Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Liffey Infrared
I haven't been updating my blog of late. No real reason for it, I've just been slack. The worst thing is I haven't been keeping up with reading/commenting on my favourite blogs. I hope to rectify that in the coming days.
I still have quite a few images to process from my little excursions around the north of the state a couple months ago. This shot is a start at least.
I've had a few people mention of late that I have a distinctive style to my shots. I would say that my shots and processing is influenced by the photographers and images I look at. I do have a fascination with water and feel much more at home shooting with water in the frame. To be honest I'm not sure I have a style as such and some of the time I don't like the results I come up with. I think I'm still searching for "my style" and with each image I'm getting closer to it, whatever "it" is.
I still have quite a few images to process from my little excursions around the north of the state a couple months ago. This shot is a start at least.
I've had a few people mention of late that I have a distinctive style to my shots. I would say that my shots and processing is influenced by the photographers and images I look at. I do have a fascination with water and feel much more at home shooting with water in the frame. To be honest I'm not sure I have a style as such and some of the time I don't like the results I come up with. I think I'm still searching for "my style" and with each image I'm getting closer to it, whatever "it" is.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
As it happened
I realize that my last blog post might seem a little cold but, I had to write it like that to try and understand what had happened. It was a horrible thing to type out!
I want to thank everyone for their words of condolence and encouragement during this time. I really appreciate it!
I want to try and lighten the mood a bit after the awful happenings this past weekend. As I mentioned I was trying to think of a funny blog post that covered my last few weeks. So, I will try and do that now. I wanted to come up with funny one line tags that hinted at what I’d been doing, but made things sound much more important than they really were.
So here we are in chronological order.
The 2009 pole felling championships.
Not long after Easter I was sitting at my computer reading an email from Rob Sargent about the next generation of sniper rifles. I was in the process of writing a reply (not sure if it ever made it through) when I heard a loud thud outside. I quickly ran upstairs to the window just in time to see a Red Toyota Ute speeding off up the street.
What had happened?? Well, this idiot had somehow run into the phone pole outside my house and knocked it down. It looked like the pole had broken off at the base clean. In the process it ripped the phone lines out of my house and 4 of my neighbours. He probably thought he had got away with it but I got his rego number. :D The cops took care of him!
Unfortunately it took a full day for the phone lines to be reconnected so I had to go do something else for 24 hours. I wasn’t a happy camper.
Slip at the falls.
During the week after Easter we had quite a bit of rain. After the idiot in the Red Toyota knocked the pole down I had some time on my hands and I could only think of one place to go. Liffey Falls. Liffey Falls is situated near Deloraine, nestled in the Great Western Tiers. It’s about an hours drive from Launceston.
There is a discussion about which waterfall in Tasmania is the most beautiful, Russell Falls in the south or Liffey Falls in the north. I’ve been to both now and I’m still not sure. I think if there was plenty of water going over Russell falls then it would be the more spectacular of the two, but they are both fantastic.
Anyway back to my heading. I had just spent a lot of time at the base of the falls taking pictures and had climbed back up the hill. There are three waterfalls in the Liffy River and I stopped at the middle falls on my way out. I could see a cool shot if I could get close to the edge. I’ve seen similar shots before and really wanted to get my own.
As I said, we had had a lot or rain over the past few days and the river was flowing well. I found a track to the river’s edge and started stepping out to make my way to the edge. That’s when my left foot slipped out from under me. I quickly scrambled for my footing and caught myself before I slipped away to my death.
I’m not exaggerating this. If I had gone down I would have gone over the edge of the cliff! Needless to say after that I keep my distance from the edge.
Guide falls with no injury.
A nice title! I drove to the Guide Falls just past Ridgley in the north west of Tasmania. With all the rain we had during the week I expected a good flow over the falls, but there wasn’t as much as I had hoped. The trip was still worth it and I think I got some good shots while I was there. It was a trip without incident but I liked the title.
Taking is better than processing!
I’ve known this for a while but, taking photos in more enjoyable than processing them. It’s not that I didn’t like the shots I had taken of Liffey falls and Guide falls, I just had more fun while I was shooting them.
An English sunny day.
