If you follow me or my photography you’ve heard of Matt Allan.

I’ve “known” Matt peripherally through an online photography for some time before his job brought him from his home in Melbourne to the western suburbs of Sydney and not long after he was relocated to western Sydney a bunch of us got together for a shooting day on the weekend after Australia day, and I finally met the luminary Matt Allan in person.  This shot was taken that day, about an hour after meeting him …

That first day, just over 360 days ago, became something of a turning point.  We started shooting some (fairly boring) V8 racecars at Eastern Creek (Eastern Creek is not a good subject for photographers without media passes to get behind the ropelines, but I managed to find something a little more interesting …)

From there we moved to the now torn-down old Rozelle Tram Sheds, to photograph the graffittied trams …

Prior to that day I knew very little about Matt other than he liked being controversial because it got people talking about his (and my) passion – photography.

I’d never shot in either of these environments, but I managed to spend most of my time with Matt that day, and I found that our styles were both wildly different and stongly complimentary.

Over the last year we’ve shot some fetish fashion, a bunch of classic car shows, waterfalls, The Choir Boys (live, on stage!), the Coca Cola Amatil Family Day (which was HUGE), spent a whole day dropping things into a fishtank full of water, a Zombie Walk, and more cars. We spent an evening photographing an ATROCIOUS event together, and then consoled ourselves with a drive around the City of Sydney, cameras in hand, getting some night-scape shots.  The 2010 Worldwide Photowalk was followed with a ferry trip to Cockatoo Island and more hours of photographic wandering and discussion.

Matt shot possibly the best ever photograph of my mother and I, at my sons 21st birthday in 2010, and had it framed as a gift for my birthday.  It now hangs in a prominent place in our lounge.

He convinced me to enter my first ever juried photographic competition, where I placed a Bronze (and Matt got two bronzes, a silver, and a gold), he inspired me to do more with my photography and to stretch my boundaries.  He has been honest in his appraisals of my photos, both positive and negative, but always supportive,

And I even managed to get him out to where I shoot most of my sunsets, where we not only got a cracker sunset, but a kick-ass lightning storm that decided to slowly move towards us …

Matt has been relocated back to Melbourne, and after spending the Australia Day Holiday with my family and other friends he drove back to hearth and home this morning.  I’m going to miss having him around, but the REALLY nice thing about techmology is that it’s an enabler – and I have little doubt that our friendship will continue for a long long time.

Thanks for the last, VERY full, 360 days mate.  It’s been a ball.

Matt Allan, Photographer.

To quote Top Gun – “You can be my wingman, anytime.”

Cheers,

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Matt is getting into sunsets and landscapes, having been an accomplished and edgy fetish and extreme portraiture photographer for some years.  But he asked me if he could come to my “big sky place”, and this evening looked like it was going to be a beauty.

Big Sky Vista

So we headed up to my “big sky place”, (and no, I won’t tell you where it is!) well in time to set up for the sunset , about an hour later.  We weren’t disappointed:

… closely followed by …

… and then …

Can you see that bank of cloud building up in the left of the two frames above?  While we were watching I said to Matt that we might be lucky enough to see some lightning in that, once the sun went down.

We did see a few strikes, so we reset the cameras, and started playing (neither of us having significant lightning photography experience!).

It took us nearly 90 minutes, but we did get some magnificent strikes – enjoy!

Cheers,

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

I shot the wedding of Kelly and Alex in 2009 after being introduced through a friend of mine. I was fortunate enough to get a bunch of lovely images, including the The Flowergirl shot:

Sara is the bridesmaid at the far left of frame, and The Flowergirl is her daughter, Kaetlyn.

Then, in 2010 I was called on for another wedding with this family, this time for  Rebecca and Simon (Sara’s brother), which had us having lots of fun in the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour, and apparently (according to the staff there) the first time anyone had taken a shot like this, across the lake:

Well now I’ve had the opportunity to be a little more informal with these wonderful people.

Rebecca and Simon were relocating with Simons job to another state, and wanted to give Sara and her husband Aaron a leaving/Christmas present of family portraiture. We all met up in Leura NSW with Sara’s Aunt Pip just before Christmas, on the day that Rebecca and Simon were leaving, and under threatening grey skies (which didn’t start raining until right as we finished) we pulled together some wonderful reminders of both families.

