Day by Day

More Adventures with my Heliopan 10-stop ND Filter

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:37:00 +0000

It has been awhile since I done any long exposure shots using my Heliopan 10-stop ND filter. I decided to blow the cobwebs off and take it out for a spin. I just wished they made a Lee Big Stopper for the Cokin X-Pro holder. It gets a bit tedious having to unscrew the Heliopan, compose and screw it back on. Anyway, enough whinging, below are some of the shots I came back with.

Hyde Park

30s | f22 | ISO 100 @ 16mm

The first one was shot at the Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park, Sydney. I waited for the crowd to dissipate before attempting this shot. There were busloads of them milling around the fountain and a rather large wedding party to my left. That's St. Mary's Cathedral in the background.

I have always wanted wanted to capture long exposure shots of fountains. I never tire of these types of shots, the super smooth glass-like surface. I especially love the movements of the clouds, I think it really adds to the photo.

Hornby Lighthouse

30s | f11 | ISO 200 @ 19mm

This one was taken just after sunrise at Camp Cove, near Watsons Bay, Sydney. The sun was just starting to slowly warm things up. The distortion of the lighthouse is cause by me pointing the Nikon 16-35mm lens downwards.

I should have increase the aperture to f16, which would have given me a 60 seconds exposure. This would have made the water so much smoother or smokier. I really love the colours in this shot. Now if I dropped the ISO down to 100, the exposure would have doubled again to 120 seconds.

Coogee Beach

66s | f20 | ISO 160 @ 18mm

This one was taken of the tidal pool at Coogee Beach, Sydney. I love how the sea here is misty/smokey white and you can see the rocks peeking through and the movement of the clouds. The surface of the tidal pool look like a giant piece of emerald glass. It was rather cold on this particular morning. I remembered that the cappuccino from the local cafe was crap.

Conclusion

I am really starting to get a feel for the Heliopan. I can now easily guesstimate how long to do the exposures for and by checking the histogram and can tweak it until it's perfect. The Heliopan does not add any color cast like my friend's BW does. If you are in the market for a 10-stop ND filter, give the Heliopan a go.

Taipan Shadow XS from Booq

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 15:55:00 +0000

I needed a new bag for my iPad 2 as the current one that I am using is way too big After some research I narrowed the choices down to 2, either Tom Bihn’s Ristretto or Booq’s Taipan Shadow XS. Since two my mates already own the Ristretto, I decided on the Taipan Shadow XS.

It comes in two colours, slate-silver or black-red, I got the former as I already have a zillion black camera bags in my collection. I found one online for $99.00 shipped from Noisy Motel based in Melbourne. I ordered it late on Tuesday night and they shipped it by lunch time the next day and I got it Friday afternoon.

I was surprise how compact the bag was, for some reason, I expected it to be bigger. The material used on the outside is very smooth when you run your hand over it but feels and looks very durable. It is made from 1680 denier fabric with water-repellent coating. There is a hidden zipped pouch built into the front flap for quick access and it’s lined with nice soft furry material (soft Nylex).

Inside has contrasting water-repelling interior rip-stop lining.

Here you can see the largest pouch which are actually made up of 2 separate pouches when it’s buttoned down. Inside it has 4 little pockets, good for keeping things like business cards, CF cards, etc. and 2 pen/pencil holders.

There is another pouch at the back and realistically can only store relatively flat items. The two hidden lined pockets designed to house your phone and mp3 player are quite a tight fit making it hard to get your mobile out quickly especially when there’s an incoming call.

The iPhone can be pushed further in. It sitting up for demo purpose only.

I prefer to put my iPhone in the front pouch where it’s much easier to get in and out of.

There also a built-in handle at the back. Useful if you just want to quickly grab the bag to move it quickly or if do not carry it across your shoulder.

What fits?

The Taipan Shadow XS is like a Tardis, small on the outside. I was able to cramp my iPad 2, sunglass case, IPad wall charger & cable and keys tethered to the bag via a 16” key strap from Tom Bihn.

iPad 2 in and zipped up.

The iPad pouch is very snug and well padded. It also has a raised lip to prevents the zipper from accidently scratching your iPad. The iPad 2 with smart cover fits in no problems at all. It is also lined with a soft furry material (soft Nylex) to ensure that your naked iPad does not get scratched.

However, if your iPad/iPad 2 is cloaked in a full-on thick leather case and you cannot make it fit into the iPad pouch. No worries, you can utilise the second pouch where the Ikea magazine is. There is no padding here but your iPad case should be enough to protect it .

Sunglass case and keys tethered via a Tom Bihn 16” key strap.

iPad wall charger and cable in a small Tom Bihn Cordura pouch.

Wall charger/cable zipped and in.

This is a profile shot of the bag fully loaded and it doesn’t look too bulky at all.

Accessories

Not sure if the reps from either Booq or Tom Bihn would be too keen about this. I purchased some bits and pieces from Tom Bihn.

A 16” key strap . I used this to tether my set of keys to the bag. Very handy for when I need to unlock the gate and my door without having to detach it from the bag each time.

These are small and medium Cordura organiser pouches from Tom Bihn. These are great for storing little knick knacks to keep things tidy. I used a small one for the iPad wall charger and sync cord.

Ultrasuede screen cloth to clean both my iPad and iPhone screens which can get quite dirty from my grubby fingers.

Terralinq

Another feature is Terralinq, it’s a free service provided by Booq. Each Taipan Shadow XS bag has a unique serial number. When you purchase one you register your details, with Booq online, which is then linked to your bag’s serial number. In the unfortunate instance that you do lose your bag, the finder will is able to return the bag to you if they wish.

Conclusion

The shoulder strap is fully adjustable. I lowered til the top of the bag sat around waist height. It was super comfortable to carry around all day. I love the smart compact design. The bag is very well made and screams quality. The stitching is excellent. I loved the zippers, the super smooth action and no getting caught when you are doing the zippers up. I highly recommend this bag if you are in the market for a bag for your iPad or iPad 2.

LunaTik – Turn Your iPod Nano into a Watch

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:39:00 +0000

Technorati Tags: Apple,Nano,iPod Nano 6th Generation,LunaTik,MNML

Technorati Tags: Apple,iPod,iPod Nano,MNML,LunaTik,Watchband,iPod Nano 6th Generation

I first heard of the LunaTik when a friend sent me an email saying that he just backed a project called LunaTik/Tik-Tok over at Kickstarter. Basically, they are really cool looking watchbands designed to enable you to wear the latest iPod Nano (6th Gen) as a watch. If you have no idea what I am talking about watch this video.

