I had borrowed and used (thanks again to my trusty neighbour) Nikons extremely uber pro lens – the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR I – during a recent school athletics carnival and again to do some portrait work at a school night-time fundraising event. This fast (constant f/2.8) lens is a staple of the pro photographer and I have to say was an absolute joy to use and produced fantastically sharp and smooth images. It is however very large (over 20cm long and almost 9cm in diameter) and very heavy (over 1.5kg) and very expensive (over AUD$3,000) and totally dwarf’d my tiny D90 and I did notice the weight when shooting for long periods hand-held.

The 70-300 that I bought I guess is not quite the poor mans equivalent (Nikon did have a very cheap 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED that cost a few hundred dollars) but I’d say it’s the middle mans equivalent of the pro 70-200mm – it’s zooms further (out to 300mm – however it is sharper between 70 and 200mm), it is slower (f4.5-5.6) and is much smaller and half the weight. Apparently however by most accounts between 70 and 200mm it is nearly as sharp as the pro 70-200. On my 1.5x crop sensor Nikon D90 body this lens gives an equivalent field of view of a 105 to 450mm focal length.

The Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED has the new technology goodies like Vibration Reduction (VR) and Silent Wave Motor – SWM which enables fast and quiet autofocusing, and constant instant switching between autofocus and manual operation (AF-S) and is very solidly built. It normally retails here in Australia for around AUD$1000 however I picked up mine for AUD$649.

This lens is not a DX (crop sensor) specific lens and does support FX (full frame) use which means if I ever do really succumb and upgrade to a full frame sensor camera (like the D700 or above) then I can continue using this lens to it’s full potential – I am now considering sticking with FX only lenses from now on…

I now have three lenses which work fine on FX bodies (this Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED, my Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2.8 Di Macro and the Nikon AF 50mm f1.8D) and two DX specific lenses (the Nikon AF-S DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF ED VR II which I purchased with my D90 and my Ultra Wide Angle Sigma 8-16mm F4.5-5.6 DC HSM).

I am however already thinking about a 50mm replacement – the Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM for some smooth and creamy low DoF work… mmmmm….

This is a very sweet piece of glass and is the Nikon official sort of equivalent of the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens that I own (except this Nikon lens is twice the weight and size and two to three times the price! – it also has Vibration Reduction (VR) and Silent Wave Motor – SWM which enables fast and quiet autofocusing, and instant switching between autofocus and manual operation (AF-S) and is a joy to use. It isn’t that I don’t like my Tamron lens (it is absolutely fantastic – especially for the price) it is just that this lens is well… even nicer

I’ve had the lens constantly on the camera for about a week now and I took a number of shots during two lunch hours in the city. The first day I quickly grabbed some shots in Hyde Park which is next to my work and then on the second day a number of colleagues from work also brought in their D-SLR’s and we did a bit of a lunchtime photo walk through some of the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Note: Click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay gallery viewer.

Hyde Park is Sydney city’s central open green space and it was named after the Hyde Park in London; however, its origins are somewhat different. Originally the Park was a racecourse and sporting ground playing host to all manners of competition. Today the only reminder of its early 19th century competitive heritage is the huge playable chess set that features on the western side of the Park.

The tranquil setting is popular among office workers who want some fresh air, a quick siesta or some time out from the concrete jungle. The central pathway through the park is an impressive, tiled, fig lined road linking two of the parks other features, the Archibald Fountain and the War Memorial.

The War Memorial is a 1934 art deco tribute to the Anzac soldiers who fell in the first world war. The memorial stands 30 metres above the pool of rememberance.

This first shot of a Poppy in Hyde Park was taken towards the sun which is back lighting the semi translucent petals. This lens has a nine-bladed rounded diaphragm opening which affords fantastic Bokeh (the nice smooth out of focus backgrounds when shot at a wider aperture).

