Photo News:

Spring has sprung - well for those of us who live in the southern hemisphere, as we do here at the kennel. However, the bulbs in the garden are only starting to shoot as we’ve had a particularly cold winter.

To all the Dad’s out there, we hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day yesterday starting with breakfast in bed and being spoilt all day. The winner of our Father’s Day $100.00 Bluedog 'top-up voucher' was Andrew. Congratulations Andrew and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Some of you may remember we were contacted by Getaway as they were very interested in our workshops, special events and tours and they asked if they could come and film us for a couple of hours. Well we said yes and had some fun with the crew along the Brisbane River and they phoned us late last week and we’ll be airing (as now) on the 15th November across 67 countries. This is truly a special privilege and we thank you all of those that suggested us – though we must admit some of us are a bit worried about being on TV.

Last month we held our first Reptile session at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and it was loads of fun. We did more than photograph reptiles, with a white lipped tree frog making an appearance and since we know not all of you like snakes (like some of us) we’ll spare you the grief of seeing any of the snake images. We would like to say a special thanks here to Rory and the crew at Currumbin. Our reptile and bird sessions are exclusive behind the scenes sessions to allow us a wonderful opportunity to capture amazing and even saleable images.

We also returned to Fraser Island – still one of our favourite places on Earth for photography - and the Gods of Fraser once again smiled upon us favourably. Everything was perfect: rain just before we did our rainforest shoot, wonderful cloud formations for our day along the beach, fabulous company and fun times. We look forward to returning next year - the dates already been released!

"I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. It was an excellent way to see varied aspects of the island, without the hassle of driving, and with two knowledgeable guides who maximised the photographic opportunities and gave good advice on how to improve my photography. I particularly appreciated the fact that we had plenty of time at each location to experiment with different angles, subject matter and camera settings. It was a bonus to have comfortable accommodation and good food and friendship along the way."
From Judith on our 2011 Fraser Island Tour

On a professional note we have kept on in there despite harder times being experienced by a few of our team especially on a personal note. Life and experiences make us stronger and we certainly see that on our weekly Facebook Challenge with the weekly entries showing continued improvement for those that set themselves the weekly task. This is all thanks to the continued and grateful support from Gerard and the team at Photo Planet – thanks guys we here at Bluedog and all our FB members really appreciate your support.

And while we are on the discussion of Facebook, already the members are busily organising an event out on the 10th December.  It should be fun and we’ve marked it in our diary as a must attend.

Before then though we have another Tamborine Mountain Weekend Retreat at the end of September. These are designed especially for what you want to cover and we'll be holding a Beginner on the Friday for those who are travelling. We look forward to welcoming you all soon to the mountain and home of Queensland's oldest National Park!

New for Spring 2011 is a one day Photoshop Workshop with Julie Martin! We will be running the first at the Tamborine Mountain Studio on the 25th September and another on the 7th October in Toowoomba. And also to celebrate Spring: book and pay for any two workshops at the same time during Spring (September, October and November) and receive a 10% discount of both! (Does not apply to our Special Events due to venue hire, handler fees etc - sorry).

Also, if you are thinking of joining us on our Vanuatu Tour next year, a few tutors are looking at doing trips to some of the outer islands including Tanna and its volcano, Santo (great for diving) and Pentecost famous for the land diving. If you are interested in joining us then please contact us with your expression of interest as we are well into our planning!

So as Christmas draws near, did anyone say just how many more days till Santa arrives? Have you cleaned out your chimney and what are your plans for 2012? Well we’ll be continuing on developing and introducing new workshops for you while enjoying the wonderful world of photography. For those that are missing the Straddie Photoshop tutorials with Julie, they will be repeated in a one day workshop on the 25th September!

And don’t forget with Halloween falling on a Monday this year our annual Halloween shoot will be held on Sunday the 30th October – it’s always such a great night. There will be a prize again for the best dressed on the night!

Till next time keep those fingers clicking and enjoy your photography!

Danielle had some fun with the Surfing Scientist and photographing explosions last month.

Are you game enough to join me for Halloween?

With the recent rains it's looking good these little fellows may be back in time for our weekend retreat at the end of this month.

Please remember, we keep setting dates as allows with the professional commitments of the tutors so check our web site calendar page for continuing updates.
If there is something special or a date you would like a workshop on please contact us as we are happy to attempt to do this for you and as
our workshop sizes are kept very small this is often achievable.

Bluedog's Product Review

Lowepro launches yet another series this time in shoulder bags! 

The Compact Courier Series (70 and 80 models)
The latest new range of shoulder camera bags from Lowpro are modern and smart looking, lightweight, flexible and snug fitting yet truly protective and provide an inventive, flexible way to keep your camera safe and within easy reach.
Designed for compact camera systems, features on both Compact Courier 70 and 80  models include padded interiors to help protect camera from impact, brushed tricot lining to safeguard from dust and scratches; an easy access memory card pocket,  microfiber lens and screen cleaning cloth,  extra-wide opening as well as a detachable and adjustable shoulder strap and belt loop for comfort and carrying convenience.
Available in two models in Grey (with Arctic blue piping)and Black (with Red piping).

Compact 70: RRP: $49.00 and available in stores now
Compact 80:RRP: $52.00 and available in stores now

Compact Courier Series 70 and 80 in Black

Compact Courier Series 80 in Grey

August means new camera announcements!
August is predominately the month when camera manufacturers announce new arrivals - all in time for Christmas shopping and August 2011 was no exception.

Nikon went right into the point-and-shoots: Coolpix P7100; Coolpix AW100; Coolpix S1200pi; Coolpix S8200; Coolpix S6200 and Coolpix S100. The AW100 is Nikon’s first rugged point-and-shoot camera — waterproof, freeze proof and shockproof with 16 megapixel backside illuminated CMOS sensor.

Canon announced its release of three new PowerShot Digital cameras that capture beautiful still images and great high-definition video: The PowerShot SX150 IS, the PowerShot ELPH 510 HS (the world's thinnest digital camera with 12x optical zoom and a 28mm wide-angle lens) and the PowerShot ELPH 310 HS.

Each camera is equipped with features such as impressive zoom, a new Intelligent Image Stabilization (IS) system, Smart AUTO with 32 shooting scenes, High-Speed Burst mode and HD video capture. The ELPH 510 HS and ELPH 310 HS Digital cameras also include Canon's renowned HS SYSTEM to handle shooting in low light.

Photo Trivia: Colour Photography Turns 150

Back in 1861 a physicist named James Clerk Maxwell and a photographer named Thomas Sutton captured the first ever colour image. It's a shot of a coloured ribbon and it's as basic as you might expect.

The work that Maxwell did has been used in nearly every photographic application to date and forever changed the way we take and view pictures.

Interestingly, the initial process involved three black and white photographs, each taken through a red, green, or blue filter. The photos were turned into lantern slides and projected in registration with the same colour filters. This is the "colour separation" method.

The yellow slide, apparently was never used in the final photo.

Right: The colour image produced by Maxwell and Sutton in 1861

Right: A circa 1850 "Hillotype" photograph of a coloured engraving. Long believed to be a complete fraud, recent testing found that Levi Hill's process did reproduce some colour photographically, but also that many specimens had been "sweetened" by the addition of hand-applied colours.