Day 252 - Goomburra Hike

Went for a 3 hour hike with half of the Tierney gang today.  We saw some nice scenery and I made a mental note for some sites to come back and explore a little further.  While I had plenty of time to sit around and relax, I continued reading a book by John Blakemore, Black and White Photography Workshop which has taught me a lot about film developing techniques which translate directly for digital as well as looking for tonal differences and how to correctly expose for those situations.  Keen to try out some of the things I've read in future shots.  To summarise it, "Expose for your darks (capturing the image), develop for your highlights (processing / photoshop)".

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF70-200 @ 110mm
ISO 100
f/32
20secs

Image Manipulation:
Small rotate, crop and vibrance boost, final sharpen

Day 251 - Holga Wife

Here's my baby and Wendy.... hang on, that didn't come out right.  Here's my baby, Wendy and the Holga.  We went for a little explore once we were setup at camp.  Wenz took the Holga and I took the new toy, 70-200mm lens.  I won't be impressed if the images come out better on the Holga than the Canon lens.  Only about $2500 difference in price, but not much of a difference in the fun you can have with either toys.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF70-200 @182mm
f/2.8
1/13sec (GO THE IMAGE STABILISER SYSTEM)

Day 250 - Feathered Friends

One of the first days I actually got a chance to play with the new lens.  I wasn't disappointed with the quality and sharpness of this baby.  You can really shot at 3 stops slower than what you normally would shoot.  For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, most people can hand hold (no tripod) at around 1/80th of a second and still get a clear/sharp image.  With this lens, with the magic button turned on, I can shoot at 1/15th of a second and still get a clear image.  [Insert impressed reaction here]

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF70-200 @180mm
f/5
1/100sec

Image Manipulation:
Vignette, Dodge and Burn, Enhance yellow, Crop

Day 249 - Ground Glass

I secured a bellows which was used for taking photos of slides.  It got me thinking about converting it into a large format camera.  Kerwin just bought this large format camera from a customer which has all the parts I'm missing.  Unfortunately they are all the expensive parts.  Maybe I'll get to play on this camera instead.

Technical:
Leica R4s camera
Kodak BW400CN film
ISO 400
Leica 50mm lens

Day 248 - Rubby vs Morse

Rubby got his new toy... a Steve Morse guitar.  It's a machine!  Switches and dials everywhere, and as many pickups as you can stuff into a space.

Technical:
Leica R4s camera
BW400CN film
ISO 400

Day 247 - Recesky Build

Kerwin bought me a plastic toy camera which you have to build yourself.  These things are so inexpensive and a ton of fun to build.  Todays inspiration came in the form of the completed camera sitting on top of the instruction manual at the completed stage.

Technical:
Leica SL camera
BW400CN film
ISO 400

Day 246 - Hair Raising

Got a trim today and got a chance to take a photo of Willsy at work, giving Wendy a colour treatment.

Technical:
iPhone

Update: Off My A$$

The combination of holidays and developing "some" of the film has meant some updates on the blog.  It has been very frustrating not being able to keep up with the daily uploads.  Film is such a love/hate relationship for me at the moment.  I have gone back and updated several weeks worth of "Placeholder" images so be sure to look back through July-August for new additions.

Day 228 - Drunk Driver

Took this shot while driving around at night (not drunk).  The use of a slow shutter speed and some added movement allowed for the funky lines.  The car headlights gave me the centre line detail I wanted.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 100
f/4
2sec

Image Manipulation:
Crop, Sharpen and Blur

Day 227 - Laying Dormant

Got a cool picture of a BBQ which obviously hasn't been used over the winter period.  What captured my eye with this shot was the patch of sunlight in the background which almost appears like its fire and heat waves coming from the BBQ pit.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 100
f/2.8
1/80sec

Image Manipulation:
Vignette, Vibrance & Saturation

Day 226 - Blooming Marvelous

Winters almost gone and the flowers are coming out already.  I saw this flower and couldn't pass the opportunity for "shot of the day".

Technical:
Canon 7d camera

Image Manipulation:
Vintage Effect, Dodge and Burn, Blur

Day 225 - TCR Head Shots II

I've had a few requests after doing the photo shoot to send through the photos to the girls.  Here's another one that I did up.

Technical:
Canon 7d Camera
EF 50mm

Image Manipulation:
Lots

Day 224 - Gulf of Michael

Michael brought his new toy over to show us today.  Michael's a special boy, as you can tell from the photo.  The Gulf looks like a ton of fun.  Thanks for providing me with todays inspiration Mike... and using up the last shot on the roll of film so I could get it developed.

Technical:
Leica R4s
50mm lens
Kodak Tri-Max 400

Day 220 - Skywalker

Here's another shot from the TCR head shot series.  This ladies derby name is Skywalker so I grabbed a broom handle and got her to hold it for the shot.  In post production, I added the blue light effect which also included giving off a bluish reflection on her face.  It was a lot of fun and pretty pleased with the results.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF 50mm
f/1.6
1/160s

Image Manipulation:
Created the light sabre
Created glow onto face
Vignette

Day 219 - TCR Head Shots

Been having some fun with the Toowoomba City Roller girls.  They needed some headshots done so I did a quick two light setup and rolled them through.  I hope to put a few of the shots up after I have done some editing.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF 50mm
ISO 100
f/1.4
1/250

Image Manipulation:
Decreased saturation then pumped up red items.

Strobist:
Softbox to front and left of subject, rim flash right rear.

