A photo walk down Ngaio Gorge

Today I walked down the Ngaio Gorge track. I used to do it every month or so but for no particular reason hadn’t been there since before COVID. Quite a lot of work had been done on steps and footbridges, but the very bottom was blocked off as work continues to repair a slip on the nearby road.

I’ve been going down a big rabbit hole of looking at Fuji, in camera, recipes lately. All the shots below are straight out of camera JPEGS using the Shinrin Yoku recipe from film.recipes. Shinrin Yoku apparently translates from Japanese as “forest bathing”. I suspect that it is one of those concepts that when translated into English and adopted by Anglo cultures loses something. But a walk in nature is always calming, even when, as in this case, you can hear (and in a couple of places glimpse) trains on the suburban Johnsonville line.

It was complicated light, because it was a gorgeous summers day but there were lots of trees, and the banks of the gorge. In some shots the result was a bit warm/yellow for my tastes, but in other cases its worked out well.

A photo walk of course calls for a which way photo …

Some other walkers might need to pull up a seat

Gorge of course indicates a river (or in this case a stream) and there was pretty much water, water all the way (although the stream is so clear it might be hard to see here)

and there is always weekend sky to look up at

Lastly there are a few bonuses, like a rare opportunity to respond to Crispina Kemp’s Friday Fungi

or play around with the X100V’s 10cm minimum focus distance for an almost “macro” for Pic and a Word. Having failed to figure out extension tubes I am now really lusting after a real macro lens for my XT-3, although I do like the bokeh the X100V produces up close at f2

Beer crates

For Cee’s Black and White challenge with the theme of made of wood

Blue Skies

When I was experimenting a bit with minimalist photography a few months ago I would often walk past this building and look at the roof. But I never had the right camera/lens combination with me.

I’m on holiday and there was a clear blue sky so I made a point of taking a slightly longer lens when I wandered down to the shops.

The seagull on top was a lucky bonus.

A response to Ludwig’s Monday Window

I need to weed my garden

For Cee’s Flower of the Day

Boxing day car park

for Cee’s Black and White challenge with the theme of shadows and reflections

Countdown Johnsonville Mall

For alive and trekking’s which way challenge

Doggy Beer

Wigram Brewery, who also make real beer, sell bone broth at NZ pubs as doggy beer. This is Nami who came to the office today with his human mum on the last working day of the year.

It was a great day today for enjoying an afternoon beer on the Wellington waterfront as everybody heads off for their sunmer holidays.

This is my corner of the world

Rock (not) salt

Posted for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge with the theme of salt white colors

Last chance saloon

This week the Lens Artist’s challenge is about the last chance to post favourite pictures taken this year which haven’t fitted into a theme to be posted previously.

I keep coming back to look at this shot, taken at my Thursday night pub quiz. It was my first time shooting with my X100V. Although the shot is not especially sharp (there was another dog at my back engaging in a face off) I was encouraged by what I saw in terms of the image quality and low light performance I realised I was going to get once I had a bit of practice with the camera.

I also liked the juxtaposition of a snarling dog in a pink harness.

“…and a pūkeko in a pōhutukawa tree”

The pōhutukawa, which is in full bloom this time of year, is sometimes called the New Zealand Christmas tree.

For Cee’s FOTD