0020 Summer moonrise. 8.54pm, 4 February 2015 A twilight moon always rises over a flat landscape – in lighting terms, at least, after sunset. Two strong aids to composition, much to my liking, are silhouettes and clouds, and only these are a match for the moon’s brightness as night begins to settle. A variety of […]

9807 Evening parade at Waiwhakaiho. 8.20pm, 3 February 2015 Clouds strike some marvellous poses, but as they will not hold them the trick is to be ready and waiting. Even better if they are only a side-show to the main act – an anticipated moonrise, for example. A big Nikon zoom lens needs a tripod […]

9797 Wet feet at the Waiwhakaiho. 8.16pm, 3 February 2015 Zoom lenses are very engaging, but the price of their versatility is their typically lacklustre definition, and the extra care required in their use – especially with focus and depth of field. I have found with the Nikon 70-300mm that no really serious work can […]

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 […]

9039 Pukekura Park lights. 9.56pm, 22 December 2014 New Plymouth’s central park is not much fun to stroll through clutching a tripod, especially along with the evening crowds out to see the same lighting spectacle (and the free performances). So I left my ballast behind. This sort of photo is more effective in twilight rather […]

9286 Ahu Ahu hues (moonrise-with-flax-flowers) Simple, graphic compositions such as this moonrise-with-flax-flowers can be varied in post-processing with the hue tool. In my tool kit this is handily located next to the saturation dial, and enables a surprising spectrum of bizarre and surreal imagery. I have put some variations up for contrast but am not […]

9289 NZ flax with moonrise, Ahu Ahu Rd, Taranaki. 8.59pm, 4 January 2015 My previous post left out another great NZ silhouette, Phormium tenax, now in summer flower and shown here in only semi-, thanks to flash. Taken at a sheltered  location south of Oakura, one of the few north-facing beaches along the western North Island. […]

Stony River wide, 28 February 2010 Mt Taranaki is bare of snow and ice for 4 or 5 months of the year; this view from the Blue Rata Reserve is a sandwich of two frames, taken on a full moon evening, the last of summer. The Stony (Hangatahua) is a fast-flowing stream, one prone to […]

9127 Evening sky at Bell Block beach. 8.39pm, 27 December 2014. Tweaked in post-processing, as a surreal version. Taken not long before a pallid sunset, with the moon at 6 days new. Crescents are best photographed at twilight, as after dark the effect is lost because the dim entirety of the moon shows up. However, the […]

9135 The evening rush. 9.03pm, 27 December 2014 At Bell Block, a suburban outlier of New Plymouth, the Mangati Stream meets the coast through a steep shingle bank. This last reach came into view after sunset as we came up from the beach, by the new walkway extension. Adding to the uncommon textural unity was […]

0958 Ben at sundown, Back Beach Continuing the evening portrait theme is this “one-take” shot of our UK visitor Ben, in 2010, taken on the cliff above Back Beach in New Plymouth. The light is striking, but the effect is enhanced by the “da Vinci” background of Paritutu Rock, pylon and blue sky. I would […]

If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.  –  Leonard Cohen 50mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f11

 Let us live most happily, possessing nothing; let us feed on joy, like the radiant gods.  –  The Buddha 24mm; ISO 200. 60 seconds at f2

 In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.  –  Alfred Stieglitz 85mm; ISO 2000. 25 seconds at f8. Incandescent

 All of us must indulge in a few small follies if we are to make reality bearable.  – Marcel Proust 28mm; ISO 2500. 30 seconds at f11. Flash

 Earth laughs in flowers.  –  Ralph W. Emerson 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f16. Incandescent light balance

 Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.  –  Dalai Lama 28mm; ISO 2000. 629.4 secs (10.5 minutes) at f11

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and realize that prisoner was you.  –  Lewis B. Smedes 85mm; ISO 500. 15 seconds at f16. Incandescent light balance

Not what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.  –  John Petit-Senn 28mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f11. Incandescent light balance

The most powerful force on earth is the human soul on fire  –  Field Marshall Foch (adapted) 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f16        

 Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.  – Dalai Lama 50mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f8. Flash; incandescent light balance  

Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy – Milton Erickson 50mm; ISO 2000. 80 seconds at f11. Incandescent light balance        

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  

Blend a little foolishness with your wisdom: it’s nice to be silly at the right moment. –  Horace 28mm, ISO 2000. 30 secs at f8. Flash