mgcphotographynow.

"Old Digger" John Newton.

- April updates -

Hello and welcome to another of mgcphotographynow, well four months in already, and mid year is fast approaching and before we know it there’s another year gone and we’re saying to ourselves “Where did the last year go”. Its quite sad when you think about it isn’t it?…Anyway enough of that; April one of my favourite months of the year, the weather is usually pretty good, there’s the  Easter long weekend and of course ANZAC DAY which for a long time I use to just look it as a public holiday and an excuse to drink, but I guess now that I’m getting older I look at it as so much more than those aspects of it and see it for what it is, a day to say thank you and to pay tribute and remember those who gave so much for their country and for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country and so now-a- days its for those reasons I look forward to ANZAC DAY, and if getting up before the sun on a nippy morning to say thank you and let the old diggers know that there not forgotten, well its a small price to pay.

Dawn @ Springwood war memorial.

Going back earlier this month, Easter is always a nice little break I look forward to every year, and who doesn’t, its like a mini holiday 4-5 days off and as I’ve done for the last couple of years I spent some time in Canberra, and as usual it was some beautiful Autumn Canberra weather of clear blue skies clean crisp air and just the right temperature which is the perfect recipe to spend sometime at the park with my girls “My Wife & My Daughter”  a picnic blanket some food and time too relax….

"at the park" Easter Weekend In Canberra.

" in the park" Easter Weekend In Canberra.

Also this month we saw a lot of rainfall across Sydney and NSW which saw more flooding in parts and rivers rising in some areas.  I managed to get myself down to Yarramundi and have a look around after things had settled down a bit, seeing as last time the river was up last month I missed it, and although it wasn’t up as high as it was last time, there certainly was plenty of evidence of how high the water had gotten, it was like something out of a movie.

 Thanx for reading mgcphotography…

The walk way along the river.

 ©mgcphotography.2012

Me with my work. Pix by A.Baker

Hello and welcome to the March edition of mgcphotographynow, summer is now over and what  a strange summer it was weather wise, with all the rain and wind and wide-spread flooding across the state as well as those along parts of the Nepean River and it certainly hasn’t been the warmest summer, but no complaints here, I’m not a big fan of Sydney summers anyway, but that’s a whole other thing for anther time.

- Quick updates -

eight x eight

Firstly - this week marked One year since I gave up smoking and drinking so I am a little bit proud  of myself  at the moment as it has been one of the biggest and hardest changes I’ve  ever made, but worth it, not only for myself, friends and family but for my photography as well.

Secondly - The class of 2011′s  lens school photography exhibition was held at the Glenbrook Community hall this past weekend and seemed to be quite successful for a bunch of first time exhibitionists and as well as some financial  success for not only myself, but all involved, was the experience gained from organizing and putting on a public exhibition which “although somewhat stressful at times”  I can take that experience to future exhibitions, be it solo or in a group again. Over all it was a  good weekend and I would just like to thank Dot Radley  for opening the exhibition and Len Metcalf  for all his help throughout last year and for all the help, guidance and advice he gave us that made this exhibition possible, and to everyone who attended.  So thank you…

And lastly - I mentioned last time about the new printer that I purchased Canon Pro-1 earlier this year, but hadn’t done more than a couple of test prints, well I can now say how well it has been preforming and how happy I am with my investment, now its time to start learning again, because good printing and getting it right is a whole new thing, but I am looking forward to taking control of my own printing…

eight x eight opening. Pix by A.Baker

 - To The Future -

Now that the exhibition is over, its time to concentrate on some other things now and start working on some of my projects again which can be seen at mgcphotography.net as well as more of my work. As well as continuing with my projects and even though I don’t like to spend to much time in front of the computer, I do want to continue building up this site as well as my website so it will be a case of learning how to manage my time better, which is a project in itself, but the more I seem to challenge myself, the more I seem to enjoy it and if I’ve learnt anything over the last twelve months, it’s that it is possible to keep learning as long as you believe in yourself and have the right attitude and say focused on what it is you want…

eight x eight exhibition. Pix by A.Baker

Thanx For Reading mgcphotography…

From eight x eight exhibition "The Truck"

©mgcphotography.2012

Hello and welcome once again too another edition of mgcphotographynow, well its nearly two months in and things are basically settled down and back to normal, and so now its time to look at how thing are going and see if any, and what changes are needed, and I can tell you, yes there are some…

Blue Pool.14/15

Some updates…

Firstly,  When it comes to the blog itself, when I first started it late last year I had originally intended on weekly updates, I have since realized that it is not always necessary and have decided to put them up on a regular basis, just depends on what  I’ve been up to, but there will  be at least one a month. my plan is to spend more time behind the camera and not in front of the computer….