Cheers,

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Everyone who had had a turn making sparks the first time was keen to do it again, and the only thing that stopped us was a total fire ban in the area where we were (remembering, for my northern hemisphere readers that it’s the middle of Summer here in Australia).

Two nights after the first attempt saw cooler weather, no fire ban, and Jeremy and I quietly slipping back down to the beach on the river to have a little more fun. Using the same basic setup as before, we only had a short amount of time to play as a storm was threatening to wreak havoc with the cameras (and hence these impromptu raincoats for the cameras – thank God Belle brought big ziplock bags with us!).

You can also see the triggers on top of the cameras in these – I’ve said it before, these Yongnuo triggers are superb, and while basic and not yet supporting many of the higher level functions of more advanced units (such as remote output control on flash heads) they really are brilliant.

Just the two of us …

Time was short, so we got straight into it – and started thinking of different things to do.

I decided to see what I could achieve by running across the field-of-view to see what it would look like – and here it is (from both cameras – front on and from the river).

Naturally enough Jeremy decided he could do better … and he did too!

We did manage a couple more before we called it a night – while the storm never got us the lightning was getting more & more frequent, so these were a bit rushed …

First I did one …

then Jeremy and I paired up for a couple …

during this last one I slowly walked back, giving that spiral effect behind Jeremy.

The Last Chance

The last night of our holiday, and I was told in no uncertain terms by a bunch of the kids (and a couple of the adults) that they wanted to “do fireworks” again. So we did, this time joined by Jill and John, the park managers for the Colo River Holiday Park, and their children Emily and James.

When I was setting up the camera in the river I looked  above where the spinning would happen and saw loads of lovely patchy cloud with the moon riding high behind it, which lead to setting the camera at a different angle compared to the previous post.

The first time we did the fire spinning on the beach I was keen to get just the spray  of the sparks, and was reasonably zoomed in (for an ultra-wide angle lens) at 20mm. For these I left the lens as wide as possible, and I think you can see why …

Be Well.

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Add in a few egg whisks. each attached to about a  metre of strong ripcord line,

A good supply of fine grade steel wool,

Set up on a river, one camera out in the river and one camera on the beach, each with a synchronised remote trigger

Light the wool and spin the whisk around

- and here’s what you get …

And then I let everyone else have a turn …

As you can see there are two photos in each frame.  Each of these were taken at the same time, using two
different cameras, triggered at the same time.

One camera, a Nikon D200, was set up with an Nikon 18-200 VR2 lens, positioned squarely in front of
the spinner, and about 50 metres away.

The second camera, a Nikon D300s with a Sigma 10-20mm Ultra Wide Angle lens, was tripod mounted and
positioned in the river, very roughly 90 degrees offest from the first camera and at a  similar distance. The
river being at low tide helped, as I was able to get the camera WAY out into the river, ensuring a load of water
between the camera and the subject, and those wonderful reflections are the result.

Triggering was courtesy of a set of Yongnuo RF-603N remote triggers – one on each camera and
one in my hand down on the beach as the primary trigger.  A lot of people don’t like these triggers,
but when you take into consideration the price and how robust they are you really can’t beat them.

Each camera was set to ISO 500, F8, 15s shutter, manually focussed at infinity. auto white balance.

We even tried some doubles …

… and Tamara did a Figure-8 too!

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Anyone who knows us knows we do an annual Christmas Card shoot, which then get posted to a family and bunch of our friends.

The history of the card is already shown here, if you feel like seeing some of what we’ve done before.

This year:

From my family to you & yours – have a safe, fun, and Merry Christmas 2010.

During a recent photo trip into Sydney with Matt Allan I saw what it’s like to shoot with a wide angle lens. In a city environment with tall buildings  it gave a really different perspective to the images, and I started thinking about how that would work for landscapes.  At the same time a truly superb lens, a Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM, classed as an Ultra-wide lens,  became available from another photographer friend of mine.  It was meant to be.

Go Wide!

Before the lens arrived I had already decided that I wanted to photograph in a place that I had been before, but my equipment wasn’t up to the task: my ability didn’t support my ambition.  With the ultra wide in the bag I could go back to Bungleboori, near the Newnes Plateau in NSW, and try again, 6 years later.

