Angles ...

Chakana Cabernet Sauvignon cork.

It was a lovely bottle of wine.  A very pleasant Cabernet Sauvignon from the Argentine producer Chakana.  I must admit to be somewhat surprised to find a black "cork" in the bottle, but the shape of the cork and bottle opener rather appealed to me.  Diagonals and triangles again!!  The shape of the bottle opener has always appealed to me and the way it unfolds.

Anyway, I played with the opener and cork in my hands for a wee while, looked at the cork and noticed the writing and wondered how to get a shot.

Well, after playing with a few lights in the rumpus room I finally came up with the shot you see here.  I've got the angles and shapes I wanted and even managed to get the light onto the bits of interest.

Lighting was VERY simple.  A single softbox looking up to the ceiling and a gold reflector on a boom to bounce the light back at the corkscrew.  The corkscrew was suspended by cotton thread from the boom to get the shape we wanted and then we just fired the shutter.  Oh, and then we used Photoshop to get rid of the cotton threads from the shot.  All just for fun to see how things would work and a great little exercise for father and son.

So there you go.  Lots of fun with a bottle of wine and its cork.  I must say, if you get the chance to try the 2010 Chakana Cabernet Sauvignon it isn't too bad at all.

What do you think?

I thought I might try something a little different over the next few weeks.  What I thought I'd try to do is write down what it is I see as I frame the shot and why I take the shot the way I do.  It's not because I think my photographs are particularly good, far from it!!  However, a number of people have asked me what I see that inspires me to take the photograph as well as why I take the shots the way that I do.  Perhaps explaining what it is I look for and how I decide to set up the camera may give you a better idea of what not to do as well as what to do?  I'm hopeful also that if this is seen as a good idea I may be able to solicit feedback from you to help me to take better shots.  Let's see.  Perhaps we could try this  post as a sample of what might happen with future posts?

Pictorial Composition, E Gordon Barber, Fountain Press

Many years ago, in fact rather more than I care to mention, a close relative of mine gave me a book called Pictorial Composition.  Mine is the 1946 2nd Edition of this little pocket book and it has been a treasure ever since it was presented to me.  I can't say that I agree with everything in the book, but it made me think and ask questions.  It helped me to observe, rather than just look.

Back in 1946, most photographic work was done in monochrome.  Monochrome was a medium with which I loved to work and must admit to still thoroughly enjoying this medium to this day.  Being able to picture an image as a monochrome shot focusses your eyes on structure and form; vital components of a strong image.  Where the various elements of an image are placed as well as how they interact with each other can either make or break the shot or transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

So let me start off this series (if indeed that ever happens) with some photographs of daffodils.  For the first image I was really inspired by the light on the leaves and that almost misty look to things.  I was looking at the leaves, noticing highlights as the sunlight hit water droplets on leaves and how the leaf colours changed when the light was reflected or passed through the leaf.  I looked at scenes with the light in front of me, and also with the light behind me.  Looking into the sun emphasized the misty appearance of the light and then I spotted a daffodil.  The way the light passed through its petals was just gorgeous, and then there were the highlights in the background.  Using a tripod I managed to get into a position where I could include all the elements that I'd been enjoying on my walk.  Highlights from water droplets on leaves, somewhat misty appearance to the scene and nice play of light on some of the leaves.  I used an 85mm lens at f2.8 as I wanted the background soft and those highlights to be as round as I could get them.  Exposure was measured for the flower as I really wanted detail in the petals.  f2.8 let me get most of the petals in focus.

Lone Daffodil in the early evening light.  Hall Lee Bank Park, Westhoughton, England.

Shot two is quite different.  I rather like triangles as shapes and working along the diagonal with shots.  I suppose this came as a direst result of reading the book I mentioned earlier.  I'm always looking for shapes and angles with the way objects in the fram interact.  I can't say I succeed in my endeavours, but that's all part of the fun and what makes taking photographs a challenge.  This set of daffodils, with one fallen gave me a diagonal of intertest and also provided me with a triangle.  Again a wide aperture was selected as I saw the bloom of the foremost daffodil as the main point of interest in the shot.  f2.8 again with focus and exposure taken for the foremost bloom.  I could have used a longer focal length and concentrated on the bloom itself.  For me, this shot reminds me that the daffodils are in a group, under my silver birch trees and that when it rains they get knocked about yet still manage to look rather pretty.

Daffodils in my front yard.  Auckland New Zealand.

The last shot was inspired by the overwhelming number of daffodils planted close together.  It was this sea of blooms with these three bloom facing towards me that inspired me.  I tried to place the blooms of interest off to the side of the image and leave a significant portion of the fram to be filled with this sea of blooms, but out of focus.  I uses a wide aperture (f2.8) to blur most of the other blooms.

So many daffodils!!  Harlow Carr Gardens, Harrogate, England.

So there you go.  Interesting?  Boring?  Worth continuing?  Perhaps let me know what you think?

Smokefree Pacific Beats

Well what a surprise!!  I was taking an evening stroll last night and happened to bump into my friend Malcolm Lakatani along with Petrina George standing outside the Telstra Clear Pacific Centre.  Talented young musicians were there competing in the Smokefree Pacifica Beats competition.  Not being able to resist shooting musicians shooting live I raced back home, got my 70-200mm and got back as quick as I could.  I had to leave at 9pm to collect my daughter from work, but what I saw and heard from these young musicians was impressive.  There  is a heap of musical talent here in New Zealand that's for sure!!

