Photographer catches rock fishermen being swept off rock

Thanks to David Haworth who passed me this story.

A photographer called Glen Duffus was shooting some images at Maroubra of some rock fisherman, when he let rip with his motor drive and caught them being creamed by a huge wave.

Click here to read the story about this.

Click here to view his amazing series of photos of them being hit by the wave.

Brent

A Cool Trick for Nailing Colour Balance In RAW Conversion

Hey there folks

I just discovered what I think is a very useful little trick to help you nail your colour temperature settings when doing RAW conversions.  Not sure about you, but I find nailing colour correction a very challenging aspect of my post processing, so when I discovered this little trick by playing around I thought it was worth sharing with you.

It will definitely work with Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW, but I can’t see any reason why it won’t work with any Raw converter.

Normally I think that most people work down their RAW conversion process in order of the controls (ie. get colour balance right first, then exposure,  blacks etc.)

So here’s my trick…

Before  you start your colour balance adjustment, go down and crank your vibrance setting up to maximum.

This acts like an amplifier dramatically amplifying any colour cast in your image.  Now you can make colour balance adjustments which will also be amplified.  It is WAY WAY WAY simpler to optimise your colour balance adjustment.  Then when you have done your temperature and tint adjustments, reduced  your vibrance back to neutral and continue your raw conversion in your normal manner.

I’ve only tested this on a couple of images, but it seems to work like a treat.

Is this not a very cool little trick?

Enjoy your week

Brent

Canyon X – First Photos

Hey folks

I hope you have been enjoying the Canyon X series on my blog.  Here are some of my first images.  They will give you just a taste of the photographic opportunities.  There are plenty of photographic opportunities as you walk up and down the coast.  Click on the images to see larger versions.

This shot was taken directly above the blowhole looking South East.  You can see the gorgeous rock lines and colours easily in this image.  The blowhole has this very cool sunken pit that sucks right out and then blows back full of water.  When the surf is reasonable, this place is very safe to shoot from, you can see plenty of raised rocks and ledges well out of the water.

This shot was taken more from the South and lookign due North.  You can see the shelf clearly in this shot and the cliff face on the left.

Great view of the gorgeous cliffs and rock shelf.  If you look closly at the cliff on the right hand side, you will see one of the two ropes that you decend.  The second rope is just around the corner out of sight and is used to ascend/descend that very flat bit of cliff above the rope that you see there.

You can clearly see the blowhole back through the cliff in this shot.

Brent

Canyon X – Check out the video

Hey there thrill seekers,

Well here’s your first peek at the new photographic location that I have nick-named Canyon X.  Photos will come in a few more days, but I know some of you are curious about this great new spot that I have found.  I’m still in the midst of shooting this location (weather hasn’t been kind of late), so once I feel as though i have got some half-decent shots, I will publish the location and even guide some of you guys down there so that you can enjoy it as well.

Now this location is not for everyone…. it is not like strolling down the beach of Turrimetta or even bounding over the rocks of Whale Beach.   As you will see from the video, you have to descend a very big cliff on a fisherman’s track using ropes in a couple of places.   I wouldn’t call the path dangerous (I’m going to take my 8 year old son down on the weekend),  however it does require extreme caution.   It is very very exhilarating! If you turn around and talk while descending you could walk off a cliff… literally.

This morning I tried to shoot at Canyon X but the wind was howling so much that I didn’t dare attempt the cliff descent.

Enjoy the video, I look forward to your comments.

Brent