In the above photo, a flute teacher leads three of her pupils. They are playing for about 600 people who sat in the park to listen to items with a Christmas theme here in Alexandra. Led by the local Baptish Church, it turned out to be a very full program, with plenty of variety. And when you consider that about 10% of the town's population turned out to watch and listen, you could regard it as a great success. We live in a very talented community.
Chef asked me to take a photo of this Profiter Roll Tower.
This photo was taken on Christmas Day. We went to my brother in laws place for Christmas dinner, and I took this photo not far from his house.
With the advent of the Digital camera, many archivists and historians warn that there will be a gap in the recording of the human story. Less than 1% of photos taken are printed these days, many not lasting longer than a few seconds as the 'delete' button is pressed. There have always been gaps in the human story, and before photography came along there was a very big gap. Only the famous and wealthy were recorded. Mind you, an artist who could paint a fairly accurate (or at least flattering) portrait in an afternoon was in great demand and usually made a good living.
Over the last week I have been busy photographing the last of the schools I do for the year. It means I do a bit of traveling, and see some parts of the country that I get to only once a year.
This cake, made by the Chef, is a Mississippi Mud Cake. But the reason I did this close up photo is to show the colour and design of the fruit used to decorate it. The trick is, according to the Chef, is to get the chocolate icing warm, but the fruit slices cold. When the fruit is pressed onto the icing, it goes hard and holds the fruit in place.
Nan Brownlie, John Wilson, Sheila Kerr and Bette Wilson are Life Members of the Central Otago Regional Orchestra, and here they are pictured cutting the Orchestra's 21st Birthday cake. I think they are enjoying themselves. 
The group of people in the above photo are having a 21st. They are the members of the Central Otago Orchestra, and the Central Otago Training Orchestra. Today, they invited quite a few to join the party, and for nearly two hours played a great variety of music they have covered over the last 21 years. The Training Team put on their own show, and made a very good job of it. Some of these performers are very young, but that does not seem to bother them.
Yesterday the Church of St. John the Baptist in Alexandra was packed for the First Communion of 15 children from our area. Fr. Pat McGettigan officiated, and not shown in the above photo are several adults who helped these young people get to this point. Those pictured certainly did everything with a great deal of confidence, the young lady who started the offertory procession was almost running. All the readings were well read, and an air of 'I know what I am doing' was obvious.
The Long Lunch mentioned in previous posts has now taken place. I will write out the menu....
Each year at about this time, I am invited to be the photographer at the Alexandra Golf Club 'Sunshine Golf Classic'. This two day contest attracts lady players from all over the country, and always has a full field. My job description is 'photograph the winners, but do it on the first day', which means I have to photograph everyone who turns up to play. So I do them all in groups of four, during the first day's play. Some years ago a lady told me, after she had finished, that her golf got much better after her photo was taken. So I tell them all that "now you have had the photo done, your golf will improve". For some reason, it seems to be true, though some of them deny it. We do not always get Sunshine for this contest, but I think the word refers more to the state of mind, rather than the weather. Sometimes, if I am not booked for something else, I go back to the Club for the prize giving, and I must say the prizes are worth getting.
This photo was taken recently in Dunedin. It is a Lions Cabinet. Lions International is a service organisation started in America many years ago. It is administered in a layered fashion, with each District led by a District Governor and a Cabinet. This is the Cabinet for District 202J, which is one of 7 or so in New Zealand. 202J extends up the east coast of the South Island, from say Ashburton to Balclutha.
This photo was taken at the end of July, but it is definitely worth a mention. These people are standing outside St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Alexandra. They are celebrating two events. 
The above photo is of the Mint and Gooseberry Pie, which, as mentioned in a previous post, is on the menu for the Long Lunch. The photo was sent to me by Louise Joyce. Louise sent other photos of the other items on the menu as well, but since I can not describe what they are, I will not put them here. 
