| Superman Returns |
|---|
 Fortress of Solitude
(Jul 2005) In mid 2005 I was commissioned by Warner Brothers to photograph a few of the "Superman Returns" movie-sets [1], at … (more)
... Fox Studios Australia in Sydney [2]. This is the FoS [3] set on sound-stage #1, “… where the Man of Steel conducts incredible experiments, keeps strange trophies, and pursues astounding hobbies!” This was the second time I was asked to photograph this particular set, as the designers kept changing their minds over how it should look. The original scheme had the spikes looking like yellow-brown quartz crystals. A week later it was changed to look like pure ice. (I notice in the movie [4] it was changed yet again, this time to look more transparent and a little less pure! [7]) I'm still amazed by the production design wizardry [5] by Guy Hendrix Dyas [6]. Standing on the set, 5m above ground-level, you could clearly see it was bogus and slapped together using wood, wires, fiberglass and white paint. But add a few puffs from a smoke machine and run it through a lens and… completely believable smoking crystals of ice! N.B. portions of the set masked in green were due to be replaced by CG artwork. Unfortunately we ran into time and budget constraints, so it had to be dropped. Also, as per client's instructions there is no audio for this scene. |
 Daily Planet Plaza
(May 2005) A night-time view of the Daily Planet entrance, built onto the side of sound-stage #2. Doing the plaza shoot was … (more)
... pretty harrowing. One of the Assistant Directors ("A-D's") stood right beside me, watching my every move and issuing a stream of instructions into a walkie-talkie, telling the grips and gaffers [1] to turn this light on, that light off, to get out of the way, increase the steam etc. During re-loads some of the crew noticed I was still using 35mm film. As the entire production was famously digital [2], I had to endure endless ribbing about this: “Jeeezus, film! Where'd we dig this fossil up from?! Hey — Filmboy — back to the Twentieth Century for you!” Just to aggravate them, I mentioned I was also timing the night exposures with a mechanical stopwatch. More head shaking and smiles over that one :?) As before, overhead portions of the panorama (shown in green) were supposed to be replaced with a computer-rendered building and sky. For general remarks about filming, lighting and set design, see the interview with Director Bryan Singer and DP Newton Thomas Sigel in Amercian Cinematographer July 2006 [3]. |
 Daily Planet Lobby
(May 2005) An interior view of the lobby on the other side of the Daily Planet Plaza [1] revolving doors. I wasn't … (more)
... scheduled to photograph this scene, but while waiting for the crew to dress the Plaza set, I suggested to my Warner's contact that a shot of the lobby interior might also be interesting. He agreed, so I ran around with a broom to clean up the floor and popped off a quick sequence. As before, portions of the set masked in green were supposed to be replaced by CG artwork. For general remarks about filming, lighting and set design, see the interview with Director Bryan Singer and DP Newton Thomas Sigel in Amercian Cinematographer July 2006 [2]. |
 Lex Luthor's Yacht
(Jul 2005) The main cabin interior of Luthor's yacht ("The Gertrude") on sound-stage #29. As before, portions of the set masked in … (more)
... green were supposed to be replaced by CG artwork, this time showing fish and the ocean etc. During the shoot we tried having a few grips [1] rock trays of water beneath the glass floor to give a flickering "light reflected off water" effect. We dropped the idea though because it didn't work, mainly due to smearing by the long exposures required (eight seconds per shot). Again no audio was recorded, as per client's instructions. For other VRs, drawings + detailed audio commentary about the Yacht design and construction, see the IGN interview [2] with Production Designer Guy Hendrix Dyas [3]. Another interview about the set can also be read half-way down the Moviehole website [4]. |
| Photojournalism |
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 Anzac Day March
(Apr 2004) At the head of one of the Anzac Day marching battalions, at the corner of King and Elizabeth Streets at … (more)
