Monthly Archives: January 2017

Off the wall Ukuleles - award winning image

Off The Wall Ukuleles

January is traditionally a time to look forward and make plans for the rest of the year – don’t get me wrong – we at GT Studios have been doing a lot of that this month – but we thought it was also a great time to look back at the year that was and take note of what we have achieved in the last 12 months. We were so busy that we sometimes forgot to mention some of the achievements we gained along the way!

Pano Awards Bronze for Off The Wall Ukuleles

Pano Awards Bronze for Off The Wall Ukuleles

Off the wall Ukuleles - award winning image

Off the wall Ukuleles – award winning image

Graham entered three panoramas into the Epson International pano awards last year. The image above received a bronze award and the other 2 images were 1 point and 2 points off of receiving a bronze award. Not a bad effort for his first attempt at this competition!

The Ukulele shop featured in the first panorama can be found on the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii in Kapaa town.

Dark clouds over the curvy black tar and the black volcanic rock near Iceland’s Kleifarvatn lake

Iceland and Hawaii are two of our favourite outdoor landscape photography locations. The natural light in both theses wonders of nature are amazing and reinforce why we love doing what we do!

Panorama of the Honolulu skyline at night.

If you click on any of the images it will make them bigger!

 

The Great Outdoors

Graham and I are not really camping people! So, when we suggest an outdoor photo experience it is more than likely going to be with a lovely client dressed in a gorgeous outfit, and we do our best to make them them feel  super special and let nature speak for itself.

Angel in the moment

Angel in the moment – with Fairy Dust editing.

Don’t get me wrong, we love being outside in the gardens and forests and national parks that we are so lucky to have here. You just need to check out any of our holiday destinations to see that we really appreciate nature, but we really appreciate the beauty in all our clients too. We make it our task to capture life’s moments with them while they are out in the natural light. We like to give them the opportunity to wear some of the outfits we have in our collection so that it is not the clothes that they have been seen in before. We do tend to specialise in girls that like to dress in beautiful party dresses – I think that is because that is what I am comfortable with too!

Every girl loves to dress up

Every girl loves to dress up – with Radiant and Refreshing editing

Even when we have had the pleasure of meeting girls who want to be “Bad” and wear only casual jeans and look tough for their photos they still end up choosing something beautiful from the collection in the end.  I think deep down, when there is no pressure from anyone, most girls secretly want to be a Princess and get dressed up and twirl around!!

Angel in the forest

Angel in the forest – with Black Opal editing

 

Puurrfect place to paws for a pat!

As some of our regular readers have noticed we have strayed away from our usual client base over the last few weeks. We have had images of trains and flowers, cupcakes and Christmas decorations and now an assortment of cats!

Graham and I have spent the Christmas break doing quite a bit of editing and also some further education and training. We feel it is always important to improve our knowledge and skills so that we can continue to give our clients the very best product that we can.

With all this work I thought it was only fair that we had an evening off to relax. I discovered this great little spot that combines coffee, cake and cats – I was pretty keen to give it a go. We spent a very relaxing 90 minutes drinking iced coffee, eating Sizzling Brownies and playing with 9 adorable cats at Hashtag Meow Cat Cafe.

Of course, I took my camera, so while Graham played, I took photos.  I hear they have had a new cat arrive since we were there last week (Bruce) so I guess I will have to find time to make another booking and hang out with 10 cats for a while – a great way to de-stress after a busy day!

 

Contact Graham or Karen if you would like to have a free in house consultation regarding a photo experience with you and your furry family members.

 

A Photographers Holiday!

Graham and I had a chance for a quick getaway late last year, of course, we took our cameras with us! We thought it was time we blogged some of our photos.

Two dedicated volunteers on the Pichi Richi Railway discussing details of the journey ahead.

Two dedicated volunteers on the Pichi Richi Railway discussing details of the journey ahead.

We spent a weekend in Quorn – a delightful old town in a valley of the Flinders Ranges. It was first surveyed in 1878 and the railway line from Port Augusta to Quorn opened in 1879. The town has kept its Heritage atmosphere and appeal helped by the fact that it is the home of the Pichi Richi Railway.

There was a photo opportunity at every corner. So, we took every opportunity. We have images of the trains, tracks, workshops, hotels, wildflowers, landscapes, volunteers, the locals, the wildlife, and the ruins. There was so much to see and do – I would highly recommend a stay there.

Karen chatting up the engine driver before departing on our trip to Woolshed Flat.

Karen chatting up the engine driver before departing on our trip to Woolshed Flat.

We stayed at the Flinders Ranges Motel – The Mill. We took a ride on the Pichi Richi Explorer – the volunteers were fantastic. We also did a tour of the Pichi Richi Rail yard and Workshop. It was fascinating to hear about the history of rail and see these great machines close up and so lovingly worked on. We had delicious breakfasts at the Quandong Cafe, lunches at Emily’s Bistro were a delight with such friendly staff and Dinner at 2 of the hotels.

