Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

I can’t help myself, I take thousands of photographs of everything around me, both for reference material for my artwork and because my camera is just another medium to create art.  I don’t always have time to go through all my photos and select my favorites to display, but the other day I realized that my photography galleries were very outdated and thought I had better add some new ones.  This is just a few of the new additions, the rest rest can be seen in the Landscape and Animal& Wildlife Photography Galleries.  These photos were all taken within a short distance of my home, except the Tawny Frogmouth which was found a little further south.  Enjoy!

Harvest Landscape © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Sunset Silhouette © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Long Shadows © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Dark Sky © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Up Close and Personal - Tawny Frogmouth © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

I have just changed over from using Photoshop CS4 to Lightroom 2.4 for processing my photographs – all I can say is I wish I had done this sooner!  As much as I resist learning new computer programs (fuzzy mummy brain I think), Lightroom is so quick to use compared to CS4, the time out I have taken to learn how to use it is going to be a huge benefit in improving my workflow, especially for batch processing.  Here is a selection of the first images that I have processed through Lightroom from my road trip down south to Boyup Brook.

The only nitpick that I have with Lightroom is the watermarking ability or lack thereof.  I have purchased the mogrify preset which allows me to use my standard watermark…but it places them at the same location in every image, which can obscure important elements of the photograph. Plus I need to make additional copies of the watermark for different opacity and colours so that I can select slightly more subtle watermarks to suit individual images better…either that or just continue to use CS4 and apply the watermarks manually for each image.

Other than that one issue, I can highly recommend Lightroom to any photographer looking to speed up their workflow.

I hope you enjoy these images, some of them will be available for purchase as prints http://southwestphotography.com.au in the near future.

Cheers

Michelle

Orange Flower © 2009 South West Photography

Boyup Brook Farmland © 2009 South West Photography

Boyup Brook Farmland © 2009 South West Photography

Blackwood River, Boyup Brook © 2009 South West Photography

Blackwood River, Boyup Brook © 2009 South West Photography

Rustic Relics, Boyup Brook © 2009 South West Photography

Border Collie, Boyup Brook © 2009 South West Photography

Border Collie, Boyup Brook © 2009 South West Photography

Sometimes life just gets a little bit too stressful, and the best way to deal with it is a few hours in the country re-connecting with nature and the beautiful land that we live in.  Yesterday was one of those days, and what a joy to just take a few hours and enjoy the sunshine and the beauty of our South West.  I rarely go anywhere interesting without my camera in hand, so I do have a few of my favourite shots to share with you all:)

I’m very happy with these for several reasons, firstly every single shot was taken in full manual, and while I have always been pleased with the 50D’s output in the other creative settings that I normally use with changing light/movement situations, I can honestly say that nothing beats pure manual for getting the best images!  Secondly, and this is a biggie for me, I was shooting with the beast (70-200mm 2.8L), but every shot was hand held – the monopod didn’t go on the camera once!  This is truly amazing (to me anyway) as after my first attempt at shooting handheld with the beast when I first got the 50D was a disaster, it was so heavy it made my wrists hurt and every photo had severe camera shake and I never thought I would be able to use it handheld.

Purple Flowers at Harvey ©2009 South West Photography

Rustic Farm Building ©2009 South West Photography

One Tree Hill Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

"panoRAMa" Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

Boyup Brook Farmland in July ©2009 South West Photography

Scarlet Breasted Robin Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

"Bird on a Wire" Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

Donnybrook to Boyup Brook Landscape © 2009 South West Photography

Scarlet Robin, Boyup Brook © 2009 South West Photography

"Flight" Birdwatching in Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

Blackwood River, Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

Boyup Brook at Dusk © South West Photography

Little Lamb backlit by the Sun ©2009 South West Photography

The Golden Hour ©South West Photography

I have to say that I was really pleased with the last two – the little lamb was shot through a ringlock fence and I wasn’t sure if my settings where correct for the lens to blur out the wire strands, but obviously they were (yay for me).  I had to jump out of the car, over a muddy ditch and up a hill to say hi to three very friendly horses that came over to the fence when I called them.  It was the golden hour and the light from the sinking sun behind them was just magnificent while this big bay gelding happily posed for me to practice my silhouette shots:) In the full size, his chin whiskers look like threads of pure gold.

Ok, I think thats more than a few photos (I know, I just can’t help myself)…although I do have heaps more that I will add at some stage when I get time to process them.  I’d love to know which of the photos is your favourite and why, so please feel free to leave me a comment:)

Cheers

Michelle

South West Photography

Yesterday I had a session with very cute 71/2 month old Jack.  What a cutie-pie, but oh-so serious when it came time to take his photos:)  Thanks to his very sweet mum, K for letting me come to your home and photograph your gorgeous boy!  I hope you enjoy this sneak peak at some of his photographs!

