Stuart Photography

Janey

2006-04-22T17:05:00.000+10:00

For those who don't know, this is my lovely wife Jane. I couldn't go on for much longer without featuring her, as she takes up a fair percentage of my photos. Of all the portaits I've done of her this is one of my favourites.

For those interested, the sun was coming in the windows behind and I had a reflector to light up her face. The reflector was simply a silver sun shield from our car. If you haven't got a purpose made reflector there are other options, on top of the sun shield, I've also used large white pieces of paper.

Space

2006-04-17T01:22:00.000+10:00

I've titled this photo 'Space' for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it refers to the radio telescope featured in the shot. On the road to Richmond the University of Tasmania has a 26-metre radio telescope, that was originally one of the NASA dishes located at Orroral Valley south of Canberra. I'm informed that it's currently used for observing natural masers! Fascintating!

Secondly, 'Space' refers to one of the main features of the photo itself, there's a lot of nothing! It's the only other feature that seemed appropriate to have in the photo, its exactly what the telescope is there to look into.

Masts

2006-04-09T18:46:00.000+10:00

Hobart is renowned for having one of the greatest yacht races in the world, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Every year on Boxing Day yachts big and small leave Sydney and make their way down the east coast of Australia, cross Bass Strait and then race on to Hobart. The finish of the race generally coincides with New Years Eve, so its a great excuse for a party, and a great time to wander around the docks.

While I’m not a great sailor, I love the yachts and the endless photo opportunities they offer.
These two shots were taken on an dull, overcast day at the Hobart docks after all the racing had been done .

The Inevitable Wedding Photo

2006-04-07T11:46:00.000+10:00

Everybody loves a wedding, so here a shot for all the young lovers out there.

I’ve been chuffed to have been asked to take some shots at weddings for a few people I know. On this occasion the lovely Bec and the debonair Nathan asked me to snap off a few on their wedding day. It was a great day, in a great spot, had great weather and everyone was pretty happy, so it was a pretty easy task.

This isn’t your standard wedding shot but I like it. The bride and bridesmaids had thrown off their shoes to walk barefoot in the sand, these provided an interesting foreground for the couple posing for other photos in the background.

Fire in the Sky

2006-03-31T20:15:00.000+11:00

I was at work last week, working extremely hard when I managed to get a quick glance out of one of our three extremely small windows, I looked out on a sky that was burning.

I picked up my camera that I happened to take to work with me and made for the roof, dropping some excuse about needing some fresh air.

I quickly snapped of a few frames but found later that out of all the shots I'd taken, it just couldn't replicate such a beautiful spectacle. My workplace was just too close to the action, I needed to be a bit further away and ideally with a panoramic camera (which I would have borrowed from my mate Ken Duncan) to get whole thing in.

It was worth a try, and I got a break from work!

Melbourne

2006-03-23T21:36:00.000+11:00

Seeing the Commonwealth Games are on I thought I'd better throw in a shot of Melbourne.

This was taken last year about 2 weeks after I bought my digital SLR so I was still getting used to it. This shot however, is pretty much all about the composition.

It was taken at the Melbourne Convention Centre on the banks of the Yarra, its angled supports and roofline framing the straight buildings and giving the standard cityscape shot a different look.

I found that changing it to Black & White meant it has more impact and makes you appreciate the texture and lines within the shot.

Neon Cactus

2006-03-22T00:23:00.000+11:00

Neon Cactus, it sounds like a great name for a band doesn't it!

I'd love to say I took this shot while walking down the strip in Las Vegas, but this is simply part of a sign for a great Mexican restaurant here in Hobart.

I threw the camera on a tripod and then zoomed (in or out I can't remember) on it while the shutter was open for a few seconds. I'm really happy with the result.

I love it when you try something like this for this for the first time and it works so well.

Tasman Bridge and the Big Hill

2006-03-20T10:45:00.000+11:00

Yet another view of my favourite bridge. I love the straight lines of the legs, contrasting with the curves of the mountain.

The silhouette of the mountain against a clear sky is also the subject of a number of my photos, I never get sick of it or take it for granted. I just wish my house sat a little closer to this view so I could sick back in my big armchair and watch this night after night.

More than a boring sunset shot

2006-03-13T00:42:00.000+11:00

I've been a bit serious lately so I though I'd glam it up a bit by putting a nice sleek shiny sports car on the site.

In case you're interested this is 2 shots taken at exactly the same time and then sandwiched together to get this result.

Many thanks to Swade for the ride in the car and God for the light show in the background, an honourable mention goes to Photoshop.

Rock Detail

2006-03-10T00:32:00.000+11:00

Rocks on their own can look pretty uninspiring, but if you get in close there’s always something special. Here’s 3 examples of rock detail I came across while travelling up to the North West coast of Tasmania.

The first shot was taken on a large rock sitting in the sandy beach at the bottom of Fossil Bluff, just out of Wynyard. The rock obviously spends half its time underwater, hence the bizarre patterns.

Shot 2 was also taken at the bottom of Fossil Bluff, however this is a small part of a large, fairly smooth, bed of rock that starts at the bottom of the cliffs and heads out to sea. I love the grey, crocodileskin look of the patterns in the rock

The Third shot is different in that the patterns were man made. These rocks have been placed together to form the foundation of a cottage on the banks of the Cataract Gorge in Launceston. From a distance it looks smooth, up close you can appreciate the skill of the guys who built it.

Shots up close are great, but I usually make sure I take a shot of the general location as well so people viewing the shots can understand its context and scale.

