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The Landscape 500 Results

November 17th, 2010 at 12:50pm

To all those who are wondering who won the Landscape 500 we are just waiting for the final judging to be done. The judges are very busy people and they have to fit it in between work commitments. The word I have so far is there are some amazing images that have been submitted. I can’t wait to see the results myself.

I am hoping it will be finished up in the next few days but then of course I will be heading to Tasmania so I will sort things when I get some internet coverage.

Thanks for your patients, it is a big thing putting on a competition, bigger than I thought.

Keep an eye on the blog for the results. Or if you get an email from me personally you have won a prize.

18 Comments

PNG islands

November 17th, 2010 at 9:43am

This tree is possibly going to be consumed by the ocean. It is on the edge of a tiny little island that is only just above sea level. On it was a hut so someone lived there at some stage. Totally amazing place. Not 100% sure but the red leaves might be dead or dying? Someone might know. Still it is my statement for rising sea levels due to global warming. What a shame it could be gone very soon like the two trees to the right.

18 Comments

Help needed for one of our own

November 16th, 2010 at 2:27pm

Just found out from Markie Stothard that Tony Middleton has had all his gear stolen. Read Marks post below

I am sure that the name Tony Middelton (Tone) is very familiar to you all and I have learned today via Andrew Brown’s blog that Tony had all of his gear stolen yesterday along with all of his back up drives and 10 years worth of images!

To say that he is gutted is an understatement!

I would like to do something to assist Tony to get back out there doing what he does best and Ben from Team Digital has agreed to offer a good price on the gear he has lost.

So I am asking everyone out there in blog land to put a donation to this account which I have set up purely for this appeal. Any and every donation will be much appreciated by Tony and I hope we can go someway towards replacing his kit.

Of course we can never replace the 10 years worth of kick butt images, but at least we might be able to get him up and running again and ease the pain a bit!

List of Tony’s Stolen Camera & Computer Equipment

CAMERA EQUIPMENT

Canon EOS 5D Mark II (Digital Camera)

Body No. 2764B014[AA], (21) 0230114578, (21) 01357319

Bar Code: 4 960999 629568

Serial No. 230114578

Distinguishing Features:

  • Missing the rubber seal over the extension system terminal (HDMI) located on the bottom of the camera.  The Rubber seal is approx 1.5cm by 1cm black rubber seal.
  • Surface rust / corrosion on the metal hot shoe plate (where the flash goes) at the top of the camera.
  • Also wear and slight corrosion on lens mount and screws.

CAMERA

Fuji G617 / 105 / 1.8 Lens / Medium Format Panoramic Still Camera

Serial No. 6111459.

Distguishing Features:

  • Bubble level on external lens protection bars broken / been broken – so that the level and its bar may be missing or patched.
  • Some screws on the corner of the camera housing are cracked.

CAMERA

Olympus, 1030SW 10mp Waterproof (10 metres) Underwater Digital Camera

Serial No. Unknown

Colour Silver

CAMERA LENS

  1. Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L Series Lens As new
  2. Canon 17-40m f/4 L Series Lens Edge broken where filter screws in
  3. Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Ex DG Lens Filter Size 77

Serial No:  0 085126310547

MANFROTTO 340 Elbow Bracket Customised threaded screw to hexagonal shaped mounting bracket.

NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS

  1. 1 x Lee Neutral Density Filter Kit 1 x 0.3 , 1 x 0.6, 1 x 0.9

Lee Foundation Kit & 77mm wide angle adaptor ring.

  1. Hoya 1 NDX 400 Very light scratches on glass surface.

Extremely dark black glass filter.

  1. Hoya Circular Polariser Hoya pro digital 77mm diameter

Very slim line, high end professional filters / good condition / clear plastic case – or on one of the lenses.

CAMERA BAG Lowe Pro Nature Trekker AW II Camera Back Pack

STOP WATCH Timex Indigo Navy Ring Clip stop watch

Unusual shape: Oval with the a digital watch face across the centre.  Has an alarm that goes of twice a day that I do not know how to turn off, goes off mid afternoon and at night time – each day.

Navy blue & Grey

BATTERY PACK 2 x Genuine Canon LP – E6 Battery Pack for Canon 5D Mark II

BATTERY CHARGER Battery charger LC-E6E, See Serial No.s for Canon camera above. Some may match for the charger which came with the camera.

