Cameron Laird - Photographer

Tricky request calls for creative lighting

Cameron — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:16:43 +0000

Today’s assignment was to photograph the new artistic director of Dance North. My brief was to keep it quite plain, maybe even as plain as with a standard white background. Sounds a bit boring? Well – the pic is to be positioned right across the page with text over the plain areas. So, instead of giving only a choice of plain background I threw in a few extras that are a bit more creative. Apart from the wall there was nothing that would help the viewer even identify her surroundings with her profession. I decided to use a glass door that was just next the the exposed bricks to my advantage. Bouncing a 580EXII into white reflector umbrella gave me a nice gentle light on the subject but also had the added advantage of reflecting in the glass door and giving the reader something to identify with. Knowing what many sub-editors are like it will probably get cropped out but what the heck, can’t hurt to get your own gear in the pic every now and then!

Click to see a larger version

1/200th @ f5.0 ISO640 – Shot on Canon EOS 5DMkII with EF 70-200 f2.8L IS USM. Lighting with 580EXII into white reflector umbrella triggered by PocketWizard PlusII’s.

Too much rain foils angler’s best plans

Cameron — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:48:58 +0000

I was asked to photograph the first day of the barramundi season today so I thought I could make a great pic at Townsville’s Aplins Weir where there would normally have been up to 100 fisherman there to celebrate the opening of the season. The recent rains would normally have provided a perfect start to the season as plenty of food was swept down rivers and streams to the waiting barra. The problem however – the dam spill gates had to be opened and therefore instead of a gentle flow, we got 100,000 litres a second over the dam wall.

So, all I ended up shooting was a handful of pics that I got a bit carried way with in Lightroom and a video to show you what the flow was like. [Skip past the gallery for the video]

Click here to view the embedded video.

Got a spare AUS$1,000,000 to splash on an out-of-date camera?

Cameron — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:25:35 +0000

Recently I wrote a column for a magazine about my personal transition from film to digital 11 years ago. In that column I mentioned that the invention of digital photography was the biggest change in the industry since Louis Daguerre’s ‘Daguerreotype’ amazed people in 1835.

Well, only a couple of days after writing this column I spotted the “Giroux Daguerréotype” up for auction at an Austrian auction house.

This camera was designed by Daguerre and his brother-in-law and sold in limited numbers from 1839. To add to the value it features Daguerre’s signature and is in stunning condition.

If you have the time take the opportunity to learn a bit more about Louis Daguerre, one of the ‘fathers’ of photography. It really is fascinating reading (did you know that the first know picture of Abraham Lincoln was a daguerrotype?)

The first know picture of Lincoln was this Daguerrotype

Further reading links – WestLicht Photographica Auction’s page on this camera, Louis Daguerre on Wikipedia, Daguerrotype on Wikipedia, Photograph on Wikipedia

Want a customized iPhone security wallpaper? Let me help with that!

Cameron — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:22:06 +0000

A while ago I knocked up a custom iPhone security wallpaper that put your contact details on the front page of your iPhone so that if you lost it someone could easily return it. The iPhone has a couple of security settings which are commonly used by people to safeguard their data. First thing is a four digit ‘passcode lock’ which can be set to enable after 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 minutes of inactivity. The second is an ‘erase data’ feature which will thoroughly wipe the phone after 10 passcode lock input errors. Awesome idea, if you phone gets nicked as the thief tries to unlock it then there is no way for them to get to your personal data.

However, what happens if you leave you phone somewhere and an honest soul picks it up and wants to return it to you? Well, if you have your passcode lock enabled then I’m afraid there is nothing you can do. Mr or Mrs Honest can’t do a thing to find out who owns the phone unless you ring it constantly and hope they answer or you plaster the back of your phone with a big ‘contact details’ sticker.

Well, here’s an easy way around that. Stick a custom wallpaper on your iPhone like the one I use below and when someone turns it on they are greeted with your details.

The initial wallpaper when the phone is turned on

The passcode screen, note how the info fits neatly

One tip, make sure the phone number you put in as your contact number isn’t the number of the actual phone! That would be pretty dumb eh? When you get your custom wallpaper just make sure you put it in your iPhone’s photo library and then go into your phone Settings/Wallpaper and then select the appropriate library/album and then your custom wallpaper. Easy.

