Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Moon, Jupiter and Venus


The three brightest objects in the night sky have aligned, making for a spectacular sight for Manawatu stargazers.
Last night's conjunction of the moon, Venus and Jupiter – the three most visible objects in the night sky – was "pretty with the planets either side of the moon", astronomer Noel Munford said.
He said although Venus and Jupiter were millions of kilometres apart, because they were on the same plane going around the sun the conjunction made them appear close together.
"And we were lucky in New Zealand, because it was symmetrical here, and even five hours later in South Africa, the moon was much closer to one of the planets than we experienced," Mr Munford said.
Astronomers were out in force last night to observe the triple conjunction. Tonight, the moon and the planets will have moved and, while still a sight to behold, the moon will no longer be in the centre of the alignment.
Those who missed last night's display can look forward to another astronomical spectacle on June 6 – the transit of Venus across the sun.
Venus will pass directly between the sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disc. Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena, occurring in a pattern that repeats only every 243 years.
"This is our last chance to see it," Mr Munford said. "The next transit of Venus won't happen in our lifetime, or anyone who is alive today."
- © Fairfax NZ News









Monday, March 19, 2012

Amor Vittone is 40!

I celebrated Amor Vittone's 40th birthday with her as I was there for Rapport newspaper. In between the festivities I took these off beat pics. Singer Amor Vittone and her estranged husband, former rugby player Joost van der Westhuizen, have called a truce.


Happy Birthday Amor!










 Story:
http://www.channel24.co.za/News/Local/Joost-Amor-bury-the-hatchet-20120319 



Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Pictures taken on Sigma glass

When people ask me for advice on buying camera equipment, I always try and let them understand how important your glass (lens) is. The sad thing with companies almost brainwashing consumers into being part of the "Megapixel-race" is that consumers more than often spend most money on a camera body and only leave a little or no money for lenses. In my opinion its the wrong way of going about buying camera gear. 

Some people use the excuse of not being able to take great photos because of their equipment, but this is not true. All of these pictures were taken on Sigma lenses which have always been the 'cheaper' alternative and you can see in these pictures its a very good option. I believe the results speak for themselves. Sigma have been producing more and more good quality glass.

  • I really enjoyed the Sigma 50mm lens, because of its very good depth of field and it suited my shooting style.  

  • The Sigma 12-24mm is crazy wide. Also a very good alternative when you don't need f2.8.

  • I just love the 8mm Fisheye. Your creativity can run free and make beautiful pictures. Not a lens you can use every day and you have to use it very wisely as it distorts a lot at the edges.

Some of the settings might look weird, but I was trying to test the lenses fully.

Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 1.8
Shutter: 1/8000



 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 3.5
Shutter: 1/4000


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 2.2
Shutter: 1/6400


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 1250
Aperture: 2
Shutter: 1/125


Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 11
Shutter: 1/250


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 1.4
Shutter: 1/8000


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 1.4
Shutter: 1/4000


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 1.4
Shutter: 1/8000


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 5
Shutter: 1/3200


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 5
Shutter: 1/200


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 2
Shutter: 1/5000


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 100
Aperture: 1.8
Shutter: 1/1000


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 200
Aperture: 4.5
Shutter: 1/160


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 200
Aperture: 4.5
Shutter: 1/160


 Lens (mm): Sigma 8 Fisheye
ISO: 2000
Aperture: 3.5
Shutter: 1/80


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 1600
Aperture: 2
Shutter: 1/1250


 Lens (mm): Sigma 50
ISO: 1600
Aperture: 2
Shutter: 1/320


Lens (mm): Sigma 12 - 24
ISO: 320
Aperture: 7
Shutter: 1/250




The day when the lenses arrived :)

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Suzaan Steyn is now a Kwela presenter

Yesterday I photographed Suzaan Steyn who was appointed as a new Kwêla presenter on the DSTV channel, KykNET.

It was a make-shift shoot at her guest house in Randburg. Took me about 15min. It was overcast and I used a 60x60 softbox on my Nikon SB-900 speedlight.

Unfortunately my picture was the published in a 1cm x 1cm format, I kid you not. That is the dimensions of the published picture! Eish.






Story: (Afrikaans)
http://www.dieburger.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Suzaan-Steyn-sluit-aan-by-Kwela-span-20120229