Back to the Cock 'n Bull ...

A chance to see Allegro at the Newmarket Cock 'n Bull last night wasn't to me missed.  I've not seen these guys perform together for what seems like ages, and they were good.  Semi Leo and Malcolm Lakatani (bass and lead guitar) you've seen a few times on these pages, and Grace Ikenasio (vocals), but you've not seen so much of Saylene Ulberg (keyboards) or Patrick Tanielu (drums).  Great sounds from the band last night and they "gel" very well together to produce and nice tight sound.  Great fun.

Patrick Tanielu playing drums for Allegro at the Cock 'n Bull, Newmarket.

It was a few weeks ago that I tried the Nikkor 85mm f1.8 with Semi and Malcolm at the same location.  Quite a nice lens, but focussing was a problem in low light.  Last night I was privileged to try the 85mm f1.4.  Huge difference!  This lens was fast to focus and really didn't give me any concerns at all.  I was always anxious with the f1.8 that it was going to hunt for focus, no such concern with the f1.4.  This lens was wonderful to use.  As when I used this lens before I decided to shoot wide open at f1.4.  The lens isn't the sharpest at this aperture ... peaks at about f4.  Even so, resolution is still very good indeed in the centre when wide open.  The edges suffer a bit and go quite soft, but that's fine for the type of shots you'll see in this post and often adds something special to the shot anyway.  Background blur is deliciously smooth so this lens is definitely worth considering ... even if it is three times the price of the the f1.8!

Saylene Ulberg playing keyboards for Allegro at Newmarket's Cock 'n Bull.

The second shot in this post illustrates to some extent the blur you can achieve with this lens.  The lamp to Saylene's left is the same lamp you can see in the shot of Patrick but it has been smoothed beautifully and the highlights appearing and lovely circles.  Both lenses have curved aperture blades and both lenses provide gorgeous bokeh.

Malcolm Lakatani ... wonderfully playful (as usual) on lead guitar.

Shot three in this post has Malcolm Lakatani on lead guitar.  Malcolm oozes talent and really engages with the audience.  His naturally playful character shines through in his performance ... we even saw him on the dance floor last night giving a few pointers to some of the patrons.

Again this shot is wide open and you can see the effect this has on the potentially distracting background.  The wall behind Malcolm is a collection of framed pictures, but all you see in the shot is a smooth blur.  Very pleasing behaviour from this lens.

Semi Leo on bass guitar with Allegro at Newmarket's Cock 'n Bull.

Shot four has Semi Leo on bass with the street lights shining through the window behind him.  Lovely treatment of the highlights, but you do notice a bit of colour fringing on the highlights at the wide aperture. Something to worry about?  In this shot I don't think so.  You'll  also notice in this shot the very shallow depth of field.  Semi's left eye is focussed, but look along his shoulders and you'll notice how quickly things go out of focus.  In my eyes, very nice.

I'll finish this post with a couple more shots.  You'll get to see Saylene in colour, and then a shot each of Malcolm and Semi in monochrome thanks to Silver Efex Pro.  If you are converting colour shots to monochrome it may be worth you checking out Silver Efex Pro by Nik Software.  It lets you do many of the things you used to do in the darkroom on your computer.

I hope you enjoyed the images ... perhaps let me know what you think?

Saylene Ulberg

Malcolm Lakatani in monochrome with a copper treatment (SilverEfex)

Semi Leo in monochrome, this time with a selenium treatment (SilverEfex)

Fibonacci ...

Well, here's a change!!  My daughter had to calculate the ratio of the (n+1)th and nth elements in the Fibonacci series.  Not that bad really.

The Fibonacci series goes like this;
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34,  and so on.

You can see how to calculate the next number in the series ... you just add together the previous two.  So, bear with me a little now.  We need to know the ratio of adjacent entries in the series as we go long way down the list.

I can represent the ratio and the value to which the ratio will "tend" as we go further down the list with the the equations you see to the left.

Solving the final equation will give me the solution required.

But why am I showing you this?  Well, in nature, you will notice many things in a proportion known as the Golden Ratio, or Golden Mean.  This ratio is just what the Fibonacci Series tends towards as you go further down the list.

Now lets look at something else.

