Posted in Outdoors on January 18, 2010| 6 Comments »
Last week I was in Blyth for a couple of days and took these images of Blyth Beach.
Overlooking the pier. ISO 400, 1/125 sec, F4.
A wider shot... ISO 800, 1/85 sec, F6.5.
ISO 800, 1/200 sec, F4.6.
Blyth Beach. ISO 800, 1/100 sec, F4.6.
A short pier... ISO 800, 1/15 sec, F4.
The Blyth outlook post. ISO 800, 1/15 sec, F4.
The Port of Blyth in the distance. ISO 800, 1/15 sec, F4.
Posted in Flash, Outdoors on January 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Between the Christmas and New Year period, my Nephew Bruce came to visit and my shooting buddy (Graham) and I decided to use his camera gear for the shoot. My gear was in my luggage which hadn’t arrived from being lost in Singapore Airport (which I now have).
We used Graham’s 580EX II speedlite on a stand in varying positons. Not sure who took what photos as we both shared the same gear. So the photos below have either been taken by myself or Graham Law.
Graham located a barn out of town that seemed to work well as a location.
This frame wasn't perfectly exposed in-camera, but seems to shape up okay in post-production.
Graham drove us to the lead mines at Clywedog dam. Graham had a second cheap flash unit (with in optical trigger) which was used to illuminate the wall on the left side.
I can assure you it was very cold and we didn't stay out long!
We added a CTB gel on the second flash.
Back at the barn, a quick portrait of Graham.
I like this shot of Bruce and I like the pose.
Posted in General Ramblings, Outdoors on December 19, 2009| 2 Comments »
I decided to do the first part of the PADI diving course called Discover Scuba Diving (DSD). I went down to the Calypso Diving Centre and got Phil (whom I took photos of his child) to be my instructor. I did the pool exercises okay and then went off to do an open water dive. We went down 6 meters and it was awesome! I must admit that once I started thinking about all the water above me, I felt I needed to go up to the surface. Had a chat with Phil and we went down again. I can see why diving is so popular around the world.
Anyway, after the dive, I headed over to Samba to take photos of the new owners at sunset and a couple of pics of the bar.
I asked one of the waitresses to stand where the sunset was shining light and took this image.
Brady, one of the new owners of Samba. The bar name will most likely change...
Brady and Shawn. Dylan the 3rd owner wasn't around as he was on company business.
Taken just in front of Samba. ISO 800, 1/30 sec, F1.8.
Hmm... let's sit down and have a beer shall we...
I love that late evening blue sky...
Come on... let's have a beer! 😉
A wider shot of the previous photo.
Posted in General Ramblings, Outdoors on December 19, 2009| 4 Comments »
I decided to take a boat ride up and down the island and see the beach with the golden colours of the sunset. This day was perfect and I was out at 4:30pm for an hour and all I did was shoot with my camera… as well as enjoying the boat trip of course!
Just got on the boat and we're off on the trip...
Willy's island. I used my polarising filter.
The water is so warm and nice here.
I've had a massage under the hut you see on the beach. The first time I had a massage here, I started with an hour massage and then I was so relaxed, that I did another hour 😉 If you look closely, you can see the masseurs on the left side of the hut.
The boat captain taking me around the island. He was good to slow down so I could take pictures in relatively clam conditions.
A typical scene along the beach. At this side of White Beach, the sand is like powder and is totally amazing!
You may remember a photo I took on day 66 where there were some stairs leading down to the water. If you look closely on the left side of this photo you can see the stairs. This is part of the West Cove resort on Diniwid beach.
This is a reminder of the image I talked about in the previous photo. The boat was just past the rock you see on the right part of the photo.
Feel fortunate to be here to spend time on the island looking at sights like this.
The same place and you can just see the stairs going into the water. Seeing the golden colours of the sunset hitting the beach is one of the things I wanted to capture.
This is at a secluded spot further up the island.
Can you imagine staying here...
Sail boats taking tourists on a sunset sail. Similar to what I did the previous week.
The beach front on our way back... The places you see in the right half of the photo are really good places to party!!
