ef-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 is II — BLOG

LODGE FLOWERS

Mount Koghi, Dumbea

We have been officially out of confinement since the 4th May. This is a six week trial. Let’s hope we don’t get a case in that time.

A beautiful Spring day brought us, my grandmother, mother, aunt, a friend and her two kids, to the Auberge du Mont Koghi (Mount Koghi Lodge). This was back in 2018 when my mother was visiting from Australia. I came back with a few memorable family photos and these closeup shots.

55 mm, 1/125th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 200

55 mm, 1/320th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 200

55 mm, 1/500th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 200

55 mm, 1/400th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 400

55 mm, 1/320th second @ ƒ/5.6, ISO 800

It was the end of Winter and we were slowly moving into Spring. A lot of flowers had already blossomed and others waiting for a little more warmth before doing so. It had been a long time since we’d visited the Auberge du Mont Koghi and it had been sold and closed for quite a while too. The lodge reopened mid June 2018 with new management, staff and all new chef specials on the menu but retained it’s special French Savoyard cuisine it was known for. Isolated in the Koghi Mountains in Dumbea yet no more than a 30 minute drive from Noumea, it’s a great place to get away and relax for the day or a few in one of their refurbished bungalows. Checkout the magnificent panoramic view or go for a stroll in the forest. Enjoy lunch, dinner, coffee or a sunset drink… there are plenty of reasons to go there but with a place like this, you don’t need one.

These closeup (macro-ish) photos were taken with my Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 camera and kit lens. Zoomed all the way in at 55 mm to get really close to my subjects and get a blurred background. The widest aperture available for that focal length is ƒ/5.6, helped achieve the blurred background and let in as much light as possible. A native ISO of 200 gave me clean, noiseless images and I adjusted for more light when needed. Minimum shutter speed was at least twice that of the focal length, 1/125th second, to get those clean, sharp images and I increased it depending on the wind. Apart from missing my focus by a millimetre on a couple of shot, I’’m very happy with these photos. I thought I would have gotten a slightly larger depth of field at ƒ/5.6 but I can’t complain to much with such a beautiful blurred background. And the colours are just gorgeous.

As many of you know from my last post, a new chapter has begun in my life with the birth of my daughter. We’re in the process of finding a balance between family, work and our hobbies/passions and I know we’ll get there. I’m asking for your understanding and patience if at any time there’s a lack of content on the blog. Saying that, I’d like to thank everyone for your support so far. Thank very you.

Before going, I hear more and more countries are coming out of auto-confinement which is great news, nonetheless, remember the protective measures are still in vigour. Stay safe everyone and I hope to see you on the next post.

**CANON EOS 1300D/REBEL T6 KIT**

Package kit including Canon 1300D/Rebel T6 16 MP crop sensor camera with kit standard zoom EF-S 18-55 mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS II lens, camera bag, SD card and more. A great package for beginners.

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**WANDRD PRVKE**

PRVKE 31 lt. travel/camera backpack from WANDRD. Has a laptop sleeve, a tablet sleeve, a hidden pocket, room for a camera insert and storage to spare. Also extends to provide 6 lt. of extra storage. It’s my everyday carry.

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**WANDRD CAMERA CUBE**

The WANDRD camera cube insert is a perfect fit for the PRVKE backpack. Can also be used on it’s own too.

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**SANDISK MEMORY CARDS**

SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC memory cards are fast and reliable. With 128 GB you never run out of storage for photos or videos. It’s what I choose to use.

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**GIOTTO CLEANING KIT**

This lens cleaning kit from Giotto includes a Rocket blower, a soft dust brush, pointed and rounded cotton buds, a microfibre cloth and cleaning solution. Also great for cleaning the outside of your camera too.

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**UES CLEANING SWABS**

Cleaning swabs by UES for crop sensor cameras with APS-C, CMOS and CCD sensors. I clean my camera sensor at least once a year, more depending on where I’ve been.

