It’s been a year.
After I wrote that last post I hit a Blog wall of some kind, and nothing would get as far as making it onto the Blog. I’ve had lots of ideas though.
So let’s start.
Looking East.
I’ve driven over Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika for Easter, specifically to take photos. I’ve brought two cameras and three lenses: the wonderful Fuji X-E1 with the 18mm f2 and the 35mm f1.4 – both fantastic lenses – and my beloved Contax G1 with the incredible Zeiss 45mm f2 (loaded with Kodak Portra 400). I’ll write about these two wonderful artistic tools in another post.
Hokitika is a small town on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. I’ve always loved this coast, and I’ve realised while here that it is exactly twenty years since I first discovered this part of New Zealand. I’ve had a feeling lately there’s a lot more to discover around here than first meets the eye. Of course there’s the beach, and the coast. But if you turn to the East side of the road, there are forests, lakes, waterfalls. And beyond those the ever-present mountains.
“The wild West Coast” is renowned for its copious amounts of rain. In fact, rain was forecast for every day of my visit.
But as someone famous once said:
GO FORTH AND FEAR NOT THE RAVAGES OF TIME.
So I went.
And it poured…
The fisherman’s point at the river mouth.
Dorothy Falls, Lake Kaniere.
But then the sun came out…
West Coast sand, West Coast river rocks.
As it almost always does…
The warm sand on my feet, the warm sun on my skin. The contented glow.
What a beautiful day. After the rain, the sun is so appreciated. I was loving the warm sand on my bare feet, digging my toes in deeper. The sun warm on my arms. The sound of the river-pebbles rolling in the wash of the waves up the sand. Shorts and a tee shirt. Alone on an unfamiliar beach. This was the summit of my Easter. It felt like new life. A gift from God. And isn’t that what Easter’s all about?
For a creative change, I’d decided to shoot black and white that day, and square format. I was also using a polarising filter. (The Fuji’s in-camera B/W Film Simulation also had a simulated red filter.)
Somehow it all came together for me on the beach that day, and I wandered around in a peaceful contented glow. This photo captures all that for me, and I feel it every time I look at it.
I’m loving the square format. It’s a real pleasure – a really stimulating creative change – and things seem to fall into place within that frame in a very satisfying way for me.
Lake Mahinapua.
The road.
It’s been a great few days.
And now it’s time to hit that road. Blue skies await.
The Old Man.
What’s Playing: The Eagles – New Kid In Town
