Zig Zag Coogee

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Zig Zag Coogee - (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

Zig Zag Coogee – (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock
D7000 with Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 @ 55mm – Aperture: f/8 and Shutter Speed: lots of seconds
out front – +HoyaFilters CPL and Lee Graduated Filter (0.9x)

Probably the most typically composed shot you will find of this location at Coogee (Ross Jones Pool) The edges of the sea pool lend themselves to being composed with cool S curve, whether its down low, or up high I think it works pretty well.

This particular morning Rod and myself met up with the initial plan to shoot this pool and maybe check out the next couple of ones along, however we did just hang at this one, in hingsight, i think we could have avoided all those othe rphotographers and gone to Wiley Baths of something – especially avoided that dude who came in and set up right in front of us (which by the way was in this shot, bottom right, but got cloned out)

Nonetheless, here is to the world of cliche, S curves at Ross Jones Pool.

Single frame, cropped to a vertical pano
Techie data:
D7000 with Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 @ 55mm – Aperture: f/8 and Shutter Speed: lots of seconds
out front – +HoyaFilters CPL and Lee Graduated Filter (0.9x)

Tickles @ 1

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Tickles @ 1 - (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

Tickles @ 1 – (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock
D7000 with Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 @ 55mm – Aperture: f/3.3 and Shutter Speed: 1/1500 seconds
ISO 400
out front – mum and bubs, cake in the process of being destroyed.

proud mum and a happy baby with a fist full of cake

5th October 2014, little old tickles has clocked up a whole year, 12 months ago (and 20 hours) the sound of her cry as she came into the world (yeah i know that sounds corny) is still something that is as fresh in my ears as if it was yesterday. The feeling of relief and joy that followed that moment still washes over me whenever I think about it. Anyway, enough of that 😉 fast forward 12 months and we have gotten onto two legs, climbed ladders, climbed onto stools like a little elephant and sat there, successfully eye gouged dad several times, nearly booted dad’s teeth out with some serious ninja kicks and most importantly of all, given us lots of giggles, laughs, smiles and happy memories with many more to come.

Happy birthday tickles. enjoy your cake.

Techie data:
D7000 with Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 @ 55mm – Aperture: f/3.3 and Shutter Speed: 1/1500 seconds
ISO 400
out front – mum and bubs, cake in the process of being destroyed.

Softness is.. North Bondi

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Softness is .. North Bondi - (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

Softness is .. North Bondi – (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock
D7000 coupled with Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 @11mm Aperture: f/5.6 and Shutter Speed: 248.4 seconds
ISO 400
out front – Lee Graduated Filter 0.9x, a very tall cliff and lots of rocks.

It was well past sunset and there was nothing but a warm glow from where the sun had disappeared over the city skyline, with almost no moon it was a perfect time for some long exposures without the need for filters.

I did however have a graduated filter on the sky to enable more light from the lower part of the scene to be captured, additionally with the use of a super powered torch I lit the scene from an adjacent rock several steps from to right. The rocks down in the ocean are artificially lit along with that part of the cliff face on the right. The warm tip on the cliff is from the argon street lights a hundred metres of so away.

Whilst the composition was not quite what I wanted, i do like the smooth water and punchy rocks, hence it made it off the cull list 😉 I also think a star trail view from this very spot could really make it sing, you can see a few of the star trails from the 250 seconds long exposure

Techie Love

Unhealthy Obsession

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Unhealthy Obsession - Lone Trees - (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

Unhealthy Obsession – Lone Trees – (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock
D7000 with Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 @ 17mm – Aperture: f/9.5 and Shutter Speed: 2 seconds
out front – nothing, no filters, nothing but smelly fresh air, a golf course and a tree.

of lone trees on hills
I do have quite the fascination with lonely trees, whether they be on a beach, in some dunes, in the country side or in the bay, and now on the headland, they never seem to lose the appeal.
So during a further investigation of this location (with Rod) via google street view this little old tree popped up while tracking that big smelling poo cannon.

