It’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
This 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.
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- Photo as taken
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- Photo retouched
Our back yard
The 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.
2015 – the year that was
Gallery
This gallery contains 45 photos.
As we do every January, here’s a quick look back at 2015. Some shots you may have seen and some new ones.
Doggie antics
A short movie showing Bella on the couch in the study yesterday afternoon. After filming she was off to make mischief elsewhere – pretty much what you would expect from a 3 year old.
Of dogs and moon rises
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.
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- Poppie with Bella on watch for the new year
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- The view on Christmas night in Nelson – December
Merry Christmas from Nelson
It’s beginning to look a bit like Christmas – at our place
The 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
It 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 …
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
It 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.
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- Cleaning around the madonna
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- Madonna in her glass cabinet
And now we are home
After 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.
Vintage Vespa
There is no shortage of Vespas in Italy, in fact the soundtrack of the country is the buzz of two stroke engines. In Positano, where parking is a nightmare, Vespas are all pervasive.
And every so often you see one that catches your eye.
I believe this is a Vespa Sprint VLB made between 1965 and 1974. Don’t you love the split seat with the vintage helmets resting on them.
We saw this one parked outside the Galli Bar most afternoons while it’s owners took a break and had an espresso enjoying the view across the bay.
Bellissimo.
Positano – the way it was
A recent article in the Daily Mail included some photos of Italy in the 1950s and earlier. One was of Positano (a Getty image) when it was more fishing village than tourist centre.
But even in this photograph there are clearly recognisable landmarks – the Church of Santa Maria Assunta up from the beach, and the steps down to the beach with those iconic bronze lions sitting at each end.
The house on the cliff
Every 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.
