View From Above

Ive been meaning to try out the android web posting on wordpress for some time now, so decided to share a mobile snap I caught a few weeks ago during work. Taken from the 27th floor from one of the buildings on Aucklands waterfront, it was a beautuful sunny day. Unfortunately being there early morning the glare from the sun didnt allow an angle where my reflection could not be seen, but not to worry. Everything was so small looking down upon the city. Perspective changes everything!
Taken on ghe samsung galaxy II.

July 11, 2012 0

Lion Rock

After taking work home, I only had time for an archive hunt again today, ‘Lion Rock’. Located at Piha, which is a west coast surf beach about 40km from Auckland’s central city area. Although this shot is of the back of the ‘lion’ and erosion has taken its toll, from the side one with imagination can make out a lion sitting and watching over the ocean. As a child I recall being scared to death as dad egged me on to climb to the top. Its since been fenced off halfway up and people can no longer go to the top, so I’m glad he made me back in the day. I recall the cold morning I got up and left to get this shot at about 5am on my day off. Looking to get it at sunrise, I was happy to also have the moody clouds in the background. Shot on my Sony A230 with a 20mm focal length, I later converted to B&W in photoshop and brought the contrast out a bit in the clouds.

July 10, 2012 0

The Shortest River

One from the archives today, we have ‘The Shortest River’. Located in Gisborne, on the East Coast of the North Island in New Zealand, the Turanganui river is said to be the shortest river in the Southern Hemisphere. At a puny 900m (.56 miles) long, it cant be far off. My photo must account for almost 1/3 of the river! Length aside, this area of New Zealand is also famous for being the first landing spot of Captain Cook – the first European/British explorer to circumnavigate New Zealand.

Captured on the little Fuji j15, I cropped, pushed saturation and added a cross processed filter all in Gimp. The saturated colors reflect my memory of Gisborne when I visited during the summer time about a year and a half ago.

July 9, 2012 0

Looking up the Pine Tree

After helping some friends moving house furniture today we went for a quick stroll down at their local coastal bush area – Hilders Park. Although a very small walk in itself, it has some beautiful views out across the top of the Waitemata Harbour, great for a small picnic stop in summer I would say. Walking back up to the car I took this shot looking up the steep path to a pine tree. Although not captured amazingly, I love how the light diffuses in the leaves of trees, and the glow they appear to emit as it tries to shine through.

July 8, 2012 0

Bridge by Night

Last night whilst waiting to meet friends for dinner, I took a stroll down by the waterfront in town. After last weeks long exposure success with the Ricoh, I wanted to give it another go. Auckland Harbour Bridge was built in the 1950’s and opened in 1959. By 1969 it was deemed to small already (someones bad forward planning) and we had to add two extra lanes on each side of the bridge – the “Nippon Clipons” – named due to Japan getting the contract to make them. In the 1990’s we added a center barrier, due to a high number of fatal head on collisions. Unsurprisingly, since the clipons were added, traffic flow has grown immensely. As with many bridges around the world, its an ongoing piece of maintenance to keep in critical day to day use for 170.000+ motorists each day.

Captured on the GRD IV, with an exposure of 60 seconds at 100asa / f7. Aspect cropped a little in post using Gimp, and contrast bumped up one notch.

July 7, 2012 0

The Old Boat

Wandering down at the beach with the tide out I came across a dinghy that had seen better days. I imagine its been anchored up and abandoned at some stage. The hull was full of water, so i’ll have to check to see if it even floats when the tide is in next time I visit.

Taken with the Ricoh, I got reasonably close up so the viewer can see the wear on the old vessel, but also so we can see its anchor line exiting into the sand/mud. Just a image that creates a quiet, end of day (end of boats life) feeling on a Friday afternoon.

July 6, 2012 0

People of the Tower

Another image from the archives. I took this when on my visit to Singapore. One of the temples, the roof with this amazing detailing could be seen from streets away. Originally in color 35mm, I did some post sharpening and switched it over to B&W. Taken on the Minolta Dynax 700si.

Thats all for today!

July 5, 2012 0

Dark Skeletrees

Shooting in B&W again today I came across a bunch of trees that had lost all their leaves for the winter season. Adjusting the exposure for the clouds/sky behind we see the ‘skeletons’ of the trees. For some reason it reminded me of going camping when little and seeing shadows from inside the tent. As a child one would imagine they were long arms and fingers of evil creatures lurking outside. Just as well there was a tent and sleeping bag to protect!

Todays image was taken on the Sony Nex 5N with the Sony 2.8/16mm prime. I was also playing around with an industar 69, but discovered it is not infinity focusing on the Nex, so I will need to take it apart and modify for it to work with the digital era cameras.

July 4, 2012 2

Sundown at the Marina

Today was mostly made up of being ill in bed and torrential rain that flooded the region. However, at the end of the day the rain subsided and I felt the need to get out for some fresh air (cold air really). Armed with the Nex 5N and Industar 61 lens I took a walk around the Bayswater Marina. The Clouds were particularly dramatic this evening with the sun setting and shining out about them. I wanted to catch their natural colors (from the Russian lens’ perspective) and set the exposure to the clouds, allowing the foreground to silhouette. A gull decided to head off towards the sun also, so I captured it in the center of the frame. A beautiful end to a not so beautiful day.

July 3, 2012 0

The Green Lagoon

So its really more a pond then a lagoon, I think. Ive been battling a bit of a cold these last few days, today being the worst of it so far. I spent all the day inside, and when I was feeling up ‘enough’ to go for a stroll with the camera it started raining and getting dark. Ive been sitting on a bunch of negatives from many years gone by and took the opportunity to start converting them to digital.

Todays image was captured in a small bush walk in Singapore several years ago. What stunned me when scanning it was how green everything is! Coming from New Zealand I’m used to ‘green’, but the combination of the film used and how it was developed really gave this place a lush look that had slipped from my memory. As with some of my Hong Kong images I have posted, this was taken on my old Minolta 7si 35mm slr.

July 2, 2012 0