Last weekend I spent a morning with my wife looking through the World Press Photo Exhibition at the Powerhouse in Newfarm, Brisbane. The exhibition is free - scattered around the walls of the Powerhouse (inside not outside). The collection includes inspiring footage of news, sports, portraits, daily life, arts and entertainment, nature.
World Press Photo of the Year 2006 was by Spencer Platt of Getty Images - Cruising Beirut. The picture shows a group of young Lebanese driving through a South Beirut neighborhood devastated by Israeli bombings. The picture was taken on 15 August 2006, the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah when thousands of Lebanese started returning to their homes.
The exhibition is finished now but can be seen online or in a number of locations around the world, including Tauranga, New Zealand, in October.
Travelling to Kingaroy on Saturday I stopped to take photographs of a hill of red soil. Australia is known for its red dirt but this was one of the first times I’d had the opportunity to put it into print.
Driving from the Gold Coast to Brisbane I see a billboard placed strategically across from the Beenleigh Tavern by local Christians. The sign says “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Read Your Bible”. This last month the sign has been supplemented by another billboard, advertising clothes. What do you think?
My sister, living in Waimate in the South Island, New Zealand, took this photograph of a tornado passing by. It’s taken through Heather’s dining room window.
Midnight Oil Productions, the collaborative efforts of Jason Moore and Len Wilson, has released their freebie of the month. It’s an image designed for worship contexts, featuring the words, “Made For A Mission”, with a moon landing graphic in the background. The free download comes as a collection of files in PSD format (Photoshop) with editable layers, and in four Bitmap files suitable for blank background, teaching background, song background and theme slide.
A pdf file gives four ideas for use: 40 Days of Purpose, Calling, Dreams and Transformation, complete with Scriptural references.
They suggest using a montage of astronauts preparing for their mission from Apollo 13, as well as using music such as “Walking on the Moon” by the Police.
The font used in the PSD file is Federation Starfleet, which can be downloaded free from a number of sites.
Darren Wright has been pestering me to try out some alternatives to Blogger. My daughter’s been suggesting I start a photo blog. So I’ve gone and done it with a Wordpress photoblog. I’ll be playing around with the format.
The first post at Postkiwi Photolog features a rainbow cityscape taken from Given Tce in Paddington, Brisbane.
The template is ‘Connections’ by Patricia Muller. I’m focusing on using the Wordpress tools just now so I’m expecting to work on my own template for a while yet.
Driving from Emerald to Mackay on Saturday I stopped by the side of the road to catch a view of the setting sun’s rays on one of the volcanic plugs in the Peak Range. My eye was caught by the glowing wheat field in front of the twin peaks.
The Peak Range is a chain of mountains to the east of Clermont - a number of groups of sharp peaks separated by flat plain country.
And then I turned around to take photos of the sun setting behind the trees. What a privilege to be present and still in those liminal moments where the day finishes and the night starts.
I’m currently sitting in a motel in Mackay, making the most of wireless broadband internet connection, powered by Universal Network Technologies.
On the way up last night Phil King and I drove through a few bush fires. I got the impression these were controlled fire breaks.
As we drove through the area, just west of Bundaberg, the sun was setting behind the gum trees, shining through the smoke.
I couldn’t resist winding the window down and taking a few shots. Here’s an edited version of one of the resulting photos. The exposure is set to negative 2, allowing me to take shots from the moving car (from the passenger seat) and get the silhouette effect.
Duncan Macleod posts on life, faith and culture in Australia, drawing from his involvement in the creative industry, the Uniting Church, the blogosphere, generational research, the emerging church and life on the Gold Coast.
Driving from Emerald to Mackay on Saturday I stopped by the side of the road to catch a view of the setting sun’s rays on one of the volcanic plugs in the Peak Range. My eye was caught by the glowing wheat field in front of the twin peaks.