At the start of the track into Bungleboori is the Zig Zag Railway, a historical steam train site near Lithgow, and the first opportunity to use the camera appeared (though with a normal lens!) …

26mm ISO100 1/250sec f/4.5

Half an hour later, and I couldn’t see the forest for the trees  …

10mm ISO100 1/200sec f/4.5

10mm ISO100 1/320sec f/4.5

10mm ISO100 1/320sec f/4.5

And finally the planets aligned, the heavens cleared, Angels wept, the inspiration came, and I got the shot I’d wanted six years ago …

10mm ISO100 1/215sec f/5.0 (click for larger)

(okay, to be honest, I just pointed the camera straight up at the right time, but it is  the shot I wanted last time I was up there!)

Just to stick with the Bungleboori theme for a second, the area is covered in colourful toadstools, like these …

50mm ISO100 1/320 sec f/4.0

50mm ISO100 1/320 sec f/4.0

Go Long!

The following day I had a sudden requirement to drive all the way out to Orange, about 220km west of home.  Naturally enough I took a bunch of my camera gear with me.  It was getting dark as I was leaving, and while I had wanted to get a sunset shot (the cloud cover was stunning) it was too late, though I was directed to the local park.  After dark they light up the trees – which gave me a chance to use the ultra wide and go long: get the camera on a tripod and leave the shutter open for long enough to get the shot ..

20mm ISO100 15.0 seconds f/5.6

Then I started on the three hour drive home, but stopped fairly soon and found a country road off to the side of the highway.  Why? – basically when I looked up at the sky it was a little like this …

10mm ISO2500 89.0 seconds f/5.6 (click for larger)

Simply Stunning.  It was bloody cold out there – probably no more than 10C, and absolutely no clouds between the camera and the universe.  I’ve always admireed this type of photography, my first attempt last year was mediocre at best,

(it looks better full screen and at a higher resolution)

but this one  I’m reasonably happy with …

10mm ISO2500 90.0 seconds f/5.6 (click for larger)

Roughly 30kms west of Bathurst NSW on the road from Orange.

The drive home from Orange takes you through Bathurst, home of the Mount Panorama Racing Circuit (“The Mountain”).  Being a long term V8 Racing fan, as well as an admirer of the late Peter Brock, I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to take a quick spin around the circuit (it’s all public roads except for race days) – and this is what I got from the top of the mountain at the section called “Brocks Skyline”.

10mm ISO2500 121.0 seconds f/5.6 (click for larger)

Let me know what you think!

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

I’ve been saying for years that families don’t get enough photographic portraiture done.  For many it’s a cost factor, for others it’s the ability coordinate all the members of a family into one place at one time, and for some it’s not being able to find a photographer who can help them work out what they should be doing.  As a result, I’ve been doing informal family sessions for all the families that come to my house for our Good Friday Festivities.  Everyone who comes gets something – the parents get photos and the kids get loads and loads of chocolate – everyone wins!

Normally the families get posed in a slightly more “normal” portraiture setting, but this year we decided on something a little different.

And of course, the Egg Scramble.  Some would consider this an Egg Hunt, but the reality is the eggs aren’t so terribly well hidden that the kids can’t find them (and there are always LOTS of eggs!).  The scramble is more the parents – getting out of the way of the kids as they come rampaging into the garden, each trying to out-do the other in terms of sheer tonnage of chocolate acquired.

All the images I shoot from the Easter session are made available un-watermarked and ready to print to everyone who comes, just like the master images I release for my commercial work.

If you’d like to see what everyone is going to get, check out this link to the Slice of Life Facebook page, where there is a complete copy of the gallery.

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Last Friday my family was going away to the Colo River with a bunch of friends who make up Belles Softball team and their families.  AND, as luck would have it, my brand new triggers were sitting on my desk when I got home that evening.  I’ll write  a post/review about them later, but it’s enough to say that I have a set of four Yongnuo RF603N triggers, which not only set off the flash, but can also be attached to fire the cameras remotely too!

Once we were settled in on the Friday afternoon I decided it was time to play with the new toys.  Batteries in, triggers connected, I banged off a couple of inconsequential shots with the cameras sitting on top of the camera bag.  Jeremy wandered in and asked me what I was doing, so I showed him, and he asked if he could have a turn.  That lead to the very first serious image taken using the new triggers – two flashes and one camera were triggered simultaneously by the young man in this image (and not bad for a first attempt!)

This was to set the photographic tone for the weekend, pretty much!.

