Sydney Photographer

Travelling around France on a TGV is a great experience. It's spring time and the flowers are out, the fields are green (and yellow) and it's great to watch the French countryside fly past a train travelling at speeds over 300km per hour. We were travelling on the fast TGV train from Paris, France to Basel, Switzerland. I noticed her walking past at the platform but didn't think much except that she was pretty. Turned out she was in the same carriage. I noticed her sneaking a look at me on the reflection off the glass that held the luggage up above. When she looked away I took a quick photo. There is a larger version of the image above. Taken with a 50mm f1.4 prime lens.

I wanted to do another self portrait in addition to the "Superman" and the Business Suit self portrait photos. Instead of doing the formal setup with the dress and the studio setup, I wanted to capture the natural light of the environment as well as the spirit of an artist in action. The photo was taken with a 50mm f1.4 lens in my place of accommodation while in Basel, Switzerland.

Greetings from Florence, Italy! Florence, or to the locals "Firenze" is a small town compared to the large cities we visited in the past fortnight. We're staying near Stazione di Santa Maria Novella which is the main terminal train station here in Florence. I went for a walk around town yesterday and it only took an afternoon to walk and have a look at most of Firenze's Piazza's and Churches. The landscape photo above was taken from a lookout called Piazzale Michelangelo, and the photo is of Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore and its bell tower. Travelling from Paris which is full of wide boulevards to Florence, I find that this city is cosy (small streets), noisy (noise travels easily within these tight valleys of apartment buildings) and very touristy (So many tourists - and it's not peak season yet!).

Next stop - France. We took the leisurely route of catching a ferry from Dover, England to Calais, France then catching a train to Lille then transferring to a TGV for an hour long rise into Paris. I think I've done most of the things I wanted to see and do: seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum, scaled the Eiffel tower, went up to see the gargoyles at Notre Dame, walked around a Parisian Sunday markets. The above is a self portrait of me with the world famous Eiffel Tower in the background. Many tourists were taking the same view I was taking. The difference is that this "Portrait of a Parisian Tourist" is using a D-SLR, most tourists used a compact camera and I also used a portable studio configuration to get a different lighting effect. Since I only had one tripod which I used for the flash strobe, I had Peter (from the London portrait) taking the photo for my portrait.

First stop on my European trip was London. Visited the usual tourist sites in London: the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Hyde Park. I also went to see a Musical called Porgy and Bess which was based on the Gershwin's opera. Had a cheap lunch at a place called the Laughing Buddha at London's Chinatown, a big dish only cost £3.50. We had just come from the National Gallery and the Portrait gallery and I was inspired to produce the above photo. The portrait photo of Peter above was taken in Chinatown, London with a portable studio setup.

Family portraits can be taken anywhere. I took my portable studio along with me to Paris, France and took the photo above from Trocadero of my family. You too can take your family portrait anywhere in Sydney, from the comfort of your home to your backyard, your favourite park or your favourite scenic spot.

This photo is of "Kebab Club" located at the intersection of Smithfield Rd. and Elizabeth Drive in Bonnyrigg – located in the South Western Suburbs of Sydney. This photograph was taken on a rainy December night, the haze is a result of shooting through the wet glass. I have a copy of a different version of the same photo with my window rolled down, but it doesn't give the same effect as the photo of the kebab club above. Click on the photo for the larger version.

Interpret the photo whichever way you want. Be it the inspection of oneself, the feeling of being watched or that only you can decide who you are no one else... I just take the photos. This photo was taken as-is. No major photoshopping techniques - only cropping, turning it into black and white then sharpening was used. The photo was taken with just a handheld flash and an SLR. Have a look at the larger version.

I've been getting comments that my self portrait with the superman shirt looks photoshopped. Well, let me tell you: the shirt is real. I used two layers - One black and white as the top layer in photoshop and the second layer colour. I used an eraser to erase a portion to reveal the Superman colours.

GK Harvest came and went really fast. Congratulations on a successful event everyone! Great job GKOM! You can view the event photos at this gallery. GK Harvest is an event run by GK-Youth to promote Gawad Kalinga (English:"To Give Care") and showcase GK events and programs like Miss GK and GKYGAT. Photos from the GK Harvest gallery were taken with a Nikon D200 with 18-70mm and an Nikkor 85mm f1.8 lens.

Mum and I travelled to Melbourne last weekend to checkout a performance of Miss Saigon at Her Majesty's Theatre. We received free tickets to the dress rehearsal from a family friend who was in the cast - an offer hard to refuse.

Qantas jets parked at Melbourne Domestic Airport.