Houses for sale?

It’s been a pretty busy week this week taking photographs and videos of properties in and around South Auckland.  Usually on my blog I don’t post much about houses I shoot for real estate companies, but today I thought I’d do something a little different.  Not wishing to bore you witless, I’ll just post a couple of images from two homes that really caught my eye this week.  I suppose this could develop into a regular Friday feature … then again, perhaps not.  Let me know if you’d like to see more highlights of the houses shot during the week.

To the houses then!  One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the range of quality homes here in South Auckland and their affordability when compared to other parts of the city. I’ve added a couple of images below; one image of a more modern family home, the other of a classic home built from native timbers. Both homes are within easy walking distance to the railway station and offer an ideal car free commute into the city.

The first home is in the Hillpark area of Manurewa and close to Nathan Homestead, David Park, Orford Park and, of course, the shops in Manurewa.  The shot below was taken last night on not the best of days for a dusk shot, but what a lovely outdoor area to entertain family and friends … complete with pool and spa!

The second home was a treat to photograph.  So much native timber and character, lovely high ceilings and a real homely feel to it.  I must admit it was definitely not what I expected to see when I arrived to take photos!  This home is also close to parks as well as the shops in Manurewa.

Just trying something a little different in this post, if you click on the images below you should be directed to the agent’s webpage from where you’ll be able to see a few more images as well as get more details on the properties.  I was seriously impressed with these homes … both of which well exceeded my expectations after looking for them on Google Maps!

Wonderful private family home in Manurewa
Wonderful private family home in Hillpark, Manurewa. Click on the image to get more details.
Gorgeous central manurewa home. Click on image to see more of this lovely home.
Gorgeous central manurewa home. Click on image to see more of this lovely home.

Out for a stroll

View to Rangitoto Island from Te Puru Park

The past few days have been glorious. Clear blue skies and no wind. It’s been really quite cold, but there’s something rather nice about these cold, clear, crisp mornings. The first shot in this post was taken at Te Puru Park looking towards Rangitoto. If you look carefully you may be able to see some frost in the foreground. Not a common occurrence here in Auckland.

We often start our walks at Te Puru Park and head along the clifftop towards Omana and Maraetai.  The next few shots are taken as we did this walk a little earlier today.

Looking towards Waiheke Island as I walked toward Omana from Te Puru Park.

I suppose it was as a result of a house shoot yesterday that I was tempted to try shooting into the sun today. To be honest, we’d picked the wrong time to shoot the house and I ended up making a second visit later in the day. It was the wrong time due to the position of the sun and I ended up shooting into the sun. Not always a good idea, but the effects can sometimes be of interest. The lens I was using was the Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 that is quite prone to flare. Indoors it’s wonderful, but outdoors, on a sunny day, it’s quite a challenge to stop lens flare. Anyway, a couple of yesterday’s images were rather nice, even when shooting into the sun.  Somewhat inspired by these images I thought I’d have another go today … but with a different view.

Any dust or dirt on the lens will result in extra spots or reflections in the final image so I tried to make the lens as clean as possible before each shot. Unfortunately, if you look carefully you’ll notice there’s still a few extra highlights around the sun. I’m not sure if this is something to do with the lens or my inability to clean my lens! Perhaps a little more experimentation will determine the answer.

Between Omana and Maraetai with Waiheke Island in the background
Playing with a few filters. Here’s another few from the path between Omana and Maraetai with Waiheke Island in the distance.

Up to the Gardens …

Well, this time it’s Auckland’s Botanic Gardens.  Since returning to NZ I’ve taken a fews strolls around the gardens and must say that they really are very good.  Such a variety and so well presented.  A real credit to the gardeners who work here.  Anyway, on my strolls I’ve kept seeing this rather lovely tree … well, its flowers to be honest.  Quite large blooms but ever so pretty.  Hope you enjoy these photos as much as I’ve enjoyed looking at the tree!

I met a young photographer there with her Mum and Dad. Each member of the family out exploring the Gardens and shooting with their own camera. What a great way to spend time together as a family.