Handcock Gorge

Over the past few years I have used a couple of printing labs in Adelaide and Sydney to print my panoramic images and although I was reluctant at using Created For Life in Erina, I thought I would give them a try on the advice from Rod Thomas as he has been using them for quite a few years now.

So about a months ago I put in an order to have a shot from Karijini  printed to 75in, and from the time I put in the order till I received the framed print was no more than a 3 week turn around. And I live in Katherine so it’s a bit of a trip to get the print here in that sort of time. It now stands very proud in my lounge as a feature wall as it is a 2200mm print. And on Sunday I received an order and that night I put in the print files through the FTP service that is available on their website, which is very easy to use.And 5 days later I have the print here at home. Now it’s that sort of speed and service that you just cant beat from a lab and it’s why I have no hesitation in recommending them.

It’s not only the speed of the printing, the quality of prints in the way they are wrapped and you open the package to find not one dust mark, a scratch or any oil marks anywhere. It’s also that kind of quality that I am looking for as well, and at CFL they give that no question at all..

So if you are considering changing labs or just looking for a print lab, then give Glen or Josh a call and the will be only to happy to help you with your needs no matter how big or small.

http://www.createdforlife.com/

Over the past year that I have been shooting family portraits, weddings and model shoots, Springvale has been one of the most favored locations to use as a backdrop. But it wasn’t until yesterday that when I was shooting Peter and Lisa family that we crossed to the road and took a shot under the trees here. Well my first thought was wow how nice is this in here, so today I came back and did a stitch using the 85mm lens. The file came out at just over 300mb and is pin.

I also shot this on the linhof as well, but I waited for total shade before I took those shots.

Today I had the pleasure of doing a shoot for model entrant Lan from Darwin who came down to Katherine so I could shoot her. Lan is currently in 3rd place for the Miss NT Model Competition. It was also a chance to get updated photos of her portfolio to show case to future model agencies in Darwin. This is just one of various locations that Lan and I went to this afternoon. To see more of the shoot click on this link. http://caseysmith.zenfolio.com/p547627899

This afternoon I had the pleasure of doing a photo shoot with Phoebe using my new lens. While I have used it a couple of times now with a wedding and family portraits, It wasnt until today that I used it in very low light of the late afternoon shade under the overhanging tree’s. The first shot was under the cover and shot at F1.2 and wow the amount of depth of field was very shallow to say the least, it extend from the left hand side of her eye to the edge of her nose. But it left nothing in the background sharp what so ever. Plus I have also found that the edges at F1.2 are a little dark and I have been told that shooting at F2.0 will give a better result, but I like the challenge of shooting at 1.2 and I love the effect that it give.

There is no question at all that this lens is an amazing lens for shooting portraits and I have found that I am now leaving my 70-200mm in my bag now for in favour of the 85mm.

This second shot I shot near the surrounding fence of the park and this one is shot at F2.0 and still you can see quite strongly that the background is way out of focus. I asked Phoebe to give me a sultry look and at the time after looking at the shots on the back of my camera she was of the opinion that she didn’t pull it off, I beg to differ and think she did a great job, and this was her first time for doing this kind of shoot. Great work.

2 Years ago now when I was moving from Adelaide to Katherine for work I stopped at various places along the way to capture what I could on my way up here.

One of those places was Uluru and I stayed there for 10 nights in total. On the first night I got there I was lucky enough to capture this stunning sunset. And to be honest I had totally forgotten about it until Glen from CFL in Erina told me I had a sweet shot of the rock. I have had some work done to it as it was a little under exposed in the foreground, but to be there was just awesome to see, and one I will be lucky to even see again.

I have added this to a new website and it will be available as a limited edition print of 50 only and one size as well, and that will be a 60 inch printed at CFL on Fuji Flex.

http://caseysmith.zenfolio.com/p69029528

The town Marble Bar  set a world record of most consecutive days of maximum 37.8 degrees  or more, during a period of 160 such days from 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924. Marble Bar is located 152km’s South East of Port Headland and has a population of 194 people, but at its peak during the gold rush the town boasted a population of 5000 people. And during Dec and Jan the temp rise well above 45 degrees.

here are a couple of shots I took from Marble Bar on our way to Karijini National Park. Tis was an overnight stop for us which cost us 30 bucks for the night, under the stars of the caravan park with Rod and Flemming.

Last week I received a second hand 85mm Canon F1.2 L Series from a friend in South Australia who wasn’t using the lens to it’s full potential and as I am shooting more portraits and weddings now, he told me that I would be more than happy with the quality of this lens. And wow he was right.

When I received it on Tuesday and took it out of the box, my first though was wow how heavy is this lens and I was keen to put in a body and see how much difference F1.2 would make.

So it wasn’t until yesterday that I got yo use it in Darwin when I shot a wedding there and I have added an image that I took with it. The settings for this photo are 1/80th sec@ F2.0 Iso 100, and when I opened it up here home, the sharpness is just amazing and I did also take a few shots at 1.2 and the depth of field is very narrow that’s for sure. I am going to love using this lens more and more as I get used to using a prime lens as the quality is just unmatched with anything else I have in my bag.

I am shooting a model portrait next weekend and its there I will get to use the85mm to its full potential, so I am looking forward to that.

Over the past 12 months since buying my digital camera kit I have been asked to shoot quite a few weddings and family portraits, well now that I have done enough shoot to showcase my work, I have since built a basic website where people can have a look at my work and be happy that they will be getting value for their money when it comes to shooting that one special day. Or be it just a family portrait that a coupe need for there loved ones that are interstate.

So click on the link below and have a look at some of my recent work, I will be adding more folders as I get permissions from various people I have taken photos of in the last 12 months.

http://caseysmith.zenfolio.com/

Last week I got the last of my film processed from my trip to Western Australia, and the final part was a drive into the Bungle Bungles National park.

Pictured here is the road that enters the park and I took this shot on my way out and this was about half way out. Too look at the road here you would be fooled to think that it’s a reasonable easy drive. Well it’s not, its 52 kms from the highway and most of the road is passes through privately owned property and as they live and drive the rough roads all the time, maintaining the roads is a low on their list of things to do. So for most of the trip in it’s a slow drive and very rough drive. I think the top speed I got up to was no more than 60kms/hr and even then it was for a very short time.

But once in the park the roads are still rough but are maintained by the national park, but I dont think it had been done for a while as that state of the road had not changed at all. It was rough. But after all that negative comments about the roads, once you are there its well worth the effort of getting in as the Bungles are a sight to be seen and enjoyed.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of covering the Natural Body Building Competition that was held at Darwin Entertainment Centre as the official photographer.

To be eligible for the competition you have to be drug free for more than a min of 7 years and all competitors are tested prior to the performance on the day.

Also prior to the day all the competitors dehydrate themselves for more than 3 days so that there is no fluid in between the skin and muscles which I am sure is not good for you, but to be able to show off all the hard work for the competition its what they have to do. I also saw Eddie (pictured here) after the comp had finished drinking 2 ltr’s of water as quick as he could, as the day is a grueling hard days work in itself.

Eddie won the overall best body in the mens division yesterday and will now be eligible to compete in the national titles in Sydney where he hopes to win there and compete in the world titles held in New York. Good luck.