Category Archives: New Zealand

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.

My favourite car shot – at the moment

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Peeping PorschesThis shot was taken last year but I’ve only just got around to cleaning it up – and I really like it.

I’ve removed a few distractions – like power poles and the inevitable overhead wires – and played with the colour but that’s about all.

Photographers talk about the “magic hour” just after dusk – and this shot is a good example.

I’ve included the original shot as a point of reference.

Our back yard

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Back yard 2 - Jan 2016The holiday break has seen an addition to our back yard in the form of an outdoor couch. It wasn’t exactly what we went looking for but we think it’s a nice addition. It catches the last of the sun and is a great place to relax on a warm summer evening.

 

Of dogs and moon rises

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Presenting two photos that you can only take when you’ve got the time. And that’s the great thing about holidays, you have the time.

The dog shot involved two tired girls and Jean acting as a wrangler behind me. It took about 30 shots to get the one I was looking for with Poppie staring down the lens and Bella on guard.

The moon rising over Nelson shot took time because I had no tripod and the shutter speed had to be quick enough to ensure a sharp shot but still have a reasonable depth of field. In the end I pushed the ISO to 800 and managed to hand-hold the camera steady for 1/30th of a second exposure. Then it was into Photoshop for some cropping, colour balancing and exposure work.

It’s great to have time for all this faffing about.

Merry Christmas from Nelson

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Poppie and Bella relaxingTeam Mowday is in Nelson enjoying some family hospitality. So far that’s meant a cracking Christmas dinner and a day spent recovering – which involved lots of snoozing.

As you can see, everyone is taking the chance to recharge their batteries.

It’s beginning to look a bit like Christmas – at our place

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Christmas at KainuiThe tree is up at our place and, for the first time, the front balcony is festooned with sparkling lights. It was a little concerning when Jean, standing and admiring her work, mentioned in passing “we really need to do the upstairs balcony as well, and the gutters”.

Who knows where this will end?

Farewell to a legend

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Jonah LomuIt was the last thing anyone expected. The passing of a legend, the passing of Jonah. I vividly recall that game in South Africa in 1995 when he steamrolled the English. Four tries and the, now legendary, flattening of Mike Catt.

On top of his rugby prowess, in the last few years he struck me as a thoroughly good guy, father, husband and kiwi.

Jonah, you will be missed.

It’s been a while since my last post …

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All Blacks

I’ve just realised it’s been around 6 weeks since my last post. Clearly life and work have got in the way of blogging. That and the Rugby World Cup and all the stress and tension that generated. As far as I can work out almost every kiwi was up at 5am on finals day to watch the match. At half time with the All Blacks up by 20 odd points there was humour and a feeling of “job done”, but 20 minutes later when the gap was 4 points things got serious. Ultimately the ABs despatched those we love to beat –  the Australians – and the celebrations began.

And the champagne flowed. It was quite odd being drunk at 8am on a Sunday but I suspect we weren’t the only New Zealand household in that state.

 

 

Echoes of Italy

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Madonna cleaningIt feels like we’ve been home for ages but every so often something reminds you of holiday times.

Like the photo above. We were having breakfast at the villa one morning and two ladies arrived to clean up the madonna next door. It was our madonna apparently – because it was on the villa property – but locals take the responsibility to sweep, clean and polish it.

It was also a useful landmark if we needed to describe which vila we were in – the one next to the madonna – ahh, si la madonna. Bene.

 

And now we are home

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Wet WellingtonAfter 3 weeks of rest and relaxation we’re back home in Wellington and back into our routine – including the daily commute to work. And despite it being spring we were met with a pretty good impersonation of winter. Sigh.

 

The house on the cliff

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Cliff top houseEvery time we walked from the villa to the village of Positano we passed a house that simply had to be photographed. It is actually three apartments that are built, quite literally, on the side of a cliff overlooking the sea and above a private beach.

The setting is stunning and the way the house is fitted into the hill seems to sum up the relationship Positano has with its surroundings. They work in harmony, like that’s the way things have always been. The Italians have a word for this – simpatico.

Si, simpatico.

 

Two days in Rome

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At the end of our holiday we had two days in Rome. It was a chance to visit some favourite places of ours as well as some new places. We stayed at Hotel Barocco in one of their junior suites – which meant we had an outdoor patio to relax on – four floors above Piazza Barberini. It was a real luxury.

As always we were looked after superbly with nothing being too much trouble. Which made it even harder to say goodbye and start the long trip home. The good thing is that we threw a coin into the Trevi fountain (well sort of as you can see from the photo) so we’ll be back.

Cheese glorious cheese

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Cheese for PoppieIn New Zealand buying Parmigiano Reggiano usually means buying small pre-packed slices, at great expense from the super market or deli. In Italy it’s different – as can be seen from the Parmigiano available at our favourite alimnetari. You give an indication of  how much you want and it’s sliced off the round – right there in the middle of the store.

These were also the rounds that Poppie and Daisy used to sit next too when they were in Positano waiting patiently for the shop keeper to cut off a wee slice as a treat.

Poppy still enjoys the taste of Parmigiano – she obediently sits and waits for a taste every time I use some in a dish at home.