I started photographing weddings late compared with many other photographers. I had been in the industry for 12 years before I attempted my first, and it was really by way of a favour. It could have been better, but since the payment was two sides of mutton, I think it was good value. I learned a lot, and by carefully going over the photos with the new Bride and Groom a week later, I learned even more. They were very pleased with them. I was not quite so pleased, but learned from that lengthy meeting that it does not pay to point out to the couple what is wrong with the photos. Everyone has a different perspective, and my perspective was of a super critical perfectionist, which is not what they were looking for. I shot that first wedding with a Minolta XE5 and a 50mm lens, and an RB67 with 6x4.5 backs for the formals. With the advent of the slower super fine grain films, I shifted to totally 35mm film. I have no idea how many rolls of Fuji Reala I used, as printed on Kodak paper really did produce the goods.
Today is Rememberence Day, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month. Rather than waiting til next Anzac Day to continue the story of Alex Dunbar, I thought I would try something today. I am going to try and cut and paste an email into this post, and I do not know if it will work. Here's hoping.
Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the 150th Jubilee of the Warepa School. This village is tucked into the gently rolling hills of South Otago, and still offers schooling to local families. I might be wrong, but I think it is the 4th oldest school in Otago.
During the Second World War, my Father served as an anti tank gunner in the 22nd Battalion, in the New Zealand Army. He was in Egypt and Italy, and probably other places I have not heard about. Like many who served in this conflict, he does not talk about it to anyone, except maybe those who were there. For many years he went to Battalion reunions, but because of the diminishing numbers, reunions have not been held for some years. At these reunions, the crosses of those who did not come home were always on display, a reminder I suppose, to those who were charged with remembering them. At the final reunion, the crosses were distributed to families around the country, and where no family was found, the cross was given to a living member for safe keeping. Dad was given the cross of Alex Dunbar because Dad was with him when he died.
Over the last weekend I was privileged to be able to take photos at the New Zealand's 2nd Shirley Club mini Convention.The above photo is of a group of people whose first name is Shirley. And if you take a close look at it, you will see that this name is not restricted to females.
In one of my previous posts I said that most of my photos had the human face in them, but this one is not so specific, but it has a good story.
On Sunday Adam Jamie was Baptised. It was a real family affair, the service was conducted by Father Brendon, who is Adam's uncle, and family members were the Godparents. Even the photographer is a second cousin of Adam's. 
I have been taking photos for a living since the mid 70's. Before that I had the odd photo published in school magazines and some specialist sport publications, but mostly the subject material was the human face, as this is always what has interested me. So it was really photos of family and friends, pretty much the same as everyone else. When I was getting paid for doing the job, it seemed so easy and natural, I used to say it sure beat work. The more good photos I could take, mostly portraits of children, the more I got paid. As time has gone on, I have done other subjects, but never seem to get the 'difference' between my photos and everyone else's. So maybe I am not a photographer at all, just a 'people organiser'. This means really that the 'art' part of it is getting people in the right place with the right expressions rather than the finished product itself. Though I still believe the human face is the greatest of all works of art, and I am just recording what is there. A recorder. A documenter. There must be some other word for it.
This photo is of a group of people in rural Southland. The children range in age from 11 days through to almost 5. This is a Playgroup, an almost casually organised group of parents who meet several times a week so their children can 'play' together. The children have a wide range of activities to try, though the paint was not out on the day I was there, as I need clean faces for the portraits. 
This is the Woolshed on Wantwood Station, obviously not in use today. In it's day it would have been a very big shed, and how many times it was added to is unknown. Once again it has the wooden shingles. Evidently inside some dates are stencilled on the walls, so some part of it's history is logged. I do not know what sort of wood it is made out of, but it has lasted well. If you click on the photo you can see a lot more detail, but then I did not have to tell you that, did I.
