If your like me and have a passion for landscape photography, then your natural development will lead you to wanting to shoot larger wider images. Unless you have really deep pockets and can afford the hi end Hasselblads, Mamyas and Phase One cameras then the next best option is using a panoramic head and stitching images together. The benefit of this is that you can effectively take a range of image side by side, known as single row panoramas, across a larger area of landscape. If like me you use a Canon 5D MKII which produces a 21.2mp image, then by shooting say a 5 frame pano image, this will give you an image approximately 5 times the size once they are stitched together. This is particularly useful if you plan on printing your images at larger sizes.

There are a range of great products out there and it really comes down to your personal preference and your intended use. Before purchasing my Really Right Stuff panoramic head I read a range of reviews by fellow photographers and various blogs I found on the internet. I was also fortunate enough to borrow a panoramic head from Shannon Sakovits (www.shannonphotography.com.au) who is a good mate and fellow photographer.

Once you have decided on your intended use its as simple as order the various elements needed to make your panoramic head. For me that consisted of 3 products. The L Plate for Canon 5D MKII, the BH-55 ball head with Panning Clamp which would allow for really easy panning motion and the Precision Plus Package nodal slide which allows you to eliminate parallax. Not sure what parallax is then read here...

Following is an example of a 5 image stitched panorama taken by yours truly at Craigs Hut in Victora Australia

Just a small blog regarding something which is a little exciting. Today I became an Accredited Professional Photographer with the Australian Institute of Professional Photography also know as the AIPP. For those of you who are not familiar with the AIPP and what they stand for then do read on.

The AIPP is Australia's leading membership body for the photography community.  Supporting professional photographers at all stages of their careers and enabling them to become accredited to the photographic organisation that is the AIPP.

The AIPP is the only professional photography organisation which provides a standard assurance through its ongoing accreditation program.

With a history of more than 40 years in the photographic industry, the AIPP has become Australia’s leading professional photography institute.  Catering to photographic enthusiasts, students and industry veterans, membership with the AIPP is a symbol of one’s professional ability and dedication to the photographic sector and community.  Fully accredited members are tested for their expertise in the field and are required to have a minimum of two years working experience as a professional photographer.

Around June 2011 I was contacted to see whether I would be interested in shooting for a new start up Magazine, V8 Action Illustrated. Taken from the publishers (Michael 'Gil" Gilbert) exact words, V8 Action was produced for the V8 racing fraternity in

high gloss, is pictorially driven and doesn't just cater to the V8 Supercars but includes the Fujitsu Development series,

the V8 Utes and Touring Car Masters. I was honoured that my photography style had been chosen to feature in the first ever, collectors edition of V8 Action Illustrated!

The shoot itself featured the gorgeous Georgia Kate Twyford and was quite challenging due to the lack of space in the workshop as well as difficult lighting conditions. All in all though I think we managed to get a great result. There is a time lapse video of the actual shoot which I am in the process of processing so when it is ready I will upload it.

P.S. More images can be found in the gallery!

I am looking for 2 models for 2 different shoots. Both of these shoots will be published in different magazines. These shoots are not for submission they will be published. Both magazines are sporting magazines. Magazines will be on sale later this year. 

Shoot 1 is for an established leading magazine focusing on the NRL. Shoot 2 is a new start up magazine based around motor sports, both of which are and will be distributed nationally. 

We are looking for 2 models, preferably blond haired and of reasonable height around 5' 8". We would like 1 model who has a very glamourish, sexy type appearance and 1 model who has a more natural girl next door kind of sexiness. As these shoots will be published nationally we are looking for models who have experience and who know how to pull the right pose. For the right models there is the potential for ongoing work. 

Hair, make up and styling will all be provided. Shoot date will be advised and will be confirmed with the chosen models. They are a little flexible however we would like 1 to be late next week preferably Thursday, and the other the following week. Both shoots will be in Sydney. 

Preference will be given to models who are looking for national exposure and prepared to do TFP however we will consider paid models. If you are interested in this shoot please contact me through my contact page asap and indicate if you are TFP or Paid only. Remember that both these shoots will be published nationally in Australia. 
 