I woke up at some un-Godly hour the next morning, and pretty much decided that the middle of the night was a good time to play with the camera (go figure).  It was a lovely foggy pre-dawn …

Everyone who had kids brought them, which opened up huge photography opportunities from the next soccer star …

… to simulated “tough love” demonstrations…

… and enforced child labour (well – it started out as a hunt for sticks to roast marshmallows!)

There are some great beaches on the Colo River, and where we were staying was no different. When I headed off with a camera to see what might be worth photographing some of the kids came down behind me, which wound up giving me my subjects for the afternoon …

That night we had a camp fire going, with everyone around it for dinner, and I decided to have a play with the triggers again.  I had one set on the flash, and another set to run a camera, so I could set off both of them remotely.

I let the camera and the flash on stands in front of the fire and let the kids wonder how the camera was going off so often ….

and of course when we were actually doing the marshmallows it came in handy too!

And of course at some stage we had to get a fireside shot of all the girls …

A great weekend, and a wonderful place to shoot. I can’t wait to go back again.

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
mail: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

I wasn’t particularly successful – lots of the places I wanted to photograph (such as Parliament House) were off limits as it was sitting that night (so security keep everyone far far away), but I did manage to park right near the front steps of the Australian War Memorial and get a couple of shots off, looking down towards Parliament House.

Yeah, I know, just like a million postcards you’ve probably seen before, but this was “comfort” photography.  Some people have comfort food when they’re stressed, I have comfort photography when I’m bored.  Simple, effective, easy photography.

Just because I had the whole area to myself, something which has never happened for me in this area before, I decided to go a little deeper into the frame, and get the iconic two Parliament Houses shot, voila:

That kinda exhausted the opportunities available at the AWM right then, because a couple of buses of foreign tourists arrived to do exactly what I had been doing alone for the previous 10 minutes or so – talk about timing !!

Up behind the Australian War Memorial is Mount Ainslie, which has a lookout that is lined up pretty much directly behind the AWM, allowing me to get the full scene:

and then, just off to the left was Canberra Airport and some great moonlit clouds, so naturally …

Okay – so enough of the comfort photography, enough of the national icon.  I headed back down into the city, and found myself headed over the lake, so while trying to turn back I found myself on Flynn Drive, opposite the National Museum of Australia.  A lot of my friends and colleagues have shot this, and I’ve never seen it at night before, so of course I parked, got out the tripod and had a crack at it myself …

… and promptly decided that was it, I was going to head back to where I was staying and crack a particularly good bottle of red that I’d picked up.  That was, until I turned around and saw this.

It was kind of striking, the air was dead still, like the calm before the storm, and as I took that one I honestly thought it would be a one-shot deal, no chance to get it wrong.

After I had captured it, I thought about playing with light and seeing what I could come up with.  I generally carry a little LED torch with me in the camera back, so I thought about outlining the car …

Mmmm … too short an exposure.  I needed longer, so reset the camera for a 30 second exposure, and see what happens …

Okay, so I can get that one off the bucket list now .. BORING!!! Ooh Ooh – I know  …

… proof positive that I can’t draw worth spit – that was me attempting to draw a stick figure “behind” the wheel.  FAIL!!!

Okay, so one last shot before I head home for that red red wine, and there really was no need to go any further ….

This is what you get when …

- You’re a photographer,
- You’re in Canberra,
- You’re near the Lake,
- You’re equipped with a little torch,
- You’re BORED, and
- You’re running around in a hire car.

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Matt is recently relocated into my area, and we have quickly become pretty good mates, to the point that he’s now calling me his Wing Man (and you can see why here).  And as his “wing man” I went along  to work the session with him, to learn from his experiences which are vastly different to mine, and to provide whatever assistance I could.

The Model: Signora Contessa
The Style: Initially Burlesque, but that evolved significantly through the day
The Crew:
Matt Allan – Photographer
Michael Comerford – Wingman / Assistant / 2nd shooter / Voice Activated Light Stand
Sophie – Make Up Artist
The Location: The derelict remains of the Penfolds Winery, west of Sydney

So, we arrived at the old winery around 9am on a fairly crappy looking, and very wet, Saturday morning.  The location had been scouted by Matt and I a few weeks earlier, and it is simply too spectacular an environment to pass up.  Loads of options, lots of interest, and HUGE quantities of grafitti to add to the grunge and dust from years of decay and neglect.