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DAM BLUE HOUR

Yate Dam, Yate

For the life of me, I can’t remember why I didn’t participate at the photo contest for which I took this photo for. I like this image quite a lot though it did take me a long time to find the right edit for it to be so. That’s probably the reason why I didn’t participate.

Canon EOS 1300D + EF-S 18-55 ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS II | 21 mm, 2 seconds @ ƒ/11, ISO 100

The hydroelectric power generated Yate Dam isn’t the largest, tallest, the most power generating nor the most beautiful dam in the world but I still find it very impressive. Probably because I haven’t seen many dams in my life. Still though, for a small island like New Caledonia, it is quite an impressive achievement. And I do find it quite beautiful lit up with Yate Lake behind.

I was quite lucky to get this shot as those dark clouds rolled in pretty quick and it started to rain. It actually rained all night and through the next morning. There were a couple of clear occasions but not long nor good enough for a nice photo. This image dates back to 2018 when I was using the Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 with the kit lens. An Entry level, crop sensor DSLR that I had won from a local photo contest. And very happy that I did because at the time I was borrowing a couple of friend’s cameras. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of my Nikon D7100 (which got stolen a year or two before) but it did the job well enough. Of course it does have it’s limitations and I did have a problem with the auto-focus not being on point but when manually focusing at 100%, I couldn’t go wrong. Which is what I did with this long exposure shot. Very little editing on it but what made all the difference was adjusting the Hue of the dam lights. That alone added a more appealing colour contrast to the image. It took me a long time to figure that out but that slight adjustment changed everything.

I’d love to photograph the dam when they open the spillway. I don’t know if they publish times and dates for the occasion though. I’ll try to find out.

Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 +EF-S 18-55mm IS II + accessories

CANON EOS 1300D/REBEL T6 + KIT LENS

16MP crop sensor DSLR camera with EF-S 18-55 mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS II lens and accessories

Buy on Amazon

NIKON D7100

24MP crop sensor DSLR camera (body only)

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NIKKOR AF-S DX 18-105MM Ƒ/3.5-5.6G ED VR

Nikon crop sensor zoom lens

Buy on Amazon

TRANQUIL LEMONS

Noumea, New Caledonia

I was doing a bit of cleaning up in my Lightroom catalogue and came across this photo. It dates back to March 2018. I was using a Canon EOS 1300D with a kit lens that I had won in a photo competition. I remember I was out at La Baie Des Citrons (Lemons Bay) trying to capture a sunset. Nothing spectacular happened but I stayed through blue hour trying long exposures.

Blue hour, on the other hand, was beautiful. With everything blue, I remember imagining this photo in black & white before I even took the shot. I wanted a long exposure so I went with the maximum the camera would allow without a remote, which is 30 seconds. To get the cleanest image possible, a very low ISO is necessary, in this case 100. An aperture of ƒ/6.3 gave me the exposure I needed to capture the photo I wanted. The thin clouds are totally smoothed out, the water as well though it was already pretty still. Plain and simple.

Post-processing was a matter of simplifying the image further. Getting rid of all distractions like buoys, sail boats, birds, stars trails and dirt spots from my lens. All that’s left is the ruins of a wharf and the marker, perfect. That’s exactly what I wanted, a minimalist image. I might get this one printed.

All my research about this dilapidated wharf were in vain. The remnants show it used to start from the Four à Chaux (Lime Kiln) of La Baie des Citrons. I’m guessing it may have something to do with that. I would love to get some information on it so if anyone knows something, please drop me a message over on Twitter (@Hervouet) and I’ll update this post with the info. Thank you.

KERIKERI - BAY OF ISLANDS - NEW ZEALAND

THE CLOUD & THE TOWER, THE STORE & THE FALLS

I thought I’d share the photos that were in the video of my last post. I’ve wanted to share them for a while but wanted to get the video out first.

You might have noticed that the first two photos are not from Kerikeri but Auckland (New Zealand). This was on our first full day in New Zealand, I got up early, before my friends, to check out the Piers at the end of Queen Street, where we’d eaten at the night before.

