Show Me! Show Me!

Of things owned and lost

2011-07-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

Are we defined by the things we own and owned? Is it better to have had and to have lost or never to have had?

The Osteopath

2011-07-28T02:58:00.000-07:00

We saw seniors on these red scooters whizzing around the block at Maribnyong Road / Union Road. They seemed very much at home and confident even though some shops would spill out their wares across the pavement.

The hectic swirl to a wedding

2011-07-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

We were working at ToEmbellish and at the end of the day, walked across the road to where the car was. Coming back, we spotted Cakes of Distinction just a few doors away. It was evening by then, long shadows, high dynamic range, high contrast scenes. Marg had her favourite 12-60mm Zuiko Digital, I had the old Kodak P-880. I laughed that we had the "same" lens - equivalent 24mm to 120mm (the Kodak goes to 140mm and the Zuiko has shallower DOF).

Anyway, I'm tired and just happened to want one photo to end the day on a nice note, so I was happy to see this one in my collection.

Although the P-880 is a small sensor camera (and "old"), with all the handicaps, this photo is in-camera rendered JPG, with very sweet colours.

Little Car and Dog

2011-07-25T16:49:00.001-07:00

Little Car and Dog, a photo by Ananda Sim 88 on Flickr.

You see interesting things when you look up

In Conversation

2011-07-10T18:34:00.001-07:00

In Conversation, a photo by Ananda Sim 88 on Flickr.

A juxtaposition of diverse images

Thanks Gerhard....

2011-06-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

A dear friend just pulled up roots and left for Chile. I've known Gerhard for a long time, and when I visited him, I drove up Glenfern Road. Being a city boy, driving up Glenfern Road is like a mini tour through the Victorian countryside. I started shooting here with the Kodak P880, as a test of the camera and my comfort with it. I've seen the bushfire season in summer and the (now) wet winter.

Today was a sunny, windy winter's day - the unreal pastel blue sky, the bright golden sun playing hide and seek with the fleecy clouds. By the time I arrived here, the sun had almost given up the play - I was deleting old images from the memory card, waiting to walk back to the car and then the sun came out for the last time.

Re-invigoration

2011-06-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

I've been shooting a bit, sharing photos on Facebook (most of them publicly visible), bought an annual Flickr Pro account and written a few articles on my main photo blog. But I've let this one pic per post idea lapse. Originally I set it up so that I could share a photo without fuss, share a few thoughts and remarks. Looking back over my previous entries, I am happy with what I've displayed, so here's to more.

This is an impromptu portrait of the stall holder at the Grand Ridge Beer Brewery. It seems to be a Rotary Club organised Saturday Market at the Monash University Clayton Campus. Looks like a cosy place, only a few stalls orgranised in a U, entry by gold coin donation.

For once, I was using the PEN in more difficult circumstances - I was with family and friends plus, I haven't yet got to know the people (and vice versa). In fact I was disconcerted by the frank and direct visual and facial communication with the "locals" - in the city, there is a sideways look of anonymity we practise on both ends of the camera.

I was using my Olympus PEN E-PL1 with Tamron 28mm f/2.5 manual focus Adaptall 2 on a Four Thirds adapter on a Micro Four Thirds Adapter. I think there's some frosting on the little front element (fungus?) but shots shaded from side glare work fine and are indeed quite sharp. The moment some sun or light comes sideways onto the front element, there is a veil of flare.

Still, it is a very enjoyable lens, focus is smooth, capable of producing shots with atmosphere - if there is bokeh, the bokeh is circular and not aggressive and the softness gives to me a naturalness.

This shot was quite difficult - I was fumbling, he was kindly posing but I didn't want to tire out my welcome - his face was in shadow, there was direct light on white things on the table. Tighter framing and cropping has helped and I let go of Picasa and instead used Olympus Viewer 2, worked on the RAW file, slowly bringing up some colour and vibrance to the face, darkening the fabric.

Hope you like it, I do.

Essence of Blackburn Lake

2009-09-20T03:50:00.001-07:00

I haven't been back to Blackburn Lake for a while. Today was an at times sunny spring Melbourne day. When I got to the Lake, the sun had hidden away and then it came back in spots and starts.

Penguins on a spiral

2009-07-05T19:27:00.001-07:00

I met up with said penguins in Deloraine, a lovely Tasmanian small town.

From Deloraine

My Picasa photos

2009-06-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

View all

Get your own

Ride my Bike

2009-06-26T08:14:00.001-07:00

Photography is about Light. And Dark.

Five

2009-06-25T00:18:00.001-07:00

Who will come to claim the blue furniture at No. 5?

From Melbourne 2009

Waiting for Silvers Circus to Start

2009-06-24T23:06:00.001-07:00

The last time I went to an old style circus, I was a teenager. Last night, we went with our teenager. The atmosphere inside the big tent was breathtaking. And the performers looked so glitteringly good.

Support the small circuses near you. Find out more about Silvers here.

29

2009-06-22T04:14:00.001-07:00

I think this speaks to me. How about you?

From Retro

The Light in Winter - Volume

2009-06-20T22:11:00.001-07:00

Dancers gave a surreal experience on the day of the Winter Solstice - 20th June 2009

Australia Post reworks itself as a corporate

2009-06-14T04:48:00.001-07:00

The Post Office was one of those government offices years ago. Somehow, they re-invented themselves – now they have their own branch offices as well as franchisees and they not only sell stamps, post letters, they sell stationery, numismatic coins, momentoes, mobile phones, computer printers and paper shredders.

This commercialisation of an essential service certainly looks like the Post Office has grown and grown.

From Melbourne 2009

Indonesian Dance

2009-06-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

These kids were gorgeous. They'll preserve the culture and traditional dance with delicacy and love.

