Available Light Articles & News

Off to Nepal

alibenn — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:39:20 +0000

Posting has been sporadic, with so much to do with articles and other writing prior to our month in Nepal. We leave today for Kathmandu, from there to Pokhara and a trek into Annapurna and then down to Royal Chitwan National Park. Sure to be an exciting month.

Updates when we can..

Night Photography Tutorial

alibenn — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:44:38 +0000

I have spent too long on this and the relief it is finished is quite palpable. My latest article:

http://www.availablelightimages.com/articles/technical-writing/night-light

Night Photography, techniques, conceptualization, post-processing. A how to do Night Photography Article.

Testing the D3x against the Canon 5D2 and the Nikon D700

alibenn — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:34:52 +0000

I picked up an excellent second hand Nikon D3x this week and put it through its paces against the Canon 5D2 and the D700. I posted the article on the website here:

http://www.availablelightimages.com/articles/technical-writing/comparison-between-canon-5d-mark-ii-with-nikon-d700-nikon-d3x

The results are very interested and I am selling the D700, confident the D3x can deliver all I need from a camera. That body and Allie with her 5D2 and we are both well-equipped.

Black & White Photography Tutorial

alibenn — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:29:44 +0000

After days of slaving in front of a hot Mac I have published the first draft of the article on Black and White Photography. I will be adding more images to it over the next few days, but the text is mostly done:

http://www.availablelightimages.com/articles/technical-writing/black-white-photography

In the meantime, Juanli had some fun this morning as she rocked out with my Ibanez

Water Drops

alibenn — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:01:40 +0000

Started today with the first attempts at water drop photography, a fascinating discipline with limitless possibilities. This is my first keeper, a cheeky little drop..

LOLITA

Playing at home

alibenn — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:29:22 +0000

Now we have successfully moved a good chunk of our stuff from the house in Lijiang to the one in Yangshou, I can settle into my office and play I am 15 days into my Photo A Day on Pbase and enjoying the discipline, but as its a monochrome challenge, I am missing some color. This shot is selectively desaturated.. and called “Choices”

CHOICES

Happy New Year

alibenn — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:18:45 +0000

Juanli and I are very much looking forward to the challenges of 2010. I have been working on a number of techniques to use on my landscape images when the time comes, including Image Stacking, Focus Stacking and HDR. We’re moving to the new house on Tuesday and will have the studio set up shortly after. I have also started a Photo a Day Gallery on PBase, the first time I have tried to create an image 365 days of the year.

Here is an example of a focus stacked image. 8 shots stacked to massively increase the depth of field on this macro image.

The Complex life of Soap

alibenn — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:33:06 +0000

Today I made my first foray into macro soap photography. Set with a very primitive rig!! A black jacket hung over a tripod was my backdrop, I mutilated fish tank net minus net was my dipper in the soapy solution and I handheld it in front of my lens and waved it back and forward trying to catch the light!! Most of our studio gear is now in the new house, so it was a “make it up as you go along afternoon..” which was great fun…

Here is one of the results… no doubt more to follow when I set up a proper rig when we move on the 5th…

Stacking Star Trails

alibenn — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:42:45 +0000

It is only natural as we approach the end of another year to reflect on our achievements of 2009 and look forward to fresh challenges in 2010. Since I acquired my Nikon D700 in July I have pushed my technical abilities forward and travelled up to 5200m attempting night shots in extreme conditions. This week I have been reading about “Stacking” shorter exposures to produce star trails and last night (Christmas) I set up the camera on our balcony and took this shot. Nothing spectacular in any way, but I proved to myself the technique worked. This is 165 exposures of 30s each @ f2.8 ISO 320.

I will edit my Night Light Article to reflect this new technique shortly.

Best wishes from us both….

Himalayan Glaciers Melting

alibenn — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:55:57 +0000

On the 1st December CNN showed a segment on the situation of the Himalayan Glaciers and the potential impact their loss may have on China & India who get the majority of their fresh water from these high altitude reserves. My brother Prof Doug Benn took a film crew up to the Everest Region of Nepal for the interview. The video is currently viewable on CNN.com