A little bit of cropping.

Clematis climbing over an old fence.

I'm often somewhat frustrated my my inability to crop images yet retain good detail in the cropped photograph.  These two images are a good case in point.  The first image was taken with the longest focal length that I have, 200mm.  I can get some contrast detail between the flowers and the fence, but I would have liked to get a bit closer to the flowers to emphasise their detail and structure.

I often like to get an overall image of the plant, and then more detailed shots.  However, when the overall shot was taken with the greatest focal length lens that I own, the only other option available to me is to upscale and crop.

This is where the second image comes in.  The second image in this post is a crop of the flowers you see in the first shot.  Nothing else changed, yet it seems a totally different image.  Something to consider perhaps before you trash your image is that with a simple crop you may have something rather more pleasing to the eye.  Just a thought :-)

Crop of first image to present more detail in the flowers.

Seed pods!

Liquid Amber Seed Heads

I don't know what it is, but there's definitely something about these seed pods that intrigue me.  Perhaps it's their shape or the way they roll down the driveway scattering seeds?

Looking at the seed pods I wanted to make them as sharp as I could and blur the background.  I used a 200mm focal length and an aperture of f4.  I kept using the depth of field preview to make sure I had as much of the seed pods in focus as possible without bringing in too much of the background.

On my computer I used Silver Efex and added a bit of a lighter coloured vignette to guide your eye to the interesting things.  As before there's a bit of interest along a diagonal, and the seed pods are  reasonably sharp.  Perhaps let me know what you think?

Those seed heads again!

Caitlin Smith

Caitlin Smith

If you're in Auckland you should really consider popping into Hotel DeBrett on High Street.  Each Sunday from 6.30pm through to 9.30pm you'll get the chance to hear the lovely Caitlin Smith the very pleasant atmosphere of Hotel De Brett.  I went down earlier today to take a few photographs, but must admit to finding the lighting more conducive to relaxing with a glass of wine and listening to fine music than photography.

Caitlin Smith

I'd taken my 85mm lens and was using this wide open at f1.4 with ISO at 3200 and shutter speeds down at 1/50 second.  The resultant images have noise, but not too bad.  Also, I thought the shots may look better if I converted them to monochrome.  However, I;m not really sure if I prefer them in colour or monochrome yet.  They both have advantages.  I think the greatest requirement is to have at least something in the shot sharply focussed.  Not something that was easy to do in the low light!

Anyway, perhaps let me know what you think of the shots in this post ... I'd love to know what you think.

Sick ... again!

Autumn leaves at Conifer Grove.

The weather must be getting cooler as I've started with a cough again!  Off to the pharmacy to get some medication before things get worse.  Anyway, as I've been collecting my various pills and potions I couldn't help but be struck by the lovely autumn colours.  First shot in this post is of a Pin Oak.  It was those two green leaves side by side that really caught my eye ... hopefully they stand out for you too in the shot above.

Banksia.

It's not just the leaves that are changing colour though.  Walking past neighbours gardens there's a wide range of plants still in flower that seem to take on a special glow with the early morning or late afternoon autumn sun.  Banksias have always intrigued me.  These plants seem to have an amazingly complex flower that must be a nightmare to negotiate if you're a bee!  I mean, when you look at a hibiscus, it seems pretty obvious where to go to get the nectar, but with these flowers!!  Whoa!  Where do you start?!?!

Besides banskia there's a few protea in flower as well as some hibiscus.  I really must try to get up earlier to get more golden light into my shots ... perhaps after I've taken my pills :-)

Gorgeous protea.  Not a flower as such, just colourful bracts!

Autumn colour in some leaves at Conifer Grove.

OK, a monochrome shot to end with.  I just liked the textures in these "things".

A trip to Bury ...

Statue in memory of Robert Peel in front of the Parish Church, Bury

It's been a very long time since I visited Bury ... a very long time.  I used to live near Bury and this was the town we'd often visit to do our weekly shopping.  It was also the town we'd head to in order to catch the train into Manchester if there was anything special we needed to buy.  However, after moving to Bolton in the late 1970s, visits to Bury became less frequent.  There was a brief burst of visits when I worked at Peel College in the early 1980s, but I didn't really go into the town.  Just commuted to the college really.

So, with a desire to look again at what was once quite a pleasant town I took the train into Manchester and then the tram from Manchester's Victoria station into Bury.  The train pretty well took the same route as the train took when I was much younger.  A few of the stations have changed from the days of the old electric trains, and there seemed rather more rubbish and waste scattered around the area.  Similar to how I remember the area, but rather more different than I was expecting.