Often when people are taking picture they talk about the "Rule of Thirds".  This is where the image is split into three equal parts and instead of placing important parts of the image in the middle, they'd be placed on a third.  For example, you'll often see the horizon is placed on a horizontal third.

Splitting the frame into thirds for "better" composition.

This "rule"of thirds is very common amongst photographers, but isn't really a "rule" at all.  It's just an easy way to get a safer composition than placing objects of interest smack in the middle of the frame.  What may be a better thing to consider is the Golden Ratio.

Lets split our frame vertically in some ratio, say a:b. The Golden Ratio says the ratio of the smaller part to the bigger part is the same as the ratio of the bigger part to the whole frame (little plus big).

OK, so we can do a bit more math now and see what pops out.  Take a little look to your left and you'll see I've solved the equation (look familiar to the Fibonacci series equation earlier?).  Now you'll see that the ratio of small to big isn't 1:2 and is the case with the rule of thirds, but 1:1.62, or very crudely 3:5.

The thing that is particularly fascinating is how often this Golden Ratio appears in nature, and also how much more powerful your photographs will be if you use the Golden Ratio instead of the rule of thirds.  Take a look at some really good photographs or paintings and check just where the objects of interest are placed in the image.  Are they on thirds, in the centre, or perhaps somewhere closer to the Golden Ratio.

Oh well, just a bit of fun with some math thanks to a question from my daughter.  Hopefully I didn't bore you witless ;-)

Grace Ikenasio and her band

The lovely Grace Ikenasio on the Samoan stage, Pasifika 2012.

The Samoan stage at the 2012 Pasifika Festival, Western Springs, Auckland was where I got to see the delightful Grace Ikenasio performing a few numbers with some serious musical talent.  This girl can really sing and what a treat to have her backed by such talent.  Short post this morning, just a few shots for you to enjoy from a wonderful Saturday at Western Springs.

The backing vocalists ... sweet.

‎Magi Nuualiitia, very talented drummer though!

Grace again.  Gorgeous voice.

The videographer ... cheeky lady ;-)

Chrismas Ropati ... now this guy can play!!  Whoa can he play.

Malcolm Lakatani ... smooth as ever, but this time on keys!

Ross Devereux on sax.  Gorgeous melodies, highly talented gent.  

Izak Etimani on bass.  Lovely sounds from this talented musician.

Pasifika 2012

NRG Rising at the Mangere Hawks Club rooms.  This girl had a gorgeous voice.

What a superb day!  All the various Pacific Island people at Western Springs having a party.  A very happy place to be, and so many wonderful performances by these very musical people.  The first image in this post wasn't actually taken at the Pasifika Festival, but later in the day at the Mangere Hawks Club rooms, but the shot of this Maori girl seemed a good way to start.

Tigilau Ness (Che Fu's dad) performing with the Reggae band Unity Pacific.

One of the first acts I saw was Unity Pacific.  Lead guitarist in the band was Tigilau Ness, father of Che Fu.  It was just about a year ago that I was fortunate enough to catch Che Fu at the Avondale College.  This was at a fundraiser for the Christchurch earthquake.  A much happier time today as we enjoyed Unity Pacific.  On stage with Tigilau was Derrick Cox (see second shot).  This gent was superb.  Very talented musician with a lovely touch.  The guitar just sang.  Wonderful.  He was just the type of performer I like.  At the back, quietly getting on with the job with no fuss, but producing some delicious music all the same.  Wonderful.  I just hope I get to see these guys again one day.  Unfortunately as there were so many acts playing on the various stages each band was limited to only a few numbers.  Such a shame.  Perhaps we should have a week long festival next time!!

Derrick Cox playing with Unity Pacific.  Wonderful musician.

Lead guitarist with South Island band Redzone.

