Main Animania Sydney 2010 Sunday – A sneak preview
Well, having done a sneak preview of Saturday, it's only fair to do one for Sunday, right?
Didn't take as many photos today, but here are some of my faves.
Backstage coordinator extraordinaire, Marina Arrebola has her hair done in the early hours by Jenny Ngo.
Mathias Barrera jams it on his (guitar hero) guitar.
Rika Matsumoto, the voice of Satoshi / Ash Ketchum, delivers a rock out performance.
Another result from the light box at the ABJD display.
Karaoke winner Tuong Vi Nguyen pauses during an interlude to rock out air-guitar style.
There's a couple more in the gallery below!
Main Animania Sydney 2010 Saturday – A sneak preview
I am pretty exhausted after running around for the whole of today. There's no way I can get all of my photos up for tonight, so for now here's a sneak preview of a few of my favourite shots from today.
If you're still deciding whether to go tomorrow, I hope this helps make up your mind!
Bernie, one of the sound, stage, light and AV guys checks the microphones are in working order.
Back of house in the maid cafe kitchen, delicious dishes are made.
Giant wall of merchandise is giant. Pinin makes its final stop for the year. Stock up while you can!
I heard that one of the stores (most likely this one) were selling replica Sephiroth swords. I think they completely sold out.
Remember Geelong Ung that I mentioned in an earlier report on SMASH!? He's working hard at Animania also!
There's a pseudo-light box at the Asian Ball Jointed Doll table. With a little patience, you can get a studio-esque effect with dolls! Photographers take note!
Luke Hill drops the Vash the Stampede outfit and picks up a new gun as a Team Fortress 2 Sniper (and also a cosplay judge).
And backstage, Widya Santoso kicks back and relaxes with facilities set up just for cosplayers and WCS finalists and judges.
There's a couple more in the gallery below. If you're attending tomorrow and you spot me, say hi! I'll try and take your photo!
Behind the scenes: Animania Sydney 2010 Setup
I was out at Australian Technology Park today visiting an expo for work when I remembered that Animania Sydney is this weekend.
I remembered because I started to notice all the signage that was up. Then I realised that setup for the event starts two days in advance and that they were probably setting up! So I ducked over on my lunch break and took a few shots.
I think a lot of people take for granted the effort that goes in to setting up an event. There's a science to setting up an event in terms of logistics and scheduling. Things need to happen in parallel in order to make the most of the venue time - the in-house crews can't set up the lighting while the stage contractors build the stage.
The scheduling is pretty simple on paper, but if anyone gets it wrong, the consequence ripples and grows through the day.
The guys on the ground meanwhile are getting all the wiring gathered to connect everything together. Everything is labelled, tracked, connected, secured and then flown on the rigging.
This can take the entire day and typically the crew won't know if they've got it completely according to plan until the next day when they do a dry run and program the lighting board.
There's about 50 lights! All it takes is for one to be connected or labelled incorrectly and it can take ages to figure out what went wrong.
For most of the lights, gels are placed in front of them. Each one is cut by hand and placed in front of the appropriate lamp. They make pretty colours!
... and for sticking around, here's what the 2011 Animania Cosplay Calendar looks like!
Can't wait to see you all this weekend!
An evening in Brisbane
I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Brisbane this last week for work.
The only time I could find to take some of my own snaps was on the evening of one of the less active days, hence all the evening shots.
I think long exposures like this one (3.2s) really highlight the flaws in my 10-20mm. To be honest, I'm finding I'm liking it less and less as time goes on.
I tried to pack light for the trip and as I'm not a big fan of lugging tripods around, I didn't pack one. So in keeping with the usual "use what you can find" strategy, a long, heavy lens works pretty well propped up against a bridge railing.
In this shot, the ferris wheel stopped for long enough to get a shot, but it had to be timed between buses that were travelling across the bridge at the same time as they would introduce enough shake to throw my shot out. I wanted to get a relatively noise-free shot, a bit of shimmer in the water, but not have the wheel completely blurred. Needless to say, I ended up shooting a lot of frames.
Up close, I didn't stick around to wait for the wheel to stop again. There wasn't much to prop my camera against in this location, so I'm relatively happy with the .25s exposure hand-held.
Shooting back towards the city from Southbank, this was a 6s exposure from my 10-20mm. The camera was on a ledge with my strap propping it up to get the horizon relatively lower. If you're ever taking a shot like this, I wouldn't worry too much about getting everything level. Get your camera really steady, use a remote shutter release or timer and sort out the rotation and cropping in post. Just remember to leave enough on the sides and not to include whatever you're using to balance your camera.
Shooting from under the bridge on a cycle-way. I sure know how to pick 'em - this bridge kept wobbling when people walked past! I must've stood there for about 15 minutes taking shots in between people walking past. In retrospect, I wish I had a slightly longer exposure. This is on my 50mm at f/8.