What is LunaTik/Tik-Tok

After months of waiting it finally arrived. I picked it up at the post office this afternoon and the packaging they used to shipped the LunaTik was a bit dodgy. They shipped in a black bubble wrap envelope which wasn’t sealed properly as it easily popped open when I just touched it. I found that the adhesive was not very sticky at all. The actual box arrived a bit worst for wear as one of its corner was slightly crushed.

Packaging

The packaging is slick and will not look out of place in an Apple store. The box is opened at one end so you can see the actual product housed inside a clear plastic case. There is also a large ovoid piece of dense foam used to hold the LunaTik in place and to minimise damage (from getting crushed).

This is what the LunaTik looks like straight out of the box. The precision finish on the aerospace grade aluminium housing is immaculate. I could not see any scratches nor could i feel any burrs when I ran my fingers over the entire housing.

It came with instructions on how to dismantle the LunaTik and install the iPod Nano. They also provided two very tiny allen keys to do the job. It took me less than 10 mins to complete this rather straightforward task. The fit is so tight and snug with zero play, this is precision milling.

Looking Good

I configured it to automatically show the time upon waking. I also had to rotate the screen to get the proper orientation. The earphone jack and dock is on the outside or to the right looking directly at the watch.

I haven’t loaded any music on it as I will using it exclusively as a watch. The design and build quality of the LunaTik is excellent. I don’t think there anything currently in the market that can match it.

The silicone watchband is smooth and not sticky making it very comfortable to wear. I had it on for over 7 hours and it didn’t bother me.

Technorati Tags: Apple,Nano,iPod Nano 6th Generation,MNML,LunaTik,iPod Nano,Watchband

Custom SLR’s C-Loop – First Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:29:00 +0000

The C-Loop, I ordered, arrived today. How they

shipped the product was excellent. Actually it was overkill but better safe than sorry. They used a much larger and stronger cardboard box to ensure that the product arrives undamaged. Guys from MNML, take note, this is how you should have shipped the LunaTik. You can ordered it from their online store.

C-Loop

Custom SLR’s C-Loop

The packaging for the C-Loop is minimal and elegant. Mainly white text on a black background with a smooth satin finish.

It came in a nice black pouch. First impressions are good

, the C-Loop is CNC machined from aerospace grade 6061-T6 aluminium. It is available in both silver and black anodised finish

. I chose the black one as it matched the Nikon body nicely.

The finish on the C-Loop is excellent, very smooth, I could not feel any sharp edges or burrs when I ran my fingers across the unit. The neoprene washer was thick and dense. The aluminium piece with the two eyelets spun freely.

BlackRapid RS-7

I am planning to use it with my BlackRapid RS-7. This is a temporary solution until Custom SLR’s Split Strap is available. You can read more about it here.

I used the karabiner from my BlackRapid RS-7 hooked it onto the handle used to attach the C-Loop onto the camera’s body. The Split Strap will be using a different solution to attached itself onto the C-Loop. Initial tests looked promising and will hopefully get to test it out this weekend if the rain stays away. It is very comfortable wearing the camera across the shoulder rather than around the neck.

It is actually attached to my Really Right Stuff L-bracket on my Nikon D700. I will attach it directly to the cameras body as soon as I find my missing allen key required to remove the RRS L-bracket.

Custom SLR’s Split Strap

Technorati Tags: Custom SLR,C-Loop,Nikon D700,Really Right Stuff,BlackRapid RS-7,Split Strap,Karabiner

Sculpture By The Sea 2010

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 06:41:00 +0000

The fourteenth annual Bondi to Tamarama Sculpture by the Sea.

See the spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk transformed into a giant sculpture park of over 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and across the world.

Got there about 5:45 am, wanted to capture the sculptures with the sun rising but unfortunately it was heavily overcast his morning so no sun as hoped. This year’s exhibition was rather sparse compared to last year. According to the news report it was due to the world financial crisis.

There was not too many people at such an ungodly hour which was great for taking photos. The walk between Tamarama and Bondi gets rather packed from 10:00am onwards with joggers and visitors to the sculptures. We’ve had enough by about 09:30, so we headed off for some large cappuccinos and then home.

Sculptures

Leaf Vessel - Virginia King

This was my favourite piece from this year! I reckon it should have won first prize but then what do I know about art.

M.100901 - Toshio Lezumiz

Entering the Exit - Braddon Snape

Anguish - Gangadhar Mahato

Coastguard - Greg James

Transfiguration 'link' XXI - Mitsuo Takeuchi

                                            Untitled - DLN Reddy

                                       Initialis - Tim Macfarlane Reid

                                           Splash - Tomas Misura

                             From optimism to hope - Andrew Rogers

Sitting Hen - Tae-Geun Yang

Long Neck - Benjamin Gilbert

Sitting Hen - Tae-Geun Yang

Tamarama Beach, Sydney, Australia

Flickr Tags: Arts,Australia,D700,New South Wales,Nikon,Nikon 16-35mm f/4,Nikon D700,NSW,Sculpture,Sculpture by the Sea,Sculpture by the Sea 2010,Sydney,Tamarama Beach

VoIP on an iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:34:00 +0000

I recently decided to move to naked adsl2+ from a normal adsl2+ with iiNet. I didn’t want to pay line rental anymore. Anyway, as part of the package, I get VoIP for free which includes free local and STD calls.

So I dug up my old ATA box from Linksys, PAP2-NA, basically what the unit does is enable you to use your existing analogue phones as VoIP handsets. It was rather straightforward configuring the PAP2 to work on iiNet’s VoIP network.

I then wondered if there was a SIP client available for the iPhone so I could use it for VoIP calls as well. A quick browse of the Apps store found a couple of promising SIP apps, iSipSimple and Acrobits softphone. I decided to try iSipSimple first after reading some positive reviews. I was able to get it up and running after a bit of fiddling with the setup. I was able to make and receive calls using both Wi-Fi and Telstra’s 3G network.

iSipSimple

However, after a few days of usage I found two issues:

It doesn’t automatically reregister itself when going between 3G/Wi-Fi networks and vice versa, I have to manually reregister the app.

The other issue is that it would not receive any incoming calls if it was in the background.

Apparently, IOS4 does not support UDP running in the background mode rather they suggest using Apple’s push notification. I couldn’t get it to work for me so if it was in the background I don’t get the call.

These two issues are a deal breaker for me so I decided to purchase and Acrobits and give that a go and see if it would be the SIP app for me. After punching in the necessary details, it worked first go! The setup was way too easy.

Acrobits

Everything was much simpler and intuitive with the Acrobits app, I just bring it to the foreground and it automatically reregisters itself with iiNet. I was also able to get it working in background mode. Apparently if your VoIP provider’s SIP server supports TCP instead of just UDP (port 5060) it will work in background mode and alert you if when there is an incoming call.

