Momma’s bubba?
When I finally plucked up courage to photograph the riders rather than the track action at the Ronnie Moore Speedway Park, I got some great images. I used the “boredom” technique: if you hang around long enough eventually people forget that you are there. Here’s one example, of Anthony’s dad working on his son’s machine. So the gap remains.
Kaikoura, seabird paradise
I spent last Sunday on the water off Kaikoura. It was a fishing trip with some old friends (the Serious Fishing Club) and some new ones.
Expensive yacht race!
The other night the usual Wednesday night yacht racing coincided with a big SW wind. I fancied my chances of catching some good action shots, so took up a position where I had a good view, about 100m along the road from our house. Well I wasn’t disappointed. Here is one of the shots, but there was much more to come:
Wandering albatross
This weekend I’m off on a fishing trip to Kaikoura. The charter boat provides all fishing gear, so I’ll just be loaded up with my photographic gear. On my last trip, I was trying out a new lens, a 300mm telephoto. It was incredibly difficult, the sea was lumpy, the autofocus kept latching onto people’s fishing rods rather than the birdlife, so most of my pics were no good. But I got lucky. I had the camera to my eye when I noticed a bird swooping in towards us. He did only one quick pass as I struggled to track him and get off a series of quick shots. Only afterwards when I studied the images did I realise just what I had captured. It was a Wandering Albatross, one of the very largest! Adults have a wingspan approaching 4 metres, with a body length of more than a metre. …
Amazing Circles
There’s a technique developed using Photoshop which can turn a picture inside out. Sometimes this gives really interesting results, occasionally better than the original image.
Some examples:
Closeup photography: Ronnie G is the gold standard
For several years now I have been following the work of a Louisana photographer, Ronnie Gaubert. In my opinion he sets a standard in macrophotography for all of us to aspire to. You can find his galleries on the pBase photo sharing site: here is his “Nature of Louisiana”. At latest count, his galleries presenting the wildlife and nature scenes of Louisiana have scored a little over 5 million page views (more than 10 times mine on pBase!). He has been very willing to share his techniques with others, e.g. in the DPReview discussion forums. I am sure this is another reason why he has so many admirers. This is one of his images, uplifted with permission from his gallery “IT’S A SMALL WORLD by Ronnie Gaubert” .
Top of the South Gymnastics Competition
Shortly before I left my job at Lincoln Ventures, one of my staff told me that she and her family would be coming up to Nelson in July for a gymnastics competition. I jumped at the chance to photograph a new sport, even if it would mean getting up very early on a Sunday morning. It turned out to be quite a challenge: only competitors, officials and the accredited photographer were allowed on the floor. All the rest of us were up in the gallery seats. The light was not good at all, so there was no hope of sharp action photographs. I would have to choose my moments carefully to make the most of a slow shutter speed. Luckily, I found two very helpful assistants in a couple of senior grade contestants from Wellington. These 11 year-old girls were able to advise me about the routines: which moves were…