Focx Photography

Nakafurano Fields III

Christoph — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:40:25 +0000

EX-Z57 , 5.8 mm, 1/640 sec at F 4.3.
Taken on July 31, 2006 14:36.

Lavender fields, from a 2006 visit to the colourful fields in Nakafurano, Hokkaido, Japan. I believe the fields belong to the Tomita farm. These photos also show two things: cheap and old cameras (here my compact Casio Z-57) produce lower image quality, but that doesn’t mean the photos can’t be beautiful :)

Hokkaidō Autumn I

Christoph — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:05:02 +0000

EX-Z57 , 14.6 mm, 1/250 sec at F 7.
Taken on September 30, 2007 12:31.

An autumn view near the beach, north of Sapporo in Hokkaidō, Japan.

Nakafurano Fields II

Christoph — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:11:02 +0000

EX-Z57 , 5.8 mm, 1/500 sec at F 4.3.
Taken on July 31, 2006 14:34.

From a 2006 visit to the colourful fields in Nakafurano, Hokkaido, Japan. I believe the fields belong to the Tomita farm. These photos also show two things: cheap and old cameras (here my compact Casio Z-57) produce lower image quality, but that doesn’t mean the photos can’t be beautiful :)

Hagoromo Waterfall

Christoph — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:29:12 +0000

EX-Z57 , 5.8 mm, 1/400 sec at F 4.3.
Taken on June 3, 2006 11:12.

The Hagoromo waterfall (羽衣の滝, hagoromo no taki, literally “robe of feathers”) is at the end of a small walk about 10 minutes from Tenninkyō Onsen (天人峡温泉). It’s part of the Daisetsusan National Park and according to Wikipedia Japan Hokkaidō’s tallest and Japan’s second tallest waterfall with a water level difference of 270m. It’s well worth the drive, as the landscape up to the fall is also quite beautiful (see my “Hokkaidō Summer” photo).

Nakafurano Fields I

Christoph — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:00:52 +0000

EX-Z57 , 5.8 mm, 1/500 sec at F 4.3.
Taken on July 31, 2006 14:33.

Hokkaidō summer

Christoph — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:04:01 +0000

EX-Z57 , 5.8 mm, 1/500 sec at F 4.3.
Taken on June 3, 2006 10:31.

A tributary of the Chubetsu River near the Tenninkyō hot springs in the Daisetsusan National Park in Hokkaidō, Japan. A very old photo from the archives, taken with my dear old Casio point and shoot camera.

Thistle habitat

Christoph — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:50:11 +0000

E-5 , 200 mm, 1/800 sec at F 5.6.
Taken on November 27, 2011 16:00.

The thistles I showed earlier with the Monarch were also happily visited by bees.

Pine Ridge Conservation Park VI

Christoph — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:23:34 +0000

E-5 , 200 mm, 1/320 sec at F 4.
Taken on August 21, 2011 16:19.

Visiting again. This time I was able to walk down the management trail a bit further, as the big puddle that stopped me last time was gone.

The Pine Ridge Conservation Park is a very well preserved natural area on the Gold Coast, Australia. There is only one management trail that leads into the middle of the park. The habitat is called “wallum” and characterised by shrubs, heathland and seasonal swamps. According to the Queensland Government, it is also culturally important to the aboriginal Kombumerri-Ngarangwal people.

Grass in the evening sun

Christoph — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:06:13 +0000

E-5 , 200 mm, 1/640 sec at F 5.
Taken on November 27, 2011 16:23.

Taking photos against the evening sun produces nice light against a very dark background, something I like a lot.

Tongariro National Park XI

Christoph — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:16:52 +0000

E-5 , 17 mm, 1/160 sec at F 5.
Taken on August 28, 2011 10:05.

The last photo from the Tongariro National Park (for now)! I decided to walk the track clockwise, so no 5 minutes after starting I was already richly rewarded with this view of the landscape with Mt Ngaurahoe in the background.

Lunar eclipse

Christoph — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:35:57 +0000

A composite image of three photos I took during the lunar eclipse on December 10, 2011. All photos were made with the Olympus E-5 at 200mm.

Infrared Adventures III

Christoph — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:26:25 +0000

E-5 , 12 mm, 2 sec at F 6.3.
Taken on October 16, 2011 11:27.

