Last Supper

Well, the last meal of '09...
A lovely summer's eve and some prawns on the barbie - superb.
Best wishes to you all for many a fine meal, with many a fine friend
throughout 2010.
Don't forget to take plenty of photos, whether it's on film or
digital, camera or phone, straight or retouched - shoot first, ask
questions later!

Kiwi Christmas Tree

What's summer without an image of a pohutukawa in flower? This is one
of many in full bloom locally in Miramar and given the Lomo camera
treatment.

'twas the night before....

The angel had to take second place to the simple star this year.
A pretty basic image so I used the 'Tilt Shift' app & 'Best Camera'
app to try & add a bit of visual interest.
Best wishes to anyone out there stumbling across my blog - how about
leaving a comment...?
Merry Christmas!

Quick, it's lunchtime...

So, for a little more video geekery I made a time-lapse video of a group of local photographers arriving at a Christmas lunch gathering. This was captured at 1 frame every 2 seconds & playback is at 15 fps.

It seems that this blogsite compresses video quite a bit - sorry for low quality. Probably better quality here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wwa-lUfn1o

Scenes from the Red Carpet

For my first video post direct from the iPhone 3GS - here's a fairly
rough piece of overhead filming of local hero & band manager
extraordinaire Murray Hewitt (AKA Rhys Darby) at The Lovely Bones premiere.

(it will be compressed when uploaded).
- I did post some video last summer from my earlier 3G phone, but it
was shot via a non-Apple application.

And on the red carpet tonight...

Well there were a lot of glammed-up people & some genuine celebs, once
you got a view thru' all the keen fans.
This was the Wellington premier of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones,
and it was another sparkling affair.

Off to market

....or maybe he's been to the shops already...either way, perhaps
there's a market for a shopping trolley/zimmer frame! Hmmmm "hello, is
that the patent office?".

Traffic report

Thankfully, non-exsistant. While working on a project to photograph
the inside of some tunnels on State Highway One I grabbed a few shots
on the iPhone - very weird feeling to be standing on a piece of road
that doesn't have pedestrian access.

Freeloader

Maybe this is why our cats are always hungry?

Guy Fawkes?

I grabbed the shot of this guy during the motorbike rally at
Parliament recently. Luckily he wasn't running.

Where'd he go?

Hmmm....can anyone see a cat around here?!

Sticking it to the Man

"Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way"

OK, so I was struggling to keep up with the Harley's & Triumph's, but me and my 50cc's of Italian zippiness made our presence felt in the protest rally against increasing ACC levies.

It was an incredible convoy of over 5,000 bikers descending on Parliament - impossible to get any sense of scale in a single image - the line of bikers stretched for many, many kilometres.

Cuba café

Another of Wellington's eatablishment's where the beans & the decor
come directly from Cuba. Oddly enough this is on Cuba Street!?
A new iPhone app I've been playing with, 'Lomo Style' has been used on
this image....adds a nice retro look.

Traffic Snarl

Delays on the main road heading into Wellington after a holiday
weekend...compounded by poor weather.
New Zealand has just brought in laws banning use of cellphones while
driving...surely I'll still be able to take photographs while
driving...?!

Kitch/cool graffiti crossover

Interesting stencil graffiti on a lovely old but deserted building.

They're landing!

This kinetic sculpture is quite an eye-catcher, right next to such a
historical building in downtown Wellington.
I ended up using the 'Best Camera' app to try and add even a little
more intrigue to the image.

Cool Britannia

OK, so I've been playing with yet another piece of iPhone photo
software! This time from none other than the big guns at Adobe - a
true pocket Photoshop. The scooter is an Aprilia Mojito Custom 125
(apparently once the wheels of choice for Jamie Oliver).

When will I need you again?

Hard to believe, but I did recently need the Ray Bans....and I'm sure
I'll need them again soon.
OK, I 'splashed' out on another photo editing app - a fairly simple,
but quite effective thing called Best Camera (as both Chase Jarvis & I
have said - "the best camera is the one you've got with you".

No fish today

I don't know whether it was the bait we were using (maybe Jewish
fish?), or the inappropriate footwear, but either way, we didn't
manage to catch dinner.

Dog park

This is my second photo of the 'canine parking' spot outside Moore
Wilsons - another interesting dog left parked while it's owner peruses
the artichokes and crayfish on offer.

Surgery

This could have ended in a horrible & expensive mess.... but
fortunately my MacBook Pro laptop has come away from this complicated
procedure with a faster, larger hard drive. I had a 'teardown
instruction' video on the iPhone providing guidance, a few helpful
tips from my friend The Internet, and we managed to get through this
with a happy outcome. Whew.

Put your foot down

Cute brake pedal on a huge trike powered by a huge car engine.

Flying A

This old relic was outside the RSA Club in Blenheim, and probably made
more than a few trips there over the years. One of our gang at high
school had a similar car, in a similar colour, and also painted with
what looked like a rather coarse paint brush.

Highly evolved

Went to an exhibition opening recently and one of the artists showed a
series of photos with people in different situations wearing sheep
masks. During the evening the photographer sat down with one of the
masks on.

European vacation

I wish! But this little scene could possibly be down an alleyway in
France, instead of in the heart of urban New Zealand.
The colours were given a bit of a kick with 'Lolo' in the CameraBag app.

Change in the weather

After a stormy night in Wellington the clouds began to part for a fine
& sunny day. Unfortunately it was still blowing a gale - leading to
one of the roughest take-offs from Welly airport that I've endured.

