just a bunch of stuff

Sunday, 29 June 2008

Hmm can't really think of a proper title today 'cos well I'm blogging about a mish mash of stuff.

Eric and I went to see our new apartment at Breakfast Point today. There has been progress on the landscaping around the building and I'm hoping they get it done soon as I cannot wait to move in. Our building is part of what the developers call the Vineyards precinct and so I am expecting grapes and vines. So far there has been just regular plants but today I see posts being put around the place so I'm thinking they are going to plant some vines! Also I'm not a 100% sure but I think I see olive trees as well. We're very excited and seriously can't wait to move in.

Took the 85mm f/1.8 along today just to do some testing to make sure it's a good copy. Eric is going to hate this 'cos he's not a fan of having his face displayed anywhere online but here is a photo of him. This was shot wide open and the photo is straight out of the camera with no sharpening and any other post processing applied.

It's pretty sharp hey? I hear people say how "buttery" and "creamy" this lens is and I must agree. When I was doing my test shots and viewing on the LCD of the camera, I kept thinking it wasn't sharp and there was something wrong because I was only focusing on the eyes and everything that wasn't in focus was just so smooth that I thought the whole image was soft. One thing I don't like about this lens is the purple fringing at the wide end =(

Some other random shots from today:

Last thing I wanted to mention was my second time experience shooting a wedding. This was about a week ago with Gordon Jovic. He invited me along to shoot the bridal prep and the ceremony with him.

I really loved the experience and went home extremely happy that day. Gordon was very kind and was always teaching and pointing things out to me. I felt like I learnt so much and really can't wait to shoot the next wedding and apply the things I learnt and improve myself.

I'm still in the middle of processing the photos from that wedding but who knows if it will appear on this blog as I have to ask for permission first =)

Labels: life, photography

How exciting. Can't wait to see the photos ;)

But hey, I quite like random detail shots of the plants... :D (30 June 2008 20:13)

new toy

Friday, 27 June 2008

I drove to North Sydney to grab some lunch wtih hubbie today. We bought two boxes of pasta, a coke zero and for dessert we (well me) bought a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8.

My new toy:

I am totally not in a position to be buying new toys but this had to be done. After a wedding shoot with Gordon last week (I'll be blogging about it later) I came to realise that the 70-200 f/4 is extremely difficult to use in such a low light situation like a ceremony in church.

I think a lot of people have the 70-200 f/2.8 but unless Canon is going to donate me one, I really cannot afford that right now and so this is my best bet. It's affordable (ahem coughs hubbie), has max aperture of f/1.8 which is a HUGE difference compared to the f/4 and very sharp. It won't reach as far as the 200mm but well I still got my legs. The whole world says it's a great portrait lens so I shall test that out tomorrow.

I am feeling a little guilty about this so I really shouldn't call it a new toy. It's more like a new necessity =)

Labels: photography

YAY! You got the 85mm!! :D I hope you really make the most of it, so your hubby doesn't feel so meh, about it... (28 June 2008 11:02)

yay! Just sent you an email :) (28 June 2008 12:30)

actions and cards

Thursday, 26 June 2008

My business card arrived today and just in time for the deadline I had set myself.
Like this blog and most my other design things, it's clean and simple and did I say clean? So clean in fact I think I probably should have put some blurbs on the card such as what kind of photography I do. Too late now =p

Next on the agenda of today's post is Photoshop actions. I have been struggling with the idea of buying actions for a while now. I have always wanted to do everything on my own. I wanted to say all my end product is 100% Nattnee made. It's some sort of artistic integrity issue whatever thing that got suck in my head.

Over a long period of time (I hear someone says six months?), family and friends have been telling me over and over that at the end of the day it is about working smarter. It's about the end result and do I want to be limited by my own knowledge of Photoshop and maybe figure out all this stuff some years down the track or do I want better images TODAY. A friend equates the thinking of this is artistically cheating to the invention of autofocus. He says it's just a tool like anything else.

So far I have been proud of what I can produce on my own but if you look at the end result of the likes of Jasmine Star, who is my idol btw, will I ever get that kind of end result on what I know? Maybe but probably not.

Anyway long story short, I bought TRA2 and Essential Color Pop actions to try them out. I had a look at the steps involved in the actions themselves and OMG there was no way on this planet I would have thought to do all that stuff. No freaking way.

