Samantha Jefferson B.Ed, MA » Blog

More than Bernini Cam

Samantha — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 07:04:29 +0000

With little convincing from a couple of photography friends I made some inquiries into picking myself up a GoPro Hero cam and am stoked with the outcome. As an extremely amateur underwater photographer and neglectful camera owner this is the perfect go-any-where-strap-to-anything cam.
And of course the first thing we strapped it to in this family was Bernini, a black labrador which captured us some funny vid of him jumping into the lake at the back of house. I’m hoping it will find me some good shots, like this one of Bernini at the beach, for a story I’m shooting that involves dogs and maybe a few odd looks from the folks who come across Bernini-Cam.

The little cam was also strapped to a mast during the King’s Cup Regatta in Thailand when hubby was sailing and the vid quality is very nice indeed. It is definitely coming in handy at home as we have a kid who has discovered the expensive and not a little bit terrifying sport of wake boarding, and we have attached it to the front of the board with some success. Although the wake board isn’t quite long enough really to get the camera far enough back from the user for the best shot. I reckon the best images are yet to come and will probably be from a jet ski shooting with the cam alongside the boarder. Sadly a GoPro was lost to the brown waters of the Coomera River recently when one of the fixings broke on a jump, but by that time we were so sold on the little cams, we had already bought another so now we’re down to one.

I’m looking forward to taking the little sucker to greater depths when I participate in an underwater photography short course being run by my mate Seanna Cronin soon.

Bernini through the lens of our GoPro hero.

Teach to learn

Samantha — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:39:01 +0000

Last weekend I led an introduction to digital photography workshop with a small group of friends and remembered what a valuable experience it is to pass on skills to others. Not just as a rewarding experience but also as a learning opportunity for yourself.
No matter how well accustomed you think you are with an idea or skill, explaining it in detail and answering the questions of others in relation to it tests your knowledge and broadens your own understanding.
A day and night of talking about aperture and shutter speed has got me dragging old techniques and projects out form under the bed as I recall some of the work from the past that is laying unfinished and some of the ideas that went by the wayside before they ever got legs. Time to take a another look.

A moped rider heads south on the Gold Coast Hwy through the streets of Surfers Paradise.

Lunar sunrise

Samantha — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:22:19 +0000

A collage of four stages of the lunar eclipse, August 2007.

Shooting the stars isn’t something I’ve ever really turned my hand to, although, I’d like to do more of it having recently moved out of the big smoke and into the hills. This collage of images of the lunar eclipse would have been the best taken that night except that they were taken back in 2007 when the eclipse was a little better visible than it was for us this year.

Ekka time

Samantha — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 21:27:11 +0000

It’s around this time of year the streets around the RNA showgrounds in Brisvegas are littered with the remnants of a 1000 nervous and overly groomed head of cattle off to the EKKA. Having served some time as an agricultural journalist I developed a soft spot for the Brisbane Exhibition although I don’t miss standing in the sun watching dairy judges procrastinate toward a decision over the Grand Champion Holstein Fressian.

Blacksmith and Farriers events at the Royal Brisane Show 2010.

Whip it

Samantha — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:25:07 +0000

Had a great night at the roller derby a few weeks back and dug out a few images from a story I shot more than 12 months ago for publication. Derby girls rock…pity I’m such a wuss.

Skaters join at a fresh meat training day at Northern Brisbane Roller Derby.