Category Archives: Photography
Vivid Sydney 2011
For those of you who follow my Facebook page – you would have known that I recently posted up something about Vivid Sydney 2011. Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light, music and ideas!
For approximately 2 weeks, the city of Sydney (in particular the uptown side) was beautifully transformed into a vibrant, colourful and interactive artwork display after dark. The Rocks, Circular Quay and Sydney Opera House areas were buzzing with people from all walks of life. They ranged from the very young staring in awe and amazement to families and friends bonding over the light displays to photography enthusiasts (like me) with all sorts of gear trying to capture the beauty of it all.
Unbelievable but true – There was so much to see (and take photos of) at Vivid Sydney this year that I went back for 3 consecutive days! And to my frustration and disappointment - I still did not manage to see everything 
I did however had an amazing time and 3 great nights out with my friends and family 
For those of you who missed out on seeing it in person, I hope that these pictures have at least captured the essence and beauty of Vivid Sydney and that I did do the artists some justice. Hope you enjoy them!
To view the rest of the pictures, please go to my Galleries page or click here.
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World Press Photo 2010
My Weekend Part 2
I was fortunate enough to check out the 2010 World Press Photo Exhibition in Sydney on its final weekend and I must say that it was an eye-opening and moving experience – from both an observer and photographer’s point of view. While some of the images were very disturbing in nature, I also felt that they were stunning, profound, touching and beautiful in its own way. The photos evoked all types of emotions and feelings: pain, anguish, pride, thankfulness, peacefulness… it was indeed thought provoking! So much so that it felt as though the photographer was calling out to each and every one of the audience to not just be a spectator as such but to actually feel and see what he/she felt and saw at that exact moment the photograph was taken. It’s like I was being brought back into the past to the actual event, witnessing it firsthand. I remember walking out of it thinking to myself, how blessed am I…
The photos are broadly grouped into the following categories:
Arts and entertainment | Contemporary issues | Daily life | General news | Nature | People in the news | Portraits | Sports actions | Sports features | Spot news
About the exhibition
The annual World Press Photo Exhibition is the best known of World Press Photo’s activities and is a leading event in the organization’s calendar. Every year following the World Press Photo Contest, the winning images go on tour. In April, the exhibition is officially opened in Amsterdam and can be seen at venues around the globe until March of the next year. The tour program takes in approximately 100 cities in 45 countries and is still expanding.
The exhibition is a showcase for creativity in photojournalism and a platform for developments in the profession, part of World Press Photo’s aim of encouraging and stimulating the work of press photographers around the world. The show also attracts a broader public and, because of the wide-ranging focus of the contest, forms an eyewitness record of world events from the previous year.
Updates: As of March 2011
The 2010 World Press Photo is still currently on exhibition in Kitzingen and Chemnitz.
A copy of the winning photos can be found here.
The 2011 World Press Photo exhibition will be on tour starting on 22 April 2011. It will be coming to Australia in June/July this year and I highly recommend for you to check it out!
Exhibition details
Brisbane Powerhouse: 4 – 26 June 2011 (entry is free)
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm; Weekends 10am-4pm
General inquiries: (07) 3358 8600 or www.brisbanepowerhouse.org
State Library of NSW, Sydney: 1 – 24 July 2011 (entry is free)
Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9am-8pm; Friday, 9am-5pm; Weekends 10am-5pm
General inquiries: (02) 9273 1414 or www.sl.nsw.gov.au
Check out the World Press Photo website to view the 2011 WPP winners photo gallery.
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You can view a copy of the winning photos at “Boston Globe – The Big Picture”
Sunsets, sunrises and all things sun
For those of you who follow me on Twitter and are part of my Facebook group, you would have known that I recently participated in an ‘assignment’ by My Nikon Life. The brief was simple… All I had to do was upload a maximum of 5 pictures associated with ‘Sunsets, sunrises and all things sun’.
As part of my photo hunt, I came across Gasoline Australia and was instantly captured by the amazing colours of scooter line-up. So, I asked the owners’ permission if I could take some photos and they were kind enough to say yes! One guy even joked and asked if I wanted him in the picture… Hehehe…
Just for comparison sake, I’ve included the original photo and the touched-up photo! As you will see later, the edited version has a much richer and bolder colour, with an emphasis on the colours and not the scooters itself.
I was aiming for a classic magazine /studio look (don’t really know what the official photography term for it is)… So, I had a play around with the settings in Lightroom 2 until I got the colours and look that I liked. Oh, what a difference a few clicks of the mouse can make! There is no trick to it… it’s sometimes really all about trial and error, being patient and reading up on online tutorials. Most importantly, it depends on what kind of look you are trying to achieve
Original photo (taken with a Nikon D40, 18-200mm lens)
Touched-up edited photo (using Lightroom 2)
Well, at the end of the day, I didn’t end up using this photo for my assignment as it really didn’t meet the requirements of the brief. I ended up selecting 5 photos taken at different times of the day with 3 different cameras – Canon IXUS 850 IS, Pentax K10D and Nikon D40. It really just goes to show that you don’t need a super duper DSLR to take great shots! It all comes down to being there at the right place, at the right time
“You don’t have to be a great photographer to take great pictures!”
Hope you like ‘em!
Title of the album: The different faces (phases) of the sun
1. Sunrise jumper (credit goes to Jay for being the model of the day. This photo was taken with a Canon IXUS.)
2. Just before the rain (This photo was taken with a Canon IXUS)
3. The sun-star (This photo was taken with a Pentax)
4. By the waters (This photo was taken with a Nikon D40)
5. Watching the shadows (This photo was taken with a Nikon D40)
Note: You may also like to go to the My Nikon Life – Assignments section to view submissions from other photographers.