FUN WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

INSIDE photo March 2009

Edition 6

INSIDE ASSIGNMENTS: Black and White

wonderful images using monochrome
DEADLINES:
eight seconds of drama at rodeos
TECH NOTES:
Using the Lensbaby
PROCESS: STRAIGHTEN UP
using Photoshop to correct distortion in your buildings
TRAVELSHOOTER: ON ASSIGNMENT
Dunedin: the Edinburgh of the south
 CONTENTS

Photo News from out there Page 6

INSIDE ASSIGNMENT: BLACK AND Page 8

WHITE
Wonderful ways to make interesting
pictures using the monochrome Page 8

TECH NOTES: LENSBABY

Jo shares her experiences of the Lens- Page 24
baby

DEADLINES: EIGHT SECONDS OF

DRAMA AT RODEOS Page 28
skills for news photographers

PROCESS: STRAIGHTEN UP
using Photoshop to correct distortion in Page 34
your images

TRAVELSHOOTER: ON ASSIGNMENT
Dunedin: the Edinburgh of the south Page 36

2
 www.insidephoto.info
PUBLISHER / EDITOR / DESIGNER /
PHOTOGRAPHER S/ WRITERS:
John and Kath Cosgrove
Contributors:
Mary Jo Bedford
Russell Chilton
Stephen Cosgrove
Email:
travelshooter1@gmail.com
INSIDE Photo e-magazine is
published by:
INSIDE Photo
114 Wakari Road,
Helensburgh
Dunedin, 9010
New Zealand
Ph: + 64 3 47672493
Web: www.insidephoto.info
Material published in INSIDE
Photo is copyrighted and cannot
be reproduced (or photocopied)
other than for individual personal
use only.
This edition produced
with Serif PagePlus 9
Back editions of INSIDE photo are
available in the ‘archives’ section of
the website at www.insidephoto.info
Welcome
To the March issue of INSIDE photo
Welcome to all my photography
friends, sorry for the delay this
the Edin-
month, I have been hard at work
burgh of
moving house, playing with the army
the South is
and applying for and gaining admis-
the subject of
sion to a Masters program in Fine
this month’s Travelshooter as-
Arts specialising in Visual Communi-
signment and I thought you would like
cation. It means for the next two
to see the photographers delight that I
years I will the opportunity to experi-
live in. There are literally hundreds of
ment with my photography, look at
photo ops within a few minutes of
ways to improve or change my influ-
walking from the center of this vibrant
ences and understand why I shoot
little city and I am still discovering just
pictures the way I do. It also means
what you can shoot in and around the
that I will be staying here in Dunedin
neighborhood. We also check out all
for another two years but I am look-
the action at local Rodeo’s with KathC
ing forward to it and relish the chal-
spending an afternoon shooting eight
lenges I am now facing as I near 50
seconds of drama.
years of age.
Check out this website: http://
This month we look at an old favorite
video.nytimes.com/video/2009/03/09/
of mine Black and White photogra-
opinion/1194838469575/sex-lies-and-
phy. In it we will look at the various
photoshop.html for a very informative
ways to shot B&W with your digital
argument about how images are ma-
camera. Next I would recommend
nipulated for advertisers.
you to read the article on the inno-
vative Lensbaby by Jo Bedford, I All the best and keep on shooting
have used one and they are fun vi-
sual tools to shoot with. Dunedin: JohnC
3
 To see INSIDE photo in
all its glory as a DOUBLE
PAGE SPREAD
1: Activate Adobe Acrobat READER 9 or
KM Viewer or in any other PDF viewing
software.
2: Under the Menu Item VIEW select
PAGE DISPLAY.
3: Select Two-Up Continuous and enjoy
viewing INSIDE Photo as a DPS.
 PHOTO NEWS BRIEFS from around the world
CANON unveils new PIXMA PRO9000 MARK II and PIXMA
PRO9500 MARK II professional photo printers.
“Expression Photography Award”

HP, together with Magnum Photos, are spon-

soring a new global photo contest aimed at
emerging and professional photographers, em-
phasizing the value of storytelling through the
use of photographs. Additional information is
available at expression.magnumphotos.com
Epson Rangefinder Digital Camera R-D1x
the ten-color PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II and the eight-color PIXMA
Pro9000 Mark II Photo Printers. The PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II
printer takes advantage of Canon's professional Lucia brand pig-
ment-based inks for long-lasting, professional-quality prints. The
PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II printer uses the Company's dye-based
inks to produce brilliant, gallery-quality prints up to 13 x 19
inches on a variety of fine art papers and glossy media.
Sony’s Pano’ D camera 666x speed CF cards

Epson have launched a Japanese only version
of their R-D1 rangefinder. The new R-D1x
model maintains most of the features of the
previous camera including a 6Mp APS-C sensor,
but adds a larger 2.5" LCD screen, support for
the higher-capacity SD-HC card format and a
removable handgrip.
The new Olympus E-620
The new Sony HX1 Cyber-
shot model can shoot a 224-
degree panorama shots in
one easy press-and-sweep
motion and is the first Cy-
ber-shot camera to use the
exclusive 1/2.4-inch Exmor
CMOS sensor technology.
Leica 37.5 MP S2 due soon
Pretec, have launched the ex-
traordinary 666X CF card, the
world’s fastest CF card to part-
ner the world’s highest capacity
CF card in the world (100GB).
GLOBAL VISION AWARD at
POYi

A Judges' Special Recognition

The E-620 offers six creative in-camera art fil-
ters, Multiple Exposure shooting, a swivel Live
View 2.7” HyperCrystal III LCD , a 12.3-megapixel
Live MOS sensor ,TruePic III+ processor, an in-
body Image Stabilization system and a small
16.76-ounce body making it is world’s smallest
and lightest image-stabilized DSLR.
Leica's highly anticipated 37.5-
megapixel S2 DSLR/Medium-
Format camera is still on track
to be delivered later this year.
was awarded to photojournal-
ist Chua Chin Hon of The Straits
Times of Singapore for his
feature"TIME AND TIDE: FIVE
YEARS BEHIND THE THREE
GORGES DAMN" at the Sixty-
Sixth Annual Pictures of the
Year International Competition
judged recently. Well done
mate.
This months theme is monochrome so Stephen C has sent me this wonderful monochromatic
colour shot of the trees in a forest behind his house in Switzerland. He shot it on his new Canon
EOS 40D at 400 ISO.