On arrival at Bury it seemed less welcoming than I could recall.  Kay Gardens is a shadow of its former glory and the area just seemed somewhat dirty and run down.  I headed off towards the Parish Church as I wanted to see the barracks and the statue of Sir Robert Peel.

Sir Robert Peel.

Robert Peel is one of the more famous people born in Bury.  Whilst Home Secretary Robert Peel helped create the modern concept of the police force.  Named after Robert Peel the new police officers the new "Bobbies" or "Peelers" were the forerunners of the familiar police officers of today.

Subsequent to Robert Peel's sudden death a public meeting in Bury's court house determined that a monument be erected as a perpetual memorial to the town's eminent townsman.

A Bury local told me that  the sculptor of the bronze statue, Edward Hodges Baily, committed suicide when he noticed the mistake in his statue.  Take a look at the image of Sir Robert Peel and see if you can see the mistake.  I'll tell you what the mistake is at the end of this post.  Not sure the story of suicide is correct, bit the mistake is definitely there.

Close by the statue of Sir Robert Peel and the Parish Church you'll find the barracks.    This building is quite impressive and probably not noticed by many of Bury's visitors being hidden away behind the main streets.  The third shot in this post is a four shot panorama stitched together which may explain the slight distortion in the building, but at least it gives you an impression of the building.

The barracks at Bury.

No town of significance in the Victorian era was without a railway, and Bury was no exception.  Bury had two stations and a signifiant number of lines linking it with its neighbours.  In the 21st century the link to Manchester remains and the East Lanacashire Railway now runs steam and diesel trains to Heywood and Rawtenstall from Bury.  It's a good run and great fun.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself on the trains.  The next few shots were taken on the line ... converted to monochrome to give that expected 1940s/1950s look.  Click on the image to see a larger and clearer view of the shots an please let me know what you think.

Thought I'd forgotten to tell you the sculptor's mistake?  Not a chance.  The mistake is with Sir Robert Peel's waistcoat.  Men's clothes wrap left over right, ladies go right over left.  Look carefully at the image and you'll notice that Sir Robert's waistcoat is buttoned in a ladies style rather than a man's.

Wheelton Locks

The "Top Lock Public House" at Wheelton Locks.

Just off the M61 there's a small village called Wheelton through which passes the Leeds Liverpool Canal.  The special thing about the place are the locks.  Sadly we didn't get to see them in action, but it's still a lovely place to visit nevertheless.  Being somewhat inspired by the sepia type photographs from the late 1800s and early 1900s I've converted my colour digital images into monochrome.  Perhaps let me know what you think?

Lock keepers cottage at the top lock at Wheelton.

Another lock keepers cottage and lock.

Westhoughton ...

I'd noticed a program on the TV here in the UK about a photographer called Francis Frith.  This gentleman attempted to photograph each city, town and village in England using what was then the new photographic camera.  We're talking about the 1850s and later.  I was seriously impressed with the quality of the images Mr. Frith and his photographers achieved and decided I'd take a stroll into Westhoughton to the library to see if they had any books about the man.  Sadly I found nothing, but did manage a couple of shots of the town on my travels.  After watching about Francis Frith I had to convert the shots to monochrome now didn't I?

Looking towards the town centre with the town hall the dominant feature centre right of the image.

Looking down the main street towards the church.

The town hall, built 1905.  Quite stunning in a very red brick.

Changes afoot ...

Lone fisherman, late evening, Maraetai New Zealand.

After twenty years with my current employer the time has come for a change.  I have just less than two weeks before I leave work and consider doing things other than IT.

Am I concerned, anxious or worried in any way about the future?  Surprisingly not!  I must admit to being quite excited about the idea!  Really excited for what the future may hold.

One thing I'll do is have a rest.  A long rest I think.  Go and look at the beautiful scenery here in New Zealand and take my time to look, listen and chat to people (check this out).  Who knows ... I might even try my hand at fishing like the gent in the first image in this post!

I've often had the desire to spend more time outdoors, so that's one thing I'll be adding to my list.  I'll be taking more landscape shots ... something I've always really enjoyed but never had the time to develop.  I always seemed to be in a rush and just ended up taking snapshots rather than photographs.

The bands?  Can't resist the bands!  I've met so many lovely talented people working in the music industry here in NZ and am seriously keen to spend more time with them.  Performances are often late at night which has been awkward due to early starts at work ... but now I have a chance to spend more time with the bands.

So, please tag along with me on this blog as I update you with images from my travels, gigs and whatever else crops up.  I'm hoping to have a heap of fun with plenty left over to share with you.  Remember you can also find me on Google+ and Facebook.  

Depressed?  Not a bit of it!  The future looks sunny and bright ... just like the flower below :-)

Sunflower bloom

Yellow flowers!

Yellow flowers!

