Month: July 2016

DEVELOPING YOUR EYE – DAY 2 – STREET

~ creakingbones ~ 8 Comments

My choice of an establishing shot was easy. I just popped outside and photographed our quiet little street.161307_0020 copy 2

As suggested, I used a wide angle lens. I set my 16 to 35mm lens at 16mm, 1/20th second at f16, 64 ISO.

Now as we know, streets, roads, avenues, boulevards, highways, express ways, toll roads etc are mostly the same, no matter where we travel.

So I thought  today’s street theme would be a good opportunity to illustrate some of the streets, roads, tracks, call them what you will, that you can sample here in the Land Down Under, once you leave the city limits in any of our States or Territories.

This street fair is held every 4th Saturday in a street here in my town.

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Then there are the annual parades which take up one complete side of the town’s main street through the central business district.

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Now going a little further afield to the town of Bathurst in New South Wales here we see a friend on his three wheeled Spyder making a turn from one of Bathurst’s wide main streets. A large group of us were standing on a pub’s verandah waiting for him, hence the overhead view.IMG_0880 copy 3

One of the good things about travelling on some of our outback country roads is that there is room to have a bit of a muck about, providing you keep a sharp lookout. Here are a few of us doing just that. Not highly recommended of course.

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Not all of the roads we travel are paved  so we do get used to driving and riding on dirt roads and tracks. This next image is of a great strip of good dirt road coming into Broken Hill, a mining town in outback New South Wales. The arc you can see in the image is the rim of the screen on my Harley Davidson.Scan10031 copy 3

I thought you would be amused to see that revenue raising is not forgotten in Australia’s outback as evidenced by this traffic sign, miles from anywhere on the border of New South Wales and Queensland. You have to ignore the hand written note some wag has placed on the sign, and the dents from shotgun pellets.DSC_0169 copy 3

Not every town is a bustling metropolis but every outback town is populated by very friendly, welcoming people. This little town was no exception.printed_DSC0146 copy 3

The next four shots; I know you are getting sick of the images;  only one more after these , show some of the varying road/street surfaces we encounter in our travels:

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The last and lucky last image for our street exercise takes us back to the bitumen, away from tin tops and back on the bike. Whacko. The image speaks for itself.

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Just one last comment, please don’t get the idea that Australia is totally arid and flat. I hope that before this ten day exercise is over, you will see  lots of trees, rivers and greenery, provided of course that landscapes are the subject for one or more of the days.

Hoo roo for now

 

 

DEVELOPING YOUR EYE- DAY 1 -HOME.

~ creakingbones ~ 10 Comments

We all have a different interpretation of the word,’Home.’

For some, the word may simply mean house, for others, just location and so on.

I interpret the word to mean a place where you simply feel comfortable for whatever reason, embraced by its safety, comfort, tranquility, surroundings and peace.

Of course, outside influences such as riot, civil uprisings and war can totally destroy the reasons for my interpretation.

Fortunately I’m a proud Australian and Australia is my home where everything I’ve pointed out in my third paragraph completely applies, and then some.

In the tiny bit of Australia where I live we are as free as the birds and we are surrounded here by our feathered friends.

Today it is cold and wet with flurries of sleet and very strong winds. Maximum temperature today is expected to reach 6 degrees centigrade.

Our feathered friends are feeling the cold too, trying to shelter in the trees, hanging on to their perches as tightly as they can, heads tucked securely under wings and feathers fluffed up.

However, some of our resident magpies, instead of perching out in the rain and sleet, have established themselves outside our kitchen window under the pergola.

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By contrast, a young Galah perched in an adjacent tree is all fluffed up in an effort to keep warm.

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But I mustn’t forget the human side of home. 20160712_0022 copy 3

In closing on Day 1,  how could anyone not see that my little bit of paradise is genuinely,’Home.’

Hoo roo for now.

I’M PUZZLED BY TWO SETS OF STARING EYES.

~ creakingbones ~ 5 Comments

Just by chance, the night before last, whilst I was sitting in my easy chair, feet up, watching TV and munching on Pringles and enjoying an icy cold bottle of my favourite beer, I noticed that both of my Teddy Slippers were looking sullen and staring at me.

I can’t imagine why they were suddenly so interested in me. Normally they ignore me completely except for the occasion squeak or grunt in protest when their comfy position on the foot stool is changed.

