The Batblog by Photobat | Portrait and Wedding

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There are so many things that I enjoyed about this shoot. Firstly, how fantastic does the Gorge look. The leaves give such a fantastic amount of colour. Secondly, I don’t know how many times i’ve said how mush I enjoy shooting older families, it’s so much fun. Generally family portraits are taken when kids are small and they hang on the wall till thwir kids are running about. The Overton’s are a fantastic family, there was so much laughter on the shoot, it really shows that they get along very well. Really, a heap of fun all three of them.

 I love the one above, girls and mobiles!

This is Kaba, he has not been on the Batblog for a while. He just destroyed one of his toys, which wasn’t supposed to be one of his toys.
It was a team effort, Mouse (the cat) likes my wife’s home made plush toys and was making a batch of rabbits. Mouse took one of the half finished rabbits off the work table and put it ont he floor. kaba saw this and knew he had a new toy. The first we knew of this was when he was running about madly with it in his mouth, kind of like he had caught it hunting. So rabbit, after about 3 months is now just stuffing and polarfleece on the floor. I guess its hunting time again for Kaba.

Well, there were a few more entries than I expected for the little competition yesterday. You guys loved it! And I did to, so many song memories came back and it made is to very hard to choose a winner.
I think if you put all the songs onto a mixtape and went for a drive you would be happy!

Certificates of participation to everyone who entered.
Honourable Mentions to:

Hannah with John Price’s Please Don’t Bury Me
Pip with I Will Never Love You More by Soko
Zoe put a vote in for Leo Sayer’s You Make Me Feal Like Dancing as done by Homer
Nigel was disqualified for reminding me of this song, but got back in by posting the video, which is fantastic.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTpUVAcvWfU[/youtube]

Amy with Love Shack
Wayne and Chris for Bohemian Rhapsody
Clara Jayne put forward some Dee’Lite, Groove is in the Heart
Renne put forwards Ours is Punk Rock Girl by The Dead Milkmen.
Rachel Gillam with Footloose ( a personal fave of mine)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwBbMXYDsXw[/youtube]
And now the list of the top three…

Ashleigh got 3rd place with
“Our fav fun song is ‘Sweet Transvestite’ from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Clinton & I have known each other for the past six years and on every drunken, sober and in between gathering we put this song on whether it’s at a party or just the two of us dancing around the house and disturbing the neighbours, pretending that we are Doctor Frankenfurter incarnate! The song also may have contributed to the reason for a trip up to the hospital after falling off stilettos…. “

My wife had never seen this before, and the look on her face was priceless!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWXoFAaZ11M[/youtube]

Second place was TIED!

Melissa with some Guns and Roses
“How do I pin down a fav song? There’s so many I can think of, its like having to choose which child to save when the boat is sinking (terrible analogy but meh).

I guess the song of the moment for me would have to be “You could be mine” by Guns n Roses

Why you ask? It’s the sort of song that you want to break shit (to put it in lamest terms). Firstly, the intro of the song starts with a rockin drum beat, followed by throbbing bass lines and then like lightning, you hear Slash’s signature guitar. For the next five minutes its nothing but an orgy of kick ass and win. Sure, the lyrics were all over the place (that’s more a reflection of Axl Rose but I could go on and on and on) but like art, you don’t need to be an expert on it to appreciate it. If you’re moved by the music, then the artist has achieved their goal (other than monetary value).“

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C2dGRoaZ1A[/youtube]

And also in second place was Katie and Andy
“Our top fun song is ‘Blame it on the boogie’ by the Jackson 5. We have a whole dance routine that goes along to the song and every time we hear it (usually at a wedding with a bad dj) we get up rip up the d floor with our sick moves, which involve lots of hip thrusting and spirit fingers. The song is just so much fun to dance and sing to we can’t help it! “

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjW1iq4IO2k[/youtube]

And the winner is…
Emma !!!!

“I’m wondering if it’s possible to enter your competition on behalf of my parents? They fit all your requirements…couple, live in Launceston, fun and also possibly the most in love people I know, even after 33 years of marriage!! Seriously, they’re kind of gross!!

Anyway the reason I thought of nominating them is cause my Mum mentioned that she didn’t like her wedding photos anymore (she thinks Dad’s brown suit is too dated – I secretly LOVE it, totally retro cool!!), and I thought it would be lovely for them to have a lovely portrait of themselves 33 years later and still totally happy!!

The song that I’m giving you too is one of my old time fave, and is one that my brother and I were brought up on, and I warn you now, you’ve probably never heard of it before, so I’ve included a youtube link. It’s called 30 000 pounds of bananas and is by and amazing singer Harry Chapin – who also wrote Cats in the Cradle!! Its completely an awesome song, and one that my Dad used to have us listening and singing to loads when we were young!!
Anyways, happy listening…I love introducing people to this song, it’s totally AWESOME!!”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pZ3TTmm0n4[/youtube]

As you should be aware I’m a bit of a story fan and love story and that I was introduced to a new song!