“Poppy Love”

Nikon D90 + Nikon 105mm macro, 1/1600 sec at f/4, ISO 200

I managed to get in pretty tight on this red poppy and a bee loading itself up on pollen. With macro shots like this getting a moving object like a bee sharply in focus is extremely difficult given the very tiny depth of field you get with such close up work. I did use my monopod to steady my camera but it is still difficult to stop the camera or the subject moving forward or backward – even a fraction of a millimetre can throw the focus off.

“Pollen”

Nikon D90 + Nikon 105mm macro, 1/320 sec at f/11, ISO 200

That evening we had a fantastic sunset with fabulous colours in the sky. When I was picking up my daughter from her dancing class late in the day we grabbed this quick shot of these silhouetted trees set against this gloriously coloured sky.

Nikon D90 + Nikon 105mm macro, 1/60 sec at f/4, ISO 200

The Royal Botanic Gardens were first established in 1816 and they are now one of Sydney’s finest natural assets. The gardens also offer some of the best views of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge possible. A sprawling 30 hectares of green next to the Sydney central business district, and contiguous to the 35 hectares of Sydney’s Domain and are home to over a million specimens, some of which were planted by the newly arrived European colonists almost 200 years ago. It is also the site of Australia’s first farm.

We visited a number of areas in the gardens including the succulent gardens.

“Waiting for Trouble”

Nikon D90 + Nikon 105mm macro, 1/125 sec at f/9, ISO 200

“Mini Suns”

Nikon D90 + Nikon 105mm macro, 1/800 sec at f/4, ISO 200

“Colour Trove”

Nikon D90 + Nikon 105mm macro, 1/60 sec at f/8, ISO 250

Another example of this lens’s smooth and creamy bokeh and ability to capture incredible detail and saturated colours.

Nikon D90 + Nikon 105mm macro, 1/125 sec at f/8, ISO 200

Note: Click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay gallery viewer.

My girls found this first plant and roughly the angle to photograph (from above) – we each tried a few shots – the one I’ve included is one of mine since unfortunately all theirs were out of focus:

D90 + Tamron 90mm macro, 1/125 sec at f/4, ISO 200

A close up of a grevillea flower is one of mine:

D90 + Tamron 90mm macro, 1/200 sec at f/11, ISO 500

These very pretty pinky purple flowers is another of mine but the girls located the specific flower to shoot:

D90 + Tamron 90mm macro, 1/200 sec at f/9, ISO 500

The next two are pretty much all Amelia – she found the plants to photograph and framed the shots – I especially like her angle of view (from above) of the flower ring with the stem of flowers coming up the middle – both of these were found in a friends backyard (thanks Sue ):

D90 + Tamron 90mm macro, 1/200 sec at f/9, ISO 2800

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D90 + Tamron 90mm macro, 1/200 sec at f/9, ISO 1000

The HDR techniques I’d been learning tend more towards the surreal fantasy or stylised look (unlike my usual HDR’s which aim to be more photographic) and as such these are not necessarily meant to portray a realistic view of the scene but rather to give a more ethereal glow to the vision – one which I think works with the very colourful, vibrant and textural interior of this old world building.

So whilst they may not be “real” photographs I hope you enjoy both the creative aspect of their composition (angles of view and arrangement of subjects) and the over processing of the images to get these final results…

As before these are all high dynamic range (HDR) images created by merging multiple (3) different exposures of the same scene to create the final image and look.

The individual frames are taken at 0, -2 and +2EV and as they were all shot indoors in low light I had to both increase my sensor sensitivity (ISO) as well as use a very low shutter speed (especially for the overexposed +2EV frames). In these conditions getting a nice sharp shot is made much more difficult and shooting them handheld even more so. Again I took my new Benro carbon fibre monopod with me to stabilise the shots which I used for pretty much every image and again this has worked exceedingly well to get the sets of three sharp images to use.

