Blog | Christopher John Photography

July 4, 2015July 4, 2015

What a relief!!

St Pauls Anglican Church, 141 Chapel Road, Flat Bush

I think it started on the 22nd June … hard to say, but I think that was the day. For some bizarre reason, every time I tried to use my Nik Plugins for Photoshop to edit my photos, Photoshop would crash. Talk about stressful! I’ve spent quite some time creating a range of filters and techniques that have now become a significant part of my image processing workflow. Then, on the 22nd June, it all started going wrong. I could open Photoshop, edit and save a file, but any subsequent image I tried to edit would cause Photoshop to crash. I had to open and close Photoshop for each image I wanted to edit and, as you can imagine, this was taking forever. I was at a loss as to what could be wrong. I checked online and found little to help. I suppose, as a last resort, not expecting much in the way of a response, I contacted Google and told them of my problems. They were wonderful! I received a quick response and then had regular communication with them as they endeavoured to identify and then resolve the problem. As you can guess by the title of the post, they managed to fix the issue and I’m now able to return to my usual workflow. So, a big thanks to the Nik Software Suite support team!!

Interestingly, I downloaded a trial version of the latest version of Photoshop hoping this would resolve the issue. No such luck. A crash report was generated and I was asked if I wanted to send this to Adobe. They wanted an email address so they could get back to me. I was very hopeful thinking they’d be keen to impress me with their support with which they’d encourage me to subscribe to the latest version. I’m sorry to say I’m still waiting for a reply. Google responded within 24 hours 🙂

June 20, 2015June 20, 2015

Rather special …

It was a glorious morning and I was there to not only see it, but able to take photographs of it too. It’s not that many years ago that I’d see a glorious sunrise through my car windscreen on my way to work. No time to stop and enjoy, had to get into the office and start work. Thankfully those days are long gone! Now I have the opportunity to not only enjoy watching the sun rise, but photograph it too.

There’s an app I have for my Android Phone called Sun Surveyor. This is very helpful to decide times and locations for sunrises (and sunsets for that matter). Using this app I could see where the sun would rise in relation to the trees at this particular Beachlands location. There’s a number of trees, with a gap through which you can see the water, and … according to Sun Surveyor, the sun would rise through this gap. The next shot taken with a wide angle lens, gives a better idea of the trees that frame the view.

Somewhat tricky to determine exposure with scenes like this as some areas are very dark whereas other are extremely bright. In situations like this I always use LiveView and the histogram. Sometimes I’ll take several images at different shutter speeds and then blend the images together to ensure I don’t lose detail, but for this shot I was happy to have the darks as dark as they are.

Oh, want to see more of the house that has these gorgeous views? Take a look here.

June 16, 2015

Up in the air!

Rather a lovely day today here in Godzone and a chance to get out with the drone. It is becoming increasingly apparent that a common language and a predefined plan are essential to get reasonable footage when shooting video. Filling out the storyboards and planning the shots beforehand are not really optional.

I popped out to Barry Curtis Park first thing with my daughter just to play with the controls and get familiar with the responsiveness of the craft. It was a bit windy which didn’t help, but we had a heap of fun all the same. Later in the day a few shots up at Nathan Homestead with my son … but again pretty windy so we didn’t really get much time in the air. Just long enough to get a shot of the homestead. Looking at some footage of a tree we realised just how windy it was that little bit higher off the ground. Nevertheless the gimbal provided pretty good stable images which was impressive. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

June 15, 2015

Pacific Music Awards 2015 … soundcheck.

It was great. A really great show with a wonderful atmosphere. A thoroughly enjoyable evening with some very talented musicians being recognised for their achievements.

Earlier in the day I popped down to see how the stage was set and bumped into Malcolm Lakatani. Always a pleasure to meet Malcolm. He was to back Maryanne Ito later that evening, but as we waited for everyone to arrive and take their places for the soundcheck Malcolm relaxed a little and treated us to a little improvisation. The lighting was just right for the music he was playing. Thankfully I’d brought a couple of cameras! I knew I’d be using a telephoto on the night, but wasn’t sure just how wide I’d need to go so I brought a 14-24mm and 24-70mm on a couple of D800s just to check out the angles. The 24-70mm was perfect for shots close to the stage as well as distance shots.

The light was so lovely and moody. Quite contrasty with just a couple of high spots to the rear and some gentle frontal lighting, but the effect on Malcolm was wonderful. I quite like the contrasty deep shadowy type of image and this was a perfect opportunity to try and capture some shots.

Malcolm was relaxed, having fun just jamming away, sitting on a stool in his stocking feet. The light was good and I was having a wonderful time too. ISO was up pretty high at 2500 and the lens was wide open at f2.8 as I wanted to obscure and blur as much of the background as I could. All shots below were taken with the Nikkor 24-70mm. I hope you enjoy looking as much I did listening to Malcolm and taking the shots!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering about Maryanne, here’s a couple of shots of the lovely lady during her performance at last night’s Pacific Music Awards.

May 23, 2015

It had to happen!

I suppose it was inevitable really. When taking property photos there’s times when my current pole just isn’t long enough. Mind you, as I extend my pole with camera atop it can get a little scary when it’s breezy. I always wonder whether my insurance premiums are up to date! So far I’ve had no issues, but I always wonder when my fortunes might change.

