Month: September 2012

Auckland Trams

In 1902 Auckland got its first electric trams, and again closed down operation in 1956. With the Rugby World Cup last year, Wynyard quarter again brought the W2 Tram back into operation, albeit on a tourist 1.5km route one can also cover on foot.

It was nice to see them put back on the road in Auckland, and I believe they have plans to lengthen the track – possibly making them of more use to locals as well as visitors in the future.

Taken on the Sony Nex 5N with the pancake 16mm lens, I just did a little cropping and a slight contrast push in Gimp before posting.

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The Five Sages

As mentioned yesterday, I visited the Auckland Art Gallery. It has undergone a massive renovation and expansion, and is in itself a work of art.

I chose today’s image ‘The Five Sages’, as I really liked it above other more modern works. Made by Ashley Bickerton (USA) in 1998.

Nothing but a straight photo of art today, so I didn’t even imprint it with my web signature.

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Spring in the Garden

image

A mobile press on the run today as I am out and about on birthday surprises. Before leaving home I noticed a few of the tulip bulbs I planted in winter have finally come up, and more are following.
I went to the Auckland Art Gallery this afternoon and took some shots on the nex I will likley share tomorrow.
Thatd all for today as a 2″ keypad is not my best idea of fun to type on.

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The Street

As discussed yesterday, I managed to finish and develop the film in my Ricoh Singlex TLS last night. I had recently given it a clean up, so was keen to see if all was still functioning well. The slow speeds are still not quite right and will require me to give it a CLA at some stage, but as I cant use them hand-held anyway, its functioning well. A well used and rarer ‘black model’, introduced in 1967, my unit has some well worn paint and brassing. Compared to later model fully manual film SLR’s the TLS is a heavy beast at a bit over 700 grams.

Today’s image ‘The Street’ was taken last weekend when I was testing out the fisheye lens on my mobile phone camera. I got a series of different town shots in my short time there, this one being shot whilst I was quickly walking to my ride home.

Aside from scanning the negative and resizing in Gimp, I made no alterations. Shot on Lucky SHD100asa film, developed with Ilford ID-11 at a 1:3 ratio.

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The Field of Onion Weed

A quick stroll on the way home across the ‘river’ (not sure if it is natural or not) by the Lake House Art Centre I went to a while ago took me along a field near the motorway, and covered in onion weed. I had tried to get there on my last visit, but it was so boggy (as in more than what I often tackle) I had to wait for a drier day.

It was still too wet to sit down, but the onion weed field really brought a nice sense of spring to the otherwise cloudy and windy afternoon. Getting down into the grass I snapped off a few shots on the Sony, and chose the above for today’s shot.

In Gimp, I played a little with levels, contrast and cloned out a tall building from nearby Takapuna.

I also managed to finish the film in my Ricoh TLS SLR camera and develop it tonight. A quick look before going into the drying cupboard suggest I should have a nice shot or two I can share, so watch this space!

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Hiding from the Sun

‘Hiding from the Sun’ came from one of my bush walks over the last month – I think Smiths Bush. I always love how the light filters through the canopy and down to the floor of the forest. Often one does not even realise how dark it is in the bush until you hit a pocket where the sun has broken through to peer inside.

Shot on the Ricoh, I resized for the net, but otherwise it is untouched.

Looking ahead to my Fiji trip in a little over a week, I am toying with the idea of taking a cheap and nasty (/fun) film camera along with my Ricoh. I will likely shoot in digital most the time, and rather then my Rollei 35, I’ll use something for a bit more of the lomography experience. We will see…I’ll look through what I have, and what I am waiting for in the post (have ordered a plamodel kitset camera for some fun) and make a decision closer to the time.

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MacGyver

When I was young I remember being a massive fan of the TV series MacGyver. An action adventure mega star, Macgyver hated guns, carried a pocket knife, and could get out of almost any situation with a pocketful of junk and some household items. Danger followed him wherever he went, and he always won the day.

I remember getting my first Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, a ‘Tinker’. I would make various things out of foam, cut bits and pieces, and unscrew all my toys. It was great fun. I think amongst a very hands on creative family, Macgyver was also somewhat of an influence as I grew up, always tinkering and fixing things. It great to be able to fix something on the go, with a limited set of tools.

Missing the sun after work, and pulling my pocket knife out of my bag, looking for an image, I reflected on my practical side and composed today image.I really need to get some better portable lighting at home some time – I had to hold the knife and book up to the room light in one hand and take with the other. In post processing, I used Gimp to add a vignette and push up the saturation.

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Dove

Last Friday I visited the Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens with work. About 40min north of Auckland in the Car, the gardens are a nice little stroll and visit for people into various forms of sculptural art work. Like photography, there are genres that one likes and dislikes. Some sculpture and art goes right over my head, and other pieces draw me in. For me, it was about a 50/50 around the walk. As well as sculpture, the gardens are well maintained, and this time of the year covered on wonderful blossoming fruit trees.

‘Dove’ is one of the art works I liked. Created by Jin Ling , the female form holding a dove is all about Ling’s desire and hope for a peaceful existence.

Taken on the Fuji J15fd, I cropped, pushed up sharpening and lowered contrast – all in Gimp.

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Planet Food

We were stopping through the CBD today, so I took the opportunity to test out my Ricoh TLS after giving it a bit of a clean up. I also brought along my mobile and the fisheye lens as I wanted to capture something else to document for the day.

Being in town there is always a wide range of images, especially with the likes of a fisheye. The first logical choice is to capture the tall skyscrapers towering over oneself and give the distorted image of them closing in on the viewer. Where I strolled through was quite contrasty, and the samsung struggled with the dynamic range to capture the details on the street as well as up in the sky.  I strolled by a lunch bar where the staff were getting in an early morning meal before opening and composed today’s image ‘Planet Food’ . About a foot out from the window, I like how the reflections outside are captured in the fisheye as we peer into the bowl/planet like image.

In post processing, I converted the image to black and white and increased sharpness a little in Gimp.

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Fish-eye’s Bug

I mentioned perhaps a week ago that I had taken delivery of a wide angle and a fisheye lens for mobile phones. I have been waiting for the opportunity to give the fisheye a go as I love the distorted reality they offer – as well as the potentially useful capacity to record ~180 degree vision in one shot.

Armed with my Galaxy sII, and a busy day of chores and shopping, I kept the lens in pocket (and you cant say that about many lenses, especially in jeans pockets! I spotted a nice old VW Beetle in the carpark. That alone made me want to take a snap (I’m quite the fan of nice 70’s and older cars). Standing out with all its curves, the fisheye gave it even more of a sense of warpage.

Really this is more of a fun snap testing a lens than a serious image – but for many/most of us, that’s part of photography. I must say I was impressed with the lens (it cost next to nothing) and accessories like it really do open the door of possibility even more for mobile/smart-phone photography. Whilst I still rather have a dedicated unit, I have many friends and colleagues who only use their mobile cameras now – and why not. The equipment does help the image, but its the user and their creativity behind the lens that makes something amazing or not.

I cant recall if I have linked to it before, but for those interested, check out the Mobile Photo Group for some photographers who have really picked up and gone with this as their primary tool.

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