Nikon D2H Giveaway!

I will be GIVING AWAY a working Nikon D2H camera very soon. There will be a few simple conditions like following me and retweeting on Twitter as well as linking to my website but I will send it anywhere in the world without fail. The camera has served my very well but I have changed over to Canon and this body is just sitting alone in a cupboard and it is itching to get out and shoot! Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Cammo and click this link to retweet and get your first entry.

Update: After you get your first entry head to this post to see pics of the camera and this post to get more chances to win!

Update II: Congratulations to Gonzalo Villegas from La Paz, Bolivia who won the camera, it is now on the long haul to South America!

Note: The giveaway is a body only, no lens - the pic below is not of the actual camera.

Cowboys score an easy home win (and I score a back page)

The Cowboys cruised to an easy 42-14 win over the Wests Tigers in their first home game for season '09. Getting into the swing of a new season was pretty tricky - had a crappy night and only filed about 25 decent pics although in brighter news I debuted the 'custom photographers bench' which left other snappers and Fox Sports guys open mouthed in amazement! :-) (link)

A new contraption makes its debut at Dairy Farmers

A bevy of power-tools and a dozen beers with my mate Ian Hitchcock (pictured) from Getty Images and we knocked up this state-of-the-art photographers table. Laptops protected, power available, plenty of comfort - and all we have to do now is sell advertising space on the front (although I think the NRL might complain!)

You can see some of my photos at this link and Ian's photos at this link

How long should a battery last???

Mum & Dad were sorting through old cards recently when they stumbled on this old "Bon Voyage" card from 1991. Can you believe it, more than 17 years old and still playing its little tune!

A watch phone you could really wear!

Hyundai has developed a watch phone you could really wear, it looks pretty damn cool - what wouldn't be cool is walking around with your left arm up to your ear. Anyway - cool concept but I think I'll stick with my iPhone for now! Check out the video below

I'm a bipartisan snapper!

I had to do some fresh pics of Thuringowa MP Craig Wallace last week and just as I thought, he pulled me up on the embarrassing pic I had of him in Brisbane's MX newspaper last week (I blogged about it here). He was a good sport and saw the funny side of it so to give him even space on my 'bipartisan' blog here is a pic of him with his shirt on!

Robbie Fowler lands in Townsville

Most thought this day would never come. Former England international and Liverpool star Robbie Fowler signing with debut A-League team North Queensland Fury FC? Well it happened and today he jetted into town for a two year stint with the fledgling club. About 150 supporters welcomed Fowler at the airport before he spared time for local, national and international media at a press function. I was there and shot video of the conference and pics which have been distributed internationally.

Robbie Fowler Press Conference from Cameron Laird - Photographer on Vimeo.

Photo: Cameron Laird - Copyright 2009

Some of my clippings eventually online!

I have been doing a bit of a springclean of my cupboards and have started scanning and archiving newspaper and magazine clippings. My dream is that every time a paper or mag ran a pic that they would automatically send a pdf of the page to me.... Wishful thinking! Anyway, newspapers are at this link and magazines are at this link. I only have probably one in twenty things that have ever been used but I guess i have to start somewhere!

Amazing House!

Did a few pics last week of an amazing house built by engineer Dick Cerny in Townsville. The Courier-Mail's Melissa Ketchell blogged about it here (link) and I have put a few pics below to show you all.

Wedding photography, I'm back!

Well, not really as I am pretty picky nowadays. See the below questionnare to see if you would qualify.

a. Is your wedding in the NQ area between 01 November and 31 May?
b. Do you object to me wearing short sleeves?
c. Do you want a big flashy super-expensive album filled with overpriced prints to stick in a drawer?
d. Would you object to just getting the well prepared high-resolution files on disc?
e. Do you want to spend your whole wedding reception being photographed rather than relaxing?

If you answered yes to any of these then I'm afraid that I am probably not your man [I could make exceptions for a. providing your whole wedding takes place in a climate controlled dome set at 23C and about 34% humidity :-)]

Want to see a few samples from a couple of recent wedding? Click here

The wedding of Carl Webb and Renee Masterson - 10 October 2008

R U a Coldplay fan?

Quite a nice interview with Chris Martin on Australia's 60 Minutes last Sunday night. In 2 parts below for your viewing pleasure :-)

'Drive' - 275km in 2.5 minutes

I bought myself a Canon G10 last week for an upcoming long-term commercial timelapse job. Thought I would give it a quick battery test while driving the between Townsville and Airlie Beach on Saturday to cover Cyclone Hamish. The video contains 2268 frames which only used about 2/5 of the battery in the camera. Great news!
Soundtrack is Nocturn (Even Numbers Remix) by 2Inventions
Click here to watch in 1280x720P high definition


Drive from Cameron Laird - Photographer on Vimeo.

Handyman with a soldering iron!

Had a bit of a brainwave today and realised I could adapt my cheapo chinese intervalometer (which is AWESOME!) to work with both my 1DMKIII's and my new G10. I cut the 3 pin N3 type plug (for EOS1DMKIII) off and soldered on a 2.5mm stereo plug wiring it as pictured below.

I then added a 2.5mm female stereo socket to the left over bit of cable with the 3 pin N3 plug wiring it so that it matched up with the wiring as above. Both work perfect!

I just love chalk street art like this!

You'll need to get up earlier to beat me Craig!

Ok, I feel a bit bad about this but then again, what's a news shooter to do when a couple of pollies get changed by the roadside - this image from Brisbane's MX afternoon paper. [click image for fullsize version]

Fantastic Lego recreations of famous photographs

Just stumbled upon a set of truly fantastic photos by UK snapper Mike Stimpson. You can find the full set at this link but make sure you also check out the photo notes for info on how Mike shot the pics. Enjoy!

Below is the original Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Behind the Gare Saint Lazare" as well as the lego recreation and the studio setup.

What I love about Australia

Just saw this gallery on News.com.au and it reminded me of all the cool things that are great about Australia! :-) - http://www.news.com.au/travel/gallery/0,23607,5037578-5007153,00.html

Focussed on fauna

Focussed on fauna - CL, originally uploaded by iPhone Snapper.

Another 'Photo of the Day' with the Apple iPhone 3G.

Steamy day out with Anna

It was about 50 degrees inside this engineering complex yesterday when we toured with Qld premier Anna Bligh, she kept her cool though while cameramen and snappers sweated like ....
[click here for fullsize clipping]

15 of the World’s Most Fabulous and Funky Furniture Sets

Who says furniture has to be strictly utilitarian? Some furniture designers think outside the box, creating innovative, funky and sometimes strange sets that are just as eye-catching as they are functional. From tables with hidden compartments to compact dining sets that unfold like the petals of a flower, here are 15 incredibly creative sets of furniture.

(Via WebUrbanist.)