Chris Smith Photography Blog Feed

Really Right Stuff - Panoramas Made Simple

Christopher Smith — 2012-09-25 00:00:02

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

AIPP Accredited Professional Photographer

Christopher Smith — 2012-02-27 23:32:52

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.

V8 Action Illustrated Shoot

Christopher Smith — 2012-01-04 16:00:09

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!

2011 FEMA Awards

Christopher Smith — 2011-09-11 00:03:25

Last night I attended the 2011 FEMA Awards in Melbourne. FEMA stands for Fairfax Employment Marketing Awards, which recognises creativity and excellence in the field of recruitment advertising. FEMA showcases marketing from companies and individuals who are leaders in their field.

One of my clients Blaze Advertising were listed as finalists in many of the categories for a number of different clients. More importantly 2 of their campaigns, Ernst & Young – Talented & Young and Ausgrids – New Generations, Same Energy feature photography by Chris Smith Photography and were both finalists in four separate categories.

The good news is that Blaze Advertising won 4 awards! Ernst & Young – Talented & Young won, Best Integrated Campaign and Best Promotion of Graduate Careers. Ausgrids – New generations, same energy won, Best Promotion of Regional Careers and Best Corporate Careers Website.

I am very proud to have contributed a small part to such great creative campaigns and very much enjoyed working with the team from Blaze Advertising.

2 Models Needed for 2 Magazine Shoots

Christopher Smith — 2011-07-15 11:44:20

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.

Prison Cell Shoot Package

Christopher Smith — 2011-07-11 22:49:40

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.

Kate McCracken goes Scuba Diving

Christopher Smith — 2011-03-13 00:54:28

Hey there, and thanks for checking out my blog. Well my latest shoot was an absolute cracker. I had the great pleasure of shooting with a professional and very experienced model, and some may say celebrity, Mrs Kate McCracken.

Kate is mostly known from her 4 years as a presenter on Aerobics Oz Style, however Kate has also featured in numerous magazines and TV commercials. After 10 years experience and being represented by Bliss Models, Kate truly is the benchmark of a professional model.

So our shoot found us at Turimetta Beach at 6am carting a ton of gear about 200 meters down the beach. This is where an enthusiastic assistant really becomes valuable. To give you an idea we had a full set of scuba diving equipment including a steel tank, Elinchrom lighting gear, camera equipment, lighting stands, sand bags and so on. My assistant was John Amytage who I happened to meet on a previous shoot at Turimetta Beach. John is an amateur photographer with a keen interest all things photography. You can check out some of his work on his Flickr site. Anyway John was fantastic and didn’t have a single complaint about the amount of gear that needed to be carried, or holding the Elinchrom Battery pack or the fact that the shoot finished late.

Anyway with a great model and a great assistant, we were definitely in for a great shoot! The theme was to be based around scuba diving/skin diving with a bit of a Lara Croft feel to it. We also wanted to catch a few images of Kate in her Jeans, playing in the waves. You know those ads you see with the guy/girl/couple rolling in the surf in their jeans that makes you think, who goes to the beach in their jeans and rolls in the surf? Well that was what we were looking to achieve.

From a gear perspective, I used my Canon 5D MK 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 head through a Rotalux 100cm deep throat Octabox. Softbox was generally placed about 45 degrees to the model.

We were hoping for a nice sunrise for the background however we really didn’t get much as it was quite overcast. We had a small amount of colour in the sky for a few minutes but it was short lived.

After about 200 shots we rapped the shoot and began the painful task of carting the gear back up the headland to the cars. Both the Kate and John helped carry gear to the car which was a massive help and beyond the call of duty.

Following is a BTS shot of my set up and a few images from the shoot.

Mia's Sunrise Shoot

Christopher Smith — 2011-02-28 20:29:22

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.

Canon EOS 1 Wall Winner

Christopher Smith — 2011-02-21 18:58:52

This post is actually related to an event from early last year however I felt that it was important for me to include it in my new website.

Every month Canon runs a competition for intermediate and professional photographers called, "EOS 1 Wall". Basically the way it works is, there is a professional photographer assigned to each month of the year who takes their turn in choosing a theme for that month. Photographers can then go out and capture an image to suit the theme and submit their entry for judging at the end of the month.

So after a trip to Mungo National Park early in 2010, I decided to submit one of my images taken at the "Walls of China", in Mungo National Park. The "Walls of China" are a range of eroded sand dunes, which create a moonlight landscape due to the various formations of the dunes. My image titled "Dancing Silhouette", consisted of one of these eroded sand formations, which had a tree that appeared to be the figure of someone dancing on top of it. To top it off I had taken the image under a star lite sky. To my delight and utter surprise, I received notification that I had been chosen as the winning entry of the "EOS 1 Wall" competition for the month of May 2010 for my entry "Dancing Silhouette".

The subject for May was the "Twilight Zone" and my image titled "Dancing Silhouette", taken at Mungo National Park received the judge’s choice as the winning image. There is also a peoples choice award, which was won by another entrant. This was the first competition I had entered and first time I had ever been recognised professionally for my photography. The prize was a large framed print of my image as well as being published in Camera Magazine however I guess the real prize for me was the satisfaction I felt from winning the competition.

New Website is now live!

Christopher Smith — 2011-02-09 19:40:07

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.