Everyone arrived, we moved a mountain of gear  into the buildings and set up at a base camp, which became the central location for us for the rest of the day.

Signora Contessa had been expecting to bring some extra wardrobe, which failed to get to her in time, so she pulled together an assortment of her own items of clothing and props, which she and Matt went through to determine what they would like to shoot.

The Signora and Sophie headed off to get a well lit area so Sophie could  work her magic with the make up, while Matt and I swept the floor and set up big lighting rig.

Then we got down to the business of the day – the photography!

One of the reasons I’m really enjoying shooting with Matt is that I’m seeing a completely different aspect of photography.

Everyone knows me for my weddings, portraiture, and baby sessions, and I truly love doing these.  But for each of these styles of photography I am a photographer largely reacting to the events as they occur.  Even with portraiture based photography I’m still largely reactive to the people I’m photographing, their emotions and feelings at the time, how well they can take directions, and what they think might (or might not) look good.

With this kind of photography its completely different.  There is more time to plan, less need to be as reactive as you might be at a wedding.  You actually have to think about how you’re going to light an area (especially one as dark as this – it’s literally a big old wine cellar).  I didn’t take too many background shots of Matt, mainly because I was totally engrossed in watching how it Matt runs a set, and relating that back to how I have done similar in the past.

I summed it up later that day – I’ve been a photographer who goes to his subjects and shoots what happens.  I want to be a photographer who brings his subjects to him and  plans what happens.

Matt was open to ideas, and I described to him a shot I had seen many years before that I had always wanted to emulate – and we’d found the perfect location here.  We were able to pull together the correct wardrobe options from what was available, leading to this:

which resulted in images like this from Matt after a little post production:

(C) Copyright Matt Allan, DisenchantedPhotography.com

Matt shot around a half dozen different scenes around the derelict buildings, which I’m sure will make it to his website over time.  The raw shots, seen on the back of the camera, showed that his attention to detail, experience, and determination to get it right in the camera rather than in post production are well worth the effort.  As I write this I’ve seen some of his finished work from this session, and I have to say Wow!

Earlier in the day, while the make up was being done, I had a chance to play with a scene I had been thinking of since we had scouted the location.

The bottom floor of the winery is a another big cellar, and had a few feet of water sitting in it when we scouted it.  It’s very very dark down there, other than the light that spills through the spiral stairways leading down at each end of the room, and the reflection across the water is crystal clear – here’s the scouting shots:

Above the cellar stairs

The view down those stairs. (C) Matt Allan, Disenchantedphotography.com

Down in the cellar.

While this has been made black & white, that reflection hasn’t been played with at all – it’s exactly as seen.  There are two sets of stairs about 30 metres apart,  both leading down into the flooded cellar, and from either you can see the other.

I set up a remotely triggered flash, got Matt to act as a test subject, and managed to pull the following …

Matt Allan

We swapped positions so Matt could get one of me in the same location …

C'est Moi!

Once we were finished with Matts shooting (and it had been a long, wet day!) I had a quick opportunity to take Signora Contessa down those same stairs:

And I even managed to get Sophie the Make Up Artist to head down the stairs for a few quick frames:

A brilliant day, I learnt heaps about a photography aspect that I haven’t had a lot to do with, and already it’s changing how I approach my work and post production.  Matts photography is well worth checking out at www.disenchantedphotography.com – go there NOW (or at least after you’ve left me a comment !!)

Wing man, huh?  Now I feel like quoting the end of Top Gun !!!

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

both teachers and students.

My wife works part-time at the Blacktown Youth College,  a government founded school that takes students who have not managed mainstream schooling for any of a variety of reasons, and gets them through to achieving a School Certificate, normally awarded at the successful completion of Year 10.

These kids come from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, and have been unable to successfully learn within the mainstream schooling environment; a lot of these kids just haven’t quite fit the requirements for a “normal” year ten, and BYC is a brilliant opportunity for them to gain their School Certificate through structured learning with caring, dedicated teachers and support staff.  The school charges NO fees and exists entirely from donations and government grants, and a healthy measure of volunteered community support.

The staff at BYC go above & beyond with these kids, working closely to achieve the best outcomes possible.  Naturally enough, along the way, they become close themselves, which is readily evident when you seem them together away from school.

