These are a few of my favourite things...

Zinio is my new best friend! I'm busily loading the new iPad with loads of photography apps, and came across the Zinio digital magazine app.

I love magazines, and I subscribe to a couple of photography magazines from the UK, but it results in a growing pile of once-read mags which then sit around and gather dust. I'm also on the move - a lot - so the idea of being able to dip into my magazine collection whenever and wherever I feel like it, is very appealing.

It was easy enough to set up a Zinio account, and I was impressed with the fairly broad range of Australian and international titles they have available in digital format.

I love that I can buy individual issues or annual subscriptions, and that most of the magazines have a large back catalogue available to browse through - so if you see a specific edition you like, you can buy it, download it and be reading it in a matter of seconds. It's also a cheap way of testing to see whether you like a particular magazine.

So...I've subscribed to a few (more) photography magazines and am revelling in learning, dribbling over awesome photos, and learning about (yet more) apps. I love that receive an email whenever a new digital edition is ready for me to read, and I really love that I can bookmark interesting bits and pieces, take screen shots and email to people (or post on this blog), share on social media sites, and generally engage more with the content.

Some of the publications are yet to make full use of their content, and make website links listed in the copy live - the more progressive publications let you tap on the link and it throws you straight onto a Safari browser page - that suits me a consumer of this stuff...take me there when I'm really interested, and I'm far more likely to part with cash.

Anyway, here's a screen shot of my current reading list. The Tap series is awesome (and resulted in quite a few iPad app purchases, which I'll blog about at some point - after I've read my eMags).

I'm really not sure how I got by without the iPad. R.I.P Steve Jobs - you really did bring amazing, innovations into the mainstream!

A beautiful country wedding

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing my friend's wedding - but it was particularly special for two reasons.

I have known Kristy since primary school, which makes it a three decade-plus friendship. And I was shooting for the first time in a situation like this, with Michael Coppola, a talented Brisbane photographer, who just happens to be my partner :)

Kristy and her two lovely daughters got ready in the scenic, peaceful surrounds of the Summit Wines Estate in Stanthorpe, about 2.5 hours drive west of Brisbane.

The ceremony was held in winery's bar after a fairly major storm whipped through the area, but thankfully, a log fire kept us all toasty. And in any case, all eyes were on the gorgeous bride and her groom, Stephen. As well as shooting with my 5D II, I picked up Michael's 7D in the middle of the ceremony and was blown away by its fast focus speed - but that's enough for an entire new post. Needless to say, I want one!

Kristy and Stephen had kept details of the entire wedding secret from everyone except the girls, and Michael and I! Guests had been picked up from two hotels in Stanthorpe and bussed to the winery for the ceremony. After some drinks and photos, we all boarded the bus again and headed out to the mystery location - Wallangarra Station, and what an awesome mystery venue it was.

Located on the border of Queensland and New South Wales, the historic station had been chosen to represent the coming together of a couple whose families came almost equally from the two states. There were also some family ties to the region, which made it even more sentimental.

As well as the obvious digs about State of Origin football games, and the general love between Queenslanders and New South Welshmen, one of the funniest quotes of the evening came from the groom, who said at one point, that he was just popping down to NSW for a drink. Who else can claim to have had a wedding reception in two states!

The reception was great - relaxed, with lots of laughs, lollies and love in the old station. I got to catch up with some old school friends and have a giggle about days gone by, between shooting speeches, dancing and all manner of antics from the many kids at the party.

Michael and I agree that we have fairly different styles of shooting, so I can't wait to see how all the photos come together to tell the story of this beautiful day. I do think that having two shooters gives an added depth of coverage to a wedding, or any event for that matter.

To Kristy and Stephen, thank you for letting us share your special day. Have a wonderful honeymoon and we hope you love the photos. And to Michael, I'm happy to shoot with you any day xx

Bridal accessories

My friend Kristy

Kristy and her daughters

Guests take their respective sides of the QLD/NSW border!

Accidental portrait of Michael
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A new world of photography on the iPad!

I finally joined the iPad brigade this month, and have been exploring lots of photography apps, and also trying to work out how to do blog posts from this awesome new plaything, ahem, I mean business tool.

One article I read talked about The Guardian's Eyewitness app, which is free, and downloads up to 100 stunning photos at a time from the publication's photo library. Each photo has a caption, and also a Pro Tip - perfect for both dribbling over, and learning at the same time.

This was the photo of the day for 1 October.



Having worked out how to take screen shots from the iPad (ie, this photo is a screen shot from the Eyewitness app), I tried to upload it through the Blogger platform via the Safari browser. For whatever reason, it didn't work, but a quick Google search revealed the BlogPress app as a possible solution.

Costing me US$2.99, BlogPress hooks up to my Blogger account, and theoretically let's me post directly to my blog of choice.

The photo upload was quick and simple, and while it doesn't look like I can add meta tags to the post as I can do in my actual Blogger account, it seems to be a great little app for on-the-go posts like this one.

Stay tuned for more photography adventures with the iPad!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad