Pasifika 2012

NRG Rising at the Mangere Hawks Club rooms.  This girl had a gorgeous voice.

What a superb day!  All the various Pacific Island people at Western Springs having a party.  A very happy place to be, and so many wonderful performances by these very musical people.  The first image in this post wasn't actually taken at the Pasifika Festival, but later in the day at the Mangere Hawks Club rooms, but the shot of this Maori girl seemed a good way to start.

Tigilau Ness (Che Fu's dad) performing with the Reggae band Unity Pacific.

One of the first acts I saw was Unity Pacific.  Lead guitarist in the band was Tigilau Ness, father of Che Fu.  It was just about a year ago that I was fortunate enough to catch Che Fu at the Avondale College.  This was at a fundraiser for the Christchurch earthquake.  A much happier time today as we enjoyed Unity Pacific.  On stage with Tigilau was Derrick Cox (see second shot).  This gent was superb.  Very talented musician with a lovely touch.  The guitar just sang.  Wonderful.  He was just the type of performer I like.  At the back, quietly getting on with the job with no fuss, but producing some delicious music all the same.  Wonderful.  I just hope I get to see these guys again one day.  Unfortunately as there were so many acts playing on the various stages each band was limited to only a few numbers.  Such a shame.  Perhaps we should have a week long festival next time!!

Derrick Cox playing with Unity Pacific.  Wonderful musician.

Lead guitarist with South Island band Redzone.

Next up on stage was a band called Redzone.  A blues band from Christchurch with presently nowhere to play as all the old blues bars are located in Christchurch's no go zone; the "Redzone".  I wasn't sure what to expect of these guys, but they were rather good!  Such a shame they're short on locations to perform as they have great abilities.  So, if you have a bar, you're somewhere near Christchurch and you need a band ... look no further.  Redzone may be just what you need :-)

The next surprise for me was to see Iva Lamkum on stage.  Iva's one very pretty girl with a gorgeous voice and rather good guitar skills too.  Such a treat to have her perform a few songs for us at Pasifika this year.  Still going through my monochrome phase, these two shots of Iva have been treated to a copper effect in SilverEfex.  If you'd like to see the colour versions for comparison head over to my Facebook album and take a squiz.  Perhaps let me know whether you prefer colour to monochrome.  Of the two shots in this post I quite like the second of the two shots, the one in portrait.  I was told some time ago that with profile shots you should alway try to get the eyelashes of the invisible eye in the shot.  I always try to do this, but usually fail!  Anyway this shot illustrates the extra depth to the face you obtain.

Straight after Iva I was treated to The Levites.  Jacob, Ross and Junior Nansen with Chrismas Ropati, Thabani Gapara and some other friends. I've only really heard the Levites when they've supported vocalists like Erakah or Stan Walker.  This time though we were treated to a lovely instrumental.  Very nice.  Oh, and then we saw Erakah and Stan Walker.  Very nice set.

I took heaps of photos.  Probably way too many!!  Now I have the task of sorting through them all.  Mind you, it just brings back happy memories of a great day out on "Island Time".  Must admit to really looking forward to catching up with all the folks I met yesterday.  It was a glorious day.  Oh, if you want to see more shots, just head over to Facebook.  You never know, you might even "Like" it :-)

Iva Lamkum at the Pasifika Festival, Western Springs, Auckland 

Iva Lamkum

Jacob Nansen leading The Levites.

Thabani Gapara ... hugely talented saxophonist.

Ross Nansen happy as always thumping out the rhythm for The Levites.

Wow ... what a day!!

After a day like today I can't help but feel somewhat delighted to be alive.  And it gets better ... but I'll tell you that at the end.

Some of the audience enjoying Music in the Parks at Auckland's Domain.

I spent the morning with my son and daughter ... always good fun, and then headed into Auckland City.  Auckland really is a beautiful city and it has some gorgeous parks.  I was heading for the Museum and the Domain where Cat Tunks and Black Sand Diva were playing as part of Auckland City's, "Music in The Parks".  They were performing in the old band rotunda which didn't really make life easy for me.  Perhaps they were quite concerned about people falling off the rotunda, so they erected a "fence" to keep the band inside, and obscure the view for people on the outside.  Oh well.  I tried to get shots through the "fence" and some aren't too bad.  The music however was superb and the folks fortunate to be there had a great time.

I got to meet Caitlin Smith in the audience, and then popped along to DeBretts in the city to see her sing with her jazz trio.  Sweet.  I didn't take too many shots as my camera makes a real clatter when the shutter fires.  The older Nikons don't have the "Q" setting for Quiet, so I decided to leave a little early and let the other folks enjoy Caitlin's talented without the clatter of a camera in the background.

