Help save the Kimberley

Hi everyone

I’m not one to ask for money, in fact I never do. This time I think it is worth it. One of our last wilderness areas is under threat and we need to raise awareness and get the message out there to the public. The Gas plant proposed at James Price Point does not need to go there. There are alternatives. I don’t want to stop Woodside getting the gas. I want to stop Woodside and the government affecting a wilderness so pristine it belies belief. If you could make a donation however small that would be a step towards protecting the Kimberley for our kids. It is up to us now to fix what is wrong with the way we do business. Don’t allow our planet to become one huge industrial wasteland. We should be thinking smarter and being more aware of our actions that will affect future generations.

I love the Kimberley and have photographed it over the past two decades. It is special because it is remote, it is pristine and it is one of our last great treasures. I want to keep photographing it the way it is now. Think the Pilbara and fast forward 50 years, will the Kimberley suffer the same fate. I hope not.

If you feel you can make a donation go to http://www.everydayhero.com.au/christian_fletcher

It would be unbelievable if by sheer weight of numbers we could divert this unnecessary action by a small few with dollar signs in their eyes and hearts.

Cheers
Christian

Christian Fletcher Photo Images
www.christianfletcher.com.au
christianfletcher

2011 AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

New Blog

If you are reading this you are at MY OLD BLOG. To go to the new one bookmark this page http://www.christianfletcher.com.au/blog/

THIS IS AN OLD BLOG. SEE ABOVE LINK TO GO TO THE NEW BLOG

The Pilbara Project Video Teaser

Well here is the start of Michaels video project from our recent trip to the Pilbara shooting with Tony Hewitt, Peter Eastway and Les Walkling. I think it is going to be an amazing doco on what we experienced. Stay tuned for more.

Some cool stuff coming up

Benny at Team Digital has told me about some specials they are having on Manfrotto gear till the end of February, 15% off in fact.

Also there is some good news and bad news .
Bad news first Team Digital are postponing the ITeazer Night that was running on the 24th Feb. Some products they were going to announce wont be here in time . So they are running it in May instead. I will be keen to get to that.

Good news is that Les Walkling has been confirmed . He doing a number of thing for Team Digital as part of the FotoFreo 2010 program.
The main one will be a hands on workshop on Fine Art Printing all the details are on their blog. If you haven’t seen Les in action make sure you get along to this. I hope to be going too.

They will also have a free Fine Art Printing Seminar running which will be on the Team Digital blog (see my links bar).

Thing that may interest you also are a Seminar on Rips and Profiling on the Thursday the 1st April. And directly after that Capture One training. Man two more things I need to attend. Geez I better ask the wife first, I have already had a few trips away this year.

True North Team Digital Rottnest Island Competition

Hi all the 7 finalists in the competition are now on Mark Stothards blog. Go to Finalists to vote on the one you think should win. The prize is the Manfrotto Tripod kindly donated by Team Digital and Manfrotto.

Idiot of the Year

Today is the first day I have started to get my energy back. Hopefully will be even better tomorrow. If I did get Cyanide poisoning this is why. The title says it all, what an idiot. Thanks to legend photographer Tony Hewitt for these pics, he could have been the last person to see me alive.

I just wanted to thank Nikon again for the loan of the D3x, the 24-70mm, the 14-24mm, and the 70-200mm. It was awesome to have this gear to use and as one of the photographers I travelled with said to me, ” the D3x is probably the best dslr in the world right now” You know what, I do believe he is right, and he knows his stuff.

Oh and to the guys at Nikon, you might want to wash your hand before eating your lunch, just in case. I gave it a good wipe over, just don’t go licking it clean. Hey just as well those puppies have cyanide seals on them!!

HOT Damned HOT!!!

I put the spelling mistake down to cyanide poisoning!!! ok, so no more he can’t spell stuff, a man is not a dictionary you KNOW!!!

The name says it all! We stopped at this scene about 80kms inland from Marble Bar. I took this handheld stitch pretty quickly as at the time I thought I was going to drop dead from Cyanide poisoning. If you get a good dose of that stuff you would be dead in a matter of minutes. I wish I had thought a bit more about entering a mine site without checking it was ok, never again, I can’t handle the stress!! Oh and the heat…. note to self, next assignment to be in a less extreme location!! Poor Pete went from Antarctica to the hottest place in WA.

Shot with the amazing Nikon D3x and 24-70mm lens, love it!

Our Pilbara Experience in Pictures

Storm over the Pilbara

This was an amazing storm we witnessed. I have never seen so many photographers fully amped over a shoot as this, it was like a date with Jennifer Hawkins, only much better. Pete Eastway was shooting with the Phase One, Les Walkling the Hasselblad. I was on the trusty Nikon D3x as was Tony Hewitt. Michael has a video of this storm and it will be shown when he gets the video finished.

I handheld the Nikon with the 14-24, stitched three pics together and this is the result.

Peter Eastway has this same scene on his Better Photography blog, check it out.