... St James in Sydney. To my knowledge this is the first and only full-sphere VR of a marching procession anywhere in the world. As you can imagine this was not easy to do. Multi-shot cameras can't synchronise the many overlapping images required. OTOH "one-shot" rigs can't deliver fully spherical results, being mostly limited to ± 30° cylindrical images. This scene was featured on the international <panoramas.dk> site in June 2004, as Panorama of the Week #25 [1]. BTW few people are aware the word "ANZAC" has been protected by legislation since 1920 to prevent its unauthorised use in trade or entertainment [2]. |
 Wollongong Uni - olympic pool
(Oct 2002) The shallow end of the University of Wollongong olympic swimming pool. This particular scene is a little unusual in that … (more)
... it's the only pool-VR in the world where the shot was actually done in the pool, a few inches above the water. In late 2002 I was commissioned to shoot a 28-scene VR "photo essay" for use in the UOW's 2003 online marketing campaign [1]. Part of the brief was to include plenty of shots of students and academics doing everyday things, with the more people I could cram into each scene, the happier they would be. The client emphatically did not want a typical deserted-campus tour, with empty fields, lecture halls or dormitories, but rather scenes of a living, working, research and educational facility! So I obliged. I spent five days on location and shot (and recorded sound for) something like 60 cubic VR scenes, with more than 80% of them taken with my monopod "candid" VR rig. |
 Bundeena "boys" Ferry
(Feb 2004) The bow of the "Curranulla" ferry as heads down Gunnamatta Bay towards Bundeena, a small township on Sydney's southeastern edge. … (more)
... The 15:30pm service is shown here. Locals know it as the "schoolies ferry", since it's always packed with students on their way home from school. Actually there are two ferries: a girls service which leaves a few minutes earlier, and this one, the boys boat. Presumably the sexes are segregated to keep the ruckus down. Another difficult scene. The small ferry (not much bigger than a school bus) rocked and pitched something fierce during the shoot. The boys didn't sit very still either, with one pesky brat even sticking his face into the lens. (A flat panorama version of scene was included in the 2004 Family of Man 2 selection [1].) |
 Penrith Stadium NRL semi-final
(Sep 2003) Spectators in the eastern stand during the Panthers vs. Broncos, 2003 NRL 4th Qualifying Final. This scene really tested my … (more)
... patience. I had to wait over twenty minutes for the local team to score a try and the crowd jump to its feet, and then I had less than a minute to shoot the entire VR sequence. Prior to that, everyone just sat there with bored/ glum expressions. Capturing the sound also proved tricky, as the oval was swept by howling 90 km/hr westerlies that day. |
| Travel + Landscape |
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 Sydney Opera House - sunset
(Aug 2005) Sunset at the Sydney Opera House, between the Concert Hall and Benelong Restaurant. At this time of day, a part … (more)
... of the (public) deck is roped off to prevent The Great Unwashed from rubbing shoulders with Class Enemies (ie. restaurant patrons). They dropped their drinks and bolted inside though when they saw my camera — must have been the sarcastic grin as I set up…The scene was featured on the international <panoramas.dk> site in October 2005, as Panorama of the Week #41 [1]. |
 Sydney Opera House - night
(Aug 2005) Taken an hour after the SOH sunset shot. The hall and restaurant interiors were lit so prettily because there was … (more)
... a performance later that (Saturday) night. Otherwise, on non-concert evenings only a few emergency-lights are used — making the place look rather grim. |
 Bradley's Head
(Apr 2001) Sunset on the Angophora Walk at Bradley's Head, to the east of Athol Bay and Sydney's Taronga Zoo. The scene … (more)
... depicts what Sydney harbour would have looked like prior to convict settlement in the 18th century, with sandstone boulders and tangled "Angophora Costatas" everywhere right down to the waters edge. The low-frequency rumbling you hear towards the end of the soundtrack is the Manly ferry passing by. |
 Manly ferry + Sydney Opera House
(Oct 1998) At the bow of a Manly ferry as it turns to enter Sydney Cove, with the Harbour bridge on one … (more)
... side and the Sydney Opera House on the other. Another early shot (1998) and difficult to author as the ferry was moving forwards, up and down and rocking from side to side. Doing the sound recording was also a bit of a trial, owing to wildly unpredictable 40-knot winds. The scene was featured on the international <panoramas.dk> site in April 2003, as Panorama of the Week #16 [1]. |