In the second week of my holidays it was still raining. The weather finally broke for a few days so I grabbed my gear and headed out. Unfortunately the day I went out was an English sunny day. What does that mean you ask? Well, the sun was out but you never really saw it because of the cloud cover. That’s Tasmanian weather for you. Rain, sun and everything in between!
Pain by the river.
About eight weeks ago I injured my back helping my grandmother move some LARGE flower pots around. I had been feeling quite good for about a week at this time when I went out to take photos. I was heading in the direction of Leven Canyon when I saw a nice river scene I wanted to try and capture. I pulled over, got my gear out and headed to the river bank. The light wasn’t great (it was the English sunny day), but I still took some shots in the hope that I might get lucky.
I had just taken some shots when I saw a better position to shoot from. I made my way over to the spot and set the tripod up. It was set at about 5 feet high angled downwards; I’m 6’3” tall so I had to bend over a little to see through the viewfinder. I leaned down and felt a sharp pain run through my lower back. That is all it took. My back was saw for another week after that.
Attempted sprain at canyon.
Again, same day as the English sunny day! Actually, there are a lot of things that happened that day!
I got to the canyon and was moving to the back of the car to get my gear out when I slipped on the loose gravel and nearly went over on my ankle. Thankfully the walk to the lookout worked any pain out of my ankle.
I sometimes think I’m accident prone.
Wrong way turn back.
Nothing new here, I took a wrong turn. I seem to take a wrong turn on most of my photo excursions. I blame googlemaps!
Close encounters of a farming kind.
After leaving Leven Canyon and taking a wrong turn I was finally on the road to Devils Gullet. It was a winding road through the hills that had a nice drop off to my left. I was heading up a small hill when I saw a farmer on a old green tractor. It had some very imposing forks sticking off the front of it which you would want to mess with.
Anyway, as I got closer to him he violently turned towards me. I was no more than a few metres away when this happened and all I could see was the forks on the front of his tracker aimed right at my head. I slammed on the brakes and swerved to the left a little (not too much or I would have been over the edge). As you can imagine I swore a bit at this. I looked at him and he acted like nothing had happened. Stupid old bastard!
It looks further on the map.
Once I got past the old farmer I made it to the road that lead to the turn-off towards Devils Gullet. On the map it looked like a fair distance to the turn-off but in reality it was very short.
Can this road be any rougher?? *bang* OK, I guess so!
The road into Devils Gullet is a forestry road. It was all gravel and dirt and it wasn’t all that smooth. I’ve driven rougher roads but this seemed to get worse the further I went. Maybe I’m driving the wrong sort of car for the terrain I cover!?!
I thought the sign said 4km not 14?
At the turn-of f I swear the sign said 4kms to Devils Gullet!! But in reality it said 14kms. I was driving thinking I had gone the wrong way because I wasn’t at my destination yet. Thankfully I came across another sign on the way in that eased my mind. I still think the sign said 4kms!
Remote cliff rescue.
This has to be my favourite title!! It is essentially correct but certainly not as dramatic as it sounds.
Devils Gullet is a sheer cliff face that looks out over the central highlands of Tasmania. The lookout at Devils Gullet is covered in a metal grate to stand on. The holes in the gate are quite large but not so large that you could put a hand through it. Well I set the tripod up and put the camera on top of it. I had a look at the lens and decided that it needed to be cleaned before I took any shots. I reached into my pocket and got my cleaning cloth out at which point I heard something hit the metal platform. I looked down to find my remote camera release lying at the edge of oblivion.
It was sitting about 3 feet under the platform which was well out of my reach without assistance. I couldn’t just leave it there it cost too much to replace it. So I got my tripod and stuck one of the legs under there and started to move the remote. Suddenly it slid down towards a crevasse that would have been the end of the rescue effort. From that point on I had to take it very carefully to maneuver the remote close enough for me to grab with my hand. I managed to rescue the remote and will never put it in the same pocket as my cleaning cloth ever again.
The barometer looks broken.
As the end of my holiday quickly approached the heavens opened up and bucketed down with rain. It rain for most of my last weekend off only stopping for a short period of time during the day. The barometer on my wall was so far around the dial I thought it must be broken.
