The past is never dead. It’s not even past.  –  William Faulkner The epitome of the lonely grave, this one has extensive seafront views. Cecil Addison died of Tb, aged 16, on Christmas Eve 1924, and here lies in splendid isolation, some 800 m from the old homestead at Te Hapu. From numerous technical frustrations this test frame […]

Start every day with a smile and get it over with.  –  W.C. Field 85mm, ISO 2000. 1/13th sec at f7.1. Flash, 10000 deg K  

Do not dwell on the past; do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind on the present moment.  –  Buddha 85mm ISO 2000. 1/10th sec at f5.6. Flash at 10,000 deg K

There is no duty we so much underestimate as the duty of being happy. Being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world.   –  Robert L. Stevenson 85mm, ISO 2000. 1 sec at f16. Flash

To have made a beginning is half of the business; dare to be wise  –  Horace 85mm, ISO 2000. 30 seconds @ f11

  Plan for the future because that’s where you are going to spend the rest of your life. –  Mark Twain But why plan for the future when it’s already here? While waiting for a late moonrise I saw this spectacle, looming above the top floor of a parking building. Flash-assisted in deep twilight, the […]

Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. –  Anon Any “ordinary” photo of floodlit buildings will be lifted by background twilight, an obliging moon and the selection of an artificial light balance. Lady Godiva obliging on a white horse in front of the dark tree would’ve helped too, but unfortunately she was already […]

Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper. –  Francis Bacon Contrary to Bacon, as a night photographer my hopes rise at supper. The new moon is not visible until the sky darkens, well after sunset. This moon always needs a supporting cast, to add both human scale and pictorial interest; here […]

Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life. –  Daniel F. E. Auber Using the wide angle with flash at twilight is easier than the telephoto because the former has better depth of focus. Aperture selection balances the two light sources, the flash burst with the longer background fill. Flash […]

Patience is a bitter plant, but it has sweet fruit. –  Chinese proverb The new crescent waxes and each evening is higher in the sky. Through a wide angle the early moon is barely visible; waxing a night or two later it is more conspicuous. Being higher in the sky it is harder to frame […]

Suburban twilight and new moon. 5.42 pm, 4 July 2011 Effort appears to be the main art of living. –  Harold Nicolson 28mm, ISO 100. 5 seconds at f22. Incandescent light balance.

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view; While all the women came and went, their foot-servants too.  – Bob Dylan The surreal song lyric [misquoted on the web] fits this enigmatic view from the waterfront pavement at Kaikoura, in the South Island. The scale is ambiguous and the light unusual, but at least more […]

Twilight has one simple and obvious advantage over night photography: you can see what you are doing. You can focus by eye or auto, and compose quickly. You have a wider range of exposure choices, to allow or prevent movement showing, for example, without the sacrifice in aperture selection that workable shutter times need at […]

NEWS: The above image is one of about 50 of mine which have just been published in a free ebook of quotations by Hannah Samuel, public speaker, author and mentor, of Auckland. The Pocket Book of Men’s Wisdom, Volume 1 is a compilation of quotes from Kiwi men associated with Big Buddy (www.bigbuddy.org.nz), a mentoring […]

A companion piece to no. 107. Twilight tractor (and taken 6 minutes later), this electric call to good order conveys another mood. Existentialists may freely dwell on it. Outside the Waikanae boat club 45 minutes after sunset, the balance of light was changing in favour of artificial light. A star is visible in the nightfall. […]

Golden orb on the shoulder of Mt Taranaki, from the National Park boundary.

Heavy haulage outside the boat club; beast and beauty of the tripod

Uncommon natural lighting with an extra touch

An unexpected colour at second quarter; a wild coast made easy for the townie

Two minutes in the twilight; highlighting a volcanic bomb

Geothermal ugly in yellow and blue; a mixture of light plus an LED torch

Abstract of evening traffic; use of two planes of movement

Twilight use of flash; subtlety, instantaneity and their opposites

A twilight twist from the Chateau; telephoto and perspective

Twilight trial with a tiny LED torch; using the wide angle on a bridge