Its a pretty photogenic tree, it could however have a bit more of a lean and possibly be repositioned alittle but hey, all in all pretty sweet. I did take quite a few images of this tree including some obligatory panoramas 😉 , the first one that caught my eye was the one with the tree over looking the green, I had wanted to capture it with the golf green and hole/flag in place, but it was well past closing time and all the green hole flags had been removed.

Simple black and white vertical panorama style image.

Single image
Techie data:
D7000 with Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 @ 17mm – Aperture: f/9.5 and Shutter Speed: 2 seconds
out front – nothing, no filters, nothing but smelly fresh air, a golf course and a tree.

Step in Line

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Step in Line - Coogee Sunrise - (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

Step in Line – Coogee Sunrise – (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

and watch the slippery stuff

So after rocking up here at Ross Jones Pool at Coogee my first thoughts were, ‘ho hum’…this increased to more ‘so ho ho hum’ at the sight of more photographers peppering the pool, who woulda thunk that this little old pool at Coogee would be so popular, even the punters passing by some time after sunrise made the observation it was a like a photography club 🙂

I do like some space and some freedom when out photographing, to be shoulder to shoulder with half a dozen other togs in quite a small area makes it a little less enjoyable. Nonetheless, one must suffer in life 😉

Its a pretty cliche scene, ie use the edge of the pool as a leading line, however on this particular morning it really just fell into place with the position of the sun peaking through the clouds, I simply put the concrete pool edge so it ran the eye right up into that sky goodness, there was even a few god rays to boot. I have a few other compositions similar to this, one with a mad looking S curve, however this one jumped out at me for having a more balanced feel and such here it is.

Techie Love
Bracketed shot (3 frames -3, 0, +3) however really only used the 0 and -3 exposures)
The -3 frame was simply used (manually blended) to retain that detail in the bright part of the sky.

D7000 coupled with Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 @11mm Aperture: f/16 and Shutter Speed: 1 second for neutral frame and 1/4s for darker frame (bits of sky)
out front – green slippery ass mossy stuff and a pool…also wedding cake island and god rays.

Chaos

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Beautiful Chaos - (c) Gerard Blacklock

Beautiful Chaos – (c) Gerard Blacklock

We have hit the big 5! Its school holidays and whilst the work/school/childcare is a juggle (thats a rant for another day!!) I think I can safely say that I rate spending time with my girls an absolute pleasure and privilege, the energy, spontaneity and kindness she (both of them) brings to our lives is a blessing.

With summer just around the corner, its beach time and there will snorkeling and general shenanigans to be had:)

Exif/setup data:
D7000 coupled with Nikkor 85 f1.4 @85mm  Aperture: f/2.8 and Shutter Speed: 1/3000s
ISO 100
out front – chaos

Legs

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Tickles on legs - (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

Tickles on legs – (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

and a serious license to use them

Whilst we have not quick cracked the running around the backyard yet and we seem to think crawling on all fours is a much superior and fast (apparently 🙂 ) means to get around, its quite a treat to witness the transition of a children from crawling to be able to walk – the marvels of the human body and development eh!

Although, i could do without the ear piercing squeals at random moments when driving.. thats kinda dangerous tickles! and while i am here, the eye gouging and kicking could also be improved upon 😉

btw, check out that belly…baby fat to the max!

Single frame
Exif/setup data:
D7000 coupled with Nikkor 85 f1.4 @85mm Aperture: f/2 and Shutter Speed: 1/750s
ISO 800 (could have dropped that down gerry:) )
out front – mayhem on operational legs.

Melding of Arts

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Melding of Arts - (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

Melding of Arts – (c) 2014 Gerard Blacklock

I have a mate who I have known for years (10+ yrs), he’s a bit eccentric, someone whom you may look twice at walking down the street, like most of us, he has had his ups and downs. He has flown planes, dabbled in building planes, dabbled in engineering but for the entire time I have known him, he has written poetry and rather well at that.