 South Pylon Lookout
(Sep 2004) A view from the northeastern side of the South Pylon Lookout on the Sydney Harbour Bridge [1], the tallest public … (more)
... lookout in Sydney for thirty years (1932-62). The scene was my contribution to the World Wide Panorama — September Equinox 2004 project [2]. I wanted to do something a little unusual, so I dangled the camera over the railing, 60m above bridge deck. Lotsa anxiety shooting the thing, even more retouching the panorama to remove myself and align the nadir… The bridge was built from Dec 1926 to Sep 1931, and opened on March 19th 1932. It is 1149m long and carries approximately 160 000 cars a day; the steel arch is 134m tall and spans 503m. It was designed by Dr John Job Crew Bradfield (1867-1943), and the design was specifically chosen because it looked "strong and dramatic". The design was also inspired by the NYC Hell Gate Bridge. |
 Sydney skyline
(Apr 1998) A view above Sydney at sunset, taken from the observation deck of the Centrepoint tower. Despite being an old shot … (more)
... (1998!), it remains one of only a few high-resolution panoramas taken of Sydney from such high vantage point. In 2004 the scene was re-authored in high-resolution format for the NRW Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft Architecture museum in Duesseldorf, Germany [1]. Click here [2] for a cool photo of the periscopes they used to display it! Tech note: At the time I was still using rectilinear lenses, so this is a limited FOVy cylindrical panorama. Also, the NRW periscope photo is provided courtesy of Joop Greypink [3]. |
| Museums + Galleries |
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 AWM - Anzac Hall
(Jun 2001) The newly opened Anzac Gallery, photographed for the Australian War Memorial online tour [1]. On display are a Huey helicopter, … (more)
... Centurion tank and ME-163 "komet" rocket powered fighter. N.B. this particular exhibit has since been replaced by the "G-For-George" bomber display (see below). Tech note: back in 2001 it would have been impossible to capture such a dark scene with any (reasonably priced) DSLR. It was so dark it required two minute exposures for each shot (14 minutes total). Camera chips at the time couldn't cope with this sort of thing, delivering results so awash in black-frame noise and blown highlights that they would have been useless. |
 AWM - G-for-George
(Feb 2004) Thirty months after Anzac Gallery shoot (see above), I was invited back to photograph the new Striking by night exhibit, … (more)
... featuring the famous "G-for-George" WW2 Lancaster bomber. It took volunteers and museum staff over four years to restore the plane to its WW2 condition. Because it was too large to fit through the doors in one piece, it had to be disassembled and then painstakingly rebuilt when inside the gallery. Tech Note: It was amazingly dark when I first photographed this part of the museum in July 2001 [1]. Thankfully the museum increased its lighting to more reasonable levels (exposures were ten seconds vs. 180 seconds in '01!). |
 Batavia sailing ship
(Dec 1999) In December 1999 I was commissioned by the Bataviawerf Museum at Lelystad Netherlands [1], to shoot a few VRs of … (more)
... the Batavia replica sailing ship, then visiting Sydney. The vessel was moored at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour [2], alongside the 1950s era destroyer "HMAS Vampire", and remained for a year as part of Phillips participation in the Sydney 2000 Olympic games. Audio commentary was provided by one of the Museum guides — we had to struggle a fair bit to get a clean sound over the gusting wind and endless jack-hammering in the Sydney CBD. |
 HMAS Onslow submarine
(May 2002) The control room of one of the prize exhibits of the Australian National Maritime Museum [1]: "HMAS Onslow", a 1960s … (more)
... era Oberon Class diesel submarine. Due to miscommunication and strict union rules about exhibit closing times, I had only 18 minutes to enter the sub; drag my equipment through half its length; set-up; record the sound; take the shots; pack-up; drag my equipment back through the remaining half and leave. One of the museum guides was actually switching off lights as I took each shot! BTW it may be of interest to compare my version of the Control Room with a that taken by a competitor, for the Australian Navy's "Virtual Fleet" project [2]. |
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An interior cubic VR plus a unique exterior fly-around of
the Holden Captiva 4WD/AWD, photographed in Melbourne in May 2006.