So Emma, your parents have won the random fun portrait competition!!! Yay! I’ll be in touch with you soon!

Please feel free to leave your favourite fun song in the comments to keep it going!
And thanks for entereing, it was heaps of fun! Hope you enjoyed the videos!

This is Rob Burnett, I’ve known him for a few years and the story goes as follows…

When I finished Uni I moved back to Tasmania and focused on doing the Dombrovskis Award. Once all that was finished it was time to get a job assisting another photographer. In Melbourne, it seemed that everyone when they finished uni went off to work as an assistant. I visited many Tasmanian photographers who I admired with the view to assisting them. Tasmania isn’t like Melbourne or Sydney. No one used assistants. So there was nothing there for me to do. I joined the AIPP and prepared to go it by myself.

I went off to my first AIPP event, youngest there by quite a few years and only know one person, and not very well. Weekend went past, say in on the seminars, met other photographers and then just as I was heading home I introduced myself to Rob. To be honest, I had never heard of him. I put this down to him not doing wedding or portrait and spending a bit of time away doing commercial jobs. We got talking and made a time to catch up the next week.

All the photographers I met initially did spend some time with me, about 2 hours on average. Now I’m out working I realise that was a fantastic amount of time to put aside to speak to a young and inspired photographer and am thankful for the opportunity. When I went around to Rob’s I didn’t leave for 6 hours. The next day I came back, then the day after, day after, and so on for a couple of years.

I didn’t get paid, I did bits and pieces and I learnt a lot about real world photography. I don’t do commercial, but Rob does it fantastically and over time I slowly picked up my own jobs and clients in wedding and portrait, always getting critiqued by Rob and pushed to do better.

He also introduced me to many of the top photographers in the country and took me to my first APPA awards in Sydney in 2002 (I was on the fold out couch, I didn’t know about the tradition of first in the hotel room puts their undies on the pillow and claims the main bed).

Even now we will catch up and talk shop, he is still as frantic as ever and a real pain in the bum to get in touch with, but when it happens, it is always good.

So thanks to Rob, the best real world photography teacher I have had and I wish him luck in claiming a good bed in Sydney next week.

His website is here, book him to shoot some commercial stuff anywhere

OK, just reached a big goal so I’M GIVING AWAY A FUN PHOTOBAT PORTRAIT SESSION AND $300 PRINT CREDIT. Conditions: Have to be a couple, have to be fun, in Tasmania or Sydney next week, and tell me your top fun song and why you like it.

I’m leaving this open till 5 pm today. GO FOR IT!!!

Shoot can be done anytime up to the end of the year!!!! Plus i’m in Sydney next week, so could be up there!

Send me an email comment on my facebook page or post a comment below

Tell your friends!

Shot in the various carparks of the world this is a series of Urban Details from last 4 years. Sometimes there are things we may see every day but not pay very much attention to.

 

 Urban Details: Carparks: Play Now | Play in Popup

At the moment we are doing something that we have never done before, and am happy to do it but sad that we are doing it.

The story starts a couple of weeks ago when we had a phone call from a lady who was looking for someone to put her wedding album together. As we are a full service wedding photography business the idea of putting together another photographers wedding album just seemed odd. Why wouldn’t the photographer have just done it? After finding out a bit more about what this lady was looking for, we made a time to meet up and see if we could give her a hand.

It turns out that the lady has a fully designed wedding album with prints just needing to be assembled. It is a little different than how our albums are assembled, but nothing that we can not do with a few hours of construction. The lady had lost all confidence in the photographer, and that extended to getting the photographer to finish off a simple album construction.

She decided that she would do it on her own. Many years down the track, time has dragged out, the kids have arrived and the album is in the same state it was when it was given to her.

I guess it really pisses me off when photographers who call themselves professional show such bad service that the client looses all trust with them.

I have heard other stories in the past about bad service and each time I hear them it pushes me to do even more to deliver fantastic wedding photography experiences to all the couples who book me. Even the couples who do not book Photobat generally receive something, like a referral to another trusted photographer or some ideas towards their day.

I’m not saying we are perfect here, because we aren’t. There have been some occasions that we have fallen below expectations and we always do everything we can to make things right.

A wedding is one of the most special days in their lives and no matter what, I really want everyone to have a day they will look back on and smile rather than feal sad about what went on.

I’m looking forward to giving this lady back her album so that she will have something to show her kids when they are old enough to understand its significance.

I realy loved the colours in this session, going for the green and black clothing worked fantastically and gave a really fantastic look to the shots.

Thse two had so much personality, they where so much fun to chase around and always ready with a pose!

It really wasw a pleaseure shooting this lot, and I can’t wait to get the canvas’s back as they are going to look really amazing!

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