Now, how to make one…. Well, it is done in Photoshop and I figure many of you don’t have photoshop so I’m going to make it easy. You can email me (to iphonewallpaper@cameronlaird.com) your email address and phone number and I will do it for you and then email it back. You can even send me a pic to put with it, it MUST be 480px x 320px though. Alternatively, if you ‘do’ Photoshop then feel free to ping me an email (to iphonewallpaper@cameronlaird.com) and I’ll shoot you back the PSD file and you can customize it to your hearts content.

If you would like me to do this for you I’d LOVE if and request that you could leave a comment here in the comments and if you are a twitterer then please tweet this by clicking right here on this link

God and I spend an afternoon at the beach

Cameron — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:11:37 +0000

Had an assignment for London’s Daily Mail a couple of weeks ago photographing former Brit football legend Robbie “God” Fowler. Fowler is playing for Australian A-League team North Queensland Fury FC as their marquee import and striker. Read Mike Dickson’s story here

Click to read the Daily Mail online story

Robbie Fowler and I during a Daily Mail shoot

Click to see a larger version of the Daily Mail spread

My thoughts on the upcoming Apple announcement

Cameron — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:04:27 +0000

I’ve had a few Fri arvo beers and I’m ready to make a call about Apple’s ‘big’ announcement next week. They will introduce a new tablet device that will change the future of the newspaper and magazine industry overnight. The New York Times will be part of the initial launch and along with wireless cell providers and publishers around the world it will revolutionize the way we consume our news. How close will I be?

A mockup of the tablet

You can keep track with the launch (10am 27 Jan 2010 San Francisco time) at this link - Live Apple “Come see our latest creation” / tablet event coverage

Navigon – I WANT MY MONEY BACK!

Cameron — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:28:29 +0000

Now, this might seem like a bit of a rant but once you see the pics below you’ll understand my point. I had a job yesterday on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and while I know the area pretty well I didn’t know the directions to the actual street in Buderim so I put my iPhone GPS app Navigon to work (AUS$69.99 in the iTunes store) to point me in the right direction.

I was headed up the Gateway motorway and then onto the Bruce Highway to Buderim, a trip of just under 100km. This is what Google shows as the directions

Google Maps' directions for BNE to Buderim

Perfect, I already knew the directions so I just tapped the street address in and set the phone aside and planned to wait until I was only a couple of km’s out to check the actual directions to the street. After about 20 mins of driving Navigon piped up “Turn left in 1 km”. WTF?

Turn left up a dirt track?

Navigon wanted me to turn left up a dirt track instead of simply heading straight up the motorway at 110km/h. Why would that be? Ahhh – so I can get to Buderim, Navigon’s way.

280km v 96km... F*CK YOU Navigon!

I guess you can see the problem above? If not maybe you actually work for Navigon (or should work for Navigon!)

So, I’m not stupid and I didn’t listen to the Navigon lady (I liked to call her Moneypenny, but now I refer to her as B*TCH) and just kept driving the way I knew.

Where the problem lies is that the only way I saw the whole map above was by getting out of ’street view’ and zooming out on the overall map and seeing where the problem lay. Last night I had dinner with a friend in Brisbane who has a German au pair. She rightly said that she would have followed B*TCH word for word as she had no idea where Buderim was, turning the one hour motorway trip into a 4 hour trip through the countryside.

This got me to thinking, how many times had B*TCH given me the run-a-round? So I tasked her with showing me the way back to Brisbane, a route I knew perfectly well.

Ummm, see the problem here?

I was on the M3 motorway heading in to the city and it wanted me to take a 12km detour and join up to a point 2km straight ahead of where I was already heading. I didn’t fall for that one but then I realised – how many times had I fallen for this in the months I have had the app? I have worked in Melbourne and Sydney, two cities that I don’t really know my way around perfectly well and for the most time I followed B*TCH word for word. Now I wonder, where had she taken me? How much extra fuel had I used? How much time had I wasted?

