Public Address | Cafe | Capture: A Place to Stand

JacksonP

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 06:32:06 +1300

A place to handstand.

Happy New Year all the Capture contributors. Thanks for all the goodness in 2015, and looking forward to more in the coming year.

Soon Lee

Wed, 30 Dec 2015 13:40:22 +1300

Mustn't forget to mention their minions, the Knights of Ren-deer.

I'll see myself out...

David Hood

Wed, 30 Dec 2015 12:15:14 +1300

This time he’s brought reinforcements

Always two there are.

Soon Lee

Wed, 30 Dec 2015 12:11:53 +1300

YODA vs SANTA: The Sequel.
Santa is back! This time he's brought reinforcements!

[Our neighbours. Still cool!]

Nora Leggs

Tue, 22 Dec 2015 21:14:22 +1300

Congratulations prize winners : )

Paul Dibble does Christmas, santa's helper in Wellesley St.

Hebe

Tue, 22 Dec 2015 00:47:17 +1300

I got a nice xmas present this week. My outdoor bath. It works well and is pure bliss. Ahhh.
Nice! And surprisingly sleek against the bush. Wonderful pressie.

Lilith __

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 23:59:59 +1300

My outdoor bath.

Primo! I'd never get out of it.

JacksonP

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 21:11:11 +1300

Nice Sofie. Looks champion.

Sofie Bribiesca

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 20:10:58 +1300

I got a nice xmas present this week. My outdoor bath. It works well and is pure bliss. Ahhh.

Sofie Bribiesca

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 20:00:06 +1300

Well deserved. Beautiful.

Judi Lapsley Miller

Sun, 20 Dec 2015 20:47:20 +1300

Wow! I'm stunned! thank you!

Hebe

Sun, 20 Dec 2015 19:46:33 +1300

Thank you so much Jackson. I loved the 2105 Tell You What and this year's looks great.

And thank YOU for the Capture , and the advice on how to make the wotsits work.

Meri Kirihimete to you and your family, and to everyone who posts their photographic marvels. I…

JacksonP

Sun, 20 Dec 2015 19:02:15 +1300

Righto, with great fanfare, here is the randomized top ten, with the winners of the two books being:

1st Prize – Judi Lapsley Miller

2nd Prize – Hebe

If you could both drop me a note by replying to blog or clicking email above this post, I'll arrange to send…

Jonathan Ganley

Sun, 20 Dec 2015 11:23:18 +1300

I grew up on Auckland's North Shore, but the big city over the bridge was where I wanted to be.

Ian Dalziel

Sun, 20 Dec 2015 09:12:51 +1300

a couple (+1) of imagery sites of passing interest for idle moments:
http://patternity.org/archive/
and
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/dec/19/a-new-golden-era-of-film-posters-in-pictures
and
http://www.oldbookillustrations.com/

Hebe

Sat, 19 Dec 2015 21:40:57 +1300

I’ve been looking for this for a while: Greg up on top of the Port Hills in midsummer 2008, picking his way down the treacherous rocky hillside in Victoria Park.

This is home: the place where my people have stood, the place where my Great-Uncle Huia Gilpin and his mates…

Hebe

Sat, 19 Dec 2015 20:28:50 +1300

They may fly, but they keep me grounded…

Stunning.

JacksonP

Sat, 19 Dec 2015 19:25:05 +1300

keep me grounded

I have expanded the shortlist to include this stunner, Judi. Beauty.

Judi Lapsley Miller

Sat, 19 Dec 2015 15:13:09 +1300

They may fly, but they keep me grounded...

JacksonP

Sat, 19 Dec 2015 08:59:53 +1300

Hi everyone. Thanks for the entries to our photo contest.

I've compiled a shortlist of finalists so far, but will accept late entries from any newcomers.

You can look at the top 10 thus far on this little Storify Page.

Will let it run until tomorrow (Sunday 20th) lunch time,…

sandra

Sun, 13 Dec 2015 16:42:37 +1300

Home is where the honey is … we’re renting a beehive and the beekeeper turned up yesterday to harvest our first crop. Husband was hands on and I was the photographer (and Alan is the one directing operations and who actually knows what he’s doing).

The photo of the jars…

Shaun Scott

Sun, 13 Dec 2015 13:09:21 +1300

Watching test cricket in Dunedin . . .