Later that morning we were picking up our camper-van and heading up to Kerikeri. We lost three hours at the camper-van company because of a problem with their system, which made us arrived in Kerikeri mid afternoon instead midday.

We headed straight for The Stone Store and Kiroripo Pa. A beautiful area along the Kerikeri River. We spent a couple hours there then visited the Rainbow Falls (Waianiwaniwa) a little farther upstream.

Unfortunately that’s all we had the time to visit. The next day we were off to Paihia. Kerikeri is a large town with plenty to visit and do, and absolutely beautiful. Well worth a visit.

POURING A RIVER

I took a few photos along Route De Prony (Mont Dore, New Caledonia) heading back home from the Néocallitropsis refuge. I wanted to try out the welder’s glass as a filter on flowing water. I found this bridge interesting with it’s huge tube-like holes and as I headed down stream I found this composition. I love the way the water flows from the holes of the bridge and over the rocks in the foreground. And the mountain in the background adds depth to the image. I really like this photo.

The light was nice due the the overcast day. It helped to extend the long exposure with the small aperture used. I think I focused on the rocks in the foreground which I think was a mistake as I find the bridge slightly on the soft side. Not as sharp as I would have liked. Otherwise very happy with the exposure and composition. And the edit. You may not know but welder’s glass has a strong green tint which, I find, is very difficult to remove completely. Not impossible but more work than I’d like to do in post. The reason why I convert these images to black & white. Next to no colour correction needed.

10 sec @ ƒ/11, 55 mm, ISO 100

New CaledoniaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTDecember 29, 2018b&w, black & white, bridge, canon, ef-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 is II, eos 1300d, long exposure, monochrome, mont dore, mountains, new caledonia, nouvelle caledonie, photoshop cc, province sud, river, water, welder glass

NÉOCALLITROPSIS REFUGE FALLS

Cockington Miniature Village was the last of my photos from Australia. And even though I’m heading to New Zealand this weekend, I won’t be sharing photos from there but from home, New Caledonia. The reason being I don’t have a laptop to edit my photos on the go. I promise you’ll get to see them as soon as I get back in a couple of weeks though.

Néocallitropsis Refuge Falls is located in the Yate municipality in New Caledonia. A small waterfall ending in a nice waterhole, especially appreciated after a long walk. A few of us decided to hike the first stage of the GR NC1. Which is a fourteen kilometre hike that starts from the Prony refuge in Baie de la Somme (Mont Dore) and ends at the Néocallitropsis refuge (Yate). The refuge (hut) is located just off to the left of this photos. The hike doesn’t loop so either you retrace you steps back or drop a second car near the Néocallitropsis refuge to head back to the start once finished. I stayed the night in hopes of capturing a couple of sunset and sunrise photos. Unfortunately I missed out on sunset. I drove a couple of ladies and their dog, who thought the track looped, back to Prony refuge. By the time I got back, all the beautiful light had vanished and rain clouds were rolling in. It poured down pretty much all night so a shot of the stars didn’t happen either. I woke up to an overcast and drizzling morning. I want to pack up and head home but I didn’t know when I was going to be back here. I told myself “You’re here now, make the most of it. Go home with at least one photo.”. It stopped raining long enough for the ten minute walk back to the refuge (I didn’t anticipate the bad road to the refuge so I camped next to my car) and take a couple of photos before it started raining again. I got back to the car drenched but happy with myself for not giving up earlier.

Getting the long exposure time that I wanted for this photo wasn’t difficult with the lack of light from the overcast skies. The small aperture to get everything in focus helped as well. My aim was to get a silky smooth waterfall and it’s exactly what I got.

Never give up. You never know what lies in store.

