Pretty self explanatory really. Sunset, captured at a pretty reasonable moment with the arc of the sun's disappearing rays.

One of those evenings where the planets align and the sky just opens up it's overcoat, drops it's strides and says "have a look at this!!!". A heavily overcast Perth day that opened up a touch over the horizon in the half hour before sunset, and the hour or so after. A bit of exposure compensation, a polariser and a decent processor on the 5D Mk 11 and the colours really popped.
One of the Rank Amateur's better efforts.

Down the beach....a lazy summer evening down at Watermans Beach in Perth. At least 30 minutes after sunset with a 20 second exposure. Fairly happy with this little shot.

A rather colorful snap from "The Lion King" stage show at the Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World in Orlando FL. A half hour extravaganza of music, colorful costumes and animated animals in true Disney style. Well worth a look if you get the chance to visit the world's most visited tourist attraction.

A 2 second exposure approx 20 minutes after sunset off the West Coast of Australia. Not a bad shot from the Rank Amateur, but not great.

This photo of sunset over Perth, Australia was picked especially by the"boss". And as you blokes out there know.....you have to keep the woman happy!!!

A shot from the lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World in FL, looking out towards the Savannah. An early morning shot with the sun reasonably low in the eastern sky. Quite happy with the Rank Amateur's effort on this shot.

A bit of a different ocean shot from the rank amateur. A bit of foreground limestone rock, straight into fairly deep water, coast in the background and a fairly streaky cloudy sky. Not bad....not great...... but a bit going on in the shot nonetheless. West Coast Australia.

A granite monolith from the impressive Zion National Park in South Western Utah. One of the few NP's that you view from the floor of the valley (Yosemite being another that immediately springs to mind) rather than from the rim ala the Grand Canyon & Bryce Canyon. Certainly one of the better organised parks where the shuttle, which leaves every 10 minutes or so, is the only way you can explore the valley floor. Approx a 90 minute hop off hop on round trip which was done in air conditioned comfort  which was welcome especially on a 100F summer day in August.
As was the case with most of the shots, this were taken in the middle of the day....probably the worst time for landscape photography.

One of Glacier National Parks more favourite occupants. A heavily croppped shot of a baby bear scrambling up the side of a mountain roadside in the park on a late August afternoon. A mass of cars had pulled over and started shooting away merrily at the rare sight of a bear. Memorable....

An uplit branch of an Australian Eucalyptus tree. Nothing overly remarkable about the shot, but it just caught my attention as I was heading back to the car after an evening's shooting at King's Park. I did a 30 second exposure to see if the leaves would show some blur with any wind around, but as it was a fairly still night not a lot occurred.
A bit different from the Rank amateur........ 

You may be wondering why I chose this shot for the blog. Well........it is interesting because it is a 30 second exposure at 29 aperture on my 35-350 Canon EF Lens taken at least half an hour AFTER the sun has set over the skyline off Perth, Australia. The ability of the 5D Mk 11 to take in so much light even when to the naked eye the evening sky was a hell of a lot darker than it came up in this shot, is quite remarkable. And the vivid colours of that sunset glow are pretty bloody flash 

A classic night shot of the city of Perth, Australia taken from their premier tourist attraction Kings Park. The city is separated from the Swan River by the freeway interchanges which are lit up like a Xmas tree. Many a tourist shot has been taken from this type of angle. The 17-40EF lens set at 30 with a 30second exposure was the recipe for the shot. Reasonable...

A completely different focus in this photo. This is Disney's Yacht Club Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. This resort overlooks a large waterway and is situated within walking distance to the Epcot theme park. This shot took my fancy because of the lines of the walkway running along the waterfront and up to the main entrance of the resort. Along with the gardens that are manicured to within a millimetre of their existence, the entire resort provides some wonderful opportunities for photographers of all standards and interests to explore and experiment.

A simple shot that wasn't taken for any particular reason or to be anything other than a slightly different sunset photo for me. Taken at Hillary's Boat Harbour here in Perth.

