Tag: Gimp 2.8

Tree on the Horizon

Tree on the Horizon

Tree on the Horizon was captured at an old residential estate in my local area that has since been pulled down, and is currently overgrown park area. Drains that were covered in sheets of ply have disappeared under the thick bed of grass that has covered the area. Many of the paths/drives have also broken up and are in the process of returning to nature. I always find the thought of nature taking things back fascinating, so a wander through this empty (of buildings) area is fun when doing so.

Captured on the Nex 5N with a legacy lens on (I’m pretty sure it was my Industar 61). In post processing with Gimp, I adjusted levels, desaturated and added a faint tint. I find that the slight sepia (or similar shade) tint helps add ‘a little something’ to B&W images

 

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Stairs to Freedom

Stairs to freedom

In today’s post, Stairs to Freedom, I wanted to create that visual experience we all get when adjusting to different light sources. Be it turning on/off a light in the middle of the night, or coming out of a dark tunnel into bright daylight as in this image. The eyes take a moment to adjust to the differing light. Until then things are not quite clear.

Today’s image was shot in one of the old tunnels used for WWII. Coming from the other side, ones eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, only to turn a corner and be greeted by a staircase with bright light shining down.

Shot on the Sony Nex with a old legacy Industar 61 lens, using Gimp I converted to B&W, added a light vignette and adjusted the levels.

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Kitekite Falls

KitaKita Falls

My last posting from the Piha area, for now. Krishna asked yesterday if I had any shots of the Kitekite Falls. With the beautiful green and dense growth on the surrounding track to the falls, it was hard to get a clear view. I did find a slight clearing however and took today’s shot. Aside from this walk I had taken my filter set with me all morning – it would have been ideal here also to assist with the blown out grey sky.

As can be seen in the image, the falls in full are made up of a number of units. The final being about 40m, the other 40m is built from several smaller falls, gathering into pools.

In post processing I adjusted the levels a little and lightly tinted the blown out sky. There was nothing there to rescue, so its all I could do with limited time.

I think the final image really highlights well the lush green environment of New Zealand bush.  A great place to visit when in the area!

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Out from the Kitekite

river runs in

About a 5 minute drive from Piha is a track leading to the Kitekite Falls – a 40m drop waterfall (or 80m if you count the 3 tier of pools above it). A beautiful, well maintained bush walk, well worth visiting whilst in the area. There are several tracks to choose from, the shortest taking one about 20minutes of fair pace walking to reach the falls. Here you can take a cool dip in the chilled fresh water.

The falls were used once in attempt to transport felled trees downstream for processing. A fairly commonly used method in New Zealand, dams were built at the top of falls and rivers, logs floated, dams opened, and logs rushed down to the mouth of the river. This practice always damaged a number of logs, but in the KiteKite case, more logs were ruined than saved and it was not used again in the same manner.

Today’s image was shot downstream on my journey back. Leaning out at a corner, I focused upstream and captured the river straight on, disappearing into the bush. Using Gimp, I cropped the aspect a little, adjusted the levels and used the ‘National Geographic’ plug-in.

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The Lion of the West Coast

Lion Rock West Coast

Taken from the lookout point at the south of Piha, today’s image is a great profile of Lion Rock. If you look carefully (or imaginatively) you can see the lions eye and nose on the left, his Mane and lower back. Climbing up, one come from the right hand side of this image (clearly we don’t start in the  ocean) and take the gradual carved staircase up.After the first 1/3rd, you can see where the most recent slip from a number of years ago occurred.As you hit the lions ‘mane’, approx 2/3rds, that’s where the track now finishes. It used to come along the side a little more before going inwards again (back when you could climb to the summit).

Although a very overcast day, looking in the background, one can see the sea spray drifting overland towards the dense bush areas. I think the tide was more out than in at this time of the day when the photo was shot.

Once a place of camping and a few holiday homes, Piha is now a growing in population area. In 1951 it had 73 residents. in the 2006 census that figure had grown to 822. 6 years on, I expect it will have easily cracked the 1000. Many of the houses are fairly flash now days, and a great option for the work from home types who love to be by the sea and surf. There are still multiple camping grounds in the area (although very limited shops), and its well worth a stay if you are in Auckland for a period!

Piha also had its own TV show – Piha Rescue. Essentially a real life lifesaver show filmed around the typical summer periods of Piha.

