The Young Painter

Lego Man

Lego. I don’t know about some of you out there, but lego was a massive part of my younger childhood. The endless creations, mixed with a child’s imagination makes lego a toy that can span for hours at a time, and for years.

Every now and then when I stroll through a toy store and see the lego section, I’m ever impressed with its ability to both remain lego at its core design, yet also fit into so many different themes and genre’s from ‘city life’ to ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Batman’.

I think its also one of those collections that stands the course of time and can be handed down through the generations. I don’t know where my large (from a kids memory) collection went. Perhaps it was passed onto another family, or is stored in a box somewhere back at the family home.

Todays image was shot on the GRD IV and slightly desaturated in Gimp.

 

Long Monday Drive

The Long Monday

Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I can’t help but ask myself how much I let the fear
Take the wheel and steer
It’s driven me before
And it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal
But lately I’m beginning to find that I
Should be the one behind the wheel

Whatever tomorrow brings, I’ll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah

Whatever tomorrow brings, I’ll be there
I’ll be there

So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive?
It’s driven me before
And it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around
But lately I’m beginning to find that
When I drive myself my light is found

Whatever tomorrow brings, I’ll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah

Whatever tomorrow brings, I’ll be there
I’ll be there

Would you choose water over wine
Hold the wheel and drive

Whatever tomorrow brings, I’ll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah

Whatever tomorrow brings, I’ll be there
I’ll be there

Incubus – Drive

Orko and childhood toys

OrkoThis little character brought me back to my childhood. Orko. One of the characters from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Although not this particular copy, I recall having Orko alongside He-Man, Skeletor, Moss-man…I sure I had some more of the vast array of characters in the collection.

Orko was a Trollan, and one of the few who knew He-Mans identity. Although a little bit of a easily scared character, he always did the right thing and could be counted on when it counted. (in ones typical lesson learning childhood cartoons). Some countries knew him as Gorpo in the earlier series.

I think most of all (as far as ‘action figures’ go) I was into Transformers. I dont know where they all went – likely part of my take apart to see how it works stage, but I had a ton of them. Who else… GI Joe of course – their rubber band waist’s were hard to get back on when taken apart, I do remember that!

Reflecting on these toys of the 80’s, there were a ton of them. Many have since been re-released, with originals being worth a few dollars for the collectors. Like many, mine were handed down, given away, or boxed up and taken to charity.

Then there are the long standing toys – Lego!, Matchbox cars – unless you are a hot wheels or Corgi fan – I recall the hot wheels being faster, but suffering more axle bends. The Corgi’s were well made, but slow. Matchbox was the leader in my day. Meccano. I had some hand me down Meccano. It never seemed to be that big when I was a child, but I loved building with real metal and nuts and bolts etc etc.

Memory lane. TV shows are another. I’ll need to find an appropriate image to shoot for that post though!

Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV in very low light – hence the ‘grain’.

 

Kauri Park

Kauri ParkA quick walk after work to one of the local bushes – Kauri Park.

Here is an old, but interesting link on a Kauri Gum finding buy a resident local to this area

Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV in bleach bipass mode.

 

Racing for the Sun

Racing for the Sun

 

The sunset this evening was one of the more amazing of recent. Unfortunately I was stuck in traffic for the best of it. Racing (or driving as prompt as possible) once out of the  traffic, finding a park and jogging down the track to an open area, I missed all but the last of the sun as it dropped into the horizon. With tide out and still, I did manage to catch it reflecting the last of the days sun as it slowly curved down and away out to sea.

Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV and resized in Gimp.

Urban Stormwater

Urban Stormwater

 

A quick wander around yet another new suburban area in Albany on Aucklands North Shore brought me to an urban stormwater treatment pond. Stormwater, around the world, in ever increasing concrete jungles is a huge polluter to rivers, streams and beaches. Travelling around different areas of Auckland (and I am sure elsewhere), we have seen an increase in these treatment ponds around built up suburban areas. Designed to remove sediments and contaminants, as well as offering flood protection, the resulting outpour of water is much fresher and healthier for local wildlife. Perhaps not from the perspective in todays shot, they can also add a nice green/lake visual environment around the suburban area (whilst still being off limits to people of course).

Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV, switching back to bleach bipass setting. Slightly cropped in Gimp.

Keys to the House

Keys to the house

In what must be record time (for us), our internet issues have been resolved and we are back online again. One tick in the ‘to do list’ for our new home. Next on the list is re-seating and sealing our laundry tap. Things built up in the last week of packing, and my clothing is starting to whittle down in the selection pool.

Todays image was the first I shot with the transfer of ownership and key’s collection. Using the GRD with high contrast B&W on Macro, I shot from the bench, towards the brick ‘theme wall’ in the lounge.

High contrast B&W is a popular option for many Ricoh GRD fans. I have not used it a whole lot, but think I’ll give it a bit more of a go for a while. Being very contrasty and [digital] grainy, one can bump up the iso, if required, with little affect to the image.

On the subject of Ricoh and it’s GRD range, I am excited to read the GR V is finally on its way – albeit not officially announced yet. Fitting a APS C sensor (like that used in the majority of DSLR’s) makes it an amazingly small package with a lot of promise for delivering amazing images, yet still fitting in your jeans pocket.

I dont think I will be shifting up any time yet when it is released (If Ricoh sent me one I would happily use it!). My GRD IV is still as good as the day it was released, creates great images, handles well…and just does what was designed to do. Its all too easy to jump on the need, want, must have band wagon without really assessing if one genuinely does need. Back in the film camera days you might own the same camera for several decades. In our current Technology age, one year is sold to us as being a lifetime (hello Samsung and Apple). There is no argument the latest models are [usually] a step up, but whether its a required step up is another question. When my Sony 5N was replaced with the latest 5# and the improved Nex6, both models gained function, but lost battery life – image quality was essentially identical also. I love playing with new toys, but have also started to reflect a lot on how much the ‘consumerism and marketing god’ pulls at our wallet strings. Branded is a fun movie I caught a while ago which creatively plays with this idea.

That will do for today. Its only Wednesday!

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