Beach Romance

Canon 20D, 18-55mm Lens

Another take of the couple walking down Karioitahi Beach in South Auckland just before sunset. To me this sums up the beaches in summer all over New Zealand.

Ancient Tower

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Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Ancient mosque tower inside the Chellah at Rabat in Morocco.  A fascinating place to explore with ruins of both an ancient roman city, as well as a 10th century mosque. I was there at the wrong time of the year to see the Storks, but the nests were still around.

In the Red

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Wandered around a friends garden yesterday, in beautiful weather, hot sun and blue skies and found this very beautiful red Gerbera in the shade of some tall trees. Would look great on canvas for that something red on a wall.

Country Meadow

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Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Beautiful country meadow and fascinating sky at Lake Wanaka in the South Island of New Zealand. When I got here, it was overcast and the light was flat. Started taking photos, and just as I had to go, the sun came out and threw this at me. I stayed for few more minutes but wish I could have stayed longer!

Tui in Black and White

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Canon 7D, 75-300mm Lens

Tui Portrait in Black and White.  These birds are native to New Zealand and have beautiful birdsong.  They're also great mimickers and can mimick things like phones, trucks backing and other environmental noises whichcan confuse people!

Flight

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro lens

A small New Zealand native Fantail was caught inside a bulk bin raw food shop in my town. I managed to get several image of him in sharp focus, but this is the one I loved the most as it shows how fast they are and his wing movements.

Golden Wheat

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Playing around in the grass, I sat myself high up a mountain in beautiful summer weather, and allowed myself to only take macro shots of what was immediately around me.  This is one successful image I was able to get.

New Zealand Wood Pigeon - Kereru

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro lens

New Zealand Wood Pigeon or Kereru are massive. You can hear them before you see them by their powerful wings making a whooshing sound.  When they land on the branches of the trees, you think the branch will break as they flap wildly. Beautiful colour and a very tidy tuxedo like plumage. Native to New Zealand and protected.

Karioitahi Beach at Dusk

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Karioitahi Beach in South Auckland near Waiuku. Beautiful west coast beach with iron volcanic sand. Wild and remote, the beach goes for miles. A totally stunning spot for watersports, hang gliding, fishing and photography!!

An Evening Walk

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

At dusk on the wild west coast beach at Karioitahi Beach in South Auckland.  I wanted to show just how big our landscape is in comparison to us humans and I've think I nailed it in this shot.  This is a beautiful beach with black iron volcanic sand, but is very rough and not very safe for swimming.

New Zealand Lily

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro lens

Beautiful New Zealand Lily.  These are quite small but lovely and colourful and very hardy.  A lovely speciment to have in the garden.  Must plant some more!

Cesky Krumlov

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Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

My visit to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic in October 2010.  Beautiful autumn colours reflected in the river which meanders through the town, both old and new.  This is the newer part of town where most people live now.  We were in the old walled city at the back of a church looking over the river at this view.  Beautiful place and I loved the history and the beauty of it.

The Photographer

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Shadow of my daughter taking a photo of the armanents museum in Fes, Morocco.  Late afternoon sunlight throwing the shadow on the clay wall.

Briar Rose

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Briar Rose taken by the Lakeside of Lake Wanaka.  These roses were growing abundantly all round. In World War II people used to pick the Rose Hips to make Rosehip Syrup from these plants - a great source of vitamin C.  Small flowers but still very pretty, but had to watch those thorns!

Underwater Rope Garden

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Beautiful old ropes under the water.  These ropes were quite deep, but the water is clean and crystal clear in the Marlborough Sounds so you can see quite far down.  I love how life has adapted to weave their roots into the rope for a whole new underwater rope garden.

Washing the Car

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

After a day of four wheeling up this west coast beach, the owners washed the car by speeding up a fresh water stream several times, to get rid of the salt underneath.  I thought it was quite clever, and made a great action image at sunset. Taken a few year ago, on one of Auckland's beautiful west coast beaches.

Morris 2

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Another shot of Morris, the Maine Coon cat but this time in Black and white.  He's looking up at his owner hoping that she'll feed him.  A cat as big as this has a hearty appetite.

