Back in the bush …

Well, this morning was quite different to yesterday morning. Today was rather more overcast and the light intensity was much lower. A more diffused light, so I failed to capture what I was looking for. Yesterday the sun poked its rays through the tree canopy and illuminated small areas in a very special way. No such luck today! Even so, the bush remains a wonderful place to walk and look and listen.

The entrance to the bush walkway
The entrance to the bush walkway

The bush area I was walking through was in Totara Park and there’s some really lovely large specimens of native trees. The next photo shows a lovely Puriri tree. The branches seem to spread out for ages and the main trunk has such lovely texture and form. A bit of a favourite for the kereru for the berries. We didn’t see any kereru today, but we could hear them. It struck me that the next time I go into the bush I should record the sounds and play them as a background track to the blog post. If I can get up in time tomorrow I might just try that.

A rather splendid Puriri tree
A rather splendid Puriri tree

I’ve always been fond of the tree ferns, not just their huge fronds as you can see in the final photo of this post, but the patterns in their trunk. This next image shows the trunk of a tree fern with the textures accentuated by moss and lichen.

Lovely patterns on the trunk of a tree fern.
Lovely patterns on the trunk of a tree fern.

Final image for this post is looking up through the fronds towards and brightening sky. It was quite noisy standing here taking this shot. Not from sirens, vehicles, aircraft, loud music or people talking, but from the cicadas. And then the whoosh of a kereru flying above. Quite a special place and well worth getting out of bed to enjoy if you get the chance. So much better than sitting in a queue on the motorway!

Looking up through the tree ferns.
Looking up through the tree ferns.

Pacific Music Awards 2015 … soundcheck.

It was great. A really great show with a wonderful atmosphere. A thoroughly enjoyable evening with some very talented musicians being recognised for their achievements.

Earlier in the day I popped down to see how the stage was set and bumped into Malcolm Lakatani. Always a pleasure to meet Malcolm.  He was to back Maryanne Ito later that evening, but as we waited for everyone to arrive and take their places for the soundcheck Malcolm relaxed a little and treated us to a little improvisation.  The lighting was just right for the music he was playing.  Thankfully I’d brought a couple of cameras!  I knew I’d be using a telephoto on the night, but wasn’t sure just how wide I’d need to go so I brought a 14-24mm and 24-70mm on a couple of D800s just to check out the angles.  The 24-70mm was perfect for shots close to the stage as well as distance shots.

The light was so lovely and moody.  Quite contrasty with just a couple of high spots to the rear and some gentle frontal lighting, but the effect on Malcolm was wonderful.  I quite like the contrasty deep shadowy type of image and this was a perfect opportunity to try and capture some shots.

Malcolm was relaxed, having fun just jamming away, sitting on a stool in his stocking feet.  The light was good and I was having a wonderful time too.  ISO was up pretty high at 2500 and the lens was wide open at f2.8 as I wanted to obscure and blur as much of the background as I could.  All shots below were taken with the Nikkor 24-70mm.  I hope you enjoy looking as much I did listening to Malcolm and taking the shots!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering about Maryanne, here’s a couple of shots of the lovely lady during her performance at last night’s Pacific Music Awards.

Fond memories!

Becoming a bit of a distant memory now is the time I spent in Singapore a few weeks ago. I still have very fond memories of the time there and am very keen to visit again. I may have mentioned before how safe you feel in Singapore no matter what time of day or night you’re out and about. And, it’s at night time when the city really seems to come to life. There’s this intoxicating mix of sparkling lights and water around the Marina Bay area where you can enjoy views from the bumboats on the water, at the quayside, on the bridges over the water or even on the Singapore Flyer – the large ferris type wheel that offers spectacular views across the city.

Below are a few snapshots taken during one of my evening walkabouts and visit to the Singapore Flyer. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the views just as much as I did whilst visiting.

Marina Bay view from Singapore Flyer
Marina Bay View from the quayside
Marina Bay’s famous Merlion shot from a bumboat.
A closer view of the Merlion taken from one of the local bumboats