Shaun Scott

Sun, 13 Dec 2015 13:06:50 +1300

Dunedin weather always gives a sense of place- climate can become do much a part of who we are. Two photos here showing how it can be in Otepoti within minutes. The first I had sent to my brother in the uk (and then deleted to save space, hence now…

Shaun Scott

Sun, 13 Dec 2015 10:33:38 +1300

Photos may be out of sequence for dramatic effect.
Well played! totally got my morning off to a smiling start- now about to finish my porridge, and head of to a chilly university oval with our daughter to watch some cricket.

Soon Lee

Sat, 12 Dec 2015 11:03:56 +1300

View from the deck: Yoda vs Santa. Yoda wins!

[Photos may be out of sequence for dramatic effect. Also, we have cool neighbours.]

sandra

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 09:33:16 +1300

Had a walk round Mauao yesterday – birds washing in a bit of a rocky stream (tui and yellowhammers mostly); rabbits twitching their ears in the sunlight; a Danish-flagged log ship passing by on its way to goodness knows where, so close we thought we could touch it – and…

chris

Wed, 09 Dec 2015 16:47:25 +1300

Thanks a lot Jackson, a bit rushed but I found I was unable to take a photograph that expressed my love for the place.

JacksonP

Wed, 09 Dec 2015 16:34:26 +1300

Where I stand and what I see.

Really cool Chris. Thanks for posting those.

chris

Wed, 09 Dec 2015 14:07:48 +1300

Where I stand and what I see.

sandra

Tue, 08 Dec 2015 14:36:16 +1300

And since it's almost Christmas – here's the angel from the top of my family's tree (not my one here in Tauranga you understand, but the tree on the farm). The poor thing is a bit battered but she's not looking bad for her age, which is almost the same…

sandra

Tue, 08 Dec 2015 14:25:11 +1300

The after-effects of the Canterbury quakes are going to be felt for a long time. The fact that a great many people have stayed and endured says a great deal, not only about those people but also about the place.

Ross McA.

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 20:49:14 +1300

A favourite place of mine is Wharariki Beach, Golden Bay. Beautiful in the soft summer evening light.

Hebe

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 17:31:57 +1300

Here’s another aspect of home for me. Home has come to mean a place of safety and refuge that also has woven into it the opposite: the breaking of much I knew. Some days in the last five years, my mental landscape is as disarranged as if the Port Hills…

Hebe

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 17:26:57 +1300

Great pictures evoking home.

Hebe

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 17:26:03 +1300

So here are my pictures

Aaaah, ooooh, yum!

Sofie Bribiesca

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 16:22:48 +1300

The land where I stand.

Sofie Bribiesca

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 16:17:38 +1300

My transition from Auckland to Far North has been rather easy this year as I’ve been working on it a while now. For me I’m home now. Stella the dog came home to the street she was born in so I feel her resting place is secure for a long…

sandra

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:16:37 +1300

What I haven’t yet shared with you is just a little further away from home – Katikati is 30 minutes drive to the north and the site of the Haiku Pathway, the largest collection of engraved boulders outside Japan and, until very recently, the only one outside Japan. Read more…

sandra

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:06:39 +1300

Thanks, Shaun. Whew! I thought I was the only one who enjoyed visiting cemeteries – I specially like old, country places.

Hebe

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:22:55 +1300

Dandelion seed heads!
Yes!

Shaun Scott

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 10:29:35 +1300

they were beautiful (and even more so in my memory now)- just to the 8 year old eye, a dandelion seed-head was not as appealing as a gyrating, colourful and noisy display of others. :-)
Great that Chch has the festival with lights. We were lucky enough to have coincidentally…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 07:00:43 +1300

...why the ones outside the town hall were only white
Dandelion seed heads!

Hebe

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 23:33:55 +1300

It has reminded me of being a kid in christchurch, and loving seeing the colourful lights

The festivals with lights – especially in the winter – have cheered many of us. We need that mood-enhancing magic. Vicki Buck says there will be more use of the Botanic Gardens at night,…

Sacha

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 18:22:41 +1300

why the ones outside the town hall were only white

politics?

Shaun Scott

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 17:14:29 +1300

I love this photo, Hebe- and hits just like this whole theme is meant to do. It has reminded me of being a kid in christchurch, and loving seeing the colourful lights playing on fountains around the town- and always being puzzled why the ones outside the town hall were…

Shaun Scott

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 17:09:37 +1300

managed to beat the rain and get it done yesterday, but felt the Courtney Barnett lawn mowing anguish . . . although mine was more like bursting a daisy cloud than cutting grass.
[[https://courtneybarnett.bandcamp.com/track/small-poppies | "I stare at the lawn, it's Wednesday morning
It needs a cut but I leave…

JacksonP

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 10:46:08 +1300

Blog Update: You're all doing so well, I added a second prize. Check the main post for info.

