Slightly becalmed on the South Coast

The sea was pretty flat by the time we arrived at the beach, just after sunset. It was nice, that is dull, and clouds meant my husband probably wasn’t going to see the Venus-Mars conjunction he was hoping for; we nearly turned around and went home. But soon it was dark enough for some long-but-not-too-long exposures of gentle waves on a pleasingly rocky part of the shore. Also in my evening’s photo haul: scenic fishing boats rocking very slightly at anchor and rock pools with beige seaweed. You don’t need to see that.

18 sec, ISO 320 50mm, f 8-ish (hey it’s a manual lens and I was playing with dials in the dark)

Out came the sunshine and . . .

What a difference a day makes and other cliches of that ilk. The storm has moved on, and all that remains is an energetic sea, a lurid sunset and a lot of happy surfers. Carry on.

Sunset, looking east

Beside the seaside – Lyall Bay

The wild winds of June have been whipping up the sea here for the last few days – there’s still so much sand in the air it’s hard to walk along the waterfront with eyes open. This beach is by the airport, and one where I often walk my dogs as they’re allowed off leash there. It . . . isn’t quite the same any more, with dunes shredded and most of the access steps reduced to flotsam (or possibly jetsam). Sadly my photos don’t remotely catch the dynamic energy, the sheer scale and force of the waves, or the crazy light coming through a haze of spray.

There are a few more tempesty days predicted; tomorrow I’ll take the little waterproof camera so I can get closer to the drama. And wear fingerless gloves so I can actually operate the buttons. Here’s hoping for a sullen sunrise.

Photos on Wellington’s South Coast

As part of encouraging me to learn all the bells and whistles on my new camera (a Sony A580, and very nice thank you), I joined a three-evening photography course – the focus was land and seascapes. But on the second night course organiser Simon Woolf provided a burning red piano, not-at-all tortured musician Shaun Preston and several perfectly photogenic models for us to photograph. The final night of the course there was a dinner and a slideshow; it was fascinating to see how 20 people, all in the same place photographing the same thing still managed to come up with completely different images. Anyyyyway, these are the ones I submitted for review.