21st November 2009, Sullivans Cove

Sea gulls are one of the lucky animals that coexist  reasonably well with people, sometimes profitably. Although I’m guessing the quality of their diet isn’t too good especially in these fast food areas.

In the busy streets of Hobart you can see them flying along just above the traffic. If you stop and watch them, they are pretty amazing. Sea gulls and sparrows seem to go unnoticed by most of us, so they get more comfortable in our presence. I have seen the same with cows, willy wag tails sitting on their backs, sometimes even trying to pluck out hair for their nests. Or standing attentively by the cow’s nose while it eats in the hope that some insects might get stirred up in the process.

Popularity: 49% [?]

21st November 2009, Salamanca market

Popularity: 48% [?]

21st November 2009, Hobart

This picture has nothing to do with the following blurb. It was taken on Davey Street as we were leaving the Salamanca market.

Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th November 2009, Eagle Hawk Neck.

Well, the rain doesn’t ‘fall’ up.

I stayed Saturday night at Eagle Hawk Neck with a friend. It rained non stop all of Saturday. From my kayaking days I knew it was the sort of rain to bring up the rivers.

On Sunday morning we headed off, in the rain, from Devil’s kitchen to Waterfall bay. It’s graded family, meaning easy enough to do it with a class 4 hangover (class 5 being comatose) or a broken leg

It is a spectacular piece of coast which is mostly sheer cliff. Water was pouring off the rock; this mixed with the rain and was picked up by wind driving up the rock face and blowing the big drops in our faces. We could see curtains of water suspended in mid air, folding and floating like the Aurora Borealis, then rising upwards over the cliff edge.

I don’t have any pictures. It was too wet for my regular camera, and the batteries for my waterproof one have just died of old age – at the same time!

This was the start of my holiday – I’m off to Boat Harbour, slowly.

Popularity: 27% [?]

19th November 2009, Sullivans Cove

In the world of seagulls there is usually competition for food from other seagulls. In Salamanca square Wiebke laughed when she saw a harassed seagull doing circuits through alleyways and the square with five or so fellow seagulls in close pursuit; the seagull being chased had a huge cookie in its beak.

Wherever you see a bunch of seagulls vying for the possibility of food there is always one who tries to chase away the competition.

Popularity: 22% [?]

21st November 2009, Sullivan’s Cove (above) and North Hobart (below)

These seemed like similar photos, both the dog and the child being driven around by their responsible adults. And both looking at the world outside with curiosity and interest.

Popularity: 20% [?]

21st November 2009, Murray St crossing (between the malls).

I am a hypocrite!

I bought a panasonic G1 twin lens kit. This is after I complained buckets loads about how they have made it so that you can’t use the cheaper generic batteries in their cameras.

But, the camera on paper really satisfys  my photographic needs, mostly.

Shortcomings:

Firstly, it is power hungry. I have three batteries; I think I will buy another two. I paid $115 for each of the extra two on ebay – they are about $180 here. There is absolutely no justification for this price. The good news is, I have updated my camera with a version of the 1.4 firmware that apparently lets you continue using the generic batteries. So I will take a gamble and buy a couple of $15 generic batteries and hope they work. Thankyou to Steve from rangefinder forums for supplying the firmware.

Second, this camera has a useless implementation of what Canon calls Flexizone. This is where you can put the focus point wherever you like for the shot. It is so retarded on the Panasonic that I use focus lock instead.

Third, I really miss lack of macro and a narrow depth of field. Both my kit lenses are dark – the 14-45 starts at 3.5, the 45-200 starts at 4. Eventually I will buy a third lens, the 45mm macro f2.8 panasonic / leica lens. This will do for low light shooting, portraiture, and macro. It is about a $1000 au though, and not yet available in Australia.

Fourth, after all the research I did, I bought it online. Then found a review which shows that the subsequent model (GH1) handles noise at high iso much better. Since then there has been a lot of online discussion about this. But the GH1 is $1000 more expensive and it comes with a lens I don’t want (14-140mm). I’m also not interested in video.