Issue when moving between 3G and Wi-Fi

One small issue is that if the app is in the background and you go between 3G and Wi-Fi or vice versa it loses connectivity, you need to quickly bring the app to the foreground, it then quickly reregisters itself with iiNet/Telstra and you are back in business. You can switch it back into the background. This would be the perfect SIP app if it could reregister itself whilst in the background when going between 3G and Wi-Fi.

The voice quality is pretty good with both G.711 and G.729a codecs. I limited uplink to a maximum of 20kbps (bittorents) and moved all the VoIP related rules to the top on my firewall to give it priority. I have not had to resort to any traffic shaping yet.

I also purchase the G.729a codec as it uses less bandwidth than G.711 codec, especially when using it on 3G to minimise cost.

Configure Acrobits for iiNet

Select Settings

Select SIP Accounts Select “+” symbol

Select Generic Account

Settings for iiNet:

Username: Your_ID (iinet provided phone number)

Password: iinet provided password

Domain: iinetphone.iinet.net.au

Display Name: Your_Name

Incoming Calls: In Background (Default: On)

Incoming Calls, Background Options

Select Background Options

Transport Protocol: tcp (required to receive calls whilst in the background)

Expires: 1700

Advanced Settings

Transport Protocol: tcp

Proxy: sip.nsw.iinet.net.au

Proxy Port: 5061

RTP Port Start: 16384

RTP Port End: 16482

Quickdial

Quickdial allows to you to contact people that you call on a regular basis. You can add you contact’s photo which is a cool feature, especially whilst driving, it is easier to spot their faces instead of trying to look for their names in the tiny fonts.

History

It also has a log of all your recent calls, both incoming and outgoing including missed calls too.

Contacts

Acrobits uses your existing iPhone

contact list, which is pretty cool. So you don’t need to keep

a separate list of contacts

. Recording

It is also possible to record your phone calls but it emits a beep every few seconds to let the other party know that the conversation is being recorded.

Just tap the red record button if you wish to record the call. I have tested it a couple of times and it worked really well. The recording is on by default but I turned it off as I found the constant beeping annoying. You can change it in Settings>Preferences>Call Recording.

A little tape symbol under the caller’s name denotes that the conversation or call has been recorded. If you wish to listen to it, tap on the little blue arrow. Tap on the blue arrow, again, on the second screen.

Tap on the “Play” button and listen to the recording of the conversation. You can either email to the other party or delete it if you no longer need it.

Conclusion

I love this app, I have had it for a few weeks now and it has perform flawlessly. I highly recommend this app to anyone looking for a SIP client for their iPhone. It will also supports Google Voice when it becomes available in Australia.

Now anyone can call my home number and I am able to answer it on my iPhone anywhere in Australia and they are none the wiser.

All my testing was done on iiNet’s VoIP and Telstra’s 3G network. My assumption is that all other ISPs/Telco in Australia will have the same QoS and therefore should have no issues but I cannot guarantee that this will be the case.

Technorati Tags: VoIP,iiNet,SIP,SIP Client,Acrobits,Naked ADSL2+,G.711,G.729,iSipSimple,Telstra 3G,Australia

Williamtown 2010 Airshow

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 10:26:00 +0000

I attended the 2010 Williamtown airshow a couple of weeks ago. I have never been to an airshow so I was quite excited. It is a 2.5 hours driver by card near Newcastle. We left Sydney at 6:30 and got there about 9.00 am. It was rather cold and windy and there was a massive queue already waiting to get in.

RAAF F-111 Strike Aircraft

The Royal Australian Air Force F-111 is a supersonic long-range strike aircraft. It is operated by No 1 Squadron and No 6 Squadron of the Air Force's Air Combat Group from RAAF Base Amberley, near Brisbane.

RAAF F-111 Dump and Burn

This was the last time that anyone in the world will witness the F-111 performing its signature "dump and burn" manoeuvre at an airshow.

RAAF Roulettes - Pilatus PC-9/A

The PC-9/A is best known to the public as the aircraft flown by the Air Force Roulettes in aerobatic displays at major events throughout Australia.

Central Flying School pilots fly six aircraft that comprise the team as a secondary role to their instructional tasks. Central Flying School trains Navy and Air Force pilots to become flying instructors.

The RAAF F/A-18 Hornet

The F/A-18 Hornet is a multi-role fighter designed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. It is capable of air interception, air combat, close air support of ground troops and interdiction of enemy supply lines including shipping.

RAAF /A-18E/F Super Hornet

The Super Hornet is a combat-proven strike fighter with built-in versatility. The Super Hornet's suite of integrated and networked systems provides enhanced interoperability, total force support for the combatant commander and for the troops on the ground.

RAAF AP-3C Orion

An extremely versatile aircraft capable of maritime surveillance, anti-submarine, anti-ship warfare, naval fleet support and search and survivor supply.

Other RAAF Aircrafts

Gloster Meteor F.8

RAAF F/A-18 Hornet, RAAF F-111 strike aircraft, Gloster Meteor F.8, Lockheed Hudson

RAAF CA-27 Sabre, RAAF Hawk 127 fighter trainer, RAAF F/A-18 Hornet fighter

RAAF CA-27 Sabre, CA-13 Boomerang, Mustang, Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII

Conclusion

It was harder than I thought, definitely wasn’t easy shooting fast moving jets. It took a quite a few of blurred shots before I managed to get the settings on my D700 right. I also managed to test out my recently acquired Sigma 1.4x TC, from a friend, on my Sigma 70-200mm. All the shots here were taken with it. I think you need at least a 400mm lens for shooting airshows but overall, I am happy with the results.

It was a long day and when we wanted to leave we discovered that the runway was closed due to the airshow. The only way across was by a shuttle bus but the queue was about a kilometre long. We waited for about another hour before they opened the runway so that we could get back to our car. It took us another hour to get out of the car park. I am not really sure if I would come to another airshow.

Williamtown, NSW, Australia

Flickr Tags: RAAF,Willamtown,Airshow,NSW,New South Wales,Australia,F-111,Sigma 70-200mm,Sigma 1.4x TC,Dump and Burn,RAAF Roulettes,Pilatus PC-9/A,F/A-18 Hornet,A-18E/F Super Hornet,AP-3C Orion

Abandoned Warehouse in Alexandria

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:09:00 +0000

I went scouting for a new location for a shoot on the weekend and ended up in Alexandria not far from where I used to work. It was the old Dunlop Slazenger warehouse which has been abandoned for years.

Here are a couple of shots of the warehouse from the outside. It is totally open so access is easy unlike the tram shed in Rozelle.

I couldn’t get over just how many empty spray paint cans were laying around on the floor. When I got there there were a couple of graffiti artists doing a wall in the corner. They weren’t all that friendly.

Upstairs

I really love the hundreds of holes in the tiled roof which created hundreds of tiny shafts of light which looked amazing. The shots don’t do it any justice. We need some smoke to really bring out the shafts of light out.

