Hope you find this useful!

DATES 2010

Notes: As reported by the university, therefore weekends may or may not be counted. If you have additional information or spot a mistake, please email me.

Summer Term

# – Short session/Long session

Sources:

MQ: http://www.mq.edu.au/calendar.html
UNSW: https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/resources/AcademicCalendar.html
USYD: http://www.usyd.edu.au/future_students/domestic_undergraduate/admissions/semester_dates/index.shtml
UTS: http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/dates_academic.html
UWS: http://www.uws.edu.au/currentstudents/current_students/managing_your_study/dates/2010_academic_year_dateline
ANU: http://info.anu.edu.au/ovc/Committees/110PP_Principal_Dates

Sports photography isn’t something that I have a great amount of interest in, but I think it can teach amateur photographers like me a thing or two about shooting in ‘tight conditions’. As I said before, the recent Winter Olympics sparked my interest in this. Which just happens to go well with my wish to do some ski photography this year.

I’ve done very little sports photography before (exactly: 2 sessions in Europe and touch footy last year) with a mixed bag of results. Some shots were good, others not so.

Good	Bad

Shooting a sports event requires a lot of precision and accuracy. The main challenges to overcome are fast moving subjects and the fact that you are usually far away from them (on the sideline). These challenges are partially solved with some good equipment (specifically long-range, fast lenses e.g. 200mm f/2.8)

Being quick and accurate leads to the styles of photography I’d like to specialise in, namely, live events and music.

Now, to the Winter Olympics influence. As I discovered in Europe, shooting in the snow produces a sharp subject almost every time, because cameras can not find a focus on white backgrounds. (Un)fortunately this is a little cheat one can use to create the illusion of stunning photographs. This in turn leads to a morale boost! It also has led to a desire to shoot in the snow more.

There’s probably a million other insignificant reasons why I’d want to do photography in the snow, but I’ll spare those for the time around the warm fire in the lodge.

So this is why I want to head down to the slopes this winter. To sum up, it is part of the learning experience in becoming a great photographer.

I’ve decided to compile the semester dates for the major Sydney universities, so it becomes easy to plan your plans! And also in true Wikipedia style, I’ve listed the websites from which the information comes from, so you can verify yourself if you need to.

Hope you find this useful!

DATES 2010

Notes: As reported by the university, therefore weekends may or may not be counted. If you have additional information, please email me.

Sources:

MQ: http://www.mq.edu.au/currentstudents/undergrads/campuslife-dates.html
UNSW: https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/resources/AcademicCalendar.html
USYD: http://www.usyd.edu.au/future_students/domestic_undergraduate/admissions/semester_dates/index.shtml
UTS: http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/dates_academic.html
UWS: http://www.uws.edu.au/currentstudents/current_students/managing_your_study/dates/2010_academic_year_dateline
ANU: http://info.anu.edu.au/ovc/Committees/110PP_Principal_Dates

With the workload from university steadily increasing, less time is being spent on getting out there and shooting things. The upcoming mid-semester break invites more chances to shoot stuff, but sadly, it will still be filled with work.

The first step for the next three weeks or so, is to start again, and find things to shoot.

I’m also finding interesting places for photo shoots, because I really want to focus on portrait photography this year. Other genres that deserve my attention this year include music photography and to a smaller extent, sports photography.

For music, it is simply going to people’s gigs and shooting it. Very simple. If you have seen my work from ‘Coffee House’ in years past, you will understand what I mean.

While sports isn’t something I want to specialise in, the Winter Olympics has reminded me of the occasional sports shoots that I have done. And do you get that feeling where you want to occasionally revisit something that you like but don’t normally do/have? Well that’s how I feel about sports photography.

But let me tell you what I want to achieve with portraits. What motivates me is the thousands of ugly, disproportioned, and terrible photos on Facebook. (I might have written this before…) I want to give people nice photos of themselves, for free.

The most difficult part is to start, and that is what I must overcome soon. Because a lazy attitude won’t get me anywhere, but leave one in the pits of misery.

In the meantime, you can browse photos that I shot in the past from the links of my main website.

The Alliance Française French Film Festival is happening in Sydney from the 2nd March to the end of the month. In the Palace Cinemas in Paddington and Newtown, a total of 43 films will be shown and essentially be used to garner interest into the world of French film.

If you think about it, many films that come out of Hollywood follow the same dry boring formula. Which makes foreign films relatively ‘fresh’ when compared. Now this makes every film equally interesting to the average movie goer. At this stage, I’ll take this position to broaden my view of French film.

After having read some of the synopses of the films, there are already a few that jump out at you. One that I want to see called “LOL” deals with the search for life and love from two contrasting perspectives. Another, “Welcome”, explores separation, risks and persistence.

As with any film screening, theatre production, or music concert, it is always much better when one is accompanied with someone else. This is not only to not look awkward being alone, but also provides a bouncing board for criticism and discussion. So, I encourage you to go along to a film with someone for what I think will be a great night out.

French Film Festival: Sydney website

So here is the roadmap for my laptop, phone, and some other things too.

