MikeHawkey.com

photos and other things…

recent posts

about

  • Looking up the Pine Tree

     

    After helping some friends moving house furniture today we went for a quick stroll down at their local coastal bush area – Hilders Park. Although a very small walk in itself, it has some beautiful views out across the top of the Waitemata Harbour, great for a small picnic stop in summer I would say. Walking back up to the car I took this shot looking up the steep path to a pine tree. Although not captured amazingly, I love how the light diffuses in the leaves of trees, and the glow they appear to emit as it tries to shine through.

  • Bridge by Night

    Last night whilst waiting to meet friends for dinner, I took a stroll down by the waterfront in town. After last weeks long exposure success with the Ricoh, I wanted to give it another go. Auckland Harbour Bridge was built in the 1950’s and opened in 1959. By 1969 it was deemed to small already (someones bad forward planning) and we had to add two extra lanes on each side of the bridge – the “Nippon Clipons” – named due to Japan getting the contract to make them. In the 1990’s we added a center barrier, due to a high number of fatal head on collisions. Unsurprisingly, since the clipons were added, traffic flow has grown immensely. As with many bridges around the world, its an ongoing piece of maintenance to keep in critical day to day use for 170.000+ motorists each day.

    Captured on the GRD IV, with an exposure of  60 seconds at 100asa / f7. Aspect cropped a little in post using Gimp, and contrast bumped up one notch.

  • The Old Boat

    Wandering down at the beach with the tide out I came across a dinghy that had seen better days. I imagine its been anchored up and abandoned at some stage. The hull was full of water, so i’ll have to check to see if it even floats when the tide is in next time I visit.

    Taken with the Ricoh, I got reasonably close up so the viewer can see the wear on the old vessel, but also so we can see its anchor line exiting into the sand/mud. Just a image that creates a quiet, end of day (end of boats life) feeling on a Friday afternoon.

  • People of the Tower

    Another image from the archives. I took this when on my visit to Singapore. One of the temples, the roof with this amazing detailing could be seen from streets away. Originally in color 35mm, I did some post sharpening and switched it over to B&W. Taken on the Minolta Dynax 700si.

    Thats all for today!

  • Dark Skeletrees

    Shooting in B&W again today I came across a bunch of trees that had lost all their leaves for the winter season. Adjusting the exposure for the clouds/sky behind we see the ‘skeletons’ of the trees. For some reason it reminded me of going camping when little and seeing shadows from inside the tent. As a child one would imagine they were long arms and fingers of evil creatures lurking outside. Just as well there was a tent and sleeping bag to protect!

    Todays image was taken on the Sony Nex 5N with the Sony 2.8/16mm prime. I was also playing around with an industar 69, but discovered it is not infinity focusing on the Nex, so I will need to take it apart and modify for it to work with the digital era cameras.