Mar 30, 2009

Mixed bag Monday

Take one gift bag and a photo of Grace mix it up in Photoshop and....

The fleet off Mauao

Probabaly one of Mauao's loveliest trees
Grace

Mar 28, 2009

Digital Greeting Card

Start with a beautiful flower shot.
Spend and hour of hair pulling (Figure of speech I don't have any!) in Photoshop and out comes a birthday card for mum!
100% Digital.


Mar 27, 2009

A new blog to enjoy

My friend Bruce just started a new blog.
Check out Bruce's photoblog on the link top right.
I think we are in for some great photos'

Mar 26, 2009

Special places

Westhaven marina. Auckland.
Can't see the boats? Right behind you!



Church steps Nelson. Cafe's for Africa behind you.
Beautiful trees at this college in Tauranga

Base track Mauao (Mt Maunganui)

Mar 22, 2009

50 Brilliantly Photoshopped Movie Posters

Check these out.
Wow!
Not sure how long the link will remain.
I love movie posters. Think about it, they have to tell a big story and set a mood all on one page.
This is Photoshop in action. (I found this on John Nack on Adobe)
http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/web/50-brilliantly-photoshopped-movie-posters/

Sunday take home

No chips, D'oh!

Weekend wandering

  • A game of football....no not playing! Taking these. Maybe one of the guys in the top shot should join another team!
  • A walk on Mt Dury. Great trees.
  • A good coffee. Definitely NOT at RH.
  • Fooling around on Photoshop making Bad Boy







.

Mar 20, 2009

120 years in paint


This is Ken, my old man.
Well not so old at the time of this picture of him rolling putty to glaze a window. (Or was he thinking about the beer after work...hmmmm?)

He started a family tradition that is still thriving today three generations later! He was a painter.
More than that he was a very skilled and qualified tradesman. I may just be qualified to make that comment after my 45 years in the surface coatings industry as its called today.
Unlike painters of today in the 30's/40's painters were often also trade qualified in sign writing and glazing as he was.
He could do anything needed to transform a dump into a palace.
Oh to have those skills today.
Ken had a big problem in hind site and that was he never charged enough for his work. He and we never had the finer things in life.
But to be fair life was not too bad and we, as kids, were free spirits. BUT DON'T BE LATE FOR "TEA" (Dinner)

Back to paint.
I am one of 5 kids. We were all brought up with the smell of paint. On dad when he got home from work, in the shed...god I can smell it now as I was snooping through dad's tools (What the hell were you doing in the shed. You never put my tools back. Stay out of the bloody thing. He would say)
Then on the weekends burning out the pots and boiling his overalls in caustic and wire brushing and cleaning up all his brushes.
He always started the new week with clean overalls, brushes and pots. I cringe when I see most painters at work now. I have had "tradesmen" turn up at our home to do a job and they don't have a ladder let alone drop sheets or covers.
I digress.
Well two of us kids went on to have a life in paint.
I started in 1965 and after a couple of decades in manufacture and formulation and went on to management. My kid sister (as I still see her at plus plus 40) went more toward the retail and trade selling of specialised and decorative paints and coatings. She has won the praise of many painters and do it yourselfers around town for her knowledge and helpful approach. She has completed 20 years in paint.
14 years ago my son started working part time at the company I manage. That led to a career of paint. The third generation!
He worked his way up the ranks. Starting on the floor in the manufacturing side of paints and now runs the operations side of a multimillion dollar paint manufacturing business. There are many stories to be told within these 3 generations and 120 combined years in the world of paint.
But maybe another day.

Mar 19, 2009

Outside the square

Or any other shape for that matter.
Winter for me involves spending time at the side line of the local football field. Its a challenge to capture action that stands out. But that aspect keeps me keeps me coming back in the hopes that, one day.....

Sometimes when the real stuff is in short supply I create a little action in Photoshop. Here are a few examples of one style. More real action shots once the season starts.



Blog of note

Take a look at this blog site.
Top right.
If Charlie Parker was a gunslinger. Don't forget the older posts as well. I think its amazing. Different.

