I’m looking through you…

  I know I’ve been awol… but considering I’ve been running this blog for a good 5 years now, I guess a little time off from time to time is in order… Though I never intended it to be a personal blog, it has, in a sense been very personal, seeing me through some major

Going to Church

Unexpectedly came up this tiny little church near Awhitu Central, on our way to the Manukau Head Lighthouse this past weekend. Thought we’d stop and take a few photos. I think God would like it here. These seat cushions are all hand-made, one of a kind. The little blankets you see over the pews are

‘Tis Matariki!

  Matariki – aka the Maori New Year – a more or less month long sort of celebration around the mid year/winter solstice. I lived here for a long time, ten years or more without every hearing about it, but it’s been gaining in popularity. Not sure if it’s a greater acceptance of Maori culture

Orchids, orchids, orchids…

  The sexiest of all the flowers, leaving roses pale and gasping in their wake. Pulsing, daring, expecting, lurid, lascivious and luscious. How could they ever have aligned themselves with witless school boys and prom night?  

Train bits go all steampunk

I just love how these bits and pieces of the trains turned out. Something about them just cried out for maximum saturation and super sharpness. The response has not all been favourable – some folks really dislike this treatment. I really like it. Do you? This will be the boiler and firebox of a locomotive

Trains

Finally got to work more on the train photos. And discovered the essence of the steampunk thing. I’d never paid more than a passing bit of notice to it – just didn’t get it. Until I started working on these photos – the colour palette, the endless bits and pieces and detail, the drama. Suddenly

Train minutiae

Spent the day out at the Bush Tramway Club in Huntly, an hour and a bit south of Auckland. Very impressive club restoring, preserving and having fun with old trains. Their website is a bit dated (the guy who built it is also a locomotive driver and the club secretary – with no time to

Lichen it, lichen it a lot

In addition to falling in love with wild mushrooms this winter, I have become fascinated by other fungi and also lichen. This was a particularly beautiful, very 3-dimensional specimen. I think it has an underwater quality about it, as well as appearing rather squiggly, don’t you think? Must be a hundred shades of olive in

Tree in winter

One of the things I’ve noticed over the years – I love photographing cold, naked trees. I admire their dignity, their stalwart stance in the face of all those frigid dark months, catching brief glimpses of a faded sun. They are so very beautiful. And somehow, a bit accusing, a bit threatening. They’re not happy

After the grapes are gone

The grapes are fermenting away, sweet and fragrant and ready for drinking this time next year… Nice how the leaves linger on though… I seem to prefer the natural world to the human one more and more… it’s just so much saner, safer. How can a tornado or earthquake compare to the human maelstrom? These