7
 ON ASSIGNMENT : WONDERFUL BLACK

Shooting Digital Black and White is a

state of mind
I t requires you to change your basic photography thought processes and to look not for the bright vibrant
colour's in a scene but instead you should seek out light, shadows, shapes, textures and the moment.
I started my photography career using black and white films such as Ilford FP4 and Kodak Tri-X, and spent
many thousands of hours over the next 25 years cooped up in smelly, cacogenic inducing darkrooms, dodg-
ing and burning for effect with my fingers in the soup and eventually achieving the results I sought for news
and exhibition quality black and whites. It was a truly experimental period in my life because unbeknown
to me, at that time I was developing a work ethic that I still use today which guides all my photography pro-
cesses – compartmentalisation.

8
 By John Cosgrove
AND WHITE

9
 ON ASSIGNMENT
But that is a fact of life with B&W,
everybody has an opinion.
I learned to break the entire
B&W shooting and process-
ing equation into defined seg-
ments which then if something
went wrong I could easily iden-
tify the fault in the process and
correct the mistake with mini-
mum fuss and disruption to my
work flow.
And just like then I am still sur-
10
rounded by photographers who
change their operating systems
each month when they learn a
new trick or read about some-
body else’s new and improved
way of shooting colour or B&W.
There were colleagues who
would change from over
exposing/under developing to
under exposing /over develop-
ing at a whim and then com-
plain about the lack of
consistency in their results.
I kept on producing high quality
images that had a wide range of
tones and deep rich blacks, and
found that it is better to find
the system that works for you
and then stick with it rather
than changing your core pho-
tography processes every
month. My work colleague’s
used to complain that their re-
sults weren’t as good but their
way was supposed to be bet-
ter.
But that is a fact of life with
B&W, everybody has an opin-
ion.
Do a quick search on Google,
just type in “digital black and
white photography” and you
will find over 7,500+ hits from
books at Amazon to commer-
cial and personal websites to
info sites and forums.
The web is full of great sites to
visit that are dedicated to black
and white photography but as
with all digital black and white
photography sites you have to
remember just one thing:
“What works for you doesn’t
necessary means it’s correct
and will work for everyone!
There-in lies the beauty of digi-
tal black and white photogra-
phy – it’s a very subjective and
experimental thing.
What you do onscreen and in
the camera to achieve the re-
sults you want or desire may
not be what others do but
what you get suits you so are
the others wrong?
No they are just working to sys-
tems and processes that pro-
duce the results they want to
see in their monochromatic im-
ages.

A couple of good sites that

caught my eye include
www.northlight-images.co.uk/
digital_black_white and
www.blackandwhitedigital.com/.
11
 ON ASSIGNMENT

Shooting strong
black and whites
The art to shooting strong and
effective black and white or
monochrome pictures is a state
of mind.
You have to go out there to
specifically see and shoot black
and white images.

(Mind you monochrome is not

the technically correct term be-
cause a colour picture can be
monochromatic with only one
shade or hue of colour in it).

Some experts say that by re-

moving all the colour's from an
image can add something extra
to it by revealing detail you
might have missed due to the
bright colour hues.
Open up any old photo book
and see what the old pros shot
in black and white and you will
discover a whole new world of
shapes and shadows, textures
and moments captured in time.
Light is the integral factor of
any photograph and it’s no dif-
ferent in black and white al-
though you can read a hundred
different versions of how to
handle it.

Experiment: Try shooting an or-

ange on its own just using natu-
In the early days of photogra- that shadows are an important
ral light from the window to
phy it was written that colour characteristic of your overall
light it. Shoot it in colour and
photography should be shot composition and shooting with
then shoot it in monochrome
with the sun behind you while the sun behind your shoulder
mode. Look at how the texture
B&W should be shot into the makes it harder to get a high
becomes more visible when the
light. Their justification was contrast image.
colour is removed.
that in B&W you will discover
12
 ON ASSIGNMENT

So how do we do shoot black and white well?

Always shoot your base im- determines the range of gray as you shoot more B&W style
ages in full colour mode but be tones in an image so the images you will discover that
careful not to let the highlights greater range of luminosities different colour's convert eas-
get overexposed or blown out the greater the range of gray ier to black and white and oth-
as they will lessen the amount tones in your final print. ers don’t.
of information available for You will want to replicate B&W Not everything will make a
the B&W conversion later. film which captured only a good B&W image but you will
Most digital cameras come colour's brightness or luminos- discover that it actually teaches
with a natty little mono- ity and when it was printed you to shoot better colour im-
chrome feature which is ad- properly had an almost 3D ages because you will start to
justable on pro level cameras quality about it with a lot of look closely at how light falls on
but the overall effect is a flat, tonal detail and rich black shad- a subject, backgrounds and tex-
dull gray image as the ows. Over the next few months tures.
camera’s inbuilt colour engine
simply de-saturates the image
into equal red, green and blue
values. It’s simple to use but
limits the dynamic range of
images and gives photos that
look flat or washed out.
It’s better to use Adobe PHO-
TOSHOP / Elements / GIMP to
make black and whites. It’s
well documented that the
colour's luminosity channel
(the brightness of the image)