Religous experience

Getting a cool shot on the iPhone is similar to a religous experience.
This 'moment' was from a modern church building where I was helping
set up for a (non-religous) lecture. They had some very old stained
glass windows that had been transplanted into the building which I
tried out a recently acquired edge app called 'Edwin' on.

Err, what's 'develop'??

Yeah, OK, we're talking old skool - what we used to with film, back in
the day....and what some people still do today. Sean here had a bag
with him that contained no less than 3 film cameras! But he did have
an iPhone in his pocket. Legend.

Saturday gridlock

A beautiful weekend morning and Wellington sportspeople are once again
jumping in cars to rush across town so they can kick, pass, throw, or
hit balls. We're right at the end of the winter sports season now so
there'll be some extra urgency for those competing in their grade
finals.
Yep, we made it in time for kickoff, thanks.

Street philosophy

Clever bit of graffiti on Taranaki Street - I guess it's a reference
to whoever has been covering over the past graffiti with grey paint.

Olde worlde

A partially-completed room set in the studio for a shoot I worked on
yesterday. It's always a lot of fun hunting down elements to help
evoke a certain mood & this one was a bit of a family affair - some
hunting & style decisions from No. 1 daughter & the lamp was courtesy
of my mother's lounge.

Point of focus

There are a few retailers around town who have an old Vespa parked out
front to help them get noticed. To get the scooter noticed in this
shot I used the Tilt Shift and Camera Bag apps on the iPhone.

Keep Out

I think that's the message conveyed by the gate stopping access to
this alley. I shot another image with more detail in the walls of the
alley, but the more moody version seemed appropriate.

Captain Underpants

I found this piece of graffiti near upper Willis St & liked this
detail from the larger mural. I've got quite a collection of 'street
art' from over the years and have had a couple of cafe
exhibitions....maybe an iPhone-inspired exhibition is a possibility...

Has Spring Really Sprung?

This is the second one of these babies to pop into the sunshine on our
patch of Miramar. Yet another chance to test the macro ability of the
3GS and talk about the weather to a global audience...are you
listening in Poland?

Harbour Capital

Went for a cruise on the scooter 'round the bays, and found this view
of the Capital that is not often seen. The cabbage trees, flax, water
& boat could be from somewhere around the Corromandal....but the
houses on the hills are all Wellington!
No effects used on this shot.

Coffee and cameras

When a fine looking coffee arrives in front of me it's hard to resist
tapping the camera icon. Another visit to Mojo & another test of the
close-focus of the 3GS (plus some retouching with PhotoFX).

Tunnel Vision

First time in years that I've walked through this tunnel - I was
taking photos inside it for a client, so I thought it a good
opportunity to grab a shot on the iPhone for the files. With this
image I used an app called Pixel Perfect to alter the colour hue for a
bit of a different look.

Twilight pt.2

Well, there could have been vampires around, but as that's a crescent
moon in the sky and not a full moon, I suspect not.....or is that just
for warewolves?

Waiting in the rain

I was sitting in a car & trying to find an interesting angle on the old
Public Trust Building when it started to rain. Done.

The Swing

Generally the iPhone doesn't handle high contrast scenes too well at
all, but it can work in some shots. I've altered this one a little in
PhotoFX - brightened the shadows & added a warm toned filter.
Maybe spring is actually on the way...

Ready for your close-up...

Really just testing & getting to grips with the camera on the new
iPhone. This one was shot from about 8 cm I guess, & then given the
Polarize treatment.

Wet & Green

A macro-esque shot of some water droplets. The new iPhone certainly
focusses a lot closer than the previous version, but I've helped the
look of this shot by applying a 'filmic' look with the TiltShift app -
this applies a narrow-plane of focus effect.

Winter Sky

First posting from the iPhone 3GS. Not an indicative image, but a very
efficient adjustable focus which matches the exposure to the focus
point. Due to a muck up with the courier I didn't have a lot of time
to take photos or videos - but so far I'm lovin' it!

What decade are we in?

Cool self portrait taken by youngest daughter while sitting in a car.
Damn these kids today can take great arms-length piccies....

Still life

A winter scene at the back door. If this was a photo assignment I
would have spent a whole day arranging and balancing the lighting to
give a look light this... the only editing on this was to give it the
'magazine' look from the Camerabag application.

Update on header photo

No, the new pic wasn't actually shot with the iPhone....but it certainly features the iPhone (double exposure). Here's the old one, just for the record, ....which was shot on the iPhone.

Back-up, back-up & don't forget to back-up

A pleading note from someone who had left a hard-drive in their car.
How many irreplaceable images are lost by people without duplicates?
Sad fact of the digital age.... Let's be careful out there, people!

Missing in Action

Some poor kid is walking around town with one cold hand! Kind of sad
really.

Unseasonal necessity

So we've had some sunny days lately...if it wasn't for the temperature
you'd think it was summertime...but then I guess temperature is a
major factor in guaging the seasons...
After putting my sunglasses down on a bench with some canvas on it I
noticed that the strong windowlight was casting a pretty nice shadow.

Autumn leaves

Now this is a fairly indicative image of the current season - Victoria
on the front lawn, earning her trip to the movies.

Sittin' on the dock of the bay

Well, OK, standing on Seatoun Wharf (but Otis Redding's song did come
to mind). Oldest daughter waiting for the ferry to whisk her over to
Eastbourne...probably for hot chocolate or cold ice creams...