April 2007 - the month that was

getting chilli

Caitlin had stage challenge practice this avo, so before I picked her up, I popped by St Clair and took some shots in good light, yay for a change. Booties are coming in, some hoods, and definately the 4/3's etc

Saved for a rainy day

A griffins sampler.. more images from the 19th of April.. when Dean and Dion were over.. plus some other locals... just I havent been out taking pics the last few days because of rain and also working.

Dancing Dolphins

the highlight of my day was a pair of Dolphins cruising past while I was shooting surf.

ANZAC day surf

Got up early for a dawn surf for ANZAC day.. took the road up to Aramoana got there about 7.30 ish .. it was a bit flat (according to my surf buddies) but nice for me, but anyways we turned around and ended up going down South a bit past Dunners.. The guys went out, and I decided to bail the surf and take pics from the rocks for a change. It was getting pretty cold, and the low mist and drizzle was coming through so I didn't hang around for long.

dual shoot - Olympus and Canon comparisons

On Thursday I managed to get some shots using a Canon camera setup ::
which was -- Canon 30D with the Canon 100-400mm 4.5-5.6 L IS --

at the same time, Caitlin was photographing a few metres away from me with my olympus setup
-- Olympus 8mp E300 with ED 50-200mm 2.8-3.5 with 1.4 teleconverter --

The following images are not photoshopped (other than cropped) to show the difference between the two cameras. Also taking into consideration were the difference in settings and focal lengths of both cameras.. so perghaps not the most accurate of comparisons. The canon camera I was using is what I am about to upgrade to, so I am pretty excited. .

first two shots taken pretty much exactly the same time.


Left image is from the Olympus - settings:
283mm
100 ISO
1/1000th at f4.9

Right image is from the Canon -settings:
350mm
100 ISO
1/2000th at f6.3

Second two shots pretty much the same time again


Left image the olympus - settings:
283mm
200 ISO
1/1000th at f6.3

Right image the canon - settings:
390mm
100 ISO
1/1000th at f 5.6

after all this my decison has been made to upgrade to the canon setup.
any comments on the comparisons??
and wasn't it cool to get two shots the same time?

no surf pics again today,

I lent my surf lens out to a prospective buyer to test.. so only had the wide angle.. so did a trip to kings at tea time and took some pics of the family.. these two were my favourite.

:: MISSING BOARD ::

Nat Parson's board went missing from St Kilda beach last night.
pictured below, heavily stickered, it also has 'Parsons' written on bottom.
its a 6-2 sq tail - its on the latest NZ Surfing Mag.
Reward will be given contact natty 84 @ msn.com

If anyone sees it in your travels please contact him or leave a comment here.
(pic taken from last kiwisurf mag, hope its the same board and its okay to put here)

day 3 Scholastics Surfing UPDATE:
Highlight performance – Luke Grubb (Otago) excelling in the difficult conditions to score 17.25 in requalifying round 2. Grubb was unfortunately eliminated in the quarterfinals placing 9th in the event leaving Tom Bracegirdle and Jordan Durst as the sole Otago team members left in the event (under 14 boys).

Otago – Luke Grubb and Leroy Rust for placing ninth in the under 18 and under 16 boys divisions respectively.

Exposed Boulders

Low tide at St Clair this morning revealed some pretty exposed boulders.
I see also the newly replaced steps have been damaged already and the bottom hand railing has come away.

... is in the air

A quiet spot somewhere .. the odd air and a distinct aussie tinge...

night horrors

Got the loan of the canon 30D again tonight for a shoot tomorrow, so on the way home I had a bit of a play with my daughter Caitlin with flash and longer exposure .. all 'editing' done in camera.. no photoshopping.. pretty cool huh.. and I'm pretty scarey lol

working all week

Busy week, just completed a commission painting the last few days along with four full days of work for me, love the school hollidays to soak up some extra shifts... will most likely go towards my new purchase, finally got my new fluid head tripod.!
So I tested it out tonight using Floyd's son Fugly as the guinea pig :0) scuse the pun.
Here he is doing his begging thing for pellets.. and yes definately not as cute as floyd was.. but he holds his own in other ways. he's standing on his verrandah which folds down during the day, which he cruises out on talking to you as you walk past to remind you that you never gave him a pat or more food.

Also to note front page 'headlines' of the ODT.. more damage at St Clair, this time the ramp for the Surf Lifesaving boat which was closed last month due to the lifting of a concrete panel. it has now apparantly slipped completely.. and to add.. there are four grains of sand left at St Clair.
Below are two pics my mother just sent me through tonight of me (behind the puppy) and my twin brothers by the old sea wall at St Clair sometime in 1978 when there was LOTS of sand which stretched for ten of metres down the beach to the tide mark. The second pic is my mother and brother in front of the wall again 1977, sorry mum.. hope you don't mind .. being in your bikini...