Ice cream at Warrandyte

Today we had ice cream at Warrandyte after a swim in the Yarra river. Orange and strawberry gelati on the left, boysenberry and mango ice cream on the right.

Roxanne

A quiet moment with Roxanne.

Re-Hash: Window Washers

I've already shown this on my other blog (which I never update). This dude might be contemplating the massive job ahead of him... or he might just be slacking off.

His workmate is left of frame. The only hint of him is his brush rod at top right of frame.

Flashback: A Pair of Swimmers

Two swimmers coming back onto the beach. Taken in 2001, (I think) around March, on the Gold Coast.

Canon AE1-Pro, 50mm, Kodak Gold 400

Fresh Road

Even though we don't need more roads or cars, I do like fresh bitumen. The council have just installed new speed humps in my street to slow some motherfuckers down.

Shot on 120 iso 400 with a TLR.

Nick and Lieu: Friends of Winter

People really don't focus on the pluses of winter. Some refuse to acknowledge them altogether. I love the softer light of the season and how it makes people behave differently. In a city like Melbourne, winter makes us appreciate spring and summer. Plus, don't you think it's nice to dress up without getting hot?

Lieu and Nick at my house. The chill of a Melbourne winter etched onto their dour faces. Are they about to tuck into borscht, made the old way with vodka or are they about to dispense with the beets and just have the vodka?

Game Face

My little brothers playing Halo: ODST on Xbox. Apart from spending time with their children, this is our favourite thing to do when we hang out. I'm sad that I'm so far away from them.

The Melbourne School of Engineering: The Garden

The front garden at the School of Engineering, University of Melbourne. I didn't have my glasses and there wasn't that much light around so focusing was a little guessy. I didn't realise there was an ant on the centre leaf.

This is a relatively tight frame on a quite open garden. But I feel like it's lacking in a way.

Fuji 120 400H
80mm/f3.5
Yashica TLR

The Melbourne School of Engineering: Bricks With Scaffold

The brickwork of the Old Engineering building, University of Melbourne. I like the vignette on this old lens.

Not sure about the composition here. But then, I find when I like the composition I know it straight away...

Fuji 120 400H
80mm/f3.5
Yashica TLR

My Grandmother - Heni Henderson

This is my grandmother, Heni. But I call her Nan. She has a beautiful, proud Maori face which is at once strong and soft.

When I was little, Nan enjoyed baby-sitting me because I had a very good appetite. She would make me an egg on toast for breakfast. All she would have is a cup of tea and a single slice of toast cut into four squares… I could always eat more toast than her.

Nan loves to play cards - mainly gin rummy and 500. Both of my brothers are very good at cards, but they just can't beat her. She laughs wickedly when she wins and can be quite cocky.

MSO: Concert 2, 2009

Feb 14, 2009

Concert 2: conductor, Oleg Caetani, and his merry crew get stuck into the coda of Ravel's Daphnis & Chloé.

I've been waiting a fair while to see this live. The arrangement was great - it was better than that of a recording of Karajan conducting the Berliner Harmoniker by Deutsche Grammophon that I have.... which is really the only one I know... I don't actually know what I'm talking about.

Lots of chromatic aberration on the whites of the music sheets and the trumpets on the big screen... but I was quite far away. There's a 5950 x 2465 version on Flickr.

Two Hands meets Mulholland Drive

Johnny and Madame Ginger at Panama. Two Hands meets Mulholland Drive? Ok, I don't know what I'm talking about, but what I'm trying to say is there's a cinematic feel about this. A bit of tension too.

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/8 (handheld)
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 640

Alexander Gardens

Sitting at Riverland I took this. I love Alexander Gardens - when people aren't being mugged in them.

I welcome summer with open arms.

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/250 (handheld)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 1600

Bella

This is Bella - she's on the way to the pub.

What a little angel!

Weld Then Grind

July 20, 2008 at 1.10am EST
Two men work through the night on new tram tracks on Nicholson St in Fitzroy/Carlton.

I stood there mesmerised for about 10 mins. The sparks were beautiful.

I took many shots wanting to get the right amount of spark. and the men in a good enough pose.

The sparks add nice depth to the image.

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/800
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 640

Wistful Man

August 1, 2008 at 9.29pm EST
This guy was really interesting. So well dressed. Don't you love his tie? And those glasses are something else. Takes a very different person to pull that look off.

We were having dinner at Birdman Walking, and this guy was seemingly disinterested with the conversation around him, he stared at the unsual lighting in the restaurant.

Who knows what he was wondering at the time...

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/20
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 1000

Fleur

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/640
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 640


Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/800
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 640

Eye Cream

Who needs eye cream when you have a healing brush tool?

Kirsten would thank me, I think.

Happy birthday Salv.