Anyway, to give you a little taste of the atmosphere here's a few shots for your amusement.  There's also a few more shots on Facebook.  If you think I may have a shot of you on stage that you'd like, just email me at chris@nzcjs.com :-)

Some new glass :-)

Ligularia in flower at Auckland's Botanic Gardens

I'd been taking some shots for a friend where a wide angle lens was required.  I was using a 12mm focal length lens on my cropped sensor D300 and whilst looking OK, the shots didn't have the impact I was looking for that a seriously wide angle lens could provide.  I'd also noticed some quite stunning shots by Pawel Tomaszewicz and thought I should get something wider than 12mm.  After pondering for some time I bought the Samyang 8mm f3.5.  The lens requires manual focussing and use of the aperture ring rather than the wheel on the camera body.

My desk with 12mm lens

But just how much of a difference is there between the 12mm lens and the 8mm lens?  I suppose I was expecting a much larger field of view, and as the lens is sold as a fisheye, quite a bit of distortion.  The first shot in this post was taken with the 8mm Samyang and doesn't look too bad.  The main problem I was having in this shot was the light.  The sky was quite bright, even though overcast, and the foreground somewhat in shadow.  as such, this image is a blend of five shots taken at 1EV intervals.  Distortion is definitely there, but the shot isn't overwhelmed by its presence.  The bamboo to the right of the image should be vertical, but its leaning into the shot adds to the shot rather than detract from it.

OK, but just how much more can you get in the shot with 8mm instead of 12mm?  I set up my tripod next to my desk and took two shots from the same position, one with a 12mm lens, the other with 8mm.  Quite a difference don't you think?  What's more, in this shot the distortion is rather more apparent than in the first image in the post.

My desk with 8mm lens

The computer screen and window frame are seriously bent in the 8mm image, whereas are surprisingly straight in the 12mm shot.  But just look hoe much more "stuff" you can get into the frame, and it's reasonably sharp as you look to the edges of the image.

Quite a fun lens with heaps of potential for creating quite striking shots.  Maybe take a look at Pawel's images and you may find yourself becoming inspired to get a fisheye lens yourself ;-)

Transit of Venus

Transit of Venus earlier this morning from Auckland, New Zealand

I didn't think I'd get to see much today as it's pretty cloudy.  However, the clouds broke and there was as chance to see the transit of Venus across the sun.  I used my Nikkor 70-200mm lens with an aperture of f16 and ... wait for it ... a welding mask!  I set the camera on Live View and then tried to line things up to get the shot.

Same shot as before, but with a bit of a twiddle in Photoshop in an attempt to correct the colours.

Khuja Bar.

That's right video launch at the Khuja Bar ... ready for the guests to arrive

Great fun at the Khuja Bar in Auckland's CBD.  Wonderful atmosphere for the launch of Jason Eli's music video, "That's Right".  I've tried to find a link to the video, but can't find anything ... sorry.  There's a few photos on Facebook of the folks who attended the launch.  Great fun had by one and all.

Whilst waiting for the guests to arrive I had a chance to look around the venue and was quite taken by the VIP Lounge.  The scene just seemed to cry out for a bit of HDR treatment, so that's what you can see below.  I didn't take a tripod, so a door frame acted as a stabiliser for the camera.  I've also attached the five images used to created the HDR shot you see below ... just for fun.  I think the HDR treatment has worked for the better in this instance ... do you?

5 shot HDR image of the VIP Lounge at the Khuja Bar.

What the camera thought was OK (0EV)

+1EV

+2EV

-1EV

-2EV

Pacific Music Awards 2012

Malcolm Lakatani and his band play tribute to Keil Isles at the 2012 Pacific Music Awards

So much musical talent, so much joy and happiness, such a wonderful atmosphere, but how could it be anything else with so many Pacific Island people at the event?  It was superb.  Lifetime achievement award was presented to Keil Isles for whom there was a tribute performance by Malcolm Lakatani and his band.  And what a band!!  Semi Leo on bass guitar, Chrismas Ropati on lead guitar, Patrick Tanielu on drums, Saylene Ulberg on keyboards, Ross Devereux and Thabani Gapara on sax and the gorgeous Grace Ikenasio on backing vocals ... Wow!!  If the Keil Isles band was like these guys then I can see why they were so popular.  Wonderful performance and such a shame it had to end.

Quite a few artists performed on stage and it was a real privilege to be there and soak up the atmosphere.  I suppose Adeaze must be the main talking point at the conclusion of the awards.  These humble guys managed to win Best Urban Album, Best Pacific Group and Best Pacific Song for their track Paradise.  Great to see them perform on stage too!  If you haven't heard them head over here ... http://adeazemusic.com/ and take a look.  There's a short music video you'll see on their homepage.  Well worth a listen.

I'll close this post now with a few more shots from the night.  Want to see more?  Head on over to my Facebook page to see a small album of the Adeaze boys, Mista Lakatani's band, and some general shots from the night.

Adeaze.