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Sometimes the simplest things done for the people you care about mean more than anything else. . .Some friends of mine just brought their gorgeous little girl, Koko, into the world and I thought it might be nice to put together a short little clip for them to keep and put with the rest of the home movies.

It’s nothing amazing from a cinematography point of view, but that’s not really what this was about. . .That’s why I’m not going to crap on about how I shot this, what lenses I used and all the usual stuff.

In fact I debated whether or not to even post this here, but in the end I decided I would just to share this message. If you get the chance go out and shoot something for a friend or a family member, just go out and do it. This is the kind of stuff that people will still be watching and cherishing 50 years from now.

Life. . .it’s a beautiful thing. . .

Enjoy!

The new camera shine has rubbed off the Canon 5DMKII and I’m now quite partial to shooting with both it and the Canon 7D on the same shoot. It’s not always practical, but there has been instances where using the tilt shift and the macro on the 7D, as well as the overcranking capability have really added to a production. Having the two bodies effectively gives each lens another look and use due to the crop factor of the Canon 7D. So very happy on the front, now if they’d just bring out a full frame 7D with all the Canon 5DMKII audio perks, I’d be pumped!

Anyway, enough about that for now, here’s a quick rundown on what’s coming to Highdefedition.com over the next few weeks. . .

The LumoPro LP160 Review
A new all manual speedlight from Midwest Photo Exchange in the good ‘ol US of A.

The good folks at Midwest Photo Exchange (lovingly known as MPEX) were kind enough to supply us with one of these beasty flashes for review. I’ve been using it exclusively as a slave, which fires by way of it’s amazingly sensitive optical trigger every time it see’s another flash, but there are three other methods of triggering it, hotshoe, PC and a mini jack. So far I’ve been really impressed with it’s simplistic operation and considerable power. It produces a flash almost as bright as the Canon 580EX II, it’s just about a fraction of a stop less. It’s a huge improvement over it’s predecessor and once I’ve had a little more time with it, I’ll be putting a story about it here. If you just can’t wait, check out the MPEX web store for yourself, I’d have to say at this stage, for the price, you can’t go wrong.

Sigma 50mm f1.4 EX DG HSM Lens Review
A great inexpensive prime lens for your full frame or crop camera.

I just got my grubby little mits on one of these this week, by way of a not-so-great experience with Australian retailer, Dirt Cheap Camera’s. Negative experience aside, the lens is very nice and a great upgrade from the tried, tested and much loved Canon 50mm f1.8 II that I had. For the price it’s very hard to justify the extra expenditure to go up to the Canon 50mm f1.2L, I should have some nice footage to illustrate that.

Filmtools Car Mount for the 5D & 7D
A 3 suction cup car mount rig – One sucker for the body, 2 suckers for the triangulation kit to stop the shake.

This is not set in stone yet, I am looking seriously at getting hold of one of these, but cannot source one at the moment, due to their being no stock. It’s unfortunate as otherwise I would have had it weeks ago and would have been able to elaborate on it in this very post. I’ll keep you posted as things develop on this front. Make sure you keep an eye on the twitter feed and the Facebook page for the good news.

That’s about it for now guys, I did say it would be a quick one. . .if there’s anything out there you’ve had some fun shooting, throw us a link on Facebook or Twitter and show us what you’ve been up to. . .If you haven’t got anything to show, get out and bloody shoot something!

Until then. . .

It’s not because nothing has been happening either, just that things have incredibly busy. So as I see the schedule for this week looking a little on the quiet side, I have begun thinking about what I need to catch up on over here. There’s a couple of things I want to get stuck into on the site this week. . .

• The Canon TS-E 17mm F/4L – Why have I fallen in love with this Tilt Shift lens. . .
• Mooloolaba Triathlon Video Clip
• A more serious look at the Canon 5DMKII now that I’ve been using it solidly since it came in.
• House – The Season Finale was shot on a 5DMKII. Is it the validation of DSLR Cinematography many advocates hunger for? Is it a sign of the economic times? It’s hard to say. . .
• Macbook Pro Core i7 – First Impressions

That’s a pretty ambitious to do list, if I get through half of it, I’ll be happy! Perhaps the arrival of a new notebook with a battery power duration of over 15 minutes will be more conducive to writing blog posts after hours on the couch. Fingers crossed for that one!

More coming very soon. . .Watch this space!

So desperate I'm taking shots with my iPhone. Come on SUN!!!!

I am hanging. . .

Like, flat out hanging for a hit maaaan! It’s been that bloody long since I was out in the sunshine having a great time shooting, I almost forget what it’s like. It’s a sad feeling.