This is going to hurt!
Pennant season has started this year and I’ve been playing in the Div 3 team. I was coming up to the second round when I re-injured my back taking photos. I went into the day knowing that my back was going to hurt at the end of the day but I couldn’t let the team down.
For most of the round my back held up to the strain well. But there were three shots late in the round that hurt like a mother! On the 12th hole I had to stop my swing halfway through. This isn’t something easy to do and it really hurt. The next few swings after that weren’t pleasant. Then on the 14th hole I had two shots where the ball was well below my feet. I couldn’t get down to the first shot and on the second shot I made myself bend lower than my back was allowing and just gritted my teeth and swung the club. I let out an anguished moan after that and was glad that I got the ball onto the green. Thankfully I managed to win the match on the 16th hole because I’m not sure my back was going to hold out much longer.
No, please, let me give way to you!
On my last day off I made the trip to St Columba Falls towards the east coast of Tasmania. They were quite a sight!! On the way back home I was barreling down a straight when I saw a cattle truck approaching on a side road. I thought “he isn’t going to stop for me, is he?!?”. The answer to that was NO. I was lucky that I anticipated what he was going to do or I would have run straight into the side of him. Bloody stupid country drivers!
Internet slowed again.
I seem to be using my internet allowance up every month of late. When this happens my internet connection speed is reduced to bugger all and I can barely surf the net. A lot of the time I can’t check my emails because the connection times out on me. It happened in March and again in April. I hope that it doesn’t happen in May because I’m getting very sick of it!
Who steals a bin full of rubbish??
Who does steal a bin full of rubbish? I put my rubbish bin out for pick-up the night before and when I got up to go to work the next day it was gone. It was found two days later several streets away, empty. It had to have been taken while it was still full of rubbish. Why would anyone do that?
Pennant off to a flyer.
After three rounds of pennant the Prospect Vale div 3 team is sitting on top of the ladder undefeated. It is a long season with another 7 rounds to go but, we are setting ourselves up for a big year and possible season victory. I’ll be sure to do a more comprehensive write up after all the round three results come in.
Gone at 51.
That is how old my cousin was when he was cruelly taken from us. It really makes you think about not wasting time. You are a long time dead! You should get out and live life while you can! His funeral will be held this Friday. I expect it to be huge. He was well liked by everyone and I’m sure everyone will be out to pay their respects.
I want to thank everyone for their words of condolence and encouragement during this time. I really appreciate it!
I want to try and lighten the mood a bit after the awful happenings this past weekend. As I mentioned I was trying to think of a funny blog post that covered my last few weeks. So, I will try and do that now. I wanted to come up with funny one line tags that hinted at what I’d been doing, but made things sound much more important than they really were.
So here we are in chronological order.
The 2009 pole felling championships.
Not long after Easter I was sitting at my computer reading an email from Rob Sargent about the next generation of sniper rifles. I was in the process of writing a reply (not sure if it ever made it through) when I heard a loud thud outside. I quickly ran upstairs to the window just in time to see a Red Toyota Ute speeding off up the street.
What had happened?? Well, this idiot had somehow run into the phone pole outside my house and knocked it down. It looked like the pole had broken off at the base clean. In the process it ripped the phone lines out of my house and 4 of my neighbours. He probably thought he had got away with it but I got his rego number. :D The cops took care of him!
Unfortunately it took a full day for the phone lines to be reconnected so I had to go do something else for 24 hours. I wasn’t a happy camper.
Slip at the falls.
During the week after Easter we had quite a bit of rain. After the idiot in the Red Toyota knocked the pole down I had some time on my hands and I could only think of one place to go. Liffey Falls. Liffey Falls is situated near Deloraine, nestled in the Great Western Tiers. It’s about an hours drive from Launceston.
There is a discussion about which waterfall in Tasmania is the most beautiful, Russell Falls in the south or Liffey Falls in the north. I’ve been to both now and I’m still not sure. I think if there was plenty of water going over Russell falls then it would be the more spectacular of the two, but they are both fantastic.