Port Hedland Aerial

Day one of our trip to Port Hedland and Form had organised a heli flight over town and the surrounding area. Of course there were only three seats going so it was decided that only the best photographers would get a flight. Luckily Tony pulled out so I got to join Les and Pete for a burn around in an old Jet Ranger. All the doors were off so we had a great view. It was Les’s first flight in a chopper and when he managed to get his hands unstuck from the sides of the fuselage he  pinged off a few shots. Pete was blasting away on the Phase One but with vibrations and wind it isn’t as easy as I had it with the Nikon D3x. Ok as Pete likes to tell me, “they look great as an 8″x10”, I told him who wants all that resolution and who has a wall big enough to hang a pic from a medium format camera. Then he bangs on about capturing in 16 bit and I just switch off, who needs it??? I hate it when he does that, I’m not listening lalalala lalala…….

Heat Stroke

Yesterday we left Marble Bar. As a group we decided to go for a little 300 km detour  heading down a gravel road into the middle of know where to see what it was like. Along the way we stopped off at an unused gold mine which was closed, not surprisingly, as it is only nutters who would be out there on such a stinking hot day in a stinking hot place.

As all good photographers do we decided to go in anyway and found a virtual treasure trove of cool stuff to shoot. We also found lots of drums saying cyanide. Ah she’ll be right mate, no problems as long as it is in the drums. Tony and I decided to kick a little of the dust in one of the shed around to get some good light rays, ok, I decided to. All good, no dramas, didn’t work too well but it was fun whilst it lasted.

On leaving we were visited by the caretaker who gave Les a serve for us not telling him we were on the property and then he dropped the bombshell. There is cyanide all over the place and if you start feeling sick get to the doctor asap. My legs began to shake as I had been dancing around in the dust minutes earlier. Now here we were on our way to who knows where and I was possibly going to drop dead of cyanide poisoning. Les told us what to look out for, the signs of our impending doom, bad taste in the mouth, tingling fingers and that wasn’t very reassuring. Before to long I had a bad taste in my mouth and then my heart rate went up. I had to be brave as the first person to cry like a big baby would suffer the brunt of the jokes for the rest of the trip.

By the time we got back to Headland I was stuffed, head pounding, dry throat, nausea and lethargy.  Still I couldn’t say too much as the word that is another name for a cat came to mind, and I didn’t want to be called that. I woke up this morning still feeling bad so I went to the doctor to discuss how many days I had left on the planet. I have to get some blood tests done to determine if I have inhaled any cyanide but he thought it was more heat stroke that is my problem and that more to the point I am a big baby. Still what ever it is I feel horrible. We have been going pretty hard since getting here and I had just reached my limits of endurance. Bummer the others are still going strong!!

The good news is I have been confined to my hotel room for the day and get to catch up on some computer work. The others are out on the wharf  getting cooked, ah being on your death bed isn’t so bad after all.

The photo is of our guide from BHP Andre, he was good enough to show us around his patch, and what a patch is is! We had so much fun there shooting all this industrial stuff, it was gold we were getting from an iron ore plant!! This photo was taken with the amazing Nikon D3x and 24-70mm lens. Just love that camera, in fact all these images to come are from the D3x. Tony Hewitt has the dream rig, a D3 and a D3x with all the best lenses Nikon have. He does some amazing stuff with it.

Shooting The Pilbara

Hi all, sorry for no posts but I have been in and around Port Hedland shooting with Tony Hewitt, Les Walkling, Peter Eastway and my bro.
We are having a brilliant time and getting some pretty nice light. I must say it is pretty interesting shooting with these blokes and seeing how they work. We have one Hasselblad H3d being used by Les, a Phase one and Alpa combo being used by Pete, Tony and I are shooting Nikon D3x’s (thanks Julie from Nikon for the gear) and of course some Canon gear being used to film everything.

We have been to Karratha and the Dampier Archipelago, had Heli flights, Light plane flights, boat trips and tours to the big BHP plant in PH. Some great material and to see Les get all frothed up is just brilliant. The guy is a legend and I was hoping he enjoyed what we have been shooting.

One thing I find shooting with such notable photographers as we have here is I always am wondering what they are shooting and should I be checking it out too. It can be a little intimidating. We have also had some of the previous photography students joining us which has been great fun. Simon, Nicole, Faye and Judith, remember those names they are the next big thing! Well in Port Hedland anyway, Pete is still the next big thing, he is just taking his time getting there.

Off to Marble Bar in half an hour. We are expecting thunderstorms and about 42 degrees. We are pretty excited. There is so much to photograph out here you just need the good light and a fresh pair of eyes.

Here is a couple of pics of the boys in action.

Brendon and the Mighty Gitzo

Brendanos at PRA managed to get me a deal with Gitzo to represent the best tripod maker in the world!! I can now throw out the old Manfrotto that has done me well for the past 5 or more years and be flashy like all the others, Markie, Jamie, Rainsy, Davey B the list is endless. I want to thank Brendon and Gitzo for putting this together for me. Now I promise not to leave it at home this time, I am heading to the Pilbara on Sunday morning. More about that later. Brendan has a full range of Gitzos at PRA so go and get yourself one, in the end it is a pretty important piece of kit, a wonky tripod will give you a wonky photo.