Shot on the Sony Nex 5N and post-processed in Gimp. I adjusted the levels a fair amount – this helped a lot with the hazy, slightly over exposed original. Cropped the aspect a little and added wording.

That will do for facts for today. I’ll let the image say the rest! Have a good Friday!

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Balmain Reserve and the Beach

Balmain Reserve

As the days rapidly count down to the end of Holiday time, I have decided to continue on with my ‘digital Polaroid’ theme for the last few days. Hitting 25 degrees in Auckland today, we headed down to Cheltnham beach for a swim (I have written about the beach numerous times in the past so wont spend time on it today)

As with the last few days, image was shot on the Samsung Galaxy S2 using the vignette app. I made some minor tweaks to the film type and exposure today, giving it mostly an overexposed quality – as a comment pointed out in the past, this almost gives more of a feeling of bright, hot summer. Photoshop CS5 provided the written content and resizing.

I have used CS5 these last few days simply out of convenience in that its on the laptop in front of me, rather than my usual desktop unit with Gimp 2.8. Its been, lets say refreshing to use CS5 these last few days – more just so I don’t totally forget how to use it (just almost).

With two days left on my break I am hoping to get to the West Coast – Piha. Fingers crossed for tomorrow or the day after. I will take a combination of mobile, digital and film shots all going well.

Until tomorrow!

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The Chain Fence

Fence

It must have almost been a week since I picked up my Sony Nex, and many many months since I last used my Industar 61 (generally I would grab the Jupiter-8 for a manual 50).So, I headed out with this combination and my Ricoh GR1 (to finish the film in it) for a several hour stroll around the Devonport and Belmont areas.

As it has been for a few weeks now, the beaches were packed with people, the sun out and the water cool. I had earlier gone for a swim, so ventured off the beach track and more into the local parks and reserves. Walking out of Devonport, Lake Road, I captured today’s image. Shot just behind the memorial plaques and crosses, a wood post, chain fence runs the entire length. Approaching early evening the shadows were getting longer and I was drawn to the light filtering through the trees as I looked through the viewfinder up the fence passageway.

In post editing I did a fair amount of mucking around today in Gimp, adjusting contrasts, shadows, saturation and finishing with the rounded edges just after an aspect crop.

I also managed to finish off the film in the GR1, but don’t know if I will get around to developing it for the next few days or not.

The days are counting down until I return to work now. I enjoy my job, but am never one who enjoys finishing a holiday!…but enough about that. I still have several days up my sleeve!

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No Family Portrait Today

Family Photo

Catching up with friends today in Devonport for Fish and Chips, it was decided the time was right for a family portrait…well, for all but the youngest member Emily. As soon as everyone lined up and cameras were at the ready, Emily heard the call of the sea-saw and rushed off.

I captured today’s shot just before she fell out of frame. Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV, in bleach bi-pass mode, I loved the lighting effect and the almost street photography like quality of the image.

In post processing using Gimp, I kept the focus on Emily and added some blur to different stages of the background. Other than the blur, its as is from the camera.

One more day left for 2012. Prior to a celebration/welcoming of 2013 with friends, I plan to be out for some of the day on the bicycle. I’m not sure where we will be going as yet, but likely I will find something to shoot!

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Still Before Sun

Still before Sun

Now I am on holiday, sleep has been avoiding me for some reason. Still Before Sun was shot yesterday morning ~5.30am whilst on an early morning stroll down by the water. Prior to the sun coming up everything was still – only the odd person was about, there was no wind and the ocean was equally silent. Several birds were diving into the sea to get their breakfast, and the air was yet to warm up.

Shot on the Sony Nex and Sigma lens, I added some vignetting and noise/’film grain’ in Gimp 2.8.

Although I didn’t use any today, I downloaded some additional packages for Gimp that I will try out some time. For those that stop by often, you will be aware that Gimp 2.8 is my photo editor of choice. In fact, its been so long since I regularly used Photoshop, my work flow is really affected when I do switch back on the odd occasion.

The additional packages actually came about with a system change. For several years now, my main computer has been running Ubuntu – Linux. I also regularly use several versions of OSX and Windows, but have long been a fan of Linux and the community behind it. This morning I backed up and switched to Linux Mint (and hence re-assembled my Gimp setup). Its been getting rave reviews for some time, and so far, one day in, I am enjoying it.

I have still been meaning to get a few write-ups about my cameras, or ‘what’s in my bag’…I will endeavour to start on that before my holidays end!

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