New on 500px : Port Fairy Floss by JCphotographics by JCphotographics

Port Fairy Floss || Port Fairy Lighthouse, Griffith Island, Port Fairy – Victoria Australia – More photos on my Facebook Page or Instagram @jasoncrowellphoto

Some mornings we battle the wild conditions and after a lot of effort we return with our tail between our legs after a shoot with little or no results.

This morning in Port Fairy I had everything fall into place for me in regards to weather. The sky had so much colour that it has taken a bit of work with bracketed exposures to have detail in certain parts of the sky but I managed to get there in the end.

Any feedback is welcome!
JC

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New on 500px : Princes Pier by DebashisTalukdar by DebashisTalukdar

This is perhaps a favourite hangout for many-a-Melbourne-based photographer. The post-piles are the remnants of what used to make up Princes Pier. At one time, this timber pier used to extend out into the waters of Port Philip Bay, and was the landing for many seafaring vessels. After falling into disrepair, a project in the late 2000s did away with the top of the pier, and constructed a concrete pier which now serves as a local park of sorts to visitors. It is a common spot for anglers to spend some time trying to take something home.
On this particular autumn morning in 2013, I had taken a drive that way after seeing that the sunrise was looking very promising. A few anglers had already pitched their spots and were sharing stories as I showed up to take this particular shot. I am quite happy to say that very little has been done to this image from its version that came straight out of camera – which is an indication that the light and conditions were just perfect. The stillness of the water was the result of a combination of there being very little wind in the morning, and from using an ND400 filter.

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New on 500px : Pinnacle Gate Keeper by philnormanphoto by philnormanphoto

The Pinnacles

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New on 500px : Pillars of Light by ditography by ditography

Port Fairy Lighthouse
A small lighthouse, 1.5 km away from Port Fairy, one of the best place I’ve seen to capture milky way.

Nikon D800 with 14-24mm
30 seconds – F/2.8 – ISO 5000

Shooting Milky Way is never an easy job, especially if we live in a high density populated areas. Aside from dealing with the light pollution, factoring the phase of the moon is also important to maximise the best contrast possible. In this trip, we tried to factor in everything we could think of to spot the ideal place and time:
– find a place far away from big cities to minimise light pollution
– shoot during new moon phase to maximise dark sky and increasing contrast of the stars
– check the weather, spot for windows of clear night with minimum clouds
– try to plan a foreground that you’re going to use to compliment the milky way on the background
– pray for the best luck you can have

To capture the best colour in milky way, it is necessary to push the limit of my camera by bumping the ISO up to 5000. The extra 1-2 stops sensitivity gives a noisier image but rewarding me with more vibrant colour and better details on the stars.

For the choice of shutter speed, I stick with the rule of 500 (use shutter speed no slower than 500/effective focal length) to maintain the star as a point (not leaving any trails behind do to motion blur). In this case, my maximum shutter speed is 500/14mm = 35 second. I keep it at 30 second to have a more conservative result.

Finally, the biggest challenge to me was on the field itself as I have to frame the foreground with an extreme wide angle lens (14mm) in a pitch black location near 0’C temperature.

At the end of the day, shooting milky way is all about planning, with a little bit of extra luck.

PS This photo was posted here last year, but I just did a rework on the noise and WB accuracy, so I believe this one is a much closer representation of the actual night itself

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New on 500px : The Pinnacles by skinnaa by skinnaa

This place is amazing. Standing here between these two massive walls listening to the giant boulders shift amongst each other as the waves roll in and out is an experience like no other.

Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island, Australia.

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New on 500px : Deliverance by RunningLightPhotography by RunningLightPhotography

Great Ocean Road ~ Vic Australia

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New on 500px : A T R by tpoulton001 by tpoulton001

If you’ve spent time at this location you can understand why time is against this amazing place, even the viewing platform will slide away into the ocean and when you head down to Gibson Steps you can see how some of it is collapsing already.

Now I can understand why they have signs warning people to keep to the path but as a landscape photographer the desire to find a unique composition can be overpowering and you can’t but help to break the rules. Would you believe that one of the workers stationed at the car park called us scum several times. Now perhaps we deserved a slap on the wrist but the abusive behaviour and the vicious and unwarranted “scum” comment was talking it way too far. What do you think?