Achieving their School Certificate is worthy of recognition, so the school has a Year 10 Awards night at the end of the year, to formally present to the students who successfully gained their School Certificates. Here is just a few of them …

Everyone appeared to enjoy the night, which was a combination of both the Bidwill and Lawson campus’s Year 10 graduating groups.

After the formalities were over, those who stayed were entertained by karaoke from staff and students …

Excellent Effort, Year 10 2010!

You know you can take your achievement and build on it, and have a wonderful future.

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

From our family to yours, we hope you have an absolutely wonderful Christmas, and an even better 2011!

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Anyone who knows me or reads the blog knows that I’m passionate about Family Photography.  I simply love it, and in these days of near-disposable digital cameras one thing that we’ve collectively lost is the art of taking semi-formal images of our families at special occassions, like Christmas.

It’s the driving force behind my “Front Yard Families” shoots that I do each year on Good Friday (see this post ): nothing complicated, just a simple set put together in my front yard, get people to sit for 60 seconds or so, and BAM! – a family record of who they were this year.

In 2005 Belle and I decided that we’d do something different for Christmas – we’d make our own personalised Christmas Card.  Now this has been done many many times before, and well before the advent of digital cameras (I can remember my Dad getting a Christmas Card from his brother over 30 years ago – see, I told you it isn’t a new idea!), but we wanted to have some fun with it.

I’d been given new sunglasses from my birthday the previous month, and it became the basis for a very quickly styled theme to the card:  you often get cards with people all smiling and happy and Christmassy – we decided to do almost an anti-card version, just to give it some contrast

So into the garage “studio” I went, built a quick & dirty chroma-key set using a big blue sheet, Belle posed people looking … well, looking like we do in the card below … and we did the shoot.  About 2 hours prep, about 5 mins playing with expressions, around 40 frames to choose from.

Straight  into Photoshop, spent a couple of days tooling around with text options and layouts (not my strongest point back in those days), and voila – the Comerford Christmas Card was born.

In 2006 we did another one, this time fashioning a giant Christmas Stocking and holding it around ourselves while getting the shot.  Less set-up time, certainly longer in the session, and more editing to get the material looking right.  We decided, after the great reception from friends for the first card, that we’d maintain a theme between the two, so the dark sunnies and black clothing became a core component again, as it has for all the Christmas Card sessions we’ve done since.

(sorry folks – the elves seem to have … ah … “borrowed” the 2006 photo – as soon as I get it back  I’ll get it up here)

In 2007 people started asking us to send them a Christmas Card – news of the previous two had circulated beyond just our friends and families, and now we were getting requests from business colleagues and occasional clients to see what we were doing.  This was a little surprising, but pretty cool that we were being asked for Christmas cards.

2007 had been a fairly hectic year for us in a number of ways, so we styled the card accordingly.  Sometimes shooting these things, wrangling kids and lights and animals (see 2009 below!) etc. means the studio can get a bit … tense.  So we lightened the session up by getting the boys to monkey around a bit – the out-takes were hilarious !

This of course meant that they got serious when they needed to …

One of the things that we’ve always tried to do is to give the card a theme.  Generally we work out what the words are going to be and then decide how to express that photographically.  The 2008 theme was “Family”, and after trying a bunch of different things we let the boys have a bit of fun doing dumb looks to camera.   We never really got anything that we liked during the session, but in reviewing them later we liked elements from a few  different frames and pulled them  together.  This shot has Belle and I from one single photo (one of the last of that long session), Alex lifting his glasses is from another, and the other two boys are from a third.

… and in 2009 we brought the WHOLE family onto the set  (minus the fish, naturally enough!!)

(yes, we have chooks & dogs at our house, as well as tropical fish and the occasional possum up on the roof!)

One of the things we never really thought about as we were doing this was that it would give us a tangible history of our kids growing up, sort of like looking at the height lines on the wall behind the kitchen door where you measure your kids as they grow up, but in a much more visually encompassing way. Seeing the changes in all of their faces, watching Chris continue to get taller than me each year, has a strangely gratifying feeling, and if we hadn’t done these sessions we likely would not have had any other formal photos for the year other than those we do at Easter.

SO … what are we sending out this year ?

If you’re on the list you’ll be seeing it soon – I finished the edit this evening after shooting last Saturday (yes, we’re running a little late this year) and Belle is printing tomorrow, so we’ll be sending them out very very soon.