I’ve been fascinated by infrared photography ever since I bought my first DSLR. The atmosphere of the images, both black and white and fake colour conversions, always had something special. So when I went to Japan earlier this year, I decided after some thorough research to give it a try. Australia, after all, has plenty of bright sunlight to spare!

Technical details:
The Olympus E-5 seems to work rather well for infrared photography, and I also didn’t have any trouble with the Zuiko 12-60mm lens. The Kenko Pro1 Digital R72 filter is an inexpensive way to get into infrared photography and is just as easily removed as any other filter, so it’s much less of a committment than a total camera conversion. On the software side I shot RAW, changed the white balance to 2000K and around -20 tint in Aperture, then exported the photo to Pixelmator. There I used the channel mixer to swap the red channel to less red and more blue, the blue channel to less blue and more red (adjusted to taste, not 100%). Finally, the image was sent back to Aperture to receive some level adjustment and other tweaks including lowering red colour saturation a little. I’m still working on the details, so all the photos in this series will have a slightly different look!

Spontaneous Vegetation VII

Christoph — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:00:59 +0000

E-5 , 55 mm, 1/320 sec at F 7.1.
Taken on June 22, 2011 15:22.

Spontaneous vegetation breaks rules. It grows where nothing is supposed to grow, where plants were not part of the plan. It finds chances and uses them without regard for place, context or human intentions. Humans, however, help constructing space for spontaneous vegetation, influence it and are influenced by it in various ways: spontaneous vegetation is therefore also part of our culture, as we are a part of nature.

Spontaneous vegetation: “…defined as all plants that develop without intentional horticultural input, is a characteristic element of the urban environment. It grows at no financial cost, is authentic and is always appropriate to site conditions.” (Kühn, N. “Intentions for the Unintentional: Spontaneous Vegetation as the Basis for Innovative Planting Design in Urban Areas”, 2006), “the de facto native vegetation of the city.” (Del Tredici, P. “Wild urban plants of the northeast”, 2010).

Monarch (Wanderer)

Christoph — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:45:02 +0000

E-5 , 200 mm, 1/640 sec at F 5.
Taken on November 27, 2011 16:01.

A monarch (or wanderer as some in Australia call it), Danaus plexippus, sitting on a thistle at the Coombabah Lake Nature Reserve.

Leaf structure XXI

Christoph — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:58:16 +0000

E-5 , 169 mm, 1/640 sec at F 5.
Taken on October 23, 2011 10:45.

With some leaves, it’s the fine structure I like. With this one however, the subtle colour gradient is just as nice.

Tongariro National Park X

Christoph — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:14:26 +0000

E-5 , 45 mm, 1/160 sec at F 9.
Taken on August 28, 2011 09:13.

A great view of Mt Ngaurahoe from the Tongariro National Park access road.

Beautiful Flowers III

Christoph — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 10:12:41 +0000

E-5 , 60 mm, 1/130 sec at F 7.1.
Taken on June 25, 2011 12:53.

Lately I noticed there are a number of nice flower photos in my library. That said, I had a hard time coming up with a nice context or name for the picture, so I decided I’d go the superficial way and just start a series called Beautiful Flowers. So: here we go!

Spontaneous Vegetation VI

Christoph — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:15:43 +0000

E-PL1 , 17 mm, 1/130 sec at F 4.
Taken on July 12, 2011 17:05.

The interaction between plants and human artefacts is one fascinating aspect of spontaneous vegetation. This also raises the question of how we deal with such “coincidental” art. Do we disregard it because there is artist’s intent? Do we appreciate the beauty in chance? Do we even notice and recognize it?

Infrared Adventures II

Christoph — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:18:41 +0000

E-5 , 25 mm, 2 sec at F 6.3.
Taken on October 16, 2011 11:26.

Tongariro National Park IX

Christoph — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:57:53 +0000

E-5 , 17 mm, 1/130 sec at F 8.
Taken on August 28, 2011 10:19.

Even though it was winter, the landscape on the Taranaki Falls track in Tongariro National Park, New Zealand was far from colourless: plants presented themselves in a variety of colours while the sky was a bright blue! In the back you can see Mt Ngaurahoe.