Author: Robert Young

Wandering around in manual mode

After toting a full frame camera plus lenses around a number of European cities while on holiday last year, I decided that something lighter and easier to carry might be the future of my travel photography.

After much reading and thinking and sorting out of ‘must haves’, I decided to test the quality and usability of micro 4/3. Not wishing to spend a large sum of money and then find out that the micro 4/3 system couldn’t deliver the image quality I needed to do large prints, I decided to go for the Olympus E-M5 and the kit lens.

Getting used to the electronic view finder and a complicated menu system has been a bit of a challenge, but so far, the Olympus has performed way above it’s price range. Considering the price difference between the E-M5 and my full-frame Canon plus L series glass, the Olympus is amazing. I have no trouble producing high quality A2 prints from the 16mp small sensor.

Setting the camera up to work the way I want it to has been a bit of a challenge but the other day I went for a wander around Williamstown (a suburb of Melbourne) with the E-M5 in full manual mode to see how easy it was to use. Surprisingly easy after I set up a couple of custom functions as it turned out.

The Olympus E-M5 is a lot of camera for the money.

photocrati gallery

Walking to work

For several years now I have walked to work along Exhibition Street in the Melbourne CBD, usually fairly early, sometimes in the dark.

I have taken photographs on many occasions as the time of year and the weather keep changing the mood and the interplay of light and shadows.

Recently I have started a project to photograph all of the corner buildings between the beginning of Exhibition Street and my office. The challenge is to photograph each corner from the other side of the road with no people or cars in the shot.

I am making some progress, but there are a few corners still eluding me. I’ll report back on this when the project is complete.

In the meantime, I add new images to this album on Flickr when I manage to get a clear shot at a corner.

The Exhibition Street Corners Album on Flickr.

photocrati gallery

How’s that Dungeon Crawl thing going?

I’m glad you asked.

So far there have been two Dungeon Crawl shows for 2014 and the third is not far away.

The sad news is that Ben and Richard have decided to call it a day on the regular monthly outing and it will come to an end mid-year. Though the team say there will be the occasional appearance from time to time.

In February Ben and Richard took Karen Pickering, Nick Caddaye, Andi Snelling and Xavier Michelidies on a trip through the world of Joss Wheadon, wherever that is.

Karen played a 1000 year old vengeance demon disguised as a high school student, Nick was the calm and knowledgeable mentor with a dark past, Andi was a doll who could be reprogrammed, and made appearances as a ninja librarian and a goose pilot, and Xavier was the nerdy one.

The highlight of the evening was the emotional return of a zombie Wash, who eventually got his own spin-off series.

I have no idea what any of that meant, though the audience seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. I just took the pictures.

photocrati gallery

Shooting a voice over villain

I recently had the pleasure, and fun, of photographing voice over artist Kevin Powe. Kevin was after some headshots that could illustrate his ability to play the bad guy. Apparently being a villain is something he specialises in.

First we set up some artificial setting sun and a blue background light in a stairwell, then moved to a basic one light plus reflector lighting setup for a more traditional look.

photocrati gallery

But he really is a nice guy, really he is.

100 years at Point Cook

The first weekend in March 2014 was the 100th anniversary of military aviation in Australia, held at the RAAF base at Point Cook.

I am fortunate enough to live just down the road from the base, now mostly a museum, though the RAAF still use it when required.

Over the two days I had a great seat, on my front balcony. It was great to see some of the old timers still flying, and I saw some planes I hadn’t seen since growing up in Geelong, a few decades ago now.

photocrati gallery

Vanishing act

During the September 2011 trip to Iceland, I visited a small town on the south coast of Iceland: Eyrarbakki. I was looking for a cafe I had been told served the best lobster soup in the area. It was a rainy afternoon, and the town was very quiet, and just about everything was closed, including the cafe. In Iceland out of season you soon learn the word: Lokkad.

While I was driving around the town (it didn’t take long) I came across the (closed) Bakkabrim organic cafe. It appeared to be a plywood shack built in the middle of a disused car park near a small pier.

It looked fantastic in the watery light between rain showers. I managed a couple of quick shots of it before the rain drove me back into the car.

I went back in 2013 to photograph it again, but alas it was gone, there was just a disused car park near a small pier.

photocrati gallery

Dungeon Crawl Christmas Singing Extravaganza!

The first Wednesday in December was the last of Shaolin Punk’s Dungeon Crawl shows for 2013. I had missed a couple while I was overseas (did I mention I went to Greenland?) so I was looking forward to the Christmas special, and it was a lot of fun to photograph. And there was singing.

Ben McKenzie and Richard McKenzie took Nadia Collins, Sean Fabri, Michelle Nussey and Andy McClelland on a singing adventure to find the thief Tiny Peddler. An innocent puppy was killed, a dragon sang, rather reluctantly, an adventurer was tragically killed and a long lost identical twin sister was found, just in time for the happy ending. Except for the adventurer who got killed.

photocrati gallery

Catching up…

After each holiday I make a book of the images that I think represent what I saw and did, also the ones that I think are worth keeping. However, I don’t always get around to doing this straight away. I have just started work on the 3000 or so images from the trip to Iceland in September 2011.

On this trip I stayed in Reykjavik, Budir, Stikkisholmur, Isafjordur, Holmavik, Akureyri, Reykholt and Vik.

The image below is Dagverdara, an abandoned farm on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

photocrati gallery

Icebergs

One of the highlights of the recent trip was the afternoon spent iceberg hunting off Tasiilaq, Greenland.

I am not a great sailor, so fortunately the day was calm and clear, but bitterly cold, I don’t think I have ever been that cold.

Of course, standing in the bow of the small fishing boat for the whole trip so I wouldn’t miss an iceberg shot might not have been the best way to stay warm.

photocrati gallery

Back home

I arrived home yesterday after five weeks of travel.

The trip took me to Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Estonia (briefly) and Russia. It was a great trip and I can’t wait to visit that part of the world again, so much more to see and do.

The highlights of the trip:

  • Helicopter flight over a bay full of Icebergs into Tasiilaq
  • Sailing amongst icebergs off Tasiilaq
  • The glorious east fjords of Iceland complete with northern lights
  • The Flam railway in Norway
  • Visiting the house of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto
  • The Hermitage and Mariinsky ballet in St Petersburg.

Next time, more of Finland and maybe Lapland and Svalbard.

The image below shows the view from my hotel window in Tasiilaq, Greenland. There is no road access, the only way in is by boat or helicopter, or by hiking for several days across a ridge, as a Danish couple did. And yes, that white thing on the right is an iceberg floating in the harbour.

photocrati gallery