Half Frame Architecture. Part 1
Some half frame shots from a couple of weekends ago. It definitely takes a while to get through 72 frames on a half frame camera, even when shooting a fair few multi panos like these.
Canon Demi S Half Frame Camera, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Vegetable Peeling On Cuba Street
School holidays are still going strong here which is still limiting the amount of shooting I am doing but everything should be back to normal next week. I have missed a couple of great shots, including a sleeper on the waterfront complete in sleeping bag, from not having a camera because of biking or general two kid activities. I’m not complaining since we have had a pretty good holiday.
These were shot while the kids were playing on the Tuatara and slide on Cuba Street.
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Wrights Hill Fortress WW2 Remains
Wrights hill Fortress is THE best preserved WW2 fortresses that I have been to. It is currently being restored by a small group of enthusiasts and is open on most public holidays. If you are in the area on a public holiday it is definitely worth going to see it.
I managed to get a bit of a look round without the crowds when one of the photographers, Bev, who I do some assisting for planned a photo shoot there so we went along to do a recci before the shoot and of course I took some test shots also 🙂
It was originally meant to have 3 guns but only 2 ever got built. The only time they were fired was when they were “proofed” and the force of the shock wave broke the windows of houses at the bottom of the hill.
Nikon D70s and F5
Storm
So there is a bit of a winter storm happening over New Zealand at the moment so when the first snow flurries started to hit I decided it would be a good time to head to the south coast and get some images as the storm rolled up from the south island.
Its school holidays which meant that Amanda was home to look after the kids as I put on as many clothes as I could find and headed out.
The great thing about owning an aging digital SLR is that you don’t mind so much if it gets a bit wet so even though the spray off the waves was pretty bad I still got some shots. I also took my F5 which was pre loaded with some expired Ilford Pan F+ 50 ISO film so it will be interesting to see how they come out since I was getting up to about a 10 second exposure, hopefully I will develop that roll in the next day or two.
Nikon D70s, 18-70mm Lens, ISO 200. 1st two shots with a Cokin ND8 and Cokin ND4 Gad
Fort Buckley WW2 Remains
Some shots of Fort Buckley. I stress these were just test/location shots as the day I went the light was super bright 🙂
Fort Buckley at the entrance to the Kaiwharawhara gorge housed a couple of guns for defense of the inner harbor and was originally built around 1885.
When I was there at the end of 2009 it looked like the area was getting an upgrade with a new walking track down to the gun pits.
Nikon D70s, 50mm f1.8, ISO 200
WW2 Fort Dorset Remains
More location shots of bunkers again today. This time above Seatoun, these were to protect Port Dorset which lay on the other side of the ridge and the harbor entrance.
There are some old images of it HERE although the two gun pits are pretty much just rubble.
These were by far the most overgrown battlements and it looked like someone had been living in one of them. I especially liked how the metal shutters on one of them had rusted to look like lace.
In some places houses have been built only meters away from some of these structures so it makes you wonder how much longer they will last…
Nikon D70s, Various Lenses, ISO 200.
Sinclair Head WW2 Forward Observation Post
Looking back at some images on my hard drive I found a couple of series of WW2 Gun Emplacements and Observation Posts that I wandered around from late 2008… The idea was to go round all the sites and take reference images and then go to the National Archives, National Library and Military Museums and get historical images and try to put a book together…Maybe with all the renewed interest with the military selling off lots of its land this is something I should re-look at.
Sinclair Head Forward Observation Post was a radio post used for spotting ships coming through the Cook Straight. I assume that it was relayed up to Wrights Hill where the main battery of guns were. You can see where the radio antenna was located in the main lookout.
This was about a 3 hour walk around the Red Rocks Reserve and then straight up a hill bordering on a cliff… That being said these were the best preserved and least graffiti-ed remains that I have found to date.
Nikon F5, 50mm f1.8 Lens. Ilford Delta 400 ISO Film, Noritsu Scanner.
Sitting In Civic Square
School holidays are upon me again… It’s a time where my wanderings are a bit curtailed having to look after two small people not just one… So its back to the archives for a week or so until I can get out shooting again…
Here’s one from summer in Civic Square.
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
A Fist Full Of Half Frame
Some half frame panos from a trip to Titahi Bay a couple of months back.
Canon Demi S Half Frame, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Coffee Vs Beer
This is from the other weekend where rain interrupted a street shoot with me and Fergus (Cunningvision).
The first shot is sitting outside the St James Theater on Courtenay Place drinking coffee with Rollei on the table pre-focused and the second is on Cuba Street outside J J Murphy’s drinking beer with the same setup although I did have to get Fergus to lean out of the shot while I took it and it was a bit under exposed…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Cops With Spray Cans? WTF?
I spotted this in Leftbank Mall earlier in the week… Apparently the police are looking for new ways to recruit people.
Um isn’t this kind of illegal? Maybe they got permission?
To me this just evokes images of a couple of uniformed cops with spray cans and stencils looking shifty… possibly one on lookout while the other puts up the stencil… both jumping at the sound of any passerby…
The old guy looking in the window was just a bonus…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
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