Wedding and Portrait Photography

Thank to all who have provided feedback on my new website. All of you seem to prefer the new uncluttered look and I have made several minor changes based upon your comments.

I have received lots of positive comments from people all over the world (don’t you just love the Interwebs) and look forward to pushing my business further with this tool.

After a week or so offline the website is back up with a fresh look.

Although quite uncomfortable with the title I have recently had the honour of being a “Guest Guru” at the photography tutorial website fiveminutephotographer.com.

“If your vision is to create beautiful, dynamic and inspiring images with your camera, the Five Minute Photographer makes it easy.

Our series of five minute photography tutorials will show you how dynamic images are made using simple techniques and equipment. In five minutes you will learn imaging techniques and principles that will change forever how you take pictures. Our forums will help you get online with photographers from all over the world. Read our informative articles on many aspects of photography. New photo tutorials and articles are being added regularly by renowned photographer, Shelton Muller.”

Last week I was contacted and was honoured to be asked to contribute a five minute tutorial video to the website. My video on “How to photograph your first wedding” was uploaded to the site last night and I look forward to hearing from the members.

James, a member of fiveminutephotographer.com posted a great comment about a photographer that inspired him, Joe Bussink. Joe has been an inspiration of mine for many years now and i aspire to on day meetng the man and thanking him for all he has done for my vision and approach.

My (edited for clarity) reply is below.

“He (Joe) is the master of capturing “moments” and I too have looked at him in awe for many a year now. I was first bought to his attention when he was endorsing Aperture for Apple.

His way of thinking is superb. Although he could nail an exposure bindfolded if he had to, he is very much a fan of the equipment he uses. I heard a lecture he gave online once and he says (I’m paraphrasing) “When you shoot like I shoot you have not got the time to be in Manual. Your cameras are fantastic pieces of technology. I shoot in P for professional. I trust my gear”.

I pointed this out to this “person” I come accross on a forum once (not here of course I love you guys!) who was spouting that only amatures shoot in P. He said (and I quote) “People like me and Joe Buissink shoot in Manual, all the time”.

He was not pleased when I provided the link to the episode.

Joe gave one lesson which I adhere to every day of my life. “You want to capture great moments? You have to train yourself to find great moments and recognise them when you see them.” I now do what he does. As I walk around (even without a camera. If I see something that would make a great moment I click my fingers or say “click”. That gets the body in tune with the mind so they act as a cohesive photographic solution.

Joe is a great man who loves his job. He has had three heart attacks in the last two years and now relies on another photographer to do the “posed” photographs whilst he lurks in the background capturing moments. He says he prefers this as people come up and ask for a photo so he points them to his partner and says “He’s the photogapher, I’m just helping”

If you ever get a chance to hear him talk either in person or online, let me know because I wanna be there. “

I’d love to hear who inspires you and why? Please leave a comment below.

1/365v2 Hello, my name is Richard, originally uploaded by RXAphotos.

Once again I am going to attempt to take a self portrait every day for a year. Why? I do not know.

Today I gained three items and handed over one.

I now have a Nikon D300 camera which I am already waiting to try out on someone. I may have an interested party tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed. The camera is a big step up from my two D200’s and the preview monitor has to be seen to be believed.

In order to get the following I traded in one of my Nikon D200 cameras. The good news is I got the exact same amount as what I paid for it in August this year.

I got the MB-D10 battery grip for the D300 as without it my cameras feel like toys. By using rechargeable AA lithium batteries (as well as the camera’s internal battery) I can blast away at 8 fames per second.

And finally a new lens joins the others in my bag. The Sigma 10-20 4-5.6 wide angle. This is a great lens and will be used heavily at my Wedding and Trash the Dress sessions.

The following photographs were taken with the above combination on a walk around the block at home. All images are straight out of camera and not edited apart from resizing for the blog.

Today was a beautiful day to spend with a beautiful family. We spent the afternoon taking a few photos of the kids and then Mum and Dad got a go. We finished of with a few group shots before we called it quits.

Here are a couple of quick images from the shoot.

I look forward to hearing your reactions to the photos and thanks for holding my flashes kids!

On a side note these images were quickly processed with the help of Gavin Seims Lightroom Power Presets. I’ve been a fan of these for ages and have just got hold of them. He also has some Photoshop effects he has done which I will also be getting. Go check out his stuff!

If you haven’t already, come and join the RXAphotography group on Facebook to receive monthly specials.

This months special is 15% off the basic package fee for any wedding booked* in October.

* Retainer paid.