COMPACT FLASH MEMORY CARDS 2 x Sandisk Extreme 16GB Compact Flash Memory Cards

COMPACT FLASH MEMORY CARDS 2 x Sandisk Extreme IV Pro Compact Flash Memory Card, 8 GB

MEMORY CARD Can’t remember manufacturer – 32 GB

REMOTE CONTROL Chord for Canon 5D Mark II

COMPUTER EQUIPMENT

LAP TOP / 13” MACBOOK PRO / 250 GB Hard Drive / 2.53 GHz Processor

Serial No: W8929CT966E

Part No MB991X/A

Model No. A1278

Airport ID 002608DEFSF2

Blue Tooth ID 002608C3855A

Distinguishing Features:

  • Silver Aluminum Casing
  • And stores 10 years worth of collected panoramic & landscape images from around Australia

IPOD NANO / 8GB

Part No: MA980ZP/A

Serial No: 7K7419VEYOR

Distinguishing Features:

  • Silver
  • Black Leather Case
  • Digital FM Transmitter Attached

HARD DRIVES

5 x 750 GB, Western Digital “my passport” USB Hard drives

Colour: All Slick Black

Labelled on the ends in Black Texta, individually:

  • 2010 Pans 1
  • 2010 Pans 11
  • 2010 Raw 1
  • 2010 Raw 11
  • Time machine

Stores 10 years worth of collected images panoramic & landscape  from around Australia

2 x 500 GB, Western Digital USB Hard Drives

Colour: Silver Aluminum Cases (both).

Marked with black texta, individually:

  • 2008
  • 2008 – 2009

Stores 10 years worth of collected images from around Australia

1 x 500 GB, Freecom USB Hard Drive

Aluminum Black Casing

Stores 10 years worth of collected panoramic & landscape images from around Australia

1 x 160GB, Western Digital Hard Drive

Silver Aluminum Casing

Black Texta, labeling:

- 2008

Stores 10 years worth of collected panoramic & landscape images from around Australia

TOOLS AND OTHER GEAR

1 x Duo Fast Coil Nail Gun in Case Nail Gun – Silver and Blue

Brand New in Blue Case

1 x Makita Jigsaw in Case Sky Blue

1 x Rotary Masonry Drill in Case Drill – Grey

Case – Grey

1 x Professional Snorkel & Mask Clear and Purple Mask

Blue Snorkel

1 x Travel Back Pack – Tatonka 70 Litre Black and purple

Please keep an eye out and let myself or Tony Middelton know if you come across it on Ebay etc.

I have started an account where the donations can be put into, so if you are keen to support Tony, please email me at mark@northstarcruises.com.au and I will send you the account details.

Lets help Tone out, he is one of us and a great bloke to boot,…………………. unlike Merv, just kidding Merv, we would do the same for you in a heartbeat. I think several donations have been made already.

13 Comments

Oil Spill on Rottnest and Perth Beaches

November 15th, 2010 at 7:42pm

Hmm I wonder how long it will be before that happens. With the Kimberley under threat, The margaret River coastline and now Perth, it looks like we need to forget about our beaches as being the best sustainable asset we have. Thank god they haven’t got the the South Coast beaches yet, and I do mean yet!

Money, greed, power, destruction, death. I’m going back to PNG, oh no, hang on, Australia is mining that too! I believe cyanide tailings in the deep deep ocean are fine, nothing down there to kill anyway since Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Philippine boats are taking all the fish they can.

Somehow I think an oil rig off the Perth coast is going to stir more feathers than off the Kimberley coast.

22 Comments

Roll your Tongues back in Girls

November 15th, 2010 at 12:07pm

These guys in PNG are warriors. They just have to look at us white, flabby, western powder puffs and we would drop dead. They made me keep my shirt on for 7 days and my inspiration now is to paddle my way around Geographe Bay for the next 20 years so I can look that good too. Now this guy would have made his own canoe and house and probably spends his day fishing, collecting food and relaxing in a tropical paradise. Tell me, who has the richer life?

Shot on the trusty 5D2, ah what a camera. I actually enjoyed the ease of use and the automation that makes you get shots in a hurry. But alas if this was shot on the Phase the guys muscles would have looked even bigger.

That brings me on to why we should shop locally for camera equipment. Ben from Team Digital had a loan Phase body ready for me when I got off the plane in Perth. As I will be in Tasmania shooting in 4 days time that is a god send. It seems the only problem I can find is with the shutter on the 645DF, thankfully the cheapest part of the system. Now if I had bought my camera from the US I would be stuffed. Thanks Ben you have saved my bacon.

Shop local guys and keep the money in Australia. I always say service is better than price and this is a classic example of why.