Waiting for the Tide

Canon 20D, 75-300mm
Kingfisher on a rock in the estuary at Whitianga.  To get near him, I would take one step then stop, take a photo.  Then one more step slowly, and do the same.  I took it so slowly that I was able to get a few shots quite close before he flew off. I think he was waiting for the tide to come in so he could fish again!

New Zealand Gannet II

Canon 20D, 18-55mm Lens

Visiting the bird lady in Auckland, I was there just as a huge gannet had being brought in after not moving from a boat. After a couple of quick images, The Bird Lady, opened its mouth and asked me to shove a fish down it's gullet.  All in a days work!  This is a rework of the original.  I decided to do a lack and white with selective colouring of the eye.  I thought it turned out rather well!

The Old Church

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Old church at Okaramio on Highway 6 between Renwick and Havelock.  I was up at the crack of dawn in Autumn for this shot.  There was thick fog all down the valley, shrouding the church completely.  I can't find much about this church, but it was built at the turn of last century - in early 1900s and was used for church services from all around the valley.  People would come from miles away.  When church services were transferred to Havelock, it was then used as a school house for the children on farms in the vicinity.  I believe the church is still used for services, but only once a month.

Morris Major - the Maine Coon Cat

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Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

My friends Maine Coone Cat.  Stunningly beautiful and he allowed me to take photos of him quite close. He knows me well and as soon as I arrive he jumps on the chair and waits for me to feed him treats, a ritual I started from when he was a kitten. He's a big cat, able to reach up and put his paws on the top of the bench. His sister Molly has the biggest tail I've ever seen on a cat.

Akrotiri Lighthouse, Santorini

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Taken on Santorini, The bright blue sky, red rocks, and white buildings is so typical of hte island and makes everything so beautiful.

The Akrotiri Lighthouse is among the oldest lighthouses in this part of the world and was constructed way back in 1892. It stands like a sentinel towards the on the southern peninsula of Santorini island.

The lighthouse of Akrotiri is conspicuous by its square shaped tower that looms above 10 meters from the lighthouse warden’s house. Initially, the lighthouse was operated by petrol fuel. But with the introduction of electricity in the year 1988, it has been operated electronically and reportedly emits a radiant white light at intervals of 20 seconds.

The Reflection

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Reflection of a boat at Cissy Bay, in the Marlborough Sounds.  I turned it upright to confuse you!  Beautiful bay, with calm water and the reflections were amazing.  Overcast day, and just starting to rain when I took this image.

The Pink Lotus

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens at 31mm, On Tripod

Taken at Wrights Water Gardens in South Auckland a number of years ago, just revisited and reworked some of my images from that trip and found this.  Lotus flowers are simply beautiful.  The Lotus Festival at Wrights Water Gardens is every February and is well worth a visit, so if you're in Auckland make sure you go nice and early.  The gardens are stunning and it makes you feel you've just been thrust into a Monet painting.

The Shipwreck.

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens with CPL Filter


This is a shipwreck that lies in the Kenepuru Sounds at the top of the South Island, New Zealand. The wreck is of the ship Amokura, which was launched in 1899 in England. In the 1890s it was used to suppress slave labour in the Congo Area. In 1901 it escorted the Royal Yacht ‘Ophir’ around the coast of New Zealand. In 1905 it was taken over by the NZ Navy and used as a training ship until 1919 when she was stripped for repairs andwas found to have disintegration due to life on active service in the tropics, cost of returning her to sea-worthiness deemed prohibitive. In 1922 she was sold for use as coal hulk until 1953 when she was sold and towed to St Omer Bay, Kenepuru Sound where she was used as a Store Hulk and jetty. The council never approved so she sat there and rusted and eventually broke away and came to rest on the beach where she is now.

Length: 165 feet.
Beam: 31 feet.
Draught: minimum; 11.6 feet, maximum; 13.9 feet.
Displacement: 805 tons.
Propulsion: single 720 hp (normal draught) and 1,200 hp (forced) coal fired horizontal steam engine driving a two bladed propeller.
Cruising speed: 13 knots.
Armament: six 4-inch breech loading guns, two Hotchkiss 3 pounders and two Nordenfelt machine guns.

It Ain't Easy Being Green

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Canon 7D, 75-300m Lens


Frog floating on a lake about to get that fly just in front of him.  I wasn't fast enough, they move so fast!

