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. 
