“Rawnt” Brett Ireland
I’ve had a big weekend , Friday night I went to the pub. First time in ages. I ventured down to catch up with a mate who is in town down from Darwin and played a set at the Northam tavern. he plays a great blues slide guitar along with all the classics. anyway I took a few shots and played around with some different editing to try and fit the feel of what he is all about. Rawnt stands for RAW Northern Territory.
Variety 4WD fundraiser.
Had a great day yesterday taking part in and photographing all the action of a well organised day which included a great group of like minded four wheel drivers pitching in donations to help a couple of our local guys take part in this years variety club event at the end of the month when they set off from Newman via outback tracks etc and end up in Darwin 10,000 kms later. this is a small selection of pics I took for them.
“Lights camera action”
I had the pleasure of shooting a great Birthday party last saturday night at one of our local function spots in Northam and this one of my fave’s. The theme for the night was James bond 007, casino royale and nearly all party goer’s got dressed to kill and had a ball. I thought for something a bit different I would set up a backdrop in the corner and give my elinchrom quadra lights and speed flashes a bit of a work out. We tried a few different set ups during the night and came away with some shots that fitted in with the theme quite well. I managed to get good portrait type shots of about 90% of the guests which was a bonus as well.
Our New Addition.
I have waiting for a while now to try and get a panoramic shot of Northam’s latest and greatest addition and tonight looked like it might be a chance. This is the result.
Avon Valley farms in summer.
I have been out a few times lately to different farms in the local Northam area to see what I might find that was interesting for this time of year. I love summer up our way especially in the evening with some beautiful twilight skies and wide open spaces. These are a sample of what I have been able to get.
Lonely Bale.
While out last weekend with Merv shooting the ” hay happenings ” around the area this is what the view to east behind us presented when the red sunset was about to light up in the west.
Hay in the Avon valley – part two
This a shot from this afternoon of a local farmer baling his fresh hay crop. It’s been a good growing season so there are thousands of these littered through the paddocks around here at the moment.
“In the press.”
My recent photos of the sustainable house near Toodyay were used today in a write up of the project in the Perth Sunday Times. To read more about this place it is on page 24 of the Home lift out.
Hay in the Avon Valley.
Its that time of the year again for the fresh seasons hay to be cut and bailed ready for local stock feed or export hay. I was lucky to get to this spot and shoot the hay not long after it was cut so it was still nice and green and gave a great colour contrast to the lower stem of the oat crop. Can’t wait for the baling to start now so I can shoot some more big hay paddock panos.
Landscapes with a difference.
I spent most of yesterday shooting another Wedding which came together quite nicely and was good fun to do, anyway I know if I were to post wedding photos I would get bagged big time so I won’t , pity because there are some cracker shots, he he …… instead these were a couple of shots I took yesterday morning when I noticed a bit of early fog around and are just random things that I thought looked good to photograph. I like them but I guess many won’t and thats OK because I know how subjective altered landscapes can be.
Twilight Brae Solar passive residence.
Saturday afternoon and evening I had the job of shooting a great little solar passive sustainable house that has just been finished and presented for the public to view on Sunday for the sustainable house day event held across Australia annually. It was located on a very nice little block of land with a to die for panoramic view near Toodyay.
After taking all the necessary shots I noticed the moon was almost a full one and was lighting things up quite nicely outside so I stayed on after with the owner having a quiet beer and taking a few longer exposures. He lit the fire in the fire ring at the front of the house and we were running around with a torch and a speed light poking a bit more light in where needed, this is one of a few efforts we came away with.
Valley vista
The Avon valley is looking great at the moment with vibrant colours in the landscape and some crops starting to flower. over the next few weeks I hope to capture a series of images that will do it justice. This is a quick grab from this morning of a favourite spot which I am revisiting from time to time to try and get it in all it’s glory.
More great photos on http://500px.com/PeterHodgson
“Cavitation”
This shot made me laugh, I never realised how high an outboard motor could be thrown up in the air after a sudden stop.
The name on the boat says it all with these guys.
Weir Awash.
This years Avon Descent is shaping to be a fast, wet and wild event with the mighty Avon river flowing at full steam. This was taken this morning and it has been raining constantly most of the day.
Sunrise in the Avon Valley.
Another glorious mild winters morning in Northam today with a bit more rain over night and a light fog in the valleys. Makes you feel good to be alive when your standing out taking photos in these conditions.
Northam Sound Shell
I was asked by the builder to get some shots of Northams latest addition which our business had a part in fabricating the steel frame for. It will be used for music concerts and other public events. This was my attempt at something a bit different to the norm and was taken just before sunrise this morning.
Another Avon Valley wedding.
Long time between posts, Been extremely busy with my other job so photos have had to take a back seat lately. I once again had the pleasure of shooting another challenging wedding a couple of weekends ago. Great country affair which looked like it could have gone for a couple of days or more, bloody glad it didn’t. Here are a couple from the day.
” Early Light “
Well early mornings are the order of the day on weekends for me at the moment. I am shooting a series of marketing shots for one of our local ballooning companies and getting out of the cot at 3.30am to capture the proceedings is trying me out a bit. It really is the best time of the day though and playing around with high ISO’s on the D700 is working a treat as this together with light from the balloon burners and a bit of natural light is the go for nice natural looking shots. This was shot taken using 6400 iso at 2.8 with the 85mm f1.4 and run through NIK Define noise reduction software. Shit these Nikons are Good.
Reflective Mill.
This shot was taken to show how much the water level has changed after the storm in Northams Avon river. ( No chance of standing in the river bed now ! ). I know Merv can relate to this. We have had some colourful sunrises and sunsets lately and I took this one on Good Friday morning. Northam resembles a ghost town this Easter with a mass exodus on Thursday afternoon which suits me just fine as it’s nice and quiet for a change. I will try and change the theme for the next post but it really is an ever changing view each time I photograph this Northam icon which is almost directly across from my house.
“Golden Crop”, for Adrian
I had a couple of people ask me about my header shot so I thought as how things have been a bit slow in new image department why not post it as it really looks. It was taken just out of Northam last year and is part of my avon valley landscapes portfolio.
Mount Bakewell vista
A bit slow on the landscape photos lately so I thought I would pop this one up to keep in the swing of things. This is a stitched pano I have had sitting in my collection for quite a few weeks after a late afternoon sojourn over to York with Merv French. The canola was in flower and surrounding farms looked vibrant, A great time of the year in the Avon Valley.
Rainbow Hay.
Snapped this little 6 image stitched pano on my way home from working out of Northam yesterday. It was taken after the first of a few rain fronts we have had in the last two days. Feels like a return to winter up this way.
The Old Cottage
This image is one of favs and one of many HDR photos I have blended and edited in Photomatix. I have posted it in response to Christian Fletchers comments on his Baron gorge image just posted. I find this program works best with nice even lighting and close up tightly framed shots. I have not had a lot of success wide open landscape type photos, it is great for portrait type shots if you looking to put slightly different effect on the overall image.I hope this helps anyone trying this program and this is just my point of view and I’m not really what you would call an expert in this field but I have a heap of fun using it. Nearly all the competitions I have done well in have been with Photomatix blended images.