Downstairs

There were another bunch of guys downstairs all dressed up, I think they were shooting a video or something and they weren’t too friendly either, except for the girl. They had soft boxes, huge gold reflectors but I didn’t see any camera or video gear.

Again we find millions of empty spray cans. They were also some amazing artwork. This place would be great for a model shoot.

Even found a burnt out Mazda Astina which had graffiti painted all over it.

Graffiti

The one below is my favourite piece of graffiti artwork. Awesome colours.

Not really sure why most of the guys on Flickr and blogs have been reluctant to let people know the exact location of the abandoned warehouse.

All the shots here were taken with my iPhone 4. I am rather impressed with how well they turned out.

Dunlop Slazenger Warehouse, Alexandria

Flickr Tags: Abandoned Warehouse,Warehouse,Alexandria,Bowden Street,NSW,Sydney,iPhone 4,Graffiti,Dunlop,Slazenger

Pandora – Access from OZ

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:28:00 +0000

Technorati Tags: SuperVPN,VPN,iPhone,Pandora,Streaming,Internet Radio,Music

Pandora

I first came across the Pandora app on Youtube whilst watching an iPad being installed into a car. They were using Pandora as the “car radio” to streamed music via 3G.

I also discovered that Pandora, was not just another internet radio streaming app, it can actually learn and then customise/personalise the music it streams to suit you. Basically, when each song is played you rate it with either a thumb’s up or down. So over time it will slowly learn your musical preferences and stream only the music you really want to listen to

Not Happy Jan!

I was unhappy to learn that Pandora was only available to residents of the US, apparently due to the stringent licensing laws. Pandora claims that they will eventually go worldwide but not in the foreseeable future.

I needed to resolve two issues, how to get Pandora app onto my iPhone and find a way to fool Pandora into thinking that I am in the US and not here in Australia.

Without VPN, Pandora won’t let you connect.

I managed to get the Pandora app onto my iPhone. All I need now is a VPN. I decided to give Hotspot shield a try, a free VPN service provided by AnchorFree. It was disappointing to say the least. I only managed to get Pandora to play one song before it was unable to contact Pandora anymore. I kept at it for a day or so and eventually gave up.

A quick search on the internet for a good VPN service and came up with a couple good options. I finally decided on SuperVPN as their options and pricing, on their website, where easy and simple to understand. I got a headache trying to figure out, one of their competitor’s, convoluted options and pricing.

I opted for their iPhone VPN option for a month to see if it was the business before committing to a longer term of either 12 or 24 months. I thought USD $8 for a month was very reasonable and if it didn’t work out I can try someone else.

SuperVPN – iPhone Setup

The setup details and instructions from SuperVPN were excellent, clear and concise, making it easy to understand and follow. I managed to setup VPN on my iPhone and get connectivity to SuperVPN within 5 minutes. Here’s my step by step guide on how I setup VPN on my iPhone but you can also check out their iPhone setup instructions.

Go into settings and select General

Select Network

Select VPN

Select Add VPN Configuration

Select PPTP Tab

Description: Supervpn

Server: mobile.supervpn.net

Account: your_login

RSA SecurID: Off

Password: your_password

Encryption Level: None

                                        Send All Traffic: On

                                     It should look like this. Hit Save

                                             Ok, turn on the VPN

                You should see it connect and then authenticate with SuperVPN

Yay!! We have VPN!!

Pandora – The Test

Okay, VPN is configured and working, so its time to launch Pandora and see if works!

Awesome, Pandora is working. As you can see the downside is advertisements but it doesn’t bother me. Notice the thumbs up and down symbols, you use them to tell Pandora whether you either like or dislike that particular song.

Notice the 2 little thumbs up near the top right corner.

Conclusion

I had it playing for 24 hours straight when I first got it and it didn’t miss a beat. I left it on when I went to bed and it was still going strong when I woke up the next morning. I’ve also tried it over 3G on Telstra’s network and it worked a treat, no issues at all. However, I did not have it up for too long as I was running out of bandwidth with my data. I will try again when my data is back to normal.

The VPN solution provided by Super VPN Service is awesome and I won’t hesitate recommending them to anyone. The VPN has performed flawlessly since I’ve had it. Honestly, it has exceeded all of my expectations.

I now have a 24/7 radio station that plays incredibly awesome music tailored to my exact taste either at home, via Wi-Fi, or in the car, via 3G, without any interruptions from any DJs or advertisements. This is the power of Pandora, what an awesome app.

So if you are in Australia and want access to Pandora, and you need a reliable VPN service, you now know what to do.

Learning about 10-Stop ND Filters

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:21:00 +0000

Still Learning

I really need to start learning how to get the best out of my, recently, purchased Heliopan 10-stop ND filter. I have seen heaps of amazing long exposures using 10 stop filters and I wanted to see if I could emulate what others have achieved. So far, I have only done a couple of test shots nothing fantastic.

I noticed that there clouds in the sky this morning and the wind was picking up so I decided to head into the city. All I needed now was somewhere with large expanse of water. I decided that St. Marys Cathedral and Hyde Park would be perfect location for some experimentation. The aquatic centre in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral has two large pools of water and there’s also a massive fountain in Hyde Park.

St. Mary’s Cathedral

EXIF data for all three shots: ISO 100 f/22 20s 19mm

My goal today is to get some shots with dynamic cloud movements, “smooth as glass” water with awesome reflections. Hopefully, I have managed to achieve what I set out to do. Next I decided to take a few shots in portrait mode.

EXIF data for all three shots: ISO 100 f/22 20s 17mm

In the second shot, I dropped the tripod down so that it was just above the height of the pool and also moved it towards the centre of the pool. There is no colour cast with the Heliopan 10-Stop ND filter.

Banding issue

EXIF data for both shots: ISO 100 f/22 20s 17mm

Here’s a problem I discovered if you get too much direct sunlight, downside of aiming at the sun. Notice the distinct vertical band just off centre towards the right hand side of the photo. I just used a LR3 preset “cold tone” to try and minimise the impact, it is still there but not as obvious. It was rather hard to judge the timing as sometimes the sun would pop out from behind the clouds as they move by.

EXIF data for both shots: ISO 100 f/22 15s 16mm

I just love the movements of the clouds behind the cathedral, for me, it really makes the photo. There was some human traffic but thank god the long exposure took care of them.

EXIF data for both shots: ISO 100 f/22 15s 16mm

Hyde Park

It was hard to get good position here as there were quite a few tourists milling around the fountain trying to get their holiday snaps. There was also tons of tiny school kids passing by wondering what I was doing. Besides my choice of positions was limited as I wanted St. Mary’s Cathedral in the background.

