street photography with the tamron 24-135mm

picked up the tamron 24-135mm AF (IF) 50th anniversary edition the other day and was very keen to give it a test run with my pentax k-x. brought it with me to work the next day and snapped some pics during the morning commute, again during my lunch break, and a couple on my way home from work. verdict - love it!

j&j tournament 2011 - mount broughton golf and country club

the 2011 j&j tournament was held at the majestic country side of mount broughton. with it's natural rolling hills, sweeping rye grass and undulating fairways, it was the picture perfect setting to kick off our wonderful weekend of golfing.

the 36 hole tournament saw a highly competitive two round spectacular. going into the second day with a one stroke lead, johnzo and jimbo felt the fierce competitiveness and hunger from team tam and benny, quickly erasing their one stroke lead through the front nine holes. with the lead changing multiple times, tam and benny eventually crept ahead with their consistently strong play to secure their very first j&j title. a monstrous charge from steve and kevin saw them edge up one spot to take second place, with johnzo and jimbo falling into third place.

CONGRATULATIONS TO TAM AND BENNY ON WINNING THE 2011 J&J TOURNAMENT.

some honorable mentions
BEST HOLE - hole 3 (par 5 - 416m) johnzo & jimbo scoring eagle.
MOST BIRDIES - benny & tam pocketing 5 birdies.
LOWEST SCORE OF THE DAY - steve & kevin posting a strong +7 on day two.
LONGEST DRIVE - nick.
NEAREST TO THE PIN - tam, benny.

other interesting tidbits and facts
* johnzo & jimbo kick started the tournament even par through the first 6 holes.
* tournament winners benny & tam didn't win on either day. consistency being the name of their game.
* 4 strokes differentiated the top 3, the deciding factor being the number of birdies made.
* 4 strokes differentiated the bottom 3, not sure what the deciding factor really was.
* the best scoring streak was even par through 5 holes by two teams. benny & tam from holes 8-12, and johnzo and jimbo from holes 1-5.
* the worst scoring streak was +6 over 2 holes by chris & kina.
* there were no holes where everyone posted the same score. the closest thing being the 396m par 4 - 8th hole, two teams scoring bogey and the other four on par.
* the most consistent stretch of scoring was by chris & kina. 5 straight bogeys from holes 13 to 17 on day 1.
* the most inconsistent stretch or scoring was also by chris & kina. 11 straight holes of peaks and troughs.
* best 2 hole recovery by chris & kina, bouncing back from a quad-bogey to a birdie.
* the worst scoring hole of the tournament was the 358m par 4 - 12th hole. the average score being 5.83 strokes.
* the best scoring hole was the 416m par 5 - 3rd hole, averaging 4.83 strokes.

sunday down at bondi

spent a beautiful sunday down at bondi beach for some sun and relaxation (and hurricanes ribs!)... brought my camera along.

the long flight home

a shot taken back in 2008.

surfing - the videographers job

have you ever wondered what happens to a surf videographer after the surfer's been and gone? well here's a video to show you the beautiful rolling sets from a rarely seen perspective - keep the camera's rolling!

a second chance

was going through some older photos (as you do from time to time) and spotted this one that must've gotten lost in the heap...

bad moon rising

went to bondi beach last night to relax and managed to catch the moon rising up over the northern end of bondi beach - luckily i was armed with my camera!

i set this up on a park bench using my lens cap for elevation for this shot. F/4, 32mm, 6sec, iso-400.)

balanced this off of an angled-fence pailing and my hand. F/4, 17mm, 4sec, iso-800.

just another drive by shootin...

quy and i were bored last saturday evening, so we decided to head out for a random shooting session around sydney. i've always found night photography to really test my skills (and patience) and tonight wasn't to be any different. after 2-3 hours and 3 separate locations, i managed to snap 9 'passable' shots - a rather low percentage if you ask me!

9.30pm - quy and i head off to our first destination. we decide on a location relatively close to home, an unnamed bridge that runs over parramatta river along silverwater road - i remember seeing a factory there that might be worth checking out.

i don't think quy took a single shot of the factory, it was rather unimpressive i must say. the traffic behind us was a tad bit more interesting.

in total we spent 20-30 minutes at this location. i pulled out my flash for a couple of shots but achieved nothing other than perhaps convincing a few drivers that i was a speed camera. it was time to move on to our next stop - the technology park in redfern.

on our way through, we decide to take a quick detour through concord west. i had been meaning to re-visit this 'underpass' tunnel there that i had come across several months back. we manage to navigate there without too much detouring - it's a block away from concord west train station if any sydney dwellers are wondering.

apart from getting devoured by swarms of mozzies and being harassed by drunk kids, we manage to come away with several shots - probably worth the itch.

we continue on our way to redfern tech park (near carriageworks) this will be our final location for the night. the place is deserted except for a lone security doing the graveyard shift - and no, i didn't take any photos of him.

before wrapping up the nights session - the moon peeped out from behind the cloud cover. wish i had a better zoom lens!

and this last shot - caught my eye just before i literally jumped in the car to head off. probably not for everyone but i quite like the result.

all in all - a great way to kill boredom on a saturday night. the only thing i came away with that night was that night photography isn't really my thing. will i do it again in future? yeh i'm always down for a shoot :)