To cut a long story short, I want a refund of AUS$69.99 from you Navigon – your product is faulty and therefore I should be entitled to a refund. And maybe while refunding my money you could spare a thought for all the people who follow B*TCH word for word!

UPDATE – Just went into the Apple Store to request a refund, filled in the form in detail and got this helpful response. Cheers Apple

UPDATE II – Filled in another form on the Apple site and after a few days got this response below -

Dear Cameron,

##### here. Your request for a refund for “MobileNavigator Australia [ Version 1821064 ]” was carefully considered; however, according to the iTunes Store Terms of Sale, all purchases made on the iTunes Store are final. This policy matches Apple’s refund policies and provides protection for copyrighted materials.

You can review the iTunes Store Terms of Sale for more information:
http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/sales.html

I would also contact the Developer of the app and check to see what they can do for you. I have included their name and a link to their website.
Developer is :
Navigon
Website:
http://www.navigon.com/portal/int/produkte/navigationssoftware/mobile_navigator_iphone_eu.html;jsessionid=4EA4C55BEE6DB33292E88B0EFF1B18F1.kmf-website-3

Sincerely,

#####
iTunes Store Customer Support
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/ww/

Please Note: I work Sun ,, Tues, Wed , Thur , and Fri 8AM-4:30PM CT

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.

So, I am going to forward my messages to Navigon and see where it ends up – if I have no luck there then off to a relevant government authority to see what can be done. IT’S THE PRINCIPLE DAMMIT! You can’t sell something that clearly doesn’t work properly and then refuse to ‘refund,replace or repair’.

UPDATE III - Just got a reply back from Navigon (see below), unhelpful to say the least. So, it’s off to the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) tomorrow, will report back with any updates.

Dear customer,

thank you for contacting the NAVIGON support team.

With regards to obtaining a refund please contact the App store as you made your purchase at the App Store.

For further information on your product please see the link under :

http://www.navigon.com/portal/de/produkte/navigationssoftware/mobile_navigator_iphone_eu.html

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Yours sincerely

________________
NAVIGON Support Team

NAVIGON AG
Berliner Platz 11
97080 Wuerzburg
Phone for United Kingdom: 0871-2880154 (0,10 GBP/€/min. Fixed network, mobile tarifs may vary)
E-Mail: support.uk@navigon.com
Web: www.navigon.com

please attach previous e-mails.
Any questions about our products?
Our openening times are from 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday.

Working today in one of the world’s most beautiful places!

Cameron — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:06:39 +0000

As a young kid growing up I was amazingly lucky to have grandparents living at Queensland’s Coolum Beach. I loved spending nearly every Christmas holidays there but only realised many years after just how blessed I was to have those great times in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The 30hr round trip in the car from our home in north Queensland was well worth it! (And by the way, for my colleague who is visiting London in the FREEZING winter – Hahahaha)

Thought I’d share a few snaps I took yesterday after I’d finished a job in the nearby area.

Help me build my new HTPC… Advice really appreciated!

Cameron — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:33:28 +0000

07 Jan 2009 UPDATE – Couple of changes to the list below… The equipment is on the way to me (hopefully will arrive before the weekend)

A couple of days ago I thought I would be a ‘little bit fancy‘ and update the software on my original XBox’s XBox Media Center. And……. I killed it

So, great opportunity to build a snazzy home theater pc (HTPC) I reckon! Something that looks like this!

Prerequisites

It must connect to my home network and stream video from my iMac or another machine on the network that is sharing
It must have a dual tuner HD TV tuner card
It must play Blu-Ray discs
It must be normal audio component size

So, this is what I have come up with but I would really, REALLY love any input or advice you can give me. I am pretty handy around a PC so I can build it myself easy peasy.

I have put in links to the pages on UMart’s site (my usual supplier of non Mac stuff)

So… Anything look wrong with this? Can you think of something better? I’d really love the input from a few geeky htpc experts out there! Feel free to post in the comments section or send me a tweet to @cammo

Merry Christmas from me and my family to you and yours!

Cameron — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:33:02 +0000