Hamilton gardens

Week 33 Composition: Figure to Ground

Posted by robeanne

If camouflage is designed to make things disappear, Figure to Ground is designed to make the subject stand out. Light on dark, dark on light.

I only have a couple for this. The opportunities haven’t really resented themselves to me and I have been so busy. This first one is of Tami Nielsen at a recent concert in Hamilton. It is always difficult getting photos with the bright lighting at concerts without completely burning out the subject. Especially if all you have is a phone! I was quite pleased with this though.

a female singer wearing a very pale blue dress at the microphone singing. The background is an inky blue and you can just see one of the band members in the haze of the lights.

The second photo is in Hamilton Gardens in the Concept Garden. This is currently my favourite garden. I tried to get my husband to stand out against the white wall. I fear that the tree to is right might be a distraction but somehow the photo didn’t seem balanced without it.  The whakatauki on the wall says:

He peke tangata, apa he peke titoki’

The human family lives on while the branch of the titoki falls and decays.

man standing against a white wall with the words He peke tangata, apa he peke titoki’ written on it. That means "The human family lives on while the branch of the titoki falls and decays.

Week 31 Wildcard: photographers choice

Posted by robeanne

We spotted this insect on the door of our house. The white of the door made it difficult to get the insect into focus and I had to use the pro feature on my phone to isolate the subject.  Quite pleased with the outcome.

Orangey red flying insect with long antennae sitting on a white door

I had a meeting at a school over in Raglan last week so made the most of being there to sneak a lunchtime walk.  I don’t think I’ve seen the tide so high.  I tried to get the movement of the waves as they washed over the step of sand just in front of the dunes and the light glimmering behind the clouds.

Seascape on a stormy day. Dark clouds with some light shining through over a grey ocean. Waves foaming up over the sand right up to the dunes

This was a dark evening in Christchurch down on Oxford Terrace which had recently been reopened after rebuilding work. I wanted to capture the translucency of the bridge and the arch against the dark of the night.

Night scene in a city. Lights shining on a bridge overtheriver

Photos at concerts are always difficult and never seem to work. Any that do tend to be pure luck! This is Tami Neilson and if you ever get a chance to see her,  do it.  She is amazing!

Female singer on the microphone left arm held aloft. Guitarist in the background

In Hamilton Gardens there is a new garden – the concept garden. To get in you go through a large yellow door that opens automatically as you approach.  I was aiming to get a view through as they opened.

Looking through a doorway with large yellow doors. Through the doorway you can see a woman with gardens beyond

 

Week 14: Tryptych

Posted by robeanne

Week 14 asks us to connect two or three photos together to provoke a thought or to tell a story.

My biggest challenge was finding an app in which I could frame two or three photos. I fell back to ipiccy as this is a photo editing tool I have used before.

I am well behind on my weekly challenges but have had the project titles in my head as I have been out and about.  We have recently spent a lot of time in the NZ bush and as it is Autumn, there are heaps of mushrooms about.  The other day we found these Slender Parasols up by the trig point in Hamilton Gardens in various stages of development.

three parasol mushrooms in various stages of development.

A new garden has recently opened at Hamilton Gardens. I was not too impressed with the Tudor Garden but I really like the Concept Garden.  The squares of water, and different types of plants reflect the squares on land maps.  The Māori whakatauki on the wall and the rusted iron water tank tell contradictory stories of the permanence or fragility of the land and the people.

Whatungarongaro te tangata toituu te whenua
As man disappears from sight, the land remains

 He peke tangata, apa he peke titoki’ 
The human family lives on while the branch of the titoki falls and decays.

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My third option is a city scape – I used an app called Tiny Planets which is a bit of fun to create the images in this collage. All the images are from the same photo but one is the original and the other two are edited in Tiny Planet.

three images in a row, the middle is a cityscape at sunset, the outer two are derivatives, edited through an app that makes them into planets

Back to nature for the last one. Once again on our wander into Hamilton Gardens on Anzac Day.  Autumn is good for seeds as well as mushrooms, and we saw these plants in various stages from fresh green pods to fully blown seeds.

seedburst 2

Too many choices again!

Rā 1, Rātapu 1 o Kohitātea 2017

Posted by robeanne

Here we go again!

Day 1 Photo a Day 2017

Hamilton Gardens has always been a special place for us. We discovered it when we first arrived in January 2008 and  were blown away by the special gardens and how well designed they are. Since then so much more has been added but we still love the gardens in the centre.  It was a bit busy today but great to see so many people enjoying the sun, the plants and being together with family and friends on New Year’s Day.  This is the Chinese Scholar’s Garden.

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Rā 256, Rāhina 12 o Mahuru

Posted by robeanne

I’ve decided to take a walk every lunchtime to make sure I have a break otherwise  I just eat at my desk. The gardens really are beautiful now with all the trees and flowers bursting into colour. The scents are amazing and the birdsong is fantastic. I took lots of photos but I think the Kowhai is my favourite. I couldn’t get a good photo of the Tui or the Wax Eyes feeding but I watched as they flitted from flower to flower. 

It is said that the Kowhai sprung from the shreds of the cloak of tohunga Ngatoro-I-rangi of the Te Arawa waka on its arrival to Aotearoa. The legend says that a young tohunga asks a girl to marry him while they sit under the bare branches of a Kowhai tree in the month of August. She replies that she will only marry him if he can perform some brilliant act. “I will show you what I can do. I will cause this tree to spring instantly into flower before your eyes.” He uses all his powers and the tree bursts into bloom, his final touch causing a ring of yellow blossoms to appear around the dark hair of the girl. Ever since, say Te Arawa, the Kowhai has flowered on bare and leafless branches