Relearning how to photograph

Today was an excellent day. I found 2 new places to photograph - Northcote Point (see post below) and Karaka Bay.

Karaka Bay - now that was a surprise for me. I spent 1 year in Glendowie, and its only a 5 minute from where i lived then but I never stumbled across it. Grrr. But hey, it was a cool discovery. I'll probably yap more about this area later.

I decide in the afternoon to go exclusively with my new 85mm lens. This is lens is quite challenging for me - especially after shooting 15mm-30mm wide angle lens. I was used to capturing the entire scene on the lens, now only a tiny segment gets captured! And since there is no zoom, I have to move to the correct position, instead of twisting the lens to do it! The Depth of Field is much greather with the prime lens as well, and I am learning how to throw objects out focus whilst keeping the subject sharp as possible.

Here are today's B&W results, a mixture of Northcote Point and Karaka Bay:

Under the Bridge

The Auckland Harbour bridge that is! Alofa Magele, an Auckland living in Brisbane, deserves much credit for these shots as he emailed me the location last week. It was a bit too chilly to stay too long here, my hands were too numb to turn the dials and such.

This is my 'mist simulation' shot. I huffed some of my stale morning breath on the lens to give it a soft misty effect:


This shot colours came all out of whack, this was a 30 sec time exposure. I brightened it in photoshop and increase the contrast slightly:

Hey you, critique this!

Here is my feeble to get you, the random blog surfer who unwittedly clicked next blog, to critique some photography.

3 of the same images, with different settings:

colour


desaturated (black & white)


desaturated and warmed (sepia)


So which do you prefer, if any? And why do you prefer it?

Testing my new lens

woohoo, I recently recieved my new 85mm prime lens (canon) and it tis a beautiful thing. its very challenging taking shots with this lens because the telephoto factor but i am learning! Here are a couple of shots.

This one was taken with a 'warming filter'


This one was taken with an 'UV filter'


i had to take shelter from the storm, but it was a pretty intense rainbow i saw here!

Angie Aparo

How slack am I? I just found out Angie Aparo has released about 2 albums since "The American" one my favourite albums of all time. If you haven't heard of him, you probably heard "Cry" which Faith Hill made popular. Its the only song by him I despise! Anyways, check out his website at Angie Aparo. This album reminded me of America and my life around September 11th.

The American also has one of favourite albums covers:


Heres the lyrics to the song that pull on me heartstrings:

The American by Angie Aparo

Sonny took a train
Mary took a boat
Somewhere it's gonna be better
Everybody needs a little hope
Ten thousand souls
Waiting on a bus and it never rolled
So it goes...

No one's leaving California
Pacific transit overload
Gold dust dreamers never warn ya
And my guitar strums
I am The American

I got a walking stick
And an old sock hat
I've got dirty hands
And I've got a dream to match
I've got a pocket full
Of government issue cures for poverty

No one's leaving California
Pacific transit overload
All my friends live on the corner
And my guitar strums
I am The American

Under the streetlight, down by the water
Don't worry baby, it's nothing you ever knew
(If it) Makes you feel better, throw down a quarter
Don't worry baby, it won't stick to your shoes

No one's leaving California
Pacific transit overload
Gold dust dreamers never warn ya
And my guitar strums
Yeah my guitar strums
I am The American

Floral Pleasure

Well, i was at the auckland domain today and snapped a couple of quick shots of some flowers:

Dream Log Entry #5

I started keeping a journal of all the dreams I have beside my bed. Occasionally i'll have interesting dreams and record them there. Here is my most recent entry:

I saw myself as a shadow on the white walls of my room. It was like seeing a shadow picture show. This shadow of myself reached into my chest and pull out my still beating heart. I saw the sillouette of my hand holding the pulsating heart against the wall.

The heart pulsating in my hand transformed into a fish. The fish squirmed and slithered out of my hand and flipped itself across the room and all over the place - as a fish out of water would do!

Digital Cross Processing

Here is my attempt at cross processing simulation in the digital darkroom. Most of my photographs try to emulate old school darkroom trips in the 'digital darkroom'. This is a pipe that is trying to pump sand on to Kohimaramara beach:

Auckland Lyrics

Its been nearly 7 years since I wrote a song. I have composed little tunes on my guitar but I haven't written any lyrics in quite some time. It could because penning words often reminded me of my tumultuous early twenties. More likely I just diverted my creativity to photography instead of music. This morning I woke with this song in my head. It was about the last few relationships I had when I arrived in arrived in Auckland, hence, I dubbed it "Auckland":

caught in the eddies,
is it determined by fate
I am beneath the wreckage
trapped under the weight
I howl to the gods
but will they hear?
As the storm surges
I know you are near

In your eyes I can here the sound
of sailors screaming into the raging wind
I will not give up, I'll hold my ground
The water swirls beneath me but I will not drown

I will not drown
I will not drown
I will not drown

As the rain pelts this ocean
it stings my face
you slowly approach me
for a final embrace
you cling too tight
I cannot move
Though I see the shore
I am bound to you

In your eyes I can hear the sound
of the hurricane approaching this ship
I will not give up, I'll hold my ground
The water swirls above me now, but I will not drown

I will not drown
I will not drown
I will not drown

One Tree Hill

Here are some piccies of one tree hill. To find out more about this interesting place commemorate by a U2 song, click the following link: one tree hill history:




not taken from one tree hill, but the tower on the left side is situated on one tree hill:

New Zealand Art

Just has a look at some cool art that is displayed at this New Zealand Art Auction. Here are some of my favourite pieces going on display:


Geoff Williams




Ralph Hotere




John Loxton