Monday 31 January 2011

Catherine Hill Bay Cemetary

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and souls deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And does with poison, war, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better then thy stroke; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

John Donne

Catherine Hill Bay Cemetary

A B&W rendition of a 3 exposure HDR. Graveyards should always be presented in B&W! This was processed in Photoshop Elements 8 using the infra red option in the B&W processing.

Catherine Hill Bay Panorama

This panorama comprises 8 photos taken in portrait mode. It was an overcast day so the Hue and saturation were tweaked a little to give a Sepia Duotone effect. This Coal Loading Jetty is in a state of disrepair and is to be demolished apparently within the next year.

Thursday 27 January 2011

The January Report!

 

Can u believe it?  We are almost at the end of the first month for 2011??!!   What has been happening?

Kims’ back is on the improve!   Still a little stiff and sore after getting out of bed but at least she is getting around ok now; although she still has to be careful with what she gets up to!    She has just had a hair cut and it looks great!

It has been bloody hot here in the last few days!   The other day Kim n I were out shopping and there was this hot dry wind whistling around.   It reminded me so much of a Wagga Wagga summer!   Problem is that we have been hit with the humidity now and phew….. that sweats out the grog I can tell ya!!  ha ha ha ha!!   On the way home from work there was a fog and when I got home I checked the weather station and it was 97% humidity…..now that is something!

The family is doing well.   Kasey has been getting stuck into a couple of assignments for her traineeship, Lachlan is recovering from ANOTHER bout of Tonsilitis [he also has a new girlfriend!] and, Rhiannan has a boyfriend now also!

I haven’t been out and about with the camera for a while; things have just been too busy!   I do, however, plan to hit the graveyard at Catherine Hill Bay about sunset to try and get some mood photos!   Watch this space!

I also have to wash the car again.   It seems to get dirtier up here for some reason; black fine dust.  I actually think it could be coal dust blown over from the coal loaders on the docks when I park the car in town for work.   If it is not this fine black dust, it is the seaspray from the beach that makes it grubby and that certainly needs to be washed off on a very regular basis!

Just another bit of news……………..BARNEY ARRIVES TOMORROW  [all going well……] !!

Anyway, that’s another Jordy update for now.   Hope everyone is well.

Jordy

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Testing….

 

Just a test to see if FB can import my blog automatically, or if it will stuff it up!

2011……..It had better start to get better!!



My poor darlin’ Kim put her back out last week - again.   She has been in agony and it is only just starting to let up a little!   I 'suggested' she go and see someone about it.   Finally she relented and we went and saw an Osteopath at Warners Bay.  It was a huge relief to find out that it is not Kims old disc injury that is playing up but a strained muscle that sits over the pelvis which is putting a lot of pressure onto her sciatic nerve.   So much easier to treat!

Rhiannan is not terribly happy because she has only 3 days work this week.   Not sure the reasons why but it is possible that they are putting on school kids over the holidays because they are cheaper!   Methinks we will be perusing the jobs vacant columns relentlessly in the coming weeks.   Rhiannan celebrated her 19th birthday on the 02 Jan.  The years are flying by it seems!

Lachlan is crook with Tonsilitis at the moment.   It is something he always seems to pick up when he is a little run down.   It certainly has been very hot and humid these last 2 weeks and, his warehouse is not air conditioned.   The Doc put him on antibiotics again but says he will need a blood test the next time it plagues him.   You should see these tablets he has to take; they are huge!   How he is expected to swallow them is beyond me!

Kasey is really enjoying her new job at the Day Care Centre.   She has asked if she could do her Diploma there when the Cert III is finished but they already have one girl working there completing her Diploma.    Day care is one of those areas where there is always plenty of demand for trained staff!

A bit of bad news from Christmas.   We had to have our Kaiser put down.   He was 16 years old and the old age thing had really caught up with him to the extent that he was not the happy-go-lucky dog we knew and loved.

We had a visit from the Outlaws early in the new year.   Hhmmm.... That was interesting!

I haven’t been up to anything really.  Going to work & home looking after Kim.   Trying to fit in some [hopefully] overtime shifts for my sister, Theresas’ 50th birthday celebrations up at the Gold Coast in March, so we have a little spending money! 
 
Well, I must head off now.   Back to work tomorrow after a 5 day stand-down.   Not looking forward to the alarm clock waking us up!

Hope you’re all well and enjoying life!

Jordy 

Saturday 15 January 2011

The Stairs


The Stairs
Originally uploaded by Life with Jordy
This old set of stairs runs from an alleyway that backs onto the David Jones carpark in King St Newcastle. Love the sandstone retaining walls; the rock has such a great texture and colour! The stairs are fenced off at the top and here at the bottom also. A HDR shot taken from 3 exposures at -/+ 1 stop.

Port Hunter B&W Panorama

This is one reason I love living in Newcastle. Port Hunter. Adults and kids fishing off the wharf, the Tugboats in the distance steaming off to pilot in another huge coal ship, the smell of the sea and, the hustle and bustle of a busy port! This is a panoramic composite of 4 photos. I didnt have my tripod so I made sure I paid close attention to how I lined up each shot.

Monday 10 January 2011

King & Perkins St Newcastle

Newcastle has some great architecture! This building on the corner of King & Perkins streets is one example. Perkins St that runs up the right hand side of this building is very steep but is lined with beautiful trees. Converted into B&W with infrared processing.

Devonshire St Newcastle B&W

This alleyway jumped out at me one morning as I was driving to work and I was determined to come back and capture it! Brilliant place with the light poles on the left and beaut trees on the right that brings the dappled light down into the street. The building on the left is the old Star Hotel, famous for the riot that occurred when the Hotel was finally closed because of the constant anti-social behaviour of its clientele!

Fred Ash Building Newcastle

Here is the same building as it should look. This was taken with my Wide Angle lens and comprises of 5 exposure bracketed shots at +/- 2 stops. It looks brilliant in B&W. This facade of this building is very popular with photographers for wedding parties; it;s old style architecture and great textures are brilliant!

Fred Ash Building Newcastle

This is supposed to be a 'panoramic' photo of about 10 or so shots taken from about 30 metres across the road from this building! This old building does NOT have a curved architecture! I positioned myself across the road at approximately the halfway mark and panned the camera across on its tripod access. I was closer in distance to the middle of the building than what I was to either end. The curve is obviously the result of the panning effect of the camera as processed by Photoshop. Very interesting!

Still it has come up with this totally unexpected but cool looking final product!

Retaining Wall


Retaining Wall
Originally uploaded by Life with Jordy
I spent the afternoon on Sunday wandering the streets of Newcastle! No! I was not drunk ! I was a man with a mission; looking for those elusive buildings or places tucked away out of sight that don't seem to attract much attention.

This is an alleyway that runs beside the David Jones Carpark off King St. The retaining wall has some brilliant textured brick and there is a staircase [now disused due to age] at the end of it. This B&W version is my fav but I will post the colour version soon because it also looks great! This photo is taken from 5 bracketed exposure shots +/- 2 stops.

Catching up.

 Well it has been a couple of months since I posted a Blog article.   I don't have any Project or roll of film in particular to share wi...