Just Show Up...

My friend Audrey recently asked me to join her in writing for her new blogsite which she has initiated for sharing of creative inspiration, called 365 Just Show Up. This image is one I posted there recently, after an early morning shoot with friends near Palm Beach in Sydney's north.

With photography, light and timing is everything. And sometimes that means 'showing up' when the rest of the world is sleeping. This weekend, fellow photographers Richard, Anastasia and Vlad and I arranged to meet near Palm Beach on Sydney's northern beaches area, to catch the sunrise over the water. We needed to arrive at the location somewhere between Astronomical Twilight (which was 5.17am on 7/8/10) and Nautical Twilight (5.46am on 7/8/10), in order to scout the location, get set up, and have an hour's shooting time in the magical pre-dawn light.

For those of a technical mind, Twilight has 3 defined phases: Astronomical, Nautical and Civil that refer to specific points in 6° increments of the sun's angle to the horizon before sunrise and after sunset. Each phase lasts approximately half an hour. (Australian readers can use this Geoscience Australia calculator to obtain the Sunrise / Sunset and Twilight times.)

Astronomical Twilight = the instant in the morning (or evening) when the centre of the sun is at an angle of 18° below the horizon. At this time it is possible to still see the light of stars in the sky.

Nautical Twilight = when the centre of the sun is at an angle of 12° below the horizon. At this time in the absence of moonlight, artificial lighting or adverse atmospheric conditions, it is dark for normal practical purposes. For navigation purposes at sea, the sea horizon is not normally visible. (Occurs approx. half an hour after Astronomical Twilight)

Civil Twilight = when the centre of the sun is at a 6° angle below the horizon. At this time in the absence of moonlight, artificial lighting or adverse atmospheric conditions, the illumination is such that large objects may be seen but no detail is discernible. The brightest stars and planets can be seen and for navigation purposes at sea, the sea horizon is clearly defined. (Occurs approx. half an hour after Nautical Twilight)

Sunrise: (Occurs approx. half an hour after Morning Civil Twilight)

The reverse occurs in the Evening: Sunset, Civil Twilight, Nautical Twilight, Astronomical Twilight, fading into the darkness of night.

Thanks for the feedback!

Following a suggestion from my friend Becs in Lismore who is also a keen photographer, I made a new version of the Newcastle headland photo in Lightroom3, using a combination of sharp (the man and the sculpture) and misty (the sea and the railings) - and this is EXACTLY the effect I was looking for. Well done, Becs! Thanks so much for your insight - a collaboration always makes more than the sum of its parts!

Sculpture By the Sea - Newcastle NSW

Early morning walk around the headland of Newcastle Beach. Two versions... a misty one and a sharp one - which do you think works best?

Broome Photographic Tour

This time last year, I was planning a trip to Broome, to take my parents on a holiday to the North-West. Prior to travel, I had consulted the Oracle - (Google) - on things to do in Broome and came across Nigel Gaunt of Red Dirt Photography, offering photographic tours of the region. This was an inspired discovery - Nigel is an accomplished teacher and superb artist and the twelve hours I spent in his company with a small group of other photo-enthusiasts was enriching on both technical and creative levels. Seeing the landscape through Nigel's eyes really changed how I 'saw' the desert of the North-West - revealing the rugged beauty of the remarkable landscape west of the Pilbara.

With my background in both Chinese Medicine and Photography, I was initially lured by the idea of there being a ‘Chinatown' in Broome. But along with learning about the fascinating and chequered history of the pearling industry in Australia, it was the startling blue of the sea and sky contrasted with the red earth of the Pindan desert that really captured my eye.

So I share with you here a few of the images that came from this journey.
September 2008.

En-Visioning Sydney, August 2009

Four members of the photo-gang (Richard, Morena, Berend and Kyle) arranged to meet at 6am last Saturday, rain or shine, to create images from the early-morning Sydney streets and headlands... We started in Kings Cross before breakfast, then sheltered from the drizzle at a cafe in Paddington and ended in Bondi around noon. The over-cast weather with soft tonal light was perfect for creating black-and-white images. The pics below are Kyle's photos, except for the last one which is a portrait by Berend.

(the last pic is a portrait of Kyle by Berend)