Benz World Blog » UK

New Year

Jason Benz — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 13:01:50 +0000

Happy New Year 2022. I had a Hippy Christmas, listening to music in a native forest with a cell tower to myself. I would normally be chilling up a mountain at this time of year but it has been cool enough to stay in the subtropical lowlands where the internet is fastest. 2021 was a wet year too in Australia, this helped rejuvenate the natural environment after the fires.

As the world discovered in 2022, In the wake of disruption, you don’t get back what you had before. We must face the challenges of this new reality as the world continues to change. I hope this year’s existential threats can create solidarity so we can move forward together, as we did to take action on the hole in the ozone layer.

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

Soyuz Spacecraft

Jason Benz — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 11:29:29 +0000

This is a Soyuz spacecraft in a Leicester museum in the UK. It was the only way humans could get into space when the shuttle retired in 2011. It has done it reliably for over 55 years.

Living self-sufficiently in a metal tube is much like #vanlife. Everything needs to be strapped down or it will fly around while you are travelling.

Australia has the longest national highway in the world and it is a never-ending loop around a remote ancient red desert landscape.

NASA could save a fortune training Mars astronauts by sending them down under in a kaleidoscope of kombis.

Edinburgh Millennium

Jason Benz — Sun, 30 May 2021 17:53:37 +0000

I rendered this for my 1000th Shutterstock image. The background is the Scottish capital Edinburgh, and the first photo I took with a DSLR. The text is created in Photoshop. This is my first 3D experiment as I have been using a non-3D version of Ps for the last 12 years. It is unlikely I will use 3D too often as it is at the limit of what my new laptop can do. While rendering it uses more power than it can draw from USB-C, so it drains the internal battery too. After a few renders, you risk running out of power during a render, even though it is plugged in. I just read USB-C plans to upgrade its max power output from 100w to 240w. This would fix this issue. After waiting 12 years to upgrade my laptop, it would be my luck that it is outdated 3 months after getting it. I am still pleased with the XPS-17. The screen is amazing. When you work somewhere with 360-degree windows it pays to have an extra bright non-reflective screen.

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

New Year

Jason Benz — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 13:01:33 +0000

Happy New Year 2021. This time last year Australia was on fire and its leadership was absent. The world watched the country burn as over 1 billion animals died. After the main event of 2020 this island continent would be viewed as one of the global success stories. Hopefully, next year will achieve such a revolution for all. Best wishes to everyone, especially those in the UK who are currently suffering from their absence of leadership.

The original firework image has been accepted by Adobe Stock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

History War

Jason Benz — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 11:46:42 +0000

History has been written by the victors. This is changing with widespread access to information and the ability to become a publisher online.

One benefit of the Black Lives Matter movement has been to shine a light on parts of history not taught in school. The toppling of statues has done more to teach history in 2020 than anyone gained by staring at them.

My English education never mentioned the crimes of the Empire. Even fictional narratives reinforced a certain view of the world. As a child, I did not question a story which was designed to make me feel lucky to be a white male.

When I moved to Australia I got a different perspective. Churchill was not held up as a hero by all. Dig a little deeper and you will find his words and actions are uncomfortably close to the evil he so famously fought.

Global Citizen

Jason Benz — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 13:15:58 +0000

I am a dual citizen who was not born in either country. I was born in Holland with a foreign father so I could not be Dutch at birth. This perspective made me consider citizenship as arbitrary. This makes nationalism and patriotism pointless from my point of view. Why feel pride for the achievements of historical figures who only share a similar birthplace to you? This may be why I travel, in search of my tribe. Anyone who has travelled independently knows the global travelling community was a culture unlike any other. One which essentially disappeared in 2020.

Sheep Clone

Jason Benz — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 09:25:42 +0000

This sheep was photographed in Rutland. The idea for the image was inspired by a suggestion my mum made. The aim with Photoshop is usually that the viewer is unaware the image has been altered. As this image is trying to convey the message of cloning, for once the manipulation was made obvious. It is the best selling image I have ever made from the UK. In addition, it was the 4th bestseller worldwide giving it an automatic place on my home page. That was until today when it was overtaken by this image which my brother inspired.

I currently in Kalgoorlie to photograph the mines and get some repairs done while planning a route to Darwin.

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

Last Pedestrians

Jason Benz — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 03:38:53 +0000

This is Nottingham pub band The Last Pedestrians playing at the Lincolnshire Poacher on Sunday night. Their music is a potent mix of junkyard grooves and gruff vocals supplied by the legendary Harry Stephenson.

The gig was packed so I ditched the usual DSLR in favour of a LG G4 camera phone.

This shot was taken on a busy 6 week trip to the UK. It was great to catch up with friends and family all over the country. Thanks for the hospitality from everyone.

New Year

Jason Benz — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:27:29 +0000

Happy New Year 2018 . We are back in the UK this year and celebrated 100 years of Finnish independence with friends in the village. This is the local pub illuminated with festive incendiaries.

Jason Bournee

Jason Benz — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 08:31:49 +0000

On Thursday I picked up my first Australian Passport. I did not have to give up my UK passport so now I can pretend to be Jason Bourne with his choice of passports. To make this image I started by finding a reference image from the movie. I was going to take a new photo to match the pose then I saw it was the Hollywood standard “look up with menace” which I did in 2010 for the Avatar post. I dug out the old RAW file and Re-processed it in Camera RAW as a Black&White with extra shading. Finally, some texture from the reference image was added in Photoshop. All together the process was quicker than taking a new photo.