there. Go for the highest quality otherwise you are only going to degrade the glass quality of the lens. For the majority of my work I use LEE filters and Hoya Pro1 Digital filters.
Today I felt a bit of a creative spark after seeing some really amazing film images.
I wanted to take a photo on the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 and try to recreate the cross processed film look similar to what you see from a sprocket rocket camera (where the developed film includes the film sprockets) so I went to the beach after work to get the idea going.
Another successful worldwide photo competition has finished and the winner has been selected!
The entries into the Google+ Photographers Competition were outstanding! I couldn’t believe the quality of work that was submitted on Google+. Certainly is the best place for photographers. For the full details on how the competition worked click on the banner below:
Now to the important details – the winning image!
The winning photograph was a beautiful black and white photo of a sheep by Gerald Fischer. The post process carried out of the image was superb. Gerald won himself a $100.00 B&H voucher for winning the competition!
All of the finalist photographs were judged on the following criteria. Each photo was awarded a score out of 100 points:
1. (25 points) How creative the photograph is.
2. (25 points) How original the photograph is.
3. (25 points) What the technical photographic quality is like.
4. (25 points) How good is the Post Processing Techniques?
The winner was selected from the highest total combined score from all the judges.
Here are the total scores for the above images:
Do you agree with the judge’s verdict? Lets see what the people’s choice would have been: Vote below in the poll:
The judging of the final image was broadcast LIVE via my YouTube channel. Check out the full recorded On Air Google+ Hangout below and watch what the judges had to say about the image.
A big shout out to all the international judges for their dedication to photography and their time.
If you are an imaging wholesaler or photography store and wish to promote your social media and reach online please get in contact with me via leighdiprosephotography@yahoo.com to find out how I can promote your business through one of my photo competitions.
I have been quite ill over the last 24 hours and have been battling through my full time job as well as trying to keep up on my social media, my blogs and wedding photography business. I will try to bring you some photos soon but at the moment I have to focus on getting better. Hopefully I will be fit and well enough to post some more photos over the next couple of days.
Split toning is always fun to experiment with because there are so many different colour combinations you can choose from. For me choosing a warmer tone in light areas and a cooler tone in darker areas works quite well.
The Osprey would certainly be my favourite bird to photograph because they have so much character.
This Osprey was happy to pose for me on my last trip to Geraldton with Shawn Haywood. The sun shone brightly so I was able to get the amazing catch light in its eye. I used about 5 images of trees, clouds and an oil tank to create this fine art portrait. Enjoy.
This photo was taken at Gordon River in Western Australia which is a very small patch of water between Perth and Albany. For some reason I keep getting the name mixed up with Gregory River. Oh well…I don’t really like this image because I think the fog has contributed to the grain in the final image.
Please be brutally honest (I mean very brutal please) and let me know what you think about the overall image. Does this image rock your boat or should I have kept it in the archives? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
I have had this image sitting on my hard drive for some time. The image has been stitched together from 18 images to create my latest fine art landscape.
I can’t wait to head back to this location at the end of the month to photograph another wedding at the beautiful Maitreya Private Retreat.
The Black Swan is a unique species found in Australia as it is the only swan in the world to be completely black. I photographed this beautiful bird in the early morning light and created my next fine art wildlife piece. Enjoy
I have just launched a brand new photography community called Google+ Photographers Community which can be found over on Google+.
Google has only yesterday released a new platform called communities which combines the best of Google+, YouTube, Google Groups and Google Events all in the one place. A community is ideally based on a subject, within the subject users are able to post their content directly to a sub-category.
Since the launch there has been many communities formed however I did notice that there was no place which combined the things in photography that interested me. So I decided to create the Google+ Photographers Community (GPC).
Within GPC I have created the following categories:
Android Devices – Community members post photos and content related to Android Devices.
Apple Devices – Community members post photos and content related to Apple Devices.
Canon – Community members post photos and content related to Canon gear.
Casio – Community members post photos and content related to Casio gear.
Fujifilm – Community members post photos and content related to Fujifilm gear.
GoPro – Community members post photos and content related to GoPro gear.
Kodak – Community members post photos and content related to Kodak gear.
Leica – Community members post photos and content related to Leica gear.
Nikon – Community members post photos and content related to Nikon gear.
Olympus – Community members post photos and content related to Olympus gear.
Panasonic – Community members post photos and content related to Panasonic gear.
Pentax Ricoh – Community members post photos and content related to Pentax or Ricoh gear.
Samsung – Community members post photos and content related to Samsung gear.
Sigma – Community members post photos and content related to Sigma gear.
Sony – Community members post photos and content related to Sony gear.
Events – +Leigh Diprose will run a weekly photo competition based on a photographic theme. Participants will be able to share their photos directly to the themed Event.