I know I could go out and shoot some really morose, rainy, boring footage and peddle it off as ‘arty’ but there’s enough bloggers doing that kind of crap around the place. It’s depressing!

It’s a waiting game though and it seems we’ll be waiting a while. There have been rather decent storms complete rain and floods, gale force winds (with rain in them) and a hell of a lot of clouds. It’s uninspiring weather at the best of times and even though the surf has been big it’s so windy and rainy, there’s not much going on out there to shoot.

But what’s been going on? Well, the Glidetrack is going well. It’s alot of fun but I do get over having it on the tripod all the time. It adds weight and makes the whole thing pretty unwieldy. I am getting much more used to it and it’s already paid for itself. I love the shoulder mount function and use it quite a bit, takes out that horrible minute shake that seems to introduce some terrible jello. It’s also been great for using for Aerials, I straight up would not have been able to get some of the shots I got last time I went up without it.

I sold the 500D! It went to a chap in New South Wales. I hope he has as much fun with it as I did. He got a bargain! I would have been stoked with that deal! So the money is sitting in the bank and was supposed to go straight towards a 550D, but i am just not sure if that’s what I want to do. I’m seriously considering kicking the HVX and getting a 5D MKII when the new firmware comes out. Being able to record audio properly on that sucker is going to be killer! So considering that’s the only thing I keep the HVX around for these days, it’s possible she might be going to a new home. It’s done it’s time and really, somebody somewhere will give it a hell of a better life than it has now, sitting in the corner in it’s Pelican case. Probably going to sell it all as a kit.

Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll be doing a bit more around here in the coming weeks. It’s time to get back into the swing of things. Next up I’ll be bringing you some information on a group of unlikely lads who have got their hands on Firmware dumps of the 500D and 550D and will be doing their best to bend the 500D to their will, cracking it wide open and making it do all those cool things we want it to. We’ll be following their progress closely because if and when they succeed, there’s going to be a hell of a lot of happy campers out there!

More soon. . .

Should be able to get a release for the Brazil and Mexico footage soon and can’t wait to finish the Tenterfield clip, I just need a little while to get all this other stuff out the way!

I’ll be getting back into it before the dust has settled though, mark my words.

Stay tuned!

Cotton Tree Jetty on a perfect Sunshine Coast day! Times like this it sucks being behind the camera!

Crazy times abound here on the Sunshine Coast at the moment. I have been shooting flat out and working pretty much non-stop. It seems that this time of the year is not only the hottest, but also the busiest and most lovely to shoot. That makes for long days behind the 7D and long nights in front of the computer.

Sadly, that is the reason for this short post without a video. Icurrently have 2 minutes of the Tenterfield Road trip cut complete, it’s nearly 11pm on a Sunday night and I have to call it quits. I’m driving to the Gold Coast in the morning for a meeting and still have a bunch of stuff to get done before I leave at 5am.

It may be a couple of days before I get a chance to finish it off, so here are some stills from the trip and the last couple of days.

Stay tuned over the next week for the Tenterfield Road Trip video and also another announcement that should make for some great footage.

More soon. . .

This is awesome for a couple of reasons. I have been looking around me lately, feeling a little creatively burnt out, racking my brain for something cool to shoot a video on for the site. Something hopefully that will renew some faith in my ability behind the camera, after the lacklustre travel videos from the Brazil and Mexico shoot, which even my Dad thought were pretty ‘meh!’ Hahaha!

So I’m taking the camera on the road trip, looking for something fresh, something interesting and also some shots of my gorgeous little sister who is no doubt responsible for probably half the views on Vimeo of the last video I cut of her. She’s only 3 and already knows how to get on the computer, go through the history, find her video on Vimeo and watch it. . .full screen. So I intend to make her another that she can be equally excited about.

I think it’s going to be just what I need. . .some time off the beaten track. . .no deadlines. . .some time with the family and hopefully a fresh head on my shoulders when I return!

Wish me luck!

The Fall Atlanta I would never have seen. . .

“Sorry sir, Australian citizens require a Visa to board this plane. You don’t have a visa.”

Simple as that, I was grounded, stuck in Atlanta, unable to to contact the client and in worlds of stress. . .the gig was up before it even started. . .

I had to get a hotel, find a Brazilian Consulate, get ugly photo’s of myself, fill out forms, stress the hell out. . .the whole nine yards. The trouble was that I hadn’t organised my own travel and the clients travel agent had overlooked this rather important factor. It was a horrible experience but let’s not dwell on it, let’s talk about the good stuff. I’ve met a lot of good people today!

