Taranaki is famous for its well-watered pastures and of course for its dairy industry. This is FEBRUARY in my Modest Epiphanies 2019 Calendar, which is a selection from my book project of the same title. It features Al (my wife) walking towards a field of maize in south Taranaki, alongside what remains of the old Opunake branch railway. It was taken on a windblown afternoon, and as it happens, we visited this location again in August 2018, on another breezy day – but in winter.

Our recent visit surprised me with the changes to be seen from the same viewpoint over seven years later: the cornfield was back in grass of course, but the boxthorn hedge has disappeared. Also lacking were the summer grasses (and clouds – a cool, clear southwester marked the afternoon).  A wintry vista it was.

Photography gives us such a useful and interesting record of little changes in what we assume are “stable” scenes, particularly country ones. I will take more from the same location, sometime!

Purchase my 2019 calendars here: http://localhost/brewster/calendars/

1/320th sec at f11. Nikon 28mm; ISO 500

Posted by Barney Brewster

Tags: calendar, clouds, farming, Nikon D700, people, railway, summer, Taranaki, wide angle

Categories: Daylight photography, Publication