Tell You What, you won't be disappointed. :-)

JacksonP

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 10:42:26 +1300

“how to resize”

Great Hebe. If you use the File/Export function, I usually choose quality 'High', Size: Custom, with max dimension 1000 – 1200. Seems to work well for all online mediums. Good luck. :-)

JacksonP

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 10:30:58 +1300

Our new house, since June, has a lawn. Similarly needs a mow. :-)

Hebe

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 09:38:01 +1300

There are so many layers to my “home” emotions and connections, and Christchurch being what it is they are constantly stirred. This is another home – taken the Festival of Light night at the Botanic Gardens in winter. It was a heart-singing evening.

Jackson, Photos is just what I need.…

Hebe

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 09:32:05 +1300

sometimes home is where the lawn is . . .

Like!

Shaun Scott

Fri, 04 Dec 2015 16:43:09 +1300

That is a lovely shot, Sandra.
Cemeteries are, I find, very grounding and contemplative. Just the sense of history and humanity, and wonder of the lives of those beneath the headstones.

Shaun Scott

Fri, 04 Dec 2015 13:49:30 +1300

sometimes home is where the lawn is . . .

sandra

Fri, 04 Dec 2015 13:31:54 +1300

Oddly enough, another one of my favourite places to be – near my childhood home and where my great-great grandparents rest.

sandra

Fri, 04 Dec 2015 13:29:48 +1300

One of our favourite places to walk – there again at the weekend. Different every time we go.

sandra

Fri, 04 Dec 2015 13:21:27 +1300

In response to the idea that taking shots on a cloudy day is better – it is! I photograph a lot of plant life and the colours of flowers are a touch more vibrant on a cloudy day and you don't get the whites "blasting out" or problematic shadows.

You…

Shaun Scott

Wed, 02 Dec 2015 12:51:03 +1300

That certainly works too.

John Farrell

Wed, 02 Dec 2015 07:27:01 +1300

I have sad news for those of you into "lomography".

http://petapixel.com/2015/11/28/r-i-p-holga-the-hit-toy-camera-comes-to-an-end/

John Farrell

Wed, 02 Dec 2015 07:24:27 +1300

That morning, it was coffee and a muffin.

Hebe

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 23:26:50 +1300

Hebe, I suggest you try taking the park on a cloudy day. Big trees cast deep shadows and the camera can’t handle the range of light and dark that our eyes can. An overcast day evens things out :-).

Thank you: great advice. I don't think like this (yet).

Shaun Scott

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 22:01:27 +1300

It seems beaches/coasts are very much a place of home for many of us, looking at the number of great posts

Shaun Scott

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 21:49:57 +1300

Nothing like a pizza and an emmersons to quell a bad-tempered Dunedin day :-)

Lilith __

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 20:54:29 +1300

A difficulty with taking pictures on an overcast day, Lilith_, is that there will be a reduction in contrast.

Yes, this can be a good thing.

Nora Leggs

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 20:16:02 +1300

Auckland storm, softer that your Dunedin storm!

Classic Manukau Heads

Braving weather

Nora Leggs

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 20:01:04 +1300

Another favourite stomping ground

Nora Leggs

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 19:52:19 +1300

A place to stand, or a place to lie around.

And round Silo Park, a place to stomp.

John Farrell

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 19:18:22 +1300

A difficulty with taking pictures on an overcast day, Lilith_, is that there will be a reduction in contrast.

Lilith __

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 17:02:28 +1300

Hebe, I suggest you try taking the park on a cloudy day. Big trees cast deep shadows and the camera can't handle the range of light and dark that our eyes can. An overcast day evens things out :-).

David Hood

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 08:39:22 +1300

St Clair on a still evening

Chris Waugh

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 06:22:52 +1300

Thanks. We're getting there, but it takes time. The wee one is loving it, though, she's having a great time, and has already planned out precisely what she's going to do when she starts school in a few months.

Hebe

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 23:56:06 +1300

Here’s where we are.

Hope you are settling in well Chris.

Chris Waugh

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 19:46:39 +1300

Here’s where we are.