A digital colour image can contain more than 16 million different colour's if you are shooting in the Adobe RGB
colour space (sRGB has only 11.5 million) while a grayscale image only has 256 shades of gray from black to white.
You will notice that the bright orange wall flattens out to a mid gray in B&W making it a dull boring image.
The Levels function in CS was based on the old Ansell Adams B&W zone system algorithm. So to improve the way
you see B&W source those old photo books as they will give you a clearer idea about what looks good in B&W and
what doesn’t.
14
Setting up you and the camera:
It’s all about light and shadows. B&W emphasis the shapes of objects while the RAW and it’s 16 bit workflow
light falling upon it emphasises the texture on an objects surface. The absence of has made digital black and
light can be rated almost as important as the highlights so good deep black shad- white so much easier as it of-
ows can provide an image with a depth and strength that colour cannot. Look for fers so much more data to
work with and this produces
subjects that use the light and don’t fall into the colour trap of shooting just
smoother tonal gradations in
‘pretty pictures’. Push the boundaries and try shooting out from a door instead of the grays. But watch that you
into it. DSLR colour images contain a lot more levels of brightness in their high- don’t do all your adjustments
lights than noisy shadows so watch your exposures, I always shoot at -1/3rd in Av in the RAW conversion even
Mode and I find this helps a bit later in post production. though the latest versions of
ADOBE Lightroom and Photo-
shop CS now have excellent
tools for RAW colour to B&W
conversions. Save it till later
when you can really use curves
to pull out detail in an image.

Ways to shoot better using different methods and

black and white digi- see what works and what ef-
fects you can achieve. Don’t
tal images.
get locked into one method –
try a few out and don’t be
afraid to try out some of the
p Shoot with well satu-
more complex ones offered on
rated images with no burnt
web sites.
out highlights.

p Start by using a selec- p Shoot in RAW mode and

then use 16 bit processing in
tion of images you have al-
Photoshop if you can, to allow
ready shot and convert them
for smoother tonal gradations
into B&W using the method
in B&W.
that suits you. Now look at
them and decide what works p Dedicate a B&W day
and what doesn’t. Look for whereby you go out and either
ranges of colour's that just shoot everything in Mono-
come out as flat grays and chrome mode or purposely
others that retain their tonal shoot colour for black and
range. white images. Shoot lots of im-
ages and think about changing
p Drop into your local
the rules by which you set up
second hand book shop or
images. Stick them in a binder shots in terms of location and
market and seek out the old
or on your wall to inspire you. lighting.
photo books and magazines.
Take them home and rip them p Never be afraid to exper-
p Shoot some colour images
apart, looking for strong B&W iment and enjoy the experi-
then convert them into B&W
ence.
15
 ON ASSIGNMENT

Replicating Black and White Film in Photoshop

Converting a colour image to black
and white can be as easy or as com-
plicated as you want.
NOTE# despite all the info out there
really is no right or wrong way to to-
tally convert images to B&W, only
levels of satisfaction in the final re-
sult.
Converting a digital colour images
works on the same principal of old
school film photographers using
colour filters (orange, green, red etc)
to alter the final outcome of their
B&W image.
All conversion techniques use some
combination of colour chan-
nels to produce grayscale brightness
and tonal density it is up to you to
decide how much and what effects
you want. The best results are
achieved when the base colour im-
age you are using is rendered in 16
bit and has no colour casts and the
correct colour white balance.

5 Ways to change to monochrome

The five usual ways to produce black and white images from
digital files are Gray scale conversion, De-saturate. Channel
Mixer, Lab Colour method and Gradient map.

Each has it’s pros and cons.

The two most simple methods of converting a colour image to Black and White are a Mode change to Grayscale or
a -100% De-saturation using the Hue / Saturation palette. Both give very flat and lifeless B&W images that will re-
quire a lot of extra work to get them to a good level of saturation and tonal values .A straight Grayscale conver-
sion is a very destructive conversion method as it removes all the colour information and you can see this in your
result file size. It will be 1/3rd of the original size. If you decide later to convert it back to RGB you will find it stays
as a B&W. The de-saturation method is a non-destructive conversion method.
16
Channel Mixer Method
The best way and most non destruc-
tive way to convert colour is by using
the Channel Mixer method which
works by converting the individual
RGB channel values to grayscale and
this allows you infinite control over
the density and coloration of your
black and white image. Film photogra-
phers often used coloured filters to
alter the strength of different colour's
captured in B&W films with red, green
or orange filters. In Channel Mixer we
use the different RGB colour channels
to replicate the same effect on a gray-
scale image. You can alter the inten-
sity of RGB / CMY colour's in each
image but at a +100% conversion the
channel you have selected will turn
the selected primary colour white,
+100% Blue
+100% Red
while that colour's complementary
colour will go black as will other pri-
mary colour's. The trick is to experi-
ment and then work out which
values will work for you as each pic-
ture is different just as portraits are
different from landscapes. Remem-
ber that in portraits don’t wipe out
too much red as you will lose your
lips and skin density. Even though
most experts say to always make
the combined total of each channel
+100% Green
+20% R, +80%G, 0%B
equals 100% (red 20% + green 80% +
Blue 0% = 100%) some web site ex-
perts say to go over the 100% per-
cent threshold to get the saturation
and tonal range you desire, but my
good friend, Master Print Maker Chris
Yap, always cautions his students on
exceeding 100% as the ink jet printer
you are outputting too cannot place
more than 100% of black ink on a
print. If you use a Nikon always try
and not touch the Blue channel as
this is where the noise is located –
leave it on 0%. A recommended start
point could be R 20%-G 80%-B 0% but
you will need to make your own base
settings to suit your eye, the monitor
you are using and the ink jet printer
you are outputting on.
17
 ON ASSIGNMENT

Gradient map

Hit the “D” key to set the fore ground and background colour's to the default black and white settings. Now
select: Image > Adjustment > Gradient Map. Making sure the gradient map selected is a black to white gra-
dient. This method gives better results than the straight grayscale conversion as it gives you a better range
of black and whites with many colour's clearly defined. It’s a good start point for many black and whites.

