Humphreys Rivulet–Glenorchy

A small rivulet runs through Glenorchy, from the mountain to the Derwent River. Here are some shots, for the top of Chapel St, which is an easily accessible section.

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Playing with a new lens

I was very lucky to have a friend gift me a lens. It is a Tamron 70-300mm Tele Macro lens.

I was unsure how it would work, being telephoto and then also somehow being Macro, the two being poles apart in real photography terms. But alas, it has shown itself to be a real winner.

The proof is in the results.

         

 

         

 

As you can see, the results are well worth it.

So for those who have never played with such a lens, it is a standard 70-300mm telephoto lens with a minimum focal distance of 1.5 metres. However, when the Macro switch is selected, this focal distance is reduced to just 95 cm. As a result, I am able to get the benefits of telephoto while taking a macro shot. I am able to stand a nice metre back and not have to struggle to get in close and not damage the plant etc.

A real benefit I see, is shooting at dangerous creatures (snakes, spiders and maybe bull-ants/inch ants), I will be able to keep a safe distance, yet still get in close for the Macro details.

A quick search through the internet and this lens isn’t given the merit I feel it truly deserves. Whilst there may be better glass out there, for what is considered an entry level lens, this has to be a serious one for people to consider.

Enjoy.

Baskerville–5 Oct 2013

What a great day of racing at Baskerville Raceway.

From cars to bikes, to vintage. Great racing, great people and great shots.

Here are just a few.

#57 – Datsun Scarab. Driven by Kim Ewart.

Climbing the hill.

#57 – Datsun Scarab. Driven by Kim Ewart.

Rounding the top of the hill.

#549 – Suzuki GSX 1100. Rider Peter Booth.

Into the first turn.

#05 – Holden Torana SS. Driven by Matt Ryan.

Carving up the top corner.

More images to come. If you are after a print, let me know and we can make some arrangements.

Enjoy.

A couple of birds . . .

No . . . not those type, seriously . . .

I visited a friend and he has a bird feeding platform where he puts seed and has all manner of native bird, and of course the obligatory rats with wings turn up.

One of his regulars is a Cockatoo. He had just chased a couple of pigeons off and was making sure they knew who is boss.

The pigeons also come and make a mess, but can be photographed in a nice way.

There are also all types of birds including Rosella and Green Finches. I am planning a return visit and to spend a few hours just taking photos. I think it will be worth the effort.

Enjoy.

Orchids

A short spell shooting orchids today at the Hobart Town Hall. Haven’t had much time to do any real processing, but this one did stand out.

Enjoy.

An update to the orchids shoot. Some more images for your enjoyment.

Enjoy 🙂

Farewell to the Tall Ships

After 5 amazing days of action, excitement and history, Hobart has said goodbye to the Tall Ships for 2013.

I was fortunate enough to be provided a seat on the Governors’ Launch, Egeria,  for the official Sail Past and then a seat, again on the Egeria, to chase down the fleet for a final farewell, from the people of Hobart.

With an excited group of locals and tourists, we motored down the Derwent River, toward Iron Pot and were lucky enough to be greeted by the fleet, sails aloft and reaching for the horizon. I may have a good vocabulary, but even I couldn’t find words to describe the scene. Hence, I take photographs. Here are just a few from that amazing trip.

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

A hearty thank you to the crew of the Egeria, for their kindness, welcoming and mostly for the experience and opportunity to go out and get these amazing shots.

http://www.motoryachtclub.org/?page=egeria

Thank you to Paul Cullen from the Australian Wooden Boat Festival office, and of course Bronny. Finally, thank you to Rob Oates, for his support, guidance and making all of this possible.

Enjoy.

Tall Ships–Hobart 2013

The Hobart Waterfront is at fever pitch, with the Tall Ships visiting for 5 days.

Below a few images from the Friday’s arrival and todays events. And there are still 4 days to go.

Windward Bound.

L.S Huon steam boat passing by.

Unfurling the Australian Flagon Young Endeavour.

An icon on Hobart Waters.

Soren Larson coming in to berth.

Soren Larson with Mount Wellington as a backdrop.

Windward Bound berthing.

Oosterschelde at berth.

The bow of the iconic Lord Nelson.

There will be many more images over the next 4 days, so feel free to come back to see more.

Enjoy.

The Power of Photoshop

So, you took a great photo, but . . . there is something in the photo that you don’t want. Something maybe you missed when you took it, but now it stands out and really doesn’t help. What can you do?

Well, you can go back and re-take the photo, but maybe it is there and cannot be removed or not captured. An example:

A lovely small waterfall, but an ugly valve-head in the way.

Don’t despair. Photoshop can fix this for you, and it won’t take 4-5 hours. In fact, in under 5 minutes, you can removed all traces of the valve-head and have a perfect waterfall.

So, what do you do?

First off, select the Quick Selection Tool, from the side toolbar.

Click and drag this over the offending part of the image, in this case the valve-head and you will get a selection like so:

Note the dotted line, showing the selected area.

Then simply press the “delete” key on your keyboard. This will bring up a “fill” dialog box. Press OK and wait for Photoshop to remove the offending part of the image. In the process, it extrapolates what it believes “should” be there and replaces it with just that. You should end up with an image like this:

As you can see, the valve-head has now been removed, leaving only the outline of it. Now we can use another tool to remove that and provide us with a much better image.

Click on the side toolbar and this time select the “Spot Healing Brush Tool”.

Click on an area near the outline, hold and drag back and forward over the areas you want replaced. This can and does take a little practice, but if you do it in small sections, repeating the process each time, you will very quickly get the hang of it. Once you have finished, you should have an image similar to this one.

Of course, with more work and practice, you can make this a relatively flawless image and have no sign of the valve-head that once lingered.

So, grab a couple of those old photos you took, you know, the ones with some thing you didn’t want in the first place, and have a play. The worst you can do is probably a lot better than what you had.

Enjoy.

Busy Day

Well, a busy day was had, what with the election and photo tasks, life was somewhat hectic.

Hobart Daffodil and Camellia Show

First off, some time spent shooting poor innocent flowers at the Hobart Town Hall, for the Annual Daffodil and Camellia Show.

I must say, for a bloke like me who loves photographing flowers, this was heaven. Great blloms, well presented and a total credit to the growers. Well done all.

Roller Derby

After a much needed rest, I then soldiered on to the Hobart Junior Roller Derby game at the Moonah Sports Centre.

 

As you can see, a fast and furious sports, great competition and all in a friendly atmosphere. the officials, players and fans were great to be around and an excellent time was had by all.

Got some kids, want them to get into a good sport? GO HERE get in here and get involved.

Mt Wellington Sunrise

An early morning trip to the top of Mt Wellington to catch the sunrise.