A quick mobile photo on the go today.
After work hundreds of people around the country (and other countries I think) gathered in their main towns to take part in ‘The Great KidsCan Santa Run’.
A short fun run that raises funds towards children with cancer, its likely the most santas anyone will see in one place, and without a doubt running!
Snapped on my Galaxy s2, using the afterfocus app I blurred the background added a vignette and a vintage filter.
Sometimes its the imperfect images that appeal. Again from my visit to Motat, I snapped ‘Over the Tracks’ whilst waiting from the tram to take us to Motat II. More often than not I will delete out of focus images, but today’s had a bit of a interesting feeling to it. I’m not sure if its the lack of focus that draws one in more, trying to work out the situation, or simply the placement of the people. Perhaps its one of those shots that the shooter likes, but does not appeal to the wider group?
Post processing wise I did a little cropping and added a cross-processed filter with a clay brown tone. I rounded off the image and resized for the net.
Motat is full of old machinery – from stem tractors to 70’s cars. Whilst all was of interest to me,one of the more interesting sections was of the old New Zealand Fire Service. Here, in a makeshift station they displayed several vehicles of old, as well as various fire fighting equipment, now long out of date. Today’s photo is of an engine that served Auckland’s CBD, and later in life with the volunteers at Devonport station. For a service vehicle, its in beautiful condition & quite a stand-out with its chrome hood.
Editing wise, in Gimp, I slightly cropped, added a vignette and applied the National Geographic plug-in. Following this I removed several of the plug-in layers.
Image was shot on the Sony Nex.
A bit of a wildlife shot from my recent visit to Western Springs. After feeding the mother swan some chips and making it semi-comfortable with me around its cygnets, I got down to their level and snapped off a few shots. In this particular one I also captured some greedy gulls coming in for a landing also.
In Gimp I added a custom version of the National Geographic plug-in filter, cropped, resized and added the top/bottom bars.
Prior to visiting Motat with work on Friday, I had some lunch at Western Springs – the large freshwater springs next to the venue. Once upon a time Western Springs was the primary water source for much of Auckland (Like the Pumphouse on the North Shore I have written about). Now days it makes a popular place for a walk, run or to have a picnic and feed the ducks.
Surrounding part of the springs is a little river where the water flows. Armed with my Sony Nex 5N and 210mm lens I got as central to and low as I could and shot into the distance.
In post processing using Gimp I slightly cropped and straightened, added a cross-processed filter, pushed the contrast a notch and desaturated by several points.
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