The first image I originally took at the end of my previous trip to the building and it was the post processing of this image which inspired me to go back and take some more images expressly so I could process some more in a similar vein. However there were a few problems with the image – notably that it was tilted/skewed and I couldn’t get it to look both horizontally and vertically straight(ish). On my next trip I reshot it in an attempt to redo it but this time it had other problems (notably the insanely bright light coming in from above since it was a clear blue sky day). So I went back again yesterday which was a very rainy overcast day and reshot again for the third time and this time I think we might have a better result

“The Grandness of Time”

Nikon D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/5 sec at f/10, ISO 800

A sweeping view of the large main dome on the top floor taken from near floor level. This was another shot where I wasn’t entirely happy with the end result – mainly because of the blown out detail and rippled effect on the floor on the left. I actually thought this may be due to the HDR process but it’s all in the original RAWs as well so it’s simply the effect of the reflections of the bright light off the floor. The bright sun coming in through the roof also caused this huge swath of white across the left there and killed most of that passageway. So I reshot it again on the last trip (overcast day so the light wasn’t so hard) and it did turn out better but still with some blue ripple.

“Imperial Dome”

Nikon D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/2 sec at f/10, ISO 800

A view down the main entrance escalators off George Street with the backlit stained glass windows. One I apparently got right the first time and this is probably one of my favourites from this QVB series.

“Up or Down”

Nikon D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/10 sec at f/8, ISO 1000

A different view of the main clock inside.

“Passages of Time”

Nikon D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/13 sec at f/8, ISO 800

These highly reflective mirrored glass escalators inside are a new addition to the building and make for some interesting reflections.

“Glass”

Nikon D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/13 sec at f/8, ISO 400

“Reflections”

Nikon D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/25 sec at f/8, ISO 800

These are all high dynamic range (HDR) images created by merging multiple (3) different exposures of the same scene to create the final image and look. For some of the final images I then post processed the colour images into various black and white (monochrome) variants with different looks that I felt suited the scene.

The individual frames are taken at 0, -2 and +2EV and as they were all shot indoors in low light I had to both increase my sensor sensitivity (ISO) as well as use a very low shutter speed (especially for the overexposed +2EV frames). I’m also using my Sigma Ultra Wide Angle lens which goes down to 8mm to give a very wide view. In these conditions getting a nice sharp shot is made much more difficult and shooting them handheld even more so.

I actually took my new Benro carbon fibre monopod with me to stabilise the shots and I did end up using it most of the time (even after the security guard came up to me and told me that the use of tripods were not allowed in the QVB). I did quiz the guard indicating that I was in fact not using a tripod (“tri” “pod” meaning three legs) but was in fact using a “mono” “pod”. I understand that when using a tripod the three legs do stick out and could cause a trip for a passerby but the monopod goes straight down to my own feet. Anyway I was just a bit more discreet with it’s use from then on and generally rested the end of the monopod on the top of the front of my shoe just in case they were concerned with it going on the floor (even though it does have a rubber end).

“Stained with History”

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 11mm, 1/8 sec at f/8, ISO 1600

“Stained with History II” – Colour

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/3 sec at f/8, ISO 800

“On Rails” – Colour

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/4 sec at f/8, ISO 1600

“On Rails”

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/4 sec at f/8, ISO 1600

“Stairs and Rails” – Colour

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/5 sec at f/8, ISO 1600

“The Grand Spiral II”

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/6 sec at f/8, ISO 3200

The Queen Victoria Building, or QVB, is a late nineteenth century building by the architect George McRae in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. The Romanesque Revival building is 190 metres long by 30 wide, and fills a city block, bounded by George, Market, York and Druitt Streets. Designed as a shopping centre, it was later used for a variety of other purposes until its restoration and return to its original use in the late twentieth century.

The site of the Queen Victoria Building was the location of the George Street Markets, and was selected for the construction of a grand government building. Architect George McRae designed the QVB in the ornate Romanesque Revival style with the express purpose of employing a great number of skilled craftsmen who were out of work due to a severe recession. The building was completed in 1898 and named the Queen Victoria Building after the monarch.