Lightness Channel in LAB mode

A very quick method for
those with Photoshop,
which uses the lightness
channel of the LAB colour
space to complete the over-
all B&W conversion.
Change the image mode to
LAB, Image>Mode>Lab Col-
or. Then select the Light-
ness channel in the
Channels Palette and now
change the mode back to
Grayscale which will delete
the A and the B channels.
This method converts im-
ages based on their colour's
luminosity which is similar
18
to the way black and white
film renders a scenes
brightness.
It is a very restrictive
method which allows no
changes by the users which
is why you have to convert
it firstly back to Grayscale
and then RGB to allow you
any chance of improving
the tonal range of the im-
age.
However, it does work well
with colour images that
have lots of contrast or are
monochromatic (one domi-
nant colour or hue).
Changes for the better:
1: Select your picture: Complete steps one through to four
of your seven step digital imaging process (Look, Crop,
Tone and Colour). On step five (Digital Stuff) convert the
image to Black and White using whatever non-destructive
method that suits the image. On this shot of an Asian sea
eagle I used the 20R-80G-0B channel mixer method.

2: Copy the layer (Ctrl+J) then generate a new Curves Ad-

justment layer. Using point produce an ‘S’ curve to bring
up the shadows and dilute the highlights. Take your time
and try it several ways to see which one works for you.

3: If needed create a Dodge and Burn Layer and make the

necessary changes to the image (here I toned down the
background a bit and lighten the birds eye). Merge the lay-
ers. Curves to tone down
highlights and recover
4: Ctrl+J again and change the layers mode from Normal lost detail
to Soft Light or Overlay, then adjust the Layers Opacity to
get the high contrast effect your desire without it being
too overboard.

5: Complete steps five and six of your image process (Save

as a Tiff file and then Output – resize to A4 @ 300 dpi and
sharpen).

6: Flatten the image and then if you feel like it you can
Filter>Noise>Add Noise to simulate film grain. Overlay Layer to compli-
ment the Burning and Dodg-
ing layer and add contrast.
7: I added a Title border and Title
to the picture, time to print it
out.

The Bottom Line:

The are hundreds of ideas,
workshops, procedures and
plans for monochromatic con-
versions of digital images. I
have attempted to show you
the most common so find one
that suits your workflow and
stick with it.

19
 Black and Whites
The Greg Gorman
method

Greg Gorman is a famous celebrity The GORMAN/HOLBERT 12. Create a new layer.
photographer out of California, and 13. While holding the OPTION key,
black and white conversion
he is well known for his stunning por- go to the pop out menu and select
traits of Hollywood stars. I met him a method. Merge Visible.
few years ago in Singapore and at- 14. Change the blending mode to
1. Under the Image menu change
tended his Epson Print Academy lec- OVERLAY.
the mode of the image to LAB Colour.
ture where I learnt a lot more about 15. Reduce the Layer Opacity to 20%.
2. Select the lightness channel from
the business of fine art black and 16. Select Filter>Other and then se-
the channels palette.
white portrait photography. lect HIGH Pass and then set its radius
3. Select MODE>GRAYSCALE to dis-
to 50 pixels.
This high-end black and white conver- card all the colour information. 17. Double click on the new layer
sion method was the culmination of a 4. COMMAND\Ctrl click on the gray you have created to bring up its Layer
lot of research and development by channel to select the highlights.
Properties.
Greg Gorman and his friend R. Mac 5. Under the Select menu
18. At the bottom you will find a cou-
Holbert, who is the co-founder of Image>Inverse to select the shadows
ple of sliders, select the black point
Nash Editions in the image.
on the top black slider and bring it up
(www.nasheditions.com), widely re- 6. Change the MODE to RGB COLOR. to 70, then Option Click on it to split
garded as the world’s first digital 7. Crate a new adjustment layer and
it and one half back to 50.
printmaking studio focusing solely on choose a solid colour from the 19. Do the same to the white slider,
photography. Gorman and Holbert swatches palette to get a nice gray
take it to 185 then Option Click on it
continued the work of the original black tone.
to split it and then move the other
Carr Method developed by Rob Carr, 8. You should base your solid colour half back to 205. Click OK.
who was Greg’s Photo Retoucher, choice on the tonal range you wish to
20. You can vary the Layer opacity to
and pushed the limits of this Lumi- see in your toned B&W.
reach the level of contrast you desire.
nosity Based block and white conver- 9. Go to the Layers Palette and 21. Save and flatten if you need to.
sion method that can be completed change the blending mode to MULTI-
in either Photoshop or Gimp. It deliv- PLY. You can also download a PDF version
ers superior results when used on 10. You will need to dial the opacity of it on his web site
portraits and is regarded by many of the solid colour back to suit. www.gormanphotography.com,
fine art digital photographers as the 11. (IMPORTANT), you will need to where you can also view details
best way to convert digital images in add a Curves or Levels adjustment about his digital workshops at
monochromes. layer to achieve the desired contrast www.gormanworkshops.com/.
levels in your image.

20
READERS GALLERIA:
Russell Chilton has newly emigrated to New Zealand with his partner and took a week off to do a
bit of exploring around the North Island and later drove up to discover the scenic Hawkes Bay
region. “We took an evening gourmet vineyard tour that included a sunset and champagne from
the top of Te Mata Peak near Hastings. I usually avoid sunsets but this one was a bit special and
I loved the tree silhouetted in the foreground with the mountain range going off into the dis-
tance. I shot this on my Canon EOS 400D set to f/25 @ 1/80 sec on ISO800 and a standard lens
set to the 55mm mark. The setting sun was playing havoc with my metering but I waited until it
was partially masked by the light cloud cover and then took my shot. I am very pleased with the
definition of the sun and the colour of the sky which needed no editing.”

