photos and other things…
The internet has gone down at home today, so I will take the opportunity for another mobile post.
Whilst up in the old Albany village, we stopped in on the local ducks with a loaf of bread. Something I learnt new was that common ducks can swim quite well fully underwater. I have only seen them bobbing, bums up, until today.
Todays image is shot with the vignette app on my galaxy s2
A quick mobile post from work for today as I’m off out later on.
Shot whilst playing around with Papercam on Android, I caught the shadow of a figure in the background, which tied in well with the magazine I was flicking through.
Friday afternoons are often filled with staff meetings, which is either a blessing or curse to end the work week, depending on the individual. Based on todays image it looks to be a short meeting!
Today marks Waitangi Day in New Zealand – the day The Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the Maori of New Zealand and the British Crown in 1840. The treaty itself, often a source of discussion and argument, is on occasion brought to a head on Waitangi day. For many, as well as recognising our history, Waitangi day may be viewed also as New Zealand Day – a day where we can (aside from those hard at work) relax and enjoy a day amongst friends. It was a beautiful and relaxing day, one made all the better with some watermelon and a bottle of L&P (world famous in New Zealand).
Shot on the Samsung Galaxy S2 using vignette and resized with added text in CS5
A quick post for today as I return from the Laneway music festival. Bat For Lashes put on a great show, concluding my day in the sun.
Shot on the galaxy s2 and edited in afterfocus.
Up to old Albany Village for dinner this evening I caught this snap of one of the local art works.
Now down the road from the Albany Mega Mall, the old village used to be locally famous for having a mass of roosters living and walking the zone. Sadly now days none can be found. You will find ducks and a cat colony… The roosters were culled and relocated around a decade ago.
My other memory of the village, back when it was rural and the tip of the North Shore was picking for pears in the local park. Open to the public, I assume it was once an orchard.
We walked this area after dinner and I was happy to find many of the pear trees were still there and in fruit…desert!
Image wise, shot on the galaxy, edited in afterfocus.
Waking up at 5am, I jumped in the car and headed to Auckland’s West Coast to catch some early morning images. With a host of beaches to choose from, I settled on my favorite – Piha Beach.
39km west of Auckland’s CBD, its a long windy road to get to Piha. From the direction I came, I took a road called Scenic Drive. Scenic drive itself was built in the 1930’s depression by those on unemployment at the time. Often crossing ridge lines, when an opening in the trees becomes available, it offers a magnificent view of various parts of Auckland.
Unfortunately for me, the sky was very overcast at Piha the whole morning I was there, only clearing in the afternoon, on my home journey. I did take a number of shots however, and will look to edit through them and share a little later in the week, along with some more information on the local area.
Today’s shot was taken just around the corner from the southern end of Piha. The image does not show it, but it was blowing fairly strong winds! (I had to retrieve my hat which blew off the cliff!).
Image/Editing wise, the same as the last few days. Shot on the Samsung Galaxy S2 using Vignette with a digital Polaroid setting. Writing added in Photoshop CS5.
A mobile press on the run today as I am out and about on birthday surprises. Before leaving home I noticed a few of the tulip bulbs I planted in winter have finally come up, and more are following.
I went to the Auckland Art Gallery this afternoon and took some shots on the nex I will likley share tomorrow.
Thatd all for today as a 2″ keypad is not my best idea of fun to type on.
We were stopping through the CBD today, so I took the opportunity to test out my Ricoh TLS after giving it a bit of a clean up. I also brought along my mobile and the fisheye lens as I wanted to capture something else to document for the day.
Being in town there is always a wide range of images, especially with the likes of a fisheye. The first logical choice is to capture the tall skyscrapers towering over oneself and give the distorted image of them closing in on the viewer. Where I strolled through was quite contrasty, and the samsung struggled with the dynamic range to capture the details on the street as well as up in the sky. I strolled by a lunch bar where the staff were getting in an early morning meal before opening and composed today’s image ‘Planet Food’ . About a foot out from the window, I like how the reflections outside are captured in the fisheye as we peer into the bowl/planet like image.
In post processing, I converted the image to black and white and increased sharpness a little in Gimp.
A lazy day was had in New Plymouth today. Its nice to take a break from the hussle and bussle of day to day life – sometimes it takes one to be taken out of their invironment in order to be able to do it!
I caught todays image on the waterfront. I like the openness of the image. You can imagine sitting on the seat, stairing at the ocean and letting your mind wander.
I also got some shots on the Fed1, so eargerly await to see how they turn out.
Taken on the samsung galaxy s2 using vignette app.
Ive been meaning to try out the android web posting on wordpress for some time now, so decided to share a mobile snap I caught a few weeks ago during work. Taken from the 27th floor from one of the buildings on Aucklands waterfront, it was a beautuful sunny day. Unfortunately being there early morning the glare from the sun didnt allow an angle where my reflection could not be seen, but not to worry. Everything was so small looking down upon the city. Perspective changes everything!
Taken on ghe samsung galaxy II.
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