Photo Blog

I have been posting an image to this blog gallery daily since 1 January 2022 after previously posting a total of nearly 5,000 images to my first blog gallery from 2007 to 2021. I don't claim my blog images are 'fine art' nor do I consider them to be my 'greatest hits', but are simply drawn from the broad cross-section of images I am capturing from day to day for my own pleasure. Click or tap on any image thumbnail to see the full image, then click or tap on the title to see the full caption and technical image details. Questions or feedback are welcome by selecting the e-mail icon in the menu.

Into unchartered waters
Posted on 17 May 2022 My curiosity was aroused yesterday morning when, unexpectedly, I saw the Centreport pilot boat 'Te Haa' sailing out of Wellington Harbour with there being no scheduled shipping arrivals. My intrigue was heightened further after my inquiries revealed it was en route to my old home town of Whanganui, but I still have no idea what the purpose of the trip might have been. © 2022 Ross Collins

Looking as good as new
Posted on 16 May 2022 Built in 1956 but looking brand new, the former NZR steam locomotive Ja1275 had been coupled up to eleven vintage carriages and was reversing into position at the Paekakariki Station yesterday ready to board passengers for the Steam Incorporated 'Heartland Flyer' excursion to Woodville and return yesterday. © 2022 Ross Collins

Just another brick in the wall
Posted on 15 May 2022 Yesterday I photographed the Lego characters created on a retaining wall in Lower Hutt by 'Block Vandal' - the same day on which news broke that our Prime Minister had succumbed to the coronavirus. I was amused to discover that the 'Cindy Block', as her image on the wall has come to be known, is adjacent to and within social distance of another block showing a safely Covid-masked character. © 2022 Ross Collins

Laying down the challenge
Posted on 14 May 2022 When I heard and saw another (the same?) fantail trying to get in our windows, I couldn't resist taking up the challenge of again trying to freeze the action of this fast-moving target. © 2022 Ross Collins

Back to reality
Posted on 11 May 2022 After returning to Wellington at around midnight following maintenance in dry dock in Sydney, the ferry 'Straitsman' was quickly back into service running the 1.30pm Bluebridge service to Picton and heading into a stiff southerly as it was leaving Wellington Harbour yesterday. © 2022 Ross Collins

Step by step
Posted on 10 May 2022 The dramatic lines of the stairway leading from the front gate up to the heritage-listed Main Block at the Wellington East Girls' College prompted this image. © 2022 Ross Collins

Job done
Posted on 9 May 2022 The Centreport pilot boat 'Te Haa' was returning to base from choppy waters in Cook Strait after transferring a pilot to the Hong Kong-flagged, general cargo vessel 'Chipol Changjiang' which was arriving at Wellington from Adelaide yesterday. © 2022 Ross Collins

Repurposed
Posted on 8 May 2022 The art deco architectural features of the former Lower Hutt Post Office and the New Zealand Coat of Arms over the door successfully survived the conversion of the building to an apartment complex. © 2022 Ross Collins

Life's a beach
Posted on 7 May 2022 The major remediation of the Seatoun Wharf in Wellington's eastern suburbs was again involving activity under the water yesterday. © 2022 Ross Collins

In the zone
Posted on 6 May 2022 Occasional Wellington visitor, the Seaworks tug, dredge, and dive and rig support vessel, 'Seaworker', was arriving into Wellington Harbour on Wednesday. © 2022 Ross Collins

To the rescue
Posted on 5 May 2022 The police vessel 'Lady Elizabeth IV' was returning from a location near Pencarrow Head at the entrance to Wellington Harbour with a small pleasure boat in tow yesterday afternoon. © 2022 Ross Collins

East meets west
Posted on 4 May 2022 As the Japanese-owned bulk carrier  'Crystal Palace' was arriving into Wellington Harbour from Picton late on Saturday, it was being met by the out-bound French-owned container ship 'Hansa Offenburg' which was en route to Nelson . © 2022 Ross Collins

Study in pink
Posted on 3 May 2022 I went outside (with camera in hand) to investigate a raucous emanating from a tui and got distracted by a newly emerged camellia flower. © 2022 Ross Collins

What's in a name?
Posted on 2 May 2022 This little native fantail was so persistent as it fluttered at our windows and around our yard that I finally relented and took a camera outside to make some images including this, in which I caught it flexing its tail feathers while it was clutching onto a berry or seed head of some sort with one leg. © 2022 Ross Collins

Making a scene
Posted on 1 May 2022 As the sun was going down at Breaker Bay yesterday, a painter was finishing up his interpretation of the scene looking across the bay as a small group of supporters were looking on. © 2022 Ross Collins

Eye on the prize
Posted on 30 April 2022 Shortly before sunset last night, our neighbour's bottle brush tree was the target of more than half a dozen wax-eyes (aka silvereyes or tauhou). Although I thought the prospect of capturing useable images in such low light was very remote, my equipment came through yet again. © 2022 Ross Collins

Past its best
Posted on 29 April 2022 While walking around Worser Bay, I noticed this derelict window in the back wall of a very old garage through the open door. Even though the dim light inside presented difficult conditions for photography, I thought the character of the subject was worth the effort to realise the image opportunity. © 2022 Ross Collins

Having a swell time
Posted on 28 April 2022 Yesterday's forecast South Coast swells were at full strength and were sweeping into the Wellington Harbour as the Dutch trailing suction hopper dredge 'Albatros' was departing from Wellington en route to Tauranga at around the time of high tide. © 2022 Ross Collins

Piscine
Posted on 27 April 2022 This colourful mural is appropriately themed for the highly-rated Ortega fish restaurant sited among early Wellington buildings at the foot of Mt Victoria. © 2022 Ross Collins

In formation
Posted on 26 April 2022 Three of the RNZAF Beechcraft T-6C Texan II pilot training aircraft were performing an Anzac Day flypast over the Pukeahu War Memorial Park in Wellington yesterday morning. © 2022 Ross Collins.

Just over there
Posted on 25 April 2022 Sometimes a backdrop to my shipping images, even though it was around eight kilometres away as the crow flies from where I was standing at the time, broken sunlight falling on the Baring Head lighthouse and headland on the south coast of the North Island was an impressive sight that I felt was worth trying to capture in an image. © 2022 Ross Collins

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