22
23
 Tech Notes
LENSBABY MAGIC
By Mary Jo Bedford
1998: A discussion among
stock photographers about
trends in the industry turns to
talk of a new lens - one that
can achieve variable focus
within a single plane of focus.
This was early days for digital
photography and Photoshop.
The concept was intriguing,
and possibly lucrative, for a
photographer striving to pro-
duce a different look that
would capture the interest of
his agency and clients. Already
18
24
overbought in equipment, I dis-
missed it thinking “not for me,
not now”.
2006: During a workshop
someone pulled a funny looking
little lens out of his gear bag
and offers everyone a ‘play’
with it. The only photographer
interested in trying it returns
after a couple of hours and pro-
nounces it ‘different, but not
impressive’.
2007: Nine years after first
hearing about the Lensbaby, I
was again offered a one to ex-
periment with. Expecting little,
I went out into the field and
was immediately overwhelmed
with excitement. Ordinary sub-
jects mutated and took on an
otherworldly appearance.
Mundane backgrounds
blended into a soft moiré of
colour's. Harsh midday light
turned to softened edges. I was
hooked.
I stacked the +4 and +10 macro
filters onto a 2.0 aperture and
stuck my head and camera into
a bush. The foreground and
background softened, colour's
blurred and bits of leaves and
berries formed an abstract
composition. The look was sim-
ilar to laboriously worked Pho-
toshop images, but with a fresh
untouched feel. Encouraged, I
continued to search for images
by looking through the lens
without pre-visualizing. A blue/
purple wall with yellow grasses
and rubbish can caught my at-
tention. I would never have
considered shooting that scene
with a traditional lens. With the
Lensbaby the rubbish can made
an interesting curve, the
grasses danced and the back-
ground glowed.
Later with a 2.0 aperture I pho-
tographed a nude model. The
setting was impossible; a small
interior area with windows and
radiators that would not allow
decent framing of the subject.
The light was too harsh from
the windows and too dark away
from them. The model posi-
tioned herself in front of the
window and without hope I
looked through the viewfinder
and squeezed the lens. Incredi-
ble! The model mutated slightly
to resemble an Alberto Giacom-
etti sculpture. Harsh light soft-
ened around the edges and the
impossible background blurred
into a wash of black and white
tones with a blue fringe. After
that day it was over a year be-
my emotional reaction as a a little bendy black lens on a big
fore I made an image with a
photographer to something I tank of a camera.
traditional lens. I immersed my-
see that excites me. I am con- The original model Lensbaby
self in creating images that are
vinced that this magic is em- consists of a lens optic that is
more watercolour than photo-
bedded in the image and that sharp in the middle and soft
graph when printed on my fa-
manipulation with Photoshop around the edges. The size of
vourite Hahnemuehle German
degrades the presence of the the sharp ‘sweet spot’ is deter-
Etching paper. And they are all
emotion. My exhibits in mined by interchangeable aper-
produced without Photoshop
Christchurch and Sydney galler- ture rings inserted into the
other than ordinary ‘darkroom’
ies have been well received. front of the lens and held in
type adjustments. I believe that
The Lensbaby is now my place by magnets.
there is a ‘magic’ created and
‘primary’ lens, always mounted Without an aperture the lens is
captured in the instant that an
on my Canon 1D Mark III. equivalent to a 50mm focal
image is made. This ‘magic’ is
It’s an odd looking combination, length with a 2.0 aperture. 19 25
 It was over a
year before I
made an image
with a traditional
lens.
Increasingly smaller apertures
result in a larger ‘sweet spot’.
Focus is obtained manually by
squeezing and bending the ac-
cordion pleated lens barrel. Ex-
posure is either by trial and
error using the histogram to
evaluate or using automatic ex-
posure when set to aperture
priority. Bending the lens
moves the plane of exposure
similar to a tilt shift lens.
There are two models of Lens-
baby that can be set to hold the
focus and sweet spot in a given
position. These are particularly
good for portrait or studio work
when used with a tripod.
Last year Lensbaby introduced
three new models that accept
interchangeable optics. The
pinhole/zone, plastic, double
glass and glass optics drop into
the front of the lens while it re-
mains on the camera. There is
also a Lensbaby with mounts
for a 16mm or 35mm PL mount
motion picture camera. Go to
www.lensbaby.com for detailed
information on each of the
lenses.
Not for everyone, but used dif-
ferently by each photographer,
it becomes a creative tool to
add to an arsenal of lenses. I
have found that students in my
Lensbaby workshops are ex-
cited about the lens and able to
produce inspiring images. The www.maryjobedford.com
key to becoming successful
with the Lensbaby is to practice Mary Jo Bedford is an award winning photographer who resides
until using it becomes intuitive. in Christchurch NZ. She has exhibited in NZ and Australia and
It’s a bit like learning to ride a teaches creative photographic techniques.
bike. After that each photogra- www.maryjobedford.com
pher proceeds to developing
his individual style and voice All are in editions of 10 size A2 - Archival Giclee print on
with the Lensbaby. Hahnemuehle German Etching
20
 DEADLINES
Planning and location equals great action shots as this very spectacular sport.
When standing out there in front
of the crowds be aware that you
are not blocking anyone’s view of
this spectacular sport.
Try shooting head-on as
the bulls leave the chutes
or move to another loca-
tion to clean up your
backgrounds.
Most rodeos are shot from out in front of the release chutes or off to
one side to clean up the backgrounds, this sport only lasts between 1
and 8 seconds so it all happens real fast.
R odeo’s have been around for
more than 150 years and were
born out in the back blocks of Spain,
Mexico, the USA, South America and
Canada, based on the skills required
by the working vaqueros and later,
cowboys who moved the cattle
about. Today they are a high value
When they leave the
chutes the action is
very brief so shoot
heaps.
televised entertainment sport offer-
ing high drama and explosive sport-
ing action, all nicely packaged and
presented in a small arena.
The season in New Zealand lasts
from late October till early March in
both islands and follows a predeter-
mined circuit so if you miss it this
Skills for news photographers
All the action starts in the chutes so a good
position is directly opposite or to one side of
the main chute area.
Off to the sides you will find good
static shots of cowboys relaxing or
preparing for their next ride.
weekend you can usually catch all the
action next weekend in another town
nearby.
While not on the scale of rodeos es-
tablished in western North America,
such as the famous Calgary Stam-
pede, the Pendleton Round-Up or the
Cheyenne Frontier Days, the local
28
 DEADLINES kiwi rodeos offer the same ac-
tion and adventure photo op-
portunities without the access
hassles.
You have to take your hat off
to the cowboys and cowgirls
who daily put their lives on the
line riding these very animated
horses and bulls with attitudes
to match their bulk.

