Having spent a lot of time and energy developing some understanding and experience of multiple camera synchronisation for my 16-camera 'bullet time' shoot (Human Locomotion Project), it was very exciting to have a chance to problem-solve a commercial job with a multiple-camera solution. Rather than 16 cameras in a studio environment, this time it was just 4 cameras we had a wrangle, but on a city rooftop!

My client needed to show the views across the Adelaide skyline for the promotional launch of a new city highrise residential development. The images needed to be able to be projected large onto 4 massive screens surrounding a rooftop bar set in a city theatre. The idea was that the guests could exerience an immersive highrise city view whilst sipping cocktails at ground-level. Rather than just 4 spectacular still views I suggested a timelapse of the 4 views, synchronised so that wherever you looked in the theatre you'd see an authentic simultaneous view. They loved the idea, so we got onto making it happen. After scouting a few rooftops, we decided on one that offered easy and simple access, power, and excellent views.

Above is a snap of some of our kit bags on the rooftop. We hired 4 Canon 5D Mark IIs from Urban Cine, who were brilliant at sourcing the 16mm focal length lenses we needed across the 4 cameras. We also hired 4 sturdy tripods with spirit levels, which in the end proved so tricky to set up it took longer to set up the tripods than streamlining the settings on all 4 cameras! After fiddling for ages with the tripods in the ever-changing lighting conditions I just couldn't wait to start shooting! I set the cameras up at 100 ISO shooting in Aperture Priority mode to maintain a consistent and stable image across the timelapse, set at f16. Using the Grid overlay in live view I was able to get the horizon line reasonably similar from 4 quite distant positions on the rooftop. I have to admit that when we first started planning the shoot it was going to be from a crane suspended above the city (wow!!) but I was worried about the stability of the crane (I'm guessing it might wobble in the wind?) and it required some days of induction and we couldn't afford the time. So what was going to be a 360 degree pivotal panorama turned out to be 4 quite remote viewpoints.

The camera synchronisation was achieved using a custom built controller. Peter Stanley from Kranium designed and built the cotroller so be very easy to use, allowing us to reset the duration between shots as we worked. We started with a 2-minute interval (I wanted to shoot with 20s intervals but the client didn't want hundreds of images because they were going to be run manually with image fades using some kind of VJ equipment). and ended up with a 5 min interval at night to accommodate the much longer shutter speeds that resulted. The controller was absolutely brilliant, positioned centrally on the rooftop with 10m cables to the various cameras. The 4 5Ds were synchronised this way, and I also ran 2 Nikons using the built-in intervalometer in the D700 to get a more ambitious timelapse.

Above is the timelapse shot with a D700. The Canon images were delivered to the client in 4 folders with corresponding filenames and were projected successfully on the night. I have been sent some documentation from Rann Communication who did the event management, so here are some shots from the event (photographer: Bryan Charlton). The set design is by the brilliant Morag Cook, and the event is the Mandala Developments party!

So, here are the images synchronised into a little timelapse on the one screen. This was done in Adobe Premiere and was really simple to achieve - so I am encouraged to do a lot more with this simple technique to generate a multiple-viewpoint timelapse as a panorama. Now, I just need more clients to tackle multiple camera work to continue exploring and experimenting with what can be achieved for a very reasonable cost!

Thanks to Peter Stanley for technology development and assisting! Thanks to Urban Cine for their continued support of my multiple camera projects. Thanks to Morag Cook for believing in me :)

And a few location shoots. This week has been pretty jam-packed with a diverse range of shoots. First-up was a shoot for the beautiful 16-year old Aesha who is the grand-daughter of the incredible actor Nicholas Hope. Hope contacted me to shoot Aesha for a modelling portfolio, so we shot as many images as we could to give her a range for a 'comp card'. I'd like to have shot a greater diversity of backgrounds and maybe some location work, but we did what we could. Aesha is not Adelaide-based but I hope to be able to shoot some location images for her next time she's in town. I kept the lighting very simple for a clean and elegant look.

