Welcome Swallows
Welcome Swallows are usually quite difficult birds to photograph, in my experience. They're small and very swift, so flight shots are a serious achievement! Even when perched they don't stick…
Making Better Photographs
In wildlife photography, we often only get a small window of opportunity in which to take photographs (bird flies past, dolphin jumps out of the water, etc). Sometimes though, we…
Antarctica : I’m Back!
Like it says, I've just returned from a rather overwhelming trip with Dad to Antarctica, or to be more precise, the Antarctic Peninsula. And to be honest, I'm not yet…
Sheet-web Spiders
If you don't like spiders or other invertebrates, consider giving this blog a miss - I don't want anyone having nightmares! In early January I had the fantastic opportunity to join…
Morepork
There's nothing I love more than falling asleep to the plaintive hooting of Moreporks. It's something that speaks of home to me - we live near a forest and they…
Using Manual Mode – quick thoughts
I've talked a lot about how I started using Manual mode frequently last year. Why did I change from preferentially using Aperture priority? I'm all for using manual mode on…
My favourite Travel Lens/Camera Combo
This year I've been using the D700 more often than the D300, with the exception of our South Africa trip. I'd forgotten how much I love the lightweight combination of…
Fire in the Fynbos
While in South Africa, I took quite a few landscape photos with the intent to make a series of black and white images. While muddling through them (slowly, considering the…
Bunnies in Black and White
Rabbits are adorable, but they're also a huge pest in New Zealand. They're all over Mount Maunganui, and every summer we see hundreds of little baby buns running around nibbling…
White Birds on White Backgrounds
People have noticed a few similarities between my two winning images from last year - they're (mostly) white birds on (mostly) white backgrounds! I've been asked why and how I…
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you all! I had a change of scene this New Year's Eve, spending time up in Auckland with friends and watching the Sky Tower fireworks from our…
2014 in Review
Both photographically and generally speaking, this has been a fantastic year. I've learnt a lot, not just about photography, but about why I take photographs and what drives me to…
Baby Blackbirds
If you've been keeping up with me on Facebook (I really need to work on posting to other social media sites, sorry!), you'll know that at work we had the…
Tree of Life
There's no shortage of photographic opportunities walking around the Base track of Mount Maunganui. While Dad and I were largely after birds, Mum pointed out this ominous tree with roots…
Sigma Macro 105mm f/2.8
The newest addition to my little family of lenses is a Macro lens, something I've wanted for quite a while! I've always admired the work of a friend of mine…