Monday 20 August 2012

Interview

I was interviewed this morning by a delightful student as part of her masters studies. Her name is Sanaa Al-Hadabi and she is from Oman.

I'm not sure if Sanaa was enlightened to any degree by my utterances. I, on the other hand, had a great time learning about her culture and family back in Oman. She showed me pictures on her phone of her beautiful nieces (all under 4) dressed up to celebrate the recent end of Ramadan. The phone also held closeup, appetizing pictures of the colourful spices and vegetables she uses in her cooking. Email evidence for her Mum, Sanaa said, to prove she was eating well! Mothers transcend cultures.





We met in the members lounge at the Art Gallery of New South Wales over a cup of tea and as we spoke a shaft of sunlight, filtered by the trees outside the window, flickered across her face. Lucky I had my camera.


Canon 5D Mark2, 40mm f2.8 Canon 'pancake' lens. 800 ISO, f6.3, 1/40th






Thursday 9 August 2012

Updated! Finding Pictures Workshops at the Botanic Gardens

'Finding Pictures' Photography Workshops for new and enthusiast DSLR owners. Learn techniques and workflows for digital SLR photography with 30 year plus professional Paul Foley.


Book soon to receive an A3 Fine Art Print personally made by Paul of one of your favourite images. Made on museum quality cotton rag paper it will be ready for you to sign, frame and proudly display on your wall!


Finding Pictures - make creative photographs no matter where you are and whatever the light.

Finding pictures workshops are designed to give enthusiast DSLR users the tools to make interesting creative pictures anywhere - no matter the light conditions.

To enable you to do this Paul Foley, the instructor, will impart knowledge he has garnered during 30 years of professional photographic experience in a fun, informative and practical half day. To make it easier for you to remember all of his tips and methods he provides a downloadable work book as well as online critiques of up to 5 pictures you make in the 60 days following the workshop. You will have your own pro photographer on tap while you discover your photographic style.

This course does require a little homework before the day but it won't take long. You’ll just need to the read the basics of those confusing instructions that came with your camera. Don't worry, Paul will let you know the parts you need to understand beforehand so that thick book of tech speak won't be daunting.

On the day you will need to bring your camera and it's standard zoom lens as well as a tripod. Other lenses are not essential but bring one or two if you have them. 

While the tripod is very important to the workshop (and is an essential part of any committed photographers kit) the lessons you learn are meant to be applied to your handheld photography as well.

The workshop will also explain how to use polarising, ND, and grad filters.

Because the idea of finding pictures is to set you on the path to your own style Paul will explain how to use the mechanics and science of photography to manipulate shadow and light. You will learn the skills to see a scene photographically and how to set your camera to create a mood - to make a picture rather than just take one. 

All this takes place in Sydney’s beautiful Botanic Gardens and is topped off with a delightful lunch in the courtyard.

So if you want to learn how to find pictures in the places and people around you this workshop is perfect. The skills you will attain are applicable to any of the pictures a photographer could be interested in. Be it landscape, portrait, macro or even abstract there are unique pictures to be found everywhere. Let Paul show you how.

Workshops include lunch in the Gardens, ongoing assessment and a PDF Guide to ensure you remember all you learn during the morning. Prices: $150.00 for Friends of the Botanic Gardens. $175 for non members.


One on One & Couple Tuition

A special gift for that enthusiast photographer in your life - or yourself!
Two hour or half day workshops are available for one or two people. They are tailored to your requirements to cover personal photographic interests and can include nature photography, sports, portraits, landscapes and macro.

These workshops can also help you understand and set up a 'digital darkroom' so you can proudly display your work as personally made fine art prints. The locations are chosen to suit the subject matter.

Two hour classes begin at $250.00 for one person or $350.00 for two but as each one is designed individually please get in touch so Paul can tailor a workshop just for you.

You can also register your interest in a full day course designed to explain RAW photography, the software to process RAW files and colour managed inkjet printmaking.