Next shoot was for Zephyr Quartet, who are doing a show with visual artist Jo Kerlogue. 'Micro Macro' needed some publicity shots and the idea was for one of the musicians to lie on the floor whilst Jo created an image around her. I liked the idea of using the opportunity to create a little timelapse piece which would capture the way Jo improvises her work, and the production of the image for the photograph. However, the angle was a bit awkward with my camera attached to a counter-weighted lighting boom and I didn't have enough time to rig it as I would have liked (tethered capture via a laptop, and rigged using a superclamp on a boom directly overhead). We shot the scene anyway with the rigged camera set to shoot a frame every 3 seconds (using the built-in intervalometer) while I shot a range of lower angles and set up a few ideas during Jo's creation. After that we shot a few portraits with some new ideas and at the end set up another quick stop-motion shoot to explore the moving image idea in a different way. Here are some of the results.

This is the second moving image piece - it was an interesting idea to shoot 'portrait' for a traditional landscape frame. I resolved it by creating a black canvas for the work so that Jo Kerlogue could edit it with sound and text for the final promo. The final piece with sound can be seen on Nonchalant Sally's facebook page. I will post the aerial timelapse as soon as I finish working on it..

Shoot # 3 for the week was for long-time collaborator and friend Billie Cook - a dance artist who is working on a new piece with Gabrielle Nankivell as a mentor. The work is titled 'Mound of Dirt' and these shots were documentation of one of her studio sessions with Gabrielle in Leigh Warren's studio in Adelaide. I lugged some lighting up the stairs but in the end I went with straight available light, even though the light varied considerably at the ends of the room versus the centre. That kept me on my toes, as I was shooting in manual because of the large windows I was often shooting into, creating a lot of backlight. I chose to shoot with a long lens for the entire shoot rather than having to get close to the dancers as they worked (fly on the wall style). Great fun! Here are some results...

Shoot #4 for the week was shot on a really HOT day in a small forest on the property of a winery in the Adelaide Hills. Another dance shoot, this one was for dancer Lisa Lonero who is a fellow South African living in Australia. She has an upcoming Fringe show that she needed some promotional imagery for. She looked amazing as a Zebra (!) for her work based on a Zebra Crossing, and we worked with some choroegraphy but mostly just documenting her improvised movement in the location. Besides the massive forest mosquiotoes who were devouring us both, we had a great shoot. There are deer roaming the forest and it is a magical spot - this is the 'theatre' for Lisa's site specific show so it will be great for audiences to experience. I worked with a long lens at first, thinking the compression of the space would work well, but after a while I thought it might be fun to shoot ultra-wide and that' resulted in the more magical shots. Here are some results...

And so to the final shoot of the week - this one for producer Mark Patterson doing stills for his ABC TV documentary 'Olympic Dreams'. I photographed Paralympic Equestrian athlete Grace Bowman with her horse Rolly. It was almost 40 degrees so we decided to shoot the portraits in a huge hayshed at Kirby Park Stud, where it was quite pleasant. Grace was amazing to shoot - very natural and lively, and Rolly was just a beautiful horse - their bond was evident and there are some great shots of the 2 of them. I don't know if I can publish these shots until the ABC broadcasts the program as I am usually bound by contract to restrict when images can be used in my portfolio. Here is a funny snap of Rolly getting to know the microphone, and a cute snap of a kitten who was hanging around the hayshed..

Overall, a fun, interesting and busy week of diverse shoots. Bring on more weeks like this please for 2012..

Sure, I guess I do this every year! But I will really try to post news about current jobs and highlights on a regular basis rather than intermittently as I tend to do..

Since my last post - wow! 2011 was a really amazing year, especially the latter part which is probably why my blog has been silent - just too busy with a really diverse range and projects and exciting colleborations. The HIGHLIGHT was really the opportunity to shoot work for a new screen dance development working with the incredible choreographic facilitator Carol Wellman Kelly and the amazing dancer Lisa Grififths. We worked on a piece titled 'The Human Locomotion Project' which has it's own blog, so check it out here..We were able to work with an amazing technical team to shoot Time Slice ('Bullet Time') sequences with an array of 15 cameras - pretty exciting stuff. I will post more about it as the edit progresses.

