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Just testing Wordpress Mobile 1.0 on my Android powered HTC Magic. Nice! Here’s a photo taken with the 3.2mp cam with the FXcamera app.

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In Waiting

 

 

New Shit

Here are some new toys that were waiting for me upon my arrival in Australia.  Now i just the time to play with them!


Soligor C/D 135mm f/2.8

Brand new, and boxed with original packaging.  I’ve owned a Soligor before and wasn’t too impressed with it’s quality but supposedly their C/D (Computer Designed) lenses were of a much higher production standard.  This 135mm lens is of solid, all metal construction and is easy to focus and control.  I wasn’t too impressed with some initial tests at f/2.8 as they lacked contrast, saturation and sharpness but I’ll blame the contrast and saturation on my notebook monitor and the sharpness on the photographer because later tests showed some good results. Unfortunately in my kit, it’s competitor is the Pentax DA* 50-135 and the Soligor doesn’t really compare although it will be great for my film cameras.  More results and tests with lens soon.

Check out the Soligor Manual Focus group at flickr.

Soligor C/D 135mm f/2.8

Soligor C/D 135mm f/2.8


Pentax ME Super + Winder II

I bought the ME Super + the Pentax M 50mm f/2 lens from ebay for a good price (I recently saw it in Melbourne for over $400) and am impressed with the feel of it.  It’s built very well, has a hotshoe which works with my wireless flash setup, can use my Pentax M lenses as well as my M42 lenses (with adapter) and is really small.  I bought the Winder II from a Pentaxforums.com member and like the feel of the MX Super with or without the winder on.  I guess for street shooting = no winder, flash/studio  = winder for extra support.

Pentax ME Super + Winder II


Pentax SF7

This is my Father’s camera which I left lensless a few years ago when I stole his lenses, tele converter and filters.  Now back in Aus, I dug it up to see what it can produce (there’s still film in it).  I loaded up some new 2CR5 batteries (which I found new for $3.99) and tried a few different lenses including the Pentax M 50mm f/2, Soligor C/D 135mm f/2.8, the S-M-C Takumar 28mm f/3.5 (via adapter) and I also tested the Pentax DA 18-55 (K10D kit lens) and surprisingly it works fine, although I’m not sure how to change the aperture :)   Scanned photos coming soon.

Pentax SF7


Pentax M 50mm f/2

This lens came with the Pentax ME Super and is almost exactly the same as my Pentax M 50mm f/1.7.  I doubt I’ll use it often but it never hurts to have a few 50’s lying around.  Cosmetically it came in great shape although the attached skylight filter was riddled with fungus, let’s hope it didn’t spread to the lens.


Super Takumar 150mm f/4

Another ebay purchase, this lens was more of a whim buy (aren’t they all) and doesn’t really serve any purpose as I don’t really shoot anything past 135mm but for $20 I just wanted to try it out.  Unfortunately, it looks like it was dropped and the barrel near filter is damaged but filters are still able to be attached.

Super Takumar 150mm f/4

Poles Connect The Lines

A study in lines, minimalism, negative space and empty thoughts.

 

 

 

Almost There

One tree + multiple angles + Pentax K10D + S-M-C Takumar 28mm + DA* 50-135.  The idea behind this set was to concentrate on composition and make the most of a single object.  The end result is a minimalist collection of monochrome images that concentrate on form and object over subject matter.  If you’re wanting to get out of a photographic rut, want to practice your composition and how to see differently, I suggest trying something like this.

Naomi Alone

These photos were some leftovers from the family shoot I did back in December ‘09.  I must admit I did have an ulterior motive when I asked Naomi to let me test the lighting on her as I’ve wanted to do some natural posed portraits of her since the birth of Elysa, these are the results.  All photos were taken with a Pentax K10D + DA* 50-135 lens with a shoot through umbrella and a reflector.

 

 

 

 

 

Last Night @ Best Wishes

Takashi & Kaori of Best Wishes put up some photos from our last visit there last night.  Check out the link here.  To everyone who I know and have known in Japan over the past 5 1/2 years, thanks for the great times and I’ll see again.  Cheers, it’s been a blast! Sayonara.

Best of 2009

Like each year, retrospect is a bitch and it gets us every time (well me at least) .  We look back and ponder what we could have done better or differently and then vow to right the wrongs in the new year to only fail again.  Lose weight, stop smoking, exercise more, drink more water, drink less beer and wine, spend more time with the family, spend less time at the bar, get off the computer, go outside more, take more photographs, be more creative…blah, blah, blah.  That’s me.  Things I should do but probably wont but will try so the wife doesn’t get angry.