A last shot at one of Brisbane's other bridges. I'm actually not very happy with this shot due to the bridge getting lost in the background and a poor choice of aperture. I think by this stage I was calling it quits.
One of the things I've realised about shooting alone is that I'm initially really uncomfortable with having the camera out and looking like the tourist. After a while though, it's not too bad. Perhaps it's Brisbane, but there are a lot of photographers around. That certainly puts me at ease when having a camera out and wandering about. There's probably no better way to get over it than to just get out there and get shooting.
Photo school & moonlight motorcycle muck-around
I'm heading over to Australian Technology Park tomorrow to run a small Photography 101 class.
Here's to hoping the weather stays great! It looks like it's going to be a fun day of running around with cameras.
I also messed around a bit with taking some photos of a friend's bike the other night.
It was a little windy and at one point one of my brollys attempted to sail away. Wasn't expecting too much out of these pics so I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.
And I also got a chance to pull out the ole wide angle.
I just wish I got a wider variety of angles. Oh well. There's always next time.
Still here!
Thought I might let you all know I'm still around. I'm just rather swamped with work at the moment.
I'll be travelling to Queensland on assignment next month and it looks like I'll be travelling cross-country quite a bit. I hope to get some great photos of the sunny state during that time.
I've also decided to break the bank and purchase a Canon EF 35mm 1.4 from the states while I can. Seems like it finally won out over my 24-70mm or 35mm debate and I'll likely continue to walk the path of primes.
So the 35 should arrive right in time for Animania Festival, where I'm tossing up between making the most of video or continuing to stick with what I know and shoot stills. Perhaps a bit of both might do the trick?
In the meantime, I'll still be writing up articles when I can. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of stuff coming up soon!
Glebe tram sheds & off-camera flash
I dropped by the Glebe Tram Sheds last weekend. It's an old, rusting warehouse that has a few derelict trams, one broken down bus and absolutely everything there is covered in spray paint - it's a graffiti artist's heaven. The building used to be an old forklift factory, back in the day.
I was talking to another lone photographer who was there before us who was a local and dropped by from time to time. It would've been a treat to see a timelapse of the place over the years. I also ran into a group of people from UNSW Photo Club. If any of you are here reading, Hi! 
My better half volunteered to model for me and after a bit of fiddling about with brollys and lightstands, I got a few alright pics.
I had a 580EX II and a 430EX off camera and another borrowed 580EX II to trigger them optically. I ended up allowing the flash's ETTL to expose for the subject since I had that opportunity.
There are a couple of problems with using Canon's inbuilt IR/optical triggering system. Unlike indoor settings, there isn't much for the flash to bounce off to trigger your slaves. This can be improved by using a stofen to increase what surfaces "see" the light and bounce it, but not by much.
I ended up having a designated left and right brolly, mounting the flashes 90 degrees to the brolly and twisting the flash head. This ensures the slaves' IR/optical sensor is pointed towards you for most shots where they are positioned in the classical 45 degree left-right setup and still affords you some movement.
Note that you can't do this with fixed cold shoes as they don't allow you to adjust to the wider side of the flash shoe, and that the 580EX II has a weather seal that must be removed in order to mount it at 90 degrees (you can slip it back on safely afterwards).
Given that I spent a fair while messing around with positioning brollys, I'm a little glad I didn't have to set the flashes manually. Pocket Wizard and Radio Popper make some pretty nifty triggers that allow you to do all of this over radiowaves while keeping ETTL, but I'm a little too poor for those yet.
So here's the gallery. There's a couple more thrown in the end there without flash.
I just noticed that my shots from the day are all verticals! Interesting...
SMASH! 2010 Report – A (long) inside perspective
Inside the hallways of Sydney Town Hall, volunteers shuffle in line to sign on for the morning. There's a slight sense of uncertainty as vendors, volunteers and contractors look at each other knowing something is about to happen, but not knowing when it will start.
Some of them are restless with excitement, shifting their weight from foot to foot and warming themselves after the cold of the morning. Suddenly, someone runs in through the dinky loading dock.
"Those of you who are volunteers, I need you to drop your stuff and come with me now! Don't worry about your tags yet, just come with me!"
Everyone exchanges looks for a second before several volunteers shrug their bags off their shoulders, dumping them unceremoniously at their feet, and race off after the staff member who is already on his way out.
"Hi Mike!" I hear a familiar voice behind me. I spin around, as fast as a guy carrying 10-15kg of camera gear can, and am greeted by one of SMASH!'s board members Michael Camilleri.
He shakes my free hand warmly. "I'm so glad you could make it!"
