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.

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More soon. . .

This is clearly the best weather one could hope for if one were on the last day of a shoot and needed to nail some aerials. . .

Sometimes things don’t go your way, and you just have to keep laughing. I’m becoming really good at that now. It’s lucky, because today really threw us a curve ball. . .

A sunrise shoot was out of the question. Waking to solid cloud cover at 5:30am was bittersweet. I decided to head out later on and get a couple more shots around the city while Luis looked after some work in the room. The weather was average though and nothing was really popping.

Scheduled on a 7pm flight out of Brazil to Cancun (Via Sao Paulo and Texas! Ouch!) we had only to shoot the aerials at around midday when the light would be best for our requirements and we were done.

Finding out that the Helicopter we needed wasn’t available and a last minute replacement would cost close to US$2000 for the hour was a bit unfortunate. What really put a damper on things, quite literally, was the torrential rain that started belting down. The clouds looked impenetrable and it was pretty obvious we wouldn’t be shooting anything from a chopper by the time we had to leave. The weather radar confirmed this. No good! They’ll have to be shot at another time.

So off the airport we went to catch our flight. Long story short, it got delayed, we missed the connection to Texas and are now stuck in Sao Paulo for the night. Since the next flight doesn’t leave until 11pm tomorrow night, we have had to rebook the flights home so we get the time we need in Playa Del Carmen.

Despite the bummer, we’re still laughing and just hanging to get to Mexico so we can start making headway again, all these setbacks have been very frustrating.

I have to say though, the new glass is kicking ass! I have got some shots that I just would never have been able to before, not only with the extra range of the 100-400, but also the better low light capability of the 70-200. Initially the push pull zoom of the 100-400 threw me a little, but I’m getting used to it now and it’s not so bad. The Bokeh of the 70-200 is just to die for. I’ll do a breakdown on the whole lot at a later date.

I have been shooting some random travel sort of video, but I just haven’t had a moment to cut a clip. Probably tomorrow I will though, I’ll do my best.

But now, it’s time for bed. . .

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More soon.

I went on a similar shoot in Fiji at the end of last year with the same crew, for the same client, that literally ended in disaster – cyclonic weather, insane flooding, closed airports, trapped tourists and. . . .dwindling food and beer supplies. That last one nearly caused riots. Hell hath no fury like trapped Aussie’s without the life giving amber liquid!

But I digress, we’re taking a bunch of gear. . .The EX1, the 5D MKII, Lights, Flashes, Matteboxes, Lenses, Filters, Underwater housings. . .pretty much everything we could ever possibly need. Since I doubt very much that finding a Multi-Coated Hoya 77mm polariser would be so easy in the Hotel convenience store, it’s all coming.

Anyway most of the stuff we’re going to be shooting will be uploaded everyday to our clients site, but I’ll be posting some behind the scenes stuff here. Mostly photo’s that I can quickly snap off in between takes with whatever camera is available at the time.

I’ll try to get something up everyday, but knowing how much work will be required over there, forgive me if I drop the ball on a day or two. . .

Oh, just pre-ordered my 7D too. . . .Now all I have to do is survive the excruciatingly long wait without going insane! Wish me luck. . .

More soon!