Digital matte painting

I recently posted a shot of Milford Sound in New Zealand on Flickr. The shot was taken in 2008 on my first trip to the amazing country, during a cruise through the sound. I was very fortunate to get this shot as it had rained for the whole day, then just before the boat docked small break appeared in the clouds creating a beautiful atmospheric scene. I have always said that I can’t take a good photo from a boat, in the past it has never worked out for me but I think this shot proved my theory wrong.

My original shot of Milford Sound, New Zealand.

Shortly after posting it I was thrilled and flattered to learn that a fellow Flickerite Giuseppe Parisi had begun work on a digital matte painting inspired by my photo. I have been a fan of Giuseppe’s work for some time now, in particular his matte painting, so I was very excited to see the result. Below is the work in progress he posted first.

Digital Painting - Work In Progress by Giuseppe Parisi

On his Flickr page Giuseppe noted that this was not the finished piece and that he planned to add colour to the image. I was blown away when I saw the finished work (shown below). I could not believe that such an amazing piece could be inspired by my photo. I would really like that Giuseppe for allowing me to display his work on my blog. He has a wonderful photostream of images on Flickr so go look at it right now!

Bridge to Dreamland IV by Giuseppe Parisi

Marine case test

Had a crack at testing out my Lumix marine case today. Two things I learned, underwater photography is a lot of fun (even if that water is contained within a bucket sitting in the trough in my laundry) and my cat will do anything for a cotton bud (watch the video to see for yourself). Below are some test shots from the camera, overall the image quality seems to be pretty good for both stills and video. It gets a bit grainy at high ISO without the flash which is to be expected, however the marine case has a detachable diffuser which softens the flash and reduces the harshness of shadow meaning I should be able to use it while diving without it being too overpowering. The real test will come in a couple of weeks when I take it scuba diving in Thailand, but so far I’m really happy with it.

Lumix FT1 in marine case with the lens partly submerged.

Macro mode with flash on.

New toys

Lumix FT1

Lumix FT1 in the 40m marine case

Just picked up some new toys from Tasman AV in Collingwood, a Lumix DMC-FT1 and 40m marine case. I’ll be heading off to Thailand in a few weeks and wanted to get something to shoot with while scuba diving. I would have liked to get an Ikelite housing for my SLR but couldn’t really justify the cost for something I haven’t tried before. I also looked into the Ewa Marine cases but $600AUD seems a bit much for a  camera shaped plastic bag that gives you next to no control over your camera. I’ll post some test shots and video once I’ve had a bit of a play with it. I need to test out the marine case before using it in the ocean so that should be a bit of fun too.

Website finally launched

NathanKasoPhotography.com.au

I finally got myself organised and launched my new photography portfolio website NathanKasoPhotography.com.au. I went with Photoshelter, they are a bit expensive but you get your money’s worth with some nice templates and well designed cart and checkout. It is a  little bit limited if you want to be able to completely customise your site but I’m happy with the end result. Visit the website here.