Ben Lilley

Things that I noticed & amused me today. (21/05/12)

Mon, 21 May 2012 15:18:04 +1200

At the gym this morning I witnessed true commitment. An older fellow was doing box jumps, they were getting rather intense and he managed to lose his false teeth half way across the room. Rather than stopping he finished his set and then retrieved them. What a champion.
The petrol station I was in today had a sign up asking you to follow them on Twitter. Let me be clear, this wasn’t to follow the brand, but that very individual petrol station. Who thought that was a good idea?
While driving back from a meeting today a large ute cut me off, straight after he blatantly ignoring the merging rules, the name of the business on the ute: “Manners”.

Goodbye and thank you, Steve Jobs.

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:39:04 +1300

Goodbye and thank you, Steve Jobs.

Sea Change — Jeremy Keith

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:01:35 +1300

Sea Change — Jeremy Keith:

Jeremy Keith (Adactio) has posted an excellent article primarily about building sites using responsive web design techniques. I do however take issue with the notion that if you’re not building using these techniques “you’re not doing it right”. Sure we would all love to build every project this way, but in the end we have to find clients that are willing to pay for this work to be done — which becomes an issue when most clients don’t understand why websites in their current, none responsive state, seem to cost money.

"Before writing-off the success of others as pure luck, God-given talent, family connections,..."

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:40:00 +1300

“Before writing-off the success of others as pure luck, God-given talent, family connections, financial good-fortune or whatever else you care to attribute it to, consider that high achievers are often the ones quietly doing the hard yards to do whatever it takes to be the very best in their field.”

- Dylan Bland / Talent only gets you so far.

2010 Review

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:43:27 +1300

Well a new year has started so it’s time to recap the previous year. It actually turned out to be a fairly eventful one.

Pitch

2010 was a good year for Pitch with lots learnt, a lot gained and only a little lost. We actually got smaller this year, but because of this change the business had higher revenue and was more profitable. We’ve got the business to a point where we are fairly comfortable so I think this year will be a year of pushing the growth a little bit, see if we can expand while keeping the quality, revenue and profit all in the right areas.

Personal

I had an interesting year, overall it was definitely positive but it was trying at times. At the start of the year I set out six goals, let see how I did:

1) Complete Project52 (write a post every week)

Completely and utterly failed this one. I lasted eight weeks before I fell off the wagon, which is longer than a lot of people did in the project, but still sucks. In the end there’s no excuses, I failed and learnt my lesson.

2) Keep Gaming

Surprise, surprise, this went okay. There were definitely points where I struggled with this one, either due to a lack of quality games or workload, but overall I’m happy I kept up with this hobby.

3) Weekly Sport

I’m going to say I passed this one. I didn’t keep it up to the extent I would have liked but you’d be hard pressed to find a week where I didn’t do anything, be it running, soccer or rock climbing. That said the last three weeks have been terrible, but that’s due to a knee injury.

4) Take 20 Photos I’m proud of

I started this one really strong but got weaker as the year wore on, almost to the point where I wouldn’t pick up my camera for a couple of weeks at a time. So while I could pick out 20 photos I took this year that I really like and am proud of I want to revisit this at some point.

5) Save More

I saved a good chunk of cash this year and would have easily reached my target if my living situation hadn’t dramatically changed. So while I fell a couple of grand short of my rough target I’m going to give myself a pass on this. I’ll have a similar goal this year though.

6) Read At Least 8 Books

Complete and utter fail. I think I’ve started around 12 books this year and completely finished around 5 or so. I have however been reading a lot of good articles and short form writing due largely to the iPad, but none the less this was a huge letdown and I’m rather disappointed in myself!

That’s a wrap for 2010.

Who spent ages complaining about not having a charger for his...

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 15:57:00 +1300

Who spent ages complaining about not having a charger for his camera? This guy.

Who has taken barely any pictures since getting said camera back? This guy.

Who is going to do something about that? This guy.

1/1000 / ƒ4.0 / ISO500 / 50mm

Something amazing happened last week — I got my camera charger!...

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:54:15 +1200

Something amazing happened last week — I got my camera charger! My ‘slightly pissy’ phone call to Canon clearly worked as the charger arrived two days after that. Stoked.

Something pretty cool also happened this week; James & I finally started pimping out the office a bit more. We picked up a Sony EX500 55” LCD (yes, it’s way too big) for the office and an Xbox 360, lunch times just got a whole lot more interesting.

So this photo is a cheers for Friday, a cheers for camera chargers, a cheers to obnoxiously large TV’s and finally a cheers to all you awesome people. Have a wicked weekend.

"This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it. If you..."

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:19:00 +1200

“This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it. If you don’t like your job, quit. If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV. If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love. Stop over analyzing, life is simple. All emotions are beautiful. When you eat, appreciate every last bite. Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences. Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them. Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself. Some opportunities only come once; seize them. Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating. Live your dream, and wear your passion. Life is short.”

- Absolutely brilliant, everyone should read this. Brought to my attention by Ashley who found it on Carrie’s Tumblr.

Tomorrow I’m going to phone Canon and I’m going to...

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:53:00 +1200

Tomorrow I’m going to phone Canon and I’m going to use my deep and manly angry voice to explain how ‘displeased’ and ‘bitter’ I am that it has been over a month since I was able to use my camera because they can’t get me a battery charger.

Not being able to use my camera annoys me immensely, especially when I see all the brilliant work some of my Tumblr/Flickr buddies are producing. Bastards.