EXIF data: ISO 100 f/22 20s 16mm

I think that these two shots are my favourites from today. I really like the movement of the clouds away from me. I love the smooth glass-like look of the water in the fountain.

EXIF data: ISO 100 f/22 30s 16mm

EXIF data: ISO 200 f/22 30s 22mm

This was my last shot of the day as it looked like rain was coming so I quickly packed up, walked down to The Rocks where I met a friend for a, well earned, large cappuccino.

St. Marys Cathedral & Hyde Park

Hongcun Village (宏村) - Anhui - China

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 07:16:00 +0000

Hongcun Village enjoys the reputation of 'a village in the beautiful Chinese picture' because of its location at high altitude and being shrouded by clouds and mist.

Established in 1131, this well-preserved centuries old village is unique. What makes Hongcun Village so unique is that the village was designed by a fengshui master to resemble a cow

The architecture and carvings of the approximately 150 residences dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties are said to be among the best of their kind in China. One of the biggest of the residences open to visitors, Chenzhi Hall, also contains a small residence museum.

Together with Xidi it was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.Hongcun was a location where the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was shot. Since then, tourism has dramatically increased.

Don’t let the photos fool you, they might look empty but let me assure you the crowds were there. I just waited for them to move on before taking the shots.

Hongcun Village is built in the shape of an ox. The locals liken Leigang Hill as the 'head', two huge trees on the hill as the 'horns', the residences in the village as the 'body', a winding stream as the 'intestines', a crescent pond as the 'stomach' and the four bridges as the 'four feet'.

Hongcun is unique among all Chinese villages for its very sophisticated water system. Water is the main feature in this village. Its two large ponds are connected to a series of flowing streams which pass by every house, providing water for washing, cooking, and bathing.

The humidity was extremely high today, probably, made worst by the fact that we just came down from the much cooler mountains (20C). It wasn’t fun especially with the huge crowds, from various tour groups, pushing and shoving. There appears to be no concept of queuing in China.

Ascend to Mt. Hallelujah - Huangshan - China

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:03:00 +0000

After a good night sleep and a good breakfast we were ready for our ascend up to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain). Our guide gave us the option of either visiting Hongcun in the morning and then up to the mountain later in the day. Apparently, it is still raining up on the mountain. We all decided to risk it and go straight to the mountain as that has always been our priority for this trip.

Cable car trip to the Top

There was fog all the way up to the top of the mountains. Near complete white out in some places as we saw nothing except white or the occasional cable car going the opposite way.

There was a collective sigh in the cable car when the fog parted and we caught glimpses of what was awaiting for us up at the top. The scenery was breath taking and I knew straight away that I was going to get great shots today if the weather cooperated.

Check out those pine trees growing on the side and top of the mountain.

"The prototype of Mount Hallelujah in 'Avatar' originated from Mount Huang, whose peculiarly-shaped granite peaks and steep mountain shape brought us great inspiration", said James Cameron, director of 'Avatar', at its Beijing Premiere on December 23rd.

Due to same stuff up, I mentioned in the last post, by our travel agent meant that we would only be staying for 1 night and 1 day instead of 2 nights and 2 days. I still get angry when I think about this.

Mt. Huang, Huangshan, China

Tunxi (屯溪区) – Anhui - China

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:44:00 +0000

Tunxi Ancient Street

Arrived here late afternoon from Shanghai. Due to a stuff up of our flights by our less than observant travel agent we missed the last cable car up to the Mt. Huang so we will have to spend the night here in Tunxi. After checking in and a quick rest we wandered down to ancient street.

ISO 280 f/4 1/60 ISO 200 f/4 1/60

ISO 3200 f/4 1/60

This tea house is about 800 years old. The girl is performing a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and later instructed us on the proper tea drinking etiquette. I really enjoyed drinking one so much so I bought some.

ISO 3200 f/4 1/60

We then tried out Chrysanthemum tea. It was lovely, sweet and mellow. I really enjoyed it.

ISO 3200 f/4 1/60

This was lovely too and the most expensive tea we tried that night. Excellent green tea indeed.

ISO 400 f/4 1/60

Hmm, looks like some sort of bicycle convertible. How cute is it?
Wonder if it would catch on back in Australia.

ISO 640 f/4 1/60

I found this bicycle parked all on it’s lonesome in a back lane off ancient street.

ISO 560 f/4 1/60 ISO 900 f/8 1/60

ISO 500 f/4 1/60

Drying clothes the traditional way.

ISO 800 f/4 1/60

Fan Artist/Calligrapher/Painter.

ISO360 f/4 1/60

Seal stone Carver at work. He is actually carving this one for me. You can see what it looks like at the top right hand corner of this photo.

ISO 450 f/4 1/60

A very friendly local.

ISO 500 f/4 1/60

ISO 2800 f/4 1/60 ISO 500 f/4 1/60

ISO 3200 f/4 1/60

Random tourist trying to decide which fan to buy or get both. This goes on for an eternity. Okay, I am exaggerating.

ISO 640 f/4 1/60

Fast food Chinese style. The food was actually very tasty and ridiculously cheap.

History

This street with centuries-old history dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Emperor Huizong (1082-1135) moved his seat of government to Lin'an (now Hangzhou), when many architects and workmen were conscripted to construct the new capital. After returning to their hometown, they imitated the structural style to build architecture along the street, so Tunxi Ancient Street was formed.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a merchant in Anhui invested money to build 47 stores so as to attract businessmen, which contributed to the communication of the street with outside world.

Gradually it developed into the distribution center for materials in and out of Anhui in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The street is paved with maroon flagstones with a total length of 1,273 meters (about 1,392 yards), of which 895meters (about 979 yards) is the pedestrian commercial street.

Shops standing on both sides are generally of two or three floors, which feature the local Anhui style of stone base, brick construction and tile roof. The layout of these buildings commonly takes on the appearance of shops in front while houses and workshops are to the rear. Once a professor from America was amazed by the street and he said he had found an Oriental Ancient Rome. Nowadays the street is also used as a natural studio for films and TV series.

Tunxi, Anhui, China

Nikon 16-35mm f/4 & Heliopan 10 Stop ND Filter

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:36:00 +0000

Nikon 16-35mm f/4 lens

This is a sharp lens, Probably not as sharp as the 14-24mm at the corners but still happy with the sharpness. However, the is definitely noticeable barrel distortion at the wide end, around 16-18mm. I don’t have this problem with my 14-24mm.

Samples

Here are some shots I took with the lens, coupled with a Heliopan 10 stop ND filter, at Turimetta Beach last weekend.

The results were tack sharp with zero colour cast. I really love long exposures and its effect on water.

Distortion

Original

There is noticeable barrel distortion at the wide end. This was taken at 16mm, notice the distortion of the horizon and where it starts dipping at either end.

