Building an image gallery for the Samsung Frame TV

I have been selling print and canvas products to people for a good number of years, mostly landscape photography images of Dunedin. When I saw the Samsung Frame TV I nearly fell over. I was totally blown away, a TV that looks just like a picture frame hanging on your wall. My head spins at its genius and potential. I love the matte screen, how there is an app for users to be able to download and display some of the worlds great art on the screen, but I love even more the opportunity to showcase my own work. So I have started saving images in the required 16:9 aspect ratio and file size specifications and from there the plan is to use them on my yet to be purchased frame TV and the ones I love will become a downloadable purchase option on my website shop. I’ll start a gallery below of images I’m taking for the project.

One aspect I am excited about is taking more sunrise/sunset images for digital display. Often I find paper prints of sunrise and sunset images can look dark and murky if there is a significant amount of shadows and blacks in the scene, or even look too colourful. But, with a digital display you can generally get a much better result. As I take more images for the Samsung Frame TV display, I will pop them up here in this blog.

Moeraki Boulders, Moeraki, North Otago, New Zealand.

Moeraki Boulders, Moeraki, North Otago, New Zealand.

Waldronville Beach, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Saddle Hill Rd, Dunedin.

Saddle Hill Rd, Dunedin.

Saddle Hill Rd. Dunedin.

Taieri Plains, Mosgiel.

Taieri Plains and Mosgiel

Does this lens have a glow? The Fujifilm XF35mm F1.4

Recently I photographed my teenage daughter Colbie to help build her modelling portfolio. I organised with one of my clients the use of their lovely business interior and coordinated with my girl a simple colour palette to compliment the environment we would use for the imagery.

I use both Fujifilm GFX and the Fujifilm X systems, but decided to roll with the X system and a combination of the XF 35mm 1.4 and XF 50 - 140mm 2.8 lenses.

The first scene we worked used a fabulous hanging chair for Colbie to lounge in. I used the XF 35mm here at f1.8 as the chair was ever so slightly rocking and wanted a faster shutter speed to keep subject sharpness.

Fujifilm XF 35mm 1.4 @ f1.8, Classic Chrome.

So I’m looking at these images on the back of my camera and thinking this looks really nice, but right at this moment I wasn’t thinking about any special ‘glow’ quality. The next scene within the space was the back wall with a georgeous reclining couch, lovely palm pot plant, and coffee table stump. Colbie did a great job with her pose, and the images on the back of the camera looked fab to me, but I still wasn’t getting a ‘glow’ vibe.

Fufifilm XF 35mm 1.4 @ f2, Classic Chrome.

The next shot is based on a yoga pose, and out of habit I had the 35mm at f2, as that’s where I usually set the aperture, again not really thinking of any special glow exhibited by the image here, as this is more of a pulled back environmental image.

Fujifilm XF 35mm 1.4 @ f2. Classic Chrome.

But then as I took more tightly cropped images, here is where I started to notice a lovely softness to my daughters skin, dare I say it, a hint of a glow. The first image is in Classic Chrome, so a little desaturated, but in the following 2 images I used the ProNeg-Hi simulation and the warmer skin tones I think exude a bit of a glow.

Fujifilm XF 35mm 1.4 @ f1.8

Fujifilm XF 35mm 1.4 @ f1.8, Pro-Neg Hi

Fujifilm XF 35mm 1.4 @ f2, Pro-Neg Hi

So right about now, you are either agreeing with me or laughing at me, as you can or can’t see a glow… You know what, you might be right and I might just be fooling myself. However, let’s finish off the shoot.

Next I stood Colbie up and took out the XF 50-140mm f2.8. Shooting wide open I took a series of images, again they look great, but looking at them now, I don’t think they have the same ‘glow.’

Fujifilm XF 50-140mm, @ f2.8, Classic Chrome

Fujifilm XF 50-140mm @f2.8, Classic Chrome

Back with the 35mm on the camera I took some waist high up shots, but from this sort of distance I didn’t really see anything other than good natural light on my subject.

