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The Rooster of Old Albany

January 18, 2013

Up to old Albany Village for dinner this evening I caught this snap of one of the local art works.

Now down the road from the Albany Mega Mall, the old village used to be locally famous for having a mass of roosters living and walking the zone. Sadly now days none can be found. You will find ducks and a cat colony… The roosters were culled and relocated around a decade ago.

My other memory of the village, back when it was rural and the tip of the North Shore was picking for pears in the local park. Open to the public, I assume it was once an orchard.

We walked this area after dinner and I was happy to find many of the pear trees were still there and in fruit…desert!

Image wise, shot on the galaxy, edited in afterfocus.
Flowers in my Garden

January 17, 2013

It wasn’t that long ago in life that I had zero interest in gardening. My family had always had large gardens full of fruit, veg, and flowers. I’m sure as a small child I would have helped here and there, and do recall planting the odd tree, but I guess once ‘teenagedom’ hit, the appeal of gardens also wained somewhat. Now, years later, I am by no means any form of botanist, but do strangely enjoy the odd potter in the garden.

Our current residence was fairly bare when we shifted in, and determined to do something with it I built a range of planters and boxes for mostly vegetables, but also some small fruit trees and flowers. This summer has been pretty nice to date (excluding today’s intermittent dark clouds and strong winds), and the whole garden has taken off amazingly.

Coming home from work, the light was quite nice to get the full colour of the flowers in our back garden, so I put on the Sigma 30mm onto the Nex and took a few shots, the above being today’s pick.

In post processing I adjusted the levels a little, slightly pushed the sharpness and cropped.

As we approach the weekend, it looks like I will be off to see a group playing music somewhere. All going well I’ll take along my camera and see if I can capture any band shots. Still Friday to go yet!
Keep Clear

January 16, 2013

A quick mid week post.

Keep Clear. Shot on a recent town stroll with my Ricoh GRD IV in hand. Post processing involved adding a heavy vignette, converting to B&W, adding contrast and a slight colour tint.

More words and another image tomorrow!
Tree on the Horizon

January 15, 2013

Tree on the Horizon was captured at an old residential estate in my local area that has since been pulled down, and is currently overgrown park area. Drains that were covered in sheets of ply have disappeared under the thick bed of grass that has covered the area. Many of the paths/drives have also broken up and are in the process of returning to nature. I always find the thought of nature taking things back fascinating, so a wander through this empty (of buildings) area is fun when doing so.

Captured on the Nex 5N with a legacy lens on (I’m pretty sure it was my Industar 61). In post processing with Gimp, I adjusted levels, desaturated and added a faint tint. I find that the slight sepia (or similar shade) tint helps add ‘a little something’ to B&W images
Stairs to Freedom

January 14, 2013

In today’s post, Stairs to Freedom, I wanted to create that visual experience we all get when adjusting to different light sources. Be it turning on/off a light in the middle of the night, or coming out of a dark tunnel into bright daylight as in this image. The eyes take a moment to adjust to the differing light. Until then things are not quite clear.

Today’s image was shot in one of the old tunnels used for WWII. Coming from the other side, ones eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, only to turn a corner and be greeted by a staircase with bright light shining down.

Shot on the Sony Nex with a old legacy Industar 61 lens, using Gimp I converted to B&W, added a light vignette and adjusted the levels.