Delicious products from the Bruny Island Cheese Company are available for purchase in Australia through The Cheese Club.

Why join a professional body such as the ACMP?

There are multiple reasons for joining professional organisations. In the case of the ACMP, for my style and genre of photography it makes the most sense, since I shoot commercial projects for media including magazines, reports, books, journals and news articles.

A professional body can be a good networking tool, allowing you to meet other photographers and share knowledge. Sadly, due to my location there are no events that take place in Tasmania that are hosted by the ACMP, but I do attend events when I’m in Sydney.

Lastly, membership can also be a vehicle for promoting work to potential clients. A small body of work is visible on their site with links to my website, so perhaps I will even win some new business. We will see…

We interviewed and photographed politicians, corporate executives and the public for a piece that we posted today for Love in Action website. Click here to read more and view the gallery of images from the evening below.

The protest video is to support and promote the Arts Freedom Australia Rally on Sunday 29 August 2010 in Sydney. Check out details here.

The Exploring Photography workshop consisted of a 2 hour classroom session on Friday evening which took place at photographic retail store, Foto Riesel in the heart of Sydney. Saturday started with the sunrise at 6 am, a photo-walk and an opportunity to shoot architecture including the Opera House and the contrast between the old Federation houses and modern skyscrapers, candid observational shots of people, and the dramatic flora in the Botanical Gardens.

If you would like to attend a photographic workshop with Stu Harris, then sign-up to the newsletter and you’ll be kept in touch with news of upcoming courses.

Following the sunrise tomorrow, we’ll be taking a walk along the Sydney shoreline and capturing some candid shots of people going about their day.

I look forward to sharing the sunrise with you online tomorrow. Whatever the will of the weather.

1. Shoot a daily photo. Something, anything, inside your own backyard.

For example, check out Aquabumps. Ok, perhaps an extreme example, but you’ve gotta start somewhere. Aquabumps was set up by Eugene Tan, he sets out to shoot a daily photo of life at Bondi Beach and post it the daily photo to Facebook where, as of this morning, 11,835 other fans like their page. That’s one way of a) getting out and shooting and b) sharing your passion for photography.

2. Shoot a personal project. Something that is really personal to you. It might be an ongoing project or something you travel to shoot.

Two examples. I’ve been shooting photos of cool looking doors and windows now for more than a decade! Whenever I see another cool one, snap, I shoot it. A bit of fun, and I use whatever camera I have with me at the time.

Or, how about Love in Action. My recent photo documentary book. It started out as a personal project and has been one of the catalysts for leaving my 15 year career and shooting full time again.

Last plug before the workshop starts tomorrow. Come along to the Exploring Photography Workshop in Sydney. It’s just 2 hours on Friday night, and all day shooting on Saturday. You’ll have a great time.

Go for it. Get out and shoot something today.

If you live in Sydney then you really have no excuse for allowing your camera to gather so much dust as it sits on the shelf in your wardrobe! Think about the beautiful new and old architecture, the interesting people getting on and off Sydney ferries. The folks commuting to work. The beautiful landscape along the Northern Beaches. The surfers. The many forested parks. There has been quite a bit of rain lately, what about the waterfalls in those parks or the dams, have they filled up? People running up and down the esplanade in the morning to keep fit. There is so much to photograph.

If you’re still struggling then you really must come on my photographic workshop this weekend. We will be shooting the sunrise over beautiful Sydney Harbour, going for a photo walk through the city and then shooting the wildlife and nature in the Botanical Gardens. Register today, and we look forward to seeing you.

Today’s post is all about technique. What is the best lens to use?

This depends on what you’re shooting. The basics… Go wide if you’re shooting a landscape of architecture (24-28mm), ultrawide for effects (14-17mm) standard (50-85mm) for shooting portraits, macro (35-105mm) for close-ups and telephoto (70mm+) for bringing the subject closer to you when your legs are not appropriate or going to help. (Please note that the numbers in brackets are not the specifications of a particular lens, but the range of focal length)

My objective for todays post is to talk about the importance of good lens selection. If you’ve ever asked my advise about equipment then you’ll have heard my standard answer, which is, if you’re budget sensitive, spend more on the lenses and less on the camera body. Camera manufacturers usually have 2 or 3 versions of the same focal length lens. Apart from cost, there are usually 2 main differences between these lenses. The maximum aperture available and the size/quality of the glass. These 2 factors are related. Put simply, the larger the aperture the larger the amount of glass required and therefore the more light that can get into the camera and the lower light that that lens will allow you to shoot in. The additional benefit of shooting a larger aperture, especially with portraiture, is that you can achieve a shallower depth-of-field i.e. a soft, out of focus background. Going a level simpler still… the smaller the f number the larger the diameter of the aperture. For example, Canon manufacture 3 different 50mm lenses, and these are available at 3 very different prices:

• 50mm f1.8, AU$129
• 50mm F1.4, AU$599
• 50mm F1.2, AU$2,099

The incremental difference between each f-stop is relatively very small, but the difference in lens quality and size, and therefore image result is quite radical. So is the price, but just as I stated earlier, spend more on the lens, less on the body, and the results will be better. Obviously you will still need to work on composition, so this isn’t a short cut to taking great shots. You’ve still got to get out and shoot.

I’ve delivered a tonne of talks at schools and universities around Australia about technology and more recently about the use of technology with regards to stills and moving pictures. Just when I think I’ve struck a chord with my audience I’m suddenly hit with the reality that these guys are a lot younger than me and the digital age, as young as it is, is moving at such a pace that many of the people listening to me have probably never shot film before. Better still, I’m soon reminded that the brilliance of youth is that sometimes their lack of experience free’s them up to try out new things, break the rules, experiment, shoot and deliver some of the most creative ideas.

Let’s not get stuck in a hole and lust over the next coolest gadget, instead get out and shoot. The camera in your phone for example maybe the only camera you have with you when you’re out and you see something amazing, something worth sharing. I’ve recently started to post my favourite iPhone photo’s to my Flickr post. For other inspirational ideas check out Chase Jarvis and his great iPhone App, Best Camera.