In my travels, I see many changes to the landscape throughout Otago and Southland. The most profound ongoing change is the conversion of sheep farms to dairy units. This can happen in the most unlikely places, and sometimes I do not altogether like the effect. One of the first things that seems to happen during the conversion is the removal by any means of any apparently redundant building on the property. While this may provide a 'clean and tidy' look, it almost completely removes any of the history associated with the property. The second thing that happens is the felling of most of the shelter trees. On some windswept farms the wisdom of this is to be questioned. After all, grass grows if the temperature is above 8 degrees C, and if you have a gale blowing over it it is less likely to get to that temperature. The people who started the farm learned the hard way how much more pleasant it was to work on a property without the hindrance of thin winds that go straight through everything.
Over the weekend, this town has hosted the New Zealand singles petanque championships. We have quite an active if small club here, and they meet most weeks for a game with whoever turns up. I have always found them welcoming, but I seem to lack the skill and patience for the game myself. When I was getting thrashed by my own children I thought it might be time to try something else, and when they stopped going because of cricket and other stuff, I did not continue going. It is the sort of game that if you practice often, you could become very good. And so it was over the weekend. I watched a few games, and could see that these guys and girls are VERY GOOD at it. 
Last Friday night quite a good crowd of interested and interesting people gathered at 'Central Stories', our local museum. The event was the launching of a book titled "Central Rocks", a guide to the geology and landscapes of Central Otago. It was written by Daphne Lee and Jane Forsyth, (top photo) and is a much needed addition to the basics of geology in this area. We live in an area that is geologically unique, and because I do not know much about it, will not go into more detail here. But being the father of five curious kids, it has always been a source of some irritation that I do not know the answer to 'what sort of rock is this Dad?' type questions. While this little gem of a book does not answer all those sort of questions, it does give me enough information to make my answer at least interesting. 
I have added another photo from this show. The colours were great, and with the brighter lights here they show up better here. There was certainly plenty of action and movement, not in the photographers best interests.
Each year at about this time, the Alexandra Musical Society puts on a stage show. It runs during our Blossom Festival week. For some years I have been privileged enough to do the photos for the program, and this year the Society did 'Bye Bye Birdie', a musical that with my limited knowledge in the subject, I had never heard of before. I go into the hall and do action shots on stage as well, during the dress rehearsal. The advent of digital makes this much easier, as it gives me access to a wider range of ASA settings, so I can handle the rapidly changing lights. Some scenes were quite dark, and despite what is said on all the forums about Nikon being not so good at the higher ASA ratings, I do get some good shots. I am not sure about this one as it posted itself while I as opening it.
Over the years I have done many school photos. One thing that seems constant with school leavers is the demand for the 'silly photo' of the group. In the days of film this used to irritate me a bit as it cost film and no one ever bought them. These days I count down from 10 and at about 3 start taking photos. 
I took this photo while in Nelson recently. The event was the Under 15 years Rugby tournament, and the boy on the right leading the Haka for his school, St.Kevin's College, is one of my sons, Michael. He made a good job of it, and the Haka from this school was the most impressive of all. I am unsure as to why they were allowed to do it only on the last game. While the Haka was impressive, the rugby they played was not of such a standard, and Michael's team did not win a game. However, the team saw some parts of the country they had not seen before, and I am sure they all learned something about attitude and how it affects one's game. 
My Cousin has sold her property, and all the family is shifting to Singapore for a few years. She has young children, and I suppose it will give them experience in a different culture. But this photo is the view from the lounge window, and I fear they will miss it. I remember when this tree was planted here, and it was touch and go for a few years if it would survive. It has been climbed over by many small children, including mine, and has lived. 
This is a photo I took recently of the Arrowtown Premier Rugby team. They had pretty much won everything going in the Otago Country competition, except the White Horse Cup, which is held by Alexandra. This team is well led by Aidan Winter, who is the sort of no nonsense loose forward that other clubs dream of having. I notice as well one Hayden Finch. I am sure this guy used to play for the New Zealand under 19 team, in fact I think they won the worlds while he was in the team. Hayden is from the Crescent Club in Kaitangata, where his family have been if not the backbone then certainly the ribs of the Crescent Club for many years. It will be interesting to watch Arrowtown next year, as some of the 'imports' may not be there. They do not have another team to draw from, (except the under eights, and it might be a few years.....)
