Rodney Campbell's Blog

Don’t Let Me Down

NIKON Z 7 + 12.0 mm f/2.8 @ 12 mm, 1/3 sec at f/4, ISO 800

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

A sneak peak at this years projections onto the MCA as part of Vivid Sydney

In her emotionally charged Vivid Light debut, Sydney-based artist Claudia Nicholson has created a romantic homage to her birth country of Colombia

The large-scale, brightly coloured floral sequences are quite spectacular

Vivid Sydney starts this Friday the 24th of May and runs till the 15th of June

Austral Flora Ballet

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 56 mm, 15 sec at f/5.6, ISO 64

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

A sneak peek at this years Vivid Sydney projections onto the Sydney Opera House

Titled Austral Flora Ballet – it is a hypnotic fusion of contemporary dance and motion-capture technology that brings our botanic wonders to life as never seen before

The sequences are very organic and fluid and replete with many of our unique and native flora

Fair warning to photographers. The action is fast paced and the swirling detail very fine. This makes it extremely difficult to time and capture any minor pauses in the motion

You’ll likely need to shoot at extremely high ISO’s and fast shutters to freeze the action

Keen observers might notice my shot is 15 seconds @ ISO 64. Luckily I was able to pause some frames and shoot clean long exposures 🙂

Vivid Sydney starts this Friday the 24th of May and runs till the 15th of June

Larger than Life

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 29.5 mm, 1/13 sec at f/8, ISO 400

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

With these fabulous lanterns at Taronga Zoo it can be a little hard in pictures to see just how big they are

Take yesterdays image of the Koala for instance – it’s not Koala life size but rather it’s taller than me

Others are quite a bit smaller but many are much larger

This image with my daughter and the gorillas give you some idea of the scale. These are by no means the largest of the illuminated lanterns – there are some significantly taller or longer. However, hopefully you get the idea

You can also see here that I’ve finally decided to bump the ISO up from 64 :). All to get a little faster shutter speed so my daughter doesn’t have to stand quite so motionless 🙂

Vivid Sydney and Lights for the Wild opens this Friday the 24th May and runs to 15th June 2019

Urban Koala

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 70 mm, 1/80 to 13 sec at f/8, ISO 64

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

This particular shot was quite tricky to craft

Again this Koala is one of the new light installations at Taronga Zoo this year

All the lanterns are quite bright – very bright against the ambient darkness

The city in the background of this shot is visible to the naked eye. However in a “correctly” exposed shot of the Koala the city lights are barely visible. In a shot which correctly exposes for the city the Koala is nuclear with glowing edges

So in this case I took a nine frame bracket at 1EV intervals. Then blended those images in post to create the above with a nicely exposed Koala along with the city in the background

Vivid Sydney and Lights for the Wild opens this Friday the 24th May and runs to 15th June 2019

Lioness

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 25.5 mm, 1/2 sec at f/8, ISO 64

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Another of the new light sculptures at Lights for the Wild at Taronga Zoo this year

A pride of Lions in anticipation of the new African Savannah precinct which opens later this year

Vivid Sydney and Lights for the Wild opens this Friday the 24th May and runs to 15th June 2019