Now I just want the leather case to complete the look!
Beautiful. Natural. Fun.
The Mizaage Blog. Photography, cars, food, music, life.
Monday, August 17, 2009
New Camera
Got myself a panasonic Lumix LX3 from the great folks at Camera House in Garema Place, Civic, Canberra. I just wanted a high quality compact that I can take around with me for street photography, and other discrete locations, where an SLR might be overkill or too obtrusive. I might also use it for weddings too, as it will allow me to get some great candid. Stay tuned for a review, and a blurb regarding technology.
Now I just want the leather case to complete the look!
Now I just want the leather case to complete the look!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
New Printer
I don't generally print my own work. Its expensive, time consuming, and how could my ink-jet printer produce better results than the $100 000 plus machines that places have. Even Big W here in Canberra, and all over Australia produced excellent prints, and they can do canvas printing, posters and so forth also.
That being said, I am amazed at the quality of home printers today. Using ink, and tiny drops that you cant see them, the quality they produce is amazing, and a lot of photographers use them for albums etc, as some of the newer inks and pigments have got excellent longevity.
Commercial photo printers, on real photographic paper however, cannot print decent black and white prints. They always come with a colour cast, so can look decent if thats what you are looking for. The best black and white is on fibre bases paper, but printing digitally can be tedious like that.
Inkjets with one black ink can do a decent job, but sometimes there is a lack of detail in shadows, as the printer only used one colour to print with. You can get printers that use black and multiple grey cartridges to produce STUNNING b&w prints, and there are third party 6 colour ink systems available, using 6 different shades of grey. Here though, you need a dedicated printer, and can be expensive. I alway prefer sending prints out, but I like making prints at home for proofs, quick display and so forth.
Anyway, I bought a new printer today, and it has a black and a grey ink cartridges. I made a quick black and white print, and was blown away at the quality. I think I will definitely print more small black and white prints at home, and make a little album for a future project.
Its a Canon MP980, and its a very sleek little unit. Its wireless, prints, prints on CDs and DVDs, and scans, and most impressively, you can scan 35mm film with it too! I scanned in an old slide from the 1950s, of my mother with her mother (my grandma), when she was 9 months old, produced a 6 megapixel image, and printed it out. The quality of the scanner is amazing, and is suitable for 99% of applications I can think of.
There is no adapter to scan 120 film, but I cant see why one wouldn't be able to, just dont use the 35mm film adapter. Ill have to get some processed and see.
In the meantime, I look forward to shooting some b&w film, getting it processed, then scanning and printing at home!
Saad
That being said, I am amazed at the quality of home printers today. Using ink, and tiny drops that you cant see them, the quality they produce is amazing, and a lot of photographers use them for albums etc, as some of the newer inks and pigments have got excellent longevity.
Commercial photo printers, on real photographic paper however, cannot print decent black and white prints. They always come with a colour cast, so can look decent if thats what you are looking for. The best black and white is on fibre bases paper, but printing digitally can be tedious like that.
Inkjets with one black ink can do a decent job, but sometimes there is a lack of detail in shadows, as the printer only used one colour to print with. You can get printers that use black and multiple grey cartridges to produce STUNNING b&w prints, and there are third party 6 colour ink systems available, using 6 different shades of grey. Here though, you need a dedicated printer, and can be expensive. I alway prefer sending prints out, but I like making prints at home for proofs, quick display and so forth.
Anyway, I bought a new printer today, and it has a black and a grey ink cartridges. I made a quick black and white print, and was blown away at the quality. I think I will definitely print more small black and white prints at home, and make a little album for a future project.
Its a Canon MP980, and its a very sleek little unit. Its wireless, prints, prints on CDs and DVDs, and scans, and most impressively, you can scan 35mm film with it too! I scanned in an old slide from the 1950s, of my mother with her mother (my grandma), when she was 9 months old, produced a 6 megapixel image, and printed it out. The quality of the scanner is amazing, and is suitable for 99% of applications I can think of.
There is no adapter to scan 120 film, but I cant see why one wouldn't be able to, just dont use the 35mm film adapter. Ill have to get some processed and see.
In the meantime, I look forward to shooting some b&w film, getting it processed, then scanning and printing at home!
Saad
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
I recently visited the National Portrait Gallery to check out the 'Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008' exhibition.
It was stunning. For only $10, or $30 for a season pass, I saw a brilliant exhibition of fantastic portraiture of influential people, photography in every style and from every era, colour, black and white, digital, film and so forth.
The work of Annie Leibovitz was every prominents, and I must say her work is stunning. Yes I know in her modern work there is a lot of compositing and photoshop fairy dust, but you can't fake the lighting, the expressions, the make-up, the styling in her photographs. The ones from the annual 'Hollywood' issue of Vanity Fair are especially stunning. This is one of the photos that was displayed:
Pretty damn cool if you ask me. I recommend everyone check this exhibition out, its in Canberra until the 30th August, and its only in Canberra - if you're from out of town I highlysuggest you make the trip down.
Check out http://www.portrait.gov.au for more info
Saad
It was stunning. For only $10, or $30 for a season pass, I saw a brilliant exhibition of fantastic portraiture of influential people, photography in every style and from every era, colour, black and white, digital, film and so forth.
The work of Annie Leibovitz was every prominents, and I must say her work is stunning. Yes I know in her modern work there is a lot of compositing and photoshop fairy dust, but you can't fake the lighting, the expressions, the make-up, the styling in her photographs. The ones from the annual 'Hollywood' issue of Vanity Fair are especially stunning. This is one of the photos that was displayed:
Pretty damn cool if you ask me. I recommend everyone check this exhibition out, its in Canberra until the 30th August, and its only in Canberra - if you're from out of town I highlysuggest you make the trip down.
