Supermoon 2013

2013's Supermoon!

I was going to HDR it, but I just don't have the energy!

1/400 f/6.3 ISO 400

More Lighting Fun

Here are a few more photos where I used the simple light setup I described in my earlier post.

Burning Steel

Last night I got a tweet from Rob at 3 Loose Coconuts saying “… the way is milky” an hour later we were at an old abandoned home on a hill in the pitch black attempting to shoot some burning steel wool with a hint of light painting thrown in for good measure.

It was a stunning clear night and besides squealing like a little girl when picking up a frog instead of torch I had a blast. This is what we captured!

ISO 640 - 17mm - f/4.0 - 30sec

ISO 640 - 17mm - f/4.0 - 30sec

ISO 800 - 17mm - f/3.5 - 30sec

ISO 1250 - 17mm - f/3.5 - 30sec

ISO 1600 - 17mm - f/3.5 - 30sec

My Lighting Setup

I've been a wedding photographer in Fiji for nearly 4 years now and in that time I've had to purchase quite a bit of gear. Being in Fiji though makes things just a little more difficult as there is simply no opportunity to 'try before you buy'. This coupled with the fact that everything purchased online is multiplied by a factor of 3 (thanks to our currency, hefty shipping costs and massive taxes) means a heck of a lot more deliberating and planning for every single purchase.

As a result I have become quite the miser when it comes to gear purchases and before I consider anything it must first pass the 'Does it improve my work or just make it easier to do?' test. Generally speaking I am pretty happy with my gear and while there is a ton of gear that I would love to have (1D X anyone?) I will always lean towards getting gear that adds a little something more to my photos.

Being a wedding photographer in paradise means I spend a lot of my time shooting couple portraits on beaches at sunset and so I put together my lighting kit with that in mind.

The Gear

The most important part of the kit is of course the triggers. I use the Phottix Starto II Multi for Canon which has been great triggering my 580EXII's and after a few thousand shots the only misfires I've had have been due to dead or dying speedlite batteries.  Besides their reliability I also love the Starto II's ability to allow ETTL pass through with the transmitter which means I get to pop another speedlite on top of my camera and  transmitter for fill or more importantly to use the more powerful AF-Assist beam.

My Light Assistant Meli and I hard at work.
Photo by Rob Rickman

For diffusing the light I use a 24 x 24" Impact Quikbox Softbox on the end of a Manfrotto 679B Monopod with a 3/8" to 5/8" Stud Adaptor I picked up from the great little Photo Shop Studio on Parramatta Road in Sydney. Of course the issue with using the Stratos and the Impact Softbox is that the bracket isn't designed to handle the additional height to the speedlite so combining the Ezybox Hot Shoe Mounting Barcket from Lastolite with the Impact Softbox means I get to put everything together in what is a surprisingly tough bit of gear.

Working with my setup on shoots is generaly pretty easy and while I would have loved ETTL or the ability to control the output of the unit remotely I came to realise that with my super light assistant, Meli, I have one better... Voice Recognition!

I have thought about doing a bit more than a one light setup but I find just having the two of us there can be overwhelming for couples and any more would just be overkill and not in keeping with the relaxed and easy experience that is a Fiji Wedding.

First time at sea

I was shooting a wedding at Royal Davui, a great little resort about 30 minutes away from Pacific Harbor by speed boat when I met Mara a 50 year old farmer from Navosa in the interior of Viti Levu.

He was on his way to Beqa to plant casava at his employers plantation and he seemed a little nervous getting on the boat so I asked him why. The surprising answer was that this was the first time he had ever been to sea!

With Fiji being such a small country made up of over 300 little islands I must admit I was pretty shocked. I guess I forget that there are still some remote places in Fiji and not eveyone has the opportunity to travel.

Arrival of the new Fiji Airways A330

It's been a while since there was something Fijians could get a little excited about, last years Hong Kong Sevens win I guess. Not much else. Not until the arrival of the brand new A330 last week of course.

Students from Namaka Public School heading down to the runway to catch a glimpse of the new aircraft!

A very impressive PR campaign (by Fiji standards at least) which began last year generated a ton of excitement around the country and even for someone who doesn't pay much attention to local media, I knew exactly what was happening and where I needed to be.

Thankfully our studio happens to be about 40 meters from the runway and we were able to get onto our  roof which just happend to be the best spot in Nadi.

TV crew catching the action.

 After getting everyone up onto the roof (the staff from all 3 of our companies plus my son, his nanny and grandmother) I was starting to think that maybe we were getting a bit carried away with the whole thing. I was mistaken, within 15 minutes traffic was stuck with drivers leaving their cars in the middle of the road and heading down on foot!

Arrival of the brand new Fiji Airways A330

I was able to get a few usable images which I am fairly happy with. For the first time I found myself wanting something a bit longer than 200mm though luckily I couldn't have chosen a better location. 

Touch Down!

I can't believe I cut off the tip of the wing on this one! I was sure I had it...

All in all it was a great day, the excitement and feeling of national pride was just awesome. Lets hope it lasts!

Valentine's Day

So on Valentine's Day I was asked by my sister to drop in at the Hilton ("Fiji Beach Resort & Spa Managed by Hilton" if you want to say it properly) to take a few photos of the dinner setup her company was creating to celebrate the day.

A scotch for me and a cocktail for the misuses was the agreed upon fee!

Dinner on the beach.

Just got the moon in there.

Could do a lot more to fix them up but while the scotch was good, it wasn't that good!