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

Day 202 - Waiting By The Window

This shot was straight from the Leica.  It's a pretty harsh shot under trying conditions (dark inside the cafe, bright outside) but it came out how I wanted it.  It reminds me of photographs from the 50's and 60's.  It could be from a cafe in Paris... but alas it down town Toowoomba.

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

Day 201 - Bunning's Sunset

Grabbed some supplies for the house reno today and caught this interesting sunset from the car park.

Technical:
iPhone

Image Manipulation:
DerManDar for panoramic image

Day 200 - On Show

Been meaning to do a bit of bird hunting watching for a while now.  Got a cool shot of a "featherious birdious" while it was sunning itself in front of another bird.  Also made sure I got the birds in the background of the composition.  No cropping, no effects, pure film.

Technical:
Nikon F4 camera
Kodak VC160 film
Tokina 70-210mm with Tamron 2x tele-convertor

Day 199 - Effects Gone Mad

Ok, I'm having fun playing with some iPhone apps at the moment.  I got excited when one of the apps said I came mimic the Mamiya RB67.  I'm not trading the RB in any time soon.

Technical:
iPhone

Image Manipulation:
TtV Basic

Day 198 - Shaving Accident

Tip: Don't be shaving near your lip and turn your face quickly.  It doesn't end well.

Technical:
iPhone

Image Manipulation:
Instagram

Day 197 - French Festival

Travelled to the Brisbane French Festival today with Wenz and mum, and caught up with an old mate from work.  Also went to Ikea which was probably the highlight of the day... what does that tell you.

Technical:
Leica SL camera
Kodak VC400 film

Day 196 - Oakey Troll

Driving back from Oakey, I spotted a bridge with a nice water-way so I dived off the side of the road and grabbed the camera.  It was drizzling all day so it was nice to get some droplets in the water.  I took this image from under the motorway so I felt a bit like a troll.

Technical:
Leica SL camera
Kodak VC400 film

Day 195 - Iron Tuff

Continuing the trips around for work, I found myself in Gatton today.  I wanted to get a shot along the railway tracks and in my adventures, I came across this bridge.  There was some interesting items on the bridge, like the 1974 flood level marker but I struggled to get this into frame.

Technical:
Leica SL camera
Kodak VC400 film

Image Manipulation:
Sepia Tone

Day 194 - Secret Trail

Went to Warwick today and took a little detour on the way home and spotted a creek crossing.  I jumped out of the car and went for a walk and found some beautiful scenes.  Unfortunately the shot I liked the most had a strange light leak blur across the image.  I really like this image as well because of the lines the grasses made in the cracks of the rock.  It leads your eye to the tree and the creek beyond.

Technical:
Leica SL camera
Leica 90mm lens

Image Manipulation:
Contrast, Vibrance

Day 193 - Solo Silo

Tripped out to Millmerran this morning and noticed a group of old silos and a church.  On the way back home I stopped and had a look around.  It would be an awesome site to revisit under the correct lighting conditions.  It was a little to bright by the time I got there and struggled to get an interesting shot.

Technical:
Leica SL camera
Kodak VC400 film

Day 192 - It's What I Do

Getting prepared for a week out on the road rolling out some new switches.  The guys I would with created a massive stack which I had to do some precarious balancing on a chair to get the shot.

Technical:
iPhone

Image Manipulation:
Instagram Application

Day 191 - Pro Derek

The guys from PhotoPro have been a huge help to me.  From calibration of my screens, scanning, film processing right through to passing many, many hours chatting about anything involving cameras.  I spent a day with Derek in at the shop and I snapped an exposure while he wasn't looking.  This is one of a few  images which turned out OK from the R4s with the light leak.

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

Image Manipulation:
Sharpen, Dust and Scratch removal, Aged Effect

Day 190 - Light Leaks

I had my suspicions over which Leica had a light leak and those suspicions were confirmed when I got the film back.  I think its only a rear inspection window for viewing the film loaded in the camera so I will try some more film through the camera with the window covered over.  Here is one at the end of the film which came out pretty trippy.

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

Image Manipulation:
Scratch and Dust removal (from scan)

Day 189 - Fantasy Foliage

I saw this really cool plant while at a job and had to take of shot of it.  It's been a while since I've had the digital camera out so it was nice to change things up again and get some instant results.  I was loosing light fast and I wanted to keep a larger depth of field so I found myself handholding at 1/50sec.  Not the sharpest image I've ever taken but amazing colours.

Technical:
Canon 7d
ISO 100
EF50mm
f/2
1/50sec

Image Manipulation:
Vignette, Sharpen

Day 188 - Wasting Film

I wanted to use up the film so I could get it processed quicker so I took a shot outside PhotoPro where I get the film developed.  Once again, not a great shot.  I wasn't to concerned about getting creative because I didn't know if these cameras where going to work or not.