In terms of artistic integrity, theses are not things you can use to get desired result in one click. I don't mean they're not good. These actions will certainly make your photos look better if you just use them straight on the rocks but in terms of knowing what to use and in what combination to get what you want, it's not one click of a button. You still need to develop your own style and have a vision of what you want as the end result. Just because they are available does not mean you will get great photos and believe me I have seen overprocessed (in a bad way) photos. Also let's not forget the fundamental things about photography that Photoshop will never fix!

All in all, I am glad I bought them. I have been an idiot all this time and now I know I was never going to be able to figure half that stuff out. I am satisfy with the artistic integrity issue 'cos I know for myself now that I have them doesn't mean my photos are suddenly better.

What I have to do now is spend some time working all these actions out and see how I can best use them to achieve what I want. In the meantime, check out this sample of my bro. It's got some Grandma's Tap Shoes from TRA2 applied to it.

That was a long rant but an important one for me.

Esmond, if you have read this far, stop rolling your eyes and dude you can't give up on your friends! Next time I'll try to listen about three months sooner =)

Labels: photography

from what I know, jasmine star uses the colour pop actions from the boutwell's TRA1, and some from the Kubota Volumes :) I've seen her post some of her tutorials on some forums and thats what she shared with us. Jessica claire uses the same method ;) I've found that the Nichole V ones too saturated at times, while great for travel photography, a little too time consuming for wedding photos where u need to edit hundreds/thousands at once :) Just my 2 cents :) (27 June 2008 11:22)

you can only achieve what you dream of doing...dream big and the end result will surprise no one more than yourself! :) (29 June 2008 06:58)

stylin new blog

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Hooray! After picking up a CSS book last week and spending many many late nights coding up the new template for this blog, I have finally finished! Tada!

I had fun coding it but boy am I glad it's all over. It has been totally consuming my life for the past few days. You may think meh it looks a little plain but I'm happy with what I've achieved considering I just picked up CSS and no I ain't touching it for a while!

BTW this wasn't done with the new blogger layout thing if you were wondering what's the big deal with this simple layout. This was all hand coded and perhaps it wasn't the smartest thing to do but hey I learnt new stuff =)

As plain and simple as it may be, it sure looks a lot better than what I had before! I'll need to get random pics going for the header at some stage down the track and find out how to add a search but those can wait for a while. I need to get on with other more important things!

Please let me know if you find any bits of this blog buggy, I'd really appreciate it. If an issue is going to come up it'll be in IE6 I bet you so if you're using that, go on, convert to Firefox or Safari =)

Labels: general

Love the layout Natnee... It's so clean. I feel like if I touch the screen it's going to smudge it... (obviously it's going to smudge the screen), but, I mean, the layout.. :P Anyways, loving your work! Keep it up! (25 June 2008 23:49)

mary & craig: engagement

Wednesday, 11 June 2008

Do you believe in fate, signs or psychics? Fortune telling perhaps? What if you went to see a clairvoyant and you were told that on a particular day something significant will happen to you? Sure it could be nothing or it could be something but what if that significant event was meeting the person you were going to spend the rest of your life with?

Well that's exactly what happened to Mary. One night, during her holiday in Australia, she was sick in bed. She told herself that she didn't come all the way from Canada to just lie around in her hostel. She dragged herself out of bed, went to the pub and she met Craig.

When Mary got back to her hostel, she picked up her journal to write about that special person she had just met. The entry wasn't blank. It was written in already and it told Mary that this was the day something significant was supposed to happen to her. Few years later, the man she met in the pub that day proposed =)

Mary and Craig are the first couple that have booked me for a wedding and if you want to talk signs well they actually got engaged on my birthday!

The engagement session took place at Willow Glen which is their farm located 4 hours away from Sydney. Check out the previous post to read about our lovely weekend at Willow Glen.

The first spot for our shoot was this historic old rusty bed. I think it had been a long time that this bed has seen any action.

We hadn't been shooting very long when big clouds swept over the sky and the sun was gone. Craig took a quick break and Mary waited patiently for his return.

We know Craig wasn't all keen on the photo shoot and perhaps he was a little shy but when he got in front of the camera, he was quite natural and photogenic. These two have great smiles and this would have to be the most natural couple portraits I have done to date.