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New on 500px : Why do Lemmings jump off cliffs by tpoulton001 by tpoulton001

Why do Lemmings jump off cliffs, apparently it’s a myth and don’t commit mass suicide. Humans on the other hand seem to be collectively destroying the very planet we live on and in turn our very own existence, such a smart creative species hell bent on destruction.

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New on 500px : The Pinnacles by BruceHood by BruceHood

The much loved Pinnacles rock formation at Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island.

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New on 500px : Lost Count by tpoulton001 by tpoulton001

A Sony A7r, Schnitty 50mm Tilt Shift and Me
Firstly let me start by saying I’m not an expert reviewer of photography equipment but I do know what I like and how to produce a cracking pano.
Secondly if you get offended by foul language or what I have to say then turn off now.
And finally, I’m in no way paid by any of these manufacturers but wold willingly take’ cash for comments’ in the future.
ERGONOMICS
The first thing I noticed about this camera was the weight and size, as I do lots of hiking and weight is a big issue I’m excited about reducing weight being able to carry other cool equipement. Once I started shooting with the camera it took me back to when I was 14, fumbling around with my first bra at the drive-in, now for anyone under 20, thats a car park where you watch movies from you car, not a McDonalds drive through. After a few hours of shooting I started to feel comfortable with the buttons and dials and felt that everything is in the right position.
CONNECTIVITY
Pairing this with the Schnieder 50mm Tilt Shift, nicknamed the ‘Big Schnitty’ was as simple as picking up the Novoflex Nex/Nik Adaptor and everything works the same as the Nikon D800.
BUILD
Once again I love the size of this camera and feel its solid enough to take a bit of beating and after an hour in a rainforest with intermittent rain it’s still working. I love the new flip out screen saving the neck when shooting down low. One thing I absolutely hate is the digital viewfinder, I feel like I’m in a cheap peepshow and the entertainment is rubbish.
CAMERA SETTINGS
I love the Time Lapse and Star Trail software you can download from Sony Entertainment, maybe a bramping feature with time lapse would be awesome. All the other bits feel like the Nikon D800, but the most important problem with this camera and the deal breaker for me is the lack of Delayed Exposure Mode, back to back frames with both cameras at the same settings around 1.6 seconds exposure the vibration is so noticeable I would bin the Sony frames and class it as a complete fail. For me to keep using this camera, Sony will have to add this in the next firmware update.
SENSOR
I really couldn’t see any difference with the A7r and the D800 with quality, dynamic range or colour between the 2 sensors, only slight difference is the A7r performed better under low lighting.
VIDEO
Didn’t bother.
OUTPUT
Spent 3 hours fucking around on the internet updating system software and then you still have to convert them before processing your files in Camera Raw, boring!
BATTERY
Battery life doesn’t seem to be any different from the D800 but I would still carry several back ups.
MEMORY
I understand that because of the size and weight I can live with only one memory slot
WEIRD SHIT
Now this only a little thing but as they say the small things in life matter. I really like the way the camera will balance and not flip around with the weight on a pano head when carrying it around on the tripod, the D800 would always spin around exposing the glass of the lens to any rain or other elements, the A7r stays put, because of the weight balance.
PROS
Cheaper than the Nikon by 1.5k
Lighter
Smaller
Flip Out Screen
Time Lapse, Star Trails and other cool software
CONS
Only a couple for me, obviously the digital viewfinder and this one is the deal breaker, NO EXPOSURE DELAY MODE, hurry the fuck up with this Sony because I have just added another in the long list of items in the cupboard.
Finally if I was one of the many Canon users defecting I’d certainly upgrade to the Sony A7r and hope they get there shit together with the vibration issue. Would I swap my beloved Nikon D800 for the Sony A7r? NO! until they fix the vibration issue I’m going to stick with the Nikon. Once they do I would gladly sell the Nikon, Canon and every other camera I own and buy two of them and be much happier at the end of a big hike.
Image above from a Nikon D800 becuase I couldn’t find a good set of frames from the Sony A7r

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