A few from Oz

Irish_Tom · 7 Sep 2015 at 10:59

Hi everyone, it's been a while!

Following some great advice on here, I recently upgraded my ageing D50 + Nifty Fifty to a D810 + 16–35mm.

This will primarily be used for business. I've just taken the plunge into the world of freelance graphic design having been at my previous agency for seven years. Having a decent camera will make a big difference to my work.

As a clean break from the old job into the new one, my fiancé and I went on a four-week trip to Australia. We started in Sydney, travelled to Canberra, Melbourne, down the Great Ocean Road and back up to Sydney along the south coast.

I've picked my favourite shots from the trip here - comments / feedback welcome.

Irish_Tom · 7 Sep 2015 at 13:29

Thanks guys.

Good point Alex, it must have been a subliminal thing during the processing. For each of those landscape shots I have maybe five to 10 alternatives; experimenting with different proportions of sky and land/sea.

As I went through them picking my favourites I've inadvertently chosen the 50/50s for some reason.

Irish_Tom · 7 Sep 2015 at 14:37

Thanks Paul, it's amazing what you can see without any light pollution.

I followed Ken Rockwell's guide to photographing the Milky Way and with a bit of experimentation it worked a treat.

I would like to do more of this sort of thing and try and get it a bit sharper. I've got a number of shots with bits and pieces in the foreground but this was the pick of the bunch.

The one limitation of the 16-35mm when trying to do star shots is that it's an f4 lens. A 2.8 or faster lets you use a lower ISO so there would be less noise. I've heard good things about the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 and the 24mm f/1.4 which I'm considering.

Irish_Tom · 7 Sep 2015 at 16:35

Thanks Lithon, the majority of the landscapes were either taken at sunrise or sunset (a few of the places I visited I took photos at both).

Obviously there are no hard rules when it comes to photography but personally I've found the light at these times of day to be more interesting / appealing. Of course it depends on your subject and sometimes it's just not possible to be in a certain location at a certain time.

For instance, the photo of the Blue Mountains (fifth one down) was taken in the morning but the sun was well risen by then. I'm not really happy with the big shadow but I had such a short amount of time there and couldn't do anything about it.

For quite a few of those shots I used an ND10 filter to get the smooth water / blurry clouds and I found that much more effective at dawn/dusk than during the day as well.

I'd definitely give the astrophotography a go, you never know what you might get. I would say that light pollution will play quite a big part in the success of your shots so if you can avoid it, you should get a good sense of what your lens is capable of.

Irish_Tom · 8 Sep 2015 at 16:22

You will absolutely love it Wez. I was lucky enough to be there for NYE 10 years ago and it's incredible.

Where are you staying? Do you know where you'll be watching the display?

Irish_Tom · 9 Sep 2015 at 11:26

The airport isn't too far away from Circular Quay so that's handy. You can get a taxi into the CBD for about $50 or the train is pretty convenient. A Multi Day Pass is about $25 per person and will let you travel around all day.

If you get a train from the international terminal it costs almost twice as much as if you go from domestic or Mascot. A short walk can save you a lot of cash.

In 2005 I was on the Opera House steps. I didn't have great equipment and didn't know as much about photography but I was able to get this shot:

If you want to frame both the bridge and the Opera House then the spot I was in for the first photo in this thread isn't bad. There's a walk along the water, through the botanical gardens, from the Opera House to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. It's just a case of following it around and picking your angle, check it out on Google Maps.

If you're over there you'll be quite a way from the action (see all the water in the foreground of my first photo). A longer lens than my 35mm might be useful.

It would be difficult to get more of the the bridge in than in my shot without going into the water. I've heard watching the fireworks from a boat is the best but not great for taking photos!

Wherever you decide to perch, get there early. Especially if you're going to need space for a tripod and you want a clear view. I think we were sitting on the steps from about 5pm and it was filling up fast. They do a mini display at 9pm for the kids and then the proper stuff at midnight.

Of course, if you're going to be there a long time have plenty of food, water and sunscreen. If you need food you're going to be queueing for a long time wherever you go unless you book a table.

I'm making it sound like a chore but it's not, you'll have an amazing time whatever you do. I don't know how important the photos are to you but it might be better to just enjoy the show.