The completed building included coffee shops, showrooms and a concert hall. It provided a business environment for tradesmen such as tailors, mercers, hairdressers, and florists. The concert hall was later changed to a municipal library and the building was partitioned into small offices for Sydney City Council. The building steadily deteriorated and in 1959 was threatened with demolition. It was restored between 1984 and 1986 by Ipoh Ltd at a cost of $86 million, under the terms of a 99-year lease from the City Council and now contains mostly upmarket boutiques and “brand-name” shops.

Ipoh finished a $26 million refurbishment in 2009. The changes include new shopfronts, glass signage, glazed balustrades, new escalators connecting ground, first and second levels and new colour schemes.

Stained glass windows, including a cartwheel window depicting the arms of the City of Sydney, allow light into the central area. The intricate colonnades, arches, balustrades and cupolas make the exterior a visual feast of Victorian fussiness.

Inside, the building consists of four main shopping floors, the top three pierced by voids protected by decorated cast-iron railings. Much of the tilework, especially under the central dome, is original, and the remainder is in keeping with this style.

Source: Wikipedia

I joined a walk organised by our walk leader Philip Johnson which started at the top of Macquarie Street in the city and worked it’s way down the street and into Sydneys Royal Botanic Gardens and then across to Circular Quay for lunch.

Just before I joined the walk start I took some shots with my Ultra Wide Angle lens at St Mary’s Cathedral (something I had planned to do last time I was here – but it had started to rain back then).

The following is a HDR image taken at the main steps of St Mary’s Cathedral and merged from three bracketed exposures at -2, 0 and +2EV.

“Steps to Heaven”

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/60 sec at f/11, ISO 250

Hyde Park Baracks – “Stools”

D90 + Nikon 18-200mm @ 105mm, 1/100 sec at f/7.1, ISO 200

The Hyde Park Barracks are at the southern end of Macquarie Street. The barracks are located near the north-east corner of Hyde Park, opposite Queens Square and beside the Sydney Mint. Hyde Park Barracks were designed and built by the convict architect Francis Greenway between 1818 and 1819. Today it is managed by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales as a museum.

Walking down Macquarie Street:

D90 + Nikon 18-200mm @ 150mm, 1/250 sec at f/7.1, ISO 200

Morshead Fountain inside the Royal Botanical Gardens – in memory of Lieutenant-General Sir Lesley Morshead (knighted for his defence of Tobruk in World War II) and the men who served with him, 1966:

D90 + Tamron 90mm, 1/2500 sec at f/5, ISO 200

“Birth”

D90 + Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/125 sec at f/9, ISO 200

I was lucky enough to have this Ibis land in one of the pieces of art/sculpture right next to me and start to drink from the bowl at the top and this allowed me to get some close up shots (with the lens I happened to have on the camera at the time) from only a metre or two away before flying off:

D90 + Tamron 90mm, 1/500 sec at f/9, ISO 200

Some very interesting leaves (I was attracted to the textures and colours) on some plants in the gardens:

D90 + Tamron 90mm, 1/1000 sec at f/4, ISO 200

It’s Australia so we have to have eucalyptus :

D90 + Tamron 90mm, 1/125 sec at f/9, ISO 200

NSW Government House located in the Domain and overlooking the Royal Botanic Gardens and Sydney Opera House, is the most sophisticated example of a Gothic Revival building in New South Wales. It was built between 1837 and 1843.

I think the last time I was here was probably at the Queens Scout Award ceremony back when the governor general lived here and held the ceremony in the grounds out back.

“Old and New”

D90 + Tamron 90mm, 1/125 sec at f/11, ISO 200

The following is a HDR image of the rear of government house merged from three bracketed exposures at -2, 0 and +2EV.