The boat captain mooring up on the beach. The hour trip is over.
Other boats also mooring up...
The boat I was in is right where the sun is.
A close up of the boat I was in... literally heading into the sunset 😉
I headed to the Samba bar and took this photo of Jane. Samba has just been sold to 3 New Zealanders aged, 19, 22 & 25.
Later on at Samba was live music. I got one of the new owners to hold the flash and laid on the beach looking up to take this photo. ISO 800, 1/20 sec, F4.
Posted in General Ramblings, Outdoors on December 15, 2009| 4 Comments »
I decided it was time to do a sunset sail… I was expecting to be able to take pictures, but I discovered I had to sit on the thin boom which is about 1.5 feet above the water when sailing. Too risky and my camera isn’t a Canon EOS 1D!
The sail was extremely peaceful and was amazed at how fast the boat could glide through the water. As your going along, you can see the coral beneath you…
Here are a few pics I took after the hour of sailing.
This is the boat I was on. I sat on the boom...
Unfortunately, there was probably too many clouds 😦
Another sail boat wrapping up for the day.
This shows the threatening clouds!
Posted in General Ramblings, Outdoors on December 3, 2009| 8 Comments »
Today I wondered over to another beach on the island called Diniwid. Its a very small beach but it is thoroughly charming! Earlier in my tour here I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Wales’s family. They wrote to me on this blog and suggested a lovely place called West Cove and to have their ice tea with crushed ice with lemon inside. Wow!!!! This has to be one of the most refreshing ice tea drinks I have ever had!! Totally worth coming to Boracay for… 😉
West Cove is a beautiful resort on the hill side of the beach. I’ll let the pictures tell the story…
My first frame at the West Cove Bar near the water and overlooking the Diniwid beach..
From the same location as the above shot, but looking outwards towards the sea.
How would you like to use these stairs to snorkel in the water below? 😉
Or lay on this large chair?
This is the ice tea with crushed ice with lemon inside!
Looking further out to sea from the edge of the West Cove hill side resort.
Evidence I was there! 😉
Here you can see the resort from the water line going up the hill.
A table overlooking the sea under a grass hut.
The West Cove bar and table area from above.
Back on Diniwid beach... about to leave...
As I've been wondering around White Beach, I always wanted to blog this resort's name! I love it! Imagine filling out your immigration arrival form with a name like this! "Nigi Nigi Nu Noos 'e' Nu Nu Noos"! Elsewhere on White Beach there is "Nigi Nigi Too"
Okay... sorry.. another sunset from today...
People on the beach just hanging out...
A Sailing boat taking down their sails.
I stopped by the Red Pirates bar tonight. I met the owner the other night in Rumba's.
Posted in General Ramblings, Outdoors on November 27, 2009| 4 Comments »
Today I decided it was time to shoot various images from sun rise to sun set. This meant waking up at 4:45am! It was very dark and continued shooting till around 6am. Then it was time to head over to Bolabog beach again later in the morning to see what was going on and then to the top of the island. Then finally back to Bom Bom bar for sunset on the bean bags.
Taken at 5:26am at ISO 400, 30 seconds, F10.
A wider landscape shot. Taken at 5:33am, ISO 160, 15 seconds, F13.
Getting closer to getting some better shots. Taken at 5:43am, ISO 100, 5 seconds, F22.
Finally this HDR image taken at 5:46am. ISO 100, F22. Frame 1: 1/2 second. Frame 2: 1 second. Frame 3: 2 seconds. 1 minute after this shot, it was all over. Not a great sun rise so I'll try again soon...
A boat getting ready to go out on Bolabog beach.
Then I went to Mount Loho... the tallest point on the island. I used my polarising filter to remove the reflections off the leaves. Bolabog beach is in the distance.
Looking 180 degrees the other way you see this view. Lapus-Lapus Beach.
When you get to Mound Loho, you have to climb these stairs.
The Mount Loho welcome sign.
Tonight's sunset. You can see someone parasailing in the distance. Aperture Priority was far to variable so I switched to manual mode. ISO 200, 1/250 sec, F16.
