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  • The Chain Fence

    Fence

    It must have almost been a week since I picked up my Sony Nex, and many many months since I last used my Industar 61 (generally I would grab the Jupiter-8 for a manual 50).So, I headed out with this combination and my Ricoh GR1 (to finish the film in it) for a several hour stroll around the Devonport and Belmont areas.

    As it has been for a few weeks now, the beaches were packed with people, the sun out and the water cool. I had earlier gone for a swim, so ventured off the beach track and more into the local parks and reserves. Walking out of Devonport, Lake Road, I captured today’s image. Shot just behind the memorial plaques and crosses, a wood post, chain fence runs the entire length. Approaching early evening the shadows were getting longer and I was drawn to the light filtering through the trees as I looked through the viewfinder up the fence passageway.

    In post editing I did a fair amount of mucking around today in Gimp, adjusting contrasts, shadows, saturation and finishing with the rounded edges just after an aspect crop.

    I also managed to finish off the film in the GR1, but don’t know if I will get around to developing it for the next few days or not.

    The days are counting down until I return to work now. I enjoy my job, but am never one who enjoys finishing a holiday!…but enough about that. I still have several days up my sleeve!

  • Welcoming the New Year

    Welcome 2013

    After limited sleep following the midnight welcoming of 2013, today welcomed a hot sunny and beautiful day to Auckland. With many of the shops closed for the public holiday (sadly not all for the retail and essentials workers) masses went to the beaches for a near perfect midday high tide.

    Being New Zealand’s largest city, the Christmas/New Year period is always a little interesting in Auckland. People often leave town to go on their summer vacation. As a result the roads are generally a little quieter, and for those of us who stay (in reality the vast majority I’m sure), as long as you are not shopping in things like the boxing day rush, it feels like the city has itself taken a break.

    I mentioned resolutions  in yesterdays posting. No doubt around the world many people are waking up today with new goals and intentions. I cant say I made any specific ones at this stage. I have been suffering from a bad back of recent, so I think one goal will be to sort that out more!

    Photo wise, todays image was shot at North Head on the North Shore, looking towards Bastion Point. Both North Head and Bastion point historically have been used by locals since Auckland (or pre-Auckland) was populated. In early pre-european times, local Maori had Pa (fortified villages) on these sites. Later they were used for WWII operations. In the late 1970’s Bastion Point was part of a land protest (it had been taken from Maori from the crown earlier) and eventually in the 1980’s given back to the local Iwi (local group/tribe). North Head is now looked after by the Department of Conservation, and open for all to explore the old WW tunnels and various tracks and pathways.

    The only post processing for today’s image was putting on the rounded corners after resizing. Image was shot on the Ricoh GRD IV.

    I have also been trying to finish off a few films. One in my Ricoh GR1, and the other in my newly acquired Pentax MG. I must say, the Pentax is a really nice SLR to use. Very light and compact and fits into the hand well. It does loose manual shutter control (although one can adjust ev compensation and film speed to work with this), but all else is manual. When I have finished either I will develop and hopefully have some interesting shots to share.

  • Farewell 2012

    Farewell 2012

    A quick shot in between bits and pieces for the last day of 2012. Heading out for a bike ride, it was a beautiful day to cycle around, and for the beach.

    Today (as anyone reading knows) marks the end of 2012. Typically a time of the year when people make resolutions and changes heading into the new year. For some its a change of jobs, improving those eating habits, cutting out drinking etc etc… I’m not generally one to have strong new year resolutions. Last year it was to not buy any more digital cameras for the whole year. I survived that, but do have more 35mm film cameras (at a fraction of the cost generally). 2013…I’m not sure yet. I guess I have several hours to decide…maybe

    Image shot  at Narrow Neck beach on the Ricoh GRD IV and resized in Gimp.

    To all of you who follow my posts and read the content, I wish you the best of wishes heading into 2013. Happy New Year!

     

  • No Family Portrait Today

    Family Photo

    Catching up with friends today in Devonport for Fish and Chips, it was decided the time was right for a family portrait…well, for all but the youngest member Emily. As soon as everyone lined up and cameras were at the ready, Emily heard the call of the sea-saw and rushed off.

    I captured today’s shot just before she fell out of frame. Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV, in bleach bi-pass mode, I loved the lighting effect and the almost street photography like quality of the image.

    In post processing using Gimp, I kept the focus on Emily and added some blur to different stages of the background. Other than the blur, its as is from the camera.

    One more day left for 2012. Prior to a celebration/welcoming of 2013 with friends, I plan to be out for some of the day on the bicycle. I’m not sure where we will be going as yet, but likely I will find something to shoot!

  • Still Before Sun

    Still before Sun

    Now I am on holiday, sleep has been avoiding me for some reason. Still Before Sun was shot yesterday morning ~5.30am whilst on an early morning stroll down by the water. Prior to the sun coming up everything was still – only the odd person was about, there was no wind and the ocean was equally silent. Several birds were diving into the sea to get their breakfast, and the air was yet to warm up.

    Shot on the Sony Nex and Sigma lens, I added some vignetting and noise/’film grain’ in Gimp 2.8.

    Although I didn’t use any today, I downloaded some additional packages for Gimp that I will try out some time. For those that stop by often, you will be aware that Gimp 2.8 is my photo editor of choice. In fact, its been so long since I regularly used Photoshop, my work flow is really affected when I do switch back on the odd occasion.

    The additional packages actually came about with a system change. For several years now, my main computer has been running Ubuntu – Linux. I also regularly use several versions of OSX and Windows, but have long been a fan of Linux and the community behind it. This morning I backed up and switched to Linux Mint (and hence re-assembled my Gimp setup). Its been getting rave reviews for some time, and so far, one day in, I am enjoying it.

    I have still been meaning to get a few write-ups about my cameras, or ‘what’s in my bag’…I will endeavour to start on that before my holidays end!