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 with you. So, I will put up what I have taken and give a run down of what has been occurring.

In October 2023, Kim & I visited Wauchope (about 2.5-3 hour drive from our place) to see our Son, Lachlan, his Wife Naomi and, their 2 sons Jasper and Griffin. The boys are twins and it was the occasion of their 1st Birthday. For their birthday we went to the Billabong Zoo and Wildlife Park, just up the road. It was a really nice day and the boys loved seeing the animals. It took me a short while to get onto the editing of these photos. That due to the Black and White roll of Fuji Acros 100 (original!) I got back from the Lab that needed scanning (see last blog post).

I love the photo above of the Cotton Top Tamarin Monkey. A problem I find when photographing animals in a Zoo environment is the background.  Usually, the background is cage wire, cement wall, brick wall or a wall that is painted with scenery or, just a plain wooden wall. They tend to look cheap and nasty and take the impetus and attention away from the subject. For the photo above, I used the Background Layer selection in Lightroom to darken the painted wall so that the subject was highlighted. I also used Dodge and Burn tools to bring out the texture in the branch and detail in the monkey's fur.

The two lions below are an example of what can be done with a crappy fence background covered in an overgrown climbing plant. I changed the background of the original photos in Photoshop using the new AI. It gave me options of what might go in the background as well as a blank search area to find something I thought would suit.  I typed in 'African Scenery' and it gave me a number of options. The cutting in of the new background onto the original subject is done really well and the outcome looks a lot more pleasing. I can't see myself using the Photoshop AI that often but, I can see that it may have its place for some projects on old photo restorations.

After leaving Lachlan, Naomi and the boys, we had an overnight in Forster on the way home. Lovely little place that lies on the Coolongolook River (below). I can see that it would get massively busy in the Holiday Season (one of the joys of being retired now is travelling out of the Holiday Season nightmare!) 

I added a soft Magenta colour filter to this as there was already a fine Magenta colour in the
original (see photo above this one)

In November, we travelled up to Brisbane for an early family Christmas. Popped into Ballina on the way up to visit my Cousin for a couple of nights which broke the trip up just nicely. It was very hot and soooo humid in Brisbane! Who'd have thought I grew up just down the road. Whilst in Brisbane we visited the Roma Street Parklands, magnificent gardens that were all out in flower! It really is a place to visit!

One thing I was amazed at was the amount of Eastern Water Dragons wandering the parklands. They aren't phased at the Humans wandering around but they are not real tame either and take off if you get too close. The Parklands has a wonderful Cafe if you're not in a hurry you can sit and enjoy a Coffee and something sweet with it or, perhaps lunch. 

We stopped into Yamba on the way back and stayed in a Cabin at the Caravan Park. My Brother and his Wife were there in their Caravan for about a week or so and we decided to spend 2 nights there to have a look around and have a few wines with them. 

Just before Christmas we played designated driver for Rhiannan who was attending a Christmas Function for her work. Kim and I took the dogs into town with us and hung around for a few hours. It had been a hot day but there was a cool change that came through accompanied by a thunderstorm. I love thunderstorms but not while I am sitting outside eating wood fired Pizza and having a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon! It's ok though, I didn't get any water in my wine!

Of course, I took my camera with me (early evening is a great time to wander the CBD!)

I have found in the early evening, the light can change pretty significantly depending on the location in the city. For example, alleyways and open beach spaces. I didn't take a tripod with me; too much to carry when just wandering. So, for these photos I set the camera on Auto ISO so I didn't have to muck around, checking and then adjusting. For the most it went well but there were a few that just didn't cut it for my liking so, I think the Auto ISO will not be continued in the future.

My fav photo of the evening.  I named it 'Ice Cream & iPhones'!

It was a bit of madness for a short while, doing some last minute Christmas shopping but we survived; barely. The Summer here on the East Coast of Australia has been hot and so very humid! We had a heatwave for about 4-5 days where the temperature reached between 39 and 46 (degrees Celsius! That's about 102-114 Fahrenheit for my overseas friends!) It has been back up there again since then and I am soooo looking forward to the colder months this year.  We have had weather warnings for thunderstorms and heatwaves. Needless to say, Kim and I have been hibernating in the air conditioning and just veging out!

Because I don't have any new material to edit, I re-visited some of my old Air Force photos. The colours over the last 38 years have faded and yellowed slightly, hence my decision to re-edit them in Black and White which has turned out pretty successful! I actually think I prefer the Black and White to the original colour photos (but, then again, if you know me, you will know that I love Black and White photos so, possibly, I could be a little biased!)

And there we have it, now you're up to date with where I am. For my next projects, I have a roll of medium format Fuji NPH 400 (expired) loaded into a Bronica ETRSi and, a 35mm colour film (the type of which I can't remember! ha ha) loaded into a Yashica EE rangefinder.  I also have to renew my stocks of Black and White film for 2024.