CJ by the Lake

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CJ by the Lake

Another year has
Come and gone in a hurry:
Time waits for no one

It was my birthday today. I turned 32.

It feels a bit weird, saying that. 32. I don’t really feel 32. But then I never really felt 18 or 25 either. I guess they’re all just numbers to me in the end.

The weather was beautiful earlier and I went down to the lake for about an hour in the afternoon. I took this photo while I was down there. I try to take a photo on my birthday each year and I thought this would be a nice one with the yachts in the background.

In taking it I set up my camera on a table overlooking the lake, then positioned myself and triggered a timer with an app on my phone. I love how easy wifi makes taking portraits like this these days. It’s all right there on your phone, no bulky remote trigger required!

Father and Son

I also took this photo of a father and son while I was down there. It was a nice moment and I like how it looks in black and white.

Photos and haiku © CJ Levinson 2016

Sunset on the Lake

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Sunset on the Lake

The sun sets
And a breeze blows
As I find a moment’s peace
From the world

I took this photo a couple of days ago, down by Belmont Wharf. It was a beautiful sunset and the colours reflecting off the water were spectacular.

It was very peaceful by the lake and a lovely way to end a long day.

Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2016
Like this photo? Click here to buy a digital copy

I’ve Opened a Store!

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My Etsy Store

Just a quick note. From time to time I get emails from people who like my photos and want to know if they can buy them or if there is a way to help support my blog. Until now I’ve mostly done all of that via email but hopefully now I won’t have to…

… because I’ve finally opened a store! 😀

It’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while and after getting another few emails recently, I thought now was a good time to give it a try.

I’ve set it up with Etsy and for now I’ve added a selection of my favourite photos and will be adding more soon.

All the photos are digital files so people can print them themselves or through a printshop (saving money and time on postage). Or alternatively they can be used as wallpaper, printed on canvas or however else someone wants to use them.

Each photo is $5 and I thought that was fair given they’re digital files… about the same price as a cup of coffee. There’s also a 20% discount for buying 3 or more.

I’ve called it Shutter & Pen to match this site and over time I plan to add some pieces of my writing as well, like my haiku printed on some of the photos and possibly an ebook I’m working on.

Anyway it’s all set up now so if you’d like to check it out, I’d love to know what you think.

I can also do special one-off orders so if there’s a particular photo you’d like that isn’t there yet, just let me know. 😀

Graffiti Art

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Carrington Graffiti

I took the photo above during a break at the steampunk-inspired photoshoot I went to last week. The location at Carrington was a little rundown and had quite a lot of interesting graffiti on the walls and surfaces.

I zoomed in on this one as I thought the rust and textures around it might make for an interesting image. I like how it came out.

Carrington Graffiti

I found this one as well a little later on and snapped a quick photo. Again I liked the rust and textures but I also liked the message… I guess it wasn’t quite what I was expecting to find written on a wall at Carrington.

Photos © CJ Levinson 2016

Steampunk Photoshoot

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My photography group did a special steampunk-inspired photoshoot last weekend. It was a very fun shoot in a rundown part of Carrington in Newcastle which really suited the theme. Our model for the day Tina and makeup artist Jaymee-Lee were absolutely fantastic and very creative.

This was a bit of a first for me. I’ve done portrait work before, including for friends and clients, but it’s almost always been in a controlled environment with flash. This was a very exposed environment, with lots of reflective surfaces and very harsh midday sunlight. So it was an interesting challenge.

We used reflectors to soften the light a bit and rather than try to avoid them, I decided to use some of the reflective objects and backgrounds as much as I could to create some interesting textures and shapes in Tina’s funky glasses. I also shot a couple of photos in black and white and I think those came out very well, particularly the final photo which is my favourite.

Overall I’m happy with the results. It was a good learning experience and was definitely something I’d like to do more of in the future. These kind of themed portrait shoots and covering convention cosplay are two things I’d really like to get into going forward.

I hope you like the photos.

Photos © CJ Levinson 2016