The photo of the NZ Fur Seal above is one I took in April 2017 at the Blaketown breakwater beside the Grey River

15 August 2020

After a resurgence of Covid-19 in Auckland we are back to another couple of weeks in Level 2. Social distancing is the key but it seems people are slower to adapt this time. I went out to the river mouth where a number of people were mixing freely. I might have to wear a mask so that people are reminded to not come close. I managed to get some shots of a skip from the Nelson-based fishing vessel ‘Aukaha’ as it came into the river and port then left a few minutes later to return to the ship with two extra people.

27 July 2020

I haven’t added to this post since March but I’m keeping it open as we are still at risk in the post-lockdown period. New Zealanders are returning home from overseas in large numbers and all have to go into 14-day managed quarantine. Some have taken off from there and in doing so put the rest of us at risk. 

Has Covid-19 affected my photography?  In some ways it has. I’m spending more time going back over old photos and processing some that I haven’t done before. I’m not getting out for photos quite as much as I had been because I’m spending more time in the garden. I started by sowing a few vegetable seeds during the lockdown. I’m already harvesting some but it doesn’t stop there. I’ve renovated the garden and re-designed parts of it. I’m aware that Covid-19 could still cause problems for us in the future so I’m making sure that the garden will be able to provide some food in the event that we have another lock-down. Once current changes are completed I don’t think the garden will continue to take a lot of my time so I expect to get back to more photography. 

7 May 2020

It seems we are going to come out of level 3 restrictions in about ten days. While it will be good to be able to get out and about again and start getting new photos I have appreciated the opportunity to go back over old photos. I’ve been able to re-process some with improved results and I’ve found some gems I’ve never actually processed at all (and wonder why). While I could always have done that I probably wouldn’t have without the enforced stay-at-home. Every cloud as they say…

3 May 2020

I’m adding a bit to the beginning of this post otherwise it goes on the bottom and therefore probably unseen’

We are now in Level 3 after coming out of level 4 a few days ago. Still some cases of Covid-19 around the country so I’m happy for the restrictions to continue. I’m not getting out for new photos; I could but I’ll leave it a bit longer. In the meantime I’m doing a lot of sorting of older photos and adding some of the better ones to the galleries. I’m also doing quite a bit of work on my website with some new galleries soon to be added. 

In New Zealand we are in a lock-down situation in an effort to control Coronavirus. Instructions are to stay at home and confine ourselves to our own little bubble. People are allowed to go out to get food (supermarkets and a limited number of other stores are still open), medical supplies or to get some exercise, preferably close to home.

This naturally restricts the photography I can do as I can’t go to far from home. I don’t have a problem with that as being in the more at-risk group (over 70) I’m happy to cooperate with whatever restrictions are necessary to stop the spread of this very nasty disease.

What it means is that I have to look at different subjects to photograph. No broad landscapes for the time being, no boats, and sunsets shots will be from an urban environment. I’ll include one such with this post. I’ll report periodically on my progress.

Looking at it again on 19 April we are nearing the end of the strictest part of our lock-down. More time at home as we can’t go out except for very limited purposes. The consequence of all this is that my garden is looking better than it has in a long time and I’m spending more time at the computer so my website is getting more attention. I’m currently working on designing a content hub which I’ve not had before. I’m also going back over old albums of photos and finding some that are worth publishing. Well, back to work…

The image above was taken from my garden.

With a few wet days I’m taking the time to improve my website. I’ve nearly completed a content hub I’ve been working on and I’m quite pleased with it. I’m doing more baking than I’ve done in a long time and I’ve cleaned out several cupboards. I’m also going back over old photos, redoing some and processing some that I’ve not before got around to. I expect to have quite a few additions to the galleries and I expect that I’ll add a couple of new galleries. I also hope to do a bit more learning – mastering Lightroom and some courses I’ve paid for to improve my photography. The lock-down has been extended by another week and will end on 28 April so still time to do more with my photography and website.