Cyclist?

We were in Wellington a few weeks back. I spotted this bloke on a floating bike contraption just offshore round Oriental Parade. Who needs cycleways? Not sure if it would be comfortable in choppy weather.

Memorial

This War memorial is in Milton, a small town in southern Otago. Virtually all towns in New Zealand have a War Memorial, originally erected after the Great War of 1914-1918. These memorials commemorate the many young men from the local districts that were killed in conflict. This photo was part of series shot on 8" x 10" film and contacted printed way back in the early 1980's

Fungi

This cluster of fungi was part of a larger colony all growing on what remained of some long gone tree stumps. I think they are called 'Laughing Jim' (Gymnopilus junonius)

B&W

Every so often I get sick of colour pics. Now is one of those every so oftens.  I stumbled across a book at the library about  the great American photographer Edward Weston. When I was a youth I was introduced to his snaps by Murray Hedwig, our photography tutor at Christchurch Technical Institute.
Along with my dear dear friend Kevin Capon we were instantly smitten by his pics, the subject matter, the sharpness, tonality and all round exquisiteness. For many many years I was heavily influenced by Edward Weston. I was shooting a lot of large format B&W and printing on what I consider the best photographic paper ever created, Agfa Portriga 111(it was discontinued about a year after I discovered it) and doing the whole archival processing thing.
It's been interesting re-reading about Edward again after such a break from him. I can now see his pics from a different stage of life perspective.
I'm hankering to get back home after nine weeks trapped in a motel waiting for earthquake repairs to be completed and get into the darkroom and dabble.

Burl

This warty looking growth on what I think is an Elm is a burl. Burls are thought to be caused by the tree being stressed by some invading insect or virus. What ever the cause, the timber that lurks beneath that lumpy bark is utterly beautiful. If you own or have glimpsed the interior of very expensive British car like the Royal family frequent, you may be familiar with the wood panelling on the dashboard, quite often it is a veneer of Elm burr (burl). Many different species can produce burls. Sometimes I have found our native Beech tree burls washed up on a West Coast beach. I did find an Elm burl that someone had dumped on a river bank. After a gut busting struggle I managed to squeeze it into the back of the station wagon. Once I got it home I weighed it on the bathroom scales. Sadly this was the last thing they ever weighed. It was over 120 kg. Sadly I kept it on the ground and rot and borer consumed most of it.

Necterines

One of my favourite fruits, the nectarine is always a joy to consume in the late summer/early autumn. Apparently they are the same species as Peaches, the only real difference being, is the fuzzless skin. This smoothness leads to a greater enjoyment as you don't have the hassle of either peeling or eating a peach skin. They are thought to of originated in China around 2000 years ago. this is interesting because for many years we in New Zealand were blessed with an abundance of divine stone fruit grown in the perfect conditions of Central Otago. A large proportion of this fruit was canned so everyone could enjoy it in the dead of winter. Now days with all the big corporations striving to reap huge monetary rewards for their executives and shareholders it's all about quantity at the least cost. This has led to a lot of our canned fruit now comes from China.

Repairs

We've had to clear the house out and move to a motel while our house gets the cracks fixed that were created by earthquakes. I need to take some course on decluttering, after nearly 30 years in the same place a few bits and pieces accumulate. I quite like the look of the above minimalism.