I’m please to now offer an Advanced photography and Photoshop workshop with the first being held in the Blue Mountains in 2012. Please register your interest to receive email updates.

For more information and to register please click here: Photography Workshop

I am pleased to introduce a wide range of education offerings for photographers of all skill levels with the addition of an education section to my website.

My popular group and private day courses teach beginners/intermediate students from the ground up, learning to shoot fully manual, and how to create their very own master pieces. Private courses can be completely tailored to suit the students needs and can even include time learning Photoshop, be split into two sessions, cover more advanced topics or even be shared with a friend. If a full day session doesn’t suit then you can pick my brains for an hour or two to brush up or learn new skills such as how to use filters, how to shoot at night, how do light painting or how to shoot long exposures. If you can’t find your way around Photoshop or would like to see what I do when processing photos allow me to connect remotely to your computer via the internet and show you in real time with an interactive one on one mastering lesson. Alternatively download one of my easy to follow video tutorials (more coming soon!) and follow it at your own pace.

I wanted to blog about my new tripod (exciting stuff I know) as I’m very happy with it and having spent hours, days trawling the Internet, researching which one to buy I would like to share my thoughts and experience. This post is really for anyone who doesn’t quite know which tripod to buy, and is after some ideas on what they need to consider or for those already considering the brand Benro, the tripod I went for.

For many years I have used an aluminium Manfrotto 190 series tripod, with a large three handle tripod head. It did a great job but has now been relegated to use as a spare for participants taking my photography course. I don’t treat my gear too well (it’s there to be used after all), and the tripod took a bit of a beating, with regular dunks in both salt water and sand, without being cleaned. It is now rusty, almost unusable and too heavy to travel with.

In comes my new travel angle Benro carbon fibre tripod and ball head (Benro C2681 + B-1 ball head). For a cheap carbon fibre tripod I had my doubts but thankfully I’m very happy with it and willing to give them a free plug. At a ‘reasonable’ $400 AUD from eBay this is cheap by carbon fibre standards.

The Benro tripod exceeded my requirements, which were as follows:

1. It must be light in weight. I have strict weight allowances for luggage on some airlines. Including the head the tripod weighs about 3kg.

2. It must support at worst my 5D Mark II, with a battery grip, batteries, Canon 70-200mm L Series lens, Really Right stuff pano head, filters and allow a bit extra for additional loading due to forces imposed when carrying it, wind etc. The total weight rated for this tripod is 12kg well above the 5-7kg camera gear I have.

3. It must be compact and portable but still able to extend to a comfortable operating height. I’m 6ft2″ so at a height of 137cm and 164cm with the centre column extended it was perfect.

4. Long term it should replace my existing tripod and not be a ‘travel only’ tripod.

5. The price must be reasonable, who can justify the cost of a Gitzo? Not me.

The type of tripod head wasn’t so much of a concern to me. I had quite happily been using a clunky three handle Manfrotto head for years. The great thing about the Manfrotto head was that it could be perfectly horizontally panned. This is great for taking panoramic photos where horizons need to stay flat when panning. After buying a Really Right Stuff panning base I could pan to my hearts content on any head so I decided to conform and go with the ball head and must say haven’t looked back since.

In addition to the above requirements the Benro also had some great extras which swayed me:

1. It can be used as a monopod. This was something I had not even considered but it has already been a great addition. One of the legs can be unscrewed, the ball head attached and the rig used as a monopod. I used this to great effect at the 2010 Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland, where space was limited, I was using telephoto length’s and exposure times were up due to limited light. The monopod helped keep my images sharp.

2. Interchangeable feet. The tripod comes with both spiked and rubber feet. This isn’t something my previous tripod had but would have come in handy as the rubber feet needed replacing.

3. Tripod bag, great for transportation.

4. Three extension sections. Not that I really know but four section tripods seem flimsy. The bottom section gets pretty skinny and you don’t really save much space when compacted. This one is chunky so at least gives the perception of reliability and stability.

5. Hook on centre column for additional weight giving extra stability. The instructions advise not to attach too much weight or it will have the adverse effect, strange!

6. Water and sand proof extension grips. I guess at least it will delay the inevitable death of this tripod.

Overall this tripod is easy to use, quick to erect, great build quality and suits me down to the ground. Depending on how you plan to use your tripod your requirements may differ. This tripod was an ideal choice for my landscape work and I´m sure it will be great at everything else I throw at it.

