2009: 00:01:00:03:37
Happy New Year!
... now read!
Some of you will read this buried up to your nuts in snow, some of you reading this will be sat looking at miserable wet weather outside whilst tucking down under the blankets, some of you reading this, will still be in smog riddled cities that never really get cold. New Zealand has had a slight downturn weather-wise over the last few days, but nevertheless, on New Year's Day at three minutes and thirty-seven seconds past midnight (watch in my pocket) it was warm enough to take this.
Everyone I know here in Wellington has either gone away for the Xmas break, or has been working. So no wild parties, no days of eating Xmas turkey, no socialising whilst under the influence, just fleeting grasps of the time I could snatch with friends here. So what do you do when you're home alone on NYE and bored out of your head? You go and take photos...
2008 brought a lot of things for me. This time last year I was unemployed and staring down the barrel of having to sell off all my camera gear in order to stay afloat. Who knew that those horrible banks in Britain still want your money, even after you've emigrated!? I was a home owner, but didn't live there. I was enjoying living life in New Zealand and thanking my lucky stars for being so bloody lucky to have been allowed into this country. (Thankfully that hasn't subsided.) I had totally, and utterly fallen completely out of love with taking photographs, and it would be nearly four months before it bit me on the ankles and started getting under my skin again. Those banks could have taken it all really, as I didn't care less if the cameras went. Fortunately I found work, and combined with growth in the idea that I can take photos here, I'm still sat with cameras in my cupboard.
Not a day goes past without me seeing the sea, every single time I crest the brow of the hill beside the airport runway and see the harbour of Wellington in front of me, whether sunny, water like glass, or torrential rain and steely clouds, I smile to myself. Not a day goes past without me thinking about the people I left behind in Britain, very often those who either struggle or can't be bothered to get in touch prey on my mind more. Not a day goes past without me realising that coming here was a gift of monumental proportions. Not a day goes past without me realising the people who are here with me that I knew from back home, are key and integral to every single thing I do.
I've learned to appreciate. To recognise that Wellington being so small isn't a bad thing, and that by walking through town, a member of this city for just over a year, and seeing and recognising a face every day, is a very cool thing. The place is like one little social hub, and it beams because of it. To appreciate the food, the drink, the culture. To appreciate the sun on your face as you walk down Oriental Bay with a Kaffee Eis ice cream in your hand, and to see that look of feint disbelief when the latest cruise ship rolls into town, and the tourists are totally bowled over by the place. I've learned to appreciate the people I met on the interweb, that turned out to be real and not just avatars on a forum, and who have made me most welcome here. Step forward Kirstine, Brent and Bruce Barton and his frankly amazing family. I'm learning to appreciate the wealth of artistic and model-tastic talent here, and to try and find my way and where I fit into it all. And I've been learning to appreciate and how to best soak in and exploit the myriad of Flickr-ites on here who I see or speak to (at least in some way shape or form) on an almost daily basis.
You know when you look back at things, you could never see what was coming. If you'd told me at aged 19, working my ass off in an engineering firm, struggling with personal changes in my life, and trying to break away from the upbringing I had, that ten years later I'd be living the other side of the world and trying to make it as a photographer, several pounds heavier, but with a really fucking cool hair cut, I'd never have believed you. If you'd have told me last year I'd be typing this after an immensely progressive photographic year for me, I'd have told you to balls...
So people, plan your year. But expect nothing. Things come, things go, but life is sure as hell to hit you with some stuff square in the eyes. It's yours to take, live it.
(Strobist info, 580EXII fired via 10m off-camera flash cord at camera left, about 7 o'clock)
2009: 00:01:00:03:37
Happy New Year!
... now read!
Some of you will read this buried up to your nuts in snow, some of you reading this will be sat looking at miserable wet weather outside whilst tucking down under the blankets, some of you reading this, will still be in smog riddled cities that never really get cold. New Zealand has had a slight downturn weather-wise over the last few days, but nevertheless, on New Year's Day at three minutes and thirty-seven seconds past midnight (watch in my pocket) it was warm enough to take this.
Everyone I know here in Wellington has either gone away for the Xmas break, or has been working. So no wild parties, no days of eating Xmas turkey, no socialising whilst under the influence, just fleeting grasps of the time I could snatch with friends here. So what do you do when you're home alone on NYE and bored out of your head? You go and take photos...
2008 brought a lot of things for me. This time last year I was unemployed and staring down the barrel of having to sell off all my camera gear in order to stay afloat. Who knew that those horrible banks in Britain still want your money, even after you've emigrated!? I was a home owner, but didn't live there. I was enjoying living life in New Zealand and thanking my lucky stars for being so bloody lucky to have been allowed into this country. (Thankfully that hasn't subsided.) I had totally, and utterly fallen completely out of love with taking photographs, and it would be nearly four months before it bit me on the ankles and started getting under my skin again. Those banks could have taken it all really, as I didn't care less if the cameras went. Fortunately I found work, and combined with growth in the idea that I can take photos here, I'm still sat with cameras in my cupboard.
Not a day goes past without me seeing the sea, every single time I crest the brow of the hill beside the airport runway and see the harbour of Wellington in front of me, whether sunny, water like glass, or torrential rain and steely clouds, I smile to myself. Not a day goes past without me thinking about the people I left behind in Britain, very often those who either struggle or can't be bothered to get in touch prey on my mind more. Not a day goes past without me realising that coming here was a gift of monumental proportions. Not a day goes past without me realising the people who are here with me that I knew from back home, are key and integral to every single thing I do.
I've learned to appreciate. To recognise that Wellington being so small isn't a bad thing, and that by walking through town, a member of this city for just over a year, and seeing and recognising a face every day, is a very cool thing. The place is like one little social hub, and it beams because of it. To appreciate the food, the drink, the culture. To appreciate the sun on your face as you walk down Oriental Bay with a Kaffee Eis ice cream in your hand, and to see that look of feint disbelief when the latest cruise ship rolls into town, and the tourists are totally bowled over by the place. I've learned to appreciate the people I met on the interweb, that turned out to be real and not just avatars on a forum, and who have made me most welcome here. Step forward Kirstine, Brent and Bruce Barton and his frankly amazing family. I'm learning to appreciate the wealth of artistic and model-tastic talent here, and to try and find my way and where I fit into it all. And I've been learning to appreciate and how to best soak in and exploit the myriad of Flickr-ites on here who I see or speak to (at least in some way shape or form) on an almost daily basis.
You know when you look back at things, you could never see what was coming. If you'd told me at aged 19, working my ass off in an engineering firm, struggling with personal changes in my life, and trying to break away from the upbringing I had, that ten years later I'd be living the other side of the world and trying to make it as a photographer, several pounds heavier, but with a really fucking cool hair cut, I'd never have believed you. If you'd have told me last year I'd be typing this after an immensely progressive photographic year for me, I'd have told you to balls...
So people, plan your year. But expect nothing. Things come, things go, but life is sure as hell to hit you with some stuff square in the eyes. It's yours to take, live it.
(Strobist info, 580EXII fired via 10m off-camera flash cord at camera left, about 7 o'clock)