Just got back from work and really keen to start the holidays I took my tripod and headed into the garden to try some shots.  These bright yellow flowers caught my eye, but the image seemed just too saturated.  A bit of a play in Lightroom ... desaturating, reducing contrast and adding a bit of a vignette resulted in the shot you see above.  I quite like it.  Certainly give a better impression of the texture and form of the flower which I believe was lost in the colour version of the shot.  It also has a somewhat "dreamy" look to the shot that I quite like.  Anyway, what do you think?

Monochrome ... for a change :-)

Lupins

Thankfully I'm starting to feel more normal again after this dreadful chest infection.  Still not 100%, but certainly on the mend now.  In an attempt to feel less nauseous I headed off to the Botanic Gardens for a breath of fresh air.  Oh, and I took my camera ... just in case there was something nice to see.

The first thing to catch my eye were the lupins.  I've always liked their leaves.  Great textures and patterns that I think are perhaps best captured with a monochrome treatment.

After the lupins I headed down towards the lake where there was this gorgeous tree with some quite stunning cones.  I;m afraid I don't know the name of the tree, but if you do, please let me know.  Again, a monochrome treatment with a light vignette ... sounds like a salad!  The shots have a bit of an old style look to them which I must admit to quite liking.  Perhaps let me know what you think?

Three shots ...

Fatsia in monochrome. 

Tiny snail on an arum lily.

I really can't get over the slowness with which I seem to be recovering from my chest infection.  The cough remains and the drugs used to help out seem to be making me feel sick most of the time with reflux problem.  Arggh!  I try to get a bit of fresh air each day, but get tired quite quickly.  Anyway, I usually take my trusty Nikon with me when I go for a stroll and what you see here are a few shots from today's stroll.

The first shot in this post is of a fatsia leaf.  These leaves have such lovely textures and the morning light playing on the leaf was quite special.  Sharpened in Lightroom, monochrome treatment courtesy of Silver Efex Pro.

The second shot is quite a contrast with very rich colour in the green leaf of the arum lily.  It was the little snail that caught my eye.  50mm lens quite open to enhance the blur in the background, but retain sharpness in the snail's shell.

The third shot was taken in the evening when the light seemed to go soft and blurry.  I've tried to keep the flower sharp and correctly exposed but retain the atmosphere of that special light.  Did it work?  Perhaps you'll let me know?

Impatiens in a soft light

Flash :-)

A long time ago ... perhaps before a number of you were born ... in a land far away from where I now live, I bought a flash gun.  Yup, 1980, Coventry in the UK, I bought myself a SunPak Autozoom 3600 Thyristor.  In those days, to get a flash with enough power to let you bounce light around the room required what was referred to as a hammer head flash.  It didn't attach to the hotshoe, but via a bracket under the camera and wire to the x-sync socket on the camera.  I loved it.  It served me well whilst shooting film with my Pentax MX.

The shot you see in this post was taken back in 1982.  Kafka the cat.  Sigma 80-200mm lens on the Pentax MX and shot on Ilford FP4 monochrome film.  What you see here is a scan from a 10x8 print I made in the University darkroom the best part of 30 years ago!

I'd mount the flash on a tripod and use extension cables to allow me to move away from the flash.  It was great.  I didn't get the horrible shadows behind the subject and there was a lovely even light to the shots.

Move on to the present and the Autozoom 3600 is still in working order.  Problem is the Nikon D300 isn't warranted to connect to this flash due to the high voltages returned from the flash.  The solution?  A Phottix Aster Wireless Flash Trigger Set.  I got mine from Progear in Newmarket.  I needed an adapter from the old x-sync connector to the 3.5mm jack used on the Phottix receiver, but now I can shoot with flash ... without wires!  Pleased?  I'm stoked :-)  After the frustrations at the Mangere Arts Centre the other night it's great to have a combination with which I'm familiar and works!  Watch this space for a few more flash shots over the coming weeks.  Oh, and let me know what you think of Kafka :-)

Take Note ... take 2

Take Note ... in monochrome.

Black and white images have interesting properties and can often convey a better impression of an event than a full colour shot can.  Is it because you look more at the shapes?  Perhaps you're imagination fills in the gaps?  Then again, perhaps the photograph can focus your mind on the more salient aspects of the image?  I'm not sure, but a good black and white image is VERY hard to beat!  Sadly,  can't claim to have the ability to craft these stunning monochrome images ... but that doesn't stop me trying.  Sorry :-(

So, this post has a few monochrome images from Take Note's performance last Friday night at Ellerslie's Cock 'n Bull.  Take a look at let me know what you think.  Part of me things the "noise", lack of precise focus or movement in the image is acceptable and almost expected in certain shots.  Hints and suggestions are more than welcome by the way.