Day 170 - Tour of Toowoomba

I had a ball today with the Mamiya RB67.  Finally got to shoot a couple of rolls of film so I can send it off to get processed.  I ran an ISO 50 and 400 film through the camera just to get a feel for how the film turns out.  I definitely like the 400 speed film for action and I have my work cut out to make some nice slow shutter photography on the 50 film.

Notes:
Exposures were reasonable using iPhone App (Light Meter) for the Ilford PanF+ 50 but the images seemed to be over-exposed using the same application with Ilford HP5+ 400 film.  Will need to step back once on the shutter or aperture to compensate.

Technical:
Mamiya RB67 Pro
Ilford PanF+ 50 and Ilford HP5+ 400 film

Day 169 - Mamiya Auto-Lux 35

This camera is pretty wild.  The Auto-Lux 35 was introduced in 1963. A 35mm leaf-shutter SLR with a large selenium cell above the lens, it has a manual match-needle or shutter-preferred auto exposure control. It was sold with a fixed (non-interchangeable) 48mm Mamiya-Sekor f/.8 lens in a Copal-X shutter, with speeds from 1/15-1/500 second.   Auto mode in 1963... that's awesome!!!

Day 168 - Honouring a Tradition I

I've been very privileged to be given my grandfathers film cameras.  I have been fixing and cleaning the cameras and lenses to use once again.  Over the next couple of days I'm going to show you the cameras and a little background to them.

This is a Leica Leicaflex SL film camera made from 1968 to 1974.  One of the issues with this model was the red plastic lens release switch.  They tended to break very easily so it's quite rare to find one with the original release leaver.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 100
EF17-40 @ 40mm
f/18
1/125sec

Strobist:
Nissin DI622MkII triggered wirelessly

Image Manipulation:
Converted to Black & White and brushed in the switch and lens colour

Day 167 - Le Paris

Wenz and I didn't get to see Paris when we were over in France in 2009 so we decided to duck over during the week and we took a snap in front of the Eiffel Tower... I had you going there.  Here's a 3D puzzle we made.  I wanted to get a shot that looked like we were there and I think it worked pretty well.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 100
EF17-40 @ 23mm
f/14
1/250sec

Strobist:
Nissin DI622 MkII on camera set to TTL with diffuser

Image Manipulation:
Tint, Contrast and Brightness

Day 166 - Dirty Window

I was fitting a door to the spare bedroom today and happened to glance out the window as the sun was setting.  The dirt and imperfections of the glass reflected the evening sunlight.  I focused on the hedge beyond the window to give a cool old photo look.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/10
1/30sec

Image Manipulation:
Brightness, Photo Filter (blue), Soft Posterize

Day 165 - Extremes

I thought I would give the renovations a break today and go with something a little arty.  I took this picture while moving the camera and then pushed the limits of colour in Photoshop.  It was a beautiful sunset with graduations from red/pink through to purple/blue.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/7.1
0.8sec

Image Manipulation:
Tint Enhancement, Vibrancy, Vignette

Day 164 - Does This Take Batteries?

We can always rely on Perc to do something funny.  This time he brought in a grasshopper to play with.  The poor old grasshopper wasn't in good shape, especially after Killer came in and ate his head.  The kindly left the rest for us to deal with.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 400
EF50mm
f/1.4
1/80sec

Image Manipulation:
Brightness, Contrast, Curves

Day 163 - New Skates

Well our skates finally turned up.  Wenz and I took them out for a spin around the block and had a ball.  We did a little bit of Roller Derby training in the car park and let me just say, I am one up on Wendy in the "bashing other players" skill.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/1.4
1/100sec

Image Manipulation:
Increase Contrast, Vignette

Day 162 - Bathroom Reno VII

I tried using some shapes and angles in this shot but to be honest, I just don't like it.  Well it's up on the blog anyway.  The good, the bad and the ugly.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/4.5
1/50sec

Image Manipulation:
Curves, Boarder

Day 161 - Bathroom Reno VI (Roman Head)

Here's a shot of the new weatherboards going up but what's interesting is an image which appears in the corner post.  See if you can spot the figure which looks a bit like a head with a helmet or just really curly hair.

Technical:
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/4
1/640sec

Image Manipulation:
Convert to Black & White

Day 160 - Bathroom Reno V (Planking)

Just a play on the latest planking craze... renovation style.

Technical:
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/4
1/125sec

Image Manipulation:
Tint, Sharpen

Day 159 - Bathroom Reno IV

Pulling down all the old weatherboards means you end up with plenty of old rusty nails.  What more can I say!  There are plenty more renovation pics to come.  I can sense the excitement.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/1.4
1/200sec

Image Manipulation:
Curves, Vignette, Sharpen

Day 158 - Bathroom Reno III (New Meets Old)

Today marks the day when the existing house meets the new renovation.  Hopefully you can workout the image if you study it closely... if not, they are weatherboards.  Original boards on the left held with a nail, new boards on the right held by a screw.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/18
1/800sec

Image Manipulation:
Cyanotype, Fluorescent Chalk Effect, Sharpen

Day 157 - Bathroom Reno II

We found some interesting panelling when ripping down the external weatherboards.  They look to be old packing crates which have come from Melbourne and a few other places.  You realise your office bound when your hands can't cope with a couple of days of labour.  Cuts, blisters and splinters everywhere.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF17-40 @ 33mm
f/7.1
1/60sec

Image Manipulation:
Curves Adjustment, Burn

Day 156 - Bathroom Reno I

You are about to be hit with a lot of renovation work because that's all I've been doing.  I've been struggling to get out with the camera at the moment due to the fact that I'm so focused on getting the renovation completed before August.  So I apologise in advance if you get a little "board" of all the renovation work.  Don't tell anyone but my wife may have taken this shot for the blog.  Go Wenz!