Baby Portrait Photography

Perth Baby Portrait Photography

Baby Portrait Photography © South West Photography

Baby Portrait Photography © South West Photography

Portrait photography session information is available on the portraits section of my South West Photography website.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, so we took the kids down to Fremantle for a few hours (of course so did half of the metropolitan area;).  Normally if I take my camera when we go out, I lug the heavy 70-200mm 2.8L around with me (gotta love L zoom:) but the down side is that its pretty heavy to carry when you just want to wander around for a few hours.  So I popped the nifty fifty on my camera and apart from a few portrait shots of the kids, decided to step way outside of my normal subject matter and try to get some interesting shots of some of the old buildings.  Considering I’m not into architecture photography, I am quite pleased with how these turned out!

Hotel Cleopatra Fremantle ©2009 South West Photography

Fremantle Architecture Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Fremantle Architecture Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Fremantle Architecture Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Fremantle Architecture Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Fremantle Markets ©2009 South West Photography

Additional images are available on my photography website South West Photography

The highlight of last week for me was a wonderful session that I had on Saturday with Mitchell and Kaden, two gorgeous little boys who were loads of fun and had me cracking up all over the place with their antics!

I know their lovely mum is anxious to see their sneak peak, so here it is – thanks so much Jackie for letting me photograph your beautiful boys, I hope they had as much fun as I did:)

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Perth Childrens Portrait Photography ©2009 South West Photography

Portrait photography session information is available on the portraits section of my South West Photography website.

Please note: Free photo sessions finished in August 2009!

Are you interested in a Free photo session for your child, aged from newborn to teens?  I am currently building my portrait portfolio and I’m looking for enthusiastic Perth parents who would like a Free Portrait Photography Session of their child.

In exchange for use of photographs from your child’s session in my portfolio and for promotional and advertising purposes (print and internet)

You will receive:

FREE Photo session of approximately 1-2 hours (time required depends on child/children)

FREE online private gallery (password protected) to view all final images (between 20-35 images)

Two FREE 6″x8″ professional photo lab prints of your choice selected from your private gallery plus web resolution (600px @72dpi) copies of these two images for sharing by email, facebook etc)

You are under absolutely No Obligation but may purchase prints at a heavily discounted rate (Christmas presents for Grandparents?) and will receive web resolution digital images of any additional prints that you do purchase.

Location: Portrait sessions will be held on location at a local park, garden or playground – a nice location where your kids will feel comfortable, can have some fun and be themselves  rather than posing for the camera.  Locations SOR/hills preferred due to time constraints.

Day/Time: Most weekdays are available for booking up to two weeks in advance, limited weekend sessions left at this time. Flexibility may be required due to inclement weather.

Portrait style: Natural light/lifestyle/candid/casual style (not formal studio shots)

If you are interested in having a Free photo session, please send me an email with your child’s details, the most suitable times/days for you and a contact telephone number.

I particularly require baby, toddlers and pre-schoolers and can accommodate a portrait ‘party’ for larger groups of children.

For additional information and to view galleries, please visit my South West Photography website.

Cheers

Michelle

I received a very distressed phone call today from a client, her daughters much loved elderly Rhodesian Ridgeback had been diagnosed with an inoperable tumour, and unfortunately the only thing that could be done was to humanely put her to sleep.  Like so many people, Lady’s owner didn’t have many good photos of her, and my client asked me if I could go down to the vet’s surgery and take some photos before Lady was laid to rest before the end of the day.

I know what its like to loose a treasured companion, and I also know how important good images are to help heal the pain of their passing, so I was more than happy to help.  Luckily there was a small garden outside the vet surgery so I was able to get some beautiful shots of this grand old girl that I hope will keep her memory alive for her family forever.

Rhodesian Ridgeback Portrait - © South West Photography

Rhodesian Ridgeback Portrait - © South West Photography

Rhodesian Ridgeback Portrait - © South West Photography

Rest In Peace Lady, you were loved and will be missed.

I wonder if any other photographer else has an unusual subject that they photograph for no good reason whatsoever, with no care for composition or technique, just grab shots for the sake of…well I dunno, collecting maybe?

I collect country road signs.  Well, no I don’t collect road signs, but I do collect photos of road signs.  Specifically country road signs.  LOL ok so I am weird.  Maybe I just don’t know where I am going so I like to have a record of where I have been?  I won’t go scan any film photos that I took in Europe many years ago, but here are a few from my ‘weird photo’ collection.  Most are grab shots taken out the window at 100km per hour.

Blackwood River Valley

Boyup Brook © 2009 South West Photography

Blackwood River Valley

Williams Wagin Perth Kojonup Albany

Dardanup Boyanup road sign

Bunbury Road Sign

A small selection of photos from Fridays ridden events, dressage, English ridden and Hunter trial.

Quarterhorse Championship Show © South West Photography

Quarterhorse Championship Show © South West Photography

Quarterhorse Championship Show © South West Photography

Quarterhorse Championship Show © South West Photography

Quarterhorse Championship Show © South West Photography

Quarterhorse Championship Show © South West Photography

Quarterhorse Championship Show © South West Photography

Quarterhorse Championship Show © South West Photography

The full set of proofs from this and other equestrian events can be viewed and prints purchased at South West Photography.