A weekend in Canberra with H

[Omaroo]

Hi all :) I'm back after a great weekend down in our Capital with Humayun. Thanks for the accommodation and company mate - I had another great time with our common interest in photography.

Just a couple from last night at the War Memorial and the Australian National Museum (wicked building - I loved it) and today at My Stromlo. An incredibly sad place that died that fiery death back in 2003.

Leica M8 and Voigtlander 15mm Heliar plus 40mm Leitz Summicron-C.

1) War Memorial from the steps off the top of Anzac Parade
2) Beams into the sky
3) National Museum entrance way
4) Same
5) Same again
6) Museum shop
7) Mt Stromlo - the Director's old front door at the residence
8) Part of the 26 inch refractor mount

[jjjnettie]

Number 3 would have to be my favourite. The entrance is so enticing. :)

[Omaroo]

Thanks Nettie. It's an incredible building. The architects are a Melbourne-based firm called "ARM". They're known for their "out there" designs. You'd either love or their work I guess. I'm into architecture for the sake of architecture, so for me it works. It wouldn't really work as a warehouse. LOL

[Octane]

Top stuff, mate. And, thanks for keeping me busy and my mind off things. :)

My pick is the director's residence. Now, where's Imogen? :P

H

[Omaroo]

Thanks go to you Humayun. A top weekend. :thumbsup: We need to go on the outback trip we spoke about and get a few real landscapes in focus.

[Ric]

Lovely shots Chris.

It always saddens me to see Mt Stromlo like that. I wish the government would allocate some money to them to restore it to it's former glory.

[Omaroo]

Thanks Ric. Yes, it'd be nice to see some of it restored. I guess there are two main factors getting in the way. First, the buildings are severely damaged. Their structures are probably safe enough to ensure that they don't fall on visitors, but maybe they're beyond being used in full operation. Secondly, the suburbs are encroaching badly on the base of My Stromlo, so I guess that its useful days are over - optically speaking at least.

The hardest to look at was in the main dome. Sorry about the quality - I had to shoot through perspex with the sun behind me:

[strongmanmike]

:question:...did you happen to have your 3 gigaHz phase plasma fibre impregnatated photonic oscillator too?

Nice photos Chris, funny, makes me a little home sick even :( Stromlo is a very sad place....:sadeyes:

Gota love those spot lights on the Aussie flags pointing straight up into the sky....

Mike

[DavidTrap]

Nice pics Chris!

Outback landscape shoot???? Yes please!

DT

[Omaroo]

LOL... That'd be cool. We're actually looking at going to Uluru and Flinders Ranges on the way back - over the coming few weeks sometime. It's on!

[DavidTrap]

Agreed H - I'm a sucker for crunchy leaves! A Fall Colours Photo Tour to New England America is definitely on my bucket list!

DT

[DavidTrap]

Dooh - already have plans for the next few weeks. Photography workshop on the Great Ocean Rd in May. If you'd said mid August, I'd have been there with bells on!


I'm sure you'll have a blast on that sort of trip - plenty of subject material. You're certainly two gents who don't mind following your passions.

DT

[Deeno]

Lovely collection of images.
The directors residence is a cracker

Looks like you boys are having too much fun.....

[iceman]

Great pics Chris. I've no idea what that camera is but the architecture shots you're doing are very nice. :)

[Omaroo]

Thanks Deeno & Mike - much appreciated.

Mike - Hard to describe these cameras if you're not particularly familiar with rangefinders vs SLR's.

1) For a modern-ish (2006) CCD (Kodak 10mp KAF) digital, the M8 is a low-tech, but very high quality rangefinder. It depends on its great lenses and internal mechanics - and you knowing how to expose a photograph. It does have aperture priority metering, but generally nothing else. I use it in manual mode anyway, setting both aperture and shutter values according to my external light meter and then focusing manually as well. Absolutely no automation, no autofocus - no fancy feature-fest of things everyone "has" to have in a digital camera. Simple, pure, fantastic. :thumbsup: File format is Adobe DNG (lossless RAW). It's also so much easier to carry for a whole day - a pleasure.

2) The M4-P is a 1983 35mm film model. It is completely and utterly manual in every sense of the word. No batteries included, as it were. It doesn't even have a shutter timer. What is does have are utterly smooth mechanics and a rubberised silk shutter curtain that is almost silent. It's solid as a brick and is deceptively heavy. This thing is my favourite. It'm going back to proper black and white film with this one - and developing it at home for subsequent scanning. I love this thing, and it's in fabulous condition. Made in Canada by Leitz, it brought Leica back from almost certain death back in the mid-80's and is considered by many to be one of the best - certainly by those who want the camera and nothing but a camera. A joy to use.

[strongmanmike]

Two nice looking cameras Chris, and they look like "real" cameras too :thumbsup:

Mike

[Omaroo]

Thanks Mike. Yep - they're solid magnesium alloy and milled brass. No plastic whatsoever.