Author Archives: toscanakiwi

Moon over Hataitai

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F5.6, 1/160th sec, ISO400, Effective focal length 450mm


Tonight was close to a full moon, and as it rose over the horizon and cleared a bank of clouds I managed to capture this shot.

I’ve tried to get a shot like this many times before but I usually end up with a white blob on a black background. This time the fact it was only just dark and that the moon was magnified because it was close to the horizon all helped.

But this shot was still not what I’d seen through the viewfinder. Given the fact I was hand holding the camera and shooting at 160th of a second to minimise camera shake any detail outside of the moon was lost.

So with a little assistance from my favourite image editor, I’ve put together a view more in keeping with what I saw.

Four girls in a row

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Earlier in the year our girls had friends come and stay for a night or two. Here they all are sitting on our landing keeping an eye on proceedings below. From the left Poppie, Macey, Bella and Georgie.

 

 

San Gimignano – quintessentially Toscana

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San GimignanoWhen we were living in Tuscany having visitors arrive was always a treat. The opportunity to show people around “our neck of the woods” was always something we looked forward too. And as an experience of the essential Tuscany, San Gimignano was always a winner.

You may have heard of this village and it’s many towers. Originally it is said that there were up to 40 towers but now only 7 or 8 remain. But even with only a few towers it is still one of the most recognisable villages in the region.

Initially we thought that San Gimignano might be “too touristy” for our friends, but everyone we took there loved it. The walk up the hill from the Porta San Giovanni to the Piazza della Cisterna was always a great introduction, with the multitude of small shops that line the street adding to the feeling that this was the quintessential hilltop village. A drink or lunch in the main piazza was a must with a leisurely stroll down to the Porta San Matteo to follow.

We always seemed to leave with something – linen for the table or fresh pasta or a simple gelato from the award winning store Gelateria di Piazza located in Piazza della Cisterna.

 

 

Waiting

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WaitingI’ve often wondered if our girls miss us when we are out of the house. Based on Poppie’s behaviour over the weekend when Jean went shopping for a few hours, you’d have to say they do.

She sat at the window, looking up the street, just waiting.

Lazy afternoons in Positano

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Positano from Eden RocThe view from Hotel Eden Roc looking out across the bay is always worth watching. Late one afternoon, on a day the sun had been playing hide and seek, the bay took on shades of pale blue as the sky and the water merged.

We weren’t the only couple watching the view.

Haircut day in Siena

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Jean and girls in the campoGroom day in Siena was a major family outing. We had found a groomer just a few metres from the Campo and they would take one girl at a time. So we spent the afternoon sitting in our favourite bar firstly with one girl and then with the other.

This was no hardship and gave us ample opportunity to check some emails, watch some people and do some shopping – as you do in Italy.

Birthday month at our place

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Birthday cards 2016 V2 Birthdays galore – that’s February at our place. And a huge thank you to everyone who has wished us well or commiserated over the number of candles that festoon the top of our birthday cakes these days.

It’s fair to say both Jean and I have had a cracking time with lots of visitors. And lots of presents – everything from some Vuitton bling for Jean to every possible Weber Q barbecue accessory for me.

Once again, thank you all.

 

Time for a tattoo I think

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No not that type of tattoo – I’m talking about the Edinburgh Military Tattoo – in Wellington. We attended last weekend’s sold out event at Westpac Stadium and enjoyed a cracking show.

There is nothing like the sound of massed pipes and drums to bring out the Scotsman in everyone. Apart from the pipes and drums, the highlights for me were the Top Secret Basel Drum Corp and His Majesty The King of Norway’s Guards Band and Drill Team. Both were superb.

And let’s not forget our own New Zealand Army Band who brought their unique spin to military band music and marching.

It was a sell out show and, unlike the usual stadium concert crowd, there was overwhelming representation from the silver fox brigade. So much so that I felt like a youngster.

All in all, a great night out.

 

An evening in Sicily

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Deck chair line up in SicilySo let me be clear, this post is a bit obscure – unless you were there. The photo is of a swimming pool in Sicily. We stayed in a lovely villa in Syracuse – that included this pool – with our friends Gill and Andre and the family in 2014. We spent a great week in and around the pool.

It was the centre of daily activity, but after the sun had dropped below the horizon and everyone headed off to dinner it took on that wonderful Italian evening glow. A mix of pale sky blues, harsh sunset yellows and every shade of pink imaginable. All contrasting with the bright blue of the somewhat ordered loungers.

Take a bow Syracuse, you earned it.

The summer of 2016

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Sunset at our place 2This year, summer is the kind we always dream about. Hot sunny days and warm calm evenings that seem to stretch on forever – with the weather forecaster’s prediction of impending wind and rain being proved wrong time and again.

Tonight, as the sun dropped below the horizon, we were on our front verandah enjoying the view. The girls were waiting patiently to terrorise anyone who dared to pass the gate. What a great evening.

Poppie through a window

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Pop in the windowIn summer we often spend evenings sitting in the backyard catching the last of the sun – much to the apparent displeasure of Poppie the dog who sits inside, on the window seat, eyeballing us through the Lavender.

We’re not sure why she does this. I suspect she’s wondering why we are just sitting around enjoying ourselves – when we should be getting her dinner. Just a thought.

 

Night and day

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Over the last few days I’ve spent a bit of time playing around with Photoshop turning day shots to night shots. It’s one of those things that sounds hard but is relatively simple.

The key is to making things look realistic is to work out where the night light is coming from – street lights or the moon or an open window – and to work from that.

See what you think.

 

 

A comparison that surprised me

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Two camerasMy first ever digital camera was a Canon Digital IXUS V. It boasted a 2.1 megapixel sensor, an optical view finder and a LCD screen on the back that was about the size of a postage stamp. Overall it was about as big as a packet of cigarettes and built like a brick.

I purchased it over 10 years ago and it has sat in a draw, unused, for the last few years because the battery has refused to charge. I ran across it a few weeks ago and decided to see if I could track down a new battery to bring it back to life. Surprisingly I managed to find a new battery  – thank you dc-battery.co.nz – and the camera came alive.

A comparison seemed to be in order – my rejuvenated Canon versus the Leica D-Lux 6 purchased in Hong Kong last year.

This is in no way a scientific comparison, just me playing around one afternoon at my desk. I was expecting the Leica to blitz the Canon – which it did – but in good light the antique Canon held up reasonably well – much better than I expected.

Flowers on our bench

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FlowersIt’s the height of summer in Wellington and our garden is full to bursting with flowers. Which explains why some have made their way into a vase on our bench. I think the florist in the family has done a great job arranging them – so I took a photo.