skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Well if you didn't already know it, I've decided to spend Christmas in New Zealand this year. Although it's the time of the year I want to go home the most, I decided three roundtrip flights to North America in 6 months wasn't my idea of fun. Anyways, I'm just chilling in town the first week, going to hang out with some fellow Canucks for Christmas BBQ, and then taking a road trip up to the Northern end of the North Island the second week. So this will be my first Christmas in a "no snow zone" for as long as I can remember...and to be honest, it kinda sucks...it just doesn't feel like Christmas without the snow and the cold. Sure it's nice to walk around in shorts and tshirts, and to have to apply sunscreen before leaving the house, but it just isn't the same...oh well...I won't be complaining about warm sunny weather on my roadtrip!
So this is what Wellington looks like at "Christmas time". Pretty balmy looking eh? Midland Park is always a busy spot for the downtown crowd at lunchtime. It sits out front of what I believe is the Vodafone building. So when the weather's nice, the lawn is always jammed up with workers trying to grab a little sun while dining. It's a nice little spot. The one thing I did find kinda strange was that parents actually let their kids play in the fountain like it's some sort of water amusement park. They weren't even wearing bathing suits, I think they were just in their underwear. I don't know if it's allowed or not, but nobody seemed to be complaining, and nobody came to tell them otherwise. Now I wonder what would happen if it was a grown man playing in the fountain in his underwear...haha...I don't think he'd last very long. Ah little kids have all the fun :)
So what is this exactly? No it's not some goofy picture of a shiny Christmas ornament...it's a goofy picture of ME shooting myself in the reflection of a shiny Christmas ornament...except that it's so scratched up you probably can't even recognize me. Oh well...
This is number 37 of 100 in my 100 Strangers photo project. This is Henry from Wellington. Born in Christchurch, he's lived all over the South Island of New Zealand, but considers Welligton "home" after moving her 2.5 years ago. One of the things he loves most about this city is the "melting pot" of cultures. He loves meeting people from different backgrounds and being exposed to their cultures.I met Henry at People's Coffee, a cafe in Newtown that is touted as having possibly the best coffee in Wellington. I was at the art gallery next door waiting for someone and remembered that a colleague had asked me to pick up a bag of espresso grind for him. Henry and "Moarigunkami" (Stranger #38) were just cleaning up at the end of the day, but they were kind enough to sell me the grinds AND also pose for my pictures.Henry's been working at People's for about 9 months now, but was turned onto their coffee long before that when he worked at a different cafe in town that used to serve coffee from Peoples' beans. After tasting the sweet goodness of his first espresso he was hooked, and today it's still his favourite coffee fix. The other bonus of working at People's for Henry is being in a workspace where everyone from staff to clientele are passionate about coffee.So after botching my question of the day with Drew (Stranger #36), I made sure not to forget this time."What was the last thing you ate before becoming Stranger #37 Henry?" ...cous cous.Thanks for participating Henry.You can see the alternate portraits of Henry in my 100 Strangers Alternates set, and you can see my other strangers in my 100 Strangers set, and strangers from other participating photographers in the 100 Strangers flickr pool. Learn more about the 100 Strangers photo project here.
This Saturday I had lunch with Count Toasty at Soi. We had planned to scout the local headquarters of the Wellington Coast Guard for an upcoming calendar photoshoot we're supposed to do, more on that some other time. The Coast Guard HQ is at the end of Evans Bay Parade, and Soi is about 2 minutes down the road. I hadn't been to Soi in a few months so suggested we have lunch there first. Good choice as it turns out that's how I'd come to meet Brittany...super nice girl and obviously very pretty, gorgeous eyes.
So on Sunday we arranged to meet up in town and have a chat about doing some photos together...and that's how I met Greg, Brittany's boyfriend. Now looking at these two you might assume they were brother and sister, and you might also assume that they have a Nordic heritage...wrong on both counts. They do sometimes freak people out by answering 'yes' to the brother sister question, and then kissing each other...HAHA...ahh, I'd pay to see someone's reaction to that. And in fact they both have Scottish heritage...I never would've guessed. And to put another little twist on things, the "Wellington is waaaay too small" curse has struck again :) ...turns out Brittany is good friends with Dana, and her mom also works at the travel agency that handles Weta's accounts.
