There is a really funny story behind this photo.  Its an old decommissioned church were I train at once a week.   As I was standing outside with the instructor he asked me, what do I look for in a photo?   I looked around, looked up and pointed at the steeple and said something like that.   I then said my goodbyes and started to head off to my car.

I’d only taken a few steps when I realised that I’d just identified a great photo and walked off without doing anything about it.  Crazy right?   I ran to the car grabbed my Fuji X100 a camera that I carry everywhere and pinged off a few shots.  I am so glad that I did as the result is a pretty cool photo.

Are there any lessons learnt out of this experience?  I think so.  Always, always take a camera with you where ever you go.  If I don’t have my normal camera I have my Fuji.  If I don’t have the Fuji X100 then I always have my iPhone 4S.   Remember the more times you are out there taking photos the luckier you get.

What are you waiting for?  Its time to get out and about and get some photos.

Thanks for reading,

Jamie Paterson

I was lucky enough to visit the Monte Bello Islands off the North West coast of Western Australia.  They are extremely remote and very hard to get to because of their distance from mainland, approx 100kms.  The Montes are most famous for being the site of three atomic bomb explosions during the 1950s and have been off limits to the public until only a few years ago.

These days the radiation limits have fallen dramatically and you are allowed on the islands for a suggested a hour at a time and you’re not supposed to pick up any metal either.   I wish I had read that before I was picking up engine pieces off the beach.

I managed to spend a few hours above the islands in a helicopter with the doors off and got some great shots of the Monte Bello Islands.   The best thing is I didn’t glow at night time afterwards either!

There is still quite a bit of infrastructure there from when the British were using the islands for their atomic testing, with bits of cars and engine blocks spread across the main island.   The main nuclear shelter is still standing as well.

I hope you enjoy the photos.  Any comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson

Is the beginning of the Canon 5D Mk3 marketing ploy or are we just being teased yet again?   Chase Jarvis posted this on his blog about an hour ago.

http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2011/10/canon-5d-markiii-camera/

Your thoughts?

Jamie

One of the great things about living in Australia is the beaches.   Though photographically I can do without summer as there are hardly any clouds, personally it is my most favourite time of year.

I just love hitting the beach and jumping into that water.  Immersing myself in its soothing caress.  Nothing better.

This photo was taken on New Years Day this year from memory.  It was scorching hot and everyone hit the beach to try and escape the heat.   Unfortunately I didn’t get to jump into the water myself this time around.  I was too busy taking photos.

On days like this taking Australian landscape photography is extremely rewarding.  I get to capture a part of people’s lives.  Show to the rest of the world how we live our lives.  Its a real privilege.

The other thing about this shot that was fun was that I got to leave my tripod behind and I felt so free without it, if not a little weird.

Settings:

Manual mode

Canon 1Ds MkIII

Canon F/1.2 50mm lens

F16

ISO 100

Shutter speed – 1/160th

Did you know that the above settings working for nearly all daylight situations when in manual mode?  If you didn’t, try it out and see if it works for you.

If you liked this photo and would like to see more Australian landscape photography please click on the link.

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson

This is the sort of photo that I’m best known for.  Seascape photography is my genre and I love it so much.

Seascape Photography

So why do I love it so much?  Well I just love the ocean.  I love everything about it.  To me there is nothing more satisfying than standing on the beach with the water lapping at my feet with its soothing coolness while I am trying to capture it.

This particular shot was taken a few nights ago and I just knew the sunset wasn’t going to be a great one so I decided to focus more on these waves as they were rushing across the reef right next to Cottesloe Beach.  They were producing this amazing rippling effect as they were scurrying across the reef.

There was actually some pretty cool surf happening as well but that is another story.

To get this shot I used AV mode on my camera as depth of field was more important to me than shutter speed.

Settings:

Camera – Canon 1Ds MkIII

Lens – Canon F/2.8 16-35mm

AV Mode – F16

ISO 400

Shutter Speed – 1/2 sec.

Hope this helps you guys out.  Remember any comments are always appreciated and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson

Aerial photography is a huge passion of mine as you can capture some amazing photos that you just don’t see from the ground.  You stop looking for objects and start seeing patterns.   Crazy stunning patterns.

Hot Air Ballooning

So when I was given an opportunity to jump into a hot air balloon I didn’t hesitate.  I truly believe the hot air balloon is the best aerial photography platform you can find.   It typically moves across the ground much more slowly than other aircraft so having super fast shutter speeds isn’t as critical as when you are in a plane or helicopter.

The balloon is also a lot more stable and didn’t appear to be as affected by turbulence as other craft.   I was able to move around a lot more and had a lot more freedom to capture the Earth below.

To get this shot I still wanted fast shutter speeds and as faster shutter speeds were more important to me than depth of field I decided to use TV mode.