For anyone who we’ve somehow missed out (and there IS a debate going on over my private Facebook page at the moment about who should be getting one of these!) come back and visit this page on Christmas Day when I’ll post up the full card.

Can’t Wait? – well here are a couple of sneak peeks for you … enjoy!!

(that’s just so you know it is this years card and I’m not playing with you …)

(and that’s just to show that at least I am in the card – you’re going to have to trust me about the other members in the family)

You can deduce just three things from these photos.

1. Loads of natural light and greenery in the background mean we took this out of the studio for once

2. We appear to have added a bird to the menagerie that is this house, and

3. If you want a card you’d better get in touch with me pronto (email address below) – We only ever do  single print run, we never have spares, and we can only send to people who are on the list.

Who ever or where ever you are this Christmas, my Family and I wish you nothing but the safest, most joyous time possible.  Take some time to relax, play with those you love, and enjoy your break …

… and of course, don’t forget to photograph it !!

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

If you’ve been reading this blog you’ll know that this end of 2010 has been incredibly full on for Slice of Life Photography, extra shoots being booked in before Christmas, and loads of extra editing work.

I made a decision a few months ago that this was going to be the last major session of the year, and what a session to end 2010 on!

Genuinely lovely people with great attendants. Chris, the Best Man, made one of the best Best Man speeches

I’ve ever heard, keeping the reception going with non-stop laughter!

Sunset was just before 8pm, and we made full use of the light, heading outside between dinner courses to take a range of different photos.

And of course, what’s a wedding without dancing ?

Thanks to Kate & Josh, and their attendants Chris, Teola, Lawson, Sarah, Tom, and Steph
for a great fun evening, and a great way to end the year!

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

This really was a long distance affair, and I don’t mean the happy couple.  Michelle found me through my “day” job (we both work for the same very large Australian organisation), however she lives down at the bottom of the state while I’m out west from Sydney.

Michelle saw this blog, and a bunch of the images from the website and decided that she liked what she saw.  Lots of emails back & forth, just a little confusion into the mix, but at the end of the day it all came together and managed to pull off a great wedding.  Normally I meet with my couples a few times before the big day – this is the first time I’ve met the bride & groom on the big day !!

The bear, by the way, is very significant.  Michelle’s late father was a decorated veteran from the Royal Australian Army. Michelle placed her fathers medals on the Army Bear, and he stayed with her for the entire ceremony, and made it into quite a few photos.

The weather gods were smiling on us that day at the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour, so we managed to do a walk around the gardens for the portraiture.

We moved on to a reception at the fabulous Marigold Chinese restaurant, culminating in an ice cream and sorbet Wedding Cake
which was absolutely wonderful(and very enticing to certain younger guests!)

Thanks, Michelle and Bin Bin, for letting me be a part of your special day.

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

I had a great session not so long ago with a family I’ve photographed a few times before, only this time with a brand new baby.

Meet Ethan!

Ethan came along just recently to join his sister Miss C., and brothers Master L. and Master J.

Ethan has to be one of the most placid babies that I’ve ever photographed, and we managed to do some really interesting things with him.

And as you can see, Miss C. (a natural born model!) got into the baby posing too.
(That photo is a favourite of mine, and will be going into the “Year that Was” post in January).

We did have a fairly long session, and the kids were great for pretty much all of it, but by the end everyone was getting a little sleepy …

… well, almost everyone !

Thanks for a great afternoon guys!

From the photos that I have on the Slice of Life  Facebook page I’ve had some strong interest on the props that I used for this shoot.

The bag is a genuine old cardboard Globite travel case,  and is about 40 years old.  It has had a number of tasteful and period- appropriate scrapbooking embellishments added to dress it up a bit by the absolutely AMAZING Bellagirl from  the Design Team over at Little Scrapbook Shop (she also happens to be my wife, Belinda!)

The name tag on the bag was purpose made for Ethan, again by Bellagirl.

The hand knitted baby shawl (that Ethan is lying on in the suitcase) was sourced from the Country Womens Association stall in Leura, NSW.

The alphabet blocks are handmade using 45mm square pine cut to length to form the blocks, and then scrapbooked by, you guessed it, Bellagirl.

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Please meet Rebecca & Simon.

This wedding will go down in history as the first wedding I’ve ever photographed crossing a street (though I’m sure it won’t be the last!)

Talk about stopping traffic !!

