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Kite surfer in Gisborne

Gisborne is a beach city and famous for its surfing beaches. This was taken from Waikanae Beach looking across Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay). I chose to make this a black and white photograph as there is a lot of contrast in the way that the sun was hitting the waves. I watched this kite surfer for about half an hour. There were about five others in the water but this person stood out. They were moved fast up and down the waterfront. And getting airborne a lot. A couple of times they went much higher out the water than this. As someone who enjoys flying a kite, kite surfing has always interested me as something I’d like to try one day.

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Tai Chi practice Shanghai

This group of people were practicing what I guess to be Tai Chi. If I’m wrong please let me know and I will correct this. They were so focused on there practice they didn’t see me. Even when crouching to frame this photograph with the Shanghai skyline behind them. This was taken at around 6am in Huangpu Park. We were next to the Shanghai People’s Heroes Monument and The Bund Historical Museum. Getting up before dawn for a photo shoot can sometimes be a bit of a gamble in a new city. The weather can often be unpredictable or not on your side. Shanghai was very hazy early in the morning. On the other hand there are a lot less people and crowds around. In this case, the group of people make this photograph special to me. Without them it would be far less appealing.

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Shanghai from Waibaidu Bridge

Called the Garden Bridge in English, Waibaidu Bridge is China’s first all-steel bridge. Built in 1856 it crosses Suzhou Creek near where it joins the Huangpu River. When I stayed in Shanghai this bridge was next to my hotel on the north side of the creek. I walked across it many times heading south towards The Bund and central Shanghai. Black and white processing of photographs often highlights details that are easier to overlook in the colour version. In this case the textures on the tarmac and the patterns that the rivets make on the steel of the bridge.

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Tawhai Falls – Gollums Pool

Driving through the Tongariro National Park, my first stop was here. Tawhai Falls is only a 10 minute drive from the small town of National Park. The Tawhai Falls are 13 metres high. It was the filming location of Gollum’s pool, where Faramir and his archers are watching Gollum fish. I recently invested in some neutral density filters which are like sunglasses for the camera. They let me use a much longer exposure time, which gives this cotton wool effect of the movement of the water. Even though it was raining, I made sure the camera was on the tripod. Using different filters to better understand the effects. This version was one of the longer exposure times of 20 seconds. When converted to monochrome I liked the effect of the soft blurred water contrasting against the hard rocks.