Mar 17, 2009

Extreme Bravery

My mother, Pauline Reed at the time (picture below) told me a story one day when we were looking at some Harvard aircraft (picture below)
She explained when she was in the WAAC's Women's Auxiliary Army Corps in Christchurch and Blenheim during WWII that she was part of a team that fired live shells at drogues towed by Harvards'....WHAT?
Her role was on the Predictor. This device is used to calculate the distance to the target and to fuse the shell!
So yes some hapless pilot drew a short straw to tow a target past these "gunning" women who open fired with live rounds.
Bloody hell. Who were those pilots?
Seriously though the WAAC's were an important part of our military history and we are all proud of the fact that while dad was in North Africa and Italy getting shot and blown up (yes he was wounded several times once badly) mum was here in NZ firing at friendly pilots.....no just kidding we are proud.


Auckland.....again!





Mar 13, 2009

Some days its hard to get traction!

The Gene Trail

See older post March 3rd.
So while on my fathers side it seemed like we have an Irish and English bloodline and on my mothers side French, Italian and Maori!
Surely a pre-qualification for a top United Nations role.
For some reason there has always been an underlying interest in the Maori connections. My Aunty (Una) and mother often made reference to it but never left any details behind. In fact I am not that sure they really knew the full story or did any research.
I have done some digging as have other Reed descendants (lucky for me as I am only picking over their work)
One documented account of our Maori connection was left behind by my grandfathers brother Ted Reed.
He wrote a book with co-author Pamela Fry.
'Ted, The life and times of Edward Louis Reed" published 1997 ISBN 0-473-04413-7

Extract from chapter one "The coming of James Reed to New Zealand"
(Remember Reed was an assumed name and he was of French parents and born in England)

James became a whaler and it is thought that he came to New Zealand as a crew member of the whaling vessel "Cheviot" he settled in Cloudy Bay where he was in charge of the whaling station.
He met Ekuamoenga* - born in 1809/10 at Opotiki Pa near Waitara Taranaki. She was the daughter of a Ngati Awa chief Te Pukere and his wife Takahui whos sister was Te Akau fifth wife of Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha.
Agnes (as Ekaumoenga was to become known) and James were married early in 1835 at Cloudy Bay by Captain Bateman of the ship Cheviot. There they had three children before they set sail for Sunday Island (later to become Raoul Island) where they lived for nine years during which another five children were born.
Reed and his family ran the Ferry service from Northshore to Auckland for a number of years and after his death this was carried on by his sons John and James.

On the 15th April 1886 James and Agnes had a church wedding at St Pauls, Britomart Place Auckland and on that same day six of his children were baptised.
Agnes died at Northcote on the 18th of May 1867 at the age of 57 and James died later aged 84 at his Stokes point home on the 23rd of November 1876. On his death certificate his occupation was recorded as Mariner.
The story on page two goes on to tell of another 90 year old account of Reed and an extract is as follows (sounds a bit corny!!)

At one of these places the whale-hunter met a Rangitira girl who was the niece of Rangihaeata. The two loved each other and Reed sourt her as his wife to rove the seas with him in his ship (see what I mean?) and to set up a home on shore at Te Awaiti.
The story goes on to say
Te Rangihaeata insisted his niece must not go to her pakeha husband bare handed and servantless (What!) She must have slaves to attend to the necessary household and cultivation duties that are beneath the dignity and the inclinations of a chieftains family. So he presented her and her husband with a dozen slaves who had been captured in wars with South Island tribes.
Captain Reed was taken back by the gift and said "what the devil am I going to do with 12 slaves"
Anyway they all ended up on Sunday (Raoul) Island and that's another story that seems to be well documented elsewhere including in DOC publications about Raoul Island.

*Agnes has been referred to in several trails I have followed.
Her name seems to vary (probably due to pronunciation interpretations)
She has also been referred to as Kau Maihanga and Te Kahumahinga.

There ya go folks. I have more in a draw for another day.
One parting thought.
My wife never came with slaves. Did yours?

Mar 12, 2009

Mother, Father, Aunty, Uncle. 64 yrs ago.


Rainbow & Racing!

Its hard to imagine not living by the sea.
For me at least that's the place to go for action, relaxation and getting the old head focused for the next day. These from the sea around Tauranga.

Check out the third one from the bottom. For a minute there I thought here comes the shot of a lifetime! The boat on the left drove right out onto the racing line of "Sleepyhead" the white monster on the right hand side doing 160k/hr or more. Close, very close.