King George Square revisited

Over the past couple of years the BCC has been remodelling King George Square as part of the major busway construction and it recently reopened to the public. I have been trying to capture images from this site for a few weeks and have been wholly unsuccessful. Late last week I changed from using my wider lenses to clamping my trusty old zuiko 135mm f3.5 lens to my om2n.

My aim was to play with trying to get exposures correct, having basically given up on creating new and interesting compositions. The best that I thought was that I could learn something from attempting to correctly expose HP5+ @ 400 in the harsh morning light when shooting highly reflective bronze (ie black) statues.

I had forgotten how sharp this lens could be and I manually metered each frame and developing in Microphen 1+1. The results are better than I imagined with good shadow detail without blowing the highlights completely.

You might recognise at least one of these subjects from my earlier posts, but it is always good to go back and see how your composition and development can create a different feel to the final image ... and I can't wait to see how these turn out when wet printed as postcards.

Kurilpa Bridge

I shot this film a couple of weeks ago, but I promised myself that I wouldn't processes it until I had completed my tax return ... so I developed it tonight ...

These are early morning images of the new Kurilpa Bridge that spans the Brisbane River from east to west and links Tank Street to Kurilpa Point. It is constructed using a new technique and seems almost too complicated for its own good. From some angles, it looks to me like the coming together of a crazy assortment of hull-less tall ships.

It is nice, however, to wander to work by crossing this bridge and strolling along Southbank before crossing back to the George Street madness ... (om2n, Tamron 24mm, fp4 @ 125)

Dusty day

Brisbane experienced an interesting weather "event" yesterday when an unusually large dust storm blew across town. I have never seen so many people out and about taking photographs during the usual lunch break.

I decided to head across the Victoria Bridge to see just how dusty things had become. Given I had the camera loaded with HP5+, I wondered how the images would look or whether it would just seem like a foggy morning in black and white ... you be the judge.

While I was on the Southbank side of the river I swung under the bridge and came up at the Art Gallery. I liked the pattern that the jacarandas make now that their trunks are becoming more substantial. It is sometimes funny that you see different things when the light is not what you come to expect.

While under the jacarandas I bumped (quite literally) into happy snapper who was carrying an old Pentax SLR. I wonder how his shots on BW400CN turned out. (om2n, zuiko 35mm f2.8, hp5+ @ 400)

Rankins at Dusk

I have been slack the past two weeks and have not shot a fresh roll of film. In fact, my photographic efforts have been limited to recording my son's hockey semi-final (and there were not many frames worth a second look, but that's another story).

Anyway, this shot was taken at dusk. I have been trying to vary my times getting out to familiar subjects to see the difference it makes to the image created.

Rankins is a news agency located in the centre of the Queens Street Mall. At dusk all manner of folk are wandering home or hanging out to meet up with friends. I like the variety of movement captured across the frame. This was taken hand held using a sign as an impromptu tripod.

If you are wondering about the square crop (no, I haven't a hassy) it is because this is the last frame of the most recent roll shot and only half the frame exposed correctly. This is a feature (?) of hand rolling where you are never certain of getting complete frames. (om2n, zuiko 35mm f2.8, hp5 @ 400)

Riverside path

I have been a little busy so have fallen behind with my "one roll per week" ambition, although this was shot last week I have only just managed to develop and scan the results ...

I admit that I am enjoying again getting into the habit of carrying my camera to work every day. It seems to encourage me to take different paths between the train station and my building, even if I do not have the camera out intending to take a shot. I also find that I am constantly looking for different opportunities to create images and appreciating the different light etc each day.

This image was taken at the end of the riverside walkway near the Botanical Gardens. There are many yachts moored on this reach of the river and the boaties tend to leave bicycles chained to the railings as convenient land transport.

I have also been again experimenting with development methods. This roll going through a ID11 soup diluted 1+1 with water. This has given good tonal range for me with medium format film in the past, but I was wondering if it would give too much grain for my liking in 35mm format ... as it happens I am very happy with the result and might continue along this path for a while. (om2n, zuiko 35mm f2.8, hp5+ @ 400)

Drop In

I worked a little later than I intended on Friday night and thought that I would wander past the Treasury Casino to take the last few frames in my film. It was quite dark by the time I got there and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so I wasn't sure if there would be enough interest to have a postable shot.

My attempts turned out better than I expected, given that I didn't look directly through the viewfinder and was using my fingers as a makeshift tripod ... actually, I had the camera resting on the top of a police sign, which was too tall for me to line up, but I could still see a bit of the image in the glass of the viewfinder and guessed the rest.