Settings:

TV Mode – Shutter speed 1000th / sec

ISO800

Would I recommend it to you guys?  Definitely!   Even if you aren’t into aerial photography or landscape photography you should still put a flight in one of these on your bucket list.  Its heaps of fun.

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson

This photo is a great example of why you should always carry around a point and shoot camera of some description or at the very least get used to taking great shots with your mobile phone.

The More Shots You Take The Luckier You Get

I was walking along a boardwalk when I saw this Mother Swan with her cygnets eating algae in the lake and I just had to take a shot.  I had my Fuji X100 with me and I pinged off a shot of them.

I got home and decided to have a quick look at the photo, as I did my wife walked past and pointed out that they were all swimming in love heart.  She was right the water and algae was in the shape of a love heart.   You don’t don’t much luckier than this!

So always take photos always push yourself.  You just never know what you’ll come up with!

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson

I love this shot of this couple just enjoying each others company and spending a few romantic moments together while watching the Cottesloe Beach sunset.   Let’s face it, its something most Western Australians have done and it was cool to capture.

Cottesloe Beach

I have to admit and be honest that I had been waiting in this spot for over an hour to try and capture the sunset from up on the grass banks and when they just sat down in front of me without even asking if they were in the way I was a little annoyed.

However, I always see the positive side of things and I thought to myself, if you’re going to sit there and enjoy the moment, I going to capture you guys enjoying the moment.

In the end I was really happy with the way this shot turned out.  The sunset just glowed and was amazing and it threw a beautiful soft light onto the couple.  I really couldn’t have asked for more.

Landscape Photography Tip

Always be flexible when you’re out there shooting.  Unfortunately, our best laid plans almost never work out so we need to learn to think on our feet and react quickly to these sorts of situation.   Particularly when you are in shooting in popular spots, people will nearly always be in the way and we just need to learn to work around them or incorporate them into the image.  Personally I enjoy incorporating them into the image as I feel they are part of the area’s story.

I could’ve got upset and walked off but by incorporating the couple into the shot I’m pretty sure I captured a magical moment of Cottesloe Beach.

What do you guys think?  Did I pass the mission?   Did I manage to get another great moment in Australian landscape photograhy?   Probably not but I still love the shot.

If you like my Australian landscape photography and would like to see more please follow the link.

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson

I headed down to Cottesloe Beach the other night as there were some amazing clouds building and I figured it was shaping up to be a pretty cool sunset.

Cottesloe Beach

I arrived there an hour before sunset so that I could work out where I was going to shoot from and to also allow me plenty of time to see what the clouds were doing.  There is nothing worse than turning up 5mins before sunset and then trying to work out where to shoot.

I started shooting up by the Cottesloe Groyne and then noticed that the cloud action was happening behind me so I picked up my gear and headed on over to the grass banks near the carpark to get a better view of sunset.

I’m so glad that I did as I managed to capture a pretty cool sunset.

Landscape Photography Tip

So I thought I had captured a really cool sunset and started to pack up my gear.  In fact I had placed everything into my bag and was walking off when I turned around to look one more time.  That is when I saw this amazing, colourful and soft afterglow appear in the sky and it was much better than the sunset itself.

So what is the tip?  Always hand around for at leat 20mins after sunset because you can quite often be rewarded with stunning soft colours during this time.

Do you guys have any other tips you’d like to share?

Thanks,

Jamie Paterso

You know, I always push myself photographically as hard as I possibly can, I’m always looking for new places, trying out new techniques, getting up early and staying up late.   I’m dedicated to my art.   Without dedication its hard to improve or succeed.

Sometimes though it all takes its toll and I yearn to do something comfortable for awhile, wrap myself up in a place I know and love.  A place that doesn’t challenge me but one that I can just enjoy taking simple and enjoyable photos.   A place where I don’t have to think to hard about taking a great shot because I’ve been there so many times before I just instinctively know where to stand and what to capture.

Do you guys ever feel like that or have a place like that?  What causes you to go there?

Cottesloe Beach is that place for me, when it all gets too much and when I just want to simplify I always head back to Cottesloe Beach.  I know it so well, its an old friend to me.  One that has been very generous to me over the years.   She understands that we’ve been together so long now and doesn’t make it hard for me to capture her any more.

So for the past couple of weeks, that is all I have been doing.  Heading down to Cottesloe Beach and just capturing little snippets of people enjoying the beach as much as I do.

Soon enough I’ll want to push myself again and stretch my boundaries once more, but for now I couldn’t be happier just spending a few lazy hours on the weekend just strolling up and down my favourite Perth beach.

I’d love to hear your comments on this photo.  Do you like it?

Thanks,

Jamie Paterson