How was your weekend? The weather is finely starting to look like Spring here in Perth. Bring it on!
Last weekend I did some wandering around the Perth Hills and managed to capture this shot. I’m pretty happy with it. What do you think of it?
Thanks,
Jamie
http://jamiepaterson.com.au
The other night I realised it was a no moon night so it was probably a great idea to head out into the bush to try and capture some Milky Way shots. The only issue was a large storm front was also due to hit the area that night. The sky looked clear so I decided to hit the road anyway and give it a go.
The further inland I went the more I realised I was going to have to be extremely lucky to get the shot I wanted. Well Lady Luck was on my side and I managed to capture a great shot just before it started to pour down. I did have my sway out but within 5mins it was rolled up and in the back of the car. 3.5hrs later I had a great shot and I was snuggled up in my warm bed. A perfect night of star photography!
Thanks,
Jamie
I just love Rottnest Island, its great in Summer but I believe even better in Winter. You still get amazing scenes like this but you get it all to yourself. We Western Australians are so lucky to have a place like Rottnest Island on our doorstep.
As many of you know I’ve been to Hawaii many times, its a stunning a place in this world, however, I easily rate Rottnest much high than Hawaii. You’ve got easy access to some of the cleanest beaches in the world at Rottnest some of them only minutes outside the settlement. Want to see all of them in one day? Then jump on the amazing Bay Seeker bus service. You can buy a ticket and hop on and off the bus all day at any location you want. It’s such a great service.
We were also really impressed with the great playgrounds for our kids. The boys spent hours just playing around in those playgrounds which gave us some quiet time as well. What more could parents ask for?
If you’re looking for a quick break from it all, you should definitely head on over to Rottnest during Winter. Its easily one of Perth’s best kept secrets.
Thanks,
Jamie
One of my great childhood memories is of being able to sit down at Deepwater Point and being able to see the Milky Way clearly. Its a lot more difficult now to get the same view of the stars unless you’re willing to do a little travel. If you are you’ll still be rewarded with an amazing Milky Way spectacle.
I drove about 2.5hrs East to capture this shot on a night when the car was reading -3 degrees Celsius. Ouch it was cold! This was shot two weeks ago, and one of the best things about shooting in Winter is that you’ll get this sort of view at 7pm onwards. So I didn’t have to stay up too late for this shot. Always a good thing when you hear Dingos howling nearby. I managed to capture the shots I wanted and be in bed safe from the Dingos by 9pm.
It was a successful trip and I can’t wait to head out there again. This place was really interesting and I’m pretty sure I could spend the entire daytime shooting here as well.
What do you think of when you look at the stars?
Thanks,
Jamie
I love the amazing colours of the water in this shot. You can even see swirls of sand in the water caused by its fast movement.
I’ve been up to Broome a few times now and this is the first time I had to chance to fly into Broome via Roebuck Bay and I was really impressed. You can see miles of beautiful Mangroves and it all looks so healthy. I bet there are a few massive mud crabs hiding in there!
Have you tried capturing photos out of a plane? How did they turn out?
Thanks,
Jamie
Life is always full of surprises isn’t? I decided to head out to take a photo on this particular night for no other than reason than to just relax and wind down. It had been a busy week and I certainly didn’t expect the sunset to be spectacular at all.
How wrong was I? It built up slowly taking at least 20 minutes to work up to its full intensity. People who were running along the river stopped to admire how beautiful it was. People driving past pulled over to the side of the road and hopped out of their cars to take snapshots, it was that beautiful.
The reflections were my favourite part of this shot. What about yours? On another note, I’ve been shooting this spot for 18mths and its the first time I’ve managed to get the shot I wanted. Patience and persistence in photography always pays off.
This along with my other photos is up for sale.
Thanks,
Jamie Paterson
Perth sunsets can be absolutely amazing especially during summer where they often an intense bright red and last for ages. This was one of those sunsets that looked like it was never going to eventuate into anything but then surprised me by being one of the best I’d seen in years.
It just goes to show as always that if you aren’t there you won’t get the shot, so make sure you head out no matter what. I’m actually really surprised that no families were out on this evening. Normally on a evening like this I would expect to see families sitting on the grass with their fish and chips and the kids splashing in the water soaking up the last warm sunshine for the days. I guess no one else expected it to be an awesome evening either.
Where is your favourite part of the river?
Thanks,
Jamie
Art like life is a reflection on the amount of effort we put into it. The more effort we put into our art the better we get at it. Its quite often that simple!
I’d been shooting for six months and was wondering just why I wasn’t getting the sorts of photographs that others were getting. It was consuming me, why wasn’t I able to consistently capture great sunsets and sunrises?
Fortunately, I had my first light bulb moment soon after. It came to me via a discussion with a fellow photographer, we’d both headed down to Dunsborough in Western Australia to attend a course by Christian Fletcher. I wanted to improve my seascape photography and the other photographer wanted to learn how to stitch larger images together.
Well, here comes the light bulb moment. It took me 2.5hrs to drive from Perth to Dunsborough whereas it took the other photographer 7hrs. I just laughed and asked if he walked down. Well the joke was on me, after the course I drove back up to my house and check out his website. It had stunning image after stunning image on it. I was totally blown away!
Finally, I realised that I needed to spend more time actually taking photos. The more photos I took the higher my chances of being in the right place at the right time increased. So since that moment I’ve dedicated as much time as possible chasing that illusive magic light and guess what? My images improved out of sight.
So…. art like life is a reflection on the amount of effort we put into it.
What was your light bulb moment?
Thanks,
Jamie Paterson
Weekly Photography Challenge::
Every week I try to set myself a photographic challenge to make sure I don’t become complacent with my photography. Something that will help me extend myself either with my camera, photoshop, business skills or artistic vision.
This week I’m going off to the State Art museum to look at landscape paintings from the late 1800s to study how the masters back then used light and detail to their advantage. These guys were amazing at ensuring your eye fell to exactly where they wanted it and in being able to tell a story with a single image. Its a lesson I’m sure many of us could and should learn.
What do you do to extend yourself?
Thanks,
Jamie
Its been an amazing and fantastic year! There was a trip to Hawaii in October and I have another planned in the next few weeks. I’ve had trips down in the Great Southern and up North and out East as well. Mostly by myself but also with some special people such as Paul Pichugin. Photography is a long and challenging journey and this year has certainly been challenging artistically. I’ve tried to push myself so much further than before and I think its starting to pay dividends.
I hope each and everyone of you have an amazing and most importantly safe holiday season and I look forward to catching up with you all in 2013 either out there on the beach or at one of my two exhibitions!
Thanks,
Jamie Paterson