2866. A pastoral pocket, at night. 8.59pm, 26 October 2015 By twilight I checked out this pastoral slope above the valley of the Henui, within New Plymouth city. A good length of pasture stretches from the river reserve up and over one old pa site to another well preserved one, next to WITT. This part […]

2791 & 2794. Te Henui ti kouka in flower, by moonlight. 25 October 2015 Usually I try to avoid subtlety, but these two images a short interval apart demonstrate the use of flash. In the scene above – the steep flank of an old pa above the Te Henui in New Plymouth – the flash […]

2758. Cool majesty from Waingongoro Rd, Taranaki. 1.47pm, 17 October 2015 Two problems in volcano camerawork are vacant skies and the huge gap in exposure values between the snowy elevations and the green landscape below. Here with patchy cloud and silhouettes is an answer to this creative challenge. Lacking as it does spring lambs (and […]

0973 Autumn in the Maitai gloom, Nelson. 5.11pm, 26 April 2015  In late April a quick trip to the Maitai Valley, on the edge of the city, is much easier than the long road to central Otago (where great swathes of lovely poplars and cotoneasters are now gone from our favourite walk at Arrowtown). Although the light […]

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 […]

2364 Autumn birch, Eltham, Taranaki. 6.17pm, 4 May 2013 One early moonless evening I wandered a small block attached to a church camp, using flash in the deepening twilight. Balancing the light from two different sources often takes some doing, but I was happy by frame 3 on this occasion. I took this in colour, […]

2727 Wet evening, Whangarei Harbour. 5.24pm, 25 May 2013 On a sodden summer’s day here in Taranaki I’ve been looking through my yearly folders for fitting material. This high-tide scene from Mcleod’s Bay, on the northern shores of Whangarei Harbour, takes in the blue of twilight and the clean, bright highlights of torchlight. I was aiming […]

8301 Winter roadside, moonlit mono. 10.32pm, 13 July 2014 I find myself more drawn to formalist compositions as I grow older. They are by no means easy to do, especially after dark. This one surprised me on a pleasant roadside. Intrigued by its depth, I used the last of my battery to highlight the foreground. […]

Rangitoto from Achilles Pt, Auckland. Two frames merged into one, so same ferry twice – each exposure is 30 seconds, by moonlight. The Point is at St Heliers; it’s a good lookout as long as you don’t get caught (as I did) by the local council’s draconian parking restrictions. Park well down the street!  

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

 Let us go then, you and I / When the evening is spread out against the sky /            Like a patient etherised upon a table  –  T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 28mm; ISO 2000. 5 seconds at f5.6. Flash

 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

More important than the quest for certainty is the quest for clarity  –  Francois Gautier 50mm; ISO 2000. 10 seconds at f4                

 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        

All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. – Leo Tolstoy 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f6.3

Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.  –  Theodore Roethke 50mm; ISO 2000. 15 seconds at f9. Incandescent light balance; flash  

 Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift. – Albert Einstein 85mm, ISO 2000. 1 second at f8. Sodium vapour light balance

 Light tomorrow with today. – Elizabeth Barrett Browning 28mm; ISO 400. 30 seconds at f16

Great things are not done by impulse but by a series of small things brought together. – Vincent van Gogh (attrib) 85mm; ISO 2000. 15 seconds at f11  

 I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them. – Diane Arbus 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f8

Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?  –  Mary Oliver 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f6.3