The Boys from the MFB

2009-06-04T04:14:00.001-07:00

Click on the plus sign on the top right corner of the image to view full screen....

Lovely Violins

2009-05-20T04:50:00.000-07:00

Saw this band when I went down to Fed Square for the Buddha's Bathing Festival.

From Musos

Red is evergreen even in Autumn

2009-05-11T23:58:00.001-07:00

From Melbourne 2009

Wisteria in Autumn

2009-05-11T23:56:00.001-07:00

From Melbourne 2009

Memories, vibrant and then fading, to be swept up

2009-05-11T01:24:00.001-07:00

From Melbourne 2009

Autumn Orange

2009-05-10T04:13:00.001-07:00

Autumn this year is very brown. Thank goodness for civic minded individuals who contribute some orange to brighten the colours of the season.

Fallen Acorns

2009-05-10T04:11:00.001-07:00

Autumn in Melbourne is an interesting season. The weather is definitely more chilly. But it can also have bursts of sunshine. This year, Melbourne is a bit more confused because of the prolonged drought.

Jazz Trumpet

2009-04-09T16:27:00.001-07:00

Summer 2009 at Glenfern Road

2009-04-09T16:24:00.001-07:00

Sax

2009-04-02T04:43:00.001-07:00

There are a few things which are technically NQR on this one. The bokeh in the back is doughnut shaped courtesy of my favourite 250mm f/5.6 Rokkor CAT lens. His forehead is glistening with perspiration and highlights are burnt from the harsh daylight. But the burst of energy that you can feel him pumping into the sax - that's what rises above technical details.

Offering for more properous times

2009-04-02T00:52:00.000-07:00

From People in Melbourne

The Thai Dancer

2009-03-24T00:39:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, we were shooting at Federation Square, enjoying the Thai Songkran event of 2009. The organisers had arranged for the Sbun-Nga dance troupe to present. Their performances were compelling - the dancers, both guys and gals were immensely attractive.

A soft spot for weddings

2009-03-18T01:52:00.001-07:00

It’s been a while since I attended a wedding and/or took photos. Clifford roped me in – he said Theresa wanted a couple of backup photographers – we are all amateurs – for a wedding registration. I made my Gary Fong but the bally thing would not fit and I walked around with an empty Chinese New Year cookie acrylic bottle. I didn’t feel I had the right lenses (no f/2 or f/1.4s portrait lenses) nor electronic flash (I used my old Unomat – checked out the trigger voltage and my el cheapo Dick Smith multimeter says it is less than 10 volts. I was breaking in my Liveview A Olympus E-330, so was a little unsure. The hall where the registration ceremony was conducted had really tall ceilings so flash recycling times were badly affected.

Anyway, we finally get outside and it was sheer contrast – bright sun, inky shadows. Again a challenge.

Finally, got back and Picasa was doing it’s usual soft thing and I thought they might want to print. So I got onto a Lightroom. Here’s one, suitable for public view.

From The Wedding

The Re-Awakening

2009-03-16T02:05:00.000-07:00

If I was to put my finger on which photo re-awakened my interest in photography again. it would have to be this one. I had just bought the Kodak P880 with some birthday money my gracious mother-in-law gave me. I had been shooting the Olympus C-750uz and that was a thrill. Prior to that the Nikon 775 - that wasn't so much of a thrill. And prior to that a Kodak KDC-something - a plastic lensed, near disposable film camera. It seemed like my Minolta X-700 (and worse, my XE-1 Uni days) were soooo long ago.

I had been getting better and better shots with the Oly C-750uz but I wanted an upgrade - I had bought the WCON 0.7x wide angle attachment which made this small ultrazoom really pregnant with the bulbous front element. I can still hear me squeaking the threads away during Gerard's wedding vows. And I certainly had to Picasa sharpen the photos a bit with that attachment fitted. But what irritated me as much, was the slow zoom of the lens - the rocker switches didn't make me feel like I was using a "real" camera.

So, this Smith's Kodak Express shop at The Glen was just being taken over by new owners - they wanted to focus on photo processing and did not want to carry camera stock. Funny for a suburban Kodak Express shop, there were heaps of classic cameras - the Olympus 8080, the Kodak P880, I think a Nikon of that era too, and the Minolta DSLRs. I was drooling over the Minolta DSLRs and another enthusiast snapped one up immediately. But I did not want one and had no budget for one. All I wanted was a "better" C-750uz.

So I looked at the Olympus 8080 and it was really solid looking but the zoom range was rather short and again, the cost was a bit higher. I saw the pig ugly Kodak P880 and ran home to research the internet. 24mm lens. Tick. Manual zoom ring. Unexpected. But what a Tick. Not unsatisfactory reviews. So, I got that.

Then, I made a trip to Blackburn Lake - one of my first and definitely not my last. And Number One came along.

I think I under exposed this shot. The shadows would be noisy. But the subject, scene is something I will not be able to re-create again, no matter how much I return to that place.

A New Start

2009-03-16T01:16:00.000-07:00

I like my older blog (Look, See, Reflect, Do) but I feel my photos a bit hemmed in by the multi-column fixed width layout. This is a new blog with a new intent and a columnless layout (or at least, only one column). It's my intention to only showcase one photo per posting. Which one shall I pick to start? How about this one below.

Dave, Brandon and I had been "doing" the water sports and we were passing through this stretch of Moomba. I was now getting quite hungry and thirsty but there were still so many things to shoot. I tried a few angles here. Some were interesting, some were ho hum. This one, I like a lot - it's probably a Dad of some child up in that fun house - he looks like he is standing guard as he waits for his child or his family - that pose is both proud and guardian-like.