blair witch moment

in the spirit of continuing to look closely at my own backyard [the backyard being wellington as a whole], i took these photos on the miramar mountain bike path one afternoon.  perhaps because of the limited resolution, lytro seems to have issues with shooting into a source of light. but i felt here, this particular technical flaw evokes a sense of intrigue and mystery. maybe this really is just a flawed photo, but i think the notion of an actual low-fi aesthetic is an interesting and useful one for telling certain kinds of stories. district 9 comes to mind as a really well-crafted example. and of course we have blair witch to thank for popularizing the whole concept.

waking backyard

in continuing to experiment with the lytro, i've been playing around with it's built-in filters.  the line art filter converts everything to a sort of rotoscoped look. i admit there is hip disposable instagram potential here.  loads of it.  but there is also a way in which the thing being photographed becomes distanced, and through a quality of constructedness, observed freshly as if for the first time. in this case perhaps a tree is a tree is not a tree...

rear window

one of the things i enjoy most about living in a city is looking out my window and seeing what everyone else is up to from afar. though these people are my neighbors we have all succumbed to the modern affliction of anonymity. i suspect most of us perfer it this way. they happen to live right here as i do. but to me our neighborliness is more about the comfort of proximity and distant observation.  to me there is something inherently cinematic about looking out my window and seeing all the rectangular diorama like spaces in which various events are unfolding. at night these boxes become theater, silent cinema and mystery all converging.

in my neighborhood several buildings have gone up from scratch in the time i have been here. from empty lots to looming cranes, many months in-between, and finally, lights on- i feel i have experienced the growing up of this architectural thing. and so i watch, not because i want to know what strangers get up to [though that can be fascinating, no?] but because they sprang up on my virtual lawn, and it's human nature to take a look.

double back

getting out of town for a day trip is always a welcome reprieve.  i also find myself looking forward to the trip back. an end of the day drive back into wellington is often filled with beautiful moody sunsets, backlighting and dramatic clouds...

good evening

merry kiwi xmas

sirocco

last month i had a chance to go see the famous sirocco at zealandia. as far as birds go he is definitely a celebrity. he is also a very inquisitive fellow. i was wearing a baseball hat with bright letters on it when i went to visit him and i was convinced he kept walking over to me because he found the hat unusual. i could be wrong but i maintain he was into my hat!

tgif last light

pretty great to be home on a friday evening in time to enjoy the last light of the day.

whilst enjoying the sweet sounds of washed out.

two things

that go together. rainy streets:

and this song:

CHROMATICS / TICK OF THE CLOCK (Original "NIGHT DRIVE" Version) by JOHNNY JEWEL

blue moon

people are always getting excited about sun rises and sun sets. i don't think moon rises get their proper due. they can be quite eerie and beautiful.