Recently Chris Smith Photography (CSP) was appointed Snake Charmer Choppers (SCC) exclusive photographer. What this means is that CSP will be responsible for photographing all SCC events, promos and advertising. On top of this SCC and CSP will be working together to offer models, or any women for that matter, the opportunity to have  unique photo shoots with a number of different and exciting props. Some of these props include, real army tanks, sand buggies, custom built choppers and a prison cell themed shoot in the actual Snake Charmer's cell. This cell was build to represent where the Snake Charmers dreams began and how they have become a reality. For a great read, check out the Snake Charmers story here. 

So if you are looking to do a shoot which no one else can offer and be the envy of all your friends then get in contact today. For enquiries and booking email productions@snakecharmerchoppers.com or contact Chris through the contact page.

Hi All!

Well this is a shoot I did late last year, well November to be precise. Summer is great because it means we can get out there nice and early, get the models wet with out them freezing however the draw back is that the sun comes up so early.

This shoot required a 4am start in order for the model to have her make up done and to allow us enough time to get to Nth Curl Curl Beach and set up the shoot. We were on the beach by 5am shooting for a 5.30am sunrise. What you need to remember is that the colour in the sky starts showing about 30 – 45 minutes before the actual sunrise time.

We were blessed with a gorgeous sunrise and was almost tempted to change to a landscape shoot. Don’t think the mua Ally Hayward and the model Mia Kelly would have been too happy about that! ;0)

I shot this series using my Canon 5DMK II and 70 – 200 F2.8 IS USM L lens. Great lens and my preferred choice when shooting people. Lighting was Elinchrom Ranger AS Speed Pack with an A Speed Head through a Rotalux 100cm Deep Throat Octabox with the rising sun as the rim.

The light changes quickly so you need to keep adjusting your shutter speed to suit the ambient light.

This was Mia’s first time modeling but I think you would agree that she did a great job.

Anyway here are a few pics and of course you can see more in my Flickr, Facebook and Glamour Galleries.

Well the day has come to finally hit the go button and launch my new website! Its been a long road to get here however I believe and hope you agree, that the site reflects a lot of hard work and endless hours that have gone into creating the site. Its almost 7 months since the initial meeting to discuss my ideas and needs for my website. To give you a bit of a run down as to where the time went and to maybe help you in your planning if you are thinking of having a website built read on...

My first meeting with meeting with my chosen design/developer, Fab Creative Solutions was to discuss the brief and what i would like to achieve with my site. At this point it is vital that you have a detailed brief of what you would like included in your site including functionality, look and feel, performance, compatibility and so on. The more detailed the better. My designer, Fabi from Fab Creative Solutions then had to go away and come back with a concept design. I guess the tricky bit here is coming up with a design that achieves the desired functionality, is practical and provides a pleasant user experience while also being a design that is technically achievable with in the budget.

Once the design, layout and functionality have been approved its off to the developers to make it happen. Once the developers have developed the first version of the site they load it to a testing server so you can begin the huge task of testing. There are so many things to test like uploading of images into galleries, links between pages, email enquiry forms and private galleries, blogs, social media integration and so the list goes on. Each time a change is made you also create a new item to test.

Another big thing to consider is the copy that is going into the site, this needs to be written in a professional manner which is going to promote and sell your services. Another big consideration is which images you want to include in the website. Important to remember that only your best images should go online as they say "you are only as good as your worst image"! Each image needs to be prepared, processed to look its best then resized for optimal reproduction on the web. This can mean editing 100's of images which takes time.

Finally before going live you need to consider your ISP and your hosting package. Does it have enough storage space, enough bandwidth and traffic, how many email accounts can you have, as well as whether or not it offers support for any databases you may run, SSL, and of course technical support.

So I hope that has given you sort of idea as to the amount of work that goes into a new website. I am very exciting to finally have my site up and running and would love to hear back from you if you have any thoughts about it.