1.3 sec @ ƒ/11, 55 mm, ISO 100

COCKINGTON MINIATURE VILLAGE

On the way back to Sydney from the Snowy Monaro, I thought the kids would love to see the Cockington Green Gardens in Canberra (Australia). It’s a miniature village of buildings, everyday scenes and activities from a round the world and even a steam train. A must visit if you’re ever in Canberra. Give yourself plenty of time though as there is a lot to see. Little details you don’t want to miss. I think it took us just over two hours. The kids absolutely loved it.

I think the photos came out quite nice. I’m very happy with this hand picked collection. I took many others but I didn’t want to bore you with fifty plus photos.

Again, if you’re ever in Canberra, take some time to visit the Cockington Green Gardens. The kids will feel like Gulliver in Lilliput and love you for it.

AustraliaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTDecember 5, 2018australia, canberra, canon, christophe hervouet, christophe robert hervouet*, cockington, cockington green gardens, Cockington Miniature Village, ef-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 is II, eos 1300d, gardens, miniature, new south wales, nsw, photoshop cc, small, tiny

A DAY IN THE SNOW

My friend decided to kill two birds with one stone by visiting Sydney for the first time and keeping her promise to her daughters that they would see and play in the snow. So we headed down to Jindabyne, just south of Canberra (Australia). We stayed two nights there so as to have a whole day in the snow at Thredbo.

These are the only photos I took and I’m the first to admit they’re not very good. I was busy taking souvenir snapshots of the kids. The first couple of photos were taken on the beach at Jindabyne Holiday Park. The rest are from Thredbo.

NIGHT ZOO

As I mentioned on my last post we had dinner at the cafe in Taronga Zoo in wait for it to reopen just after dark for Vivid Taronga Zoo. It’s beautiful and amazing and a must do if you’re ever in Sydney while it’s on. And the kids will be inthralled.

A little challenging for photos especially for positioning and framing. You’ve got to have a lot of patience. Many times I had to wait for people to move and a few times for photographers as they had the perfect spot for the shot I wanted. Because there are a lot of people around, you need to be aware your surroundings. You don’t want someone bumping into your gear or taking a kid out with your tripod or backpack. Be careful and tolerant. And talking about the tripod, a must as all of my images are long exposures. It’s the way to go if you want sharp photos.

A big thank you to my friend and her kids for their patience. They endured the cold temperature for at least an extra hour, instead of being warm and cosy back at the hotel, to give me the chance to capture everything. Merci.

DAY ZOO

A must do in Sydney, especially if you have kids, is visit Taronga Zoo in Mosman (Sydney, Australia). It was a beautiful sunny day, so we (my friend and her two kids) took the ferry from Circular Quay to get there. It’s also a nice way to see the harbour and the city from the water. You get great views of the city from inside the zoo as well. There’s a lot to see there so give yourself plenty of time. At least four hour if you don’t want to rush to see the koalas, wallabies and wombats before closing time. Talking from experience.

I took a few photos but saw later that my focus was off for a number of them. I concluded that the auto focus was off about a third of the time. Not by much but enough to matter. I use single point focus for precision but as you can see on the lizard photo, I focused for the eye and it missed. I’m a lot more careful now and try to review the photos as soon as I take them but that’s not alway possible.

There are a number of photos that I particularly like from this collection. The giraffe about to enter it’s enclosure is one of them because it show the height of it on the frame. Another is the adult and baby elephant playing with the blue barrel. The little guy was so funny. The black bear, on the other hand, seemed so unhappy. I mean I don’t know if he was but that’s the impression I got. Love the majestic pose of the sea lion though. He got into position just as I framed him. The poser.

I can highly recommend the cafe at the entrance too. We had dinner there as we waited for the zoo to reopen, just after dark, for Vivid Taronga Zoo. Now you know what the next post will be about.

