I guess we’re a close group on Twitter and so when a challenge is posed it tends to come around again. Here is my second set of 7 black and white photos from the challenge:7 everyday photos in black and white. No people. No explanation.
beach
Week 28 Composition: Left to Right Rule
Compose an image in the way we read; most countries read from left to right. Compose your shot to follow this direction.
An interesting one… I wasn’t sure how to do this, and initially thought that I might make a triptych of images to show motion left to right. But as the week went on, I kept seeing movement in scenes and so here are my choices;
The first is taken on Pegasus Beach in North Canterbury. It was a cold, grey, day but I love the colours in the clouds and the ocean. Uncle Terry and I went for a morning stroll to explore.
Sunday morning stroll by Anne Robertson CC-BY
I spend a lot of time in airports! I quite like the to-ing and fro-ing of travellers. I am sitting here working and catching the people going by!
Travellers by Anne Robertson CC-BY
Rā 318 Rāpare 16 o Whiringa-ā-rangi
Got to hang out with some of my work whānau in Whakatane today. Then I went for a walk on the beach with Rachel while Matua Rick fished! Work life balance. 
Rā 287 Rāhina 16 o Whiringa-ā-nuku
Back to work…no photos today but ribs are feeling more sore as bruising comes out! Here’s proof that I was there! 
Rā 286 Rātapu 15 o Whiringa-ā-nuku
The morning after the day before! A lazy start, leisurely breakfast, coffee on the beach, fly home! 
Rā 264 Rāhoroi 23 o Mahuru
So it is 3 weeks to go before the Abel Tasman event that seemed like such a good idea all those months ago! Training was going well til I was sick for nigh on 2 weeks and couldn’t run! Starting to panic now and so I had to try to fit in a long run this weekend. But I also wanted to spend time with Nigel. What to do? Compromise…I went for two 10km runs! The first this morning along the road, up a hill (and back down again), through the pine forest, along the beach and back along the road. Amazing to be up high looking down on the world as it wakens.
This afternoon we both went to Broken Hills – me at my pace and Nigel at his. 4.5km of relentless, steep and very gnarly up and then 5.5km if the same terrain but down! I was rewarded with stunning views though!
So since it was a day of two halves there are two photos.
Rā 216 Rāhoroi 5 o Here-turi-kōkā
So many photos to choose from today. An amazing flight down to Wellington with clear views of NZ North Island landscape. Then I went for a run up Mount Climie which was a hard grind but stunning views of Rimutakas and Hutt Valley from the top. (no photos cos phone ran out of battery!) In the afternoon Chris and I went for a stroll along the beach at Petone. It was beautiful. So today’s photo is Petone Wharf as the sun is going down.
Rā 83, Rāmere 24 o Poutū-te-rangi 2017
Perfect weather for a long walk but this afternoon just a stroll along the beach to get some fresh air. I even had a swim in the sea – surprised how warm it still is. Hopefully get a chance to have another dip before the end of the weekend. One more sleep.
Rā 36, Rātapu 5 o Huitānguru 2017
Day 2 of a long weekend. Boy wants to stay home and hangout with friends so we head off to Opoutere. Across the flatlands of the Waikato in the cloud which starts to break as we hit the hill climb from Kopu to Opoutere. Little car decides enough is enough and hiccoughs it’s way to a halt on a really inconvenient part of the snaking road. I don the hi-vis vest and walk back down a couple of bends, take my life in the hands of mad NZ drivers racing up the hill to wave frantically at them to slow down for a hazard.
Little car eventually decides it has rested sufficiently to carry on. A Good Samaritan follows us to Tairua to check we’re ok. Thank you, man from Kopu Bed and Breakfast place.
The stunning views from the top of Paku – an extinct volcano are worth the steep, hot 380m climb.
I get my first ocean fix at Ocean Beach, Tairua. Golden sand, blue sky, deeply shelved beach so waves roll and crash magnificently. Floating beyond the breaking waves, being lifted on the rise and fall, eyes closed, weightless. Then swimming into the wave before it spills over me, exhilarating. Rest afterwards, the warm sand under me, sun beating down so just a few minutes. Bliss!
Opoutere in the early evening, in beautiful light is stunning. A walk through the pine forest. I love the smell of pine trees, the soft carpet of fallen pine needles and the crunch as they break underfoot. And the patterns against the blue sky as I look up at them towering above me.
Another ocean fix; the water seems warmer, the sun less harsh, the breeze less fresh, the waves gentler. Then we walk along in the shallows watching the play of light on the water, the shifting sand as the waves roll in and ebb out.
Wee Dotterels sitting on their nest pop up and draw us away, marching primly, pausing, looking, and on again. Nesting right in the middle of a sandy beach….hopefully their chicks survive.
We are warned off by male Oyster Catchers fiercely defending their young as they forage on the waterline, breaking tuatua and pipi with their bright orange beaks.
Then, a stretch along the muddy estuary as the sun is going down. The edge of the mangroves, leaves bursting from their seed cases, shellfish providing sustenance for birds, a living, breathing landscape.
Finally, a bright blue flash – the wings of a tiny kingfisher as he darts through the sky to land on the top of a tall ponga tree stump. Perfect day.
Rā 322 Rāpare 17 o Whiringa-ā-rangi
On the road to Whakatane there is a tiny place called Matata. Like many small towns that have grown up along the coast line it seems quite linear. The ocean, the railway line, the road, houses. I promised myself a walk on the beach once I got to Whakatane but by the time I had time, the rain had arrived.
