Father’s Day

I had a great day yesterday.  I was given some shirts, a diary, Turkish delight and musk lollies.  After breakfast we went to Temora, home of the famous Temora Aviation Museum. 

Temora has the philosophy that all its exhibits must be not only capable of flying but are flown regularly.  They have approx 6 flying days a year where more than half their planes are flown.  These are not big aerobatic events, but the planes are put through their paces on a small field close to the crowd.  These guyswant their planes to be still flying in 50 years.

Yesterday they were flying their Sabre for the first time in public, such a great plane.  They also had a visiting FA 18 Hornet.  The hornet performed a “Power Display”, man that thing was amazing.  They seem to fly it like a rally driver drives a car.  They point the nose in the direction they want to go then floor it, the more tail slide the better!

You can see some of my photos on Flickr.

Camera Fixed!! — NOT

Ok so my Pentax K10d was in my bags when I fell off my motorbike and it has been away to be fixed. Basically the camera was sound however it would not read any SD card. Repair was a new mainboard as the connector plug had snapped off.

Well I got it back today, let me tell you I am not happy. The camera recognises the SD card now but does not detect any of my automatic lenses. Sees them all as full manual.

So I have to take it back and get it looked at again. Man I am shitty how can they let this camera out as fixed and not even turn it on!

Published

I got one of my photos in the local Canberra Times yesterday.

Tidbinbilla Meet - 21

A reporter from the paper joined the Canberra Flickr group for a walk through Tidbinbilla Nature reserve with the aim of writing a feature in the “Arts” section of the Saturday paper.  The reporter was great, genuinely interested and really great to talk to.  We spent an hour or two walking through the new sanctuary area in Tidbinbilla, around the wetlands and through the newly growing woodland.

The article was well written and covered nearly two full pages within the inser, with 2 large half page photos and two extra supporting photos.  My shot was one of the large half page shots prominently placed on the right hand page.  Imagine my dissappointment when I noticed they had attributed the photo to another Flickr member incorrectly.

Photographic Prize

I just got a real nice email today from the Honda Riders Club of Australia. I put the photo below into a competition and it seems I have been selected as a sub category winner!

I am still in the running for the major prize that they will draw at the end of the year.

— from Splinter(?)

Cowra Japanese Garden

Yesterday our family and some good friends of mine, Jase & Bec, went to Cowra for the Cherry Blossom Festival. We had a great day and took lots of photos.

Cowra was the location for a POW camp in WW2, holding Japanese captured by Australian Soldiers. After Peace in the Pacific Cowra became the centre for a sharing of cultures and the persuit of peace.

We did have one small problem with the place
.. Sign
Seems we had to be responsible if we were to bring the kids.

Photo Night

Last night on the news we saw an article on World Refugee Day and that some buildings in Canberra were specially lit for the night. So my daughter and I braved the 5 degree night and shot some photos.

Rugged up we went out and passed the fountain lit in neon blue, we found a park, walked to the lake edge and …. they’d turned off the fountain. 😥 Well you can catch some of the other photos on my Flickr page.

Pentax *ist Ds Review

Ok a little while back I told you all that I had got a new camera. A very nice new digital SLR from Pentax. Now for all you out there that don’t know what SLR means I found this great definition:

An SLR or single-lens reflex is really designed for the enthusiast photographer or the person who can put up with a larger camera in return for increased accuracy and greater versatility. This type of camera has through the lens viewing with a mirror behind the lens and a pentaprism to direct the light passing through the lens to the optical finder. The mirror lifts up out of the way as a photograph is taken. As you look through the lens that takes the picture the composition can be more accurate and the lens often removes giving you a wider scope of options. The metering and focusing systems are usually more accurate too. Despite all this creativity it’s still possible to stick most SLRs on a full auto point & shoot mode so anyone could use one with ease, but don’t expect to fit one in a pocket! They are much bigger. Ephotozine

So you got it, this is not a compact camera, it won’t fit in your pocket, but it will allow you to be much more creative then a compact point and shoot camera.

Ok so this is my new Camera Pentax *ist Ds Front small (for a SLR), light and solid. This thing feels much sturdier than the Canon 300D that it competes with, but is smaller and lighter. It has a steel frame with a plastic body.

The main reason I looked at this camera was twofold.
Firstly it was cheaper than the rest, being a good $200AU cheaper than the Canon and $400 cheaper than the Nikon D70.
Secondly my three existing lenses would just work with it. Unfortunatly my old flash however is another story.

Features include:

  • 6.1 Megapixel sensor
  • 2 inch display screen
  • 11 point autofocus
  • Multi mode metering
  • SD Memory card for storage (faster and smaller than a Compact flash)
  • Multiple auto-exposure modes, including Macro, Portrait and landscape
  • Apeture and speed priority settings
  • Full manual (good for my older manual lenses) and bulb settings
  • ISO settings from 200 – 3200 with very low noise up to 800
  • Shutter speeds from 30 seconds up to 1/4000 of second

Overall it has the features required by a beginner and the flexibility for more professional work.

If you want to read a comprehensive review that I agree with hop over too Steve’s Digicams.

Here are a few shots from the Camera to show you what it can do. Remember to look at the Exif data to see the settings.

Grevilla
Black Mountain Tower
Sun, Cloud and Lake
Hibiscus
Light, Water and Ducks
Commonwealth Bridge
Motor Bike Clothing?

New Camera

Ok so as I said before I have a new camera. I have been eyeing off this model since I saw the first review back in September last year. My old camera is a Pentax K1000, a fully manual SLR, that has served me faithfully for nearly 20 years. So this Digital camera that promised to accept all (total of 3) my existing lenses, provide me with the convienence of digital and allow me to be as creative as I want.

Well I have used this for about a week now and I must say I am VERY HAPPY. The photos look great on screen and on prints, the colour and the contrast is great and the images are not too sharp. Over the next couple of weeks you can expect many photos taken with this camera. Check out my flickr gallery!

Images

Pentax *ist Ds Back

Pentax *ist Ds Front

New Camera

Ok it’s offical I am SPOILT!

Today I bought a new camera, one I have been eyeing for a while. So I am the proud new owner of a Pentax *ist Ds Digital SLR. This is a wonderful camera and I will soon figure out how to take a photo so you can all see 🙂

Brisbane City Trees

city trees 2.JPG
city trees 2.JPG,
originally uploaded by Splinter.

A little while back I realised that I liked photography and was not doing enough. While I was in Canberra I took many photos and have posted quite a lot here.

Well it is time I started showing off my home city of Brisbane.

These beautiful Morten Bay Fig trees are just accross the road from my office builing in the centre of the city.

Flickr Photo’s

Garden 021


Garden 021,
originally uploaded by Splinter.

Ok I have found this new site (in Beta) called flickr. It allows you to create public and private galleries and as you can see post blog entries from them.

This is a nice single rose I photographed in Canberra.