A frame from my forthcoming Modest Epiphanies 2019 New Zealand Calendar, soon to be announced. It shows urban infill below an old Maori pa in Westown, a long established suburb in New Plymouth.  A slow motion study in suburban subdivision, this last section of the subdivision development was unbuilt on for years, yet the street […]

A Good Friday illumination, though not an epiphany,  from an unexpected source. A subdivision being so close to where I was staying, it was a simple matter to put on gumboots and shoulder tripod for the short walk to the hilltop, where a house was under construction.  As building sites are prone to pilfering I […]

My visit to Taranaki last month offered no new opportunities for creative photography, but I have just re-discovered this unusual image, taken with a telephoto in our back garden (then) in Westown, New Plymouth one early spring. A power cable  mars the lower portion (too hard to retouch!) but the main interest is the sense […]

This is the very first frame from a simple composition, one that I was subsequently unable to improve on.  It is taken from Arthurstown, on the opposite side of the river, where protection works give an unobstructed viewpoint. Cumulus clouds by the full moon are appealing but are not that common; the main problem in […]

A family trip to New Plymouth last week coincided with a full moon, but alas, I had flown one stage of the journey, so arrived without a tripod. From a fence post alongside our accommodation I took two frames which have stitched up nicely.  My other steady-state improvisations were not successful – trying the camera […]

Although urban and sophisticated, it appears these sheep were only used to the glare of the neighbouring polytech hostel, and not moonlight paparazzi. The venue is an open space tucked away behind the city cemetery, and between WITT and Te Henui walkway, in the vale below. Small Maori pa abound in this vicinity and their […]

2860-61. No moon, no worries, 8.49-8.50pm, 26 October 2015 The city by evening can have plenty of light for night photography, either diffused from street lights or reflected by low cloud. So if your moon disappears from view, look for other possibilities. In this case, an unusual streak of light came from student quarters just […]

Moonlit margin, Taranaki. 27 August 2015, 9.50 – 9.51pm In Taranaki a calm, clear night with a waxing moon is not to be ignored – but rather than drive around, I sometimes prefer to walk out and see what turns up, as pastoral peace on the city margins is not too far away. This two-frame panorama of […]

0440 Burnett Range from Collingwood A cool southerly breezed down the Aorere valley as dark descended on the chief settlement of western Golden Bay. Heading out on Beach Road, away from the village, soon demonstrated the power of microclimate, as around the corner, in the lee of the hill forming a backdrop to the township, there […]

3409 Bold sentry, Paritutu, New Plymouth. 11.34pm, 21 July 2013 I admit to some anxiety parading a mannequin in a public place late at night, being too old for the art student look, so I was relieved to have this popular venue to myself for the duration. The torso was a gift from my daughter, […]

9978-79 The golf course after dark, New Plymouth. 10.36pm, 3 February 2015 In post-processing I chose two frames which looked doubtful for the auto program to handle, so was agreeably surprised to have them adroitly merged, despite the likely dislocation of fast-moving clouds. I had stopped these on each frame with short exposures; faster shutter speeds […]

9940 On the links, Fitzroy full moon. 10.05pm, 3 February 2015 Sited as it is on old dunes, the golf course has some pleasant undulations; two stiles on the street suggested a ramble. A potential problem for moonlight photography was the row of sodium nearby – moonlight can’t compete with city lights, but when they […]

9396 Te Rewa Rewa silhouettes, New Plymouth. 9.58pm, 5 January 2015 For the night photographer New Zealand has some distinctive silhouettes to add to sky & cloud studies. Shown are cabbage trees (ti kouka) but tree ferns, pohutukawa and the nikau palm also come to mind. Puriri, young kauri and kahikatea have great profiles in […]

8715 Nelson gothic, by street light Photographer William Tyree’s pile, on Whitby Rd – but hardly Gothic. In uploading this I suddenly realised that a spectral figure was needed at the gate! How easily I could have stepped into the shot myself, halfway through the exposure, yet the thought never occurred to me. Now I […]

Mt Moturoa, New Plymouth. 7.08 pm, 21 April 2013 Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.  –  Ovid 28mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f16. Incandescent light balance

The true art of memory is the art of attention.  –  Samuel Johnson 50mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f11

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow / Out of this stony rubbish?          Son of man, / You cannot say, or guess, for you know only / A heap of broken images    – T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land 85mm; ISO 500. 4 minutes at f16

  Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.  –  Napoleon Bonaparte 50mm; ISO 2500. 30 seconds at f22. Flash; sodium vapour light balance

 You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head.  –  Marge Simpson 50mm; ISO 2000. 2 seconds at f5.6. Sodium vapour light balance  

Made cool the dry rock and made firm the sand / In blue of larkspur,                            blue of Mary’s colour / Sovegna vos  –  T.S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday IV 85mm; ISO 2000. 4 seconds at f9. Sodium vapour light balance  

There are no eyes here / In this valley of dying stars / In this hollow valley /                This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms  –  T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men 85mm; ISO 500. 30 seconds at f16. Incandescent light balance    

The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.  –  Thucydides 24mm; ISO 200. 60 seconds at f2  

I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive. – Joseph Campbell 85mm; ISO 1000. 5 seconds at f11. Flash  

I mused for a few moments on the question of which was worse, to lead a life so boring that you are easily enchanted, or a life so full of stimulus that you are easily bored. ― Bill Bryson, Lost Continent: Travels In Small-Town America 85mm; ISO 2000. 15 seconds at f16. Sodium vapour light […]

 Monotony collapses time; novelty unfolds it … Creating new memories stretches out psychological time, and lengthens our perception of our lives.  –  Joshua Foer 28mm; ISO 2000. 1/2 sec at f5.6. Sodium vapour light balance