As my camera was handy, I grabbed a shot as a reminder that I must pay my Teddy Slippers more attention, smile at them more often and occasionally try to engage them in  conversation.

It doesn’t seem to matter what I say to the ignorant little buggers, they never bother to reply.

Have a look at them for yourself.

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MY SULLEN STARING TEDDY SLIPPERS

Hoo roo for now.

IS THERE AN OVERT CAMPAIGN RUNNIN TO PROMOTE MENS LIB?

~ creakingbones ~ 5 Comments

As part of my role as a ‘Sensitive New Age Guy’ (SNAG) here at Casa Creakingbones, one of my many household tasks is to collect, on a weekly basis from our News agency ( papershop) , The English Woman’s Weekly , subscribed to by She Who Must Be Obeyed(SWMBO).

The magazine and several others come in a sealed brown paper bag and I deliver them in their pristine condition with no  thought of peeking.

There is no need for me to peek as from time to time SWMBO will bring an article to my attention.

Imagine my surprise when just the other day, SWMBO summoned me to her boudoir and handed me the 2nd February 2016 edition of the weekly and said, ‘Read the article on Bill Nighy and Dad’s Army.’

Now I’m a long time fan of that wonderful TV series, Dads’s Army so you imagine my delight on being given the opportunity to learn a little more about it.

Another surprise awaited as I retired to my comfy office chair and examined the front page of the magazine.

It’s price tag had been placed over the first two letters of the word Woman’s on the cover’s title, thus creating a new title, THE ENGLISH MAN’S WEEKLY.

The cover also included a large image of Bill Nighy.

Had the placement of the price tag been deliberate I pondered?

Is it part of a overt campaign to restore men’s lib to a more prominent place in our politically correct society?

Under cover of the pretext of house keeping I collected a reasonably  sized sample of previous copies and began a  count of the placing of the label.

From fifteen copies, only one showed the full title,The English Woman’s Weekly, and even on that copy a part of the word ‘Woman’s’ had been partly obscured.

Even though my sample was small, I feel that the numbers are statistically significant.

I reckon the figures speak for themselves and Mens Liberation is on the cusp of a return.

Next Saturday when I return to the news agency I’ll make it my business to congratulate the male newsagent on his bravery.

Of course, I’m totally unsure as to how I’ll meaningfully stiffen my SNAG.

Of course, some of my  Aussie mates will misinterpret my previous sentence but most of my readers will know what I mean.

I though that the following two images will clearly illustrate what I’m on about.

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                       NO MISTAKE ABOUT THE LABELLING.

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                                ALMOST GOT IT RIGHT

 

Hoo roo for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAVING FUN WITH A NEW LENSE.

~ creakingbones ~ 10 Comments

For years now I’ve lusted after a Nikkor 85mm f1.4 lens and finally one has come to live at Casa Creakingbones.

Years back I bought an adaptor so that  could fit my Hasselblad 80mm lens to my Nikon DSLRs. It made for a great combination, everything was back to manual in true photographic tradition and I gave my Sekonic exposure meter a new lease of life.

Problem was I missed the lazy approach to photography I’d developed since closing the darkroom and abandoning film.

Then, late last month I took advantage of Nikon’s generous cash back offer after I  raided  my piggy bank and surprise, surprise, had just enough coinage to afford my desired Nikkor 85mm f1.4.

Today I had a lot of fun with the new lens as I photographed my other passion, my Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic motor cycle.

As I processed the RAW images in Photoshop I saw that my reflected image popped up in a number of the images and I realised that I’d created a number of selfies. As you know, they are all the rage everywhere.

Of course I’ve now marked them as keepers and here are three examples to give you a bit of a laugh.

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AT f1.4 THE BACKGROUND IS DELIGHTFULLY BLURRED.

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JUST LOOK AT THAT FUEL GUAGE IMAGE.

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MY FAVOURITE; THREE FOR THE PRICE OF ONE, NOT COUNTING THE SHADOW.

On a serious note though, these three images  clearly show the difference between ‘looking’ and ‘seeing’ and had these images been for a client, they would have been totally unacceptable, resulting in the work being recaptured.

Of course, you know that the ‘selfies’ were intentionally captured and not the result of inattention brought about by excitement over the 85mm Nikkor f1.4.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Hoo roo for now.