Fujifilm XF 35mm 1.4 @ f1.8, Classic Chrome

In the next image I threw back on the XF 50-140mm and now looking at this image of my daughter, am I seeing a glow on the XF 50-140mm lens? Maybe it’s just the lovely natural light we are using. Now I’m confused, everything is starting to glow.

Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f2.8 @3.2, Classic Chrome

This time we moved locations to a space right next to this room, it allowed all the natural light from this space to filter in from a large side window above. Using the XF 35mm I utilised the lovely couch for a picture with Colbie.

Fujifilm XF 35mm 1.4 @ f2, Classic Chrome

Fujifilm XF 50-140mm @ f2.8, Classic Chrome

One last photo above using the XF 50-140mm. I look back on these images and are completely undecided on whether I am just seeing things or there is really a glow to this lens, either way, the Fujifilm XF 35mm 1.4 is a gem for stationery subject photography, and will always have a place in my tool bag.

Photographer: Trev Hil - Model: Colbie Hil. - Location: Well + Being, Dunedin.

The Henley Cheese factory though Autumn and Winter

I have been taking images of the Henley Cheese Factory for a good few months now. Every time I visit there is something new to appreciate. It’s like saying hello to an old friend and enjoying a new and engaging story about their life. In this update I want to highlight 3 images.

This is an image I took around 5am in the morning when it was still dark. The night sky was clear and the moon was beaming bright over the landscape. Apart from the background light trails of cars on State Highway 1, the image has the appearence of a bright sunny day.

Henley Cheese Factory by moonlight.

In this next image a thick shroud of fog envelopes the factory. The calmness of this scene with its glass like reflection was very relaxing. When you take the time to slow down and connect with an environment like this it can be really rewarding.

Henley Cheese factory in fog.

The image below was taken during a morning sunrise. The grass is covered in a rather biting frost. On chilly days like this I look forward to grabbing a coffee afterwards.

A frosty morning at the Henley Cheese Factory

Infrared Black and White.

When I started this ‘study’ of the Henley Cheese Factory I wasn’t sure how the journey would evolve. Currently I am consistently photographing the building from about the same perspective. I could change it up, but I find there is comfort in familiarity of form and composition, so for now, I’ll just keep on keeping on. Thanks for stopping by and reading this small blog.

Remembering the Dunedin Cadbury Factory

When plans were announced for building the new Dunedin Hospital on the Cadbury Factory site, I knew it would be really important to get at least one good image of the Cadbury factory as a keepsake before it was demolished. The idea was good, but taking an interesting image proved a little harder.

I thought it might be nice to start by photographing the silos with a longer lens, and by doing so, include the spire of First Church in the frame.

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The Dunedin Cadbury Factory silos. The ‘glass and a half ‘ symbol, established in 1928 to promote the glass and a half of full cream milk in every 200g of Cadbury chocolate.

I would always be looking for opportunities to grab a different perspective of the factory, and on this occasion I was driving through town late afternoon, close to sunset, so the shadows were getting long and the light was warm and summery. I used the apartment building as the foreground, and as luck would have it a seagull flew through the image at the moment of capture.

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Cadbury Factory Silos, view from the Dunedin Railway Station.

The last image I took finally gave me the ‘something special’ I was looking for in a keepsake. I was on my way to Sue Todd Antiques, a regular client, to photograph lovely items for her website. The weather looked a little stormy with a mix of dark clouds and blue sky. The sun was still fairly low in the sky and the angle of it was shining brightly on the Cadbury factory windows. By shooting into the sun, the resulting light created a very monochromatic look to the image. The vantage point I took the image from also allowed me to include the Cadbury Fry building in the composition.

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Cadbury Factory Dunedin. People have commented, the Cadbury factory even looks a little like a chocolate bar.

As a comparison, below a similar image, after the silos and factory had been demolished. By chance the view here now shows the old Dunedin Hospital.

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The Cadbury factory provided employment for so many Dunedin men and women, and has been an important part of our cities history. I do feel a slight loss now when I gaze toward where the silos used to be in the current work site, but the promise of a state of the art hospital is something I can also appreciate and look forward to having in Dunedin.