WW2 Fort Dorset Remains
More location shots of bunkers again today. This time above Seatoun, these were to protect Port Dorset which lay on the other side of the ridge and the harbor entrance.
There are some old images of it HERE although the two gun pits are pretty much just rubble.
These were by far the most overgrown battlements and it looked like someone had been living in one of them. I especially liked how the metal shutters on one of them had rusted to look like lace.
In some places houses have been built only meters away from some of these structures so it makes you wonder how much longer they will last…
Nikon D70s, Various Lenses, ISO 200.
Sinclair Head WW2 Forward Observation Post
Looking back at some images on my hard drive I found a couple of series of WW2 Gun Emplacements and Observation Posts that I wandered around from late 2008… The idea was to go round all the sites and take reference images and then go to the National Archives, National Library and Military Museums and get historical images and try to put a book together…Maybe with all the renewed interest with the military selling off lots of its land this is something I should re-look at.
Sinclair Head Forward Observation Post was a radio post used for spotting ships coming through the Cook Straight. I assume that it was relayed up to Wrights Hill where the main battery of guns were. You can see where the radio antenna was located in the main lookout.
This was about a 3 hour walk around the Red Rocks Reserve and then straight up a hill bordering on a cliff… That being said these were the best preserved and least graffiti-ed remains that I have found to date.
Nikon F5, 50mm f1.8 Lens. Ilford Delta 400 ISO Film, Noritsu Scanner.
Dan And 4×5
I found this shot of Dan using my 4×5 camera at Point Halswell while I was looking for images of Fort Balance
Nikon F5… Cant remember what else sorry it was a while ago…
Fort Balance Retrospective
On the front of Fridays Dominion Post there was an article about the military wanting to sell off the land that a number of the historic fortresses are on. A few years ago I decided to go and investigate all of the old forts and battlements around Wellington and found this one while looking for something else… I think these were taken around 2008… I have kept meaning to try and get actual permission to go back since this one and a couple of others are on Military land but have never got round to it… Possibly because I have no idea where to ask 🙂
Here are some shots of Fort Balance which was built in the 1880s. There is a good article HERE which details most of the history of the fort.
Nikon D70s, 18-70mm Lens, ISO 200.
Mantis
Nikon F5, 50mm f1.8 Lens, PK-12 Extension Tube, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Dragon Boat Festival
This is the second post from the Dragon Boat Festival from the 19th of March (oppps is it really a month since this was on?). This is the day after I was taking photos with the Rolleiflex, I decided to take my Nikon F5 with my 80-200 f2.8 and get a bit closer to the action.
I had scoped out the best position to be the day before and just before the first race I went down under the bridge onto a floating pier and lined myself up with the middle of the only lane close enough to shoot down. Amusingly about a minute after I was in place one of the Dominion Post photographers came along… He stood on one side of me… Then the other side…Then back to the first side… At this point I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat (yes I have just finished reading Alice in Wonderland to Emily) as he stood beside me with his 500mm telephoto cause Id snaked his spot (small things amuse me).
I just noticed as I was putting this post together that the girls on the bridge in image Dragon Boat 4 are the same girls in their bot in image Dragon Boat 7 and 8… Weird.
Nikon F5, 80-200mm f2.8 Lens, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
A Couple Of Angels
I haven’t posted any images of cemeteries for a while, having been concentrating more on street photography, so here goes a couple of shots from two different walks.
I really like the Bokeh in the first image…
The second image is from a roll I took with an extension tube and a 50mm lens with the purpose of getting images of textures and things that would be good to use with blending layers etc… Since I took it I haven’t had much motivation to sit in front of my computer much so maybe I will get round to it one day…
Top Image: Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Bottom Image: Nikon F5, 50mm f1.8 and PK-12 Extension Tube, HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Wellington Triathlon
Triathlon in Wellington on the 12th of March… Amusingly this was being run in the harbor in the midst of a tsunami alert throughout the Pacific. Although the risk was relatively low and the event would be finished before the tsunami would have hit it still made me smile 🙂 especially when I asked one of the lifeguards about it and got back the typical kiwi reply of “she’ll be right”
It would have been nice once again to have my 80-200 f2.8 but thems the breaks since I wasnt really expecting to shoot at a triathlon…
Nikon F5, 50mm f1.8 Lens, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Whats Going On?
Film is great for surprises… I didn’t notice what was going on in this image until I was just about to post it with the set of images from the Performance Arcade from a couple of weeks ago.
So what is happening in this image?… Really I have no idea… Anyone want to have a guess?
Nikon F5, 50mm f1.8 Lens, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Some Feet
Spotted these feet just chillin out…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner
Homage To The Alley
As I have mentioned a couple of days ago this Alley has been gated off and the graffiti painted over. A friend sent me THIS ARTICLE which says the whys and hows. I have to say the whys are pretty dumb…
Anyway here goes some shots from the last couple of years…
Mushrooms
Mushrooms spring up in the most unusual places…
Nikon F5, 50mm f1.8 Lens, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Darkhalide Photography 
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