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF17-40 @ 33mm
f/7.1
1/60sec

Image Manipulation:
Convert to B&W

Day 155 - Murder Mystery

It was our friends 30th birthday and he wanted a murder mystery night.  They really enjoy movies and do acting in movies as well and Wenz and I were a little scared but we ended up having a great time.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 400
EF16-35 @ 25mm (got to play with some new lenses)
f/4
1/100sec

Strobist:
Canon 430EX on camera, bounced off the roof

Image Manipulation:
Converted to B&W and Copper Toning Added

Day 154 - Geared Up II

The gears return, this time in a form that most people would be familiar with... sitting on a bike wheel.  I'm not sure if I got this image right.  The spokes all lead your focus to the cog cluster but I didn't want that in focus.  I seem to be continually looking at the out of focus cluster but it doesn't bother me.  What's with that?  What do you think?

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF17-40 @ 40mm
f/7.1
1/640sec

Image Manipulation:
Curves Adjustment

Day 153 - Old Exchange

We were pretty lucky to get a tour of a major telecommunications exchange.  It's incredible the equipment held inside this place and how old some of the gear that's still running.  Some of the equipment hasn't been off for over 30 years.  Solder starts to break down at around 20 years.  I've never seen a distribution frame 15 meters long and two stories high before... but now I have.  If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, just act impressed anyway.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 400
EF17-40 @ 35mm
f/4
1/60sec

Strobist:
Nissin Di622MKII fired on camera in eTTL mode

Image Manipulation:
Crop and Vignette

Day 152 - Winter Blues

Welcome to winter.  Took this shot out the back window showing the condensation build up after a nice warm shower.  Added a blue monotone to the image to give it a colder feel.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/14
1/250sec

Image Manipulation:
Monotone

Day 151 - Geared Up

Sold my bicycle race wheels today so I took the gear cluster off and thought that would make a cool shot.


Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 400
EF17-40 @ 40mm
f/7.1
1/80sec

Strobist:
Nissin Di622 MkII mounted on camera using eTTL, pointing directly up.

Image Manipulation:
Tint and Colour Adjustment

Day 150 - Taking It Easy

I was playing around with manual focus with the cats and I don't know what it is but it seems like I get better clarity by using MF.  It could be something to do with the autofocus functionality but I think I might use it more often.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 400
EF17-40 @ 39mm
f/6.3
1/100sec

Strobist:
Nissin Di622 MKII mounted on camera using eTTL.

Image Manipulation:
Sepia, Sharpen

Day 149 - Rollerdome

I loved roller derby that much that I decided to put another picture up from the match.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 400
EF50mm
f/1.8
1/100sec

Day 148 - Hill Top Hit Squad

I was given access to all areas for the Hill Top Hit Squads second home ground match.  The girls played well against a very powerful Brisbane team.  I really increased the ISO so I could freeze the action this time because a lot of the shots came out blurry last time.  I'm fairly happy with the results this time but I'm really wanting a zoom lens for the sports photography.  There was another awesome turn out from the fans so I thought I would to a panoramic image of the crowd before the girls hit the Rollerdome.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 400
EF50mm
f/1.4
1/80sec
Seven shots stitched together

Day 147 - Steams on Fire

I saw this shot while I was walking out to the shed.  Wenz was taking a shower and the steam was being drawn out the back door and up over the roof.  I raced inside and grabbed the camera and took the shot before Wenz finished.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF50mm
f/9
1/80sec

Image Manipulation:
Cross Process

Day 146 - The Living Dead

What can I say about this... not weird at all.  I haven't done many people shots lately so it's nice to get on a little roll... even if they are not fully live!

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 400
EF50mm
f/1.8
1/100

Day 145 - Dress Ups

Here's our friend Jen dressing up as a 1920's mobster girl.  The reason for the dress up will be revealed in a few days time.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 320
EF50mm
f/1.4
1/80

Day 144 - Endless Ink

My continuous ink system for the printer turned up today, so why not mark this special day my taking a photo of it.  We do very little printing at home but it seems to be the thirstiest printer on the planet.  I might even try printing some of my images at home.  If you are interested in one of these systems, checkout www.rihac.com.au

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 640
EF50mm
f/13
1/125sec

Strobist:
Nissin di622 MkII fired beneath glass table
Sunpak fired left of subject at 2m distance and slightly in front of subject @ 1/8 power

Image Manipulation:
Curves Adjustment, Sharpen

Day 143 - J'adore la photographie

I've started learning French... just as another thing to do in my spare time.  I did French at school but didn't enjoy it at all, and couldn't remember anything from back then so it hasn't helped anyway.  Since travelling to France, I have come to appreciate the stinky French people and their stinky cheese.  I have found the study of the language really fascinating.  The way the words have been translated from Latin to French to English, and also how the sentences are constructed and nouns are given male or female forms, with no logical reason what so ever.  Anyway, "a demain" (see you tomorrow)

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
ISO 640
EF50mm
-2/3 EV
f/4.5
1/160sec

Strobist:
Flash mounted to the left and behind camera @ 1/8 power
Ambient light from lamp in frame

Image Manipulation:
Vintage Effect, Vignette, Sharpen