My wife and I used to like taking jumping shots wherever we go but since the birth of our little Thien-San we've been too exhausted to even think about it. Until today when we went for a trip in the country side of Canberra. We went to the observatory in Mount Stromlo, we started to take few shots in the derelict buildings around and Minh-Sa did some jumps with Hien, the cousin. Then I got in as well, our son seeing us jumping like mad started to giggle so I had the idea to include him in the photographs too, why should he be left aside?

I went to see my cousin Tony (Everlasting Portraits) in Canberra and stayed with some other members of the family for a week. We went for a relaxing afternoon visiting the Floriade, a flower festival.

Since my little boy's birth back in August '11, I've nearly disappeared from the photography world. Being a parent is tougher than one can think, you don't realise it until you are actually experiencing it, but what a joy!

As mentioned in my previous post, I've, in the meantime, move to Australia, taking my little family to the sunshine and closer to the family (New Caledonia). A bit before the move I've restarted shooting again with Andy & Jane's family and then in Sydney with Tahnee a model from ModelMayhem and for Golfers in IT.

Hopefully, I will be posting more shots and blog about my Aussie's experience.

After 16 years in Europe (10 years in Montpellier, France and 6 years in London, UK), I'm heading back to the Pacific Ocean that I left in 1996 from New Caledonia.

Montpellier was my student life, one of the most unforgettable time of your life, where you build strong friendships. Montpellier is also where I acquired all my IT skills.

London was my love life and career booster. I started with a job in Lidl store and I am now working as a CMS Developer for the Financial Times. I wouldn't have jumped that high would I have stayed in London. But the price to pay for was leaving a bunch of great friends and 300 days of sunshine a year behind.

Now I'm going to do it again. Leave a lot behind me and head towards new lands, but nearer to my starting point. I've spent such a great time and met such wonderful people here that it will be difficult, I don't realise it yet but I know it is. I will miss a lot but this move is the right decision for my family:

• better weather, more outdoors activity
• better education for the little one
• closer to my parents and the rest of the family. Also a bit closer for my wife to go back to Vietnam.
• back with some other friends

So on the 16th of July 2012, I will be heading down south to Kangarooland, in Casula, NSW not too far from Sydney.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with some Sydney Strobists and Ukulele players! So if you know something cool happening near Casula, NSW, please let me know!

Most of you that are interested in Landscape and Travel Photography should already know David Noton. If you do not, I urge you to have a look at his amazing portfolio on David Noton Photography.

I just been told that David Noton is holding a workshop in London, here are the details:

"Imagework presents David Noton ‘The Final Touch: A Commitment to Quality’.

15th March 2012 at Westbourne Studios London 10.00 – 17.00   £95.00

Following on from Philip Bloom's sell out workshop we present David Noton who many of you will know from his amazing travel images.  This is not the usual day out on location but the opportunity to discover how David has become successful by following his business practice as well as his photographic skills.

David Noton is an award winning landscape and travel photographer with over 24 years experience as a professional under his belt.  During his photographic career David has travelled to just about every corner of the Globe, with the exception of Antarctica - which apparently is on the list.

David's day long presentation will be aimed at advanced photographers.  Areas covered will be field craft, attitude, working practice, editing, workflow, presentation and originality interspersed with demonstrations on capture to finish, travelling with camera kit, tilt and shift lens, use of filters and panoramic shots and stitching.  Today it's quality not quantity and anyone aware of David's images will appreciate he follows this methodology.

'I seem to spend my life waiting for the right light and I’m a weather forecast addict.  But in 1981 I was working in a glue factory, so I guess it’s going pretty well.’

For further details and booking information please go to http://imagework.tv/ "

Last weekend was my third speedlight workshop with the LPMG and as the other times, it was very enjoyable. It's great to see how people are excited to learn and play with their flashguns. After explaining the theory, I invited the crowd to take their gears and practice the techniques in small groups of up to 4. Thanks to the LPMG helpers, every one receive some supports while they are shooting.

I've just received a notification email from Matt M. from NixonMcInnes, they have launched this interesting project for O2:

"It lends itself very well to mobile phone photography. We’ve commissioned narrative engineer Alexis Kennedy, of Failbetter Games, to write two stories, inspired by photos taken by the public. One story is a journey in sunlight, a happy tale of a far off land, while the other is a dark and hard-boiled thriller, set in shadows. Each tale begins with a single picture and from there, it’s up to the audience how the stories twist and turn over the next eleven chapters."

Tonight, the full moon is coinciding with the fact that the Moon is at its closest distance to Earth, it's the Supermoon. The moon is 14% bigger and 30% brighter. Yesterday a friend of mine said it would be difficult to observe this as London was covered by "more clouds than cloud computing" :-D But we are very lucky because, today, we had a lovely bright and warm sunny day, and the the stayed clear until now (midnight). My wife and I had a walk outside and I tried to grab a shot of the Moon with a 105mm, well with a lens like this, you can't expect a big shot.

I have been giving talks around off-camera flash with speedlights techniques at the LPMG (London Photographic Meetup Group) for some times already. Off-camera lighting is a subject that interest quite a few photographers because although simple, you need to understand the basics and learn the tricks in order to make these portable flash unit your photography best friends. Some of the talks were accompanied by mini workshops where people could put into practice what was discussed. But this year, with the LPMG's organisers, we have decided to launch a series of Speedlight Workshops on their own. This is a great opportunity to get affordable tuitions on this fantastic and magical subject.

For a start we will have basics workshop to get you understand and master the essentials of off-camera flash and properties of light. There will be no secret held back!

The first workshop will be on Saturday 26th of February 2011. It will be done in two sessions (each session will have the same content, this is just to offer flexibility to the membership):

• The 10:00am session
• The 12:35am session

I'm looking forward to see you there, be quick as it is filling up quite fast!

After a year thinking about it, I've finally launched my first ever photo exhibition. I've decided to get out of my comfort zone and not taking posed portraitures with artificial lights but try to capture people in the streets of London. The purpose is not to get a technically perfect image but try to catch a moment or feeling adding some unusual compositions and use technical imperfection to increase the interest in the resulting work.

The exhibition has started yesterday and will continue until the the 4th of March 10pm. I will be present at the venue on Feb 11th, Feb 25th and March 4th from 6.00pm.
Any comments/critics are welcome!