Sports Stars 2 - Chloe (Netball)

Our week 2 sports star is Chloe, who currently plays for the Phoenix Netball club in Townsville. She plays in the under age team and the Premier League. She has represented Townsville at the State Championships and made North Queensland sides. She is currently going through the trials process to made the QLD state side. Chloe attends Saint Margaret Mary School. We sad down with Chloe and her grand mother to talk about what she has achieved so far in Netball.

ls: What sports do you play?
cc: Netball & Touch.
ls: What clubs do you play for?
cc: Phoenix Netball and Brothers Touch.
ls: What position do you play?
ls: GD & GK (Goal Keeper and Goal Defense)
ls: How long have you been playing?
cc: 8 years.
ls: Who is your sporting hero?
cc: Laura Geitz from the QLD Firebirds and Australia. (Laura is currently the captain of the Australian Netball side)

ls: What representative honours have you achieved?
cc: Townsville, North Queensland and QLD Netball Squad.
ls: How did you get involved in these sports?
cc: Through my mother and friends. 
ls: How much time is involved?
cc: 6 days a week
ls: What is the best part of playing sports?
cc: Going away to carnivals with my teams.
ls: What is the worst part of playing sport?
cc: Having to balance sport with school work.
ls: What was your favourite event?
CC: Going away with my North Queensland netball team.
ls: Why did you choose these sports?
cc: I chose to play netball as my older sister played netball and my mum loved the sport. I chose to play touch because I wanted to participate in a fun sport with all my friends.
ls: What is your biggest accomplishment in your sport?
cc: Winning sports women of the year and making the Queensland Under 17's State Netball team.
ls: What one or two things do you currently do in your training that are keys to your success?
cc: Always try my best and push myself each training session and game.
ls: What would be your ultimate achievement?
cc: To make a Queensland and then Australian team for netball.
ls: How do you set your goals?
cc: I set my goals by creating new challenges.
ls: What is the best advise you were ever given?
cc: Never give up, try your hardest, play hard but enjoy yourself.
ls: Do you have a saying or motto that you live your life by?
cc: Be the best person that you can be.
ls: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
cc: Famous sports people, my coaches and my mother.
ls: What do you do in your spare time away from the sport?
cc: Spend my time with my family and friends.
ls: Do you have a pre-match routine?
cc: I eat a small snack.
ls: Anything else you would like to share?
cc: Not at this stage.
ls: Thanks for your time Chloe, good luck in the future with you goals and ambitions. Thanks also to your grand mother for bringing you to the shoot. 

Leiden Studios has been lucky enough this year to have photographed both Chloe and her older sister this year. I would like to thank the Cooper family for the privilege and offer both girls all the success in the future.

Photographic competitions

Here is a big comment, but I believe that all photographers calling themselves professional should be entering at least one professional photographic competition a year. If you are a member of that AIPP then it is a requirement of maintaining your membership to enter into the APPA's. Why do I say this? We have learnt so much from the competitions that we have entered and we have had a bit of success. We have also had a few disappointments along the way as well so it does balance out. I will admit we have been professional photographers for 8 years, but only started entering the competitions last year. That was definitely a mistake and in the end, slowed our progress. What better way is there than to get people with huge amounts of experience and technical skills to assess your work.

There are however, a couple of problems with the APPA's. Firstly it is very expensive to enter into the competition and secondly, and my point with this blog, is that you actually need to get the feedback from the judges to really benefit from the competition. That means you not only have the cost of entry, cost of the print and matting and the cost of posting to where ever the location is that year, you also have to travel to the judging. Costly from Townsville and there is also the time factor as well.

This is one of the reasons that I love the International Loupe Awards, (Google if interested). Entry is only $35/image, unlimited entry's and when you get the result you also get the judges feedback from between one and three of the judges. So here is my point. This is one of the images that has just come back from the International Loupe Awards.

The set up is the location shoot of a wedding at The Brewery, one of my favourite locations. We were photographing using the window light, generally in the narrow range, when I noticed the beautiful rim lighting effect that the light was having on Regina. The light is actually coming from the right and reflecting of the wall and through the window, stunning.