Ask Lee a question:

Well, I’m finally back from Europe and glad to be home

Over the coming months I will undertake the mammoth task of selecting and processing over 120G Bytes of photographs. As new images become available I will update my blog and Facebook, look out for images from Scotland, England, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Spain.

For those interested in buying prints I have also reactivated the online store, get in early and purchase a unique Christmas gift. I also have a limited number of places available on my latest photography courses. For those interested please browse to my photography courses info. page.

As always if you are looking for any photo tips or have any photography related questions please don’t hesitate to ask me via my Facebook fan page.

Thanks
Lee

Hi guys,
As you may know I’m currently on a three month trip overseas travelling through Europe experiencing the culture, and taking some photographs along the way. Now half way through the trip I have visited England, Scotland, Greece (Santorini photographed above), Italy, and Croatia. Up next is Slovenia, Austria, Spain, Italy again, and maybe France. I have posted a couple preview images for your viewing pleasure with many more images to come on my return to Australia. I’ve also shot some video so look out for that. If you are looking for a great Christmas gift I will be back online at the start of November, and honouring all orders well before Christmas. I also have many photography course dates available and course gift vouchers if you are looking for something a bit different. For now, here are some images for you, enjoy.

Matera, Italy

Mykonos, Greece

Isle of Skye, Scotland

Buttermere, Lake District, England

Ciao!
Lee

Hi guys, here’s a quick round up of what I’ve been up to in the last couple months, and what I have coming up.

Photography Course – new dates

I have locked in two course dates for this month, book now to get my fantastic introductory rate which will expire after these course dates! The two dates are the last until later in the year so don’t delay. I’ve had some really positive feedback from past participants, they managed to shoot great photographs on the day, learnt how to use their cameras in manual mode (scary!) and even had time for some fun. For those of you that don’t already know, the course includes a booklet with all my tips and tricks, a CD with Photoshop and processing video tutorials and most importantly you get to spend 6 magical hours with me taking photos, asking questions and learning my techniques.

For more information and to book a course please visit here. 

Manly, Sydney – Saturday 10th July 2010
City, Sydney – Saturday 17th July 2010

Photography Awards
I’ve entered in a couple photography competitions of late working towards official accreditation from the AIPP (Australian Institute of Profession Photography). Of the competitions I entered I won four awards, a Silver at the National AIPP Landscape Photographer of the Year for which I get published in their yearly book, a Silver at the NSW equivalent both for my photo of Flinders Street Station and two bronze awards at this year’s Epson International Photography Pano Awards for my images of Picnic Rocks, Tasmania and Lake Pedder, Tasmania.

New images
To keep up to date with all my new images subscribe to the RSS feed of the latest images section.

Shelly Beach & Cabbage Tree Bay, Manly, Sydney

A glorious morning down at Cabbage Tree Bay produced several stunning images, two of which are massive panorama’s that would look great in any home. Click the image below to view more new photos from the area.

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

The early morning sun lights up the sails of the Opera House, Sydney.

Balls Head, Sydney, Australia

A beautiful, yet subtle sunset gives warmth to the tall buildings of Sydney’s CBD.

Glebe Tram Sheds, Sydney, Australia

What an incredible place, click the image below to read more about the tram sheds and for several more images taken from the day.

European Trip

Armed with my new Canon 5D Mark II at the start of next month I will be leaving for a 3 month trip around Europe. I plan to visit the Greek Islands, South and North Italy, Croatia, Austria, Spain and the UK. If anyone has any photo location tips I would love to hear from you. One I’m really looking forward to is the Isle of Skye in my native Scotland. Keep an eye on my blog for updates and maybe even some videos

Light Painting Tutorial

For the photographers out there I’ve posted a capture article and post processing video to show what exactly was involved in creating my star trails image. Photographed at North Head, Manly this photo is made up of several components, painting with a variety of light sources to create a truly unique effect. The star trails is the result of a whopping 30 minute exposure.


That’s it for now, I’ll be posting new images from the Blue Mountains in the coming weeks, if I don’t email you before I leave keep an eye on my blog for updates.

Thanks guys, take care.

Lee