John Farrell

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 19:29:30 +1300

St Clair in a bad winter mood. Taken through the window of The Esplanade Restaurant.

Shaun Scott

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 16:29:05 +1300

St Clair beach, looking towards St Kilda and Lawyers Head

Shaun Scott

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 16:26:17 +1300

Perhaps an almost cliched piece of Dunedin iconography . . . but my earliest memory of Dunedin was on St Clair beach as a five year old, visiting from Christchurch. A scorching hot day, and a beach covered in jelly fish! I remember some "big boys" (they must've been at…

Hebe

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 15:15:43 +1300

Thank you John and David.

John Farrell

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 11:31:07 +1300

A view from my dining room window.

David Hood

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:45:21 +1300

These are the two photos I use to introduce myself in online courses, one looking up at Mount Cargill, one looking down from Mount Cargill.

David Hood

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:41:51 +1300

A couple of other options that might work-

If you camera can be set to take the light reading only from the central zone, you make that the bit of the picture you want to optimise on.

If your camera displays the light histogram, put that on and play with…

John Farrell

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 07:51:05 +1300

Hebe – one way to keep detail in the trees, and not burn out the background, is to use HDR mode, if your camera has it. The camera needs to be on a tripod for this.

Hebe

Sun, 29 Nov 2015 22:56:56 +1300

The park near home where we walk the dog. (I'm not getting that light right.)

Nora Leggs

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 20:16:44 +1300

Old trees in local parks, sense of home.

Lilith __

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 17:49:37 +1300

places I go that feel familiar and good

What happy pictures, Russell. :-)

Lilith __

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 17:30:29 +1300

Well, spotted, John. :-) Yes, poor old Blackhead. They’re still quarrying it.

I always want to write Black Head, but Blackhead is correct. And it's not a beauty spot.

John Farrell

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 15:43:39 +1300

Kedron – I would guess that Lillith's shots were taken at Brighton, south of Dunedin. The headland in the far distance in the "sun on the water" shot is Blackhead, which has been destroyed by quarrying. I have a picture of it taken in the early 1970s.

Russell Brown

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 14:54:20 +1300

I didn’t quite know how to approach this topic, but I thought, well, maybe different understandings of place.

So, starting with … places I go that feel familiar and good.

Point Chev beach, where Sir Keith Sinclair played as a child.

Our little pocket of harbour, where a whale stranded…

Kedron Parker

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 09:57:14 +1300

Thanks Lilith! Where are your lovely beach shots taken?

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 23:25:39 +1300

I love how the grey heron looks the plastic owl square in the eye

Wow, great shot!

Kedron Parker

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 23:08:19 +1300

I grew up on this dock in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. I love how the grey heron looks the plastic owl square in the eye. That owl has been there long as I remember.

Hebe

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 22:01:16 +1300

So many wonderfuls!

Lilith, that bunch of daffodils is the best.

I am feeling at home with the Earth again, and starting to return to gardening. Greg has been working in it constantly, and most of the lushness this year is due to him. The cornflowers self-seeded from my planting…

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:51:42 +1300

These big taupata trees have been here a long time. They are less than 3m from the edge. In very stormy weather, the sea has been up here.

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:49:17 +1300

Here is a friend, sitting by the edge.

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:48:34 +1300

This is one of my favourite paths, and it used to curve softly out through marram grass and down to the beach. Now it just stops.

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:46:56 +1300

Sadly, since the floods last June, the beach has been massively eroded, and the dunes are disappearing. It's one thing to know that storms will become more frequent and sea-level will rise, it's another to see it happening so rapidly.

Before June there was a beach path here, through dunes.

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:41:36 +1300

Clouds and waves.

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:37:57 +1300

Sometimes the waves are dramatic.

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:34:17 +1300

It can be beautiful at night, too.

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:31:08 +1300

And also beautiful clear soft weather.

Lilith __

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:25:41 +1300

Aww, thanks Jackson. :-)

I love how living by the beach I see it in many sorts of weather. We get some good storms.

JacksonP

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 17:20:49 +1300

Wonderful. Loving the photo narratives Lilith and Sandra. Some strong contenders in there. :-)

Home is always in my garden.

Yes, our new home has a garden. It’s a delight.

Nora Leggs

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 19:38:19 +1300

Great places, great pics.

Home is always in my garden.