They only have to sit up there

hanging on for dear life for
only eight seconds but it’s long
enough for them to either win
and stay on or be thrown off
or worse badly injured by
thrashing horns, trampled by
hoofs or squashed by heavy All these images are shot with a 70-200m
position to the chutes. You have to shoo

First rule of Rodeos

Safety – always make sure you are not
hit or trampled on. Even though the ar
High Shutter speeds are important to freeze the action as it happens very
don’t forget that a good sized Bull or S
quickly in the Rodeo arena. Change your capture rate to Continuous High and
can find the strength to leap over the
keep your finger on the Shutter Button as you never know when the cowboy will
land on top of you or stick its legs or h
be bucked off. Waste the frames as it is surprising what you will find later back at
the netting and hit you, so always posi
the computer after especially if you shoot the entire eight seconds without lifting
with safety as your main consideration
off. Most DSLR cameras still won’t have filled up their buffer memory so you will
Watch out for the dust as it can ruin a
be able to capture all the action.
gear.
30
mm tele-zoom and were taken from a ¾
ot quickly as the action is so short.

Second Rule of Rodeos their view interrupted and respond accordingly so

always be considerate of others.
t going to get These are wild and untamed animals, which are at Position yourself at one of three points on the are-
rena is fenced best unpredictable so again always, watch all the na. 1: Opposite the center of arena where the six
Saddle Bronco action and be prepared to move quickly if neces- stock gates which the cowboys exit to get them
fences and sary. charging towards you, 2: At a 45 degree angle to
hoofs through these stock gates to get animals who twist and turn
ition yourself Third Rule of Rodeos away from the straight line charge, 3: Opposite the
n. pens used for the roping and steer wrestling events
Never stand up in front of the crowd, you are liable
a good set of are held.
to get a sore head if you do as spectators don’t like

31
 DEADLINES

Where to find
detail shots in what
initially appears to be
a static image ...

Look around your sub-

ject and use your
lenses to isolate pat-
terns, lines, angles,
scale and colour's

Rodeo – the longest eight

32
 Setup: get covered in dust and crud so dress
accordingly.
p A good DSLR and a 200mm lens is
all you really need to cover a Rodeo – a p Take an airbrush to blow off the
bigger lens would always be nice but dust that will always be present here.
these animals move fast and can travel
p Take a small camp chair to sit on to
inside your lens focal range very quickly.
help relieve your back ache from the
p Select AI or Servo auto focus and long hours spent sitting up next to the
rapid or continuous AF to keep the cow- wire.
boys in focus as the animals leap and
p Try to keep the same lens on the
bound around
camera to reduce dust spots on the sen-
the arena.
sor when you are changing lenses.
p Center weighted exposure modes Wait until you can move away from the
are always good but here is a case for arena to shoot other shots then change
manual exposures as the animals are to your wide angle lens.
usually quite dark and they can trick the
p No Flash! Anywhere Anytime – got
light meter into under exposing your
it, animals react differently to flashes.
shot so try manual exposing with the
preference towards shutter speeds p Plan your shots, position yourself
rather than depth of field and check accordingly and use the lower ranked
your work often. cowboys as crash test dummies to prac-
tice your angles and framing on before
p Speed – sacrifice DoF for high shut-
the big name cowboys show up.
ter speeds and raise the ISO if you find
These early riders also provide many of
the light falling.
the dismounting shots and make good
p Don’t wear fancy high practice for when the older more expe-
value clothes or shoes (cow rienced cowboys really show you how
poo takes a lot of cleaning if high they can get a bronco to jump or
you step in it) to the rodeo and how quickly they can get a Brahma Bull
don’t carry that expensive to turn.
Billingham Camera Bag as it will

seconds in the world

33
 PROCESS

STRAIG
O ne of the most common
mistake or errors we all
do as photographers is to ei-
ther bend the perspective or
tilt the horizon. Leaning back
and looking up at skyscrapers
or tall buildings will make the
the resulting photos we take
have the building falling away
from us.

To correct this visual anomaly

all you need is a few moments
in Photoshop CS or Elements.

Step One: Copy the layer

CTRL+J

Step Two: Pick a straight

line to use as your mark point
or use the side of the image.

Step Three: Expand the can-

vas area to allow you to move
around the image

Enlarge your canvas space to allow you to move CTRL+T then Image>Transform>Distort
beyond the edge of your image
34
GHTEN UP Step Four: CTRL +T for Free
Transform

Step Five: CTRL Click or Right

Click on the inside of the selec-
tion and select Distort from the
popup menu.

Step Six: Pull the top left or

right edge of the Transform
bounding box up and out to
align your building with the
sides of the picture frame. Keep
in mind that you must pull up
and away otherwise the image
will flatten out and the buildings
will look squat and unrealistic.
Check the bottom of the picture
to see how it is transforming as
you pull the points away.

Step Seven: Check your

progress against the back-
ground layer.

Then Flatten, Save and Output.

Pull up to avoid mak-

ing the image appear
Grab the edges of the to squat.
Transform bounding
boxes and pull them
up and out to
straighten the build-
ing.

