Blog Archive

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Favourite Lens -Pentax A 28-135mm F4 Zoom

Today I coupled up my Pentax 28-135 MF  with my Pentax Kr and took some pics in the garden.I think it is just about my favourite lens.
It is a precision instrument and all class.
Constant F4 maximum aperture
It also has a macro setting but did not use this today.

This week(6/2/15) has seen Ricoh anouncing a new Pentax Full  Frame DSLR is in the pipeline.
This lens should be great with that.

My wife is the gardener not me!













Henley High School 1st Football Team 1961

A pic from my archives.
Sadly some of these I think have passed on.






Back row. Left to right: Guido Sain,Jeff Sharrad,Alistair Henderson,Ian Edgely,Brian Burch,Trevor Jaggard,Michael Powell, Geoff Thompson.

Middle row. Left to right:Lazarous Christou,Iain Cleveland,Geoff Ferris,Peter Osborne,Mario Cronnulla,Roger? Sinclair.

Bottom Row.Left to right: Brian Prettejohn,Gary Ridgeway,Brian May,Chris Eillif,Alan Jeffrey,Robert Loveday.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Introducing 5038 Photography and saying Goodbye to it.

I have just finished watching an excellent Wedding Photography presentation on youtube by Jerry Ghionis.
Jerry is one of the top wedding photographers and photographer educators in the world.

Many things he said I have learnt myself over many years as a photographer and share much of his philosophy on wedding photography.
The programme is about posing in wedding photography.
When I train people in wedding photography I always teach them about basic posing as building blocks for their own creativity.
I tell them photojournalistic realism is all very well but if you don't give people direction it might be possible to go all day with the bride and groom hardly being in the same vicinity of each other.
You have got to creatively bring them together as also with all other people in the wedding.
By all means do candid stuff but do that when you have set the initial pose and randomely.
One of the things Jerry said was I think very good advice and something I have decided to try.
He said to strive to be the best photographer in your zip code or post code as we say in Australia.
One of my sons makes a very good living selling real estate in the suburb he lives in and he has concentrated on being the best in his patch.
Well I have decided to market my photography locally to my own postcode.
I will offer photography training and accept other assignments.
I have now decided not to take on any more wedding work but I am open to family photos and workplace photography.
Also I am available for training in wedding photography.
I am open to helping people with scanning and production of special milestone photo books eg. 90th birthday, special anniversaries etc.
Why not call me on 0417867476
Please note. My days of photographing weddings and other paid assignments are now behind me.


Friday, November 15, 2013

The New Look Adelaide Oval

Today I managed to find some spare hours to watch South Australia in their cricket match against Western Australia in the partially completed and renovated sports stadium that is Adelaide Oval.
An overwhelming makeover in my opinion but we will have to get used to it.
It was day of many runs being scored with Klinger getting a century,Hughes a double Century and Head just short on 98.
A test match against England will be played here early in December.
Next football season the oval will host AFL matches.
Well I had my trusty pentax Kr so here are a few pics.

Panorama using photoshop and pentax inbuilt effects filter















Monday, November 11, 2013

South Australian Gridiron Pics

In 1995 I was asked to do some photos for Adelaide based Gridiron Team the South City Chiefs.
Here are some pics and a link to their website.

http://www.chiefs.org.au/

The match was on Thebarton Oval.
They were playing the Spartans.
I took a number of pics that day. These are just a few,

http://spartans.org.au/







Sunday, November 10, 2013

My Finest Moment in Sport.

This article title is a bit misleading.

I was at  a cricket club reunion today when one of my past team mates, who I also went to high school with, brought up an event that hapenned in the school(Henley High) lunch hour probably about 1963.

Those in the AFL playing states will remember that at lunch time and recess time kids would race out on to the school oval to have a kick of the footy or a have hit at cricket or whatever their sport or fun thing was.

This of course was a way for kids to let off steam and use up the boundless energy that most of us have in our youth.

In the lunch hour the footy playing kids would have what we called "kick to kick".

In fact when I played football in 1970 in Darwin that was about the only thing our players did at training.

"Kick to kick" if you can imagine,is where a number of kids ,with up to 20 in each group , face each other from a distance of about 50 metres or yards and kick a football back and forth between the 2 groups.

There would be usually more than one football going at a time.

The idea was to kick the ball as far as you could and compete for "marks" (catches to the uninitiated)

A number of different age groups would be taking part.

If you were not very good at getting the ball you could "wax" with a mate which meant that whoever got the ball in your "wax" team would share having a kick in turn.

People would sometimes take a "speccy" as the ball came high in the air.

It would become very competitive and sometimes a little rough.

Well this particular lunch hour I was not taking part in the "kick to kick" but standing just behind one end and just watching proceedings.

I was with a couple of mates and suddenly got the urge to take a "speccy".

A "speccy" is where a player can see the ball coming in high and judges a run up to leap onto an opponents back and shoulders and when as high as you can go, you reach out and grab the ball and usually crash to the ground.

If you hold onto it cleanly without dropping it during a game then you are given  a free kick.

"speccy" is short for spectacular.

Sometimes a "speccy" is called a "screamer". (Because the crowd screams approval.)

Well I saw the ball coming and took a run up from a few meters away and launched myself in the  air on the back and shoulders of a lad called Greg Conley.

When you get a "sit" as it it is called,  the idea is to push up upwards from your knees or shins to go as high as you can.

There have been many exponents of this art in AFL over the years and each year a mark of the year award is made to the best mark in the AFL National competition.

South Australia has had some great "speccy" takers, probably Tony Modra of the Adelaide Crows being the most notable of recent years.
Or the great Gary Ablett senior from Geelong.

To continue my story.

Well I got the perfect "sit" and soared higher and higher and grasped the footy.

With ball firmly in my grip I pitched forward ovr the top of Greg, plunging to the ground.

When I hit the turf my legs were still entangled around his shoulders.

Taking a "speccy" is probably more exhilarating than bungy jumping.

There were gasps all around and looks of amazement from the guys looking on.

I have often looked back on this event and thought it my finest moment in sport even though it was just a lunch hour kick to kick. (Greg wasn't hurt by the way just bewildered".

As I progressed through my football career I probably took about 7 "speccies"but none as good as that one.

I thought that it was something for my memory banks only with no photograph or video taken.

Yet Jeff Barnes today said  it was the best "speccy" he had seen even better than the famous Tony Modra.

I was amazed that someone other than myself remembered it with out my even bringing it up.

It's funny how old guys getting together remember how amazing we were in our youth.

Sadly Jeff said Greg Conley has since passed on.

Below is a link to some more  "speccies"

Tony Modra's mark of the year in 1993.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6c8iAckQrM

Many more to be found on this you tube search link.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=afl%20marks%20of%20the%20year&sm=1













Monday, November 4, 2013

More on Photography as Therapy

There's a new book out that is encouraging photography as therapy. I have written about this concept earlier.
To me taking a photo and contemplating about it, and another,and another is a bit like "taking time to smell the roses"
To me God's beautiful creation is spirit lifting if we look at it through eyes of wonder.
Here is the ABC link below to the new book.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-04/matthew-johnstone-capturing-mindfulness-photography/5068492
Mindfulness seems to be the new catch phrase at the moment.
I believe in being mindful of the people in my life and around the world and doing as best I can to let my mind be as much like the mind of Christ as possible.