The path with no end

This is a heavily processed composite of three photographs, intended to convey an impression. If I could say what the impression was, the image wouldn't be necessary.

All content © 2015 Pete McGregor

We're all just passing through

Based on a photograph. Nothing more to say, only in part because I'm pushed for time.


All content © 2013 Pete McGregor

Tales from the Valley

Everything here comes from the Pohangina Valley.


[Sometime within the next day, Leonie will post another short piece by me on Weekends Collected. If it isn't up when you visit, check later. Remember to submit something yourself, too.]


All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

The path we all take

A composite. The main photograph's from No. 2 Line in April 2011.

Over to you.


All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

On the edge

All life lives on the edge.


All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Leaf forms

I'd often been struck by the graphic quality of these leaves as I'd walked past, and often thought they called out to be photographed. I finally got around to it a few weekends ago.

[31 July 2010; Canon 20D, 300 mm f4 L, ISO 400, 1/160 at f8. Heavily processed.]


All content © 2010 Pete McGregor

Leopard — another version

Just playing/experimenting. The original photo's here.


All content © 2010 Pete McGregor

The dream of flight

From the time we first became self-aware, surely we looked up and longed to fly.  Still, despite our technology, our sheer power, our marvellous accomplishments, we can no more fly like a tern than we can change the past.


[A heavily processed photo of a whitefronted tern at Flounder Bay]

All content © 2010 Pete McGregor

Write every day

The most common advice one hears about writing is to write. Usually it's something along the lines of "Write every day". I think it's sound advice, which I follow, usually first thing in the morning after I get up and start making a pot of tea.

I love writing with a fountain pen. The one in the photo is a Parker Classic; it feels good in the hand and writes more smoothly than any of my other pens. Unfortunately, it leaks a little around the collar — just enough to make it messy unless I hold it well back from the collar. I no longer use Quink, preferring the wonderful Noodler's X-feather because it has much less tendency to bleed through to the other side of the paper and has the huge advantage that it's waterproof when dry. The notebook is a Moleskine cahier; the mug is a much-appreciated gift (that's Snufkin, in case you didn't know. He's the closest thing I have to a hero).
[30 January 2010; Canon 20D, 24–105 mm f4 L at 50 mm, ISO 400, 1/5 at f11. Substantial post-processing in Lightroom and Photoshop; I added the grain after taking the photo back in Lightroom.]

All content © 2010 Pete McGregor

Tony remembered the party...

Just a bit of fun.
:^)
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

Playing with echt HDR

HDR (High Dynamic Range) seems fashionable, largely thanks to the availability of certain software, I suspect. However, a typical HDR effect (sometimes described as "cartoon-like") actually arises not from the HDR itself but from exaggerated tone-mapping (plenty of examples in this gallery). It seems to suit some subjects, but used inappropriately (as it too often is), the result can be appalling (and sometimes downright scary). This photo isn't an HDR image; it's a similar effect but produced from a single photo processed in Lightroom with minor tweaking in Photoshop. I did it mostly out of curiosity and to be honest, I don't know what to think of it. To me it does seem to capture some of the character of this old shed (subsequently destroyed in last year's storm) up No. 3 Line, but it leaves me feeling uneasy. I'll not be making a habit of it.
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

Myths and histories

Aotearoa. Myths and histories.
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

Live wires

The paddock by Tokeawa stream, not far from my place. Based on a photo.
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

Pine play

More play; a composite of multiple hand-held photos of a small stand of pines at the end of No. 1 Line.

[In case you haven't found it already, there's a new post on Pohanginapete]

All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

The id at 2 a.m.

Out here the night has no street lights; at 2 a.m. one sees only moonlight through curtains, dark shapes, the idea of things. The night releases what one seldom sees in daylight.
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

Slate Row at the Celtic [impression]

Late November 2007; my Slate Row friends played at the Celtic. I photographed under dim, coloured lights; experimented a bit, and liked this. The other photos were more conventional.
[f = 24 mm; 1/15 s at f4.0; ISO 1600]

All content © 2008 Pete McGregor

Snapshot: kitchen, life

My handwriting's generally neater than this — it looks less (much less, I trust) like something left by a drunk fowl with inky feet. It seems to be legible, though. Anyway, I needed to check the time stamp on the camera, so I just pointed it at hip level and fired off a shot so I could compare the time in the EXIF data with the actual time. This is what I got (excluding the notes, of course). I kind of liked it — everything slightly but significantly blurred; off level; a kind of dreamy softness and casualness. "Why not?" I thought, trusting my regular viewers' sense of silliness.

All content © 2008 Pete McGregor

Bumblebee

From Boxing Day a couple of years ago. Just playing around.

All content © 2008 Pete McGregor