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 […]

7753. Mystic pool, Whatipu. 3.53pm, 12 June 2014 The crowds have gone and the druids have left the rostrum. All the devotees who waited so patiently for immersion are now initiated, have packed their tents and left for the long return to their temples. Soon night will fall and the whole arena will be reclaimed by […]

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 […]

6858b Mana Island liberty. 4.53pm, 7 May 2014 “This’ll be good!”, I thought to myself, as an evening squall approached Plimmerton, a Wellington suburb on Porirua Harbour. Keen photographers should be out for every passing shower, but of course location is everything – and the right time of day. The squall soon passed over and […]

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 […]

1991. Yana among the vines  I took this one afternoon in the early autumn of 2010, when Yana was 20. My father had some self-sown vines rioting in his garden (yielding 80 large melons), which looked to  make a good backdrop. It’s no surprise to see here the same elements as in previous portraits: sympathetic ground, […]

7707. Claire & co at Whatipu A discrete chair in the Whatipu wilderness puts you one step ahead in the relaxed model stakes – as does a warm coat – but the secret ingredient to portrait work seems to be having an accomplice, one who distracts the subject with lively conversation while the photographer pretends […]

7790. Signs and sacrifices A pause in readings from the Little Book of Sacrifices. A simple lateral flick-trick found online has brought out some unexpected imagery, while a slight re-framing avoids complete symmetry. A warm duotone was selected after conversion from the colour original. The hand-colouring is hardly brilliant, but this looks to be a […]

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 […]

7780. Reading the Little Book of Calm Or something like it. Claire is distracted with readings from a good book. Light ent., relief and engagement shine through as the drizzle descends. Low angle with tripod; wide angle lens predictably highlights her fine hands; her hair is emphasised by post-pro desaturation and selective re-saturation. An important […]

7772. Moment of decision at Kaitarakihi No pressure Claire, it’s your decision – students of basic emotion or human expression will find much of interest here. There had been a bit of talk about fine art prospects but what a miserable day this turned into… so late on a winter’s afternoon, so unsuitable in so many […]

7701. Claire and pal at Whatipu Whatipu is a vast expanse of beach and wetland on Auckland’s west coast. It’s a wild place and amazingly changed since my first visit over 40 years ago – wider and wetter, it is now also far more vegetated. On a winter’s afternoon we barely sampled the place – […]

1979.63 Spirit of the river, Sandhill Creek RETROSPECTIVE, with thanks due to T.S. Eliot for the title (Ash Wednesday). An unusual sea fog was just lifting when we stopped at this rustic spot, on the road to Anatori in NW Nelson. Only the bridge made this viewpoint possible, plus of course the endearing co-operation of […]

6495.a Bush contrasts Monochrome is so often the first choice for nude studies, especially for outdoor venues such as the beach or the bush. These are big on texture but typically have only limited palettes. However when we start with colour, before converting to monochrome in post processing, we can see that the case for […]

Shroud, 1980 This monochrome from the summer of 1980 is to grace the cover of an anniversary publication for PhotoForum NZ. The print was selected by author Nina Seja from the PF archive, where it has lain since publication the same year. It is one of two memorable images from a rainy afternoon in the […]

6385b. Flax woman at the bay In post-processing this simple image transforms, giving two quite different versions. In the image above, I dialled back the saturation and increased the contrast (80% in each case), to mimic the current glossy style. In the monochrome below, each colour channel was separately modified in the conversion process, so […]

6361a Claire at Kaitarakihi Bay A change of tack now, as I pick up another theme from my early years of photography – the portrait. For people shots I’ve always liked simple set-ups by available light – and a timeless look. However there was no fooling Claire, who immediately nailed this as “Retro”. The location […]