"Surely we must be done by now?" Craig asked pleadingly. Ok ok we're done here (for now). Craig quickly ran off once the green light was given haha. I don't know what he was doing as Mary, Eric and I were busy having fun taking photos at the rusty bed.

After a while I turned around to see where Craig was. My eyes caught a picture. I saw the thistles spread out everywhere between me and where Craig was standing. Behind him were trees that have shed leaves for the winter. I quickly told Mary to run up to where Craig was. She ran up and gave him a quick kiss. This is one of my fav photo.

Perhaps Craig and give Mary a piggy back but oh no Craig had other ideas.

Like his spit roast for the reception idea, piggy backing on Mary's back didn't stick either hehehe (sorry Craig, I couldn't resist!).

The first day that I arrived, I spotted the brightly coloured armchair they had in the living room. I had this idea of taking the armchair outside in the open grass area for the photo shoot. Mary suggested putting it on the hill where they ceremony will be held. Great.

What's even more awesome was when we drove back to the house, the cows were grazing right outside. I told Mary and Craig I wanted the armchair right in the middle of the herd! I was so excited about this idea and it turned out quite bizarre and really fun to shoot!

Here we started off with Craig. He is looking quite comfie watching his cows.

In the real world, would an Aussie bloke like Craig be just sitting there in a chair? Of course not! He'd have a beer in his hand!

The beer was a great idea Mary. It kept Craig sticking around for a little while longer =)

We took the chair up to the hill and the cows still followed.

I asked Mary to send the cows away so that she and Craig could have some privacy.

Last quick snaps on the front porch and we were done!

Thank you Mary and Craig for a lovely weekend at the Willow Glen. I can't wait to capture the day you say I do. See you in October!

Labels: engagements, portraits

Wow... you've been studying hard. Great work !! (05 July 2008 23:26)

totally love this post. the location is totally perfect and the shots you've captured are very heart-warming, the couple must be stoked :) (15 July 2008 19:35)

weekend at the willow glen

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Last weekend was just lovely. Mary invited Eric and I to come up and spend some time at Willow Glen - the farm that Mary and her fiance, Craig, bought about a year ago.

The place is about 4 hours from Sydney and is in a town called Trunkey Creek (which I keep thinking it's turn-key-creek for some reason) nearish to Bathurst. I was really worried about the weather as it had been raining all week but luckyily it was sunny most of the time.

Mary was already in Bathurst running some errands when we got there. We picked her up and had lunch at Ellies Cafe (good food btw), walked around town and picked up some groceries for the weekend.

The drive from Bathurst to Willow Glen is really really beautiful. I wish I could have stopped along the way and took pictures but I didn't want to delay us getting there. The only stop we made was at Trunkey Creek.

Trunkey Creek is a tiny town with about 50 people. Lots of old broken down sheds and stuff which are all very cool for photos but we were only there for a toilet break. Mary called me a princess for squirming at the rusty loo (I probably wouldn't have gone at all had it not been for my near busting bladder).

We had to drive through other farms to get to Willow Glen. The road was filled with rocks and quartz and we didn't have a 4WD so Eric had to drive in full granny mode. We finally arrived some long time later and I was simply just amazed at the vastness of their farm.

As soon as I got out of the car, I grabbed my camera. There was not much time before the sun sets and I wanted to wander around taking pics. Something totally surprising happened. The crazy cows ran up to the car, mooing very loudly. I was like what is this a stampede?? I mean this can't be normal cow behaviour!

I was totally freaking out. Cows are huge and there were so many of them, all surrounding us! If they had guns they'd probabaly point them at us and say "put your hands up and give us some hay!" Mary dispersed them and reassured us that there was nothing to be afraid of. We, ok me, looked like such a clueless city slicker. How embarrassing! =p

This guy (or gal - i have no idea) is the loudest mooer of the lot.

Thistles can be found everywhere on the property. Most of them are dead but if you look around you can find purple ones here and there.

The sun soon disappeared. We sat around the fireplace, chatting and nibbling on cheese and pate. Mary and Craig's place is just so cosy. I can see why they hike up there so often.

This lamp, its twin in the other corner of the room, combined with the fireplace really provides a nice cosy atmostphere. Aren't those moose candle holders cute?