Use the sides of the

image as the straight
edge
Watch your bottom
angles
35
‘Ock hi mon'

36
32
Words and pictures by Kath and John Cosgrove

33
37
 TRAVELSHOOTER
Dunedin
more Scottish than Scotland
K nown universally as the Edin-
burgh of the south, Dunedin is
the second largest city in the South
Island of New Zealand and the fifth
largest city in the country in terms of
population. It also boasts the rarely
known fact that it is the most remote
city in the world from London
(19,100 km or 11,870 mi) or Berlin
(18,200 km or 11,310 mi).
Well known for its penchant for all
things Scottish, Dunedin has at its
heart an imposing stature of the poet
Robbie Burns and many streets and
roads carry names inspired by the old
country. Like many coastal towns in
38
New Zealand Dunedin was developed
on the hills and valleys surrounding
the headlands of Otago Harbour, lo-
cated over the remains of an old vol-
cano. The natural harbour, steep
hills, and abundant sea life was a
magnet for the early Maori
(AD1100), who call it Ôtepoti, and
European sealers (early 1800’s), but
it was the influx of Scottish inhabit-
ants lead by The Lay Association of
the Free Church of Scotland who re-
ally founded Dunedin.
They set forth in 1848 aboard two
ships, the Philip Laing and the John
Wickliffe, to found a new Scottish
city in these new southern lands. Ar-
riving at head of the Otago harbour
landing at a settlement named Port
Chalmers. Loaded with settlers and
supplies they found a small commu-
nity of local Maori and sealers not ex-
pecting them. The Otago harbour site
was selected as the principal town of
a new utopian Scottish church settle-
ment. "Dunedin", instead of 'New Ed-
inburgh', had been chosen as the
name of this new southern town and
was part of the movement against
establishing 'new' cities such as New
York. It drew its name from Dùn Èide-
ann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Ed-

The picture perfect Dunedin railway
station, you can spend an hour here
just shooting detail shots and scenic's.
inburgh, the Scottish capital.
Charles Kettle, the city's sur-
veyor, was instructed to repli-
cate the characteristics of the
old castle city of Edinburgh,
and produced a striking,
'Romantic' design. The results
were both grand and quirky as
the builders struggled to inter-
pret his bold vision in this very
challenging environment. Cap-
tain William Cargill, a veteran
in his sixties of the war against
Napoleon, was the secular happenings as Dunedin also
leader of the church with the enjoyed the riches and benefits
Reverend Thomas Burns, a from its sudden and unex-
nephew of the poet Robert pected wealth. The founding
Burns, as the spiritual guide. religious princi-
The southern climate ples which Dune-
was very similar to din were
northern Scotland but established on
the hardy Scottish were not lost the
settlers still endured pursuit of gold
hardship and troubles and riches. The
as they struggled to strong Presbyte-
carve out an exis- rian belief of the
tence on this rugged value of educa-
landscape while tion for all saw
maintaining their New Zealand’s
faith. This all changed first University
one autumn evening being established
in 1861 when a lone here. Then a
Australian prospector number of ornate
named Gabriel Read and grandiose
stopped to try his churches, banks,
luck at a small creek hotel, castles,
some 70km away homes and civic buildings be-
The famous Rob-
from the small costal settle- came the very public symbol
bie Burns, more
ment of Dunedin. Shoveling famous in Otago for Dunedin’s wealth. The
away more than half a metre of than in his scot-
tish birthplace. countries first daily newspaper
gravel and reaching the slate was established here and over
bed of the creek, Read found, in the next 100 years businesses
his famous phrase, "gold shin- boomed and the University de-
ing like the stars of Orion on a veloped into the biggest con-
dark, frosty night". tributor to the Dunedin
The discovery of gold at Gabri- economy. Dunedin is a Univer-
el's Gully led to a rapid influx of sity city rather than simply a
population and saw Dunedin city with a university in it like
rapidly become New Zealand's Christchurch or Auckland. The
first city by growth of popula- students make up over a tenth
tion in 1865. Dunedin grew rap- of the population. A conse-
idly but also sadly suffered from quence is that the city is signifi-
the curse of big cities in those cantly quieter during the
early heady days. Land values university summer holiday pe-
soared, sanitation couldn’t keep riod from November to Febru-
up with demand and the lure of ary each year then the
the gold brought with it the students return and the fun
scourge of crime. starts.
But there were many positive
39
 TRAVELSHOOTER

Notable buildings and

landmarks in Dunedin

Statue of Robbie Burns

Dunedin Railway Station
Larnach Castle
Cargill's Castle
Moana Pool
Cadbury World
Olveston
Speight's Brewery
Carisbrook
Otago Boys' High School
Otago Girls' High School
Fortune Theatre
Municipal Chambers
Allied Press Building
Dunedin Public Hospital
The Octagon
Dunedin Chinese Garden
Otago Museum
Otago Settlers Museum
Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Dunedin Public Libraries the Fortune Theatre
Hocken Library University of Otago
St. Paul's Cathedral Otago Polytechnic
First Church Aoraki Polytechnic (Dunedin cam-
Knox Church pus)
St. Joseph's Cathedral Dunedin College of Education

40
41
 TRAVELSHOOTER

Octagon: Robbie Burns Octagon: St Pauls

cathedral

Otago Boys HS
George Street

St Joseph’s Cathedral

Lower Stuart Street

Princess Street
buildings

Dunedin Railway Station

Odd designed buildings First Church

Dunedin Photo plan religious, banking and commercial stunning stone buildings you can see
buildings in and around the Octagon. in this small area. The craftsmen
It’s best to start your photo journey Set your camera to -1/3rd exposure who built them had the time and the
in the middle of the city of Dunedin compensation in Av mode and select expertise to fashion intricate de-
at the Octagon; there you will find evaluative/ matrix metering and this signs, gargoyles and Bas reliefs on
within easy walking distance a verita- way you will find that your images many of the old banks, churches and
ble treasure trove of photo opportu- have strong high light detail and civic buildings you will find within
nities. Set yourself the goal of deep rich shadows. Great for the five minutes walk of the Octagon.
starting early in the day to catch the clear blue skies you will often find in Use all your lenses to either locate
strong directional light casting inter- the early morning light here. and isolate details lines, curves or
esting shadows on the many civic, Look out for details on the many patterns or bend the perspective

