Benz World Blog » Palm

Pirate Set

Jason Benz — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 08:00:44 +0000

This is one of the sets of the new Pirates of the Caribbean film “Dead Men Tell No Tales” which is currently being filmed on the Gold Coast in Queensland. They have fenced off a long sand beach on the Southport Spit until the 17th July 2015.

I am sending my camera and lens back to Canon for repair so I will have to keep the photoblog going with new processing of old files from Australia, Egypt, Jamaica, Cuba and the UK.

Summer Storms

Jason Benz — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 13:41:00 +0000

It is getting hot in Australia. In Queensland the summer storms have been rolling in most afternoons for the last fortnight. Brisbane was hit by a couple of super-cells last week, and this week it was the turn of the Gold Coast. This shot was taken from our back garden in Southport. To colour this image I adjusted the white balance to match the shade of purple I saw in the sky each time the lightning struck.

Springbrook Waterfalls

Jason Benz — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 12:35:56 +0000

This weekend we visited the Springbrook National Park close to the state boundary. It is a fascinating place. It lies on the edge of an ancient volcanic ridge which causes all Queenslands creeks to turn into New South Wales waterfalls.

Real Lightning

Jason Benz — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 12:36:33 +0000

This lightning strike was taken four days ago from our front balcony in Southport, Queensland, Australia. I have done one or two posts with fake lightning added with photoshop. This is the first time I have photographed lightning for real. The thunderstorms here on the Gold Coast often start in the afternoon heat. Even with the clouds there is just too much light in the sky to do the type of long exposure you need to have a chance of getting a hit. This was a 30 second exposure taken in the evening at 8:36pm

Sydney Cove

Jason Benz — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:48:55 +0000

The building with the orange roof is an oyster bar with a view of Circular Quay in Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Cienfuegos Square

Jason Benz — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:38:13 +0000

This is Cienfuegos Square in Cuba. It is one of the Caribbean images from the old website I took in 2004. Before I get back to Australia I have been transferring some of the old images to the new photoblog.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Sky Palms

Jason Benz — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:37:33 +0000

These silhouetted palm trees were in Negril, Jamaica. I took this almost 10 years ago when I first started experimenting with Photography. I was using an early digital compact camera Ex-Z3 with a LCD display. This shot would be difficult with a DSLR as framing the shot is normally done with the viewfinder. Focusing the sun onto your retina is not the best way to go about improving your photography.

I plan to put up more images of the Caribbean as I move from the old website to the new blog.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Bangkok Airport

Jason Benz — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:18:06 +0000

Thailand is often the stopover between Australia and the UK. The first time I was here I found exploring Bangkok fascinating. I kept calling the airline to put back my next flight. I ended up staying a few weeks. Unfortunately the last time I landed here I did not get further than the airport where I took this shot.

Havana Cuba

Jason Benz — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:05:30 +0000

This was taken in Cuba. This building is typical of the design and condition of houses in Havana. I like this shot as despite being taken with an early digital compact camera EX-Z3 it had a natural HDR look about it even before I started work on it. To process this image I started be removing the cables in front of the building with the Spot Healing Brush Tool set to Content-Aware. I then added Vignette, Viberence, Selective Desaturation and the Orton Effect. Then I gently lifted the pastel shades of the buildings using individual channel curves. I tried to submit this image for stock but it was rejected by Shutterstock and Dreamstime for copyright. I guess Art-Deco buildings count as Art.

Caribbean Coast

Jason Benz — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:30:22 +0000

This was taken on the west coast of Jamaica in a place called Negril. The Photoshop layers I used to build up the image are below.