As Winter Approaches
2015 has been a slow photography year for me to date. Work and projects at home have pushed it to the back burner. So, when the other half had a appointment in town, I took the opportunity to grab camera and take a stroll to re-acquaint with the old Ricoh.
The weather has taken a turn these last few weeks. Rain is more often and temperatures have dropped. Its a refreshing change, and one not entirely unwelcome – perhaps its the thought of dressing warmly and making hot soups. I guess each season has elements I enjoy.
The following is a mishmash of images from my walk around Auckland’s Westhaven marina and under the harbour bridge, linking the North Shore to the CBD.
Images shot on Richo GRD IV, with warm bleach bypass settings dialed in (increasing the cold wet mood of the day).
Till next time…
Returning to Colour
After a week of black and white, it’s time to have a small splash of colour. The grey cars in the lowering sun provided such as I made tracks home.
We just past our shortest day of the year, which generally marks colder weather to soon come in New Zealand. It’s been a busy winter with darkness generally before and after work, and non photo chores taking priority over small image shooting items.
Coldest May in 40 Years
Today marked the coldest May Auckland has had in 40 years (the morning anyway). Frozen windscreens,lawns and the like. Nothing in comparison to many other places… But cold for Auckland!
Land Ahoy
Making the conscious decision to take the Nex and Jupiter 8 out for some after work shooting today, I found myself struggling to get anywhere before dusk set in (I thought I had said summer was coming). Coupled with a blistery cold wind and temperature I cast my eye out to the ocean, which looked/felt to have a storm brewing.
Snapping some images I tried to capture the cold isolation the ocean can arouse, and imagined the relief of early discoverers as they sighted land in the distance.
Taken from North Head, on the North Shore of Auckland – its a great spot (but dress warm on cold windy days) to get a panoramic view around Auckland and its harbour.
The Cold Evening
For the first few days of this week I am out near the Auckland Airport attending a work conference. I had a few hours to kill between the last talk to dinner time, so went for a bit of a stroll. Being stuck indoors all day I had no idea of the weather outside. The low flat geographic surroundings of the airport no doubt assisted in the chilly temperature as the sun slowly sank past the horizon.
I found a nice little walking track that seemed to pass through some farm land. Surrounded by flax bush, I reached an opening and came across an attractive, close to silhouette of a tree and captured a few images on my Ricoh.
I’m not sure why, but often when I am taking nature shots, unless it is capturing a massive and wide scenic area , I almost always tend to capture nature in portrait format. This, in some peoples books, breaks one of the shooting rules. It comes without much thought – I think mostly because I am looking to ‘zone in’ on a particular area (the tree in today’s image), and also that I like the feeling of a vast, wide sky above.
Its been a long day, so perhaps I will sleep on it and give it some more thought later on…
Milford Marina
This morning was the first morning of the year that the car windows had frozen over. It didn’t get that much warmer during the day, and by the time I went to leave for home the temperature had dropped yet again. I stopped on the way home for a quick walk around the Milford Marina, a small local marina catering for North Shore residents. It was a cool clear evening, just before sunset. I think the cloudless sky and dark water reflects the calm, yet icy temperatures.
Taken on the Ricoh on bleach mode, otherwise untouched.
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