Sunbathing Simba

Positivity on 2022-11-01

I mentioned on the shot of the tiger that it was a sunny day; here you can see blue sky and bright sun. The two bachelor lions at Melbourne Zoo are up on their high platform, several metres above the ground, enjoying the sunshine.

This was shot on a Sony A1 with the Sony 135mm GM wide open at f/1.8, 1/10000, ISO 100 – one of the advantages of using electronic shutter is the ability to reach 1/10000 to produce a better exposure with the lens wide open and ISO at 100; on a camera restricted to mechanical shutter we’d have to close down the aperture somewhat under these conditions.

Tired Tiger?

Positivity on 2022-10-31

Indra the tiger is reclining on her bed of straw. The weather was surprisingly nice after a spate of heavy rain (and flooding). The forecast was for rain and heavy overcast. Instead we got a lot of blue sky and bright sun (not that you can see that here – her grotto is in shade), and it was warm enough to wear short sleeves.

This was shot on a Sony A1 with the Sony 135mm GM wide open at f/1.8, 1/2000, ISO 640. This is heavily cropped down to 4000×2400.

Purple Beauty

Chris Tham on 2022-10-22

Also known as “houseleek” or sempervivum, this is a succulent plant that tends to grow in clusters, with a beautiful yellow flower.

Budding

Chris Tham on 2022-10-19

A micro flower blooms at the end of a stalk at Mt Annan Botanic Garden.

Birds

Chris Tham on 2022-10-18

This scene of birds perched up on a tree near St. John’s Anglican Church in Parramatta eerily reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Birds.”

Shooting through glass with the sun at a low angle in the sky

Positivity on 2022-07-02

Kulinda the cheetah, prowling in the early sunshine. She helps me demonstrate one of the problems with shooting into morning sunshine through glass. No, she wasn’t being showered in rays of light by Hollywood SFX – that’s flare compounded by shooting through thick glass.

You can see where the sun was, and how low it was, by looking at her shadow.

This isn’t a great photo, but I thought it was a good example of the problems we can face when the sun is low in the sky and we’re forced to shoot through glass into it. At the same time, I was quite happy with how sharp the image came out, and I rather like rim lighting.

This image was shot at ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1000 on the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II at 72mm.

Hippos playing follow-the-leader

Positivity on 2022-06-30

Three hippos leave their night quarters, plunge into cold water, and head out for a spot of quiet grazing. Given that it’s before breakfast, two of them are not particularly interested in thinking about where they are going, so they just follow in single file. You can see the shine of their wet hides.

This image was shot at ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1000 on the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II at 200mm.

Vivid 2022: contact

Chris Tham on 2022-06-23

Internationally celebrated light artist Sam Whiteside will take over the entrance of Carriageworks with his immersive lighting installation titled ‘contact’.