Day 218 - Uncovering Rope

Continued with the rope prop today.  It's an incredible challenge photographing the human body.  With everything striped away, you have very few tricks to play when creating the image.  It is purely down to composition and light.  This was lit with a single light so the challenge was to stop the closest parts of the subject to the light from blowing out and leaving other parts of the subject in complete darkness.  It's a lot harder than it looks.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 100
EF17-40 @ 33mm
f/6.3
1/160s

Strobist:
Nissin DI-622 MKII in softbox directly above subject, 1m distance @ 1/2 power

Image Manipulation:
Small crop
Convert to BW
Highlight & Shadow adjustment

Day 217 - Rope Burn

I'm back.  Had a pretty trying last couple of weeks which I will explain with the photos as they show up on the blog.  I've hardly had the digital camera out... hence the lack of images but I may have a new toy for it which I will explain once it turns up.  Pat's putting the pressure on me to produce something new, more in depth, exciting.  I eagerly await your comments.

Technical:
Camera 7d camera
ISO 100
EF17-40 @28mm
f/4.5
1/250

Strobist:
Nissin DI-622 MkII in softbox, above subject at 1m distance, 1/2 power
Sunpak shot bear behind subject at 45 degrees, 2.5m distance, 1/16 power

Image Manipulation:
Convert to BW
Antique Toning
Ilford 100 Film Grain
Vignette

Day 216 - Fishing for a Moment

Wanted to do something other than "another bloody sunrise" shot.  I spotted a sand dredger coming into shore and then also noticed a couple of people fishing.  I lined the shot up and here it is.  Another sunrise shot with a boat and a person fishing... nice.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF17-40 @ 40mm

Image Manipulation:
Curves Adjustment, Vignette

Day 215 - Morning Ritual

I arrived early at the branch for work so I started playing around with the picture styles on the Canon digital camera.  I experimented with the contrast and sharpness settings to see how much they affect the image.  I must have looked like an undercover cop sitting in the car with the camera.  I noticed this girl (all in the name of photography Wendy I swear) wandering around in front of some shops.  She lit up a cigarette and paced back and forth.  I managed to take this shot where she stood in the sunlight which shifts the attention directly to her.  If you look closely, you'll also notice she has a very uneasy pose.  I'm wanting to tell more of a story from my images and I think this one manages to do that... whatever that story may be.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF17-40 @ 40mm
ISO 100

Image Manipulation:
Converted to B&W

Day 214 - Inside A Waterfall

Tripped up to Springbrook today to checkout a waterfall.  There wasn't much water there so I did a few tricks to make it look a little more impressive.  Slowed the shutter down and used the sun to reflect off the water to make it appear like a white curtain.  I wanted to create an image which you can look at close up and scroll your way down looking at all the detail.  I like the idea, just not sure if I executed it very well.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF17-40 @ 17mm
Stitched Image

Day 213 - Gold Coast Sunrise

Went to the Gold Coast today to begin a week of work in the sun, surf and sand.  Starting out with a nice sunrise early in the morning.  I was actually trying for another image but it didn't work out but I hope to try it again shortly.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
Stitched Image

Day 212 - Photographic Inspiration

Had lunch today with the person that got me into photography.  Pat Woods is an awesome individual.  Incredible cyclist, inspiring photographer and a pleasure to be around.  Pat has started her own "photo per day" challenge after seeing my blog.  Unfortunately for the staff at the cafe, it meant they had multiple photographers chasing a shot.  I've asked Pat to review my images for August... which starts tomorrow.  Time to take it up a notch!

Technical:
Leica R4s camera (With Light Leak Fixed!!!)
Leica 50mm
Kodak UltraMax 400
Scanned to Computer

Day 211 - Killer On Deck

Once again the kitties feature on the blog.  This time it's Killer on the new deck Wenz and I painted.  He kindly stretched out in front of me and angled across the boards which makes for an interesting image.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 100
EF50mm
f/2.0

Day 210 - New Deck

Wenz and I got the idea to redo the front deck today and we smashed through it.  Wenz was awesome on the angle grinder.  It was great having some help and meant the deck was finished in one weekend.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 100
EF50mm

Day 207 - Placeholder

Day 209 - Roses are Red

Wenz spotted the morning sun shining on the roses and vase we purchased from Ikea and suggested it would be a good shot for the blog.  I love a wife who's supportive.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera

Day 208 - Placeholder

Day 205 - Before and After

While travelling back from work, I spotted this wheat field and thought I must get a shot.  I've seen many shots with the bails but I wanted to add my own spin on things.  I found a clump of wheat which missed the harvesters death grip and thought that would add some beautiful foreground interest.

Technical:

Leica R4s

50mms lens

Kodak Tri-Max 400

Day 206 - Placeholder

Day 204 - The Great Pyramid

Tripped to the great Ballandean Pyramid today.  It's a pretty impressive site... many many hours of rock collecting to produce a... well... pile of rocks.  The site is fenced off so I tried to get a shot with the 50mm lens which gives some perspective to the size of the structure.  I also took some shots with the F4 and Mamiya C3 so I'm excited to see how they will turn out once developed.

Technical:
Leica R4s
50mm lens
Kodak Tri-Max 400

Image Manipulation:
Contrast and crop.  Blur sky to give a smoother look to hide the poor scan from print to digital.

Day 203 - Heritage Beginnings

Not much of a shot but more of a story behind it.  Was out travelling around for work and when speaking to the staff at the Stanthorpe branch, they mentioned a sign that was painted over for the Toowoomba Permanent Building Society, which of course became Heritage Building Society.  I thought I was capture the sign for my work.  It is boring however... sorry.

Technical:
Leica R4s
50mm lens
Kodak Tri-Max 400