Yuri Acurs SteadyPod...

Yuri Acurs is often cited as the world's most successful micro stock photographer and is an avid supporter of the idea that you camera should be supported as much as possible whatever the circumstance. Hence his use of a monopod for almost all of his work.

In the above video he will give a very 'honest' opinion of what he uses and why. All the complaints you will hear above have been recently solved with his partnership with Custom Brackets to produce the ultimate studio and on-location camera monopod setup.

Its called the 'Yuri Acurs SteadyPod' and its a fusion of a very popular manfrotto monopod, suitably modified to fix its common faults and the Custom Brackets tilt head and bracket that can be rotated from landscape to portrait format with the flick of a wrist.

Well the club has managed to get its hands on one of these 'custom' monopods and I have to say that its a pleasure to use. The mix between the ability to adjust the height of the monopod itself with one hand and then the orientation of the camera with the other, is quick and effortless and allows you to keep focussed on your subject.

Another worthy addition to our equipment cupboard.

Whatever you want 2012...

We kicked off the year with our 'classic' whatever you want theme, this year however we have a slightly different set of rules that now allow the members to use an image from any year they want.

32 images were presented and a good turnout ensured that there was lots of lively discussion and critiques going on.

Above is my personal favourite, which is from Celia, and is a wonderful image taken in India, whose strong composition and subject interest kept me glued to the image looking for more and more clues as to the story behind it.

The next theme was drawn randomly at the end of the presentation from the 17 themes proposed by the members and is... Clouds.  Its the first time in my life that I hope that the weather gets worse ;-).

Exhibition poll results...

It was nice to see that there was a fair spread of voting with 73 voters choosing their favourite image from this years exhibition. Given by the fact that 73 people actually took the time to express an opinion is a clear indicator that the exhibition was well appreciated by the ESAC staff.

So without further a do, here are the results:

1st:   Neil - 12 votes (16.44%)
2nd:  Benjamin - 9 votes (12.33%)
3rd:  Ruben & Helen - 7 votes each (9.59%)

A big thank you to everyone that voted and to all the club members that have helped and contributed to this event.

See you all again next year !

Chris Burkard...

Chris Burkard - Photographer from LONELYLEAP on Vimeo.

You probably guessed over the years that I have a bit of a weakness for surf photography... well its damn cold outside and here's something to warm you up a bit (your soul that is).

You may recognise Chris Burkard as the winner of the Red Bull Illume Quest competition in 2010 (check out our blog entry), now 25, Chris started his professional career only 6 years ago, he's a staff photographer for Surfer, and as you've seen above he wins awards, and he also released a book not too long ago as well (The California Book Project), not too shabby eh !

Anyway, there's an interview over on FStoppers that's an interesting read and just spending sometime on his web page and blog will bring back those lost summer memories.

Scott Soens...

Scott Soens is a surf/lifestyle photographer with a strong character and a wonderful outlook on life. Having assisted various professional photographers, including Bruce Webber, he set out on his own and has along the way added cinematography to his skills set.

From the video above I see that he is very driven, although maintaining a level of authenticity which is quite rare these days in a world where a big ego normally win hands down.

Take sometime to go through the images on his website and the wonderful video above does give a good look into the world of Scott Soens, it may also leave you feeling a bit envious of his lifestyle (don't say I didn't warn you)  ;-)

What was your favourite Exhibition Image...