Here's the band, Black Sand Diva.  The gent taking photos through the fence has been doing this for the past  20years!

Below are a couple of shots of the Black Sand Diva band members ...

Cat Tunks

Arli Lieberman.

Jason Orme on the drums.  Great musician.

Bass guitarist, Alex Griffith.  Very skillful gent.

Kiri Kainamu Wheeler (keyboards)  

OK, so there I am taking shots of the band when my 'phone rings.  Good job it was on vibrate otherwise I'd have missed the call.  Wife and daughter are at Mission Bay wondering if I fancied popping down.  Did I ever!  Just look at the shot below, taken at Mission Bay from where I was eating my fish and chips from the Fish Pot Cafe.  Mmmmm.

Rangitoto Island from Mission Bay.

After my Fish 'n Chips I headed into the city to see Caitlin Smith play with her jazz trio.  Lovely.  I believe she has a regular Sunday evening spot at DeBrett's on High Street in the City.  So, if you're in the neighbourhood you should check it out.  Here's a few shots of Caitlin ...

Caitlin Smith

Caitlin Smith

Caitlin Smith

So there you go.  I was having a ball!  So much fun, meeting such lovely people, visiting some great parts of Auckland and also getting a great feed at the Fish Pot Cafe.  But there's more.  It's Sunday night and there's no work tomorrow!  Really ... life is rather good just now.

The end ... or is it the beginning?

Wednesday this week was my last day working for my employer of the past 20 years!  A number of people have said it marked the end of an era.  Sure, some things will not be the same, but in many ways that's a good thing.  I think it's time for me to do something different with my time now, and hopefully this will mark the beginning of a new and exciting chapter of my life.  It may also mark the start of a new and exciting chapter for my previous employer ... I certainly hope so.

For many years, photography has been an interest, a passion and to some degree an obsession!  From early years I was always fascinated with the camera.  I can recall being bedazzled by the light sensors around the front lens element on my Dad's half frame Konica.  Here's an image of a similar camera to the one that started my enthusiasm so many years ago!  After this camera there was the Asahi Pentax Spotmatic F, a brief spell with a Cosina CSR (the camera died an unpleasant death in Jordan in 1979) and then a very long and happy time with my Pentax MX.  I still have this camera and love it.  Gorgeous piece of equipment and beautifully made.

Now I'm using Nikon gear.  I tried the Pentax dSLR offerings, but they didn't feel right.  I tried Canon and that just didn't feel as comfortable in my hands as the Nikon.  All the buttons, knobs and dials just seemed to be where I wanted them with the Nikon.  In fact I have the same fondness for my Nikon as I had for my MX when that was my main camera.  Is it better or worse than Canon or Pentax?  I don't know and, to be honest, don't care.  I like it and am happy with it, just like other folks prefer other brands.

So here I am.  No job and time on my hands to do something I'd really like to do.  I get the chance to take photographs instead of snapshots.  I get the chance to wait and observe instead of being frustrated I have to be somewhere else and end up missing the shot.  I'll get the chance to spend time with people and listen to what they have to say ... have a laugh and deepen our friendships, but most of all, I'm really looking forward to having some fun with my family and friends.

Some of my friends lent me the new Nikon 85mm f1.8G lens to play with ... but only briefly.  I took the opportunity to shoot some of my musician friends at a bar in Auckland last night.  Often the light levels are quite low in the bars and I wanted to see how this new lens would perform wide open (to let in as much light as possible).  Take a squiz at the shots below and perhaps let me know what you think.

Mr Semi Leo on bass guitar.  85mm f1.8 and wide open.  1/100sec and ISO 2500

Semi again, lovely bokeh (blur) in the background.  I really like how the lights appear as circles.

One of my favourite shots from the evening.  Quite nice warm, "cosy" light.

Even wide open the lens isn't too bad; the bokeh lovely and smooth.

Wide open ... but with a bit of flash camera right.

Guinness is good for you ... hadn't you heard?

Aqstik Soul with the Nikkor 85mm f1.8G ...

Semi Leo

A chance to see Aqstik Soul at Newmarket's Cock 'n Bull was not to be missed.  Especially as I had a lovely new 85mm f1.8G lens from Nikon to try out.

I'd used the 85mm f1.4G some time ago and was quite delighted with it.  Very fast to focus and really quite sharp even when wide open.  Often, when shooting the bands and musicians in the bars, the light levels are somewhat subdued.  As such, an ability to get sharp images at wide apertures is something for which I was really looking.  The 85mm f1.4G didn't disappoint here and I can recall thinking this particular lens was a dream optic!  The reason for the dream was the price.  Rather an expensive piece of glass, so when the f1.8G became available at 1/3 the price I was seriously keen to try it out.  Perhaps I'd get similar quality shots without having to spend quite so much.

