Hot stuff a hit at the Royal Sydney Easter Show

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - man, I love my job.
At the risk of sounding repetitious - photojournalism rocks.
What's brought this effusive shower of warm hugs and happiness?  Simple - a free pass to the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

OK - so it was actually a media pass, with the accreditation organised by my boss, and truth be told, at one stage I was overly excited by the idea, but after getting home last night after a day at the show, I decided it was worth it.

Sensitive situations - or 'How I photographed a funeral'

It was actually a tip-off - unfortunately an inaccurate one - that lead me to park in an overflowing church car park.  A journalist I was working with had heard that Tony Abbott, leader of the Opposition in Australia's government, might be attending the funeral of Father Gerald Iverson.  Father Gerald had been one of Mr Abbott's first priests, and the chance to photo-journalistically capture Mr Abbott at the funeral was something that both the journalist and the editor deemed to good to pass up.  Mr Abbott, being a leading politician, would be no stranger to having his photo taken in all manner of situations, but others attending might not be quite so understanding.  A large dose of sensitivity was to be administered...  

Intermittent posting - again

Welcome.  And in some cases, welcome back.  

How've you been?  Good?  Magnificent. Me? Thanks for asking - I've been busier than, as they say over here, than a one armed paper hanger.

In a few spare minutes of admin time, I've decided to update this blog with a few more of my recent images - make the jump to find out (and see) more...

So I should start with a disclaimer.  The disclaimer being that the images displayed in this particular post remain the copyright of News Local.  Other than obvious copyright issues, this disclaimer is important because working for a news organisation as a photojournalist directly affects my workflow.  In fact, it greatly minimises it.

And then?

Little known fact #422:  Photographers are normally camera shy.

Paralympian and Cerebral Palsy sufferer Jayme Paris with students from Calvary Chapel Primary School, ready to play a ball game that allows players to experience vision deprivation.

Warwick Eickenloff's father Leonard and grandfather William served in 20th century conflicts, and his son Peter is currently serving in the Royal Australian Navy.

 

Rebecca Whitehall, Keith Mashman and Gayle Adams are concerned about the pollution levels of the Cooks River and carry out tests on water samples. A glass of Cooks River water shows discolouration and foreign bodies.

Woodbine author Jessica Cartwright has written and self-published a vampire novel.

Art has been in Orangeville's Gary Baker's family for generations, and this year he is exhibiting at the Camden Art Prize.

Jakob Edwards (standing) is a state and national judo representative.

Daniel Aiello (L) and Matthew Adams are law and economics students, and create applications for Apple iPhones.

Currently based at the Burwood Fire Station, Station Officer Glenn Brown has been in the fire service for 25 years.

Campbell Bell, who is vision impaired, plays the saxophone and has received one of Vision Australia's Further Education Bursary Awards to complete his degree.

All images copyright 2011 Cumberland Newspaper Group.  Contact me for further details.

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A further scattering of photographs...

So - here are a few more jobs I've found myself on over the past few weeks.  And after my last recent upload, I've included brief captions to explain context.

Award nominated poet.

Successful students lift school rankings.

Sports clubs sponsors achievement awards.

Arthritis sufferer aims to assist.

Good golly it's Greek movie mania!

Election tally tension.

Retiring MP leaves seat open for contest.

School students hitting the right note.

Teen swimmer blows Thorpedo out of the water.

Colourful cultural costumes.

Seng choi bau.

Tick tock - time for a tattoo.

He's seen better days.

Stags outside the strip club.

Political promises for Panania.

Shy swimmer.

Pancakes and fresh berries.

Vietnam War memorial unveiling.

LIE! DOWN!

 Hound in the pound.

League star keeps hair in close shave.

Mayor gets jumped at sports centre.

Once again - the copyright for all images in the blog entry belong to Cumberland Courier Newspapers.

Hit me up if you're interested in lighting diagrams or further details for each of the images.

Fishnets and feistiness.

I like to head to jobs with a bit of foresight and planning if possible. It makes it easier to hit the ground running if you have an idea about composition, possible lighting set-up - heck, having an idea about the final outcome helps.

But sometimes, when I head to a job - it's all about flexibility. Thinking on your feet. Adapting to the situation to achieve the final objective. Or, as another PJ I used to work with used to admit, it's about keeping a deadpan expression in front of the subject while buggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbugger ricochets around the inside of your head.

Recently I was tasked to photograph a number of roller derby - um, gladiators? Warriors? Contestants?
Luckily enough it was like taking the pieces of a jigsaw out of the box, throwing up into the air, and having the finished solution land on the table in front of you. Framed.

So - below are some of the photos...

Members of the South West Sydney Rockets

'Dolly Death'

'Lady Gag-Her'

'Madam Dirty-Boots'

'Lethal Ling'

'De-Nominator'

'Ann O'War'

'Natomic Bomb'

'Dita Von Bruiser'

All images copyright of and courtesy of Cumberland Courier Newspapers.

TECH:  There's a small soft box on a SB-900 (1/1, 24mm) high and camera right.  There's a naked SB-800 (1/4, 35mm) to the rear and to the left of the subjects.  The camera was a Nikon D3, with a 24-70 f2.8, set at 200ISO, 1/100sec at f10.  The day was overcast and I had had muesli and pineapple slices for breakfast, with a glass of blackcurrent juice.