All through this winter I've been deconstructing and reconstructing the idea of home, as in roots, family, where I've come from. Parsley was abundant in the garden all winter – what a great excuse for parsley sauce as comfort food.

sandra

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 17:02:53 +1300

Summer on the farm – flowering grass and little blue butterflies (not in shot).

James Littlewood*

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 17:00:49 +1300

This is nearby. And here and also here (other filaments where my doppelganger wanders)

sandra

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 16:52:57 +1300

And finally, my backyard.

sandra

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 16:49:36 +1300

Another favourite place to walk is Te Puna Quarry Park, about 15 minutes north of Tauranga – here’s a shot from the top terrace (the gardens are pretty cool too).

sandra

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 16:46:04 +1300

Driving down country two or three times a year one of my favourite places between Tauranga and my childhood home is the Desert Rd. Seeing the mountains is a bonus, but the it’s just as good without. Have just got back from Japan where our scheduled ‘viewing’ of Fuji-san was…

sandra

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 16:39:44 +1300

Walking the base track on Mauao (the local name for the Mt Maunganui landform) is one of my favourite things to do. Stopped to chat to a friend one day and what should come round the corner, but ...

James Littlewood*

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 16:37:25 +1300

It's a farm house in central NSW, largely unchanged since my mother was borne there, 80-odd years ago.

See the table in the background? Just in front of that is where I learned to walk. With my childhood house in Auckland now long gone, this is the exact site of…

sandra

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 16:37:23 +1300

Looking across Tauranga Harbour towards the Kaimai Range (with Coromandel away to the right) from Fergusson Park, Tauranga. Always a nice place to be.

Lilith __

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 00:04:46 +1300

Mostly, I just look at the water. There’s a lot to see.

And there’s me, standing. This is my place.

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:57:14 +1300

I’ve swum on this beach for many years. It’s cold but wonderful.

Surfers more usually wear wetsuits, and can be seen surfing here even in winter.

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:45:56 +1300

This young sea lion, however, was feeling feisty and chased me off the beach.

There’s a rule about not approaching sea mammals. I thought I was being discreet, and sat and watched him from a distance. But apparently the beach wasn’t big enough for both of us!

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:44:46 +1300

This seal had hauled out for a rest.

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:42:46 +1300

We have spoonbills visiting our local stream. They are even more comical on the wing, with their long faces and long legs.

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:37:20 +1300

The rocky outcrops make excellent fortresses for shags. On the occasional very low tide, I’ve walked past our local colony of pied shags. It’s basically exactly like the shag-colony diorama at Canterbury Museum. Sadly I didn’t get any good photos as I was worried about drowning.
But here are some…

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:31:28 +1300

And a sleeping gull.

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:28:54 +1300

Many creatures use my local beach, not only racehorses.

Here’s a variable oystercatcher, and some flying stilts.

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 23:23:33 +1300

(not mine)

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 22:46:23 +1300

Jackson, I see your footprint and raise you a hoofprint!

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 21:35:57 +1300

And, by popular demand, here is my assistant.

Lilith __

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 21:34:30 +1300

My Mum spent her teen years living in Central Otago and Dunedin. Where I live now, in the country south of Dunedin, there used to be market gardens. Mum remembers admiring the hillsides of daffodils in the spring.

The paddock behind my house is grazed by sheep most of the…

Nora Leggs

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 20:19:51 +1300

Home for cats.

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 23 Nov 2015 12:58:30 +1300

A green and pleasant land…
the Gog Magog Downs
Spooky, I was just reading about T.C. Lethbridge and Gog and Magog at the weekend, and found one of his books on Trade Me – he’s always been of interest to me since our plumber showed me how dowsing works when…

Carol Green

Mon, 23 Nov 2015 11:50:52 +1300

This is Little Trees Hill, part of the Gog Magog Downs, just south of Cambridge, UK. It's the highest point for a while, which at 74m isn't going to break records. Very flat, East Anglia.
I grew up a stone's throw from here and still like to go up there…

Walter Evers

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 02:37:56 +1300

The garden of my favourite pub in Jakarta, my adopted home. New Zealand long since having stopped feeling like anything but alienation.

Soon Lee

Sat, 21 Nov 2015 18:22:25 +1300

View from the trail north of Bethells Beach (Te Henga) on Auckland's West Coast (on what is now part of the Hillary Trail).

Harakeke in the foreground. Across the sea some ways (a long way) was where I was born, but home is here.

Public Address

Sat, 21 Nov 2015 18:22:25 +1300

Discussion from blog post.