Fixed using CS4

No biggie, easily fixed in CS4 using Filter>Distort>Lens Correction. Used +8 and did a little cropping and alignment of the horizon. LR 3 can also be used to correct any lens distortion.

Fixed using PTLens

The example below was fixed using PTLens. I used the plug-in for CS4 instead of the stand alone app. I like the way it fixes the distortion. The difference is subtle but it is there. See if you can spot the difference. PTLens is very easy to install and use.

Thanks again Andy for the heads up on PTLens.

Panoramas

I was interested in seeing if this lens was any good at doing panoramas. So I did a couple in both landscape and portrait modes.

ISO 200 f8 1/400 16mm

Distortion fixed using PTLens.

This 180° panorama consist of 5 separate frames in portrait mode. Each frame contains 3 separate exposures (-1, 0 +1). This was then fused/blended using Photomatix Pro and stitched together in CS4 and tweaked in LR 2.7. Actual size is 5759 x 2881.

ISO 200 f8 1/400 35mm

This 180° panorama consist of 7 separate frames in landscape mode. Each frame contains 3 separate exposures (-1, 0 +1). This was then fused/blended using Photomatix Pro and stitched together in CS4 and tweaked in LR 2.7. Actual size is 10985 x 2373.
I am very happy with how both the panoramas turned out.

Conclusion

If you are still trying to decide whether to get this lens (16-35mm) or the 14-24mm. I recommend that you get this one. It is tack sharp, cheaper and much lighter. This would be an excellent lens for travelling.

It is also much easier to get filters for this lens. You can use either screw-on filters, as it has a 77mm thread, or opt for square/rectangular filters made by Lee or Cokin.

If I didn’t already have the 14-24mm I’d be happy with just this lens. Besides being tack sharp, I really like the colours and contrast this lens produces.

Turimetta Beach – North Narrabeen

Sydney Vivid Festival - 2010

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:11:00 +0000

Thanks Mr. B for organising the “usual suspects” to shoot this year’s Sydney Vivid Festival. We met outside McDonalds in Circular Quay and things didn’t look promising as it had been drizzling all day. I was pleasantly surprise with the large, than normal, turnout considering the crappy weather. It has been quite awhile since we had almost everyone turned up for one of these sessions. Except three, who piked out, as they didn’t want to get wet, you know who you are.

We decided to start off at St. Mary’s Cathedral and work our way down to the Sydney Opera House. It was still drizzling so I put on my rain poncho which became a mini portable sauna and the humidity was getting higher the longer I walked. However, it did keep me and my camera bag dry. The rain miraculously stopped when we got to St. Mary’s Cathedral. Hmm, wondered if it was the praying or cursing?

St. Mary’s Cathedral

Some of the guys decided to do some impromptu light painting with the free torch given by the festival’s organiser. All these shots were taken with my Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8.

We took a break and had dinner at Wagamama, Have to say that I wasn’t overly impressed with the food, Their ramen was rubbish and wasn’t cheap. This is not the worst food ever but definitely not the best either. Anyway, after dinner we headed off down to the Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Opera House

This is how the images are projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House.

All the shots of the Sydney Opera House were taken with my Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8. I will upgrade to a Nikon 70-200mm when they bring out a f/4 VR II version.

The original plan was to head back towards Hyde Park Barracks but most of them were complaining that it was too cold and tired to carry on and just wanted to go home. Looks like we have to come back another night to finish the shoot.

Heliopan 10 Stop ND Filter Testing

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:13:00 +0000

I have always wanted to try long exposure shots in daylight so I finally decided to bite the bullet and splurge on a 10 stop ND filter. The Hoya ND400 and B+W 110 are the ND filters of choice for most people on Flickr and the forums. I could’ve gotten the Hoya locally but it was only a 9 stop ND filter, so I decided on the B+W 110. Do you think I could find one? These suckers are in high demand as there appears to be a worldwide shortage until further notice.

ISO 100 | 50mm | f/22 @ 77secs

After some more research I found another 10 stop ND filter from a company called Heliopan, apparently these guys are huge in the cinema world but I’ve never heard of them. Anyway, to cut a long story short, they have an excellent reputation for quality and they make decent ND filters and CPL filters. They were not cheap at $158 AUD shipped to my front door from the UK (Teamwork ).

ISO 100 | 50mm | f/22 @ 25secs

It has been hard to get out and test them as it has been raining heavily in Sydney for the last few weeks. Finally managed to out on Saturday afternoon when the weather was sunny instead of the forecasted rain all weekend. However, the change did come later in the day.

ISO 100 | 50mm | f/22 @ 25secs

ISO 100 | 50mm | f/22 @ 25secs

I cranked down the ISO on my D700 to 100 (Lo1.0) instead of the default ISO 200 so that I could doubled my exposure time. I also used f/16 – f/22 to maximise my exposure time.

ISO 100 | 50mm | f/22 @ 75secs

I put the D700 into manual mode. I then compose/focus without the ND filter and take note of the exposure time. I turn AF off and screwed the ND filter on. Using the NDCalc app on my iPhone, I enter the exposure reading (without filter) and select ND 3.0 (10 stops) and it calculates the optimum exposure time required for a 10 stop ND filter.

I use bulb mode with the aid of a remote release cable with the aid of a countdown timer (NDCalc) to let me know when to release the trigger.

ISO 100 | 50mm | f/22 @ 30secs

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test it with my Nikon 14-24mm lens for obvious reasons. The only other options were either my Sigma 70-200mm or Nikon 50mm lens. I decided on the 50mm, as the 70-200m was too long, but had to get a 52mm to 77mm step-up ring. I am seriously considering getting the Nikon 16-35mm f/4 lens.

I have to say so far I am super impressed with the results and there is no colour cast, which I do get when using Cokin ND or ND Grad filters. I really love the LE effect on the water. Further testing will be required with an UWA lens. :-)

Bare Island – La Perouse

Sydney Opera House

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Tue, 11 May 2010 09:31:00 +0000

In preparation for this year’s Vivid festival, I’ve decided that I would like to take some shots of the Sydney Opera House from Lady Macquarie’s Chair. Last year, I took all of shots from the other side.

I wanted to get there just before sunset so that I could get some dusk shots, just before the sun dipped below the horizon.

I love the sky colours and the greenish light on the sails. The shadows from the other sails gives an almost 3D feel to it. The test shots were promising from Lady Macquarie’s Chair and I am definitely convince that it will be amazing when the sails are lit up again.

Hopefully, it will be even more amazing, than last year, when the festival starts at the end of this month.

Here are some of the other shots I took that night.

It is not often I pull out the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 as I mostly shoot landscape and my favourite lens being the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8. The Sigma is probably not as sharp as the Nikon 70-200mm VR II but not bad at all for an “el cheapo” lens.