29 Comments

Home from Papua New Guinea

November 15th, 2010 at 9:55am

We have just got back from the adventure of a lifetime. PNG is unbelievable and a must see destination. I will reveal more of our experiences as time permits this week as there are some great photos and stories to be shared. Firstly I want to thanks Mark and Craig from True North for giving me the opportunity to get on board for another memorable experience and also to the crew who are amazing and a credit to Northstar Cruises. Thanks guys.

Also a big thanks to Benny from Team Digital for lending me the amazing Elinchrom Ranger Quadra portable lights. This portrait of one of the locals was lit with that system and I think it is probably one of my best ever portraits. The lights add a quality you just don’t get with natural light. They are also so light and portable I actually took this shot with one hand on the camera and the other holding the light. Now that is pretty cool. Team Digital have all the prices. I will be looking to buy a kit myself. I loved using it.

Lastly I want to thank Flemming for coming along to experience PNG with us. We had a ball together and he has some amazing photos too that I’m sure will be on his blog by now! Also he is coming back to Perth later this year. I want to get the tribe together to give him a great Aussie welcome so will make some plans soon. I am thinking a south coast shoot, maybe Esperance. I know he would like to meet all you out there in blog world!

I can’t say it is good to be back but I did miss my computer, oh and the kids!!

8 Comments

I need a second hand intel iMac

November 3rd, 2010 at 3:59pm

Anyone have one they want to sell cheap. It has to be in good condition, doesn’t matter about the size.

9 Comments

Wilsons Prom Workshop

November 3rd, 2010 at 1:54pm

Tom Putt and I will be running a four day workshop down at Wilsons Prom, Victoria. Dates are – Friday the 18th of March to Monday the 21st of March 2011.

The cost is $1995 and the fee includes Accommodation and Meals.

To book go to Tom Putt Photographic Workshops You can book and pay on-line.

Don’t miss this workshop. Tom has been there many times and will show us around the Prom. The emphasis will be on shooting with classroom lessons in between. I will be teaching my workflow and photoshop techniques including the secret sauce that everyone is looking for.

It is going to be a fun 4 days as both Tom and I are extremely funny, well we think so! If you don’t get our jokes then you don’t have a sense of humour!

And yes the Pink Feather Boa will be out. You will be able to look but not touch!

These are two images I took about 10 years ago at the Prom and yes they were shot on film. Not too bad actually.

9 Comments

Nick Rains Printing Workshop

November 2nd, 2010 at 10:10am

My good mate Nick Rains is holding a printing workshop in Perth. If you want someone who really knows what he is talking about then Nick is your man.

Go to his blog here http://www.nickrains.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=164:canon-print-workshop&catid=17:workshops&Itemid=26 to get all of the details.

14 Comments

The competition is over

November 1st, 2010 at 8:37pm

Well The Landscape 500 is done and dusted. I am really happy with the 306 entries we received and thank everyone for taking the time to have a go. The judging should begin early next week and I am hoping to have a result in the next two to three weeks. So until then I can now post something different other than a landscape.

This is a photo of Nigel Gallop from Fraser Gallop Winery in Margaret River. Nigel is holding a trophy for a wine of his that won the best in the world. Not a bad effort and I hope to get a taste of it if I am lucky. I got a call to do some more images for them in a hurry. Not the best timing for me but I like the work. Nigels property is probably one of the top five wineries that I have seen down south. A truly beautiful place.

How clean is this file. The Phase is certainly a great portrait camera. This was lit with window light only.

645DF, 80mm Schneider, P65+

20 Comments

Epson Pro 4900 printer

November 1st, 2010 at 9:51am

I was at the AIPP conference last week and got to have a look at the New baby from Epson, the Pro 4900.

I was so impressed I have ordered two. One for home and one to replace our ageing Canon ipf 5100 (Brand C). This will mean I will be fully Epson at home and in the gallery and printing quality will be consistent across the board. My old 4800 was an epic printer and is still going strong at my Mandurah gallery.

Benny from Team Digital will be getting me one this month and I will post my thoughts on it then. Lets just say I expect great things and did not hesitate to upgrade my equipment.

p.s. please don’t tell my business partner I have order two, I was told I could not spend any more money! oops I did it again! Britney Spears style!

Here is a plot of the colour gamut against the gamuts of other reputable printers! This is why I upgrade. Don’t you love these sexy charts.

For more info and a very cool price go to the Team Digital Blog. Tell Benny or Trevo that I sent you and want you to get the best deal on the planet…… ok the best deal in East Perth!………. ok the best deal on Lord Street!

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