Here's One You Can Shift Into Gear For

Hooray! We're going to have a Thorsten Overgaard workshop that features Leicas, cars, and girls! This should be enough to satisfy anyone in search of pleasure...unless you want to add pints of English ale and a muzzle-loading rifle shooting contest as well, in which case it goes from earthly delight to heavenly...I may be biased, there.

Never mind. On the 17th of November Thorsten Overgaard will be conducting a workshop detailing the best way to tackle these subjects, and then leading the photo shooters to Cottesloe Civic Center for the Celebration of the Classic Motor Car. There will be plenty of time to capture the cars and from the looks of the promotional lineup, there should be some remarkable vehicles. Anyone using a Leica has a great chance of coming back with classic images too.

Have a look at the enclosed document for some of the details - and go over to the event website to see what cars are going to be there.

March To The Sound Of The Canon

You might wonder how much noise a Canon can make - in the world of motor sport, a very big noise indeed. We found out yesterday when we attended the Camera Electronic Canon workshop at Barbagallo raceway in Wanneroo.

The track is well-provided for the actual racers - we were there on a Motorcycle Club practice and tuning day. There is a function room at the start of the main straight with trackside seating - McCracken House - and we use it for a lecture theater and lunch venue.

Mark Horsburgh lectured us last year on basic race car photography but this year he added new discoveries in lighting with the Canon 600 speedlights. His work has a really new and sparkling look with these portable lights and it takes on very much of the studio illustration aspect even when taken out in the field. The ability to control three groups of flashes with radio transmissions rather than infrared is the thing...you can send the signal even in bright sunlight or around corners. My camera system uses the IR system and I am so jealous of Canon users...

Of course each year from Canon brings new lenses and bodies. The Canon reps bring some along and the troops get to fire them off out on the track. Mark mentioned trying something new each year himself - even to using tilt/shift and fisheye lenses in his work. Most of the motorcycle shots were taken using different types of telephotos but I did get some good views using a wide angle.

On the subject of the business of motorsport photography, Mark was quite candid about the time pressures and stress that are put on the shooters by the event organisers and the editors of various publications. It would appear to be a fertile field for experimentation but don't expect to eat regular...

Anyway, I took some views of the activities, including a very lovely model and an almost equally lovely set of photographers wearing fluoro vests. It was a great day and the results that the photographers got from the Canon lenses means that a number of them will be coming to talk to us over the shop counter.

Trackside With Canon

Last year's Canon workshop day seems to have been a success. We all trooped out to Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo and Mark Horsburgh gave a show and lecture on the art and business of motor sport photography. The Canon company reps brought a metric tonne of fancy lenses and the latest Canon bodies for the participants to try and Saul organised a couple of fancy motorcycles and a very attractive model to provide a studio experience as well.

Of course it was all about the course - it was a motorcycle practise event and there were subjects circling the track all day at high speed. There were cautious riders and show-offs. Fortunateley no-one came sideways through the spectators, but had they done so the photographers would have known what to do* - thanks to Mark's talk.

In any event, the participants took as many lenses as they could carry off the glass buffet and stationed themselves around the track and got deafened and covered in rubber dust and had a glorious time of it.
They took home great images as well as a great deal of knowledge.

Same again this year - the 8th of September. Cost you $ 199, we feed you lunch in between the lecture and the races. Ring up the shop to book - go on the website to book - bring your own camera or borrow one of the bodies on-site. Remember to bring a coupla memory cards - I'd guess an SDHC and a CF - and test out EVERY BLESSED THING.

Saul will be doing specials. We promise not to let him talk too long...

* Scream and run. Followed by duck and cover.

Speaking Whereof We Know

I note that we will have a Nikon event next week - the 9th of July - and the staff have been permitted, enjoined, and ordered to go to it. I, for one, am delighted, as the man giving forth is an expert in his field. Kristian Dowling  knows how to take pictures of celebrities so that they continue to be celebrated - and he will likely be showing some of us the secrets that ensure his success. I'll benefit - a little later in the month someone wants me to shoot a party as if it were a Hollywood event, and I reckon Kristian's advice will be worth gold.

Still have some places for interested punters so ring Shoot Workshops and make a booking for it. As long as there is one spot left for me, mind.

All of which is an introduction to my plan of action for shop-related talks this year. I will be seeing several clubs for their evening activities this year and in some they want a little talk. It would be the height of folly to ask me to speak on the subject of fashion photography - one look in my wardrobe at home would tell you all I know about fashion. Likewise getting me to hold forth on street photography, sports, or architecture. Have a look at the dismal results on this page and you'll see what I mean. If the clubs want to know about these things, they will have to snare Gosatti or Phillips or Romano for that. These guys DO know whereof they speak because they do it well.

I shall speak on the little wedding and how to photograph it simply. I shall speak about the Small World and how to photograph it in the studio. About the photography of costumed societies. About the hot rod and how to capture it. These may not be what the clubs want to hear...but it is what they are going to get. It actually will have some value of expertise, albeit small.

Uncle Dick