Next up on stage was a band called Redzone.  A blues band from Christchurch with presently nowhere to play as all the old blues bars are located in Christchurch's no go zone; the "Redzone".  I wasn't sure what to expect of these guys, but they were rather good!  Such a shame they're short on locations to perform as they have great abilities.  So, if you have a bar, you're somewhere near Christchurch and you need a band ... look no further.  Redzone may be just what you need :-)

The next surprise for me was to see Iva Lamkum on stage.  Iva's one very pretty girl with a gorgeous voice and rather good guitar skills too.  Such a treat to have her perform a few songs for us at Pasifika this year.  Still going through my monochrome phase, these two shots of Iva have been treated to a copper effect in SilverEfex.  If you'd like to see the colour versions for comparison head over to my Facebook album and take a squiz.  Perhaps let me know whether you prefer colour to monochrome.  Of the two shots in this post I quite like the second of the two shots, the one in portrait.  I was told some time ago that with profile shots you should alway try to get the eyelashes of the invisible eye in the shot.  I always try to do this, but usually fail!  Anyway this shot illustrates the extra depth to the face you obtain.

Straight after Iva I was treated to The Levites.  Jacob, Ross and Junior Nansen with Chrismas Ropati, Thabani Gapara and some other friends. I've only really heard the Levites when they've supported vocalists like Erakah or Stan Walker.  This time though we were treated to a lovely instrumental.  Very nice.  Oh, and then we saw Erakah and Stan Walker.  Very nice set.

I took heaps of photos.  Probably way too many!!  Now I have the task of sorting through them all.  Mind you, it just brings back happy memories of a great day out on "Island Time".  Must admit to really looking forward to catching up with all the folks I met yesterday.  It was a glorious day.  Oh, if you want to see more shots, just head over to Facebook.  You never know, you might even "Like" it :-)

Iva Lamkum at the Pasifika Festival, Western Springs, Auckland 

Iva Lamkum

Jacob Nansen leading The Levites.

Thabani Gapara ... hugely talented saxophonist.

Ross Nansen happy as always thumping out the rhythm for The Levites.

Wow ... what a day!!

After a day like today I can't help but feel somewhat delighted to be alive.  And it gets better ... but I'll tell you that at the end.

Some of the audience enjoying Music in the Parks at Auckland's Domain.

I spent the morning with my son and daughter ... always good fun, and then headed into Auckland City.  Auckland really is a beautiful city and it has some gorgeous parks.  I was heading for the Museum and the Domain where Cat Tunks and Black Sand Diva were playing as part of Auckland City's, "Music in The Parks".  They were performing in the old band rotunda which didn't really make life easy for me.  Perhaps they were quite concerned about people falling off the rotunda, so they erected a "fence" to keep the band inside, and obscure the view for people on the outside.  Oh well.  I tried to get shots through the "fence" and some aren't too bad.  The music however was superb and the folks fortunate to be there had a great time.

I got to meet Caitlin Smith in the audience, and then popped along to DeBretts in the city to see her sing with her jazz trio.  Sweet.  I didn't take too many shots as my camera makes a real clatter when the shutter fires.  The older Nikons don't have the "Q" setting for Quiet, so I decided to leave a little early and let the other folks enjoy Caitlin's talented without the clatter of a camera in the background.

Here's the band, Black Sand Diva.  The gent taking photos through the fence has been doing this for the past  20years!

Below are a couple of shots of the Black Sand Diva band members ...

Cat Tunks

Arli Lieberman.

Jason Orme on the drums.  Great musician.

Bass guitarist, Alex Griffith.  Very skillful gent.

Kiri Kainamu Wheeler (keyboards)  

OK, so there I am taking shots of the band when my 'phone rings.  Good job it was on vibrate otherwise I'd have missed the call.  Wife and daughter are at Mission Bay wondering if I fancied popping down.  Did I ever!  Just look at the shot below, taken at Mission Bay from where I was eating my fish and chips from the Fish Pot Cafe.  Mmmmm.

Rangitoto Island from Mission Bay.

After my Fish 'n Chips I headed into the city to see Caitlin Smith play with her jazz trio.  Lovely.  I believe she has a regular Sunday evening spot at DeBrett's on High Street in the City.  So, if you're in the neighbourhood you should check it out.  Here's a few shots of Caitlin ...

Caitlin Smith

Caitlin Smith

Caitlin Smith

So there you go.  I was having a ball!  So much fun, meeting such lovely people, visiting some great parts of Auckland and also getting a great feed at the Fish Pot Cafe.  But there's more.  It's Sunday night and there's no work tomorrow!  Really ... life is rather good just now.

The end ... or is it the beginning?

