Auckland Central. Ricoh TLS 35mm.
Sleepwalking to the River
Pentax MG on Fomapan 100
Zorki 1
No longer with me – in a moment of weakness I sold it (possibly in a moment of weakness I brought it!) – My old Zorki 1.
The ‘poor mans Leica III’, and competent rangefinder camera in its own right, we dont see too many of them down here in NZ. I’ve imported a few Zorki and Fed’s (Soviet Rangefinders similar to the old Leica) over the years. The above being the best copy of a Zorki 1 I have ever had – complete with box and manual!
With its collapsable M39 screw mount 50mm lens, its really a very small, fully manual camera. Great for those with a light meter in their eyes, or at least to practice the sunny 16 rule.
Being over 50 years old now, its amazing how many are still available to buy – lets see any of the current digitals being sold fully working in 50 years!
For the tinkerers among us, these are great cameras to get to learn about CLA (clean lube adjust). And done right may go on for another half century. The shutter curtains are often the first to go – getting pinholes in them. One can use a little thinned down silicone painted on, or simply replace (simply probably an understatement as thats the biggest job one would do on such a camera).
Might just have to go on the hunt for another copy. My sunny 16 skills are fairly junior. I have a light meter. I just wish it had a built in one. Fantastic vintage 35mm camera for the coin!
Ends of Land
Shot in New Zealands Coromandel.
Unknown camera.
Plans to follow Hibernation
Cutting firewood in my workshop, I glanced over at my poor bike. Sitting neglected, it dawned on me it must have been a season since I took it out on the road. I have a mate coming over from Australia in a week or so, so all going to plan I will get it out then.
Linked to this got me thinking about exercise and fitness. Between having several colds and now being mid winter, I must admit to practicing my bear like hibernation regime of doing very little fitness wise.
With tickets already purchased for this years Auckland Marathon, I know its only time till I need to push myself into gear…but for today, a film shot from the archives, and back to the warm fireplace!
Shot on the Pentax MG and scanned to digital.
Jungle Den
Battling on/off rainy weather, we ventured out to the Auckland Zoo today. Some animals looked to enjoy the rain, others indifferent, and then the rest – the primates all sheltered out of vision, keeping dry.
Armed with the Olympus e-500 I got a number of shots today. Some good, some average. With the larger zoom, it had troubles with focusing today in the average light. Even though todays image is in B&W, I still enjoy the colour from this older four thirds DSLR.
Todays shot, the Chimpanzee enclosure, was captured just after one chimp swung out to check the weather, and then back under the building out of sight and in shelter. Using Gimp I converted to B&W after first tweaking the separate colour channels.
Remembrance Walkway
A quick stroll after work around one of the local graveyards. The weather has been pretty bad around the whole country these last few days, so it was nice to be out in the clear blue (and fairly chilly) sky.
Graveyards are interesting places to walk through – something I have featured in the past. Its an interesting walk through history, looking back a hundred years at lives once been. For me, in New Zealand, none of my close family have been buried- cremation being the final step in the bodily life. I know back in UK I have more buried family, from many generations ago.
Its also interesting to look at different funeral practices from culture to culture and religion to religion. For some its a bright and colourful celebration of ones life, for others a mourning and dark passing. Some cultures openly talk about it, and for others its one of those unspoken taboos that we avoid, perhaps in fear of the unknown?
Walking through the graveyard shows a mix of maintained and kept tombstones, as well as overgrown, forgotten and illegible ones. Have the family moved out of the area, are there any family left? Who knows?
Todays shot was taken on the Ricoh GRD IV and post processed in Gimp. In this I gave the image a mild squish profile wise, converted to B&W and adjusted the contrast.
Towards the Journey
“Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Been a busy week with little time to write. Almost the weekend though, so hopefully I will find some time then!
The Watching Statue
Its funny how some statues always look they are staring at you.
Auckland Art Gallery.
Shot on the Sony Nex and edited in Gimp.
The Flintstones Mobile
Spotted in a playground, this wagon will either be very familiar, or not familiar at all to some of you out there. A creative remake of Fred Flintstones car, brought back childhood memories for me. To be fair, I was not around for the original 1960’s screenings of this pre Simpsons family, but TV here in NZ re-ran everything for many, many years. I expect it is still on one channel somewhere here.
Shot on the Samsung Galaxy S2 using the Vignette App. Post B&W conversion in Gimp.
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