He has recently featured some of my work on the VISI Blog in an editorial interview with Elphick Proome Architects, and featured a collection of my images in his Alive architecture gallery.

Be sure to also visit the Alive Architecture Facebook page to now see a bumber collection of some of my best black-and-white architectural images that I have exclusively released for exhibition there; it’s a real treat for the eyes.

Below two images from the collection; the Yas Marina Yacht Club in Abu Dhabi (top) and a capture on the South Bank of the Thames in London (bottom).

Someone I know once wrote a lovely true piece about how ‘many people live a life of quiet discontent not having the courage or belief to follow their dreams’. Breaking that mould takes resolve, it takes willpower and it takes deep unwavering self-belief that you can indeed achieve the success and goals you seek; certainly no one says the adventure will ever be easy, without challenge or hardship.

Building a new business from scratch in a country you’ve been away from for over 14 years, when you’ve been retrenched abroad and lost everything, trying hard to network, build a new brand and win new contracts amidst the worst recession (in architecture and construction anyway) in history is hard work and doesn’t come easy. It’s challenging, it’s exciting and it’s invigorating and I wouldn’t do it any other way because I do believe success will come and quite frankly sometimes it’s just the only way!

To the friends, family and clients (worldwide) who do unconditionally love and believe, thank you, we honestly couldn’t make it without your support and help.

The Alive Gallery is an architecturally-themed gallery based in Johannesburg owned  by architect Pieter-Ernst Mare (Lupini Architects) aiming to help showcase great South African architecture and publicise the contribution of architects in the industry.

“Alive architecture gallery is a platform for architects and students to show their work in a public space and share ideas with other like-minded individuals. Alive architecture is a non-profit organisation designed to enhance relationships between architects and their lifeblood: the public.”

Celebrating great South African architecture; what a great idea!

Flying into each of the venues to photograph the collection I had one night and one chance to find the magic that would positively showcase each of these wonderful structures to a worldwide audience. At the time many of the stadia were still chaotic construction sites and there was a mild panic about whether many of them would be finished in time, but anyone who’s in architecture and construction will know that that’s just the game we always play. The stadia were all finished in perfectly good time and the 2010 FIFA World Cup will surely go down in history as one of the most sensational and successful tournaments of all time.

Read the fascinating Desere Strydom interview with Elphick Proome Architects, and see my featured imagery HERE

This particular set is very special indeed as it remains the only full unbroken set of authentic FIFA-endorsed ‘Stadium Collection’ prints in existence. Printed at 850x610mm in size on Hahnemuehle museum-quality archival cotton rag paper each print is embossed with the FIFA 2010 World Cup logo, individually numbered (AP 01/10) and signed (the first-edition AP images are also the only prints produced that were actually signed).

The original plan was to produce ten sets of artist proofs for sale to fine art collectors worldwide however only a single set was ever produced making this 01/10 edition set very exclusive indeed.

So if you’re a city banker who’s wondering what to do with your £1 million Xmas bonus, you play for Manchester City / Manchester United / Chelsea / Arsenal / Tottenham Football Club, you actually played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, you’re looking to embezzle some drug money or just have some spare cash laying about the house, be sure to give us a call to discuss how you might be able to acquire a world exclusive collection of FIFA-endorsed 2010 World Cup collectable fine art merchandise.

There is only ONE complete ‘Stadium Collection’ set on earth, the FIFA licensing agreement has expired so they cannot be reprinted, when they’re sold they’re sold, so pick the phone up now and give us a call before they’re gone…!

With the full moon behind you, set your camera to ISO 800, f4 & 30 seconds exposure (all on manual) and start shooting ‘middle of the night’ images that look deceptively like they were shot in broad daylight.

This image below was shot at the famous Sugar Loaf Rock at Dunsborough in Western Australia when I was out there studying with Christian Fletcher and Nick Rains. The scene is illuminated with nothing other than moonlight on a clear night and if you look closely enough in the sky you can actually see a plethora of stars (looks quite sensational on the full size print anyway).

What are you waiting for, go on, get out there and give it a try.

On a full-frame sensor camera the accepted formula for calculating star movement is: 600/the focal length of your lens. So if you’re shooting on a full-frame Canon EOS 5D with a 17mm lens then 600/17 = about 35 seconds. If you want to capture an image of the Milky Way with the stars kept all very sharp-looking then you cannot expose any longer than this period of time. If you’re shooting star trails and purposely want to introduce star movement then you will need an exposure longer than 35 seconds otherwise the stars will just record as a series of noticeable dots when you blend the captures together.