So, with more height necessary the question was whether to get a longer physical pole or a virtual pole (as in a drone)? I opted for the virtual pole. This week I tried out my drone for the first time and the emotions were a mixture of fright and delight! Delight that I can get significantly higher than I ever could previously, fright when a flock of seagulls came to explore the drone whilst 30 metres in the air. There must have been about 20 seagulls circling the drone and squawking in a demented fashion at my new device. Needless to say, I landed as quickly as possible!

It seems quite straightforward to fly and provides a very different view of the world from just a few meters up. The shot in this post was taken from about 35 metres high. As you can see there’s heaps of space in the backyard … something awkward to portray from lower down. Oh, and the house is for sale! If you’re keen just contact Samsith Kim at Ray White on 021 126 9563.

May 13, 2015

Horizontal lines …

Many years ago, when I was about 8 years old, and I started to use a camera, I was given many hints and tips by my uncle. Uncle Herbert was an enthusiastic and very capable photographer and was keen to pass on tips and tricks he’d learnt over the years. It’s strange, but even now, many years after he spoke to me about composition, I can still hear his voice and often imagine him standing next to me, helping me adjust the camera to get the “perfect” shot. One thing that he stressed was to avoid those stripy pictures. You’ve probably seem them, the land, sea, sky shots where each band is horizontal? Well, Uncle Herbert was no fan of those images I can tell you. So, early this morning, looking out towards Panmure from Mount Hobson Uncle Herbert was there again. Even though he passed away some time ago, we still had a bit of a chat about the shot you see in this post. Think he’d approve? I’d like to think he would.

Image ©2015 Christopher John Photography — Auckland sunrise

May 13, 2015May 13, 2015

Early start

I’d had this notion of a long exposure shot looking over the Newmarket Viaduct in the early morning. I wasn’t sure what the clouds and light would be like, but I thought I’d have a better chance of avoiding traffic early in the morning rather than at rush hour in the evening. Well, that may have been a bit of wishful thinking! I left home close to 6.15am and the traffic was stop start on my way to Mount Hobson. Sitting in traffic I became increasingly concerned I’d left it too late to leave home and that it was going to be too bright to get the shots I’d imagined.

Folks rushing over Auckland’s Newmarket Viaduct to work this morning

I think an evening shot will be better, so will try to get back in the next few days. In the morning as time passes it gets brighter quite quickly requiring ND filters to slow down the shutter. Shooting in the evening has the advantage that it gets darker as tine passes!

Somewhat disappointed with the light over the viaduct I switched my attention to watching the sunrise. Here’s a couple of shots looking out towards Waiheke Island from the top of Mount Hobson.

Looking towards Waiheke Island in the far distance this morning from Mount Hobson, Auckland

Last, but not least, here’s a photo looking across Orakei towards Rangitoto Island. If you’ve never visited Mount Hobson the views from the summit are most definitely worth the steep climb. Who knows, I may meet you there one evening as I try to get a nice shot looking over the Newmarket Viaduct.

View over Orakei towards Rangitoto Island from Mount Hobson

May 12, 2015

Friendly folks …

I’ve already mentioned how much I enjoyed visiting Singapore, but one thing I forgot to mention is how friendly I found the people. I visited a number of places, both tourist destinations and places off the usual tourist trails. No matter where I went I met charming people happy to help with directions and more than happy to chat and make you feel welcome in their country. There’s lots to see with respect to the scenery and sights, but there’s also a lot to see if you take time out to look and chat to the residents of Singapore.

I’ve three photos in this post. A lady in a happy mood at the Botanic Gardens, a gent at work and another gentleman deep in thought at one of the temples. The lady was more than happy to pose for me in the shot you see here. I’m not sure if she though I was a famous photographer or something, but she seemed desperate to be in my photo. The working man just wanted to get on with the task at hand but didn’t object to the camera pointing his way. The man at the temple seemed deep in thought. This must be my favourite shot of the three. There’s something that appeals to me in this photograph of the elderly man.

May 11, 2015

Fond memories!

Becoming a bit of a distant memory now is the time I spent in Singapore a few weeks ago. I still have very fond memories of the time there and am very keen to visit again. I may have mentioned before how safe you feel in Singapore no matter what time of day or night you’re out and about. And, it’s at night time when the city really seems to come to life. There’s this intoxicating mix of sparkling lights and water around the Marina Bay area where you can enjoy views from the bumboats on the water, at the quayside, on the bridges over the water or even on the Singapore Flyer – the large ferris type wheel that offers spectacular views across the city.

Below are a few snapshots taken during one of my evening walkabouts and visit to the Singapore Flyer. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the views just as much as I did whilst visiting.

Marina Bay’s famous Merlion shot from a bumboat.

A closer view of the Merlion taken from one of the local bumboats

May 4, 2015

Midland Hotel, Morecambe

One of the famous seaside resorts in the UK, Morecambe boasts quite a lovely hotel named after the railway company that served the area, The Midland. Built in 1933 to a design by a young and enthusiastic architect, Oliver Hill, this Grade II listed building has been recently restored to its former glory.

Once inside the building you realise that this is something rather special. Built in the 1930s in the Art Deco Style, the interior of this hotel really takes you back in time to those pre-war years. A number of monochrome prints were in display and in many way the style of the building suits a monochrome image. Below are a few quick snaps taken whilst I enjoyed a cup of coffee. Such a shame I couldn’t spend more time there and take my time capturing the atmosphere of this building.

For more details take a squiz here