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  • Takapuna Landing

    Takapuna beach is just down the road from Lake Pupuke, which featured in my photo on May 24th. A popular beach for runners and dog walkers after work, it also features regular iron man competitions in Summer. In addition to these, a kayak tour leaves here to explore our youngest volcanic island Rangitoto.

    Todays photo, taken on the Nex 5n, I think in HDR ‘painting’ mode was snapped about 10min after sunset. Truth be told, I was just experimenting with some of its built in options and liked this cropped image most out of the ‘mode experimenting lot’. I dont use it nearly enough, but I must say the Sony really is quite impressive hand held after dark. Obviously the higher into the ISO range you go, the more noise, but it really does capture an awful lot before you need a tripod.

  • Kung-Fu Lorikeet

    Visiting one of Auckland’s bigger bird stores. The Bird Barn, I ran into this colorful little chap. Squarking loud and following my every move as I walked around the aviary, I snapped him on an old compact digi cam, the Fuji FinePix J15fd.He seemed pretty used to the attention and continued running up and down in front of me until I left – to which he started squarking at me again.

    Whilst beautiful to look at, over the years various breeders have let these into the wild in NZ. Native to Australia, they thrive, but at the cost of our native birds, who get chased, bullied and have their nesting areas stolen. Unlike the native birds, whom defend their areas often in pairs, they often move in flocks.

    As above, taken on a J15fr compact, cropped and slightly adjusted in Gimp.

  • Guns of North Head

    A rainy old Sunday here in Auckland today. Still, I wanted to get out and about for a walk and brought my Nex 5n along as it frequently gets left at home for the pocket friendly GRD. In addition to this I brought along my Ricoh 35mm camera, for which I have a few B&W frames left on the film to finish still. I went for a stroll around North Head and its old wartime fortress remains. Shortly into the walk it started bucketing down and the sony stayed put in my bag. My cellphone, for which I have less value for proved trustworthy in the rain and I managed to get some pictures. Todays image is of some of the old guns on the hill. Backed up by a massive disappearing cannon, these guns from WW2 were never used in anger, and only used for ceremonial activities. Long since decommissioned, they remain as part of the reminder of New Zealand’s wartime activities.

    As above, todays image was taken on my mobile phone, Samsung Galaxy i5800 (3mp), using the vignette app, and post edited in photoshop with a slight bump up of contrast. There was nothing to see but a cloud of rain in the distance, not particularly great light for photos, but I like the result.

  • City in a Puddle

    Another wet Auckland City image taken on my Ricoh. I was having a walk along the outskirts just after dark when I notice the reflection of the city in one of the larger puddles. Unedited from the camera, I love the colors and the lines. Perhaps a ‘rats eye view’?

     

  • The Orb

    Painting by light

    Friday! I was busy taking and editing work team photos this afternoon, so didn’t get a chance to head out and take any shots after work. So – another from my archives. I have always liked long exposure evening shots – both in film and on digital, waiting to see what the lighting looks like when it is dark to the naked eye. Some time last year I came across a guy called Dennis Smith and his ‘painting with light orbs’ – give him a google, some breathtaking images. Following this I built a basic orb maker and went out to take some shots. It was a lot of fun and i’ll have to go do some more some time to try and perfect it. This one was taken on a Sony A230. It wasn’t my best orb, but I likes the color and how it was floating in between the trees.