Craig finally arrived at around 9pm. We had lamb and roast vegies for dinner - thank you Mary.
We talked a bit about the photo session tomorrow and Craig didn't seem so keen hahaha. He is a blokey bloke who can spend his time doing more productive things than posing for photos haha. We did get engagement photos though - watch the next post =)

Yes this weekend was not just about visiting Willow Glen. I have offered to do wedding photography for Mary and Craig and took this opportunity to do an e-session. Stay tuned for those photos but here is a shot of Mary's Canadian diamond engagement ring.

The next morning, Mary and Craig took us for a drive around their property. As soon as Craig took the 4WD out of their shed, the crazy cows came running down the hill! They stopped in front of us and mooed!

Everyone getting ready to go for a drive. Check Mary out. Isn't she so cute? She is a Canadian who has totally embraced the Aussie culture in every way including the outback jacket and hat and all =)

The crazy cows.

Didn't get to shoot at this spot but look how awesome it is. Craig has tied a tyre swing on the tree branch.

If you know the Aussie history you'd know that Bathurst is where the gold rush took place. So? We went gold panning on the farm! Apparently the previous owner did find some gold and Mary and Craig's very cool plan is to find some gold on their very own farm to make their wedding bands!

Eric and I also joined in the gold panning fun. I was really hoping Eric would find something. That would have been very exciting. Nobody found any gold but I hope Mary and Craig will keep digging and hope they will find something.

Now here is probably one of the most exciting part of the entire weekend for me. Near the gold panning spot was this old rusty bed frame and wooden bits of what used to be a room. A long time ago the previous owner and his kid used to camp out in this shed or room when they did their own gold panning. We spent heaps of time and had so much fun shooting in this spot. Now this is gold!!!

While the boys were still panning, I got Mary to do some poses around the bed.

The sun was so strong at the time as can be seen in the above few photos. Turning Mary to one side meant half her face weren't lit. Reflector would be awesome here but I didn't have any. Mary and I left the boys to go find some a reflector of some sort and to prepare some lunch.

Mary prepared lightly toasted ham and chili brie sandwiches.

Lots of stuff in the shed but nothing was really an ideal reflector then I remembered that Eric has a sunshade for the car.

After lunch, we took up shooting at the rusty bed again. Eric was my lovely assistant holding the "reflector". I really love this pic of Mary. She's so cute in this shot!

Of course, after going to all the trouble of find some sort of a reflector. The clouds came over and I didn't need it anymore. I think Eric was thankful for that hehehe.

I did some shots of Mary and Craig here at the rusty bed (see next post). I think it had been only 10 minutes and Craig was already in pain. "Surely we must be done already?" he said hahah.

We eventually let Craig go and have his own fun. Mary offered to take a pic of me and Eric in the same spot which is nice 'cos we don't always get a pic of us! (Yep, sneak peek to the e-session)

My assistant in his Where's Wally jumper.

Then they both took up the cameras and I was put in front of the lens! Now that's not right! While the three of us were having fun with the cameras, you'll never guess what Craig was up to. Remember I said we left him to his own fun? He was testing out his brand new rifle!

One of the hardest thing about taking photos at this place was the fact that you can't just kneel or lie down anywhere. There are things to look out for on the ground everywhere. We're talking kangaroo droppings, cow dungs and thistles! The thistles hurt!

Mary and Craig drove us back to the house where we did some more e-session (and this will be awesome) before Eric and I start heading back home.

Some random stuff along the way out of Willow Glen.

Thank you Mary and Craig for inviting us up to visit your farm. Eric and I had a very enjoyable time and we'll see you up there again in Ocotober for your wedding!!!

Lastly, this is another sneak peek of the engagement session. Mary took this pic for us after I was done photographing them with the cows.

Stay tuned for the engagement shoot!

Labels: life, photography

logo - the verdict

Friday, 6 June 2008

Last week I put up a few logo designs and asked family, friends and even strangers to tell me which they thought was the best logo. Everyone liked totally different designs! There was no clear winner apart from maybe the original which I still don't like. I was getting so much headache and thought it was best to not play around with it for a bit.

Today, I picked up where I left off and finally found the winner! It's not even on that last batch but it's something I'm happy with. I only asked for a couple of opinions this time and that's probably a good thing. So here it is:

It's not the most unique, flashiest, greatest, whatever-est but I'm happy with it and happy to move on with life argh! Next bit is business cards and revamping the site and blog.

Thanks to Sylvia for pointing out the little details. Now don't you dare tell me you still like the original! You can think it but you can't say it hehe =p

Labels: general