Anyway, here’s a photo of an Auckland sunset, taken from my place. I would have loved to been able to take this photo on a certain Canon 7D but alas my phone had to suffice. Consider this #4 in the Auckland Is A Cool Place To Live™ series.

My new Canon 7D charger still hasn’t arrived so I’m...

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:57:00 +1200

My new Canon 7D charger still hasn’t arrived so I’m taking snaps on the iPhone at the moment. I’m going to give Canon a slap across the face if it doesn’t arrive soon, a whole month without being able to use my camera is crazy! Ignore the fact that I was the one who lost the charger okay?

This is shot #3 in my Auckland Is A Cool Place To Live™ series and it was taken on my ferry ride from the office last week, it was a truly beautiful sunset. Rock on, Auckland.

One month without posting a single photo,...

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:55:00 +1200

One month without posting a single photo, completely disappointed in myself. However I do have an excuse, during house renovations my Canon 7D charger went missing and the replacement has been on back order for three weeks now.

Alas some famous person once said “The best camera is the one that’s with you” — so instead of whining about my crippled 7D you’re going to be seeing shots from my iPhone 4 until the charger arrives!

Consider this photo #2 in my Auckland Is A Cool Place To Live™ series.

Another black and white photo, I’m clearly hating on...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:42:13 +1200

Another black and white photo, I’m clearly hating on colour at the moment.

This is just a quick shot I took of James while we were waiting for our luggage at the Wellington Airport. Speaking of Wellington — I would like to spend more time there. The bars, cafés, and the people are all superb; you can’t ask for much more than that can you?

1/100 / ƒ1.4 / ISO250 / 50mm

Not the most glamorous shot I took of Rarotonga, but still makes...

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:14:00 +1200

Not the most glamorous shot I took of Rarotonga, but still makes we want to go back for another holiday.

1/200 / ƒ 5.6 / ISO100 / 50mm

Auckland City, my home and one of my favourite places in the...

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 19:23:45 +1200

Auckland City, my home and one of my favourite places in the world. It’s a beautiful city and I want to show people that, so I think over the next while I’m going take more shots of Auckland; how about we consider this shot as the first in the series? Sounds good.

Anyway, this shot was taken a few months back on my crummy Canon 350D from Devonport at 1am in the morning. The following morning while slaving away at work I regretted being out that late. That was until I saw this shot, made it all worthwhile, at least I think so…

20.0s / ƒ5.6 / ISO100 / 55mm

Turns out family portraits are really hard. Who would of thought...

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:48:55 +1200

Turns out family portraits are really hard. Who would of thought getting three people to look at the camera and smile at the same time would be so tricky?

In the end I certainly learnt a lot taking the photos and some of the photos seemed to come out pretty well, so in that respect the shoot was a success. I don’t think it’s an area of photography I’m going to be pursuing though.

1/100 / ƒ4.5 / ISO100 / 53mm

Yes — it’s another shot of Natalie! I can’t help...

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:20:00 +1200

Yes — it’s another shot of Natalie! I can’t help that I dig some of the photos from that shoot. Only things I’m not too fond of in this shot? The water being choppy and the wind moving her scarf a bit too much, apart from that I really like it.

I did the family portraits with Natalie a couple of weeks back, and is it very different to single portraits or what? I struggled to get the lighting I wanted on all three of them and getting a shot with everyones smile and eyes right is mission impossible. I might post a shot or two from the shoot, but I don’t think family portraits are my forte.

Definitely an experience though.

1/650 / ƒ4.5 / ISO100 / 53mm

In Rarotonga there are dogs everywhere. They roam free on the...

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:17:00 +1200

In Rarotonga there are dogs everywhere. They roam free on the beaches, playing, relaxing, and chasing coconuts that you throw for them. This fella here was on the small island opposite our resort fishing with his mate. He would stare at the water, dead still — until he saw a fish dart in front of him, at which point he’d attempt to pounce on it.

I didn’t see him catch any, but I’m not sure that mattered, it looked like he was having fun.

1/800 / ƒ5.6 / ISO100 / 50mm

Another photo of Natalie from the same shoot. Even though she...

Thu, 27 May 2010 10:39:00 +1200

Another photo of Natalie from the same shoot. Even though she wasn’t really expecting me to take a shot at this moment I still like how it came out, it just feels natural. A candid shot if you like.

Natalie has also asked me to take some family portraits for her so that should be interesting, since I’ve never done family shots before!

I’ll let you know how I get on.

1/500 / ƒ2.5 / ISO100 / 50mm

I’ve known Natalie for a couple of years now, and she just...

Wed, 19 May 2010 09:14:40 +1200

I’ve known Natalie for a couple of years now, and she just so happens to live exactly two minutes walk from my house. Yet, last weekend was the first time I’ve taken a picture of her which in hindsight is pretty damn stupid.

Natalie just has one of those faces that works in front of the camera and to make it even better she’s just genuinely awesome. Expect to see more of her soon!

1/500 / ƒ5 / ISO100 / 65mm

Taking pictures of a person who you work with for 10 hours a day...

Mon, 17 May 2010 17:43:00 +1200

Taking pictures of a person who you work with for 10 hours a day and is also the co-founder of your business is a strange experience. I can’t put my finger on why, but it’s just not as relaxing I thought it would be. Probably something to do with knowing that if you take crappy photos he’s going to make your life hell next week.

Seriously though, this is James. He’s pretty awesome and turns out he makes a good model too. This is from a shoot we did a few weeks back that involved swords and a dark, empty warehouse. Long story.

1/60 / ƒ3.5 / ISO2500 / 28mm