The shots from this angled were far more successful than the shots I took from the bridge ... I soon found out that the vibrations caused by the traffic do not make for very good images ... (om2n, zuiko 35mm f2.8, hp5+ @ 400)

Market day - Wednesday

I am trying to get back into the habit of carrying my camera each day and shooting at least one roll per week. This is a shot from my first "new" roll.

Each Wednesday in Reddacliffe Place at Brisbane Square there is a lunchtime (well, all day) market. Sellers gather to offer fresh fruit and veg as well as a large variety of meats and "value added" products. This lady had a beautiful display of items in baskets and took lots of time to explain her produce to anyone who asked.

I do hope that she and the others do well for their efforts ... (om2n, zuiko 35mm f2.8, hp5 @ 400)

Around the lake

Having spent the morning indoors at work, I looked forward greatly to our Sunday afternoon stroll with the dog around the UQ campus.

The afternoon was quite overcast and windy and not altogether pleasant, but we quickly warmed up as we embarked from the running track.

Inevitably, we passed by the lake near the centre of the campus. The wind had dropped considerably by this time and I noticed a majestic stork of some sort hidden among the paperbark trees at the western end of the lake, but unfortunately it took flight as soon as I took the lens cap off the camera.

This beautiful bird did encourage me to present a brief study of this wonderful oasis close to our city centre. (Canon 450D, efs 55-250mm)

Curlew

I was forced to park my car in an unfamiliar area of The University of Queensland when we were there a few weeks ago.

This little chap greeted me as I got out of the car. I believe him to be a Bush Stone Curlew - please tell me if I am wrong.

I thought that I would try to capture him in an acceptable image at 1600 iso on the Canon. I am continuing to try to learn different aspects of this new camera and I was wondering about its high iso capabilities. It was a very overcast afternoon, so it was a perfect opportunity to practice shooting in the shadows. (Canon 450D, efs 55-250mm)

Shorn

Maybe its the use of a digital camera that encourages a bit of whimsy more often than with film, but it must have hit me hard on this occasion ...

Okay, so it is not every day that you see a black-faced sheep grazing in the middle of suburban Brisbane. Taken on another walk around the Oxley Creek Common with my new toy.

I think that I was drawn more by the light than the subject, and I liked the play of the shadows across its freshly shorn wool. (Canon 450d, 55-250mm)

City Reach revisited

I know that I have posted City Reach previously with an image from almost this same spot, but with a new camera and some time on my hands, what was one to do?

I had some spare time when on my way to collect my daughter from a school outing and was going past the Kangaroo Pt cliffs. This was really an excuse to continue to learn some of the characteristics of how the Canon 450D reacts to some long exposures using the kit 18-55mm lens towards its longer end.

Not much more to say really, so I hope you enjoy.

Oxley Creek Windmill

Had a chance to use the new 450D for some sport shots (swimming) this weekend and it seems to be quite satisfactory for the task at the Chandler indoor pool.

Bailey's running group was at Oxley Creek Common rather than UQ this week, so I took the camera in the hope to learn more about its performance and see what I could see.

A prominent feature of the area is the Southern Cross windmill. These are a symbol of rural life and are dotted all over the country. I find this one particularly interesting because it is not just decorative and has a working pump attached to draw water for the amenities at the park.

With a stunning blue sky as background and late afternoon sun on its face, I thought that I would try out the shutter priority mode to get the vanes in motion but all else still ... I know that I should carry a tripod for these types of things, but leaning against a pole is almost as effective, if not quite as convenient. (Canon 450D, 18-55mm zoom)

UQ Walk

These three images complete complete the initial set of shots taken with my new toy.

Whilst my youngest trains for cross country at the UQ track on a Sunday afternoon, we tend to take the dog for a work among the stately buildings and tranquil gardens that make up the campus.

I never tire of the way the light at different times of the year and on different days plays its merry game. It often highlights to me the idea that I am not shooting a subject, but merely capturing the light. (Canon 450D, 18-55mm zoom)

Forgan Reflected

It has been quite some time since my last post to MB, so I thought that I would break the drought by formally announcing that I have crossed to the dark side. Yes, that is correct, I have bitten the bullet and put some cold, hard credit down on the counter for a Canon 450D Twin lens kit.

Of course, I will not be parting with the older gear in the short term. I think that my daughter will be monopolising the Canon in the name of school work, so in the name of research and to familiarise myself with this new world I took it for a walk around UQ this afternoon.

Not sure if I feel comfortable with it yet, but it is an interesting experience.