Anyway back to my heading. I had just spent a lot of time at the base of the falls taking pictures and had climbed back up the hill. There are three waterfalls in the Liffy River and I stopped at the middle falls on my way out. I could see a cool shot if I could get close to the edge. I’ve seen similar shots before and really wanted to get my own.
As I said, we had had a lot or rain over the past few days and the river was flowing well. I found a track to the river’s edge and started stepping out to make my way to the edge. That’s when my left foot slipped out from under me. I quickly scrambled for my footing and caught myself before I slipped away to my death.
I’m not exaggerating this. If I had gone down I would have gone over the edge of the cliff! Needless to say after that I keep my distance from the edge.
Guide falls with no injury.
A nice title! I drove to the Guide Falls just past Ridgley in the north west of Tasmania. With all the rain we had during the week I expected a good flow over the falls, but there wasn’t as much as I had hoped. The trip was still worth it and I think I got some good shots while I was there. It was a trip without incident but I liked the title.
Taking is better than processing!
I’ve known this for a while but, taking photos in more enjoyable than processing them. It’s not that I didn’t like the shots I had taken of Liffey falls and Guide falls, I just had more fun while I was shooting them.
An English sunny day.
In the second week of my holidays it was still raining. The weather finally broke for a few days so I grabbed my gear and headed out. Unfortunately the day I went out was an English sunny day. What does that mean you ask? Well, the sun was out but you never really saw it because of the cloud cover. That’s Tasmanian weather for you. Rain, sun and everything in between!
Pain by the river.
About eight weeks ago I injured my back helping my grandmother move some LARGE flower pots around. I had been feeling quite good for about a week at this time when I went out to take photos. I was heading in the direction of Leven Canyon when I saw a nice river scene I wanted to try and capture. I pulled over, got my gear out and headed to the river bank. The light wasn’t great (it was the English sunny day), but I still took some shots in the hope that I might get lucky.
I had just taken some shots when I saw a better position to shoot from. I made my way over to the spot and set the tripod up. It was set at about 5 feet high angled downwards; I’m 6’3” tall so I had to bend over a little to see through the viewfinder. I leaned down and felt a sharp pain run through my lower back. That is all it took. My back was saw for another week after that.
Attempted sprain at canyon.
Again, same day as the English sunny day! Actually, there are a lot of things that happened that day!
I got to the canyon and was moving to the back of the car to get my gear out when I slipped on the loose gravel and nearly went over on my ankle. Thankfully the walk to the lookout worked any pain out of my ankle.
I sometimes think I’m accident prone.
Wrong way turn back.
Nothing new here, I took a wrong turn. I seem to take a wrong turn on most of my photo excursions. I blame googlemaps!
Close encounters of a farming kind.
After leaving Leven Canyon and taking a wrong turn I was finally on the road to Devils Gullet. It was a winding road through the hills that had a nice drop off to my left. I was heading up a small hill when I saw a farmer on a old green tractor. It had some very imposing forks sticking off the front of it which you would want to mess with.
Anyway, as I got closer to him he violently turned towards me. I was no more than a few metres away when this happened and all I could see was the forks on the front of his tracker aimed right at my head. I slammed on the brakes and swerved to the left a little (not too much or I would have been over the edge). As you can imagine I swore a bit at this. I looked at him and he acted like nothing had happened. Stupid old bastard!
It looks further on the map.
Once I got past the old farmer I made it to the road that lead to the turn-off towards Devils Gullet. On the map it looked like a fair distance to the turn-off but in reality it was very short.
Can this road be any rougher?? *bang* OK, I guess so!
The road into Devils Gullet is a forestry road. It was all gravel and dirt and it wasn’t all that smooth. I’ve driven rougher roads but this seemed to get worse the further I went. Maybe I’m driving the wrong sort of car for the terrain I cover!?!
I thought the sign said 4km not 14?
At the turn-of f I swear the sign said 4kms to Devils Gullet!! But in reality it said 14kms. I was driving thinking I had gone the wrong way because I wasn’t at my destination yet. Thankfully I came across another sign on the way in that eased my mind. I still think the sign said 4kms!
Remote cliff rescue.
This has to be my favourite title!! It is essentially correct but certainly not as dramatic as it sounds.
