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  • MacGyver

    When I was young I remember being a massive fan of the TV series MacGyver. An action adventure mega star, Macgyver hated guns, carried a pocket knife, and could get out of almost any situation with a pocketful of junk and some household items. Danger followed him wherever he went, and he always won the day.

    I remember getting my first Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, a ‘Tinker’. I would make various things out of foam, cut bits and pieces, and unscrew all my toys. It was great fun. I think amongst a very hands on creative family, Macgyver was also somewhat of an influence as I grew up, always tinkering and fixing things. It great to be able to fix something on the go, with a limited set of tools.

    Missing the sun after work, and pulling my pocket knife out of my bag, looking for an image, I reflected on my practical side and composed today image.I really need to get some better portable lighting at home some time – I had to hold the knife and book up to the room light in one hand and take with the other. In post processing, I used Gimp to add a vignette and push up the saturation.

  • Dove

    Last Friday I visited the Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens with work. About 40min north of Auckland in the Car, the gardens are a nice little stroll and visit for people into various forms of sculptural art work. Like photography, there are genres that one likes and dislikes. Some sculpture and art goes right over my head, and other pieces draw me in. For me, it was about a 50/50 around the walk. As well as sculpture, the gardens are well maintained, and this time of the year covered on wonderful blossoming fruit trees.

    ‘Dove’ is one of the art works I liked. Created by Jin Ling , the female form holding a dove is all about Ling’s desire and hope for a peaceful existence.

    Taken on the Fuji J15fd, I cropped, pushed up sharpening and lowered contrast – all in Gimp.

  • Planet Food

    We were stopping through the CBD today, so I took the opportunity to test out my Ricoh TLS after giving it a bit of a clean up. I also brought along my mobile and the fisheye lens as I wanted to capture something else to document for the day.

    Being in town there is always a wide range of images, especially with the likes of a fisheye. The first logical choice is to capture the tall skyscrapers towering over oneself and give the distorted image of them closing in on the viewer. Where I strolled through was quite contrasty, and the samsung struggled with the dynamic range to capture the details on the street as well as up in the sky.  I strolled by a lunch bar where the staff were getting in an early morning meal before opening and composed today’s image ‘Planet Food’ . About a foot out from the window, I like how the reflections outside are captured in the fisheye as we peer into the bowl/planet like image.

    In post processing, I converted the image to black and white and increased sharpness a little in Gimp.

  • Fish-eye’s Bug

    I mentioned perhaps a week ago that I had taken delivery of a wide angle and a fisheye lens for mobile phones. I have been waiting for the opportunity to give the fisheye a go as I love the distorted reality they offer – as well as the potentially useful capacity to record ~180 degree vision in one shot.

    Armed with my Galaxy sII, and a busy day of chores and shopping, I kept the lens in pocket (and you cant say that about many lenses, especially in jeans pockets! I spotted a nice old VW Beetle in the carpark. That alone made me want to take a snap (I’m quite the fan of nice 70’s and older cars). Standing out with all its curves, the fisheye gave it even more of a sense of warpage.

    Really this is more of a fun snap testing a lens than a serious image – but for many/most of us, that’s part of photography. I must say I was impressed with the lens (it cost next to nothing) and accessories like it really do open the door of possibility even more for mobile/smart-phone photography. Whilst I still rather have a dedicated unit, I have many friends and colleagues who only use their mobile cameras now – and why not. The equipment does help the image, but its the user and their creativity behind the lens that makes something amazing or not.

    I cant recall if I have linked to it before, but for those interested, check out the Mobile Photo Group for some photographers who have really picked up and gone with this as their primary tool.

  • Country Life

    Coming home from a team afternoon out with work I snapped today’s image ‘Country Life’ from the passenger seat of the car. I have been giving a few of my older digital cameras a run this week, today being the Fujifilm Finepix J15fd. A very basic 3x point and shooter, I recall purchasing it as it came with an underwater housing, and is/was very compact for what it had to offer. Although a basic model, with a tiny sensor, and occasional struggle getting focus (comparing to the likes of my GRD and Nex), I do like the slightly sharp and saturated images it offers out of the box. Its one of those digital cameras I have no hesitation using in a ‘at risk to camera’ areas or when a basic documenting of the trip, without workable quality is needed.

    Snapped in the Rodney District, just north of Auckland, I love and envy the real country surrounding the little house at the centre of the image has. Only edited for size for posting, the Fuji didn’t let me down in capturing the colour and tone I was looking for as we whizzed by in the car.