I took this picture from the Bom Bom bar especially for Nick, Brian and Drew. I was sitting on the bean bag on the next table and popped my flash on my table pointing towards the table in front. As flash is day light balanced it didn't look right so I chucked on a 1/2 strength CTO gel to warm up the scene. ISO 200, 1/200 sec, F20 and the flash at -2/3 FEV.
My last frame of the day taken at 5:23pm. ISO 200, 1/160 sec, F11.
Posted in Flash, General Ramblings, Outdoors on November 25, 2009| 12 Comments »
Here is a collection of photos that I’ve taken over the last few days.
I wondered along the beach and I noticed these 3 girls using a Canon 450D to take photos of each other and having a laugh doing so... So I offered to take a photo of them and then said if I could try something different. They were curious and I took a few frames like this one. After about 5 minutes, I continued and had a beer in a bar called Paraw.
The bar at Club Paraw.
Club Paraw early before it got busy.
Live entertainment at the Bom Bom bar.
I like slow exposures with rear curtain flash. But this was perhaps a bit too slow. ISO 800, 1/3 sec, F4.
Sitting on the beach at Bom Bom.
Willy's rock with the Virgin Mary and is collectively referred to as a symbol of Boracay.
A wider shot of Willy's rock.
You can't see the drama in the clouds in the previous image. So this wider shot gives you more idea.
However, I think this shot really shows what's going on in the clouds.
A HDR image of a kararoki bar. I have a few more shots planned for this location.
The Rumba's bar I attend daily. I have all my meals here and perhaps a few beers! 😉 I took this early tonight with 2 flashes with 1/2 CTO gels..
Getting the Rumba's name in the frame.
Again focusing on getting the bar name into the frame.
A wider shot of the Rumba's Bar.
Posted in Outdoors, Sports on November 24, 2009| 5 Comments »
Before I went to the Miss Earth event, I popped down to Bolabog beach to do some more practice in shooting sports action. I do feel I’m improving which I hope this next batch of images show. My framing is getting better. I’m anticipating when to shoot is getting better. And the focusing technique I learnt from my cousin Barry is getting better also…
ISO 400, 1/1000 sec, F3.5, 200mm, +0.7 EV.
ISO 400, 1/1250 sec, F3.5, 200mm, +0.7 EV.
I love this frame! I found out who this guy was today. His name is Ken at Free Style Kite Boarding.
I love the way he's just hanging on waiting to eventually come down to the water.
I met this person today (Day 57). She's letting the air out of her kite in this photo.
ISO 320, 1/1600 sec, F2.8, 200mm, +0.7 EV.
My last frame of the shoot...
Posted in General Ramblings, Outdoors on November 18, 2009| 4 Comments »
Day 47 was about seeing Brisbane! We went into the city on the train and wondered around. The river boat is cool and in general, it is a very nice place. Okay… time for some pics…
First up was a stop passed a Navy boat.
Interesting... looks like a mobile lighthouse?
Part of the river running through the town.
The walk way we used to gain access to the water front on the river.
A temple on the river front.
The temple door. What more can I say? 😉
I liked the elephant...
The temple was nice. Getting good exposure was quite difficult!
The temple entrance...
A view of the Brisbane sky scrappers from the river.
I loved the architecture of this building! Unusual...
We jumped on river boat and took in the sights and sounds of Brisbane.
This was the river boat we were on...
Cliff and Vania on our walk through the Brisbane Botanic Gardens
I noticed this boat on the river walk... hmm... interesting...
Hmm... how about this boat?
We walked quite a long way... very nice though!
Yip... it's me... No flash was used. I used the fill light feature of Lightroom. Photo by Vania Cole.
Cliff and Vania heading towards a different part of the river front.
We stopped not too far from here for a beer.
Another perspective of the river front and the bridge behind.
Cliff and Vania waiting for me to catch up... 😉 Photographers eh!
The view of where we had just walked...
I think I got carried away taking photographs!
I think the last time I saw a boat like this was on the Discovery Channel... 😉
Close up of the water wheel turning.
Me again feeling refreshed after a beer!
Brisbane is full of modern architecture.
Photo Rebel 