Alpha Photography Blog

Continuing the theme of the previous post, before you travel somewhere completely new, it’s a good idea to do some research into what there is to photograph, and the best times of day to take these pictures.  You may also need to find out what the best vantage point is, so when you get back home you can look at the photographs you took and get excited all over again.

Here is one where timing, vantage point and lighting all had to come together at just the right time.  I had a window of about 5 minutes to get this shot:

(more…)

Preparing for an upcoming trip I find myself taking a look at my photography equipment and doing a check to make sure all is in working order and that I have everything I need.

I always like to make sure I have a few different memory cards, as I have been caught out with relying on one card and it corrupting, leaving me without a working camera, as there is no built in memory in my camera.

My current cards are a few years old now, so I decided to get myself a new 8GB card.  It’s getting increasingly difficult to find cards of smaller size.  Generally I like about a 2GB or 4GB, but in the better quality (faster speed) options, these don’t seem to be available in the brand I like (Sandisk).

(more…)

Byron Bay is a natural wonder.  As the eastern most point in Australia, it boasts a colourful history and existence.  It is standing contradiction where yuppies meet hippies and cocktails mix with marijuana smoke.

On a recent visit, I was reminded of how beautiful this part of Australia is.  The majestic natural beauty is breathtaking, especially on days when the weather was as glorious as the day I was exploring the area.

Added to which, while admiring the view from the lookout, I saw a pod of dolphins swimming along the coast!

(more…)

I know it’s been a while since I’ve written.  My apologies for that.

It’s fun breaking rules every now and then.  One of those fundamental rules in photography is to not photograph into the sun.  In portraits, it’s better to make your subject squint than to photograph with the sun behind them

In this case, I tried it out on a morning along Melbourne’s Southbank area - with interesting results…

Here is a nice effect - the sun is hitting a glass building and spraying out like a star:

(more…)

Going to theme parks is fun.  For me, this was a recent trip to Movieworld on the Gold Coast, and it meant I got to be a kid for a day - riding rollercoasters and watching grown ups in cartoon animal suits entertain children.

I have to admit to never having been a huge fan of rollercoasters - particularly the ones that spin you upside down.  And, the last time I went to Movieworld (which was about 12 years ago), I chickened out on the Lethal Weapon ride.  This time I was determined to go on that ride!  I did, and I think my brain got moved around in the process…

It’s often difficult to capture a day like this in photos, as there are lots of people around, and everything is so close together, so getting a decent shot isn’t easy.

One thing to do, is to get there as soon as the park opens and hurriedly take some photos before people arrive.  Or make them disappear like wizard magic…

(more…)

Travelling is fun.  Travel photography allows you to capture the memories and look back on them fondly later on.

My last visit to Adelaide a few months ago happened to coincide with Adelaide Festival.  On the Saturday night I headed out into town to check out the light extravaganza.  It was projecting colourful light mosaics onto the facades of Adelaide’s historic buildings.  Check this out:

(more…)

Landscape photography is something I’m particularly interested in - mainly because I love to travel.

I’ve seen some pretty varied landscapes, and some are easier to photograph than others.  Recently I visited Victor Harbour in South Australia for the first time, and took the opportunity to walk over to Granite Island.  It is a fascinating place, and not just because you can get there on a horse drawn ‘coach’.

The position and weather make this a pretty weather ravaged place.  Add some lichen, and you have the makings of some interesting photographs…

(more…)

My apologies for the long break.  I’ve been doing a bit of weekend travelling.  One of my recent trips was to our nation’s capital, Canberra.

I hadn’t been to Canberra for a number of years, so it was fun re-exploring this city.  I was hoping to get some mood shots with the waterfall that usually sprays out of Lake Burley Griffin, but it wasn’t spraying the weekend I was there…

(more…)

This is one of the last posts solely dedicated to Norfolk Island.  Seeing as this island is full of nature beauty, I now wanted to showcase how the history looks through the eye of black and white (with a few Photoshop enhancements, such as Diffused Glow).

This is one of the boats used to transport cargo from the large freight ships, to the shore.  It’s obviously been long retired, and looks perfect next to one of the old penal settlement buildings.  The black and white effect was achieved in Photoshop with Gradient Map, then had the glow added over the top.

(more…)

In a previous post I looked at the beaches of Norfolk Island, and here I’m focussing on the coastline in general, as from nearly every vantage point the coastline changes!

Here is the northern coastline view from the Captain Cook monument lookout:

There is such a lot of historical happenings on this island, and the locals have definitely captured that and kept it alive, which is wonderful.  The monument where this view is from gives you the historical significance of the site and is incredibly serene.  Definitely need a polarising filter though!

Here is probably my favourite photographic location on the island - Anson Bay.  I just loved this place.  The view from the top of the hill, walking down and once at the bottom - every angle is beautiful.  The crystal clear water makes the coast look less menacing - almost serene…

Finally, this was taken near Point Howe and really shows how rugged some of the coastline can be.

There are actually only two places on the island that a large boat can moor and offload supplies - Kingston Pier and Cascade Pier.  They are on different sides of the angle, so it depends on the wind and how rough the waters are.  Just an incredible island to explore!