Thistle Hall Art Gallery

I didn't take any pictures from the photo exhibition opening, or the gallery itself. Luckily a couple of the other guys did. Thanks to James Ogle and Francisco De La Torre for letting me post some of their pics on my blog.

Mel James (aka Astroboy) pouring out a few bottles of red, white and champagne in anticipation of the thirsty art goers. Mel and James were the two organizers for the exhibit.

A saturday afternoon gallery shot. Note the nice looking weather outside. This weekend was sunny and warm for a change. Of course this entire week is miserably cold and rainy.

Some fellow Weta peeps sneaking in a weekend viewing. Wow, who hung those pictures on the wall, it looks so expertly done! hahaha.

I have NO idea who this is...but I thought I'd put it in anyways.

Fernando enjoying some of the wine. I wonder how many people would've come out if we didn't have free wine?

(right to left) Ula, Inge and their mom. Absolutley NO family resemblance here eh? :)
Ula designed the poster for the exhibition (see below image) and Inge was one of the people who helped me find a place to live here.

C'est tout!

Am I A "Professional" Now?

Guess what? I sold a photo! How cool is that! Ha. I'm pretty stoked and very flattered at the same time. Pretty exciting for me. If you've ever sold a photo or painting before, then you'll probably not see the big deal, but I've never done anything like this before so it's all new and fun for me.

That's it on the right hanging on the gallery wall. From the photo exhibit I mentioned a few posts down. I went with a dark brown wood frame and off white/light cream textured mat. I was super happy with how it went together with the print. It took me about 5 minutes in the store to choose the frame. Not too difficult as I pretty much knew what I wanted, and I only had to choose between the black and the dark brown versions. Then another 15 minutes going through different white/cream coloured mats, and putting them beside the print and frame to make my decision...final decision Regis.

So in most sports, what separates the 'amateurs' from the 'professionals' is whether or not you get paid, or whether or not you're eligible for prize money should you win. So does this make me a 'professional photographer' now? HA! ...I highly doubt it. I won't be quitting my day job to do this full time any time soon.

As for the show, it runs another week. The opening on Thursday night was awesome! 4 of us spent the day measuring and hanging all 54 prints, then setting up the food and drinks for a 7:30pm opening. 2 cases of champagne, 1 case of red, and 1 case of white. It was all gone in a little over 2 hours!! It was shoulder to shoulder in the gallery at one point. Mostly Weta peeps, friends and family, and a few 'Gallery Ho's' as Mel calls them...the girls who show up to any art gallery opening for the free booze. Whatever...

I worked two shifts watching the gallery. We're all taking turns so the gallery can stay open a little later in the evenings and on weekends. It's a double edged knife watching people stop and react to your photo in a positive way, and then others pretty much walk right by it. Oh well, can't please everyone.

Room With A View

Ok, so to this day I still haven't posted any pictures of where I call home. I'll get around to taking some pics of my apartment soon, I swear. In the meantime, here are a couple pics of the view from my apartment. I take it for granted sometimes, but every once in a while I realize that not everyone has a view out the front of their house or apartment...except for the view of the house across the street, or the condo next door...so I'll take what I've got without complaining.

This first shot is the view out the front of our building and also the view out of my apartment. The front wall of my unit is pretty much just windows. I took this standing at the window. Our building is about 9/10ths the way up a hill, hence the view looks down over the rest of this part of the 'burbs...facing east...oh, and that big black diagonal line is the power line that runs down the hill to some houses below.


This next shot faces south, looking through my kitchen window. The blue stuff is the Cook Straight, the patch of ocean that separates the North and South Islands, about a 5 minute car drive to the water from my place. There's a couple small beaches there, but you won't catch me swimming in that freezing water. Kiwi's are nuts!!!


You might notice from the pics that the homes look a bit like antiques...that's because they are! Around Wellington a house that is 30-40 years old is considered "new", I'm not joking. Most of Wellington is quite hilly, so all the streets wind up and down the hills and valleys. There are NO straight roads, no grid pattern streets or pre-planned cookie cutter subdivisions. For that stuff you have to go to other parts of New Zealand. Christchurch reminds me of home...straight roads with sidewalks, you can see way down the road ahead of you, not just another corner or the bottom of a hill.

There are newer subdivisions around Wellington, about 10-15 minutes drive up the 'highway'. Like any city, property in the core is insanely expensive, especially considering this is Wellington, not exactly the international standard of a metropolitan city. But still no housing developments like north america where they bulldoze a couple farms and then build a few thousand houses that all look the same. Here you purchase the land from the developer, hire an architect to design your home, and the developer's build it. That means the land itself is a bit cheaper, but then they stick it to you by forcing you to go with their builders, and hence their prices. Well, at least your house won't look like any other on the block.

Quickie For Woodbrain

So it's been a while. Been busy at work and running around with other things. Andrew wanted some new pics, so here you go Woodstain...well, one new and one old at least.

There's a photo email group at work, basically an email alias for anyone who wants to share their photos with other photogs, ask questions on techniques, software, etc. There are some really good photographers here at work, some coming from film cameras with 10-20 years behind the viewfinder, and others brand new with point and shoots. No discrimination, it's all just about the photos.

Anyways, this is the second year that the photogs at work have gotten together to rent out a small gallery in town, to post their personal works. This year's showing runs September 20-29. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to find something to print and frame, I think I'm my own worst critic. These are two of my final choices. Ta Prohm from my recent trip to Cambodia this year, and a 3 shot series based on Kaffee Eis, THE BEST gelato in town.

Ok, that's it Andrew, ya I know, what a lazy ass. I'll try to post some real stuff soon.