On a cropped-frame sensor camera use the formula 300/the focal length of your lens. So if you’re shooting on a cropped-frame Canon EOS 600D with a 24mm lens (or at 24mm on any zoom lens) then 300/24 = 12.5 seconds. Shooting sharp star captures like the Milky Way will be tough as any exposure longer than 12.5 seconds will start to show movement blur on the stars. If you’re purposely trying to shoot star trails then anything over 12.5 seconds will start to give you the movement blur you’re after.

On my Canon EOS 5D camera I find that anything much longer than a 60 second exposure introduces shocking levels of digital noise (from the excessive heat the sensor starts to create) so shooting architecture with star trails in the background, like this capture below through my 17mm tilt-and-shift architectural lens, I therefore need to find an exposure time balance that works best somewhere between 35 seconds and 60 seconds.

Depending on the light, the architecture and the creative effect I am trying to achieve I can either lower the aperture setting from f11 down to f4 or raise the ISO setting from 100 to 800. Raising the ISO too high will ultimately introduce grain and cause a deterioration in image quality so it’s all just a technical matter of juggling the parameters (ISO, aperture & time exposure) to find a solution that gives a sensational enough result.

Come on, get out there and give it a try, you know you want to…!

All you need in terms of equipment is a camera (of course), a wide-angle lens (a 24mm lens or wider will do perfectly), a sturdy tripod and a remote release cable to minimise any camera shake from touching the camera & tripod (or simply use the time-delay mechanism on your camera to activate the shutter).

The science & technology part is easy too – set your camera to manual mode, set the camera to shoot JPEG’s (yes, JPEG’s not RAW – they blend together easier), set the ISO to 800 and the aperture setting to f4 (depth of field is irrelevant when shooting far away subjects and opening the ISO & aperture will let more light in and keep the exposure times shorter) and set the time exposure to 30 seconds (if the image looks too dark then perhaps extend the exposure time up to 60 seconds and see how that looks).

The idea is to shoot a large collection of individual JPEG images and then blend these all together in Photoshop or some bespoke star trail blending software to create the star trail circle. The danger with digital cameras is that you can overheat and irrevocably damage the sensor and also just create excessive digital noise (from the heat) if you make singular long exposures so blending a collection of short exposures is really the only way to go.

The more exposures you can shoot and blend the more complete the star circle will become. The exposure below is a ‘quick star grab’ from about 23-minutes of repetitive 30-second exposures (shows how little time it takes to start getting the star trail to take shape); it is said that you need around 4 hours of exposures to get a complete-enough star circle but in this particular instance mosquito’s (and the risk from malaria in Mozambique) and the call for beer overruled any willpower I had to sit outside in the dark for that period of time.

Star trails are spectacular to shoot and easy to do so what are you waiting for, go on, get out there and give it a go…!

By looking into ourselves and drawing on a lifetime of personal experiences we are able to find a creative voice that through photography helps us define the way we see the world in our own very unique way. It is actually said that an image frequently says more about the photographer than the subject matter it portrays because of the inherent personality it encapsulates.

No one but you can take the photographs that you take because your creative voice and artistic style are very unique to who you are. How do you find that creative voice; by looking into yourself and finding an emotional connection with a subject matter you love. Passion drives creativity; it gives you the energy you need to keep working hard, lights your creative fire and helps you grow over time as an artist.

Look into yourself, ignite your passion and be the unique star that you were meant to be!

How does a true photographer know when an image is composed and exposed correctly?  When it feels right…!

2011 was a great year here for us with lots of countrywide travelling and opportunity to see and photograph some of the country’s greatest new architectural and engineering projects.

Some of my favourite projects of 2011 included working on Safintra Roofing’s national advertising campaign (which will be ongoing through 2012), supplying all the corporate artwork for GOBA Engineers new office building, photographing architect Kevin Lloyd’s sensational portfolio of exclusive residential projects across KwaZulu Natal and also being commissioned to shoot the ‘Crofton & Benjamin’ exhibition of work directly for the KwaZulu Natal Institute of Architecture.

2011 was a busy blogging year too with 12,386 hits on the site, which equates to about 4 sold-out performances at the Sydney Opera House (which seats 2,700 people).

In 2011, there were 68 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 180 posts. My busiest day of all time was achieved on 21^st October 2011 with 401 views following a post about the Investec Building in Durban.

The busiest search words on my Blog remain from people looking for images of the Aldar HQ, the Capital Gate Tower and Aldar Properties which I have all previously photographed, located in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

These are the posts that got the most views in 2011:

• The incredible ALDAR HQ Building – 843
• Aldar HQ, Abu Dhabi – 639
• Capital Gate Tower – 442
• Investec Durban – 401
• Aldar Properties HQ – 323
• The amazing Aldar Properties HQ Building – 305
• More Moses (Moses Mabhida Stadium) – 226

Here’s wishing you all a very tremendous 2012 with best regards from us…!