So what are your thought about it without cheating and checking on what the judges said about the image. (I have posted their comments below). I knew that I had problems with the reflections and when I took the image should have bracketed the image probably 2 to 3 stops under the exposure that I used. That would give me details in the highlighted areas that were blown out  in the original exposure.

Unfortunately, my Photoshop skills need work and that is one area I did get pick up on. The rest of the comments I completely missed. That being said the image scored 77, enough to score a bronze medal last year, but 3 points shy of award status this year. Still happy with the result and will think a little more about it next time. I also love this image but take on board what the judges have said.

Judges Comments:

Critique Comments:

Judge 1:   line runs directly through her nose

Judge 2:  The light on this is very nice and well handled. There a re a couple of fundamentals here though which weaken the image. Placement of the bride - just an inch back and you would not have that line going through her nose - its very distracting, you have taken the time to set this up so just note small things like this and adjust. She also looks a little stiff but her expression is relaxed. There is a lot of visible retouching which lets this down. Sometimes its good to just leave an image alone..

Judge 3: The line of the window, cut the nose of the Bride.

Our sporting Hero's 1 - Ellie

Ellie is a Queensland representative football player, having won a national championship with the Queensland Under 12 girls earlier this year. She also plays touch and Oz Tag, and is hoping to gain Queensland selection in both these sports later in the year and early next year. She comes from an incredibly talented family with other family members featuring on this blog in future editions. We sat down with Ellie and had a chat about her dreams and goals for the future.

ls: What sports do you play?
eh: Soccer, Oz Tag and Touch.
ls: What clubs do you play for?
eh: Annandale Falcons and now the North Queensland Fury.
ls: What position do you play?
eh: Midfield and full back.
ls: How long have you been playing?
eh: 8 years.
ls: Who is your sporting hero?
eh: Lionel Messe from Argentina and Barcelona.

ls: What representative honours have you achieved?
eh: Townsville Football, Townsville Primary School Football, North Queensland Schools Football, QLD Schools Football, Townsville Schools Touch, North Queensland Schools Touch & Townsville Oz Tag.
ls: How much time is involved?
eh: All of our time.
ls: What is the best part of playing sports?
eh: All of it.
ls: What is the worst part of playing sport?
eh: Not being able to play.
ls: What was your favourite event?
eh: Playing for QLD at the Football Nationals in Brisbane earlier this year.
ls: Why did you choose these sports?
eh: I try to get to as many sports as I can and these were the ones we had time for.
ls: What is your biggest accomplishment in your sport?
eh: Making  the QLD State side in Football
ls:What one or two things do you currently do in your training that are keys to your success?
eh: Juggling and shooting skills.
ls: What would be your ultimate achievement?
eh: Playing for Australia.
ls: How do you set your goals?
eh: I set my goals based on what I need to improve.
ls: What is the best advise you were ever given?
eh: It's not over until it is over.
ls: Do you have a saying or motto that you live your life by?
eh: Do your best and you can achieve your best.
ls: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
eh: Lionel Messe, coaches and my parents.
ls: What do you do in your spare time away from the sport?
eh: Train.
ls: Do you have a pre-match routine?
eh: No, only a warm up
ls: Anything else you would like to share?
eh: no, I love sport.
ls: Thanks for your time Ellie, good luck in the future with you goals and ambitions.

Leiden Studios would like to thank Matt and Tracey for their time and allowing us to do the shoot with Ellie. I hope she enjoyed the experience, we had a lot of fun doing the shoot and interview. We wish her all the luck in the future pursuing her dreams.

This is the first in a weekly series of sporting stars to be profiled by Leiden studios. Leiden Studios has the pleasure of working with a large number of sporting clubs and organisations both in Townsville and in Queensland and through this association we have come across a range of fantastically talented sports stars. Our aim is to profile some of these personalities and hopefully give both the athlete and the associations a bit of exposure.

We have stars lined up for the next few weeks but are always looking for more willing to do a bit of a photo shoot and give us a bit of an insight into what it takes to be a sports star. I have plans already in place for a sprinter and swimmer/ water polo. Considering we covered QLD Water Polo for 5 years I actually do not know any in Townsville.Please give us a call if you are interested in participating. There is no cost associated with the shoot.