Anyway, here’s my best of 2009.  Not that you care but I like making lists.

Top Things That Happened To Me

The birth of my daughter Elysa Mikaela Diaz
Shooting Green Green Music Festival
Quitting work
Buying the Acer 3935
Going to Tokyo with my Wife
Getting accepted into a few Universities in Australia


Worse Things That Happened To Me

Stopped exercising & gained a few
Started smoking again after three months of quitting
Having no time to do stuff
Broke my glasses
Saying goodbye to best mates in Japan
Sex is now a word I giggle at like a child and blush when i hear it

My Top Albums

Ahkmed – Distance
Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue
Amenra – Afterlife
Amesoeurs – Amesoeurs
Ben Harper and Relentless 7 – White Lies For Dark Times
Black Cobra – Chronomega
Black Math Horseman – ‘Wyllt’
Brutal Truth – Evolution Through Revolution
Burnt by the Sun – Heart of Darkness
Cave In – Planets of Old EP
Converge – Axe To fall
Dinosaur Jr – Farm
Doomriders – Darkness Come Alive
Every Time I Die – New Junk Aesthetic
Fall Of Efrafa – Inlé
Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School Of Medicine – The Audacity Of Hype
Latitudes – Agonist
Long Distance Calling – Avoid The Light
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Mono – Hymn To The Immortal Wind
Muse – The Resistance
Narrows – New Distances
Pearl Jam – Backspacer
Pigface – 6
Poison The Well – The Tropic Rot
Raised Fist – Veil Of Ignorance
Rin Toshite Shigure – Just A Moment
Russian Circles – Geneva
Saxon Shore – It Doesn’t Matter
Sepultura – A-Lex
Slayer – World Painted Blood

My Most Listened To Artists & Albums

Cavity – On The Lam
Bad Religion
Blood Duster
Converge – Axe To Fall
Grinderman
Mastodon
Iron Maiden – Live After Death
Jawbox
Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night
Metallica – Master Of Puppets
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Nirvana – Bleach
Rollins Band – Weight
The Stranglers (old stuff)


My Top Movies of 2009

Inglorious Basterds
Law Abiding Citizen
The Hangover
Funny People
X-Men Origins : Wolverine
Public Enemies
Ponyo
Zombieland
Pirate Radio


My Top T.V Shows

The Cleveland Show
Fringe
Californication
Bored To Death
Lie To Me
V

My Best Windows Apps

Windows 7 – Best OS since XP just sexier.
Handbrake – Free transcoder for ripping video to my ipod
itunes – Free music player & manager for ipod.
CCleaner – Free system cleaner
Lightroom – Photo Management & post processor
uTorrent – Free & lightweight torrent downloader
BitChe -  Free desktop torrent searcher
KeePass – Open source password manager
Infra recorder – Free CD/DVD burning software
Image Burn – Free image burner
Windows Live Writer – Free blogging software
File Zilla – Open source FTP
Paint.Net – Free image editor
Google Chrome – Fast web browser


My Most Viewed Websites

Blabbermouth
The Online Photographer
Strobist
Japan Exposures
Flickr
Facebook
JPGmag
Twitter
Pentax Forums
Download Squad
Lifehacker
Wired
Engadget

More Of The Same Shit + A Happy New Year

Pentax K10D + Super Takumar 35mm @ f/8.  Somewhere between Okayama and Fukuyama, Japan.

 

 

 

Naoito : Izpon : Juicy – Live @ Best Wishes

The first time I shot live artists (Naoito) at Best Wishes I was worried abaout sharpness, clarity and getting good exposures in bad lighting and I failed.  The second time (Ucoca, Toruman & Kei) I somewhat let the lighting control the style of the photographs to get a warmer more stylized result and I did the same last night with a few different camera tweaks to keep the noise down.  I’m not sure if the Best Wishes crew or the artists necessarily like the style but it’s gritty, soft, noisy, monochromatic and has a distinct film like look which I like.  I shot the gig with the Pentax K10D + Super Takumar 55mm 1.8 and shot most of the night at f/2~2.8 with an ISO of 1250.  Check out singer, songwriter & percussionist Naoito, percussionist Izpon and percussionist Juicy’s (Hifana) myspace pages.


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