Over the years he has shared hundreds of poems with me, some no more than several lines penciled on a napkin, some elaborately presented on posters. Its only after several years did i notice I can truly see his journey through life through his poems, during the good times and the bad the poetry has reflected where he was at during that moment, week or even year, who he was with and what he was doing.

Sometimes it (poetry) had taken a back seat to pursue engineering, a dream and passion he thrives on and longs for but always it returned and another work was written, sometimes these breaks went for over a year.

Often he has asked for and used a picture of mine to couple with his poetry, often as a bookmark, small booklet, poster or just a card. He would then head out to sell them, often quite successfully too! he would always say
“it must be the picture”
however truth be told I know its more than that, good words and words that we can all relate to and engage with are worth more than a picture ever would be (to me anyway), plus, anyone can take a half decent photo 🙂

So, in a recent venture and after many months of me dragging the chain he got together a number of he recent works together and matched them to a selection of my recent images. The result,
Light on Life
a small 16 page booklet of short poems.

You will not find these online, you will not find the poet online, not on gplus, facebook or the like, you might see him one day on the streets of Newtown or close by selling his work.

Over the years he has given me a copy of some of his publications, the only requirement I have asked for in return for the use of the images 🙂 I told him the other day, you must make sure you have a backup of all your poetry and he said, in not so many words,
“no, i write it, print it sell it and basically move on”
So, i guess… in a way ..each run is limited 🙂

Good on ya Neil.

Here is the first poem in the book, just as a sampler 🙂

To the Missed
Will there be
A hug for me
In that moment I
Glimpse you in
Eternity?
Your love ran
Cold on stones
My Love in that
Moment you died
The icy breath
Of death’s vale
Met even you!
Oh, greet me
With the kiss
I loved.

Copyright Neil Andrew Granger

and so there it is…the point of the title.. the melding of the Arts, Brilliant Poetry by Neil Granger and Photography by Gerard Blacklock (‘Gerry”)

Shooting Sunsets with Chaos

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Dunbogan
Normally for me photography is a opportunity to gain some solice, some time to myself, however this is often not possible with the family and two young girls. Hence I have taken to asking chaos (the older one) if she would like to come along and help, well I don't need to ask her twice.. 🙂

Soooo.. i think I can call it a success, time well spent with chaos and i did get a few shots I like out of it, which leads me to the next point – I did not actually press the shutter button for this panorama, chaos had control of the wireless remote and pressed it for the 12 shot bracketed pano 🙂 so technically she probably holds part of the copyright 🙂

It was enjoyable, if not alittle frustrating 🙂 instructions were given to press the shutter remote when I was ready and said so.. well she took immense enjoyment and plenty of giggles at pressing the shutter release midway me setting the shot up or swivelling the camera for the next bracket which left me with lots and lots of shots of random compositions 🙂

Anyway, this pano did work out ok, thanks for the laughs chaos.

Techie data:
12 shot bracketed panorama (4 sets of 3 images)
D7000 with Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 @ 19mm- Aperture: f/8 and Shutter Speed: 0.5s, 1/8s & 2s
out front – LEE Graduated filter (0.9)

I welcome any suggestions, comments and improvements to my photography, they are always warmly welcomed and always appreciate the time people take to have a look, plus and/or comment.

Midday Seascapes – Coalcliff

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Coalcliff, NSW, Australia, part of the great region just south of Sydney. Coalcliff is called that for the literal meaning, the cliffs here oozing with coal, you can see the layers of coals in the cliffs and quite often when snorkelling/diving down here there is lots of it on the seabed.