Check out http://www.portrait.gov.au for more info
Saad
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Strobist Bootcamp II
This is my entry for the competition over at Strobist.com, Strobist Bootcamp II. Playing with some lighting at a headshot session. Will post some more photos from that day soon. All in all, I'm quite pleased with the results. Got in some excellent makeup artists from the Canberra Makeup Academy, Lois and Sonya, to help, and they were just perfect. Obviously I didn't have any makeup on!
Click the image for a larger version, and to see the lighting information. Any questions just ask. Basically used a shoot thru umbrella, a ring flash, and a flash on the background, with a high camera angle.
Saad
Monday, June 8, 2009
Water
I was experimenting taking photographs of a drop of water. They turned out really well, and now have these ones printed and hanging up at home. Really simple to shoot, just a simple off camera flash and background of your choice! Click to look at bigger versions.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Group Shot
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Architectural Shoot
I recently did some architectural/interior photography for a great Canberra based firm, Adhami Pender Architecture. Great work from them! Click for a larger version, and any questions or comments, leave them below.
My philosophy
Some photographers may wonder what the hell I am doing, in regards to my pricing and packaging at www.mizaage.com (please contact me for more detail regarding pricing structures). The simple fact is that I did not get into photography to make large amounts of money. I would otherwise be an investment banker - although with the GFS, who knows!
The old time, some would call 'traditional' method of wedding photography involves charging a session fee, provide the client with with several 'proofs', which are small photos with 'copyright' stamped on them. The client then chooses their favourite photos, pays an exorbitant fee for each one, and has an album made by the photographer. The client pays for each copy of a photo they require, and for enlargements. If they want reprints down the line, they go and see the photographer, and again pay a huge fee.
Now I am more than happy to make prints and enlargements of a very high quality for clients. By asking me to do this, you can enjoy life as a married couple, worrying about more 'important things', and are ensuring that the prints you get are of a high standard. (A note, all packages except my most basic come with a high quality photobook, which are not available to the general public, but only to professional photographers. And of course, multiple copies are available.)
This method of paying per print made sense before digital, when all photography was done with film. Handing over original negative was never a good idea, as most likely, a couple would lose them, or they would be damaged, so gone forever. Pro photographers had a comprehensive diling and archival system in place, so in 20 years down the track if you wanted reprints, you could have them. And, especially with black and white work, a lot of darkroom work was reuired to achieve the optimal image, something that most people were not familiar with. And I often take a film camera with me, to shoot a few rolls of black and white. Digital black and white cannot touch a traditional dark room print shot on film. Obviously, there is a charge for prints, as each one needs to be lovingly printed by hand.
In this age of digital photography the traditional approach does not make sense. You can take your photos down to a chemist, and get acceptable prints very cheaply. You can have photobooks made for a low price. And the traditional album is fast going out of fashion. Most people like to view photos on a computer monitor.
And maybe most importantly, after a wedding, there is not a lot of money left in the budget. Sure the couple may want their photos immediately, but it may not be financially possible. By not charging for individual prints, but giving you the digital files at a resolution good for printing at reasonable sizes, you are able to view photos soon after the wedding, and then can have them printed at your convenience.
Of course if you would like the high quality printing and photobook and album service I can provide further down the track, then I am only too happy to oblige.
To summarise, with Mizaage, you will be getting the digital files to do with as you like, no matter what package you choose. This allows emailing of photos to friends and family, as well as making cheap prints for an album that is to be viewed frequently. The price may seem high intially, but once you factor in the cost of reprints, paying a bit extra for digital files makes sense!
The old time, some would call 'traditional' method of wedding photography involves charging a session fee, provide the client with with several 'proofs', which are small photos with 'copyright' stamped on them. The client then chooses their favourite photos, pays an exorbitant fee for each one, and has an album made by the photographer. The client pays for each copy of a photo they require, and for enlargements. If they want reprints down the line, they go and see the photographer, and again pay a huge fee.
Now I am more than happy to make prints and enlargements of a very high quality for clients. By asking me to do this, you can enjoy life as a married couple, worrying about more 'important things', and are ensuring that the prints you get are of a high standard. (A note, all packages except my most basic come with a high quality photobook, which are not available to the general public, but only to professional photographers. And of course, multiple copies are available.)
This method of paying per print made sense before digital, when all photography was done with film. Handing over original negative was never a good idea, as most likely, a couple would lose them, or they would be damaged, so gone forever. Pro photographers had a comprehensive diling and archival system in place, so in 20 years down the track if you wanted reprints, you could have them. And, especially with black and white work, a lot of darkroom work was reuired to achieve the optimal image, something that most people were not familiar with. And I often take a film camera with me, to shoot a few rolls of black and white. Digital black and white cannot touch a traditional dark room print shot on film. Obviously, there is a charge for prints, as each one needs to be lovingly printed by hand.
In this age of digital photography the traditional approach does not make sense. You can take your photos down to a chemist, and get acceptable prints very cheaply. You can have photobooks made for a low price. And the traditional album is fast going out of fashion. Most people like to view photos on a computer monitor.
And maybe most importantly, after a wedding, there is not a lot of money left in the budget. Sure the couple may want their photos immediately, but it may not be financially possible. By not charging for individual prints, but giving you the digital files at a resolution good for printing at reasonable sizes, you are able to view photos soon after the wedding, and then can have them printed at your convenience.
Of course if you would like the high quality printing and photobook and album service I can provide further down the track, then I am only too happy to oblige.
To summarise, with Mizaage, you will be getting the digital files to do with as you like, no matter what package you choose. This allows emailing of photos to friends and family, as well as making cheap prints for an album that is to be viewed frequently. The price may seem high intially, but once you factor in the cost of reprints, paying a bit extra for digital files makes sense!
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