Devils Gullet is a sheer cliff face that looks out over the central highlands of Tasmania. The lookout at Devils Gullet is covered in a metal grate to stand on. The holes in the gate are quite large but not so large that you could put a hand through it. Well I set the tripod up and put the camera on top of it. I had a look at the lens and decided that it needed to be cleaned before I took any shots. I reached into my pocket and got my cleaning cloth out at which point I heard something hit the metal platform. I looked down to find my remote camera release lying at the edge of oblivion.
It was sitting about 3 feet under the platform which was well out of my reach without assistance. I couldn’t just leave it there it cost too much to replace it. So I got my tripod and stuck one of the legs under there and started to move the remote. Suddenly it slid down towards a crevasse that would have been the end of the rescue effort. From that point on I had to take it very carefully to maneuver the remote close enough for me to grab with my hand. I managed to rescue the remote and will never put it in the same pocket as my cleaning cloth ever again.
The barometer looks broken.
As the end of my holiday quickly approached the heavens opened up and bucketed down with rain. It rain for most of my last weekend off only stopping for a short period of time during the day. The barometer on my wall was so far around the dial I thought it must be broken.
This is going to hurt!
Pennant season has started this year and I’ve been playing in the Div 3 team. I was coming up to the second round when I re-injured my back taking photos. I went into the day knowing that my back was going to hurt at the end of the day but I couldn’t let the team down.
For most of the round my back held up to the strain well. But there were three shots late in the round that hurt like a mother! On the 12th hole I had to stop my swing halfway through. This isn’t something easy to do and it really hurt. The next few swings after that weren’t pleasant. Then on the 14th hole I had two shots where the ball was well below my feet. I couldn’t get down to the first shot and on the second shot I made myself bend lower than my back was allowing and just gritted my teeth and swung the club. I let out an anguished moan after that and was glad that I got the ball onto the green. Thankfully I managed to win the match on the 16th hole because I’m not sure my back was going to hold out much longer.
No, please, let me give way to you!
On my last day off I made the trip to St Columba Falls towards the east coast of Tasmania. They were quite a sight!! On the way back home I was barreling down a straight when I saw a cattle truck approaching on a side road. I thought “he isn’t going to stop for me, is he?!?”. The answer to that was NO. I was lucky that I anticipated what he was going to do or I would have run straight into the side of him. Bloody stupid country drivers!
Internet slowed again.
I seem to be using my internet allowance up every month of late. When this happens my internet connection speed is reduced to bugger all and I can barely surf the net. A lot of the time I can’t check my emails because the connection times out on me. It happened in March and again in April. I hope that it doesn’t happen in May because I’m getting very sick of it!
Who steals a bin full of rubbish??
Who does steal a bin full of rubbish? I put my rubbish bin out for pick-up the night before and when I got up to go to work the next day it was gone. It was found two days later several streets away, empty. It had to have been taken while it was still full of rubbish. Why would anyone do that?
Pennant off to a flyer.
After three rounds of pennant the Prospect Vale div 3 team is sitting on top of the ladder undefeated. It is a long season with another 7 rounds to go but, we are setting ourselves up for a big year and possible season victory. I’ll be sure to do a more comprehensive write up after all the round three results come in.
Gone at 51.
That is how old my cousin was when he was cruelly taken from us. It really makes you think about not wasting time. You are a long time dead! You should get out and live life while you can! His funeral will be held this Friday. I expect it to be huge. He was well liked by everyone and I’m sure everyone will be out to pay their respects.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Gossy
I had planned to update my blog with a light hearted post that covered the last few weeks. I guess that will have to wait for another time now.
I started yesterday trying to think of something to write to a grieving friend that would help her through the pain and sadness. I never got around to sending her anything because I found myself distracted with my own grief. The day ended with my own reflection on life and how to deal with the loss of a loved one.
I got a phone call from my mother at work telling me that my cousin “Gossy” was in ICU after suffering a stroke earlier in the morning. At that point little was known and only the immediate family were being allowed in to see him. The doctors induced a coma to help him recover, but it didn’t sound good. As the day progressed I heard some information that he was going to be okay but sadly that was only wishful thinking.
