Photographer Blog

Hi everyone

Back in January I posted a link to a website showing an impressive 26 gigapixel image. (See Blog Post “How Big is Really Impressive?“)

However, I recently came across an even bigger image! This picture is made up of 4,250 individual photographs (which by the way involved a shooting time of about 3 1/2 hours) and was taken with a Canon 7D camera and a 400mm lens. Indecently, all the photographs fitted on a single 32GB CF card, taking up 27.5GB.

How big is this image? It is a total of 45 gigapixels!

If you are wondering why the image is a bit hazy you might like to know that, according to the cameraman . . . “Air quality is not at its best at this time of year in Dubai.” Oh and apparently it was 37degC in the shade at the time! According to him “the camera and lens were almost too hot to touch at the end of the shoot.”

Here is a link to the image:
http://gigapan.org/gigapans/fullscreen/48492/

Photo Taken: 23 April 2010
Location: Ubora Towers in Business Bay, Dubai

You gotta ask . . . How big can it get??

Until next time.

Greg

Hi everyone

Okay. Now for something different.

Most of you know that one of my favorite things to do is to surf. Well, for those that share my love of surfing I thought you might like to know about a new documentary called Storm Surfers – The hunt for the biggest waves in the Southern Ocean. It is supposed to be showing on the Discovery Channel here later in the year.

There was a news item on Australia’s 60 Minute program that interviewed the surfers (two-time world champion Tom Carroll and big wave tow-in pioneer Ross Clarke-Jones) and followed them on their trip to Pedra Branca. “Pedra who??” I hear you say. Actually the question is “Pedra where?’ And you are forgiven for not knowing where it is, even if you are a surfer. It is some remote inhospitable place South of Tasmania that no one would ever want to visit – unless you are crazy like Tom and Ross that is!! But hey, don’t take my word for it. Check out the video clip and decide for yourself.

The 60 Minutes Report

_____

So what do you think after watching that? Wanna go? Teahupoo eat your heart out! 😉

Until next time, take care.

Greg

Howdy

There was some great surf last month and I thought I would upload a few images to my personal website (www.greglever.co.nz) for all you surfers who are following my blog. If you are not a surfer, well who knows, you may enjoy them anyway. So go take a look by clicking here.

From time to time I will upload some more surf images to the same location, so keep checking back regularly.

Hope you get out there and get some waves of your own. If not, you can always come back and drawl over the pictures here! 😉

Bye for now.

Greg

Hi there

A few weeks back my family and I were in Tauranga and had the opportunity to enjoy the airshow that was on. And WOW!! There was some truly amazing flying that week.

I have uploaded just a handful of photographs of the first day to my personal website (www.greglever.co.nz).  Click here to go straight to the Events page.

Tauranga Airshow – Day One

I was with my family on the first day and so didn’t take that many “public” photos. However, the second day I went alone and took many more that may be of interest to you. So be sure to come back again later as I will be uploading photographs taken on the second shortly.

As always, I look forward to hearing your feedback on the photographs, and any suggestions or comments you may have on the website. Thanks.

All the best

Greg

Hello everyone

Many would no doubt agree that becoming a parent is one of the most amazing experiences to enjoy.

The first few months and years after the birth of a child are perhaps the most precious of all. True, there are many challenges, and these of course continue as your child grows. However, the absolute joy and deep love that exists between a newborn and the parent, forms a connection or bond that is not easily broken.

Okay, mostly the bond is with the Mum at first, because hey let’s face it (sorry Dad’s), during that early phase the kid is only interested in one thing right? Right! 😉

When we look at this tiny little bundle though, with their cute little feet and hands, button nose and wide open eyes, we are in awe of how amazingly beautiful they are! As a parent, can anything impress you more?

Of course, their little feet don’t stay little for long. In an effort to preserve in time a memento of their child, some parents take “prints” or even “casts” of their child’s hands or feet.

In fact I recently came across a new online business in Japan where you can upload a print of your child’s hand or foot and they produce a professional stamp. You can click on the image below for more information on Otete & Anyo (which by the way is the Japanese nickname for “Hand & Foot”).

Of course, as you will find, it is reasonably expensive – but hey, what a cool idea! And if you can’t afford it, you can of course go back to the simple “print” or “cast” method.

Or better still, come see us! We would be happy to instead preserve a memory of your child – or even your entire family – with full colour professional photography.

No matter what method we may choose to capture that moment, or “footprint” in time, the important thing for us as parents is that we are their personally to enjoy the special times in the life our family.

So let’s make the time!

Greg

Hello

One of the things I love about our earth is that you never get bored with the scenery. There is such an enormous variety of things to stimulate our senses.

Even though each season has it’s own unique elements, there is still an endless variation of characteristics. Take Spring for example.  What do you think of when you hear that word?  No doubt things like daffodil flowers, newborn lambs and fresh green fields of grass come to mind.

Spring 2009

For a closer look at the selection of images above, simply follow this link . . . click here . . . And please feel free to visit my personal website (www.greglever.co.nz) for more of my photographs.

And remember, if you are ever feeling bored, take a look out your window at our planet’s extraordinary scenery. Better yet, get out there and explore it.

Try something new. Find a place you have never visited before. Talk to a person you have never spoken to before. Taste something you haven’t eaten before . . . I think you get the idea. 😉

Have a great day!

Greg

Hello

Many of my photographs are taken with my Canon 5D mark II and a 400mm lens. It takes full format pictures with 21.4 megapixel images. I thought that was impressive. Impressive that is until I came across a website that shows an image captured by the same camera and lens. What makes it impressive?

