Overlooking the obvious

I have been living in Sydney for just about 3 years now and I have noticed there gets to be a point when you see something amazing everyday and it looses its magic. How many people ride the ferry into Circular Quay and do not even notice the Opera House anymore? I know I am one of those people and it has only take a few years. I look back at my home country of Canada and think how much I miss the mountains, the lakes and even the flat prairies but while I lived there I took it for granted and on my last trip home I really understood the beauty of it all.

It really is a shame that for so many people it is not until you move or its gone until you truly appreciate it. I have started to realize I will not be in Sydney for to much longer and I have not taken nearly enough photos to do this creative city justice. I have started to give myself jobs of things I need to complete before I leave this amazing city. Simple jobs like getting out to events to capture the many cultures creating Sydney, photographing the beach life (while soaking up some sun of course), and shooting the original mix of sandstone and modern architecture.

Starting with the Opera House.

These photographs are from the Vivid Sydney Festival. They hold it each year and I think it is great way to see the city in a new light for visitors and locals.

Make sure no matter where you are or where you go, you stop and enjoy your experience. Smile at someone just because you can, look at the tree you walk past everyday and appreciate it, stop and take the photo you have been thinking about, and enjoy life because the memories you create today are the ones you will remember tomorrow.

New website thanks to Wix!

Well its November and I have finally finished my website and its gone live. To tell the truth its been up and running since the beginning of October but I have been working on a few things still and getting it to as close to perfect as I could.

So it is official I am www.bradlentzphotography.com creative I know but hey its who I am and it is what I am all about. I took my time designing the layout using Wix. Wix lets you design a flash based website using a simple drag and drop system you can put your own twist. There are simple to use templates or you can start with a blank canvas to create you web identity.

I started playing with a template at the beginning to get the hang of how things worked, before long I had a half dozen different layouts from a busy interactive site to a very simple artistic "here is my portfolio" site. The great thing is if I feel I need to change the way things look, I can pop onto the editing page make a few changes see how it looks. Nothing on the live site changes until you click save. So you dont have to worry about someone surfing your site and seeing a unfinished product. I really like how simple it is for me to add more photos to my gallery, update my profile and change the opening page photos. It really is just a couple of clicks!

I found Wix to be one of the best sites out there for people that really have no idea about web design, there are heaps of tutorials that walk you through creating photo albums, slide shows putting up movies and sooooo much more. I also found that for the price I could not go wrong.

There are a few different price packages, you can even opt to not pay a cent if you dont want a personal domain name and dont mind a few Wix ads on your site. But if you want to step it up and go to the next level you can get a plan for as little as $4.08 a month over a year thats just $48.96, this lets you use your own domain, run google analytics, 500mb of storage and 500mb of bandwidth. There are a three other packages you can upgrade to. The combo package which I went with is ad free, 1g of storage and bandwidth, you can use your own favicon, and it comes (for a limited time) with a voucher for $50.00 facebook advertising, $75.00 Google advertising and voucher for a free domain name. The two packages above the combo also include these vouchers. For more details on there pricing go here.

Now I know there are people out there that will say flash sites are no good especially for photographers and this is something I did think long and hard about. The reason photographers will stay away from flash sites is because it takes longer to load so people will usually leave your site before seeing it all, and the other reason is because you can not view flash sites on your ipod or ipad. I put a lot of thought into this debate and I had to bite the bullet and go with flash. I figured on my budget and time line it was better to get a site up that would best portray who I am and what I do then not have anything out there at all. I mean if worse comes to worse in a year I get something new.

I am definitely not the only photographer out there using a flash site to display there work and I know I will not be the last. Especially with more and more sites like Wix developing new and innovative ways for the average person to create a website.

So go for it get yourself out there. Whats stopping you? There really is no excuse for you not to have a website that shows off what it is you do! Be sure to check out BLP and feel free to follow me on Twitter or Facebook!

Here is another photo I made for the Canon EOS Photo5 Contest. This one we had to use incense to create a scene or tell a story in black and white!

I just could not put up a post with out a photo!

Canons little brown box makes you think outside the box

I recently received my little brown box from Canon for there EOS photo5 challenge. What am I talking about??? Well every year Canon Australia holds a contest in which you receive a box in the mail and in that box are 5 props you use to capture the most creative and imaginative photograph you can come up with.

This years box contained an eye dropper, stick of bubble gum, some incense, a package of confetti and a link to a sound. The first brief was to create a macro image using a liquid or liquids. This was a difficult task as I have never tried macro photography it really got me thinking outside my norm.

I did some research online and got some great ideas but nothing was original and I did not want to just copy someone else's idea. So I figured the best way is to just dive in and get my hands dirty and my apartment wet! I started off by putting water drops on different surfaces to see the effect, cooking tray, mirror, black plastic, lens caps...etc. I then switched liquids, water, oil, wine, juice...

I found the result I liked best was sticking with water drops and using either a black plastic surface (lens caps) or using a DVD. By placing the drops on these two surface I could see a reflection in the water. I started to brainstorm what one might or might not typically see in a drop of water. After some thinking I sketched a umbrella on a piece of tracing paper.