When the blood clot dislodged and caused the stroke it ended up in his brain. It lodged itself in the part of the brain that controls breathing, movement, speech and so forth. In the process it killed off that area of his brain leaving only the life support machines keeping him alive.
At this point he will be kept on life support till Monday at which point the machines will be turned off and he will most likely die. There is a do not resuscitate order in effect should he get worse during the weekend.
He looks so peaceful right now, just like he is sleeping.
You will be missed Gossy!
I started yesterday trying to think of something to write to a grieving friend that would help her through the pain and sadness. I never got around to sending her anything because I found myself distracted with my own grief. The day ended with my own reflection on life and how to deal with the loss of a loved one.
I got a phone call from my mother at work telling me that my cousin “Gossy” was in ICU after suffering a stroke earlier in the morning. At that point little was known and only the immediate family were being allowed in to see him. The doctors induced a coma to help him recover, but it didn’t sound good. As the day progressed I heard some information that he was going to be okay but sadly that was only wishful thinking.
When the blood clot dislodged and caused the stroke it ended up in his brain. It lodged itself in the part of the brain that controls breathing, movement, speech and so forth. In the process it killed off that area of his brain leaving only the life support machines keeping him alive.
At this point he will be kept on life support till Monday at which point the machines will be turned off and he will most likely die. There is a do not resuscitate order in effect should he get worse during the weekend.
He looks so peaceful right now, just like he is sleeping.
You will be missed Gossy!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Hobart Buildings
During my past visits to Hobart I had some time to wander around the city near the waterfront. This part of the city has a lot of older style architecture which made for some nice shots. With more time I'm sure I could find some remarkable photo op's, however for now these will have to do.
Happy Easter everyone!! :)
Happy Easter everyone!! :)
Friday, April 3, 2009
Ross Church
I took these after spending the day in Hobart taking photos of the Botanical Gardens and venturing back up Mt Wellington. While I was driving home I could see some brilliant cloud formations but had nowhere to get a good shot from. But I thought if the conditions held until I reached Ross than I'd stop and get some shots.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Japanese Gardens
I got a chance to spend some time in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hobart a couple months ago. The gardens are spread out and each area seems to have its own theme, these images are from he Japanese Garden. I didn't have my tripod with me which is a shame because I would have benefited using one on many shots in the garden. This area is quite beautiful and I hope to go back one day, tripod in hand.
These two shots are fake infrared images. This first image reminded me of the "War of the Worlds" with everything turned red. With the other image I was going for a darker feel. Almost monochromatic but with a hint of colour.
These two shots are fake infrared images. This first image reminded me of the "War of the Worlds" with everything turned red. With the other image I was going for a darker feel. Almost monochromatic but with a hint of colour.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
HMAS Stuart
My previous post was about ReDynamix and this post is also about it. This time I'm showing a couple images that have been created a little differently.
What I did with these was create a fake HDR in Photomatix. I did this by taking the original image and making two copies of it, one 1exp higher and 1 exp lower. This made them look like they had been bracketed.
Next step was to generate a flat looking HDR in Photomatix and then save as a 16 bit tiff. From there I open the tiff up in photoshop and apply ReDynamix to give he image some pop.
This is the HMAS Stuart, an Anzac class frigate. I only wish I could have gotten to other good vantage points to shoot this vessel. I have a fascination with warships, I like the powerful look of them. I remember seeing the Missouri when it was docked in Hobart. I got to walk on the deck and see the big guns. I don't remember a lot about it, it must have been 17 or 18 years ago. Maybe longer. But I do remember seeing the plaque commemorating the end of World War 2. Another photo opportunity missed.
What I did with these was create a fake HDR in Photomatix. I did this by taking the original image and making two copies of it, one 1exp higher and 1 exp lower. This made them look like they had been bracketed.
Next step was to generate a flat looking HDR in Photomatix and then save as a 16 bit tiff. From there I open the tiff up in photoshop and apply ReDynamix to give he image some pop.
