Libertia ixioides

Took this photo in wind the weekend while my kids were injoying a play at a park. I just love the colors of the background and how focus causes your eye to automatically be drawn to the little flower. Image taken at very shallow depth of field to force a high shutterspeed to make up for the movement due to the wind. The added benefit is that the rest of the photo is not too distracting due to the narrow focus.

I believe this specific veriety is Libertia Goldfinger. "A native NZ plant. Stunning all-year colour! This Libertia ixioides selection is named for its bright golden strappy leaves. White flowers nestle among the leaves in spring followed by golden seed pods which remain on the plant for some time. Planted en masse it makes a sensational landscapr feature especially when used as an underplanting for slender natives such as lancewood and cabbage trees. Grows to 80cm Height 80cm."

The very good vibration control on my lense helped a lot as well since I've had to take a funny stance to be able to make the shot.

Canon 7D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD, Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/800sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash external, Filter none.

Read more »

Tiger Lilly Stacked

Played with focus stacking in Magic Lantern on my Canon for the first time. Not my best photo but posting so I can share how useful this tool is. Subject is a bunch of flowers I had to get my wife after I did something I shouldn't have. That plus 2 boxes of chocolates got me back into the green :-)

So what is focus stacking you may ask?

Well, when you take closeup photos of subjects like flowers and insects your camera has a very shallow depth of view. The higher the magnification the less foreground and background you will have in focus. I've shot many photos where my depth of field is no more than 1-2mm! Sometimes this is desirable but more than most not. The lilly below would have had some of the background and possibly deeper bit in the inside of the flower out of focus. To rectify this I set my camera up on a tripod and took 7 photos each one 2 focus steps deeper than the one before starting from the front of the flower slowly working deeper.

Now, this would have been difficult with a manual lens but, with an autofocus lens en Magic Lantern installed on your Canon, you can let the camera do all the calculations, change the focus and take the shots for you. All that is left is to do some basic exposure and saturation editing in Lightroom, then import the photos as Layers into Photoshop. Use the Photoshop Auto Align tool and then the Auto Blend tool to stack the photos by focus point.

The end result is a close-up photo where the whole subject is fully in focus!

Canon 7D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD, Focal length 54mm, Exposure 1/60sec at f5, ISO 1250, Focus auto, VC off, Flash external, Filter none.

Read more »

Te Papa Seagull

Another 15 minutes lunchtime trip to have a play taking bird snaps. There is this nice area behind Te Papa museum where seagulls and other birds come together to bathe and drink in a fresh water stream flowing into the sea.

Canon 7D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD, Focal length 85mm, Exposure 1/1000sec at f13, ISO 1000, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

1895 Benz

This charming vehicle is the oldest New Zealand car and has been restored to its original condition by Daimler Benz museum in Stuttgart and is one of only two remaining models in the world!

This photo is a 5 shot HDR to pull in the background taken at the Southward Car museum.

Canon 7D, Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II, Focal length 10mm, Exposure 1/800sec at f3.5, ISO 1600, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

Pointon Rusty Old Austin

This rusty Austin was taken at the Pointon Museum earlier this year: www.pointoncollection.co.nz

HDR processing was mainly done in Photoshop CC as a 32bit image. Photomatix was used to add the final touches.

Canon 600D, Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II, Focal length 13mm, Exposure 1/500sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

Pointon Collection

The Pointon Collection is hosted in a self run museum in Masterton. See www.pointoncollection.co.nz. This museum is a fantastic trip out and you will not be left disappointed. The image below was taken inside, hand held and with natural lighting only. This is a panorama of 4 images stitched together and each individual image in turn is made up of 3 bracketed photos to generate HDR equivalents using Photomatix. Size is a constraint and I whish you could see the original!