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/30
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 1600

Childhood Memories

This is my younger brother Clynton (left) and I at our grandmother's house in NZ. I'm standing in our 'swimming pool'.

It's nice looking at this, it brings back so many happy memories. I remember almost everything in this picture. Not sure who's taking it, but I'm guessing it's our real father.

I must be about 5 years old... which would put this at 1981. A year before our youngest brother came along.

I remember the camera too... a little plastic Kodak Instamatic that took film cartridges. What I loved were the flash cubes. Each gave four flashes before being spent. The flash revolved when the film was advanced.

Every shot would have cost decent money... what a different world we live in today.

'Onnie'

Carlton Gardens, Carlton

Shimmery Sluice

This is a lane way near me - Sheils Lane in Carlton.

The yellow flood lighting lit up the water in the drain... 120 years ago this would have been shit and piss and other household waste.

Shot with a Canon 40D on my new Canon 50mm f1.4 lens... I'm constantly amazed by its flexibility and sharpness, and the shallow depth it allows. This shot is not possible with most other lenses out there.

1/80" f1.4 ISO1000

Lieu 96

Tonight Lieu and I went for dinner at Dessert House. I took this portrait of her as we waited for the best tram in Melbourne - the 96. It was 9ºC at the time. Cold for us Australiëns.

It wasn't until I got this foto on-screen that I realised how nice Lieu's scarves are.

I'm not often happy with my photography. But tonight, I'm happy with this portrait. Most of the credit goes to Lieu though for being a compliant model.

So we went on to Dessert House and ordered exactly the same things. Two BBQ pork omelettes on rice and two hot honey lemon teas (you have to specifiy hot in this place).

Goddam I love Dessert House. Abrupt but efficient service, fast food, fraikin tasty and everything under $10.

I've never actually had dessert there... I'm just too full afterwards. Speaking of which, it's not often Lieu doesn't finish a meal (I can't remember her not). Tonight the omelette raced her and won. Good going you omelette!


Oh, here's the omelette...

03/Jul/2008 Update

Is it bad if I went back again tonight (the next night) and ordered the SAME meal and SAME drink, albeit with different people? I won't even bother posting the pic I took... it looks exactly the same!

Thank You Analogue, Hello Digital

I bought a new camera recently. A Canon 40D with battery grip. It's my first real venture into serious digital photography. I absolutely love it. I won't harp on about it because you can read myriad 40D reviews online.

Why have I waited so long? The main reason is that I have never been able to afford what I want. Add to that the fact that I have never been prepared to settle on a bottom of the range digital SLR. However, nowadays for a very small price, the Canon 40D is a fantastic, affordable piece of kit.

The other significant reason for not making the move to digital is because I simply love my old analogue kit. With the exceptions of things like digital rangefinders and digital backed medium format cameras, there isn't a lot in the digital realm that forces you think about what you're doing like analogue gear can (does this sentence make sense)? You simply cannot get consistently good results if you don't know what you are doing.

I cut my teeth on analogue photography in 1996 when, as a pimply teenager, I was given a Braun Paxette. I had no idea what I was doing back then. Whereas, now I'm much better because I don't know what I am doing, but in a very structured way. When I'm out and about and I see a shot or a moment, I automatically start thinking about composition, ISO, shutter speed and aperture. You're either thinking that's fraikin sad or cool or WTF? Thankfully, I usually have a camera on me. * gesch-likt! *

Whilst quality analogue photography has a warmth you just can't get with regular digital set-ups, any good Photoshop operator can easily bang out imagery to match.

When I use my analogue gear, it's the tangible qualities that hit me. There's the smell of leather, oil and metal. Comforting, old smells that instantly bring forth childhood memories of old record players, old TVs... my grandmother's 1950's Austin of England - used in the procession for Queen Elizabeth's first visit to New Zealand, with wood, leather and chrome scents.

Then there's the weight - everything's metal. If it's not metal it's leather. If it's not either, it's glass. How many sore shoulders have I endured, sometimes for weeks between decent exposures? I daren't count... no, in fact I don't care.

And finally, there's the look, sound and feel. Cold, machined aluminium and black enameled brass. Dials, knobs, switches, slides, levers, catches and buttons. Shiny bits and bits that go click. Yes, new cameras have buttons (more of them) but they're plastic and they work far too efficiently until their inbuilt-obsolescence is due.

I wonder if film will go the way of the vinyl record. Once the compact disc hit the shelves 20 years ago, everyone said vinyl was dead. And for a while, as far as I could see, it was! However, now vinyl is going strong. Whilst it's certainly not a volume seller, there's so much good (and bad) material available on the format. With Polaroid announcing the cessation of instant film production and other film companies diversifying their businesses to stay afloat and with world affairs turning to shit - will film turn niche soon? Who knows!?