Here's a shot from the project..

I also worked on a residency at Flinders Medical Centre, shooting timelapse work as a moving image snapshot of what goes on in the hospital - pretty intense and fascinating stuff. The outcomes of this work will be shown during the Adelaide Fringe Festival. I also worked on a project called 'Word on the Street' which was a more documentary-style project in the city, working with artists Steve Noonan and Sandy Elvard. On top of that I continued working with a diverse range of clients on commercial photography, including corporate client Maxxia along with the usual range of creative clients including the Adelaide Fringe. It was fantasic to combine architectural work for Maxxia with portaits of their Adelaide staff. Here are a few shots from that shoot. The Adelaide Icons were used for a tender that Maxxia was delivering, to show their commitment to Adelaide.

On the creative side, here are some images shot for performer for Steve Sheehan as publicity images for his show 'Stevl Shefn and his Translator Fatima'...I was giggling so much during the shoot because Steve is genuinely hilarious, and this show is soooo funny.

I also shot the annual Ausdance SA Xmas Dance Spectacular show in Rundle Mall. Here are a few shots from that show - always a huge challenge to shoot, but I do really enjoy trying to capture the diversity, energy and range of styles presented.

January 2012 is shaping up nicely given I'm only working for a couple of weeks this month, and then heading off to the Island for a week. I have taught my first Lightroom workshop - at the Centre for Creative Photography in early January. It's really exciting to branch into teaching Lightroom. It broadens the range of my photography teaching to complement my teaching in Digital Photography and photographic styles & history.

This month will so far also see a model portfolio, another shoot for Zephyr Quartet, and a shoot with dancers Billie Cook and Gabrielle Nankivell. I am also editing the first 'vignette' from the Human Locomotion Project, which is very exciting. So, more posts more ofen this year - hoping for another fun year of creative and challenging photography and moving image work :)xx

I have been developing a new project for the past few months, and have recently received funding from Arts SA for the first stage of the project. It is so exciting to have funding to work with a really brilliant team on a new idea. The project involves the design and build of a set within which to shoot - this is the first time I have worked like this. I usually find locations, and really enjoy that part of envisioning the work - but in this case a set is most appropriate.

The design as it stands is really simple - but I have some new ideas which are a little more complex. However, until I can secure more funding for the set, I feel I can't really let my imagination run wild. I have applied to 2 more funds for support, and have also had the project listed with AbaF (Australian Business Arts Foundation) to be able to raise funds via donations. The good thing about this set is that once it's built I can develop the project further and it can be used in the final stage of production - making work for an exhibition of moving image works at Obscura Gallery (Melbourne) in 2012.

The Human Locomotion Project

I will be working with dancers Lisa Griffiths (pictured above) and Adam Synnott. They are currently presenting 'Side to One', a new work at the State Theatre's 'Space Theatre' (I'm looking forward to seeing this on Saturday night - girls' night out!). Also on board is choreographic facilitator Carol Wellman Kelly, who is well known for her work as Assistant Director for Garry Stewart and Australian Dance Theatre for 8 years. We also have a brilliant data wrangler and editing assistant in Cleland Jones.

Although I am primarily as stills photographer, I have dabbled in moving image work for the past few years. This project reflects on the movement studies that Eadweard Muybridge did in the 1880s using multiple cameras. We will be using his images as inspiration for new movement and new moving image works, to be shown on screen but also in flip-books and lenticular prints. We have the support of Flinders University's Digital Media department with access to their multi-camera rig to explore bullet time's orbital viepoint, and are also working with Uni SA's anthropometric scanner to explore 3D mapping of the dancers.

Because this project is so technologically heavy, it is quite an expensive endeavour. But it will undoubtedly create an environment for unique and innovative imagery and ideas. We are currently looking for project supporters, and any donations are tax deducible thanks to AbaF. For more information, please check out our project page here, or go to AbaF's website to view more about the project and how to donate.

I am so excited about this project - it will really push me as an image maker into brand new territory. With enough support I will also be able to create the infrastructure for a camera array rig with associated hardware and software, which could support other artists to explore multi-dimensional image making, including bullet time.