Fairly simple question, this: how much do you edit your photos? The answer, of course, is not quite as simple, and varies between photographers. My particular answer is contingent on a number of things: my personal philosophy on photography, the service I provide for cosplayers, and the amount of time, effort, and skill I have at my disposal. Philosophy I always edit my...
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Instagram and Hipstamatic are two of the big names that have been rocking the smartphone world, with everyone having an iPhone taking pictures and putting that stuff online for all to see. Personally, I am not a big phone photographer, averaging maybe one shot on a phone every fortnight or so. It’s just something that I whip out when something really catches my eye or...
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On Saturday 3 March, I went to the Sydney leg of the Philip Bloom DSLR video workshop tour held by RODE Microphones. For those who don’t know who Philip Bloom is, he is a UK based cinematographer who does a lot of his work using digital SLR and large sensor camcorders. Check his site and other sources for more information. The reason I went to the workshop is simple: I...
Learn MoreThere’s no denying that as a male and a nerd, gear is part of photography for me. In fact, I spend a lot of time researching alternative gear configurations to see what sorts of advantages in shooting I can get, and while I was playing around on the small end of the Sony Alpha DSLR series, this was a serious obsession. To a large degree, that obsession over camera...
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It’s really easy to become caught up so deeply in what you’re doing that before long, you have lost perspective. Everything extraordinary becomes ordinary, and you fail to see the world outside of your own. As a photographer, it’s a constant danger, and even more so when tunnel vision restricts your creativity through the viewfinder, simply because you don’t see...
Learn MoreThe world of photography is in constant flux, with new technologies and new ways of working constantly emerging and coming into tension with those who, for one reason or another, tend toward a more traditional way of doing things. In a way, such debate is a good thing, because it shows the medium is still growing as a form of expression. Whether it’s good for a form...
Learn MoreMany people comment on the speed of my edits – most times, I can turnover the results of a shoot within 48 hours (depending on my mood), but of course, speed is not everything when it comes to photo editing. If someone spends days on a single piece and comes out with a masterpiece, I am much more in awe of them. That said, I have, over time, refined my processing...
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Every once in a while, we fall down from the soaring heights of inspiration. The flights and expectations of our imagination turn to what can truly be called hard work. This shoot, the first of 2012, and the first since kotani returned from China, was such an experience. My lacklustre performance could be attributed to a number of things: the cloudy day (many of my...
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Should the smartly-clad businessman, or the rich folks sitting in the pool of the country club have asked me how I came to be in their nicely air-conditioned office, or on the grass just outside their club taking photos, they would learn that I started the morning with no plans other than a rough idea, to go out into the world and walk around. I packed my camera, but...
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Amidst vivid dreams and vibrant colours, the year has passed. Already, the beginning has faded in my mind, like a negative exposed to light, and I must consult my gallery to once again jolt my memories of the precious months. First of all, I would like to thank all my friends (you know who you are) and a special person who have supported me so much this year. I honestly...
Learn MoreSo I was doing an inventory of my photographic equipment, and my particular way of packing usually involves pulling everything out, laying it on a floor, and then repacking. By having a clear overview of all my stuff, I am able to, while the equipment is on the ground, re-arrange, categorise and if necessary, reassemble items whose parts have become separated over the...
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The camera reduces our three-dimensional world to a two dimensional construct within a frame. Lines and shapes and colours take on a different kind of importance to us, and once more we appreciate the slight changes in angle and position that change the way a scene looks, from the ordinary to the abstract. Stepping out from the quietude of the museum, with its clean-cut...
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Currently, I have three photography-related books which I am slowly getting through, but of these, one has struck me quite a bit on a personal level, and that is David duChemin’s Photographically Speaking, which despite its size, is fairly hefty, and its content even more so. Perhaps by coincidence, I also read today an extract of Geraldine Brook’s 2011 ABC Boyer...
Learn MoreAfter a few requests from cosplayers, I realised that even though I used to have a usage policy visible on my sites, it has vanished since I rejigged everything. So here it is. Hopefully it will clarify my position on the photos that I take. There are different policies depending on which party you are, but in short, my rights as a photographer are similar to that of...
Learn MoreFairly often, as a photographer working with cosplayers, it feels that each person has their own domain of responsibility. It’s the easy way out, for me to say that I am responsible for the lighting, camera controls, timing and composition, while the cosplayer is responsible for her expression and her pose. But of course, that is not how real portrait photography...
Learn MoreIn the past few weeks, I have been engaged with conversations with various people regarding the way they light for cosplay. Light sources is a fairly basic concept, but I think this post will be useful for myself at least in explicitly bringing to light stuff I already consider. I’ll just be going through a list of various light sources which are available to light...
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