So hopefully in the next month or so I'll get to shoot some fun stuff with Brittany, and we're trying to get Greg to agree to step into the frame and shoot some "Calvin Kleiny - Giorgio Armani'ish" couple shots with Brittany. They're both really laid back and very easy to get along with, so I'm looking forward to shooting with them :) ....stay tuned...
Some alternate processes looks. 
This is number 36 of 100 in my 100 Strangers photo project. This is Drew Dennehy, Student at Victoria University here in Wellington. He just finished his first year of a double major in Economics and Architecture. He was born in Wellington but grew up in Nelson, and he's back in town for university. Upon graduation he sees himself heading over to work in Melbourne (AUS) for a couple years, and then taking a crack at life in London (UK). Eventually making his way back to Australia way down the road. But before he enters the work force, he'll likely travel South East Asia first...hey, isn't that what ALL grads do, you gotta get it out of your system before it's too late :)I met Drew by chance today. I was returning to "Man To Man", a mens clothing store in Wellington, to pick up some jeans I had bought last weekend and gotten altered. As I was leaving the store I glanced at the front window display, thinking it could make for a cool photo. I went about my business running errands, and then about 10 minutes later I returned to the store determined to use the front window to my advantage and add to my 100 Strangers.As I was standing outside the store 'casing the joint' for a good angle, the clerk that had helped me earlier asked if I wanted to buy the building by the way I was curiously scoping it out :) So I went back in and asked if he'd want to participate as my next Stranger. At first he agreed, but then as I explained the need to include a minor backstory, he declined but suggested Drew who was working on the upper floor of the store...and that's how I met my 36th Stranger.Now here's the part that really sucks!!! I'm a little rusty getting back into my Strangers project, so rusty in fact that I totally blew it and forgot to ask Drew the ALL IMPORTANT FINAL QUESTION...what the last thing was that he ate...crap, I suck! Well, hopefully Drew will read this post in the next day or two, see my dilemna, remember what he had eaten last that day, and then email me and let me know so I can rectify my error. Come on Drew!! "What was the last thing you ate before becoming Stranger #36 Drew?" ....Thanks for participating Drew.You can see my other Strangers in my 100 Strangers set, and strangers from other participating photographers in the 100 Strangers flickr pool. Learn more about the 100 Strangers photo project here.
Well if you didn't already know it, I've decided to spend Christmas in New Zealand this year. Although it's the time of the year I want to go home the most, I decided three roundtrip flights to North America in 6 months wasn't my idea of fun. Anyways, I'm just chilling in town the first week, going to hang out with some fellow Canucks for Christmas BBQ, and then taking a road trip up to the Northern end of the North Island the second week. So this will be my first Christmas in a "no snow zone" for as long as I can remember...and to be honest, it kinda sucks...it just doesn't feel like Christmas without the snow and the cold. Sure it's nice to walk around in shorts and tshirts, and to have to apply sunscreen before leaving the house, but it just isn't the same...oh well...I won't be complaining about warm sunny weather on my roadtrip!
So this is what Wellington looks like at "Christmas time". Pretty balmy looking eh? Midland Park is always a busy spot for the downtown crowd at lunchtime. It sits out front of what I believe is the Vodafone building. So when the weather's nice, the lawn is always jammed up with workers trying to grab a little sun while dining. It's a nice little spot. The one thing I did find kinda strange was that parents actually let their kids play in the fountain like it's some sort of water amusement park. They weren't even wearing bathing suits, I think they were just in their underwear. I don't know if it's allowed or not, but nobody seemed to be complaining, and nobody came to tell them otherwise. Now I wonder what would happen if it was a grown man playing in the fountain in his underwear...haha...I don't think he'd last very long. Ah little kids have all the fun :)
So what is this exactly? No it's not some goofy picture of a shiny Christmas ornament...it's a goofy picture of ME shooting myself in the reflection of a shiny Christmas ornament...except that it's so scratched up you probably can't even recognize me. Oh well...