85mm f/1.2 going CHEAP

I know someone who is selling the above Canon lens, send him an email if you want to pick it up. Michael uses it for most of his video work, it is awesome and possibly the phatest piece of glass on the planet. Email Phil here philbert_wrc@hotmail.com
I think this is going to go in a flash. All you portrait shooters out there, you should have this lens!

Price, $2000, used only 5 times!

True North / Team Digital Rotto photo competition

Hi all, you need to get your photos in for this comp by Thursday, I have extended the deadline!, I can do that because I’m collecting in the photos and also happen to be moving house this week and have next to no time to do anything. So get the images in asap, you have 3 days then it will be voted on. Remember the prize is a free Manfrotto tripod worth around $600. There haven’t been too many entries so the chances of winning are huge.

Benny from Team Digital was kind enough to get me a Phase One Camera with a P65 back for a week to try out. I have had mixed feelings about it but the end results have cemented my thoughts on what my next camera will be……… more details and a review soon.

Bunker Bay workshop

Well the Bunker Bay workshop went of really well last weekend with all of us having such a great time. The people who came along to learn some new tricks with the camera and computer were very kind to us and when ever it got too technical I handed over to the only guy I know who almost knows as much as the great Les Walkling, Rainsy !! Nick blew all our minds with his knowledge on Lightroom and the intricacies of colour management. I followed with my signature Luminosity Masks and got labelled the short cut king by Nick. We worked really well together I think and complimented each others workflow and style.

The students were fantastic and a great bunch of people to get to know. Remember if your still having some issues let Nick and I know and we will help you out. Due to the success of this workshop we will be running more together in the coming year so keep an eye on the blog. If you want to get on my mailing list let me know, this workshop filled up fast and we expect it will do so again for the next one.

Thanks to Denis for supplying the photos for this blog post, really appreciate you sending to me.

Cheers
CF

p.s. the top photo I was telling Nick who was looking a lot like Eminem that you only get ONE SHOT and the bottom pic Nick was demonstrating how big the files from the P65 really are!! Then they all got me painting trees for about an hour, that was fun!

Funniest Home Video

This would have to be the funniest piss take I have ever seen, unfortunately it is aimed at me! Enjoy the laughs. Thanks to Muzz, Michael, Tony, Merv, Brent, Tommy, Likky, pete E and KD you guys made my day.

URGENT CALL TO INTERESTED PERSON

We have had a cancellation for our workshop at Bunker Bay being held with Nick Rains and I at the last minute so we have a spot available for one person who can get to Bunker Bay tonight for a 4.45am start Saturday morning. If you can make it ring me urgently on 0400 591 550 and let me know your coming.

cheers
CF

True North Rotto workshop Extravaganza

Well the Rottnest workshop is over for the year and I think it was a great success. There was a great turnout for the day and the speakers, the crew, the food and Boat were awesome. I had a fantastic time and hope you all gained a bit of information and motivation throughout the day. A big thanks goes to my good bud Markie Stothard for having the vision to believe this could work and for having the perfect platform to hold such an amazing workshop. Nothing like a 50m luxury boat to “Go wild in Style” The day went pretty smoothly and when I left at 10pm the staff were still working cleaning the boat. They work so hard and you should see what they do on a True North cruise. Hopefully a lot of you will soon experience what it is like to travel on this amazing vessel, to some amazing locations and be treated like kings.

Thanks to Tony Hewitt, Nick Rains and Glen Cowins for putting on great talks, my wife said Glen was the best, we are now filing for a divorce!!

Now don’t forget the sponsors, Benny and Trevo from Team Digital and Paulie Paul from Fitzgeralds. These guys have given you some stuff in the show bags to chew over and make sure you support them as they have supported us and the photographic community at large.

Also to Muzz for organising the best video ever, I was blown away and so humbled by the effort he and the others put in to make a awesome video and probably the funniest thing I have seen in years. Thanks to the crew that submitted videos, I think Merv’s accusation might have some truth in it. As for Tommy Putts, that is definitely true, go the pink feather Boa !! Brent your much too kind and the line at the end re Nikon was a beauty! Cheers for that. Tony, you will need more than a wire cage to hide your secrets from me, you are an inspiration. As for the others, Peter Eastway, Ken Duncan and Peter Lik, I’m sure given more time something could have been done to personalize the messages a bit more but being the best in the game we have to agree you probably are too damned busy. Pete, do you know the story of Pinocchio??

Thanks to everyone who came along to share the day with us.

The photo of True North was taken by Jon Davison What a great shot!

The Blog is Moving

Hi all,

My blog is going to be moved into my christianfletcher.com.au site and this process has started. Luckily I have the super team at Clever starfish the best web designers on the planet and Judd Exley of Jex Analytics the SEO superstar looking after me. These guys are the only ones to go to if you need a new website or some refining of the old one. They literally ROCK!