Merry Christmas

The bolgosphere continues, the yoke gets larger and more compelling, and no readers so one can be free and vocal. Its that time of the year when the retailers are supposed to make their profits, those ships from China arrive, only to return to China from the refuse station some months later, and so it goes - and the rush of people wanting to get their desks cleared, their shopping done, the food buying as though shops were not going to be open for another month but hey, this year the pressure is less, perhaps because of when the big day falls.

Looking forward to having the family here for Christmas and then heading away with hopefully some time behind the lens. Are few projects are developing and I am going to work on them some more over the next couple of days.

There are some interesting businesses on the west coast - how relevant is that?

Launching into the blogosphere

Is this a noose, or is it development of more keywords and text to improve googleability - lets say it is the latter and then its more about New Zealand landscape photography, in particular certain regions such as Central Otago where we will be spending a couple of weeks over Christmas - one of the favorite regions for photographers and artists because I think the vastness of it all shows me the insignificance of us as humans on this planet as individuals, it is only when we are able to function as a collective have we any significance.

The challenge for any photographer heading to Central to photograph, particularly at this time of the year, is the challenge to find those images which will stand out from the bunch, which will show it in the way that one sees it and not the recall from the countless other images one has seen from the region. I remember a Charlie Waite talk where he put the supposition that perhaps there were few originals, that many images could have evolved because they had been seen before - he gave some pretty good examples none of which I can remember specifics of, but perhaps its just a good image, using the best technical ability and behind the camera at the right time of the day. Always a challenge as its light from about 4.30 am until 11.30 evening.

Our good friend Graeme Sydney has shown more people the beauty of the landscapes of the region and spends much time now on working for preservation of the natural beauty of the area. I have to admire his tireless work in pursuit of conservation .... or is it preservation. I think there is a lot of conservation in all of us, but preservation, some of the most beautiful spots in the region would not be the same if the miners hadn't been, or the dams hadn't been built.

Falls Dam, Central Otago 

Anyway, the area is a great place "a world of difference" as the council's promotional literature rightly call it - pack all the gear and get ready

As the blog develops

Slowly the Stuart Cairns Photography website evolves, and so does the marketing plan which develops to integrate the website with the blog and with Facebook. As one searches the library for to make sure the images are cataloged and key worded the process begins. Slowly the concept for a blog and the uses for the blog develops in the mind, what are the New Zealand landscape photography projects that I will initiate over the next twelve months, what travel will be involved and what plans will need to be made to be able to travel to the chosen places - the plans for a return to Italy are on hold, Central Otago is the only place on the immediate horizon

The Hawkduns, Central Otago

Looking through the library

Still testing how the blog may work for me and time for a clean out or reorganization of the files, starting with Italy a few years ago brings back a few memories. Some of the places visited exist seemingly as they have for hundreds of years. That is the difference between an old and new country that I appreciate more and more when I travel. We live in a young country - I wonder what they were doing in this monastry when Rangitoto erupted

You can only jump in and start

Its happening, I am slowly starting to understand how this thing works, the design is getting better better and I am starting to figure what needs to be done to the design

Starting a blog

Well here we go, how does this thing work will be good to see how I can get it working