Good points (some of them):

I had this camera for about a month sitting on the lounge floor in its box doing nothing. I was disinterested
in my new toy and was still using my powershot. Fortunately, Wiebke (the great looking woman with the camera in the photo above) has also just bought a new camera. She bought a canon eos 450 with the 18-55mm kit lens, a 50mm macro, and a 50mm prime. She has been overflowing with enthusiasm – it is her enthusiasm that finally got me using the new camera.

I haven’t been reading up on the manual or anything like I usually do. I’ve just been trying to do what I want to do, then hitting the manual to find out how to do it.

I do like the image quality. I haven’t even considered using my powershot since. I like focus tracking; this is great for following birds or people that are moving about a bit. It has its limitations, but if something is not moving too fast, it is great.

I use focus lock a lot, so that I can compose the picture how I want. On my powershot I used flexizone most of the time – putting the focus area on one of the four magic composition spots (rule of thirds).

The big zoom! 45-200mm. On a four thirds camera (the G1), this is equivalent to 90-400mm. I theorised long ago about using a long zoom for street photography, to go against the common trend of fast wide angle or prime lenses. I love it. When I’m walking around town I have the big zoom on. The shot above is at full zoom (400mm equiv).

The fold out screen and live view.  Yesterday I was kneeling above my camera photographing seagulls on the ground; Wiebke was contorting herself to get down behind the camera so that she could see to compose.

Unlike slr cameras, this camera uses contrast detection for focussing all the time. So, live view, as in a compact digital, is fast. Also, apparently with contrast detect focussing there are no front or back focus issues.

There is a lot I just haven’t looked at yet with this camera.

Popularity: 20% [?]

8th August 2009, Sth Hobart

After the Tip Shop it rained. We holed up in this cafe for breakfast and coffee until the rain stopped. It looked like a regular stop for nearby locals who wander in for coffee and to read the newspaper.

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14th April 2009, Hamburg.

Wiebke took this shot on the outskirts of Hamburg. She was on her way to a tall girls shop, because she is a tall girl. She didn’t notice the rooster in it; something I saw straight away. Perhaps in her subconscious everything appeared normal When she did notice the rooster, she went into match making mode for Chook.

Popularity: 25% [?]

20th January 2009

I was waiting, having coffee at Kingston.

This coffee shop isn’t my usual haunt; I’m kind of fond of the Citrus Moon down at the beach. Old kitchen tables and chairs, and bare foot women and kids, and a sea breeze. And people are relaxed and enjoying themselves. And, it’s a great beach; not so cold like other Tassie beaches.

Kingston and Kingston Beach are only one or two kilometres apart.

Kingston itself is concrete, lots of noise and traffic and people doing what they have to, not what they want to, unless they are rushing to get an advertised bargain.

And it’s hot, even when it’s not hot, because there are no trees. I hate it, actually. Just a few big trees would make a big difference.

But, the coffee was good.

Popularity: 14% [?]

28th January 2009.

These two women were sitting across from me on the bus. I was travelling with the Pandani Bushwalking club to Howrah, to start a walk along the beaches, and eventually (for me) back into Hobart.

I like public transport, and the buses in Hobart remind me of Sydney buses – they are generally in good condition and used by everyone.

Catching buses or trains is also interesting, just seeing so many different people, static and up close, in a confined area. People watching. Even when I travelled by train five mornings a week I liked it.

When I was a kid growing up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, I used to catch trains into Melbourne with friends. Sometimes going to see a football match, or a movie at the cinema. The red rattlers were the best. Beautiful seats and racks, all timber, great subdued lighting at night time, like a classic old lounge room. And, you could climb outside the train from one door to the next while it was moving – no automatic closing doors. Or, jump off onto the platform before it slowed down.

Then there was the era of skinheads. All of a sudden catching the train home late at night was like being in a war zone. Take care in picking your carriage; get one with a low skinhead to normal people count. And, when you get off, run like buggery. It was exciting though.

Popularity: 10% [?]