My future plan is to entangle my blog and Google community together with future events and google hangouts posted weekly to my YouTube channel and here on the blog.
The hangouts will talk about the latest in photographic gear as well as review some of the latest product. I can’t wait to see where this leads. In the first few hours almost 200 people have joined the community and the engagement between the users has been fantastic. ***Update*** 359 Members!
If you have any questions on the new community please let me know in the comments.
Western Australia is truly an amazing place. I am very fortunate to be able to travel this great state and see many places and experience many rare sites. The Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo is one of those birds that stops you in your tracks! Its truly a rare beautiful site when you see one of the birds these days.
I wanted to photograph this bird and bring the endangered cockatoo to everyone’s attention. I know of a few places where these birds gather in large numbers of 200 or more and for most locals these birds are considered pests but for the rest of the world these birds are extremely rare as they can only be found in parts of Western Australia.
Please enjoy the beauty of this creature and pay close attention to the environment around you next time you are outdoors….lets all preserve our wildlife for the next generation.
Until Next Time – Happy Shooting (That’s photographing to the non photographer!)
I have been busy over the last few days photographing some amazing sunsets with the Fujifilm X-Pro 1. I have also been given the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC II Lens (Canon Mount) to test out.
Today I captured some storm photos with the Tamron lens and in the next few weeks you should see a review on the blog.
Fujifilm are also sending me the Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55mm to test out. I expect to see the camera in the next few weeks so stay tuned to the blog by subscribing.
This Splendid Fairy Wren or more commonly known as the Blue Wren would have to be one of the most spectacular birds in Australia.
Photographing these small birds can be quite challenging A steady hand, long lens and quick focus certainly help. I think all my bucket practice certainly came in handy!
Have you ever photographed one of these birds before? I would be interested to see your photos so be sure to drop a link to any of your images below.
After working most of the day on a photography shoot in the City of Perth I wandered around the streets taking in the sights and sounds of the Christmas celebrations.
Dazzling Christmas decorations, a rotund Santa and a walking Christmas tree (lady on stilts) were some of the festive highlights of the Christmas city scape. The place was full of cheer and joy as families shopped in the summer sun.
Considering the abundance of festive spirit which surrounded me I decided to photograph with a Christmas theme in mind. So I give you the abstract West Australian version of snow flakes – water frozen in time!
These photos were taken at the fountain at newly developed Forrest Chase. Merry Christmas!
I am sitting on the porch waiting. The verandah is formed from rustic beams splintering in every direction. Carved jagged jarrah beams form a barrier of curved edges above me. The derelict concrete step seems comfortable compared to my surroundings.
There is no rain to be seen and the air is dry and still. Looking down at the barren earth beneath me the mixture of fine dust and coarse sand seems like turmeric blowing in the breeze; wasted without a recipe. I drag my finger in the red dirt and gaze up transfixed on the beautiful sunset over the distant horizon.
The richness of colour is mesmerising.
The seat beside me is vacant. My feet rest on the cracked concrete steps that have stood the test of time. My memories of the house I grew up in flood back to me as I shut my eyes. The sounds of laughter fill the air as children play in the heat of the day.
I can recall stumbling on each step as the heat of summer was upon me. Getting inside into the cool was high on my agenda so I would hurriedly try to hop, step and jump up the stairs onto the dusty veranda. Typically I would find myself tumbling and falling short of the distant door. Thud! I had landed face first on the verandah. The concrete stairs had seen a many-stubbed toe or two. It is only now after all my years of growth I can run a fleeting jump above the hazard that lay before me. Success!
My mind was reminiscing as the echo of ice, clinking in a cold glass filled my mind. The classic sound of my summer childhood. The sticky lemonade spilled from the edges of my mouth. A fulfilling grin appeared on my face. Chuckling, I was amused at how the small things in life somehow seemed to be the best memories.
For some reason I remember the house from my childhood as a windowless building. I didn’t really take in my surroundings back then but now as I gaze into the broken window I noticed the reflection of a tall long limbed tree standing steadfast in the middle of the paddock. Memories flooded back. I remember hours would pass as I spent my childhood in that tree. My fort, cubby and swing all rolled into one. It was my place for exploring my imagination. So what happened to my imagination? Where was it now?
What would it mean for me to get up and walk over to that special place? Would I feel the same youthful glee? Leaving the comfort of abandoned home the very place my mind I had grown accustom to? The familiarity of my house where I calved every wooden beam and known every step. How could I get up and walk to the tree that seemed to give youthful life in the barrenness that was my surrounds.
How could I see what my life could be when I hadn’t even leaved home? Would I be able to imagine again? Would I be able to imagine this? Is this even real?
LEIGH DIPROSE 