April 4, 2016

Dane Tucker

Indecent exposures

April 4, 2016

Dane Tucker

So, I recently bit the bullet and purchased an old film SLR off of gumtree that I had had my eye on for a while. These are a few shots from the first roll I got developed after chasing a few sunsets and sunrises.

Confession - it was actually the second roll of film I shot. When I first got the camera, I got all excited and took it camping down the coast, had a few early rises down the beach, and then took it to the camera shop all giddy to get it developed. Turns out I loaded the film wrong and it was completely blank. #newb.

I love the whole process of shooting film. It forces you to slow down and think about everything you are doing and why. The anticipation of not knowing exactly what you are going to get (except for when it comes back blank). The lack of editing. What you take is what you get.

For the photo nerds, these were shot on a Nikon FE-2 with a 50 mm 1.8D on Portra 800 - generally overexposed a stop or two. Film retains highlights unbelievable well.

camp cove

camp cove II

camp cove III

early fog

early fog II

early fog III

centred and cool

early fog IIII

sunrises and her

centred and warm

blur

November 4, 2015

Dane Tucker

Golden Minutes

November 4, 2015

Dane Tucker

Life (read - work) it seems, has a habit of getting in the way of things. The last few weeks have typically involved leaving the house by 6 and returning home after 7, leaving precious little time to shoot or otherwise enjoy the great outdoors. It was all I could do to grab a few minutes here and there.

So I awoke last Saturday, and decided to head down before sunrise to see what would happen. And it was epic. And colorful. And after an hour of messing about I was in a great mood. And then, returning to the ramp at the south end of the beach, I realised someone had stolen my thongs. I was crestfallen.

A pair of $20 thongs may not seem like much, but a small part of me was always buoyed by the fact that everyone could leave their shoes unattended, thrown together at the back of one of the most popular beaches in the country, frequented by people from all over the globe, and always have them there when they returned. Its such a small thing, but I did it all the time, and it always made me feel a little more positive about people and the world in general. It may not make much sense, but hey.

So to whomever stole my well-worn in, stereotypical black havianas, may they take you all over the world on great adventures, see some grand things, and then simultaneously blow out and have you fall flat on your face.

Bonus shots at the end of a quick 10 minutes grabbed last Monday morning as the world was waking up.

one flew over the cuckoos nest - cause the place is full of nutbags

September 8, 2015

Dane Tucker

Cliffside Wanderings

September 8, 2015

Dane Tucker

What do you do when you wake up on warm, blissful Sunday in Sydney with no plans, itchy feet, and a full tank of petrol? Google trails in the national park and find one you haven't done yet, load up some podcasts and hit the road.

Less than an hour later ALT and I ended up on the Curra Moors track down in the Royal National Park, pounding along pavement and sweating through dense scrub for about 45 minutes when all of a sudden we found ourselves atop kilometres of dramatic sandstone escarpments against the sea, with not another soul in site (unless you count the crows which are as soulless a looking animal as I've ever seen and incidentally tried to steal our popcorn which only proves my point). A tranquil stream and rock pool atop the cliffs fed a waterfall that dropped into an ocean that was anything but.

If the seas are an indicator of Poseidon's state of mind the greek god was clearly pissed - thunderous 10 foot waves (hard to judge the size from atop a 100 m high cliff face, suffice to say they were intimidatingly large) closed out way out sea, eventually crashing against the vertical rock and sending spray 50m up in the air, the sea a mass of constantly shifting foam and currents.

It was an mesmerising sight, and we simply sat atop the cliffs and watched the ocean do its thing for a while before heading down to Garie to relax with a book and an excellently horrible cheese and tomato toasted sandwich from one of the most authentically old school Aussie tuck shops you are likely to come across this side of 1998. Three tiered, chocked full of so many kraft singles plastic sheets the middle was cold, with enough salt to fill the Pacific, I thought I was back in primary school in Matraville. But I digress.

Bonus photo at the end of the supermoon above Bondi as we returned home.

old crow medicine show - cheeky buggers tried to steal our popcorn

this perfectly spherical scrub was almost an optical illusion, and made my eyes spin just looking at it. luckily we stumbled across it well away from the sheer 100 m drop into the raging ocean

old man (super) moon sleeping in the pines where the don't ever shine