The picture has a resolution of 297,500 x 87,500 pixel – that’s a 26 gigapixel image!! How the hang did they get an image that big?? According to the Tech Specs on the website, here is how they did it . . . “It consists of 1,665 full format pictures with 21.4 megapixel, which was recorded by a photo-robot in 172 minutes. The converting of 102 GB raw data by a computer with a main memory cache of 48 GB and 16 processors took 94 hours.”

Apparently, as of December 2009, the picture is the largest in the world. Now that is really impressive!!

You might like to check it out by using the following link:
http://www.dresden-26-gigapixels.com/

Have fun, and until next time, take care.

Kind regards

Greg

Hi there

Every now and then I would like to include some background information behind some of the images we have captured for our photographic art.  To start with I am going to tell you a little about the day I took a photograph of Henderson Bay.  You will find this image in the photographic art link in the Portfolio menu.  It bears the caption:

“Captivating” – The closer you get the harder it is to leave

A good friend of mine and I went to Henderson Bay for a surf.  When we arrived the conditions were near perfect.  Good swell, light offshore wind and incoming tide.  My friend had only recently purchased a new 4WD so he was keen to try it out on the beach, and being excited to get closer to the surf it sounded like a great idea to me.

However, given that it is an isolated beach (no one around for miles) and we had surfed there many times over the years (in hindsight I recall often seeing the first time visitor stuck in the sand), we should have known better.  But with the “she’ll be right dude” attitude, down we went and what do you know, we got stuck in an area of real deep soft sand!  D’oh!!

We struggled for some time to get unstuck, but nothing seemed to be working.  We got back onto the harder sand, but despite a decent ‘run up’ we couldn’t seem to get past the soft stuff!  It was getting late in the afternoon by now and the surf was too good to ignore.  So we decided to leave the car there “captive” and get out in the surf, hoping that we might come up with a plan to get the car out.  My friend was a bit stressed, as anyone would be, but we caught our fair share of waves (with only the two of us out I might add) and it seemed to do the trick.

After our surf we decided to let some air out of the tyres (we had heard somewhere that that is supposed to give you more traction in soft sand).  With a little bit more effort we finally gained momentum and managed to get through the soft sand and climb up the steep and rough track back to a safe parking place.

While we were getting out of our wetsuits we had a good laugh about what had happened.  We reflected on the eventful day and although we were feeling rather embarrassed that we had got stuck in a 4WD, we were glad we came.

As I looked out at the beach below I couldn’t help but feel impressed with the pristine beauty of the area.  The sun was low in the sky and the shadows were getting longer.  There was a warm glow of light painting the surface of everything it reached, including the native flax bushes in front of the scene gently rustling in the offshore breeze.  A swell line that had travelled miles across the ocean had reached its final destination and was just forming a perfect wave as it hit the shore.

That was the moment I took the photograph and to this day it has remained a strong memory of an exciting and yet enjoyable trip.  Telling this story explains the twofold meaning behind the caption: “Captivating” – The closer you get the harder it is to leave.  Somehow it just seems appropriate.

"Captivating" - Henderson Bay (original photograph)

This story highlights for us the value of capturing those special moments on camera.  The images captured become part of a permanent record that stimulates us to recall not only an event, but a period of time in our lives that holds special meaning.

We hope that we can help you to capture a lasting memory in your life, one that you can recall with fondness for years to come.

Until my next posting, take care.

Greg

Hi all

In case you haven’t noticed I just wanted to mention that the “Image Display Changes” I told you about in a previous posting have now gone live on our website.

As mentioned, the changes mainly relate to the Portfolio section.  Check out the bonus gallery of surfing images that have been added.  I am working on an image thumbnail sheet with scroll bar for easier navigation, but for now it is the usual “next” and “previous” type gallery layout.

There has also been some information added in the Resources area of our website too.  In fact I commented on one of the additions in the previous blog posting (see below).

That’s it for now.  I better get back to “clicking” some photographs!

Greg

PS  Here is a ‘screenshot’ exmaple, be sure to browse our website for more.

Howdy

Ok, this posting is for those a little bit apprehensive about getting their picture taken.  Actually, it is quite a common feeling, so what can help us to “front up” when a camera is pointed at us?

Well, I want you to think about this for a moment.  We all have someone we know that doesn’t like their photograph taken.  I can think of a few in our family, my Nana (who has now passed away) was one. Sadly, there are very few photographs of her in our albums.  This less than perfect photo is an example.

Old “surprised” photograph of Nana

Often when photographing these ones we always end up with a blurred shot of their hand, elbow or the back of their head as they duck for cover to avoid the camera.  If you are clever enough to sneak a shot of them without them noticing they usually have a mouthful of food, are picking something out of their teeth, or are in some other unflattering pose.  Hardly the image they would want recorded as a memory of themselves and not likely to be one you make poster size, frame and put on your wall either!  (Unless you are just plain mean that is!)

Now don’t get me wrong, there is a place in the album for those “unexpected” shots, even the not so good ones of “little Johnny” with his finger up his nose – in fact, we shouldn’t be without them.  However, there is also an important (if not vital) place for those photographs of when we look our best too.  And that is why it is important to have a professional portrait photograph taken – and updated regularly.  Here is another (much older) photograph of Nana with Granddad, my Mum and her sister.

Old family portrait photograph

Here are three things to keep in mind if you are a little camera shy.

(1) People who see your photographs are usually those that love you and know you well. (2) Having a record of you and your family is positive and benefits many generations. (3) A professional portrait captures an image of you looking your best under the best conditions.

In the Resources section of our website you will find the “What Can Help?” page that provides more information that you might find useful.

Well, I’ll catch you in the next posting.

Kind regards

Greg