STROLLING VIVIDLY

Who remembers Vivid Sydney? Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to photograph the iconic buildings during this event and I’m sure you’ve seen them either in person or through social media already. I managed a few photos. We (my friend, her two kids and I ) had decided to check out the lights in Circular Quay on the way down from Woy Woy since it was the last day of Vivid Sydney. We had spent the day up there visiting my sister and her little family. It was thanks to a man that had struck a conversation with me, while I set up for my first photo, that I found out about the Botanical Gardens. Well, we had to check it out. I was disappointed I wasn’t able to take many photos along Circular Quay. It was just too crowded. There were thousands of people doing the same thing as we were. It was a lot better once we entered the Botanical Gardens though. And I’m so thankful to the man that approached me as the stroll was just magical. There is so much to see, hear and do during Vivid Sydney that I’ll have to dedicate a trip back just for that. The little we did was such a great experience.

Just a quick shout out to my friend and her kids for their patience. I know it was exhausting for them to wait while I set up my gear, waited for the right moment to capture an image, reviewed the image and do it all over again if I wasn’t satisfied. Especially after an already long day. Thank you very much to all three of you.

FANNING BALLOONS

Just as I had finished setting up for my gear in the middle of Ron Barassi Snr. Park for my sphere photo, I noticed these two hot air balloons traveling through the sky. By the time I got my camera off the tripod and took the shot, they were farther from the Melbourne Star wheel then I would have liked. Still glad I got a photo to remind me where I was when I saw them, and give them a little perspective. I took a couple of other shots but they weren’t as nice.

The EXIF data shows that I really didn’t have much time to take the shot. I literally took the camera, zoomed and snapped. I don’t know how I got such a sharp image at that shutter speed. I should’ve bumped the ISO up a touch and opened the aperture a lot more. I didn’t need such a large depth of field as everything was far away but a higher shutter speed would’ve been better. In the end I got the shot and that’s what counts.

0.3 sec @ ƒ/8, 37 mm, ISO 100

LANDING

From across The Last Dock you can see this magnificent building. I have no idea what it’s called nor it’s exact location. I don’t think it was finished long ago as I couldn’t find it on Google Maps but it looks like it situated around Wharf Landing Park in Docklands (Melbourne, Australia), not far from Bolte Bridge. No other buildings around it for now but I’m sure that won’t last long.

I took a few photos of this building at blue hour and in broad daylight. I preferred the later because it had a lot more contrast, which suits the subject better. This is one of those times I wish I had filters. I think this scene is perfect for a very long exposure to smooth out the clouds and the water. The image would’ve had an out-of-this-world kind of mood. And produce a cleaner photo. The filters are on my list of things to buy.

1/1000 sec @ ƒ/5.6, 55 mm, ISO 100

THE LAST DOCK

So now that we’ve reached the end of Newquay Promenade (Melbourne, Australia), we arrive at the last dock. A quiet, little getaway spot. Day or night. With wonderful views of Bolte Bridge, Yarra River, Docklands piers and Melbourne’s skyline.

I had taken a couple of photos here very early one morning but, unfortunately, they came out slightly blurred. It was very windy and the movement of the dock on the water didn’t help either. So I though I’d come back and a get a day shot of the bridge. Just snapshot for a souvenir.

1/1000 sec @ ƒ/4.5, 36 mm, ISO 100

AustraliaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTNovember 11, 2018australia, benches, bolte bridge, bridge, canon, dawn, day, dock, docklands, ef-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 is II, eos 1300d, jetty, melbourne, morning, newquay, photoshop cc, pier, river, seats, sunny, vic, victoria, wharf, yarra river

REFLECTING ON NEWQUAY

The rain had stopped and left puddles everywhere. Nonetheless, it took me a while to find this composition. I like it because it reflects what is not shown. You can just see the Paladio building, the sculpture Silence and even the blue glass building.

I wanted to get down lower but my tripod wouldn’t let me. The centre rod was in the way. I ended up moving back a little farther and zooming in to get a lower perspective. And to bring the background a little closer too. I had edited this photo in colour and was going to share like that but something was bothering me about the image. I couldn’t put my finger on until I converted it to black & white. It was the colours. They weren’t doing justice to the photo. I reset the edit and started from scratch. Colour can be such a distraction in an image.

