Venue:
Wild Fig Cafe
(West Coast Drive between Hillarys and Marmion.)
Dates:
July 5th – October 17th 2011

If you get a chance, drop in for a coffee and browse the walls for a mixture of Landscape, Abstract and Surf photography.

Here’s a better idea, jump on eBay, search for your specific item, pick one from an eBay store with 95% or higher feedback, pay extra for express postage and I can assure you that 99.9% of the time it will still be 20-30% cheaper than any store in your city. If you live in Australia and you’re willing to wait a couple weeks for postage, hit up an America camera store and bathe in the glory of the strong Aussie Dollar. Your shopping can all be painlessly achieved in less than 10 minutes of effort on your behalf.

I’ve only ever bought one lens and a tripod from a store. Every other piece of camera gear I own I either bought online or second hand in the paper, and it’s saved me thousands. I saved $700 just on my brand new camera body alone! Plus I don’t have to waste time ringing around for quotes or even driving to stores to get pressured into buying an item I don’t want by an employee working on commission.

Some people would argue that you should support local stores and not spend your money overseas. Sorry, but if a camera store is going to import a plastic monitor hood from Asia worth $10 maximum and sell it for $120, or sell a lens worth $100 on eBay for $190, or a body worth $1800 for $2500 like the case was for my camera, they don’t deserve support. I think there are better causes to put your money towards than that. If you care that much about supporting the local community then buy your gear online and donate the money you saved to a local charity or sporting club. The community will get far more benefit out of that than it ever will from the camera store.

So if you looking around for a new camera or lens before your next big trip, get some quotes from stores in your area, then jump on eBay and get prepared to be pleasantly surprised. Pay with PayPal and make sure it comes with a warranty and you can’t lose!

It doesn’t matter how you do it. You can go old school and use pen and paper, or you can do it electronically. If you have an iPhone, keep notes on that, it takes a few seconds and you don’t even have to carry anything extra. If you have a laptop or an iPod Touch use that instead. It’s also a good idea to email a copy of your notes to yourself every month or two so you have a backup if your stuff gets stolen.

This doesn’t sound like a photography tip, well it isn’t really i guess. It’s more a tip about protecting your memories which is usually the main reason people shoot photos on holidays to start with.

So, now that you’re back from your holidays and your 6 months has morphed into one epic drunken haze of good times with good friends, you soon realize that it is impossible to remember what happened on a day to day basis during your trip. Looking back at your photos is by far the best way to bring the memories back, but if you forget the names of small towns, or the name of that awesome food you had, or the names of people you met along the way, your notes become priceless.

I’m talking about memory cards if you haven’t gathered that already. If you shoot away and keep all your memories on one card without backing it up, you have no right to be upset if you lose it. The amount of effort it takes to safeguard your photos is so small it’s just not worth putting all you eggs in one basket.

The easiest step you can make is to shoot on many smaller memory cards, rather than one huge one. Then keep the cards in a separate place to your camera when they fill up. That way if your camera gets lost or stolen, you still have all the photos you’d taken previous to that shitty event occurring. I shoot on 2GB cards on my travel camera and even on my pro setup. The only exception is when I’m shooting out in the water I use an 8GB card for obvious reasons. It costs about $16 for a 2GB card, compare that to slide film and you soon realise your getting a hell of a lot more than 36 shots per card for cheaper than a roll of Velvia would’ve cost. Everything always seems cheap when you compare it to what shooting film used to cost, so splash out and buy a heap of cards, believe it or not, it’s not even mandatory to fill them up! Just shoot one or two locations then swap cards and stash the old one away somewhere safe. You won’t regret it.

Taking a photo from a perspective other than eye level makes it interesting. This can be done many ways but the easiest would be to climb up a tall building. In big cities, look out for a roof top bar, or shoot from your hotel room window if it’s not on the ground floor. In medieval towns, the highest point is usually in the clock tower, like the photograph in Prague below. In nature, try climbing a tree, a big rock or nearby hill. Down by the ocean, climb to the top of a Lighthouse if there is one.

I have an elevated photo from almost every big city I’ve been to. I felt the need to shoot them after listening to Dr. Karl on Triple J inspired me. He has a tendency to repeat himself so I’ve heard him say it more than once. Dr. Karl said that one the first night in every new city he visits he makes sure he goes to the roof of his hotel and has a drink while watching the sun go down and the city light up. Some of us don’t have the luxury of staying in a hotel, but its the idea that’s important.

Obviously you can’t always find an elevated spot in every city, but I always keep an eye out for somewhere I can shoot from. Most places are free, but in European towns you usually have to pay to climb the clock tower, though it’s worth every cent. It’s hard to get a real idea of where you are until you can see the place in the context of it’s surroundings. Even if you don’t have you camera it’s still worth it for the view.

We never booked anything more than two or three days in advance traveling around Europe. So before we left to wreak havoc on the next town, I would search the town’s name on Google Images and spend 5 minutes searching through the results.

First I would compare the image results against my guide books’ suggestions to get an idea of just how much it was blowing the attraction out of proportion. If it looked as good as it sounded I would go, if it was crap, I left it out.

Secondly I would look for photos that I thought looked good, or photos of nice scenery that I thought I could take better myself. Then I would find out exactly how to get to those locations and if it suited, slot them into my itinerary as well. Google Earth is extremely handy when looking for roads, tracks, or other obstacles you might have to pass to get to your desired location.

This is a really basic concept but it is incredibly useful. Being able to see an attraction before you arrive allows you to avoid disappointment, gives you better ideas of what places to visit and also allows you to see how everybody else has shot it, so you know which angles to avoid in order to get a unique shot.

