Ngongotaha on Lake Rotorua

This idyllic little scene was a few minutes walk from our motel in Ngongotaha (Non-ga-ta-ha – really, it’s easy once you know how!)

The lake was a bit rough, which didn’t bother the swans (they are tiny, but just to the left of the yellow buoy) or the trout, which were swimming madly, much to the delight of the local fisherpersons… I want this little boat though – just a little something to go toodling out for an afternoon’s pleasure… Or – I’ll just be content with this photo…

And for those planning a visit to New Zealand – yes, Rotorua is a must-see destination, but by staying in a place like Ngongotaha, you can really enjoy the beauty of the area and spend half or less than you would in town. We were only 15 minutes from all the big tourist stuff if we had wanted to go there…

A yellow drop

While there is no doubt that most of photography comes from the eye of the photographer, there is simply no discounting the part that comes from having great equipment. Still getting my head around this new lens, discovering what it can do and just loving it all.

I don’t know what the name of this flower is – any help would be much appreciated!

Nymphs in the moonlight ever after

The dance goes on
forever and ever
in the moonlight
in the garden
in the hearts
of the dancers
even after
the moonlight
and the garden
and the hearts
of the dancers
have faded away
forever and ever

 

Monsters are everywhere

It wasn’t till I got home and enlarged this photo that I spotted him! Talk about a close call! Anything could have happened…

In the Garden

Another pinhole in the garden… what I realise, in addition to wanting to do a lot more pinhole photography, is that I need to do a series of ant-cam, fairy-cam, shoe-cam shots. I’m not real big on macro photography (just a bit big)… but that’s not what I’m thinking. More like this, capturing the sense of being in scale with the things in the garden, on the ground.

There’s a world going on there that I am missing…

Suzhou Garden Reflections

Been thinking about memory lately, how fickle it can be, how downright deceptive – and you think you’re being completely honest with yourself. Hah! I remember when ‘facing reality’ was something I could do. Or thought I could.

This image of a Suzhou Garden is completely deceptive…

Trust me – nothing about it is what you might think. Sure is pretty, though, isn’t it?

 

Summer rain

It was mid afternoon, it should have been bright, but the clouds were so heavy and the rain so dense it seemed more like dusk. Yet the pongas (ferns) seemed to glow as if there was some celestial spotlight aimed at them.

Garden mystery

I fell in love with the charm of this accidental arrangement… and then it hit me! Uh oh…

Garden variety butterfly

Just a garden variety butterfly flitting around a garden variety garden.
There’s nothing wrong with the garden variety, you know…
We can’t all be fiery hothouse creations
Mad with passion
Demanding non-stop attention
Showing off in front of the whole wide world.
Some of us quietly do what we’ve got to do
and carry on with the day.

Our Lady of the Last Winter Morning

I have a passion for images of the Virgin Mary, with and without the Christ child. I am sure it has much to do with the untold hours I spent on my knees praying to various statues of her when I was a child. Of course my prayers were fervent, but I also spent a lot of time studying her garments, the way she held herself, carried her arms, the expressions on her face.

This sweet garden statue stands behind a rather ordinary working class house on Staten Island, in New York – at least she did when I was there last, in March of 2009. It’s one of my favourite places to go on a “Mary hunt.” The day was cold, a brutal wind, but I was with a willing friend who undoubtedly thought the whole thing was absurd – but we had fun and Mary was pleased to pose for fans.