Don’t think you need to go an buy an expensive macro lens to capture the beautiful detail in nature, all these shots were taken with a 28-80 zoom on my digital SLR. Any sort of zoom should take you in close enough to get a good result, however, if you want to photograph ants passing through the eye of a needle then you might need something to take you in just that little bit closer.

Ulverstone Sunset

2006-03-07T22:47:00.000+11:00

Nothing like a good silhouette to spice up a great sunset.

This has been taken on the breakwater at Ulverstone, on the North West coast where I spent many a summer in my long gone youth.

Tasman Bridge

2006-02-27T16:27:00.000+11:00

Its amazing how inspiring a big heap of concrete can be. The bridge must be female because she certainly is my muse. Most see her as a good way to get to town, I see it as the perfect subject, its history, its shape, its beautiful location make it a regular subject of my photos.
It doesn't have the profile of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but I'd take this one any day. And you don't have to pay $100 to get across it.

Mt Field Ferns

2006-02-20T21:41:00.000+11:00

Give me a creek with a couple of waterfalls, throw a ferns nearby, toss in the smell of the bush and there you have it, paradise!

Mt Field National Park is paradise to me, unfortunately absolutely everyone knows about it so I have to share it. Do yourself a favour, go and take a look, and if you've seen it before, go and take another look.

Fire on the Beach

2006-02-16T21:40:00.000+11:00

This was a case of being in the right place at the right time with the wrong equipment, or without that one piece of equipment that would have made this shot even better.

I, and some others, had been on a walk up the beach at Ulverstone (NW Tas), the sun had disappeared but that meant that this lovely lady had turned up on the beach to do some fire twirling, I had my camera with me, but unfortunately not my tripod. You can't let an opportunity like this go so I fired off a few shots hand holding my camera.

As you can see there is some blur due to hand holding the camera for about 4 seconds, but I'm pretty happy with the result considering the less that ideal setup. She was happy as well when I showed her the results.

Ulverstone Camp Site

2006-02-15T14:45:00.000+11:00

I'm back from our roughing it on the North West Coast!, well, not exactly 'roughing it', we were in quite a confortable caravan park with nice showers, barbeques and electricity. This is the sort of shot you take when there isn't much to do on a pleasant evening with no Television around. For those who can't read the guys have spelt out 'Stuart' with a torch while the camera shutter was open for about 10 seconds. I like the effect! To try this yourself all you need is a good tripod, to be able to control your cameras shutter speed and some friends/family willing to sit still for a little while.

I'm on a well earned break!

2006-02-08T23:28:00.000+11:00

Unfortunately there won't be any new photos appearing on the blog for a few days, I've managed some time off work and I'm off in the mighty Toyota Camry (Whitegoods on Wheels) on a trip up the north of this beautiful state (Tassie that is) while my little family and a few friends. I'm hopefully going to take some shots while I'm away that will earn the right to appear on the blog, so keep checking the site, its not going away!

PS Feel free to leave some comments on the photos already on the blog, I'd love some feedback, be honest and tell me what you really think, or if you have anything else you want to ask or say, go for it.

Sibling Sitting on Steps in Sydney

2006-02-07T22:13:00.000+11:00

As the title suggests this is my little brother once again. I love taking shots on these steps, but it's very hard to take a photo there without having unwanted strangers wander aimlessly into the frame. Luckily this day was a quiet one, so I've only had to crop out one person to get the result I was after.

Ye Olde Jetty

2006-02-06T02:49:00.000+11:00

This is the old jetty at Bridport, it goes out a couple of hundred metres into the water and looks fantastic at low tide. It was a beautiful spot on a beautiful day, I love the lines, I love the colour.

Collins Street

2006-02-04T03:16:00.000+11:00

Believe it or not, this is Collins Street, Hobart. It was taken at about midnight with my camera on a tripod and being held securly on the centre console of my mighty Toyota Camry (more commonly refferred to as 'White goods on Wheels'). The shutter was open for about 20 seconds which has caused the street lights and signs on the buildings to appear as streaks. By the way, I've cropped out my speedo that was showing me doing way under the speed limit.

Russell Falls

2006-02-02T09:23:00.000+11:00

This is one of my favourite places in Tassie,. I've got many good memories of camping holidays as a kid at Mt Field National Park, it's such a beautiful spot.

Flying High

2006-02-01T02:45:00.000+11:00

This photo serves a couple of purposes: 1. It keeps the lanky, leaping, Luke happy and 2. It reminds us that the footy season is only just around the corner.

Go Hawks!

Daystream

2006-01-30T10:53:00.000+11:00

I've done a few commissions for friends over the last couple of years. These four young upstarts make up 'Daystream', a cool Hobart band. Sitting far left is the funkiest bass player in the state, and also the person who has encouraged me to get a blog up and running, Swade. Thanks to Swade, this particular photo ended up on the bands debut album 'Filter'. Look out for the as yet unnamed album No.2 out soon.

The Levy

2006-01-27T04:56:00.000+11:00

I'd like to say I had some deep and meaningful reason for choosing this as the first photo on my new blog, but to be honest, it was the first one I could find that was a small enough file.

Anyway, this is my brother Cam on the levy in Launceston, TAS

My very first entry 4:49am Friday 27th January!

2006-01-27T04:47:00.000+11:00

G'day to all who may be viewing the brand new site dedicated to my (part time) passion of taking photos. I'm just learning the ropes so bear with me, I don't really know what I'm doing.

Hopefully I'll have something interesting for you to see and if you want to really flatter me and leave some sort of a comment then feel free.

Take it easy....

Stu