Jack & Kaelyn at Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne CBD.

Taken between 4pm and 6.30pm, which was way beyond sunset. Off camera flash with Canon Speedlite 580EX II. 

The photo below is the most challenging shot of the session as it was total darkness by that time. Without a torchlight, I was unable to use Auto Focus to focus on Jack and Kaelyn. As a result, I had to use manual focus with small aperture to get the sharpest focus on the couple. Exposure was 4 seconds! Good that Jack and Kaelyn managed to stay still throughout the duration. 

Ashwin and Radha at Webb Bridge, a beautiful bridge located at the South side of Docklands.

On a day when the shy sun was in total hiding, my Canon Speedlite 580EX II, mounted on a tripod played a crucial part in providing additional lighting to light up the lovely couple. 

I joined a few photographer friends for an outing to the Dandenong region. This was probably the last weekend to capture the colours of autumn as trees are shedding leaves as the days go by.

The weather was not perfect - extremely cloudy. Some sunlight could have improved the photos significantly. Nevertheless it was fun. 

Autumn is usually the most colourful season. I especially love the golden and reddish foliage. Combined with the golden ray from the setting sun, this is a match made in heaven. 

The good weather today prompted me to pay a visit to Carlton Gardens during the golden hour to combine the effect of sunset with the various tints of autumn leaves. 

During the brief session, Johanna and I bumped into 3 brides with their respective photographers who were also trying to make the best use of the golden hour for pre-wedding shots. 

8 May 2010

I've finally received the new EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM earlier this week, just in time for Edmund and Stefenie's engagement ceremony next week. I've always been keen to take some shots at the corridor of Melbourne GPO so I thought it would be a great opportunity to test out the new lens in the dimly lit corridor. Once again Johanna has to be my model.

The results? The lens overwhelmed me. Not only it's very sharp, it also performs very well in low light condition. f/2.8 also allows nice bokeh effect to be produced. The only caution is that sometimes the DOF will be too shallow for certain shots so I have to watch out if I want most parts of the photo to be sharp.