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  • The Standoff at High Noon

    I had a planned day off today, with the intention to start to unwind from work before jumping on a plane tomorrow. It didnt quite all go to plan, but I did manage a walk along a beach called Waiake in the northern region of the North Shore.

    As I passed a bunch of seagulls, not thinking much of it, three of the four suddenly stood up, squarked at me and came marching at me. I took a few steps towards them, neither of us backing down. Most of the time, unless you carry food, they try to keep out of the way, but not these three! Anyway, I got a few photos in and backed down.

    At one end of the beach is a small island. At low tide, as it was today, one can walk around it. We had a beautiful sunny day and I sat down to relax on a rock. Every now and then I kept catching something in the corner of my eye, but when I looked there was nothing there. Then, as I was about to get up and leave I looked around, and just to the left of me, not more then 2 metres away was a seal basking in the sun, blending in perfectly with the surrounding sandstone. Once it realised that I realised it was there it stood up on its front flippers (I think that’s the term?) and let out a growl. I decided it was time to retreat, but did get a few shots of it as I left.

    Photo wise, I used Gimp to desaturate all but red and cropped the aspect again. Shot was taken on the Sony Nex 5N and Jupiter-8 legacy lens.

  • Rope by the Shore

    My last day of work before breaking for my holiday ended up being two hours longer than usual, and by the time I got home it was dark and cold (almost like winter again!) I took a stroll down to the jetty after dinner, Nex 5N and tripod in hand.

    If one shoots cameras as a form of relaxation, shooting night images must be the ultimate in unwind. A single exposure might run into the minutes. All you can do is sit and wait, or count, breathing slow and relaxed as you take in the surrounding environment. I also like how you are gathering not just a split second of time into one image, but minutes of time, all frozen into one picture…a time capsule in a photographic sense.

    Today’s image, ‘Rope by the Shore’ also happened to be my quickest exposure of the night at 52seconds @ 100iso. Breaking my usual practice of capturing the appealing light of the night, I converted today’s image to B&W with Gimp, pushing the contrast slightly, as I often do with my images. I cropped it, giving a wider aspect, and resized for the net.

  • The Fan

    Taking a different route home today I passed by a small bush area called Stancich Reserve. In the middle of suburbia, the reserve contains a 1/2km bush-walk around one side of the reserve. Well covered/floored, the track proved popular for locals out for a walk and people training. It actually took a minute of waiting to get a clear spot for the photo.

    As I passed through the track I came across this small fan/windmill that someone had stuck into the side of a tree. The bright yellow stood out amongst the forest greens and browns as I leaned out from the walking track to line it up for the shot.

    Taken on the Nex, again with the 16mm lens, in post production I used Gimp to crop the aspect ratio, slightly change the contrast, and resize for posting.

    Last day at work tomorrow before heading off on holiday – I’m ready for it!

  • Follow the Leader

    ‘Follow the Leader’ seemed the natural title when I snapped this badelynge of ducks at Kell Park in Albany after work.Getting down low with the Nex 5N and 16mm lens, I think they initially thought I came bearing gifts, and soon changed direction when they realised they were just getting their pictures taken.

    Its funny the amount of names a duck ‘pack’ can be given: Often referred as a paddle of ducks, we also see them called a flock, raft, team, badelynge, bunch, and brace.

    Kell park itself offers a nice walk by the creek amongst native bush of Albany. It has a big playground for children, and lots of seats to sit back and relax in the environment. Back when I was young it also had an abundant public pear grove, where one could fill up sacks of pears to take home (or eat whilst helping) – I didn’t get to that part of it today, so don’t know if the trees are still around.

    I made the decision today that I’m going to go almost technology-free next week in Fiji. I will have my Ricoh GRD IV, but other than that, not even my mobile phone. I work around computers all day long and have decided I will go without for a week. It will most likely be a bit of a shock to the system for me! I plan to set up some images to auto post throughout the week, so none of you reading this will go without – you will just have to wait a few weeks before seeing my Fiji images.

    My final news for the day was that I received a self-birthday gift today – a Ricoh GR1. The granddad of my GRD IV, I have been keen on getting one for some time. Generally they fetch quite high prices, so when one popped up at a reasonable price (and around my birthday) I could not resist. That’s going to mean I have a digital and film 28mm holiday next week!

  • 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.