Hi everyone. Unfortunately, I have to turn off some of the comment and form facilities of my web site for a little while.

For some reason, or another, I have attracted the interest of a stalker / spammer / hacker. This pleasant individual has assigned a certain level of importance to me and finds it necessary to post hateful and derogatory comments on this website, my corporate site and my corporate Facebook.

Using a Facebook account (Paul Nixion – fake I assume) he has also attempted to send multiple friend requests to me. I have also just discovered he has sent similar requests to family…! Please let me know if he has also sent requests to you.

The occasional ‘spammy’ comment or hateful email is to be expected from time to time. I guess it is an unnecessary part of having an ‘on-line’ presence. Unfortunately, however, this person has been visiting my various sites and leaving comments every couple of hours…!

I’ve tried to think whether I may have offended anyone to such a degree that they would find it necessary to visit my sites and post negative comments 6-8 times a day. Maybe it’s the opposite; maybe Paul is just jealous or infatuated? After blocking Paul’s IP address on my hosting server, he has even commented that he is able to still visit my website if he uses Wifi. Whatever the reason; it must be pretty important if Paul finds it necessary to move to the cafe to continue his reprimanding.

Paul, or whatever your name happens to be, please go away mate. Find something else to do in your free time. Surely you have more important things to do than send silly comments off to complete strangers.

I’ve kept a record of your IP addresses, your comments, your slanderous Facebook posts and your attempts to hack my site. If forced I will contact the police and request a ‘Cyberstalking and Harassment’ enquiry be entered into in accordance with the CyberSmart regulations governed by the Australian Institute of Criminology. I am already preparing an email submitting your IP addresses and access times to Optus.

I’d really just prefer you found something else to do with your time mate… Time to move on, hey…

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This is not a review, just a bit of proud gloating. lol  I have recently bought a new, somewhat expensive, toy. This month I became the proud owner of a Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS lens. This is one of the big boys from Canon and my first ‘L’ lens. I had always dismissed the L lenses as unnecessary and  exorbitantly expensive. I coud never see the value in them. That was, until I got to play with one. Even then, the $2,500 price tag can seem a little steep. But hey, that’s what interest free is for…!

The 70-200mm focal range is a little tight on my APC cropped 7D but I am slowly getting used to taking that extra step (or 3) back when composing a picture. The extra length does a wonderful job of blowing out the back grounds though so it has become my ‘go to’ lens for portraits. The Bokeh is soft and buttery making the subject ‘pop’.

Wide open at f2.8, and with the added stabilisation, I’m able to constantly take clear shots at several f-Stops lower than anything else I have in my bag. And that’s hand held. Whack this bad boy onto a tripod and I don’t imagine you could take an out-of-focus shot if you wanted to.

Last week we went down south for the weekend and I was lucky to have a friend’s lens bag at my disposal. I’ve now had a play with the 17-40mm f4 and the 24-105 f4. They were both great lenses and I’ll be looking at adding them to my own bag soon.

The lenses themselves are built like tanks. They have solid, weather sealed, bodies and everything feels sturdy. The glass is large (77mm on the 70-200) and exceptionally clean. The few pictures I have had time to take so far show a level of detail I haven’t been able to get with any of my other lenses.

At the risk of sounding like a Canon fan boy; if you can afford the extra cash, buy the L range. The weather sealing and metal bodies will mean you’ll be able to keep them longer and the far superior glass means they’ll retain their re-sale value; should you ever need to sell them on in the future.

The next thing I need is a second body so I don’t have to continuously swap lenses. Maybe a second hand full-frame 5Dmkii now that the mkiii has come out.

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Hi everyone, just a quick update this morning. I like to check out the ‘In your bag‘ updates on Bellamy’s Japan Camera Hunter photography blog from time to time. Everyone knows photography is about the gear you own (more on that in my next update) rather than the pics you capture. Not quite true but it seems to go hand in hand that photographers, even us ‘wanna be / hobbyist’ ones, love looking at other people’s gear. I’m sure part of it is bragging but I like to think it’s more of a mutual ‘check this sh*t out’ kinda vibe.

This morning I came across a fairly basic write up of a bag (and gear) belonging to a pilot name Duane. He had the seemingly required Leica range finder camera (I say this with an air of jealousy) and his short introduction discussed his flight schedule and his opportunities to take pics all over the world. Sounds like a pretty cool life huh?

At the bottom of the write up the writer normally has a few links to pieces they’ve done, blogs and websites etc. At the bottom of Duane’s write up was a link to his blog; blog.duanepandorf.com. I dropped over to check out his site and came across some truly beautiful photography. A lot of it might just appear like ‘snap shots’ until you spend a bit of time looking at them and realise how balanced and controlled they are. Duane has managed to, successfully, capture ordinary parts of his life and make them really pop. The combination of the Leica’s tonal range and the photographer’s eye for angles come together in a way I, personally, really appreciate. I particularly like Duane’s industrial black & white shots of the engine and of the cockpit’s nav system.

If you have a couple minutes spare go and check out some of Duane’s art.

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