Canon 600D, Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II, Focal length 10mm, Exposure 1/20sec at f8, ISO 6400, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

Walden Guitar Saddle and Bridge

Got my secondhand 7D off trademe.co.nz and played a bit with my Nissen wireless flash and Tamron lens. This image would have been sharper using my nifty fifty aka. Canon 50mm f1.8, but, since this is a Tamron blog, it limits me to a specific tool set. Yes, a 7D can do with some high dollar primes or L glass but keep in mind I specifically choose my Tamron lenses based on flexibility/cost and not sharpness. In this regard, they truly shine. Between my 18-270mm PZD and my 10-24mm I've only spent about NZD1200.00 which covers 95% of the subject matter I like to shoot. I don't shoot for print or media, so the sharpness I can get based on web publishing is more than good enough for this self proclaimed photography fan!

Hope you enjoy my latest effort.

Canon 7D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 VC PZD, Focal length 130mm, Exposure 1/160sec at f13, ISO 400, Focus auto, Flash On Camera + Nissen Di622 Mkii, Filter none.

Read more »

1927 Austin 12/4 Saloon Interior

This delightful photo of the interior of a 1927 Austin 12/4 Saloon was taken at the Pointon Museum earlier this year: www.pointoncollection.co.nz

I would highly recommend a trip to the museum if you are in the area. The owners are so forthcoming with information, you will find you can easily spend a whole day there!

This image was shot using natural light without a tripod. Three images were taken with 2 stop difference between them. I've used Photomatix to generate a BW HDR from where some post processing was completed in Lightroom. I do hope you like the old school feel. This is my first attempt at mimicking the look and feel of a 100 old photograph.

Canon 600D, Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II, Focal length 10mm, Exposure 1/125sec at f8, ISO 6400, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

Kruger Elephant

Due to the sudden death of my dad, we found ourselves back in South Africa on short notice recently. God was kind enough to make a mini vacation to the Kruger National Park possible. I hope to paste some pics of my Tamron performing at its best doing wildlife photography.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD, Focal length 92mm, Exposure 1/250sec at f8, ISO 200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

Piano

A friend of mine got a Canon 1D Mk 2 to test as its owner had recently upgraded to the latest top of the range model. So during lunch time we went for a stroll on the Wellington waterfront. The piano below was just a quick snap, but I was pleasantly surprised at how it came out.

Canon 600D, Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II, Focal length 21mm, Exposure 1/800sec at f10, ISO 400, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

Caged for Life

Sometimes I feel like this. All stuck and nowhere to go. Like my circumstances cages me up with no option of escape. I am just glad there is hope, something to look forward to. Escape is on its way...

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD, Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f7.1, ISO 200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

Hikitia Crane Boat

One of first photos I've taken with my new 10-24mm Tamron. This is an HDR shot at midday. Due to harshness etc. I've decided to take a 3 shot 2 EV bracketed photo so I can get some good details pulled out during HDR processing. Even at 10mm I still battled to get the full crane in up close/

This 10-24mm Tamron rocks! (click to enlarge)

Canon 600D, Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II, Focal length 10mm, Exposure 1/160sec at f10, ISO 100, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

Rusty Dove

Taken at Staglands here: http://www.staglands.co.nz

I just love the pic because of the pose of the dove and also the way the white clean feathers contrasts the grungy, rusty location.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 200mm, Exposure 1/160sec at f20, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

10mm Wellington Waterfront

One of first photos I've taken with my new 10-24mm Tamron. This is an HDR shot at midday. Due to harshness etc. I've decided to take a 3 shot 2 EV bracketed photo so I can get some good details pulled out during HDR processing.

This 10-24mm Tamron rocks! (click to enlarge)

Canon 600D, Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II, Focal length 10mm, Exposure 1/160sec at f10, ISO 100, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »

First Tamron 10-24mm Photo

I HAVE A NEW TOY!!! :-)

Yup, got a Tamron 10-24mm lens, secondhand that was only used once at half the trade price. I feel truly blessed. I have never before shot at 10mm. So, today was the first sunlight day since I've taken delivery of the lens. So, during lunch (hard light and all) I took the opportunity to see what 10mm is all about.

I did not expect the image below to turn out as well as it has. Thanks to the guy bottom right busy taking a photo of the ball at the Civic Square.

I hope you like.

Canon 600D, Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II, Focal length 10mm, Exposure 1/320sec at f14, ISO 200, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter none.

Read more »