When I first got to the lake, I could hear, but not see them. To me with my Cochlear Implant, it sounded like someone was using a chainsaw, because there were so many of them and they were loud!
It took a while being totally still before I could see them.  Any slight movement and they were gone.  I photographed here for a couple of hours.

Taken at Lake Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand

Vaisons La Romaine

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Amazing French village I visited in October 2010.  Walked through the old walled village up to a ruined and abandoned Chateau on the hill.The medieval town is high on the rocky cliff. The valley floor was safe from attack in Roman and modern times. In the Middle Ages attacks were frequent, and the town retreated up-hill to a more defensible position.  Very pretty and a must see if you ever get to this area.

White Clematis

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens,

Took this on one of my garden forays around Marlborough.  Beautiful white clematis.  I just love these flowers, they are always so beautiful no matter what the colour.  I'm always disappointed though that they only flower for such a short time in early spring.

The Colour of Early Summer in Mackenzie Country

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Hope I'm not boring you with the most amazing paddock of Wild Lupins in the Lindis Pass.  It's by Bridge 2360 if you're down that way.  We just climbed over the padlocked fence and played with a cameras in this field for a couple of hours. Beautiful willow trees, a beautiful river, and an seemingly unending field of Lupins. That's what I call Bliss. All along the side of the roads and rivers in the Mackenzie country these lupins grow, in white, yellow, pink, blues and purples.  The best time of the year to see them is mid December when they are at their best.

The Wild Lupins of Lindis Pass

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Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens at 10mm

We were driving in the Lindis Pass and from the road could see this field of Lupins that stretched for miles. After parking the car and climbing over two fences, we spent two hours photographing in this ‘paddock’ by the river. It was simply amazing. I used a mixture of Landscape and Macro lenses and will try and upload a few of these in the next week or so.

A Window to the Garden

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Beautiful garden wall with a glimpse into a hidden world beyond.  One of the most beautiful gardens in Marlborough, New Zealand.  It is a garden listed as a National Significance.  I wandered around here with my camera for a couple of hours and it still wasn't enough.

Perfect Pair

Canon 7D, 75-300mm

Pair of Blue Herons or White Faced Herons snapped at Anakiwa .  This is as close as I could get as the are fairly shy of humans carrying what looks to be a long barrelled gun. I did try to tell them it was only a camera, but I couldn't speak Heron and I don't think they understood English.

Main Canal, Venice

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

We were just leaving Venice to go back to pick up our luggage before leaving for Milan and this is one of the final parting shots of Venice I took on my camera.  I turned 50 on this day so it is a day etched permanently in my mind.  If I could live in Venice, I would be there already!

South Island Robin

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

I used the Macro lens for this one as it wasn't a very light place and I was also fairly close. The 100mm macro lens being 2.8 really  helped this image.  Taken on Motuara Island in the Marlborough Sounds, a natural bird sanctuary so the birds roam free without fear of predators.

This is the South Island Robin taking a bath, native and endemic to New Zealand.  They can be quite tame, seem not to fear humans.

Kinky Tail

Nikon D50, 35mm

Three Greek cats at the Acropolis of Lindos, Rhodes.  This Image was taken by my very talented daughter who is a whiz with the camera.  I'm featuring her on my blog every now and then. The Acropolis was an amazing place, yet everyone was photographing and taking notice of the cats, instead of the amazing ancient Greek architecture that towered above.

Willow Road

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Beautiful line of Willows by the river, somewhere around Lake Hawea, South Island of New Zealand.  I really liked the road leading you away, and wonder where it ends. This was taken near a historic bridge.

Delta Lake

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens with CPL Filter.

I felt like being creative today so took my image of Delta Lake, gave it an Orton effect, then loaded it up into Topaz Labs and had a play.  I was quite pleased with the result.

The Old Blue Door

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Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Beautiful old door in the village of Pyrgos in Santorini.  Love the textures and peeling paint and the string locking people out!  This village is one of the most beautiful in Santorini and was my favourite.

Mr Majestic

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Found this lone tree at the Delta Lake Heights area of Marlborough.  Majestic, and is strong enough to stand alone in the world to be loved by all and sundry. Perfect day with a storm brewing in the background.