A taxi driver named Jay, of Jay Express, according to his business card, who I was fortuitously paired with today as a result of my unfortunate circumstances. He had just whacked $80 on his credit card to fix his car. He couldn’t afford it and things were looking pretty bleak as he relayed the story to his wife down the phone as I got into the car. I maintain that fate had us meet this day, he was a good guy, got me where I needed to go, smiled and we got on famously. He made more than he would of today, 3 times over by driving me around town to organise a Brazilian visa. Fate. . .I got my Visa, (after spending less than 5 minutes in the Consul, I challenge anybody to best this!) and he’s no longer stressed about the money he spent on the car. . .and will probably have enough left over to take the missus out for dinner. . .Fate. . .

After finally getting the Visa, boarding pass, booked back onto the flight, through security and looking at a 8 hour wait for my flight, I thought I deserved a beer. So I sat at a bar, next to a loud english gentleman. After 5 minutes Malcolm (A bona fide geezer!) and I were having a right old time, and having both had pretty average days, took to each others company with utter abandon. I am almost glad he got on that flight to Gatwick and was whisked away from the bar, if not I might have found myself with a gargantuan hangover tomorrow. Fantastic guy and just what I needed after the last 24 hours, a bloody good laugh and some trouble to boot. Happy days! I hope he’s reading this. . .if you are Malcom, you better bring that girl of yours to the Australia zoo, I’ll be waiting with the brews!

Next up was Jennifer, a wonderful lady lucky enough to work in the Candy industry. . .free lollies. . .is there a better gig? I highly doubt it. . .Astronauts only wish they worked in the confectionery business. In fact I’m sure they started out there and had to fall back on the whole Nasa thing when they couldn’t take it. Anyway, she liked wakeboarding, hanging out at the lake, drinking in the water, having a good time with friends, travelling and most importantly the conversation starter. . .photography. . .I may have talked incessantly about how much she needs to upgrade her old Rebel SLR to the 500d/T1i and start shooting video. . .She was a good sort though. . .I hope she has fun in Argentina. . .

So anyway. . .after all the crap. . .here I am about to try and board a flight to Rio for the second time in as many days. . .I got a visa, I showed it to the guy who barred me yesterday and took great delight in rubbing his nose in my new found Visa-ness. I am cleared for take-off. . .

The real madness starts tomorrow. . . .

More soon. . .

All aboard. . .

I’m way overweight. . .and today it cost me. . .

“About 23 kilos too heavy” a smiling VirginBlue check in attendant told me. “That will be $230.”

I smiled too, broadly. It was the smile of a thousand imagined paper cuts simultaneously inflicted on this cheerful monetary assassin. What do you do though, eh? I’d crammed everything into one very large bag. Tripod, lights, Dolly, Leads, clothes pillow, teddy. . .and it was heavy. . .33.4 kilos to be exact. I had to reshuffle some things to make it 32kg and legal to fly.

Then there was the Pelican Case with the HVX in it. . .don’t even go there. . .

The lady from Delta though, well I could have kissed her. She allowed me to carry my tripod onto the plane, and didn’t charge me a cent for the excess. . .and that was for a flight all the way to Rio. That, my friends, was a beautiful thing. So beautiful in fact that it almost didn’t phase me when they didn’t want to let me leave the country because my passport is water damaged and didn’t scan. They did let me leave though. Whether or not they let me into the US though, that remains to be seen!

So now I’m 10km’s above the pacific, just past Samoa and heading for LA onto Atlanta and then to Rio. There’s still a bit of the way to go yet, but I’m on my way.

More soon. . .

*UPDATE* Sending this from LAX, waiting for the flight to Atlanta and then Rio. . .More soon. . .

If this isn’t the most amazing low light performance I have ever seen from a camera, that isn’t a night vision camera, I don’t know what is. . .

Vincent Laforet, got his grubby mits on a pre-production Canon 1D MKIV and shot this short film, apparently pretty much in the dark on ISO 6400.

To say that the image quality is amazing for being shot at that ISO is an understatement.

Now Vincent’s rise to fame in the film world came on the back of his first foray into the video arena with a short called ‘Reverie’, shot on a pre-production 5D MKII. It went crazy on the web and was extremely well documented, so it’s no wonder that Canon called on him again to wow people with the images from their next major leap forward. And this is a major leap forward.

Check out the video here. . .It’s fittingly called ‘Nocturne’

The short isn’t the most amazing short in the world, but given they only had 48 hours, and got by on the help of friends, I think they did a pretty darn good job. Oh and they didn’t use anything other than available light. . . .once you’ve seen it, you’ll agree it’s unbelievable. . .Spot the noise!

Anyway, enough out of me. . .watch the video. . .

More soon. . .