I also managed to brush up on my panorama technique. I took the panos in both portrait and landscape modes. I think I prefer the second because of the sky colours and also the lights from the office buildings in the CBD. I used my beloved Nikon 14-24mm for the panos.

Hmm, I think I stayed too long as the gates to the Botanical Gardens were locked so I had to walked back to the car the long way round.

Lady Macquarie’s Chair

Lady Macquarie's Chair

Rozelle Tram Depot

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:10:00 +0000

I have been trying to get into the depot for over 12 months. Each time I see someone upload photos on Flickr, I would drive over but alas the giant gates were always padlocked. Signs of a new padlock or chains meant that someone had indeed broken in.

This time it was serendipity, I was just driving pass after an unsuccessful attempt at shooting dragonflies and decided, for no reason, to check if the depot was accessible. Could not believe my eyes, the gates were slightly ajar and no freaking padlock.

A bunch of teenage boys and girls came in and started wandering around the depot. It was okay at first but then they started smashing anything they got their hands on. Thank god they only have short attention span and left after about 30 minutes.

Rachael Muller has a wonderful guide on the tram depot, click here for more information and check out Brent Pearson’s amazing videos.

Inside the Trams

Graffiti - Art

There were lots of amazing graffiti too! I think just about every vertical space was covered. Check them out!

History

Rozelle Tram Depot is a large tram depot in Glebe that has stood effectively empty since the 1960s.

It is currently owned by the Harold Park Raceway, who would like to develop it into flats. As the site is heritage listed and sits in the middle of parkland, a stalemate has ensued.

There are also about half a dozen old trams in it that were until recently in near perfect condition (having been sourced for a proposed heritage tram route in the Rocks that was later abandoned). They have since been heavily vandalised.

Rozelle Tram Depot

Bare Island – La Perouse

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:04:00 +0000

Scouted Bare Island as a possible location for my next photo shoot yesterday. Looks promising, will definitely come back at sunrise to take advantage of the gorgeous light and colours.

It is about a 35-40 mins drive from Sydney CBD. For more information on Bare Island,

click here.

Here are some of the photos from yesterday. All taken with my Nikon D700 and Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8.

Bare Island

Graffiti Art - May Lane, St. Peters

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:24:00 +0000

Checked out some amazing graffiti in St. Peters on Saturday afternoon. Found it whilst looking for new and interesting places to photograph. Thanks to Rachael Muller for the wonderful guide, Click here for more information on Rachael’s guide.

Just about every wall, fence or garage door has been covered in graffiti. I was lucky enough to find an artist at work. Here are a sample of them. Please enjoy.

Graffiti Artworks

The graffiti artwork were just amazing. I highly recommend that you go and check them out.

May Lane, St. Peters

Cockatoo Island

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:51:00 +0000

This is my first visit to Cockatoo Island. I caught a ferry from Circular Quay which took about 10 minutes. It was packed full of visitors. It was an extremely hot and humid day. The only respite was in the tunnels, dug into the sandstone cliffs, which were about 10C cooler.

You need more than a couple of days to fully appreciate this place. You can also camp overnight on Cockatoo Island. I am seriously considering doing this next visit so that I can do some night photography here.

After more than 3 hours of non-stop trudging all over the island and sweating copious amounts of bodily fluids. I was hot and dehydrated so I decided it was time to take a break and replenish. I ended up drinking a large bottle of PowerAde, a small bottle of water and 2 x cans of “real” Coke. Did I mention that I was thirsty? Note to self, come back in Autumn when the humidity is low.

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

All of the above HDR shots were taken using a tripod, tone-mapped using Photomatix Pro with some tweaking in LR 2.6. Some of the internal shots were blended and burnt using CS4 and then tweaked in LR 2.6.

The external HDR shots consisted of 3 exposures (+1, 0, -1) and the internal HDR shots consisted of 5 separate exposures (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2).

All the shots above were taken with my Nikon D700 and 14-24mm f/2.8.

With the internal HDR shots I wanted to convey a sense of decay and abandonment. A dark and moody ambiance. I think I managed to achieve that with last two photographs.

History

Cockatoo Island is the largest island in Sydney Harbour. Cockatoo Island is a former imperial prison, industrial school, reformatory and gaol. It is also the site of one of Australia's biggest shipyards during the twentieth century. The first of its two dry docks was built by convicts and was completed in 1857.

The island's maritime industrial activity ceased in 1992.

Today Cockatoo Island retains many remnants of its past. Its prison buildings have been nominated for World Heritage listing, along with other convict sites around Australia. Large workshops, slipways, wharves, residences and other buildings retain the texture of the island's industrial past.

Cockatoo Island

The Blast Furnace - Lithgow

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:02:00 +0000

Decided to check out the blast furnace after reading about it in a photography knoll. Looked rather interesting. Left about 3:30 pm in the afternoon for a leisurely 2 hour drive to Lithgow. Get there just in time for a dusk/night shoot.

Drove around Lithgow for a Cafe for a quick dinner and some coffee but just about everything was shut. Hmm, I saw a sign for Maccas on the way into Lithgow but we couldn’t find it. I stopped and asked a local cab driver for directions. He said that it was about 10 mins down the road on the way out of town.

The cappuccino was horrendous, it was bitter and tasted really odd. I heard the guys on the next table whinging that it was the worst coffee ever. At least the quarter pounder was okay but the fries were yucky!

The Blast Furnace

Blast Furnace Park is a monument to Lithgow's industrial history. It was here that the first iron and steel were cast in Australia. William Sandford established the blast furnace in 1886 and it continued production until 1928 when the entire industry was move to Port Kembla.

All the above are HDR shots. Each shot consist of 3 separate exposures (-1, 0, +1). Tripod used, tone-mapped using Photomatix Pro and tweaked in LR 2.6.

All these shots were taken at around 20:00 hrs. I was eaten alive by mossies but it was worth it.

Here are a couple of non-HDR shots. The sun suddenly appeared from behind the clouds. I really liked how the reflected sunlight gave both the building and wall a warm golden glow.

Cathedral Rocks, Jones Beach, Kiama

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:27:00 +0000

I was looking for something new to photograph outside of Sydney. I found

, after about an hour surfing, Cathedral Rocks at Jones Beach, Kiama, a small seaside town about a 2 hours drive south of Sydney.

Here are some of the shots from my shoot last Thursday. I hope that you will enjoy them.

This HDR shot consist of 5 separate exposures (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). Tripod used, tone mapped using Photomatix Pro and tweaked in LR 2.6.

This HDR shot consist of 5 separate exposures (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). Tripod used, tone mapped using Photomatix Pro and tweaked in LR 2.6.