Technical:
Leica SL Camera
Leica 90mm lens
Kodak VC400 film

Day 187 - Marathon Mirror

I wanted to upload another shot from the Gold Coast half marathon.  I saw this shot where I could use the water to reflect the image.  Not a fantastic shot but had some fun creating a different look to the standard shot.

Technical:
Nikon F Camera
Nikkor 90-230mm lens
Kodak VC160 film

Day 186 - Zac Attack

We went over for Dylan and Michelle's birthday.  Zac wasn't shy and gave me a big toothy grin.

Technical:
Leica SL Camera
Leica 90mm lens
Kodak VC400 film

Update

Got the film back from the Nikon F and Leica SL camera yesterday and SUCCESS, they work.  Had a slight issue with the Leica and tearing the film when rewinding but that was the operators fault.  Should read the instructions before trying to unload film in a camera I've never used before.  Anyway, going back through the blog and uploading images to the placeholder slots.  There's a fair bit to update so bear with me.  Thanks for being so patient, I will be back up to date shortly.

Matt Hickey

Day 185 - Independence Day

Wendy started a sugar free July challenge and I thought it would be an idea to join America's Independence Day with Sugar Free Month to create Sugar Independence Month.  Where do I come up with this stuff, simply brilliant!

Technical:
iPhone Camera

Image Manipulation:
Instagram

Day 184 - Half Marathon

Here's one my wife snapped with the digital camera... while on skates... and spotting her sister out of 9000+ entrants... how awesome is she!!!  I was on the film cameras and I'm hoping I pulled off an arty picture but time will tell, otherwise Wendy got the pic of the day.

Technical:
I didn't do it
Canon 7d camera
ISO 200
EF17-40 @ 40mm
f/4
1/500sec

Day 183 - Fire Breathing

Got a cool shot of this artwork as the sun was coming up.  It always pays to look around and keep an open mind.

Technical:
Nikon F Camera
Kodak VC160 Film
Nikkor 90-230mm Lens

Day 182 - Half Way

What an epic journey so far... and I'm only half way.  I'm hoping to take the second half of the year to a new level.  Until then, here's an image to symbolise this half way point.  I was going to have a glass half full/half empty but I think the glass I ended up selecting sums it up anyway.

Technical:
Canon 7d camera
EF17-40 @ 39mm
ISO 3200
f/13
1/250sec

Strobist:
Sunpak Flash fired 1/16 power with beer snoot and puzzle box (making a tunnel) to create the streak lighting effect @ 1m distance to subject

Image Manipulation:
Curves Adjustment

Day 181 - Family Matters

Stayed with Martin and Sue and they happily posed for a family photo.

Technical:
Leica SL Camera
Kodak VC400 Film
Leitz Wetzlar 90mm Lens

Day 180 - Ben and Chloe

Got a chance to catch up with an old workmate, Ben.  He has a new addition since I last saw him, a beautiful girl named Chloe.  There was a slight light leek which you can see in the top right-hand corner which I'm going to put down to my "balls up" when trying to rewind the film.

Technical:
Leica SL Camera
Kodak VC400 Film
Leitz Wetzlar 90mm Lens

Day 179 - Good God

I couldn't pass this one up.  Good advice.  I had a sudden urge to locate a mirror.

Technical:
Leica Camera
Leitz Wetzlar 90mm Lens
Kodak VC400 Film

Day 178 - Level Two

Wenz is now level two in Roller Derby, its so cool.  Out watching her train again and took the cameras along.  Would have been nice to get the left leg in frame but overall I like the shot.  It shows the intensity and focus in Wendy's face as she's doing the speed test.

Technical:
Nikon F camera
Kodak VC160 Film
ISO 160
Nikkor 90-230mm lens

Day 177 - TCR Photoshoot

Blurb to come...

Day 176 - Childs Delight

At the tennis courts today watching Wendy train.  Some kids were playing so I thought I would try taking a shot with the film camera and test out my manual focusing skills.  I like the way the fence is out of focus but it draws your attention inwards towards the subject.

Technical:
Nikon F Film Camera
Kodak VC160 Film
ISO 160
90-230mm Nikkor Lens

Image Manipulation:
Vignette

Day 175 - The iPhone Effect

Blurb to come...

Day 174 - My B'day

Blurb to come...

Day 173 - HBS vs HBS

Blurb to come...

Day 172 - Projects Shoot

Blurb to come...

Day 171 - Nikon F

Blurb to come...

Technical:
iPhone

Image Manipulation:
Instagram

Film Update

Finally got the film developed in the Mamiya RB67 Pro so that means Day 87 (see March) is updated.  Its nothing special but it is an image which means the camera is good!!!  Time to start shooting some film through it and get to know its strengths.  One thing I have noticed is that the shots taken at the cycling and at the coast were very contrasty days which doesn't come across well on the film.  That could be me that's the issue but I'm going to try a shoot where the tonal range is a lot less.