Secondly,  When it comes to Projects, I have realized as easy as a photo a day sounds, (365Days Project) its not as easy as one would think, I’m sure I don’t have to explain how busy life can get for so many of us these days that something as simple as taking a photo a day can get overlooked, so instead I’m just going to try and keep track of what I’m taking and see at the end of the year about putting together a collection of images from throughout the year, kind of like a photographic diary which was kind of the intent of a photo a day (365 Days Project) most likely in the form of a book, but more on that later. Also just quickly  (Roadside Tribute) to be finished  soon”Hopefully” and the (Blue Mountains Project)  is coming along nicely, and don’t forget, for more on these and other work go to mgcphotography.net  or the  mgcphotographynow  flickr page and  mpix13  flickr page….

Recent News…

Also the camera club (BMPG)  I’m involved with  kicked off for the year just last week  and after almost a two month break it was good to catch up with everyone and see what people have been up to and I must say it was a good start to the year. I went reasonably well with a 15/15  along with two 14/15′s and a 13/15, although its not just about the score, it is nice to receive them and the accolades from your peers at the same time every now and then..

Terrace Falls.15/15

Recently I have decided to invest some money in printing and by that I mean I brought a big  printer, Canons biggest and latest desk top printer the Canon Pro-1  this is to allow me to take control of most of my own printing with some exceptions. Although I have only been able to do a couple of small test prints and despite just a few little teething problems which Canon have been extremely helpful with, I am very happy with it and its potential.

Also just recently whilst up at Katoomba I meet a gentleman by the name of Phillip Maiden who runs Blue Mountains Scenic Photos. he was kind enough to invite me to visit his studio/galley some time and has offered to help out with some printing, namely large format and canvas printing, hence some exceptions I mentioned earlier on, he himself uses canon printing equipment but has a much larger free standing printer which allows for sizable panoramic and so forth, also I would like to mention the kind and friendly, as well as extremely helpful service from Picture Framing Warehouse in Emu Plains who on a Saturday afternoon with me just turning up, was able to help me out with some mattes and really good pricing at the same time, I will most definately be using them from now on…..

 Thanx for reading mgcphotographynow….

And please, feel free to head to the comments tab  at the top of the page and leave any feedback and comments or just to say Hi…..Thanx.

Still just a kid at heart...Love it.

©mgcphotography.2012

Hello and welcome to a new year and a new look and the first post for 2012. The new look may change throughout the year,  just depends on how I feel at the time, one day I might think to myself I don’t like that look any more and change it, the next day change it back or just do something different altogether. So if that happens there’s nothing to worry about, it’s still the same blog that you either love or you hate but either way it will still be here….

Lets get in to it, this year so far has kicked off photographically with a bit of a bang for me and I am looking forward  to whats ahead in my photographic journey this year with existing projects as well, several new ones and even an exhibition with my fellow classmates from Lens school   in march, but more on that later. Over the holidays I was lucky enough to have time and catch up with family and some of the nieces and nephews which is always fun and even though photographing kids can be challenging, it can be enjoyable as well, catching candid moments that kids provide so well.

"My Nephew"

"My Daughter"

Also over the holidays I had my daughter come and spend some time with my wife and I which I always enjoy, being a little princess and like most little girls she likes to dress up, she also doesn’t mind spending some time in front of the camera “for a while any way” and gives me a chance to practice doing portraits, so it works out wells for both of us.…

As for projects I have already started work on two new ones so far and they will continue on throughout the year, as well as those two I will continue working on the Roadside Tribute project I started last year, as for the new projects, the first one is simply titled “365 days” which is  the number of days in a year of course but is also the number of days I plan to take the time and take at least one photo to keep myself motivated  and to pick my camera up everyday because in the past I have been guilty of not picking it up for weeks at a time, “so far so good” and also it will be a record of some sort of whats happened over the course of a year.

The second project at this stage, is titled “The Blue Mountains” not very original I know but as this is some what of a long term project I have time to think of something a bit better, but for now will do. This project has come about after thinking that in the 12 month that we’ve lived in the Blue Mountains, I haven’t spent time in it…and that was in some way apart the reason for moving up here in the first place, so this year I have decided to start spending more time up here and getting out taking photos of this beautiful part of the world, and not just all the usual tourist stops the more I look in to it and talk to people I’m finding out about a lot of beautiful spots that most people wouldn’t take the time to stop and see, and although I won’t get to all of them I will get to a lot more than I have in the last 12 months.