1/5 sec @ ƒ/8, 29 mm, ISO 100

AustraliaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTNovember 9, 2018australia, b&w, black & white, canon, docklands, ef-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 is II, eos 1300d, melbourne, monochrome, newquay, newquay promenade, photoshop cc, puddle, rain, reflections, vic, victoria, water, wet

RED MEETING

Another sculpture made up of multiple pieces. There are eight of these crouched, red men that make up this sculpture, titled Meeting 1. You can’t miss this red sculpture against the green synthetic grass. As with all the sculptures along Newquay Promenade (Melbourne, Australia) you can get up close and personal.

I wasn’t going to share this snapshot but the sculpture is quite prominent and a big part of the promenade so I felt it had to be included in the stroll.

1/500 sec @ ƒ/3.5, 18 mm, ISO 100

AustraliaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTNovember 5, 2018art, artistic, australia, canon, docklands, ef-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 is II, eos 1300d, male, meeting 1, melbourne, men, newquay, newquay promenade, photoshop cc, red, sculptures, statue, vic, victoria, wang shugang

MELBOURNE CITY MARINA

Here is a different perspective of the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel. It looks much larger than my in last post, doesn’t it? Now that I post this photo, I wish I had taken it at blue hour. I think it would have made a beautiful photo with the buildings and the wheel lit up. Oh well, maybe next time.

I had edited this photo in colour at first but quickly realised it was more suited to black & white. The light wasn’t the best and there weren’t enough colours to make the image pop or interesting.

1/400 sec @ ƒ/5.6, 55 mm, ISO 100

NEWQUAY CENTRAL WHEEL

As I walked up to Spiky, I saw the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel between the buildings. All lit up. Beautiful! I tried to photograph the wheel once before but I was too late to capture it lit. This composition is much better too. Especially with the contrasting red light against blue hour makes it stand out. It was green at my first attempt. And I like the entrance as a leading line.

Though not all the lights on the wheel were working, I still tried to time my exposure to capture them all lit. It took a few trials and errors but I finally came away with this one. I could’ve close my aperture to ƒ/11 to gain an extra second of exposure but I find the images too soft at that opening. A one second exposure was enough.

1 sec @ ƒ/8, 36 mm, ISO 100

AustraliaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTOctober 31, 2018eos 1300d, newquay central park, early, melbourne star observation wheel, vic, ef-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 is II, newquay, victoria, morning, melbourne, ferris wheel, canon, blue hour, australia, docklands, dawn, photoshop cc

SPIKY & THE TWINS

A little farther down Newquay Promenade (Melbourne, Australia), I saw these wonderful buildings. The unusual architecture of the spiky, teardrop shaped tower and the leaning twins behind made for a great photo. I didn’t search for a composition here. I saw, I took the shot.

Another day shot so I went for a black & white edit. I darkened the blues to give more contrast to the photo. The sun and the buildings did the rest.

Not much to talk about here. I don’t know the names of the buildings but you’ll see more of them in the next couple of posts.

1/800 sec @ ƒ/5.6, 55 mm, ISO 100

SILENCE

More Sculptures to be found farther down Newquay Promenade (Melbourne, Australia). Actually, this is one sculpture titled Silence by Adrian Mauriks. It’s quite nice being able to walk around and in-between sculptures. You get a different perspective on the art and can interact with it. And your imagination just goes wild. I quite like this sculpture. I took a few photos with different compositions, this is the one I liked best.

This sculpture is huge and to show how prominent it is, I got down low with my tripod and used a wide focal length to take the shot (I’ve only got a kit lens anyway). Set to the lowest ISO to get the cleanest shot. Ten second timer (two seconds isn’t enough for this camera) to stabilise the shot. And closed down the aperture to get everything in focus.

0.4 sec @ ƒ/8, 18 mm, ISO 100

AustraliaCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTOctober 25, 2018adrian mauriks, australia, blue hour, canon, docklands, ef-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 is II, eos 1300d, long exposure, melbourne, newquay, newquay promenade, photoshop cc, sculptures, silence, vic, victoria