This is the HMAS Stuart, an Anzac class frigate. I only wish I could have gotten to other good vantage points to shoot this vessel. I have a fascination with warships, I like the powerful look of them. I remember seeing the Missouri when it was docked in Hobart. I got to walk on the deck and see the big guns. I don't remember a lot about it, it must have been 17 or 18 years ago. Maybe longer. But I do remember seeing the plaque commemorating the end of World War 2. Another photo opportunity missed.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
ReDynamix
I've been playing with a photoshop plug-in called ReDynamix. I wasn't too sure about it to begin with. The results were interesting but it created a lot of noise in the process. I have since found a couple ways of reducing the noise created by ReDynamix and I'm very happy with the results.
All of my original images don't get touched/altered, I import them into Lightroom and export Tiff's and Jpeg's to work on. The first way I have found to reduce noise is to export as a 16 bit Tiff. Then in photoshop change the bit amount to 8 bit so the plug-in will work. This saves quite a lot of detail.
These images were done before I came up with the 16bit tiff idea. They only show what detail can be found in images that may look rather poor to begin with. They were all taken during a 3 hour Eco Cruise around the Tasman Peninsula coastline. During this trip I felt rather sea sick due to the fact I was forever taking photos. In other words, I was always looking through the view finder. This had an adverse effect on me. I didn't feel too good by the end of it but the trip was well worth it!
All of my original images don't get touched/altered, I import them into Lightroom and export Tiff's and Jpeg's to work on. The first way I have found to reduce noise is to export as a 16 bit Tiff. Then in photoshop change the bit amount to 8 bit so the plug-in will work. This saves quite a lot of detail.
These images were done before I came up with the 16bit tiff idea. They only show what detail can be found in images that may look rather poor to begin with. They were all taken during a 3 hour Eco Cruise around the Tasman Peninsula coastline. During this trip I felt rather sea sick due to the fact I was forever taking photos. In other words, I was always looking through the view finder. This had an adverse effect on me. I didn't feel too good by the end of it but the trip was well worth it!
Monday, March 16, 2009
The sun doesn't always shine
Hello all. I am still here I just haven't got a lot to say or show you at the moment. There are no photos today. However, in the mean time I thought I would tell you about a little photo excursion I took a while back. Enjoy! :)
On my recent trip down to Hobart I managed to have a little adventure. It’s not unusual for me to have things happen when I got out taking photos but this one could have been worse.
I was staying with a mate in Hobart. On the last day, Tuesday morning, I planned to leave early and get to the top of Mt Wellington for the sunrise over the city. I went to bed early and got up at 4am. I packed my bags and headed out to the front door. This was when I realized I didn’t know where the exterior light switch was.
I didn’t want to wake anyone so I felt my way to the door while carrying my big travel bag. I opened the door and the screen door and stepped out onto the small landing. That’s when things went horribly wrong! I thought I was still stepping on the landing but my foot went off the edge and I was plummeting towards god knows what in the dark. I ended up face first in his garden. :)
I can laugh now but it could have been a lot worse. I got up and loaded the car then went back inside to see what damage I’d done to myself. I had wood chips all over me, a couple were stuck to my face. I was also bleeding for my right arm a little, nothing much but it has left a bruise.
So stunned and tired I headed up the mountain. It was going well till I had almost reached the top. That’s when I hit a huge cloud bank that was hanging over the top of the mountain. I couldn’t see more than a few metres in front of me but I knew there was a big drop to my left. I got to the top and it was bizarre. I could see weird lights in the clouds that were there for only a moment. Other than that I couldn’t see much. It was freezing cold! I was glad I had trousers and a lined raincoat.
I wondered around for a few minutes trying to get my bearings. I knew the sun wasn’t far away from coming up and I also knew the cloud wasn’t going to lift in time. So I made the decision to head back down without any shots being fired. So I went through all that hassle for nothing, typical really. :)
This story disproves the theory that Tasmania always has great weather for photography. In fact the story doesn't end here. Two weeks later I travelled back down south for the day and made the trip back up the mountain to see what I had missed. Once I got to the top I was greeted with freezing gale force winds and rain. At this point I was beginning to think the mountain had something against me.
I did get some rather bland shots from the lookout platforms which I will process someday. I haven't processed them yet because they really didn't excite me. The most exciting part about the second trip up the mountain was the wind. I tried to climb the short distance to the very top of the mountain but, I was beaten by the elements. I'm almost certain that if I had spread my arms out I would have been blown off the top and would have landed somewhere in Hobart.