Continuing my quest for some reasonable hour seascapes, i found this little gulley exposed by the low tide, the water trickling over the rock is actually coming from behind me on the other side of the headland/rockshelf, the waves were pumping and sending large amounts of water across the shelf to run off at this spot, by the time it got here is was nothing but a little trickle , thankfully 🙂

This image was taken shortly after the one in this post and with the same settings, simply recomposed and focused.:
https://plus.google.com/100975265940134223422/posts/WkZK7GJ1aku

Exif/setup data:
D7000 coupled with Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 @11mm Aperture: f/11 and Shutter Speed: 132.9s
out front – LEE Bigstopper, LEE graduated filter 0.9 and screw in circular polariser

As always, I welcome any suggestions, comments and improvements to my photography, they are always warmly welcomed.

Waterfall Fantasy

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View large, you won't regret it, money back guarantee 🙂
The walk in and climb to the bottom of the falls was not so much as a fantasy as a nightmare 🙂

Madden Falls, definitely not a fair weather photographer location, which btw was wanted this particular day, a nice easy walk and a sweet set of falls. Well, the walk to the top of the falls was easy, boardwalk even!, however it dumped you at a lookout possie at the top of the falls which was a pretty ugly, thus some bush bashing was required.
Armed with a gripless pair of wet sneakers and a rough plan of where to go to get to the bottom, I slid, scrambled, climbed down a tree and not so gracefully arrived at the bottom of the falls, 30 minutes later 🙂

It was however, worth it, what a great set of falls tucked away with no one around, well not down here anyway.

This was the last shot of the day and the moment the first bit of cloud swept across, prior to that it was nothing but blue sky. Rarely do i get conditions like this for water shots, however I really love that long exposure sky/cloud coupled with a waterfall. The wind was blowing pretty hard up top and provided the perfect amount of cloud movement to generate the sweep of clouds. I did have to clone out one tree up top which was nothing but a blurry mess.

Techie data:
D7000 with Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 @ 11mm – Aperture: f/11 and Shutter Speed: 61.9s
out front -Hoya screw in circular polariser and B+W screw in neutral density filter (10 stops).

I welcome any suggestions, comments and improvements to my photography, they are always warmly welcomed and always appreciate the time people take to have a look, plus and/or comment.

Who needs Sunrise?

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Dunno why i spend all this time getting up at the crack of dawn to capture sunrise..should just do it at noon, such a more respectable hour and you can actually see where your going ! 😉

Just throw in a LEE bigstopper and a few clouds and voilà seascape sorted.

Damn it was windy on this rock shelf! the only reason I pointed in this direction since it was so damn windy and I needed to shield the camera from the wind with my body and keep the sea spray off the filters.

Exif/setup data:
D7000 coupled with Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 @11mm Aperture: f/11 and Shutter Speed: 132.9s
out front – LEE Bigstopper, LEE graduated filter 0.9 and screw in circular polariser

As always, I welcome any suggestions, comments and improvements to my photography, they are always warmly welcomed.

Watching Night Turn to Day

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A large rain cloud sneaked over Botany this morning, spreading like a cancer snuffing all light and warmth that was meant to be..sunrise.

Single image – triggered using a Phottix Aion wireless remote, these things are great for this kind of thing, heaps of range and pretty consist, works thru the pocket too 🙂

techie love:
D7000 coupled with Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 @ Aperture: f/13 and Shutter Speed: 1.5s
out front – LEE Graduated Filter (0.9)

Double Take

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Some very cool infrastructure going up at Botany Bay and the new Port Terminal – just be sure to not take photos of it 😉 Apparently, thanks to Bin Laden, I am not allowed to point my camera in this direction 🙂 I guess I do attract a bit more attention (tripod and camera ) than the mobile phone wielding would be terrorists – oh well rules are rules I suppose, hence I turned around and took photos of planes taking off instead 😉

Anyway, enough of a whinge, these huge gantrys make awesome subjects, not quite the cloud movement I wanted but it was better than nothing.

techie love:
D7000 coupled with Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 @ Aperture: f/19 and Shutter Speed: 60.9s
out front – LEE Bigstopper in all its goodness.