“Grand Colonial Daze”

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/200 sec at f/9, ISO 200

“The Lily Pond”, in the grounds of government house:

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200

So I’ve been thinking of investing in a lightweight monopod for a while and today I pulled the trigger on the MC-91M8 MC-Series Carbon Fiber monopod from Benro along with the BH-1-M BH-Series single action ball head with quick release plate also from Benro.

This version can extend to a very high 164cm’s and has three small flip out legs (which can come out of the bottom legpiece) which allow the monopod to be self standing – I doubt I’d trust it standalone with my camera on board but as a makeshift stand for something light like a flash indoors I’d say it would be fine.

All up this weighs a tiny 1kg and appears to be a very solid piece of kit.

Carbon fibre supports (tripods and monopods) usually cost an absolute fortune but all up I picked this up for AUD $195 from a store here in Sydney (Photo Shop Studio) – a far cry from the well over $400 it would have cost me for the Manfrotto or Giottos equivalent carbon fibre monopod and head.

After I’ve used it for a few photo shoots I’ll report back on my findings.

Note: Click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay gallery viewer.

It was another very chilly 5:30AM start in total darkness at the carpark at Long Reef (behind the Golf Club) at Collaroy – scrambling over a couple hundred metres of extremely slippery rocks and low water in the pitch dark to get to the edge of the reef was “invigorating”.

I should note that I don’t own any of the essential tools of choice of seasoned landscape and seascape shooters (ND’s or GND’s – Neutral Density and Graduated Neutral Density filters) (and there is no filter thread on my Ultra Wide Angle lens so it would have to be handheld even if I did) so I have to make do with what I can. I also discovered the gradient tool thingy in Adobe Lightroom so had a bit of a play and got much better results adjusting the single RAW exposures (rather than using HDR).

Firstly Way Pre Dawn – this is a 3 minute exposure I took looking back towards the City – so the ambient light in the sky is coming from the main city. I didn’t have my remote with me so this is a three minute hand hold the shutter button down – not ideal but it appears to have basically worked although I did have to heavily post process this image to bring it back…

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 16mm, 177 sec at f/11, ISO 200

Pre Dawn (the very long shutter speed misty water look) [6:20AM]:

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 30 sec at f/11, ISO 200

The next two shots are the slower shutter speed flowing water shots – the first at 6:35AM and the second just after 7AM:

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 12mm, 2 sec at f/13, ISO 200

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D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 13mm, 1/13 sec at f/16, ISO 200

Looking Back (this is the headland we walked down and the rocky reef we walked across in the darkness) [7:15AM]:

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 12mm, 1/25 sec at f/16, ISO 200

The edge of the reef in the early morning light [7:35AM]:

D90 + Nikon 18-200mm @ 31mm, 1/80 sec at f/9, ISO 200

A Panoramic shot of the headland and beach (this is a single ultra wide shot cropped):

D90 + Sigma 8-16mm @ 8mm, 1/200 sec at f/11, ISO 200

Note: Click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay gallery viewer.

I loved the colours and the way the reflected light was falling onto this old building in the city (near Town Hall):

D90 + Nikon 18-200mm @ 29mm, 1/60 sec at f/11, ISO 200

Just at the entrance to Cockle Bay I saw these poles sticking up into the sky and had to frame this shot against the sparkling blue skies:

D90 + Nikon 18-200mm @ 56mm, 1/100 sec at f/8, ISO 200, CPL

At the end of Cockle Bay wharf there was this interesting little jetty with nicely lined up poles and as luck would have it a seagull arrived on cue :

D90 + Nikon 18-200mm @ 50mm, 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200, CPL

Finally on the way back to the office we have this shot of the clock tower on Sydney’s Town Hall in the early afternoon sun:

D90 + Nikon 18-200mm @ 56mm, 1/160 sec at f/9, ISO 200, CPL

Note: Click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay gallery viewer.

D90 + Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200

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D90 + Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200

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D90 + Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200

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D90 + Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200

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D90 + Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200

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D90 + Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200