• Today marked the shortest day for us down here in New Zealand. The sun arose late and set early. Otherwise known as winter solstice, it is also known in New Zealand as Maruaroa O Takurua – the beginning of the Maori new year (traditionally), which as well as being tied into legend, is identified by the  Pleiades star cluster having its first appearance.

    I liked todays image, as tied into the title, the fishermen are catching the last moment of sun as they hope to pull in ‘a big one’ from Lake Pupuke.

    Aside from resizing, straight from the camera (GRD)

     

  • Bellis perennis, or ‘common garden daisy’ was the subject of todays image. For such a small little flower that grows all over, they have a lot of potential uses – eaten raw, used in soups, salads, teas, as a vitamin supplement. Romans (and more modern homeopaths) used their juice to assist with wound injuries. Then we have the saying ‘smell the daisies’ – to take a break, relax, don’t stress about the big stuff. To top it off, these are hardy little flowers. Mow them down with a lawn mower, and within the week they are shooting up at the sky again.

    It had been on/off raining all afternoon today and with the threat of another downpour looming when I finished work I took a few minutes to look for todays photo before getting in my car. There was nothing appealing scanning around so I set the Ricoh on macro to see what I could find. Remembering the above mentioned saying i picked this little guy/gurl/thing, reaching up for the sun regardless of the less then ideal weather. Will it make it before the lawn mower gets it? – unlikely, but its a good reminder to take a break in our busy lives all the same.

    Post work I desaturated the grass slightly and slightly bumped up the sharpness in Gimp.

  • Todays post ‘Island’s End’ was taken on Waiheke Island – a larger populated island a ferry’s ride out of Auckland. Armed with my Ricoh and an external viewfinder I turned off the display and went shooting. Although not film, shooting with an external viewfinder and the display turned off does give you the ‘modern feeling’ of not knowing what your image will look like until later (or until you cheat and push the play button). Being a wide open round viewfinder without markings yet I shot the horizon crooked – usually a bad thing, but I don’t mind it in the balance of this image of land, sea and sky.

    Post shooting I cropped the image to a wider view, upped the contrast one notch and reduced for the web.

  • Another busy day full of training from sunrise to past sunset, so I started looking again at old negatives. As with my last 35mm posting, keeping in Hong Kong, todays image was shot somewhere up Victoria Peak. At 552m high, I think this makes it Hong Kong’s second highest point.

    Taken on the Minolta Dynax 700si, I scanned and resized image for net – otherwise untouched. It was summer time when I visited Hong Kong, so likely the hazyness is from the heat and humidity. An amazing view over an amazing city.

  • Some more fun today with the Nex and some legacy lens. Todays shot was taken on an old soviet Industar 26 – a 2,8/52mm lens. Shot stopped down to 2.8 I was happy with the images it gave me today, even with todays image being shot at dusk – credit to both the land and the Sony.

    In Devonport, on the North Shore is a fair sized gold club (swamp land a long time ago). Surrounding part of this is a small stream/river, and a mass of ducks. Fed often by locals, there has been an increase of Pukeko in the area also. Pukeko’s, known overseas also as swamp hens are one of New Zealand’s more common iconic birds. The have a beautiful purple coat and amazingly dexterous feet. Whilst they can fly, its not often you see them doing so, and they more often then not retreat from ‘whatever’ on foot.

    For todays image I selectively desaturated the image to ‘reveal’ and highlight the Pukeko amongst the Ducks. Shining in the center of the image, I liked the final result with the Pukeko creaping forward into my image as most of the other birds just ignored me.