The future of photography
Ask most people and you'll find that many are of the opinion that traditional print media is dying a slow death. The speed, ease and accessibility of information over the Internet, for free no less, has led to the folding of newspapers and magazines, or at least massive declines in readership.
The iPad hasn't revolutionised and rejuvinated the news media (at least not yet), and with paywalls going up as a desperate bid to earn some revenue on online sites, readership continues to decline. The quality of articles has waned with it as freelance writers wonder what's the point in writing for behind the paywall when their work will rarely be seen?
So what of the camera monkeys, photographers and photojournalists? What are the issues surrounding photographers now and into the future?
1. Harry, Dick and Tom. 10 years ago, the first digital cameras were coming out on the market and in the $1000 range. Today, you can pick up an entry level DSLR for about half of that which out of the box could produce images rivaling professionals back then (and sometimes even today). Everyone is a photographer and this undoubtedly makes competition even harder.
2. Undercutting the market. With enough Harry, Dick and Toms, there will be enough amateur photographers who will settle on selling their photos well below what they're worth or even give them away for free. Free work for not-for-profits and charities may be acceptable (and even this is sometimes debateable), but making the cover of Time Magazine and only making $30 from it? Everyone loses.
3. Lowering standards. When publications realise that there are people willing to sell their photos for cheap or nothing at all, there is suddenly a whole host of images that might be acceptable. In the case of a $3000 magazine cover, the publication would expect nothing less than the best. However, I'm sure that on at least a few issues, if not regularly, the publication would be fine with running a sub-par image if it meant they paid nothing, or close to nothing for it. How many pictures have you seen that were taken from a mobile phone? If people accept that level of quality, why pay a professional?
4. Cutting back staff photographers. The ability of publications to get cheap or free images has reduced the need for staff photographers. While the unaware amateurs devalue the market, the publication profits and suddenly the need to pay for a staff photographer doesn't seem to make sense any more.
5. Privacy and terrorism. In this day and age, taking pictures in a prominent place with a large lens more often than not labels you as a terrorist, or harassed by the authorities. God help you if you happen to look like you come from the Middle-East, have a beard or wear a turban. If you take a picture remotely near a school or playground, you can expect to be questioned or labelled as a pedophile. Ironically, a terrorist would more likely use a discreet point and shoot, and those who claim you are invading their privacy in a public place seem to have no qualms invading yours by demanding to see your images, name and personal details.
6. Stealing images. Anything that stays on the Internet for long enough to be read or found will likely be stolen at some point, whether purposefully, or through ignorance. Newspapers themselves have been caught stealing images uploaded to the Internet, even when the rights usage is clearly labelled. Frighteningly, there are a lot of people who incorrectly consider the internet to be completely open domain. Thankfully, there are a few services that allow you to search by image and things may get better over time.
All in all, the future looks bleak. However, it does have one saving grace: those brave (or crazy) enough to still go through with it most likely do so because of their passion for it - and it's an honour to work alongside them.
Fighting from the backlines
My day job as a journalist and my weekend passion as a photographer sometimes collide.
So while reading about journalist Annabel Crabb on her (rather lengthy) post about "Everything you ever wanted to know about campaigning... but didn't", I was pretty pleased to read these few lines:
Time now to mention specifically the people who have it the toughest on any campaign trail - the people who supply the visuals.
Photographers and camera crews get up earlier than anyone else on the campaign, and go to bed later.
When you see footage of Tony Abbott riding at 5.30am through freezing Melbourne streets, it's because several people wielding back-breaking cameras and sound equipment have arisen at 4:00am, found a vehicle from which they can awkwardly dangle, and captured it for you.
When you see one brilliant campaign image that encapsulates the mood of the day, it's because a photographer has worked an 18-hour day, capturing and discarding tens of thousands of slightly inferior images to bring you that particular one.
In truth, these people are the most important people of the campaign, and the reason why the candidates even bother with a media contingent.
For all the questions, all the policy, all the daily battle, good pictures on the evening news beat everything, and that's what the campaign teams are after.
Perhaps because it fits in with my feeling that the ones deserving praise and recognition aren't always the ones in the front line and are most often forgotten.
You'll see a little bit more of this sentiment in my report on SMASH! 2010 when it comes out later this week.
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Twitter (mukimu)
- Wheels down in Sydney an hour late. Thanks Jetstar. =P 1 day ago
- Looks like that Pebble Watch Kickstarter project has finally, err, kicked off. 1 day ago
- http://t.co/igPB3PbS @Stilgherrian thought we needed more snakes on a plane. 1 day ago
- Just witnessed @stilgherrian shoot a shouty impromptu video here at the airport. That's what happens when you strand journos. 1 day ago
- Flight delayed. Stuck at OOL. Could be worse, I guess 1 day ago