To be honest, it's a lovely lens.  A really lovely lens.  The bokeh (out of focus blur) is lovely and smooth, and the highlights are nice and round.  There's a fair bit of chromatic aberration, but perhaps that's to be expected when shooting wide open at f1.8.  The big problem I had was with focus.  Compared to the f1.4G this lens seemed more hesitant and more prone to hunting in low light when trying to focus.  I even reverted to manual focus on a number of occasions as I was becoming frustrated with the lens's inability to snap onto my subjects.  Perhaps I was expecting too much?  Perhaps I had unreasonable expectations after using the f1.4G?  Not really sure, but I finished the evening with mixed emotions.  I loved the bokeh, I loved the price and I was quite impressed with the overall image quality.  I was a little disappointed with the focus speed and chromatic aberrations.  Take a look here at one of my Google Plus albums for a few more shots taken with the 85mm f1.8G.  Perhaps let me know what you think?

Malcolm Lakatani

Semi Leo

Semi Leo

Erakah with the Levites ... and a couple of friends.

The lovely Erakah, just before the performance at AUT's Manukau Campus.

It was quite a different event to the one I went to a few years ago.  This was quite a low key affair, but the performances by the Levites and Erakah were wonderful.  Quite a small stage and only a few centimetres of the ground.  I was concerned that I was going to get wet, but the weather stayed fine and most of the audience fitted under the marquee.  Just a shame there wasn't a few more people to join in the fun!

Anyway, besides Erakah and the Levites we were treated to Stan Walker and Sam Cowley.  Three talented vocalists on stage supported by the Levites.  It was a real treat.

I'll close this post with a few more shots from today ...

Erakah in full flight on stage at AUT's Manukau Campus.

The lovely Erakah Nansen.

The Levite's Jacob Nansen on keys

Junior Nansen on bass guitar.

Ross Nansen on drums.

Ross on drums again ... but this time in colour :-)

Stan Walker just before going on stage at AUT's Manukau Campus.

Stan Walker, Sam Cowley and Erakah just before the performance.

Sam Cowley backstage before the performance.

Sam Cowley.

Sam Cowley on stage at AUT's Manukau Campus.

Stan Walker singing on stage with Erakah and the Levites (Christmas Ropati in the background)

Tribal Conexions

Hemi Pirihi on drums.

Tewhetu Pirihi on Bass Guitar .. and vocals.

Day one of the 2012 Manukau Institute of Techology Orientation saw Tribal Conexionz performing on stage.  A three piece Reggae Band and rather good too!

Seeing the three guys on stage I must admit to not having very high expectations of their performance.  First impressions were wrong.  These guys were really quite good!  The Rod Stewart song was a bit of a surprise to hear from a Reggae Band, but it was sweet.  The boys worked well together and produced some good Reggae sounds.  Sadly I couldn't stay too long, just long enough to get a few snaps of the boys on stage.

Good band, great atmosphere and lots of fun had by everyone who was there.  Quite looking forward to seeing them again and snapping a few more shots.

Tewhetu Pirihi at Manukau Institute of Technology's 2012 Student Orientation

Antony Pirihi on lead guitar and vocals.

Changes afoot ...

Lone fisherman, late evening, Maraetai New Zealand.

After twenty years with my current employer the time has come for a change.  I have just less than two weeks before I leave work and consider doing things other than IT.

Am I concerned, anxious or worried in any way about the future?  Surprisingly not!  I must admit to being quite excited about the idea!  Really excited for what the future may hold.

One thing I'll do is have a rest.  A long rest I think.  Go and look at the beautiful scenery here in New Zealand and take my time to look, listen and chat to people (check this out).  Who knows ... I might even try my hand at fishing like the gent in the first image in this post!

I've often had the desire to spend more time outdoors, so that's one thing I'll be adding to my list.  I'll be taking more landscape shots ... something I've always really enjoyed but never had the time to develop.  I always seemed to be in a rush and just ended up taking snapshots rather than photographs.

The bands?  Can't resist the bands!  I've met so many lovely talented people working in the music industry here in NZ and am seriously keen to spend more time with them.  Performances are often late at night which has been awkward due to early starts at work ... but now I have a chance to spend more time with the bands.

So, please tag along with me on this blog as I update you with images from my travels, gigs and whatever else crops up.  I'm hoping to have a heap of fun with plenty left over to share with you.  Remember you can also find me on Google+ and Facebook.  

Depressed?  Not a bit of it!  The future looks sunny and bright ... just like the flower below :-)

Sunflower bloom