Welcome to the Pilbara

Photography

Lately I have been getting into photography a lot more seriously. That means I've stopped being safe and only using the functions I know how to use (aperture and exposure) and started experimenting with things like shutter speed. I've also started using manual focus again after realising that my new camera has a very cool extreme close up for focusing purposes.

You may remember that a long time ago I posted some photos from the "Swell" sculpture exhibition that is held every year along the beachfront at Currumbin, on the Gold Coast. That was the start of the photography bug. This is the next step for me. I didn't go and buy the fanciest camera with the biggest lens. I got one that was right for me, after lots of research. The Canon 7D doesn't do what I want it to do the most: be portable enough to fit in my video camera bag. I sacrificed a few mega pixels, a viewfinder and the ability to sneer at people who don't have a 7D and got a compact Sony NEX-C3 instead. Entry level camera for that range. I figured if the hype wore off, I wasn't going to be that much out of pocket. Plus, I did enough research to realise that Sony also have a video camera which uses that same kind of lens, making it an obvious option for my love of compact gear. Which is to say- my love of not lugging heavy things about with me.

I'm not going to talk about which settings I've used for each photo, because to be perfectly honest I was experimenting. I believe art is created with passion and the ability to break the rules. Technical ability will not replace artistic merit for me. And for me, this is art. I would encourage anyone to ignore the rules and do something they love to do just for the sake of doing it.

I've posted my favourite photos in this blog. They're from either a Sony Cybershot TX5, Canon Powershot or Sony NEX-C3. I challenge you to be able to tell me which is which. None of these have been edited in Photoshop but they have been cropped so they look wider. The videographer in me prefers a wide screen version!

Great action shot at the Pannawonica Rodeo in 2011.

Out of the several events I saw on the day, this photo turned out the best. I like the way the bull is about to lunge forward to knock the rider off his back. It only took a few seconds for the rider to fall onto the ground so I was lucky to be able to get this shot as they came out of the gates.

Burned out car off one of the dirt roads behind Back Beach in Karratha.

My friend and I took a wrong turn to get to Back Beach when we first moved here. We ended up on a track that would have led to the industrial estate, had we continued our journey. Satisfied with our photos of a few burned out cars, we turned back the way we came.

A recent sunset looking over the back highway in Karratha.

I was busy watching a documentary when my partner came and told me to look at the sunset. Glancing out the sliding glass doors, I could already see it was pretty. After the ad break started I took my camera outside, only to be gobsmacked by what the sunset actually looked like!

This is the water dragon who ate my lunch with me, then stopped for a photo.

I went back to the Gold Coast to visit my parents in January and decided to go to my favourite park and have some coffee and food there. Something made me take my camera, I sort of knew I'd get some really good photos. This is my favourite one.