NM25 on the bridge at Saltia on the Pichi Richi Railroad, between Port Augusta and Quorn, South Australia

NM25 on the bridge at Saltia on the Pichi Richi Railroad, between Port Augusta and Quorn, South Australia

We were there in October – it was hot, I got really sunburnt but that is another story, with other images on another blog post!!

Is that for me?

I love this photo of Miss T! I think she can say a lot with her eyes. In fact most people can speak with their eyes if they want to. To me, this photo is a question – “Is that for me?” Some others might interpret it differently, that is the beauty of photography.

Is that for me?

Is that for me?

I would love to know what you think Miss T is saying with her eyes. Let us know in the comments section on the Facebook post.

Lay back and Relax!

Dreaming of Summer - one day I'm gonna be a Mermaid!

Dreaming of Summer – one day I’m gonna be a Mermaid!

The weekend is here and it is going to be too hot to do anything constructive or productive so take the lead from the gorgeous Miss E, lay back and relax!

Look at Me - I'm from the Sea!

Look at Me – I’m from the Sea!

Miss E takes being a mermaid quite seriously! If you go down to the beach this weekend make sure you play it safe – slip, slop and slap! Maybe do what we did and just recreate the beach, sip a cool drink in front of the air conditioner and chill baby!!

Staying Focused

Finding the prize through the leaves.
Follow me: GT Studios | Facebook | Instagram

As we get back in to the swing of work and the daily routine of every day life I started to think about all the distractions that are part of our life these days. Staying focused is not only great advice for photographers but great advice for everyone who wants to move forward or be challenged or grow this year.

Earlier this week we were fortunate enough to have some time to wander through our beautiful Adelaide Botanic Garden. A favourite spot of mine, somewhere that I could spend hours soaking up the beauty and trying hard to capture the atmosphere and charm so that we can then share it with others. We had limited time this day and so I had to remind myself that I did not have hours but had to remain totally focused on the reason why I went there. This time of year is perfect for the Amazonian Lily, the Sacred Lotus and as it happens the rather pungent smelling Corpse flower was on the verge of flowering yet again!!

As we stood on the edge of the Nelumbo Pond I remarked to Graham that my challenge this year was to capture a different photo from previous years. I wanted to have something that showed the sacredness of this beautiful plant. Well, I am quite happy with my images but today’s feature photo is not mine but one that Graham took that day.

“Finding the Prize through the Leaves” does exactly what today’s blog is about. It highlights the sacredness of the lotus, it shows the importance of staying focused and hints at the leaves as the distractions that could so easily pull us away from what is important in our life whether that is the people, our job or some other goal or passion.  I hope you find your prize through the leaves this year.

All our images are available to purchase. Contact Karen or Graham for details.

The 12th Day of Christmas

Can you believe that it is already the 12th day of Christmas? So much has happened in the last 12 days – my head is spinning! –  and now we have to say goodbye to the festive season for another year.

Christmas Decorations

Christmas Decorations

Some people have already taken their decorations down – in fact they take them down ASAP – others will be doing the task today (depending on your beliefs) and others will tackle the task tomorrow. We will spend tomorrow doing just that – I love the Christmas decorations – I don’t really want to pack them away – apparently, in days gone by, if you did not take down the greenery and baubles on the 12th day of Christmas (January 5th) or Epiphany (January 6th) you had to leave them up for the whole year – Now there’s an idea!!!!

Christmas Decorations

Christmas Decorations

Of course, we will pack them away but hopefully it will not be for the whole year. One of our plans for 2017 will be to offer “Christmas in July Photo Experiences”. Once again we will set up our Winter Wonderland Christmas Nook with lots of Fairy Lights and Christmas Gifts and Snow and then encourage you and your loved ones to book an experience so that we can create unique Christmas greetings cards for you! We have had some fantastic feedback from those who ordered personalised greetings cards for this Christmas – your experience can be as formal or fun as you like! Contact either Karen or Graham for more details.

Christmas Decorations

Christmas Decorations

 

A New Year – A New Theme

Happy New Year Everyone!

Watching you watching me.

Watching you watching me.

Graham and I decided that with the new year we should have a new theme to our web site. We will be redeveloping most of the pages and information in the near future but wanted to get a feel for the way people reacted to the theme first.

We would love to know what you think! Please give us your feedback either by email at graham@gtstudios.com.au or karen@gtstudios.com.au or by commenting on Facebook either in the comments section or as a PM or by going to the Contact us page on the web site!

Today’s feature photo was taken at an event celebrating the New Year. We thought it was an appropriate choice for today’s blog!