Laptop

Current: MacBook Pro 15″ (early 2008) purchased February 2008
Change every: 3 years
Next purchase: MacBook Pro 13″ after February 2011

I have decided to change laptop minimum every three years, because specifications after three years often improve enough to supersede the previous models. Also, I apply the rule that a laptop battery lasts three years under normal usage. That is 100 discharge-recharge cycles each year, totalling 300 cycles. By then, the battery would not hold as much charge as when it was brand new.

Mobile Phone

Current: iPhone 3GS purchased June 2009
Change every: 2 years
Next purchase: Next iPhone after June 2011

The majority of mobile service contracts have a two year duration. The telcos market to you every two years to change your phone to the latest models. Most mobile phone companies do not release phones on a regular schedule, so one has to rely on what is offered. The other option is to buy the phone and the plan separately (which I have done before), but sometimes that can be more costly.

Camera

Current: Nikon D80 purchased March 2008
Change every: 3-5 years, or until image quality deteriorates/equipment fails
Next purchase: Next Nikon dSLR

Fortunately, dSLRs don’t deteriorate as quickly as laptops and phones. This is because even entry-level dSLRs share design principles from professional-level models. As some photographers will say, “The body doesn’t matter, it’s all in the lens and your skill”. But even bodies become inferior to their successors, so one has to update occasionally.

Portable Music Player

Current: iPod (5G) purchased December 2005
Change every: When it breaks
Next purchase: iPod classic

I don’t listen to music from my iPod too much these days. It now comes from my iPhone or on the computer. But I do use it to backup all my music, photos and video.

Do you have any rules you follow when it comes to updating your technology? Share it with us in the comments.

Much, much more momentarily.

1. Dopplr (www.dopplr.com)

Dopplr is a travel social network (primarily for business travellers, but still very fun to use) that allows you to share your travel plans with other people. You are able to see where your friends are travelling, and Dopplr will also let you know of any ‘coincidences’, that is, when you and a friend are in the same city at the same time. The Social Atlas has listings of places to stay, see and eat in many cities around the world. As with many Web 2.o applications today, Dopplr links to other social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, which receive updates on when you start and finish trips.

Here is a link to my public profile to see what outsiders will see. I’ve linked my profile to my Flickr photos as well.

A note about ‘friending’: Dopplr uses a two-way friending system. When you share trips with someone else, their trips will not automatically show up on your home page. The other person has to click ‘share trips’ for you too. So make sure you tell your friends to share trips with you.

(click more to see more…)

2. Google Latitude (info at: www.google.com/latitude)

Google Latitude is a service that allows you to share your near-exact physical location with friends. By near-exact, I mean the best location that can be gathered from your mobile device. You and your friend’s locations are shared, and also plotted on the map. A practical use is to see who is around the vicinity at the time. I used it to show a friend where I was so we could meet up. Now, as physical location is a rather sensitive data type, Google offer flexible privacy settings for the accuracy of location provided and applications allowed to use your location.

You can see my public badge here. (It may be disabled)

3. Twitter (www.twitter.com)

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that aims to tell your followers “What are you doing?” It’s great for those who have many small thoughts that they would like to share with the world, or for those who want to blog without writing a whole lot (you are limited to 140 characters). Fairly simple, if you ask me. Plus Twitter is accessible via iPhone apps and mobile web.

My Twitter is here.

4. Facebook

Not much explanation needed here. This is the best way to maintain a persistent connection with ‘friends’, even when people’s email addresses change/expire/become abandoned.

So, here are 4 other ways to stay connected.

All the best in everything that you do.

Today, I have finished my HSC exams. It is a great relief.

As such, normal service will resume as soon as possible. There’s another post about my photo work flow, and plans for next year.

One thing, all posts regarding post-HSC stuff will be embargoed until November 13, in respect to those who sit the last exams (French Extension, Textiles, and IT (VET)).

Thank you for continuing to read my blog.

BH

PS: I promise to be more reliable than CityRail.

1. Everyone is saying, “Make sure you thank your teachers for all the hard work they have done for you.” Well, the best way to thank them is to gain the best possible result in the HSC exams. They’ll be happy that their hard work has paid off, and you will be happy that you have a great result.

2. It’s almost a week since that wonderful last day of school. There are probably many thank you messages that you didn’t write on people’s shirts that morning. May I suggest that you hand-write letters to these people. I know I am…

All the best for HSC 2009.

As blunt as it sounds, the celebrations are over. The last game has been played, the last hurrah called. It’s time to hit the books, one last time.

I hope everyone isn’t finding it difficult to study. These are the last set of examinations, the most crucial ones. As has been said many times, “Your performance has an effect on other peoples’ performance.” I don’t want to explain how the system works, I think that overused statement is enough.

There are so many great things that will happen after this last set of exams. 4 weeks in retrospect isn’t much effort to ask for.

On the other hand, this is a great opportunity to get back into a normal routine. Simple things life having enough sleep and three meals a day, will make you feel better over the next few weeks. There is no reason to pull an all-nighter to cram; all that’s needed is to re-organise the schedule.

All the best for HSC 2009.