Benz World Blog » Pink

Melody Angel

Jason Benz — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 11:56:49 +0000

This is Melody Angel rocking the Juke Joint at the 2017 Byron Bay Bluesfest. I have never seen anyone channel Jimi Hendrix and Lenny Kravitz with so much style. This was no tribute act, this force of nature from Chicago had plenty of authentic blues and soul in her music. (image download here)

Melody Angel will return to the festival in 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

Ferry Meadows

Jason Benz — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 08:21:59 +0000

This was taken at the 2010 Ferry Meadows firework display in the UK.

The photograph was re-processed using only Camera RAW.

The stock photos from the event are available here.

The Bamboos

Jason Benz — Mon, 30 May 2016 14:29:07 +0000

This is Kylie Auldist singing with Melbourne based Soul Funk band The Bamboos at the 2016 Blues on Broadbeach music festival. If you want to get your groove on, I highly recommend you check them out.

Stage lights often produce challenges for cameras. To process this image a little split toning was added in Camera RAW to recover the skin tone. A mask was then created in Photoshop to put some red back into the dress.

UPDATE: The Bamboos will perform at Bluesfest in April 2022. Get your tickets from the Bluesfest website.

Cat Empire

Jason Benz — Sun, 27 Mar 2016 10:38:54 +0000

This is The Cat Empire electrifying the audience on the Mojo stage at Byron Bay Bluesfest in Australia. They are a Melbourne based band whose music is a fusion of Raggae, Jazz, Dance and Ska with a distinctly Cuban feel. The performance was energetic and the infectious rhythms soon had the crowd dancing wildly as far as the eye could see. (image download here)

The Cat Empire will return one last time for the final Byron Bay Bluesfest in Easter 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: In 2026 Bluesfest will be the last in a line of major festivals closed from increasing headwinds. This began before covid, with the previous state government’s legislative “war on festivals“. The new government risks letting this trend continue through inaction. However, you can change this. If 20,000 signatures are received, the NSW Parliament must debate Bluesfest’s future. #savebluesfest if you live in the state Sign up here. For everyone else, there is an international petition on change.org Sign up here.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.

Umbrella Rainbow

Jason Benz — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 09:20:50 +0000

These colourful umbrellas were inside a building in Melbourne, Australia. My camera struggled to guess the white balance as there was very little neutral grey to calibrate with. One of the benefits of shooting in RAW is you can set the colour temperature after you take the photo. In this case I could remove the blue/green tint by increasing the red/magenta in CameraRAW. No Photoshop needed.

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

Ska Blues

Jason Benz — Sun, 25 May 2014 11:36:50 +0000

This weekend we visited the Blues on Broadbeach Festival. The last time we were here was for the Jazz Festival. This is the Melbourne Ska Orchestra who put on a high-energy rollercoaster performance. Building on a love for the music of The Specials and Madness, they have taken Ska to a whole new level. The 25-piece orchestra barely sat down for one song as they jumped around the stage and balanced on the speakers. When they left the stage they walked into the crowd and down the street while playing. I highly recommend seeing them. If you are in the UK they will be playing Glastonbury in 2014.

The Melbourne Ska Orchestra will return one last time for the final Byron Bay Bluesfest in Easter 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.

Jazz Festival

Jason Benz — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 00:58:26 +0000

This is Emma Hamilton who was performing today at the Broadbeach Jazz Festival in Queensland, Australia. Broadbeach regularly puts on free music festivals including Blues, Country, Jazz and Opera to attract people to the Gold Coast.

Barrel Racing

Jason Benz — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 02:06:32 +0000

This is the Barrel Racing we saw at Canungra on Sunday. I experimented with various shutter speeds and found 1/500 sec to be about right. We are back at the Canungra showground this weekend to save some money after spending mid week at the Meriton. Next week we move to a shared house in Southport. We have been viewing long term accommodation recently and hope to sign a lease soon.

Rundle Lantern

Jason Benz — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 03:33:54 +0000

This is the Rundle Lantern in the centre of Adelaide in South Australia. It has 748 panels which are illuminated with solar powered LED’s which can produce millions of colours. You can even create your own animation to be shown on the building.

Galah Cockatoo

Jason Benz — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:03:15 +0000

This bird is one of Australia’s iconic animals. The Galah or Rose-breasted Cockatoo is one of the most common in mainland Australia. This one was in Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields of Western Australia. To process this image I desaturated the greens and boosted the reds. Some vignetting was also added to darken the edges.

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