IT WAS BLOWING UP THERE!!!
I was very glad I was wearing a wind breaker or I would have completely frozen to death up there. I mean I was cold but I saw some stupid young girl wearing very, very short shorts, thongs (that is flip flops for my American viewers) and a tank top. I can only imagine how unbelievably cold she was.
Anyway I do hope to get some more photos posted soon. I did get some good shots while I was down south. I just need to get motivated to process and post them. :)
On my recent trip down to Hobart I managed to have a little adventure. It’s not unusual for me to have things happen when I got out taking photos but this one could have been worse.
I was staying with a mate in Hobart. On the last day, Tuesday morning, I planned to leave early and get to the top of Mt Wellington for the sunrise over the city. I went to bed early and got up at 4am. I packed my bags and headed out to the front door. This was when I realized I didn’t know where the exterior light switch was.
I didn’t want to wake anyone so I felt my way to the door while carrying my big travel bag. I opened the door and the screen door and stepped out onto the small landing. That’s when things went horribly wrong! I thought I was still stepping on the landing but my foot went off the edge and I was plummeting towards god knows what in the dark. I ended up face first in his garden. :)
I can laugh now but it could have been a lot worse. I got up and loaded the car then went back inside to see what damage I’d done to myself. I had wood chips all over me, a couple were stuck to my face. I was also bleeding for my right arm a little, nothing much but it has left a bruise.
So stunned and tired I headed up the mountain. It was going well till I had almost reached the top. That’s when I hit a huge cloud bank that was hanging over the top of the mountain. I couldn’t see more than a few metres in front of me but I knew there was a big drop to my left. I got to the top and it was bizarre. I could see weird lights in the clouds that were there for only a moment. Other than that I couldn’t see much. It was freezing cold! I was glad I had trousers and a lined raincoat.
I wondered around for a few minutes trying to get my bearings. I knew the sun wasn’t far away from coming up and I also knew the cloud wasn’t going to lift in time. So I made the decision to head back down without any shots being fired. So I went through all that hassle for nothing, typical really. :)
This story disproves the theory that Tasmania always has great weather for photography. In fact the story doesn't end here. Two weeks later I travelled back down south for the day and made the trip back up the mountain to see what I had missed. Once I got to the top I was greeted with freezing gale force winds and rain. At this point I was beginning to think the mountain had something against me.
I did get some rather bland shots from the lookout platforms which I will process someday. I haven't processed them yet because they really didn't excite me. The most exciting part about the second trip up the mountain was the wind. I tried to climb the short distance to the very top of the mountain but, I was beaten by the elements. I'm almost certain that if I had spread my arms out I would have been blown off the top and would have landed somewhere in Hobart.
IT WAS BLOWING UP THERE!!!
I was very glad I was wearing a wind breaker or I would have completely frozen to death up there. I mean I was cold but I saw some stupid young girl wearing very, very short shorts, thongs (that is flip flops for my American viewers) and a tank top. I can only imagine how unbelievably cold she was.
Anyway I do hope to get some more photos posted soon. I did get some good shots while I was down south. I just need to get motivated to process and post them. :)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Launceston Seaport
I think I can take a better shot of Launceston seaport, but as I don't have many shots of my home town, this will just have to do for now. I remember when this was a seaport, now it's full of restaurants, bars and accommodation.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Table Cape Lighthouse
Table Cape is much like the Nut at Stanley, the remains of a volcano. There is a lighthouse and tulip farm on top of Table Cape which are worth having a look at. Unfortunately I went in the wrong month. The tulips are in full bloom in October during the Wynyard Tulip Festival. (The same time of year when I play my Golf Club Championships)
I'll have to make an effort to get here in October this year!
I'll have to make an effort to get here in October this year!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Buried by the Beach
The Stanley cemetery is right beneath the Nut and beside the beach. Not a bad resting place.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Stanley Cows
This was a funny shot. I was driving around the roads of Stanley when I found a paddock full of cows. It's not a great shot but they tried so hard to pose for the shot. Unlike the sheep who ran away from me, the cows came closer. :)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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