A shot from home. This is a 30 second exposure of West Coast Highway in the beachside suburb of Sorrento here in Perth. Taken approx half an hour after sunset, the camera was set to Aperture Priority and I turned the ap up as high as the lens (my trusty 35-350) would allow (in this case 29). Press the button and it automatically set the time which was, as I said earlier, 30 seconds. And as is an absolute MUST a tripod HAS to be used.
The great thing that this effect allows is the fact that at least half a dozen people walked in front of the camera whilst the lens was open and yet they don't show up on the end result. Magic. Because there are a lot of ugly people who will ruin many a photo.....

More from the Archives....

This is a black and white shot of the Northern Oregon coast within an hour south of the seaside hamlet of Gearhart OR. The Saturday morning that we traversed down the coast was completely overcast and clouded over for the 5 hours that we hugged the coast road. Which was a real pity because the opportunity exists to shoot some really magnificent coastline. Doesn't mean the shots will be any good mind you!!!! But it's a good start.  

Some shots from the archives

One of the locals that hang out at Bryce Canyon National Park. A 2 week roadtrip through some of the great National Parks of the West during August produced bugger all wildlife, so any sightings were heavily snapped. Late afternoon shot from the side of the road with a 35-350 EF Canon lens.
A reasonable shot from the Rank Amateur.....

One of the many extraordinary viewpoints at Glacier National Park in Northern Montana. If you've never been to this National Park, then do yourself a favour, load up the family wagon, and hit the road. This shot was taken on a late afternoon in Mid August of 2010. It was a reasonably overcast arvo and I used a 17-40 EF lens. Pretty happy with the shot as I'd only had the camera two weeks and was still (and still am) trying to learn my way around the camera.   

Using a Canon 5D Mk 11 when you're a Learner....

Photography..........aaaaah the mere thought of being able to take a photo worthy of taking up some valuable wall space on my OWN wall, much let alone someone else's, fills me with a challenge which I constantly strive for....but can never seem to grasp. Let me explain....

I'm a normal everyday Australian bloke living on the West Coast of  the world's biggest Island (or smallest continent if you want to be picky.........miserable mongrel!!). We have some of the best light on the planet (which any photographer.........even amateur plonkers like myself) know is pretty handy for the taking of a half decent photo. Tick One!! I happen to own one of the best DSLR cameras on the market (A Canon 5D mark 11) thanks to the good wife's most excellent of graces and a decent sale price for the last house we sold. Tick Two!! And we have a 3 year old daughter who is the cutest princess that God ever breathed life into and who is a camera hog of the highest order. Tick Three!!

Combine that with the fact that the in-laws live in the Southwest of the USA which is one of the most  diverse, photographed, National Park endowed parts of North America, and I really do have a lot of opportunities to take some great photos. So I try my best to take photos for my family and friends that please no-one else but them (and me!!)..........they're never going to grace the walls of any multi named building with the word museum at the end of it, but as you will hopefully find out, doesn't faze me in the slightest.

I've never had a lesson or attended a camera seminar of any sort. I subscribe to "Outdoor Photographer" magazine from the states, have the must read Scott Kelby bible for scrubbers "The Digital Photography Book" volumes 1,2 and 3, and have a patient cousin who, as a serious(ly) good amateur photographer has been more than forthcoming with advice and  encouragement.

Do I hope to get better?? Yeah of course I do. But I'm going to do it under my own steam. And most importantly, the wank factor simply isn't going to exist with me. I've read too many articles by albeit tremendous photographers, who are simply that far up themselves that it is difficult to work out where their head ends and their lower colon begins. Photography isn't some world changing deeply emotional event....it's the simple taking of a photo to make a record of a moment in time. Full stop. End of story. At least in this humble correspondents mind anyway. Anything above and beyond that is a pile of BS.  

So the reason I've put together this blog is to mostly allow my acquaintances and family in various far flung corners of the globe to keep up to date with what's taking my camera's "eye". I am also planning to offer a commentary to accompany the shots which will probably be of absolutely no interest to anyone other than said family and friends. And I am sure that the plethora of camera owners who may happen to come across my tome, will happily pass comment and tell me how badly I suck, as most keyboard heroes are want to be. And if I cared then I might be upset.........but I don't, so therefore I'm not.

Feel free to come on a hopefully humourous, guaranteed rank amateur tour of a "happy snappers" journey from blandness to mediocrity.