"Martins look out"#2

This year already I’ve been lucky enough to get to some beautiful spots right on my back door more or less, some I was aware of, some I was not which just gives me more motivation to see more of what’s in my own backyard.

"Blue Pool"

This is just a couple of spots over the last several days I’ve   been able to get myself to, and they were so close all this time….

Thanx for reading mgcphotographynow……

and you can always see more pictures @ mgcphotography.net

"Junction Falls"

Hello and welcome once again to mgcphotographynow, this will be my last update for the year, unless something super exciting happens between now and then.

My attempt @ Scanography _Bark and leaves#3

Not a lot has happened this week in my world as far as actual picture-taking goes, its been mostly post production stuff, which in my case is just a little bit of playing around in Lightroom, also I’ve been sorting out my website mgcphotography  so its been a lot of time in front of the computer over the last week, which for me is not fun or that easy as I never really had lot to do with computers before I started taking my photography more seriously, and in today’s world of digital photography there really is no way out of using one, but between the website and now this blog I’m learning more and more each time which makes it a little more enjoyable “a little bit”.

Also this week I’ve found a bit of time to do some reading, another one of those things I do a little bit more of these days “photography related anyway” I came across in a resent issue (No.42) of BetterDigital Camera an article about using flatbed scanners to take pictures ”or scanography as they call it” which i found quite interesting, I also then went on the big wide world web and found some nice examples on photopoly  “just to name one website”of this type of photography and had a play around myself at it for a bit of fun.

The article in BetterDigitalCamera talks about using a good flatbed scanner for a really good result and not your every day multifunction printer with built in scanner as you have a limited depth-of-field which basically means if it’s not flat on the glass or very close to it, there’s not much in focus, but it was a bit of fun one afternoon and I found the results interesting to say the least, and like I said it was a bit of fun for an afternoon, but I definitely think its worth going on the web some time and checking some out.

Scanography _Bark and leaves#1

Once again thanx for reading have Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year stay safe and keep taking pictures, because the worlds out there just waiting….

Thanx for reading mgcphotographynow….

Hello and welcome once again. I’d like to start by saying congratulations to my wife for her 2nd place (projected image category) in our local photography clubs end of year presentation night on Monday, doesn’t sound like much I know but it’s a really big achievement, well done babe….

Untitled#1 2nd place(Projected image catogry)

Also this week I had the opportunity to go to Point Light in Surry Hills as well as meet Gordon Undy, the man behind this lovely gallery as well as some beautiful monochrome work…

"Brown Lake, North Stradbroke Island, 2009" Gordon Undy work.

The gallery specializes in monochrome work and show cases work from all around the world as well as locally. The galleries current exhibition is by American photographer    John Wimberley, again another one like Gordon Undy who specialize not only in monochrome, but who work exclusively with film and who has some fantastic work  which I enjoyed and found quite inspiring.

Solar Reflection, Crater Lake 1985. John Wimberley.

So for any one like myself who has a passion for black and white photography, I highly recommend a visit to Point Light gallery.

Also this week, on Saturday night we were meant to have a lunar eclipse but unfortunately there was alot of cloud in my area at the time so I didn’t really get the full effect of it.

Not all was lost or time wasted as I decided to play around with some long exposure and by long I mean any where from 10sec-1min, give or take with some images anyway because I belive you should never be afraid to experiment with your photography, a specially when it comes to digital.

MOONLIGHT#1 Nikon D300,ISO200, f-16@ 20sec, black and white conversion in Lightroom.

Out of what I took on the night this one was my favourite and it was only after my visit to Point Light and my discovery of John Wimberley’s work, that I saw similarities not only in this picture but some of my other work as well, and which is probably why I enjoyed he’s work so much.

Thanx for reading mgcphotography….

Hello and welcome to the first of what will be my weekly posts updates and what not.

For those of you that don’t know me, I’m a black and white guy, that’s not to say I don’t do any colour work, there’s just something about black and white.

Last year as a part of my photography course at Lens school I started a project based around road side tributes to people that had lost their lives in car accidents, not the nicest thing I know, but unfortunately something that effects a lot of people.

It took a while to get started just in working out the best way to go about it and how I was going to work out which tributes to shoot and why. And then it hit me that I should concentrate on somewhere that has some kind of significance to myself in some way.

The drive between Sydney and Canberra (my home town) and back is a stretch road I know quite well since moving to Sydney in1999 and seemed to be the natural thing to do.

Although I was hopping to have the project completed by the end of the course, due to a technical issue I lost time and work which is another reason in some way for the blog as well as other projects that you can read about in the “about page”.

Thanx for reading mgcphotographynow….

Glenn’s Tribute

Jim's Bridge