This HDR shot consist of 3 separate exposures (-1, 0, +1). Tripod used, tone mapped using Photomatix Pro and tweaked in LR 2.6.

This HDR shot consist of 5 separate exposures (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). Tripod used, tone mapped using Photomatix Pro and tweaked in LR 2.6.

ISO 200 | f/8 | 1/200

This is a non HDR shot. It was taken with my Sigma 70-200mm. I love the texture and details on the rock face. It may not be the sharpest lens around but I am pretty happy with it.

ISO 200 | f/16 | 30 secs

This was taken a few minutes just before the sunset. I love the glassiness of the water with the reflections of the rocks. I also love the bluish tones. For some inexplicable reason I did not do a HDR version.

ISO 200 | f/11 | 240 secs

I had to wait unit the sun was completely down for this shot. It was about 21:00 hrs (9pm). The mosquitoes were out in force. I use my LED head torch to light paint just the face of the two rocks to highlight them.

This 180° HDR Panorama consist of 8 separate panels, shot in portrait mode. Each panel contains 3 exposures (-1, 0 +1), tripod, tone mapped using Photomatix Pro, stitched together in CS4 and tweaked in LR 2.6.

Mount Tomah – Bilpin, Blue Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:02:00 +0000

This is my second trip up to Mt. Tomah. Seems like every time I decided to come here it rains. Looking on the bright side there will lots of water drops on the flowers and plants.

I got some really cool macro shots. The majority of them were shot at 1:1, hand-held of course . I used my home-made macro flash rig which consists of 2 x SB-800s.

ISO 500 f/16 1/800 secs Flash

ISO 500 f/16 1/80 secs Flash

ISO 500 f/16 1/200 secs Flash

ISO 500 f/16 1/125 secs Flash

ISO 500 f/16 1/200 secs Flash ISO 200 f/16 1/200 secs Flash

ISO 500 f/16 1/80 secs Flash

ISO 500 f/16 1/160 secs Flash

The macro rig, both Nikon SB-800s, the Nikon 105 macro lens and D700 was totally wet from the constant drizzle. Happily, I like to report that everything is still working.

Newport Tidal Pool

noreply@blogger.com (lozzmann) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:58:00 +0000

Went out to for an evening/dusk shoot at Newport Tidal Pool. I really needed to do more tests with my Cokin X-Pro filter setup. All the shots was taken using 2 x Cokin X-Pro filters stacked. My feet, socks and shoes got a thorough soaking. I just wished the swell was larger and more frequent. The long exposure wave shots would have had more oomph! Should really do this in the early morning when the tide is high.

ISO 200 18mm f10 13 secs

This was my favourite shot from the entire shoot. This was taken towards the end of the shoot. I really love how the surface of the tidal pool turned out, so smooth.

HDR

ISO200 24mm f22 2 secs ISO 200 17mm f22 2.5 secs

I also tried a couple of HDR shots. Each shot consists of 3 separate exposures [ -1, 0 +1 ], tripod, tone mapped using Photomatix Pro and tweaked in LR 2.5. I like to keep my HDR as realistic as possible.

ISO 200 14mm f16 4 secs

ISO 200 16mm f22 1.6 secs

There was way too much daylight when I was trying to get the long exposure shot of this wave receding. I had to stop down to f22 just to get 1.6 secs.

ISO 200 16mm f16 15 secs

Panorama

ISO 200 14mm f16 1/50 secs

This is a 180° panoramic shot of the beach and the tidal pool. I should have shot this in portrait mode like I normally do. This pano consists of 8 separate shots taken in landscape mode, stitched using CS4 and then tweaked in Adobe LR 2.5.

Newport Tidal Pool - Northern Beaches

Day by Day

More Adventures with my Heliopan 10-stop ND Filter

Hyde Park

Hornby Lighthouse

Coogee Beach

Conclusion

Taipan Shadow XS from Booq

What fits?

Accessories

Terralinq

Conclusion

LunaTik – Turn Your iPod Nano into a Watch

Packaging

Looking Good

Custom SLR’s C-Loop – First Impressions

C-Loop

BlackRapid RS-7

Custom SLR’s Split Strap

Sculpture By The Sea 2010

Sculptures

Leaf Vessel - Virginia King

M.100901 - Toshio Lezumiz

Entering the Exit - Braddon Snape

Anguish - Gangadhar Mahato

Coastguard - Greg James

Transfiguration 'link' XXI - Mitsuo Takeuchi

Untitled - DLN Reddy Initialis - Tim Macfarlane Reid Splash - Tomas Misura From optimism to hope - Andrew Rogers

Sitting Hen - Tae-Geun Yang

Long Neck - Benjamin Gilbert

Sitting Hen - Tae-Geun Yang

Tamarama Beach, Sydney, Australia

VoIP on an iPhone

iSipSimple

Issue when moving between 3G and Wi-Fi

Password: iinet provided password

Domain: iinetphone.iinet.net.au

Display Name: Your_Name

Incoming Calls: In Background (Default: On)

Expires: 1700

Transport Protocol: tcp

History

Williamtown 2010 Airshow

RAAF F-111 Dump and Burn

RAAF Roulettes - Pilatus PC-9/A

The RAAF F/A-18 Hornet

RAAF /A-18E/F Super Hornet

RAAF AP-3C Orion

RAAF F/A-18 Hornet, RAAF F-111 strike aircraft, Gloster Meteor F.8, Lockheed Hudson

Conclusion

Williamtown, NSW, Australia

Abandoned Warehouse in Alexandria

Upstairs

Pandora – Access from OZ

Pandora

Not Happy Jan!

Without VPN, Pandora won’t let you connect.

SuperVPN – iPhone Setup

Go into settings and select General

Select Network

Select VPN Select Add VPN Configuration

Select PPTP Tab

Description: Supervpn

Server: mobile.supervpn.net

Account: your_login

RSA SecurID: Off

Password: your_password

Encryption Level: None

Send All Traffic: On It should look like this. Hit Save Ok, turn on the VPN You should see it connect and then authenticate with SuperVPN

Yay!! We have VPN!!

Pandora – The Test

Conclusion

Learning about 10-Stop ND Filters

EXIF data for all three shots: ISO 100 f/22 20s 17mm

Banding issue

Hyde Park

EXIF data: ISO 100 f/22 20s 16mm

St. Marys Cathedral & Hyde Park

Hongcun Village (宏村) - Anhui - China

Ascend to Mt. Hallelujah - Huangshan - China

Mt. Huang, Huangshan, China

Untitled - DLN Reddy

Initialis - Tim Macfarlane Reid

Splash - Tomas Misura

From optimism to hope - Andrew Rogers

Select VPN

Select Add VPN Configuration

Send All Traffic: On

It should look like this. Hit Save

Ok, turn on the VPN

You should see it connect and then authenticate with SuperVPN