42
with your wide angles – you
will find an amazing selection
of imagery here so expect to be
in the Octagon or Moray Place
area for couple of hours simply
enjoying the immense number
of photo opportunities on of-
fer.
The Octagon has four roads
leading from it and you really
should take the time to explore
them as within a couple of
blocks along each one you will
find many interesting buildings
and photo ops.
Use your tele-zoom to find
these details rather than just
shoot exteriors. The modeling
from the early morning light
has a very strong blue element
to it so your AWB setting
should work fine.
Experiment with your angles
and push the boundaries of
your photographic eye, look
down the alley ways, the back
streets leading off the central
area, Dunedin has a very low
crime rate so you are pretty
safe in most areas shooting im-
ages just watch where you
stand and think safety espe-
cially from working vehicles all
the time.
After you have gotten in the
groove of shooting interesting
photos around the Octagon
area walk down Stuart Street
(it's the road leading off the
bottom of the Octagon) to-
wards the imposing Dunedin
railway station you can see
which is only three blocks
away. Here the local council
have restored a grand old Vic-
torian designed railway station
to its former glory and expertly
created a lovely garden out in
Annual events
January - Whare Flat Folk Festival ends
January - Southern Festival of Speed classic
car road-race
February - New Zealand Masters Games
(Biennial event)
February - University of Otago & Otago Poly-
technic Orientation Weeks
February - Dunedin Summer Festival
March - Id Dunedin Fashion Show
May - Capping Week (University of Otago)
May - Dunedin Film Festival
May - Otago Rally
May - Regent Theatre 24-hour book sale
(reputedly the southern hemisphere's largest
regularly-held second-hand book sale)
July - New Zealand International Science Fes-
tival (every second year)
July - Taste Otago Dunedin Food and Wine
Festival
July - Cadbury Chocolate Carnival
July - International Film Festival
September - Samstock Music Festival
October - Otago Festival of the Arts (and
Fringe Festival) - every second year (even
numbered years)
October - Rhododendron Week
December - Santa Parade
December - Whare Flat Folk Festival begins
December - New Years Eve Party Octagon
Dunedin is full of interesting photo ops
like this unlikely scene caught at one
of the many bays that surround the
city
Getting there:
By Air: Dunedin Interna-
tional Airport, is a domestic
and international airport 30
kilometres out of town with
Air New Zealand flying do-
mestically to/from Auck-
land, Wellington and
Christchurch, and interna-
tionally to/from Melbourne
(October-March), Sydney,
and Brisbane. Flying time
ranges from 3 hours 20
minutes from Melbourne to
4 hours from Brisbane.
By car: State Highway 1
passes through Dunedin.
Allow 4 to 5 hours travel
from Christchurch and 2 to
3 hours travel from Inver-
cargill. Be sure to get a
good detailed map as soon
as you can. Most hostels
have very detailed maps for
the downtown area with
reasonable details for the
outlying areas. The roads
can be very confusing with
lots of one way streets and
circles.
43
 TRAVELSHOOTER
front of it. The Tairei Express
tourist train still runs most days
and this is another photo ad-
venture to undertake.
When shooting building exteri-
ors such as the ones found in
Dunedin look for ways to really
stretch your abilities in terms
of the rules of composition.
Think about angles, scale, size
and how you can use your
lenses depth of field to pull to-
gether edges of buildings or
isolate them against the sky.
Watch your backgrounds and
look out for clutter from adver-
tising hoardings and pipes and
distracting colours.
Think about incorporating
those lovely gardens in the
foreground as you shoot the
44
The city of Dunedin basks in a winters
sun shot from across the harbour.
train station.
Next to the station you will find
the early settlers museum
which is worth a visit to look at
the many old photos of early
Dunedin on show.
Dunedinites were prolific
shooters and many well known
early photographers were
based here last century.
A proud tradition of photogra-
phy is found in Dunedin, which
is still carried on today with the
city hosting two camera clubs
and a long list of internationally
Many of the older buildings have ex-
ranked landscape photogra- cellent stained glass windows to
phers there. As the day pro- photograph.
gresses and the sun moves
higher walk north along George
Street (it’s the street with all
the shops on it heading north)
The beaches at St Kilda and St Clair of-
fer any different photo ops for those
who want to look deeper into a sub-
ject.
and wander about six blocks towards
the university and museum complex
area. Here you can find both modern
and old restored buildings from the
early days of New Zealand’s first uni-
versity and along the way you will
find many diverse eating establish-
ments to quench your thirst and load
up with carbs for the afternoons
shooting sessions.
Tired from shooting buildings and ex-
terior details then look towards the
people of Dunedin, You will find
them a mixed bunch of avant garde
students, hard working business peo-
ple and fun loving sportsmen and
women, all mixed up within a multi-
cultural society.
The university population dominates
the northern part of the city and the
students will give you the wild and
free spirited photos you may be seek-
ing if you catch them on a party day
(commonly called a cook off after the
location - the Captain Cook tavern)
when they dress up as characters
from cartoons and TV.
Sports is on the minds of many Dune-
dinites so if you’re passing through
on a Saturday or Sunday lookout for
thousands of people playing the vari-
ous and diverse winter or summer
sports in the area.
Also check out the local papers to see
what else is happening in Dunedin
this weekend. The Dunedin City
Council (dunedin.govt.nz) also has an
extensive listing of the arts and cul-
tural events on each day.
Staying longer in Dunedin then you
will find the province of Otago has
many wonderful photo ops all within
a short distance.
The tourist info office located in the
Octagon in the council buildings (it’s
beside the big clock tower - to the
left of the statue of Robbie Burns)
has an extensive selection of guide
books to help you plan your stay
here.
If you want to meet up as you pass
through Dunedin give us a call at my
email and I’ll gladly help you out with
ideas and locations to shoot from.
Dunedin has a strong Scottish heri-
tage and you will find this all across
the city, so come and experience
what is New Zealand s best kept se-
cret and remember to bring plenty of
memory space.
45
K aths stunning shot of a cowboy at the Outrum Rodeo shows how dangerous
this sport is, note his left arm which is trapped in the rope and as he has
fallen off on the wrong side of the bronco he has fractured his arm and at the
moment Kath shot this image was in a lot of pain.

46
47