Now and Then Workshop with Luke Wong

Whilst on a break from studies, I signed up to do a free workshop with ABC Open.  The workshop was run by Luke Wong a Producer for ABC Open.  The workshop was based on their current Now and Then series.  

"Now and Then: Series 2 is a photography project first inspired by the flickr group, Looking Into the Past, which uses a technique that's become hugely popular around the world. By holding a historical image in its present day location and rephotographing it, you can create a window into past events and the lives of people who've stood on the same ground as you.  They originally launched Now and Then: Series 1 in October 2010 and were flooded by over 1000 contributions from all around Australia."

The brief was: 

"Bathurst's iconic Mount Panorama race track turns 50 this year!

To highlight the occasion, the National Motor Racing Museum has kindly provided some historic photographs to use for the Now and Then project.

Come hold up a window into the past and discover the drama that unfolded at the finish line in years gone by.

See the dramatic change of pit lane and some of the classic cars that once roared down the straight."

At 9.45 am I rocked up with my Nikon D5100 DSLR with tripod in tow.  Ready to learn more about my camera.  Luke supplied Canons for the rest of the attendee's.  The day was sunny with not a cloud in sight although by the end of the session we had cloud cover and the temperature was a tad chillier.

During the session we practiced using our knowledge of depth of field, shutter speed and ISO camera settings.  Luke was on hand to help us as we trudged up and down the Pit Straight finding the right spot to take our photo's.  He also took photos of us and did a quick interview at the end to each of the participating attendees.  Luke was awesome.  He also took us back to the National Motor Racing Museum, where he set up his laptop and showed us how best to edit our RAW images using ABOBE's Lightroom.  We then uploaded the photos to Flicker ready for the story behind the photo by the manager of the museum.  Currently found here:  Now and Then 2 ABC Open Mt Panorama Pit Straight

Advanced Features of Computer Applications

These images were created using Actions in Photoshop.  Actions are a series of commands that you can play back on a single file.  For example, you can create an action that applies an Image Sixe command to change the size of an image, followed by an Unsharp mask, filter that resharpens the detail, and a save command to save the file in a desired format.

Actions are like macros and are shortcuts.  Below are the results of playing around with pre-made Actions and ones we had to make up for class.

Operate Computer Packages

Work done in class using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator CS5. A lot of my work got corrupted when my uSB drive died.  I rescued about 90% of the files but not all the ones I
Teacher:  Simon Fraser

Using Layers in Photoshop

Using the Gradient Tool in Photoshop

A logo created in Illustrator

Using Actions in Photoshop

Using the Pen Tool in Illustrator

Using the Paint Bucket Tool Photoshop

Creating Basic Shapes in Illustrator

Created in Photoshop

North Park - Scene 4

Added another scene to my animation last night.  I must need a life if I am wanting to spend my evening playing around with my animation.

ABC Photo Skills Workshop

To keep myself busy during the TAFE holidays, I am attending an ABC Open photo skills workshop, to be held at Mount Panorama.  


Bathurst's Mount Panorama turns 50 this year and the National Motor Racing Museum has kindly provided some historic photographs from bygone races to use for this project.


See link:


ABC OPEN Skills workshop


I will also be visiting the Bathurst Camera Club.  It is the last meeting for the financial year, which is their print competition and I will be able to see how they use these nights to help people gain impact in their photographs, and then go on to develop their own style if they wish to do so.


Other than that I will be taking pictures of my one year old grandson, whom I am meeting for the first time when the whole family come down from Belgium to visit us all for the month of July.  I will be making many weekend visits to Sydney.  We will be celebrating his first birthday with a party and then later in the month attending younger daughters engagement party.

The Toyminator - World Premier

Here it is!!

Finally The Toyminator is here and has been released for your viewing!!

My Animation

I finished my animation and I am quite proud of what I did, even if it is simple, I am getting the basic concepts of creating my own animation.  My teacher for this subject is Luke Aguirre.

I called it North Park since it is similar to South Park and in no way did I use South Park images.  It is made up of my artwork and images imported from other sites that were free to use.

Random Picture

A friend called asking me to take a picture of the back of my TV and set top box as they were having problems getting a friends setup.  I kinda liked the result of one of them so here it is:

Final 12 Bathurst & Surround Cemeteries

These are the final selections from the many images I took documenting cemeteries in Bathurst and surrounding districts.

Below are my final images:

Bathurst Cemetery

Georges Plains Cemetery

She was only 2 hours old

Rockley (Jumpers Flat) Cemetery

Sofala Cemetery

Abandoned, Cold, Bleak

Wattle Flats Cemetery

Setting Sun

Taken at Bathurst Cemetery

Wattle Flat Cemetery

The Fosters!

Travelling north from Bathurst, on the way to Sofala, you will pass through Wattle Flat.  There is an old stone church on the main road and here you can take the 'Buurree (Wattle) Walking Trail' which is a leisurely 3 hour stroll where you will see ruins and remnants of the goldrush era, as well as local fauna and flora.

I found two cemeteries at Wattle Flat but one intrigues me more than the other as it was run down and over grown.  There is an old church on the site but have no clue of its denomination.  This cemetery was not on the list of cemeteries maintained by Bathurst Regional Council. It is located at Wattle Flats behind a disused church.  I am thinking it could be Church of England/Anglican.    


I was told recently that a lady had converted the church into an art studio with a bed and a kitchenette.  Apparently she was a bit of an oddity as a character.

Originally a farming area and located 34km north of Bathurst, Wattle Flat became a thriving gold town in 1855, when gold was discovered in the area. The population soared during this time to some 40,000 miners. The town was centered around 5 hotels, 2 stores, 2 schools, a Church of England and a Catholic church.

Today Wattle Flat is a beautiful country village with distinguished old huts and cottages as well as many historic mines and diggings. Sensational flora and fauna are features of the area with comfortable accommodation all within a stone’s throw.

Sofala

For those who don't know Sofala, it is a historic town located 46 kms north of Bathurst.  It is Australia's oldest surviving gold rush town, set in an idyllic location beside the pretty Turon River.  Sofala came into existence as a direct result of the goldrush which had been precipitated when Edward Hargraves discovered gold at Summerhill Creek on 12 February, 1851. By 1853 the town was little more than 'wood huts or as they term them shingle, weatherboard, houses and tents. There were many tents scattered along the river.'  The fortune of the town was all too brief. By May 1854 there were less than 500 diggers on the field and by 1855, with new gold discoveries occurring at Wattle Flat, Sofala was in decline.

Court House

 

Painted on a gate

Turon River after flooding earlier in the year

Turon River again showing the ravages of flood