September 2013 – Page 2 – MikeHawkey.com

Cycling home from work, the same way I typically drive each day, I came across a small paddock of sheep. What surprised me was it is in the middle of suburbia (and land value is at record levels), but also that I’ve never seen it. It really shows how the world can fly by you as you drive here and there, only catching a glimpse of what’s around. On the bicycle, I have more time to take it in.
Today’s image shot on the iPod touch, I used an app photo toaster to adjust colour,crop and add a texture layer. It’s a fun and competent small photo app!

With a half marathon coming up soon I decided it was time to get back moving in prep and took the bicycle out to work.
What I always find interesting in Auckland is the small time difference bike vs car is on local rush hour commutes. Sure it takes a little longer, but not to the degree that I need to leave earlier at all.
On top of that,I’m getting some much needed exercise in.

As a side note, I’ve started using an iPod touch for my ‘mobile shots’. With my galaxy s2 going to the other half, I’ve stepped back from the smartphone world (must be two or more months now), but like a small device for apps and photos still. So far I’m finding it great.

Glide time – Just the norm for some.

When we moved into our house earlier in the year, the second driveway had a middle bit covered in pebbles. I had a suspicion of its use when originally laid, probably sometime in the 1970’s.

Side tracked, I decided today to see how deep the pebbles went. Turns out they were only a few inches at best, and under that larger stones and rubble.

Reminiscent of a child digging a hole for the heck of it, I spent the rest of the day excavating this long buried construction.

For those who don’t have a clue what it may be, its a car pit. Being one who had grown up working on cars, I was stoked to find it.

Now I just need to find something to do with all the rocks, and construct a lid (its about 5 foot deep)!

I love how photos bring back memories. They don’t have to be good photos – just simple images that spark that memory buried deep inside the mind. Todays shot was taken years ago at one of NZ’s biggest music days of the year ‘Big Day Out’. I cant rightly remember the year, but it was some years ago. I was equipped with a cheap plastic point and shoot throwaway camera. My friends, central in the image were walking in a line towards the stage as I held back, lifted the plastic camera to my eye, and ‘click’.

Of course now mobile phones have taken the place of the throwaway cameras in most (but not all) circumstances. They will generally give a better finish than todays shot also – but as I opened, thats not the important part. Its the memory it holds when sorting through old photos.

The other thing it reminds me of is how film makes you wait for the shot. IN that disposable I had 36 shots at best. More likely 27. 27 photos to sum up a whole day at a music concert. I’ve done it since with film, but know digital has both a huge advantage in this respect, and equally has made us a little more lazy. If your not 100% about the shot, you just shoot it again. Likely you ‘chimp’ as soon as shot to make sure. But then again, thats the technology available to us now, so why not!

Shot on a throwaway, scanned film, colour slightly corrected in Gimp.