To create a strong reflection I needed to back light the sketch, I taped the sheet of paper to tupperware container which would act something like a soft box. I didn't have a off camera flash cord or cordless flash sink so I had to get creative here to. After setting up my camera on some books and getting the focus locked. I used the Canon RC-1 Wireless Remote Control to trigger the shutter and hand held my Canon Speedlite 430 Ex II flash manually firing it behind the tupperware using the pilot button.

I also tried the same concept but replacing the umbrella sketch with a photo I had previously taken and printed. I changed the surface from the lens cap to a DVD and found I got some really interesting differences.

I found that once I got my angles, lighting, shutter speeds and other detail worked out I could get more creative with water drop placement. Give it a try have some fun, feel free to ask any questions and share your work! For more information on the Canon EOS photo5 or to check out some of the other entries click HERE.

The finished project!

The Beginning:

We arrived at the Maroubra Skatepark in Sydney and it was a cool rainy overcast day. I set up my Canon Rebel Xti, with a 50mm f1.8 and a Canon 430 ex II Speed lite. I normally would not us a flash on a day like this but I wanted to try and fill in the face of our skater (Mitch Faber). I jumped down and started snapping away not even thinking about what settings my flash was on. As you can see... there is a little to much fill. lol This shot was taken @ 1/640, f3.2.

Now Im not going to discuss be prepared for a shot or explain what I had running through my head when I set up for this shot. No what I am going to write about is deleting those shots that you think are worthless and will never be used for anything.

Now when I got to uploading the photos I started scanning through the shots, it went a little like what the heck was I doing....oh that ones alright... wow that look sweet... good... good ... blah blah blah. I started my processing from the end of the shoot to the beginning, as I worked my way to the start I came to this shot way over exposed I immediately thought DELETE. But then for some reason I thought well lets just see what I can save in it. I began playing in Camera Raw (the window that opens between Bridge and Photoshop). I adjust the exposure, played with the contrast, saturation, and sharpness. Then I tried a tool I never use, the adjustment brush. I was a little confused at the beginning but once I figured it out I was having a blast and finding some new inspiration as I was creating something that was way out of my normal relm. After playing for a while I finally opened with photoshop and fixed a few areas that just need some touch up with the healing brush.

The End:

I learned a valuable lesson do not throw anything away until you are sure it is not something you can use because not every work of art is achieved with out a little work.

So the next time your about to delete that shot you are not satisfied with, keep it for a rainy day and turn it into something you can be proud of.

Just manifest it

Wow so what a full on year so far. Its really funny how when you put yourself out there how fast things can happen and come together for you. After my first post and coming to the conclusion that if I really do want to become a professional photographer I have to get off my ass, push my own limits and work hard I have scheduled 2 photo shoots this month and a session to teach someone how to use there DSLR. Between working for lululemon athletica and being a photographer I have barely had a moment to sit back and enjoy a glass of wine with my amazing wife. I say barely because I think you can always squeeze in a good glass when needed.

My first big photo shoot of the year was in Byron Bay, I was asked to fly up and take some shots of a home business. The job was to take shots of Byron, the home and the owners doing what they do best, YOGA! Aya Kato and her partner Brent Verco are creating a home stay for Japanese tourists. They are providing room, board, Australian culture and hospitality, private yoga classes and a truly blissed out relaxing vacation. My wife / assistant (yup I made her carry my bags) and I may not be Japanese but we were honored to be there first guests. The house was an easy subject as the back yard resembles a mini rain forest with a patio perfect for evening drinks and morning yoga and just a 5 min walk to a secluded beach that seems endless. The beach was a perfect place to take a few yoga shots. We made sure to take in amazing sunrise's and sunsets creating a few personal memories while capturing and filling a few memory cards.

This was truly a amazing opportunity for me to learn, grow, understand and relax. I am looking forward to seeing just where my next photo shoot will take me and what adventures are awaiting me over this next year. Its all so amazing what happens when you tell the world what you are going to do with your life.

Please visit www.byronbayhomestays.com.au if you are looking for a great people and a truly amazing place to stay.

New year New Blog

The New year means new beginnings for many people. Some make resolutions and keep them and others break them without a second thought. For me this year 2010 means not a new beginning but desire to follow the path I started. I set some goals for myself over the last few years and as life tends to do I put many of them on hold for things that really dont mean a whole lot to me, my life, my family or friends.

This is going to be the year that I conquer my goals I face my fears and I begin to live my life the way I have always envisioned it and this blog is my way to hold myself accountable and if I cant then you can call me on it.

My goals for this New year is that by the time the ball drops and we are all celebrating 2011 I will have the confidence, experience, client base and satisfaction to call myself a PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER.

As I continue to post on this blog I will share with you the steps I am taking to develop into the career that I have always dreamed.

Here is the first photo I took of the new year. It is overlooking the Sydney Opera house and it was a truly amazing night! Thanks to my friends who invited us to ring in the new years with them and giving my the opportunity to follow my dreams.