Earlier in the day we did some pre-wedding shots in the hotel where everyone was getting ready.

and the flower-girls were just too cute for words !

The service was a wonderful, heartfelt exchange of vows.  Often at civil weddings you hear the same old lines being trotted out, but Rebecca and Simons were wonderfully refreshing and honest.

After the wedding and some group shots we were able to wander around the Chinese Gardens for a little while, often taking cover from the rain that had decided to make an appearance

(a great fun bunch of people to work wth !)

We even managed to negotiate the slippery rock path to the “top”  of the gardens,
where Simon recreated his original proposal, in exactly the same place!

Lots more photos in the gardens, in one of the Darling Harbour fountains, and up into the Pumphouse tavern before we headed into the Reception at the Novotel,

Rebecca let her creativity loose on the table settings, designing and building the centrepieces herself.  These were widely (and well) commented on that night (and with the Brides blessing I actually took the one from my table home with me !)

The evening wound up successfully, and Belle (my assistant this night) and I were asked to join the Newlyweds and a few of their friends in the pool on top of our hotel – how could we refuse!
Among other things it gave me a chance to do some slow-exposure shots of people in the pool.

(and yes, that’s Belle on the far right, next to Simon)

Thanks Rebecca & Simon for letting us be part of such a wonderful day.  The weather wasn’t all we’d hoped for, but it really didn’t matter in the long run!

As I’m writing this it’s Tuesday night, four days after the wedding, and Rebecca & Simon have headed off on their honeymoon.

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, Simon’s sister Sara has just told me a wonderful little story.

Simon and Sara’s parents, Catherine and Graham, have both passed away, and so obviously weren’t at the ceremony, though Simon and Rebecca honoured them with a candle lighting ceremony, lit by Sara and Simon.

On their way out to their honeymoon, Simon and Rebecca made a side trip to where Simons parents are buried, where Simon left his corsage with his father, and Rebecca left her bouquet with her Mother in Law.

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What a wonderful thing.

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7th October 2010: Ok, this should be the final update to this blog – promise !

The reaction here on the blog and via Facebook to Rebecca and Simon’s wonderful gesture has been absolutely huge, and rightly so.

They’re back from the first part of their honeymoon already, and Rebecca sent me these, and asked that I include them  here on the blog.

“What the heart has once known, it shall never forget“. ~Author unknown

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Filed under: Blue Mountains Photographer, Events, Photography, Slice of Life Photography, Weddings, Western Sydney Photographer ]]> http://photorhubarb.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/rebecca-simon-sneak-peek/feed/ 7 sho77s 20101002-135050-1149 http://photorhubarb.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/boudoir-beyond-every-woman-should-read-this-one/ http://photorhubarb.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/boudoir-beyond-every-woman-should-read-this-one/#comments Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:32:41 +0000 Michael Comerford http://photorhubarb.wordpress.com/?p=442 ]]> Anyone who knows me knows that I firmly believe that EVERY woman has an inner beauty waiting to be released.

I’ve previously posted about the boudoir session that I did with Belle, and I’ve also put up some reasons why you should stop worrying about your age or your body shape and get these sort of shots done, thanks to a wonderful post over at Offbeat Bride.

Well, with thanks to the Boudoir Divas (who are absolutely brilliant, BTW), I’ve seen the following which was written by Kat Rosenfeld over at Crushable.com .

Written by a woman, this article seems almost purpose-written to support my belief that every woman should give this kind of photography a go.

It’s enticing, exciting, exhilarating, and totally within your power to achieve.

Bucket List: Why Every Woman Should Pose Nude

Please take a few minutes read this, and realise that you’re beautiful, and should have that beauty captured that forever. Size & shape is nearly irrelevant – it’s the inner magic that counts!

PLEASE share this with your friends too – Every woman should read this one!

Cheers !

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page

Gloria and Jonathan had a lovely little wedding at a church in North Sydney

Choosing not to have any attendants made this wedding a little different.

Jonathan’s daughter, Mina, was an absolute delight, as were all the children there on the day.

A wedding simply isn’t a wedding without a Conga Line !

G & J, thanks so much for letting me be a part of your day – enjoy your sneak peek !!

- Michael

Web: www.slice-of-life.smugmug.com
Blog: photorhubarb.wordpress.com
Email: justgreatphotos@gmail.com
Facebook: The Slice of Life Facebook Page