Neuschwenstein Castle was one attraction in Germany that everybody talked up. After checking some pictures on Google beforehand, I decided it would probably be worth a look. It turned out to be one of the best day-trips of the trip!

The method I use as a general rule is as follows:
Set camera to Aperture Priority.
In bright daylight use whatever settings you like. 
In low light use f/1.8 or f/2.8 and 400ISO so you are ready to catch anything that happens quickly and without camera shake. Then quickly lower the ISO after if light permits and if you still have time to shoot more images.
If the subject looks pissed off you can do one of two things; dissapear swiftly into the crowd and run, or casually walk up with a smile and buy something from them. It doesn’t matter what you buy, just throw it out later if you don’t want it. Never, ever hand over cash for taking a photo. Especially to a child, as their parents will probably beat them and take it from them later anyway. It may sounds harsh but that’s the reality in some cases.
Never take photos of beggars or homeless people. If you do, you’ve got mental issues.  
If you’re not religious, the ‘No Cameras’ sign inside churches is more like a ‘Please don’t take photos’ sign. If you get caught, play dumb. It’s just a request, there’s no law against it, but please don’t quote me on that. Although people are more extreme about Christianty in some places more than others. 
DO NOT fuck around with sacred sites or religious leaders in non English speaking countries, if you can’t explain yourself in English, you could get into some real trouble. If in doubt, don’t take photos. 

Basically, if you have respect for other people then either ask before shooting, or compensate your subject with anything other than money if a smile and wave is not enough. If you want to be an asshole and don’t mind pissing off kind, innocent people minding their own business then by all means shoot away and tell them to piss off when they have a go at you. If it doesn’t get you bashed or mugged sooner or later, I would be very suprised.

P.S. I just moved house yesterday and can only pick up wifi on my iPod, so if there are any spelling mistakes I blame this tiny touch screen keyboard and the always amusing auto-correct. I also haven’t worked out how to load photos onto my iPod yet so sorry for the lack of visual stimulation this week. 

That being said, there are certain trips where a tripod would be invaluable. You really need to decide what you want to shoot on the trip before you decide to leave your tripod at home or not. If it’s a backpacking trip or family holiday and you have limited space in you backpack/ suitcase, forget about it. If it’s a surfing or camping trip and you can just chuck your tripod under you car seat, then don’t leave home without it.

I take my tripod with me everytime I hit the road. If i’m driving somewhere just to take photos, then I take everything I can cram into my car. However that’s a completely different story to going traveling. When traveling, I take as little as physically possible.

A couple reasons why you might want to take a small, lightwieght tripod on holiday:
- You have the luxury of leaving it in a hotel room or car everyday.
- Shooting Cityscapes/ Startrails at night.
- If you plan on using the Video function on your camera.
- Stiching Panoramas.
- Shooting in a dark environment. eg. Rainforest.

Here’s a few compromises you can make so you wont need to use a tripod at all:
- Stuff a small Gorillapod in your bag instead.
- Rest your camera on a jumper, pillow, rock, log, anything that doesn’t move!
( Use the self-timer function to avoid camera shake when using the above method.)
- In low light, if your lenses maximum aperture is f/1.7, use it at f/1.7!
- Don’t be afraid to shoot at 400 or 800 ISO. If you have a pro-model, shoot at 6400 ISO if you have to! It will still look less grainey than the old 400 ISO negative film everybody used to use.
- Shoot panoramas handheld. It still works 99% of the time if stitching in decent software. Turn on the guidlines on you LCD screen if it helps you keep the horizon level.

To sum it up in a neat little package;
If you want to shoot documentary style, street photography, then a tripod is your worst enemy.
If you want to shoot static, landscape style photography in low light, then it may be worth taking a small, lightweight tripod.

P.S. Don’t be one of those people walking around in the middle of the day shooting all their photos on a tripod. Not only will you look like a complete fool, but you will also attract attention like a bright neon sign. You will never, ever get a candid, documentary style photo if you walk within 10 meters of your desired subject whilst carrying a tripod. More than likely, the person will think you’re a professional and ask you for money.

The filter is extremely easy to use; attach it to the front of the lens, look through the viewfinder or at the LCD screen, turn the front part of the filter until the effect is most obvious, then take a photo. The effect will change depending on the subject, and the direction you are facing in relation to the sun, so you need to repeat the steps every time you change position/ location.

THINGS NOT TO DO:

NO ULTRA WIDE ANGLE LENSES:
Do not use a Polarizer when shooting Landscapes with an ultra wide angle lens, especially if there are no clouds. You will end up with part dark blue sky and part light blue sky, with a gradient that will give you nightmares during post-processing. You can get away with using a Polarizer for Landscapes if you’re shooting with a lens focal length equivalent to about 24mm or more on a full frame sensor/film. Also if there are clouds in the sky, the effect is far better concealed.

POLARIZERS KILL RAINBOWS:
If there is a Rainbow in the sky, get the polarizer off your lens as fast as humanly possible and start shooting before it disappears. The polarizer will make the Rainbow vanish, I don’t know how or why, it just does.

KEEP IT CLEAN:
Don’t go spending $1000 on a lens then slap a dusty, oily filter on the front of it. Surely I don’t have to explain that one.

SAMPLES:
Here are a few samples of the Polarizer in full effect. Notice how without the filter, the subject is darker than the sky and the clouds aren’t attracting much attention to themselves. Turn the filter a little bit and bam! The sky is now darker than the subject, so the buildings jump out and grab you attention. The clouds looks brighter and whiter so they also pop out of the image.