Christmas is Close

Christmas is Looming.

Did you know it is only 120 days or so until Christmas? Where has yet another year gone? So how have you gone with your plans and goals for the year? At this time of the year, it is a great time to assess how you are going and put plans in place for the rest of the year. Did you notice how much the kids have grown? So when was the last time you had some family portraits done?

Baby Portraits.

So are you stuck for a Christmas idea? What are you going to give your family? What about parents, grandparents and the rest of your family? Always a great idea is to get your family photographed by a professional photographer. An annual trip to a professional photographer will allow you to document your family as time goes by. There is nothing like today to get it done.

Studio Portraits.

Family photography can be done in a number of ways. The quickest, but not always the easiest is to use a studios with studios lighting. While some studios may be set up to utilise natural light, most will rely on studio flash. Studios shoots can be very creative because of the ability to control light and at various times of the day may be the best option. Daylight can be very harsh and while it is possible to do portrait shoots at midday, it is easier to do these in the studio.

Themed Portraits.

Location photography can bring a different dynamic to your shoot as you can customise the shoot to your family. Props like chairs, balloons, picnic set, even family pets can be used. Once captured, these images will last forever. Procrastination is the worst thing when it get to family portraits and as everyone knows, time passes so quickly.

Senior Portraits.

As we get closer to the end of the year, our grade 12 students are getting ready to leave school and enter society. A great memento for both the parents and the student is a senior's portrait shoot. The students schooling life can be incorporated into the shoot to give a pictorial history of the last year at school.

Summer Portrait Offer.

Our summer special just in time for Christmas is the family mini session. Thirty minutes along the river or in the studio and we will provide up to 20 digital images for you to select from. Places are limited so phone in to book your place. The offer is valid until the end of September.

Thanks to everyone who has used our services during 2013. We have had wonderful couples, family's and a couple of new sports clubs over the years as well as our regular clubs. We love doing your photographs and are looking forward to working with you next year. 

Over the next few posts we will provide a few tips on how to get the best out of your portrait session. Stay tuned.

Finding Your Wedding Photographer

Previously, I wrote about the process of finding you wedding photographer. It is a very difficult decision, made harder by the sheer number of people calling themselves a professional photographer. There is a wide range of abilities and price differences between the photographers and I have to say, like all professions, you get what you paid for, Generally.

There is a lot more to wedding photography than being able to compose a photograph in camera. Most people that get into wedding photography, start with an interest in photography and then get asked by friends to cover a wedding. All very well, except there is a big difference to taking photos for fun and the expectation of a wedding shoot. Suddenly, if you stuff it up, there is no come back. No real way to go back and re shoot the event. Even if you had the resources, the photos are never the same.

So the basics of wedding photography begin with an understanding of the camera and it's settings. Modern cameras are amazing. Really, anyone can pick a camera up and take a really nice, well composed photographs. Cameras come with face recognition technology, large file size, incredible low light capability, motor drive, this list go on. What is does not come with is composition, lighting and posing. Your photographer has to be able to do that.

Where you separate yourself as a professional from the want to be, is in the use of light, positioning of those being photographed, exposure and in the end, how the image is finished using programs like Photoshop. On Photoshop, when you start is amazing. It can "fix" a range of photographic problems that the professional photographer should get right in camera. There is a limit to how long you can fix it in Photoshop before you get sick of it and go back to the basics of the original in camera capture. Get that right and the rest is easy, sort of.

One of the great ways of getting a good photographer is to check their professional association memberships. The Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) or Australian Commercial & Media Photographers (ACMP) are two such associations. Membership requires an assessment by fellow professional photographers as well as a continuing education and assessment process to maintain membership. This means you constantly have to remain up to date with current technology and trends in the industry.

One of the assessments is the APPA's, the AIPP's annual professional photography competition. Four images are submitted and assessed by Masters of photography, people who have been in the industry for years and have a wealth of experience. This is the best way of learning what is required as a professional photographer. Judging can be brutal, but as a learning experience there is nothing like it. Does your photographer enter the APPA's?

Silver award 2012 APPA's

For further information please contact Malcolm during office hours.