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  • Monkey Business

    I read with interest this morning that Leica has just announced its new camera, the Leica M-Monochrom. Well beyond my camera spending budget, it comes with a B&W sensor – something people in the photography world online have been calling out for, regardless of their brand of choice. I am a bit nostalgic at times, and do love my 35mm film cameras & shooting 35mm B&W film (something I will need to post up some time), but I’m not convinced I would like to be locked into B&W digital. Much like my film cameras, I like to have the choice!

    After the color of yesterday, todays image switches to monochrome. Taken at the Auckland Zoo with my Sony Nex 5N and an old Russian Jupiter-11 lens. I shot the image in color, but converted to B&W as for me it feels like it invokes more emotion to me. In color the monkey was not as bright as its surroundings & the image just didn’t seem to work as well.

  • Friday unwind

    Some weeks it seems like Friday has taken a long time to arrive. This week felt a bit like one of those. With a questionable weather forecast for the weekend ahead, I made sure I had time to go for a bit of a wander after work to get some fresh air, unwind and get a few shots in before sunset. The light was particularly nice this evening and I managed to get a number of images to choose from for todays post. I settled on this macro shot of a small wild flower staring out across the grass at the ocean below the cliff top. I think the image reflected my mood to unwind, forget the working week and begin to relax for the next few days ahead. Taken on my ricoh with rounded boarder and a slight brightness adjustment in post processing. Have a great Friday!

  • Pink Flowers

    95% of the time I either carry or are at arms reach to one of my handful of cameras. Every now and then, as with the above photo ‘Pink Flowers’ I find myself seeing an image I like, but not having a camera on me – not a traditional dedicated camera anyway. Mobile phone cameras have come a long way from those initial .5MP sensors a few years ago. This image, taken on a Samsung Galaxy 3 (not S3), whilst not as high a quality as my usual cameras, still does a fair job when one is stuck without a camera. Although the recent release is playing up on my phone, I rate the android app Vignette (used for this image). It has a host of customizable options and filters etc. For some impressive mobile phone photos, head over to mobilephotogroup.com – I came across them recently and am impressed with the images some people are pulling out of their iPhone’s, Galaxy’s etc. Todays image, taken on a crisp cool morning caught my eye as the sky was a rich blue and the morning light gave the pink flowers a soft glow.

  • Wild Thing

    I was sad to hear this morning about the passing of Maurice Sendak, the author of the great children’s book (or adult children) ‘Where The Wild Things Are’.  A story spanning generations I grew up with this book ~20 years after it was written, and those a little younger may have seen the 2009 feature film based on the book. I recall when young going to a stage show of it even. If you have never read the book I encourage you to do so. Also, a simple Wikipedia will give some fascinating background info on the story.

    Sendak’s passing influenced me to post up this image I took in 2011, in Sydney Australia. I cant recall the name of this beast, but its a now extinct mammal, about the size of a  small hippo. Taken on my Sony A230, 50mm 1.7 lens, took advantage of the selective low lighting to isolate ‘the wild thing’.

  • Path to the Sea

    Another photo from the files today. I intended to head out after work to take some images, but the wet weather hit hard late in the afternoon, and neither I or my camera was prepared to venture out. Todays image was taken just outside a penguin colony at Oamaru in the South Island New Zealand. A great little place worth visiting for its historic nature, we had to make a stop rather then drive through. Again on my Ricoh, straight from the camera with its bleach bypass setting. Prior to owning the GRD IV, I was never a fan of built in effects on cameras – I always shot in standard RAW or Jpg. Ricoh however have really put some thought and a huge amount of control into its menu’s and process options on many of its cameras. I still shoot unedited on all my other cameras. I think I just like it because I can fine tune its on-board editing and then share the pictures without spending any length of time in editing – after all, why spend hours in post production when you can be out shooting?