Wednesday this week was my last day working for my employer of the past 20 years!  A number of people have said it marked the end of an era.  Sure, some things will not be the same, but in many ways that's a good thing.  I think it's time for me to do something different with my time now, and hopefully this will mark the beginning of a new and exciting chapter of my life.  It may also mark the start of a new and exciting chapter for my previous employer ... I certainly hope so.

For many years, photography has been an interest, a passion and to some degree an obsession!  From early years I was always fascinated with the camera.  I can recall being bedazzled by the light sensors around the front lens element on my Dad's half frame Konica.  Here's an image of a similar camera to the one that started my enthusiasm so many years ago!  After this camera there was the Asahi Pentax Spotmatic F, a brief spell with a Cosina CSR (the camera died an unpleasant death in Jordan in 1979) and then a very long and happy time with my Pentax MX.  I still have this camera and love it.  Gorgeous piece of equipment and beautifully made.

Now I'm using Nikon gear.  I tried the Pentax dSLR offerings, but they didn't feel right.  I tried Canon and that just didn't feel as comfortable in my hands as the Nikon.  All the buttons, knobs and dials just seemed to be where I wanted them with the Nikon.  In fact I have the same fondness for my Nikon as I had for my MX when that was my main camera.  Is it better or worse than Canon or Pentax?  I don't know and, to be honest, don't care.  I like it and am happy with it, just like other folks prefer other brands.

So here I am.  No job and time on my hands to do something I'd really like to do.  I get the chance to take photographs instead of snapshots.  I get the chance to wait and observe instead of being frustrated I have to be somewhere else and end up missing the shot.  I'll get the chance to spend time with people and listen to what they have to say ... have a laugh and deepen our friendships, but most of all, I'm really looking forward to having some fun with my family and friends.

Some of my friends lent me the new Nikon 85mm f1.8G lens to play with ... but only briefly.  I took the opportunity to shoot some of my musician friends at a bar in Auckland last night.  Often the light levels are quite low in the bars and I wanted to see how this new lens would perform wide open (to let in as much light as possible).  Take a squiz at the shots below and perhaps let me know what you think.

Mr Semi Leo on bass guitar.  85mm f1.8 and wide open.  1/100sec and ISO 2500

Semi again, lovely bokeh (blur) in the background.  I really like how the lights appear as circles.

One of my favourite shots from the evening.  Quite nice warm, "cosy" light.

Even wide open the lens isn't too bad; the bokeh lovely and smooth.

Wide open ... but with a bit of flash camera right.

Guinness is good for you ... hadn't you heard?

Aqstik Soul with the Nikkor 85mm f1.8G ...

Semi Leo

A chance to see Aqstik Soul at Newmarket's Cock 'n Bull was not to be missed.  Especially as I had a lovely new 85mm f1.8G lens from Nikon to try out.

I'd used the 85mm f1.4G some time ago and was quite delighted with it.  Very fast to focus and really quite sharp even when wide open.  Often, when shooting the bands and musicians in the bars, the light levels are somewhat subdued.  As such, an ability to get sharp images at wide apertures is something for which I was really looking.  The 85mm f1.4G didn't disappoint here and I can recall thinking this particular lens was a dream optic!  The reason for the dream was the price.  Rather an expensive piece of glass, so when the f1.8G became available at 1/3 the price I was seriously keen to try it out.  Perhaps I'd get similar quality shots without having to spend quite so much.

To be honest, it's a lovely lens.  A really lovely lens.  The bokeh (out of focus blur) is lovely and smooth, and the highlights are nice and round.  There's a fair bit of chromatic aberration, but perhaps that's to be expected when shooting wide open at f1.8.  The big problem I had was with focus.  Compared to the f1.4G this lens seemed more hesitant and more prone to hunting in low light when trying to focus.  I even reverted to manual focus on a number of occasions as I was becoming frustrated with the lens's inability to snap onto my subjects.  Perhaps I was expecting too much?  Perhaps I had unreasonable expectations after using the f1.4G?  Not really sure, but I finished the evening with mixed emotions.  I loved the bokeh, I loved the price and I was quite impressed with the overall image quality.  I was a little disappointed with the focus speed and chromatic aberrations.  Take a look here at one of my Google Plus albums for a few more shots taken with the 85mm f1.8G.  Perhaps let me know what you think?

Malcolm Lakatani

Semi Leo

Semi Leo