Jesse's Blog

A day at my new office!

2010-09-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

Whales jumping around! Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia

These photos are taken from the Whale Watch boat I am currently working on in Hervey Bay. They are southern Humpbacks.

Double Breach!!! It was a real breach-fest out there

Such awesome creatures to see throwing themselves around

Less than 100 metres from the Boat 'Thats Awesome'

The Whales are in Hervey Bay from mid July until early November where they come to rest and play before heading down to the depths of Antarctica for 3 months of feeding. An awesome thing to experience!

An epic encounter

2010-03-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went on an adventure. There were no bookings for Ecocruz and John the Captain had been wanting to take the boat to the Poor Knights marine reserve when we had the chance for a diving and snorkeling and diving trip. The weather looked prime so we locked it in.

We went out on Friday night and sailed over to Marsdens Cross, a bay just out of the Kerikeri inlet. On sunset we enjoyed a display of bottle nose dolphins doing all kinds of acrobatics and when it got dark we jumped in the water with diving masks on and experienced the sparkling phospheresence which is always a trip! One of natures epic wonders.

The next day we headed out deep, aiming for 200-300metre water to try and find some Whales or Dolphins or maybe catch a Tuna. At around 10am we heard on the VHF that a pod of Killer Whales were in the Bay so we immediatly turned the boat and headed for where they had been spotted. We had alot of ground to cover and travelling at around 6 knots we decided to jump in the dinghy and boost over to find them equipt with my underwater point-and-shoot and some snorkeling gear.

There were Orcas which were in wo groups, we followed these four which had parents and their young.

The first time I jumped in I was shocked to see a big shark in the Bull Orcas mouth, it was amazing to see such predators in action in the Ocean!

The young Orca was curious and came up to the dinghy a few times, most of the time they were on the move and hard to take photos of!

They are awesome creatures and it was epic to see them underwater and be in their territory, an experience I'll always remember.

I also took lots of photos at the Poor Knights and I'll continue this blog soon.

More Waitangi Day

2010-02-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

Leaky Waka

Kai Time!

2010-02-07T20:56:00.001-08:00

The Waitangi day celebrations wouldn't be the same without the amazing selection of Kai on offer. Theresloads of stalls set up everywhere serving anything; hot hangi, mussel fritters, fry bread, steak sandwiches, crepes, sea food, and when you get too hot you can get half a watermelon filled with a few scoops of ice cream. mmmmmm.

Look at that menu! I had two mussel burgers.

For those of you who don't know what fry bread is its a bready dough mix deep fried in fat. Greasy goodness, chur!

And heres Ray, he supports the 28 Maori Battalion.

Waitangi day

2010-02-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

Its time again for the national celebrations of Waitangi Day. 2010 the year of the Waka. 170 years since the signing of the Treaty.

I had the job again of going around the grounds and taking photos of all the action. This year the Waka played a big part, there were over 30 Waka from all around the North Island and I was keen to capture some of these canoe boosting around. Heres some photos from the launching of the Waka the day before Waitangi Day.

A haka given as a Nga Puhi Waka was launched.

The mighty Ngatokimatawhaorua with the Navy Friggit and a charter boat in the background.

Getting ready to launch the Waka

The Haka given as a Waka rows past the shore.

The mighty Ngatokimatawhaorua which was built in 1940 for the centenary of the signing of the treaty. It is 37 metres long, was built of 3 sections of Kauri timber and carries over 100 people. It was launched this Waitangi Day for the first time in 5 years.

out in the fresh Open Air

2010-01-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

This is a quick overview of the New Years festival we helped organize in the Bay of Islands. Dan Bregman and I took the photos and Dan did the write up. Cheers to all that helped out and attended and thanks to the three Chris's for the massive task of organizing the festival and letting us use the land. It was awesome!!!!

OPEN AIR

With so many different options for celebrating new years, it seems difficult to make a decision where one will go these days. Gisborne, Ingagnahuna, Matakana and Coromandel are all names that spring to mind when thinking of events that run over the switching of the years. However, there are also many smaller more modest festivals, which offer a more intimate option for punters to be part of. This year I opted for the wayward wanderer approach in choosing where to be for the 31st of December, 2009.

Venturing from Dunedin, across Cooks straight, and continuing north to the Tai Tokerou lands of the Far North. The roads eventually led me to an open paddock, set against a 360degree view of farmland and bush, next to a laughing lake, in the back blocks of Pakaraka. Open Air was what this festival was called.

The brainchild of a group of mates who were keen to celebrate the coming of the new year with some good music, a relaxed atmosphere, a group of happy people and most importantly, to be amongst what Aotearoa has to offer...the open air. However, it was not to be without a series of trials and tribulations. Liability insurance, securing a venue and funding the operation were a few of the hurdles which had to be navigated before Open Air could be fully realised.

But the Northland resolve never faulted, and every hurdle thrown their way was was pushed aside with a collected calm; it had to be a success...and so it was to be.

This wasn’t the standard issue commercial style of New Years festivals, that can be found around the country. Everyone present helped to make it what it was. Whether it was to help build the stage, position flags and teepees made from bamboo and sheets, usher people into the site, cook up a feed or two, or to pick up a guitar and strum out a melody that people could work to; everyone involved placed their mark, and put an imprint on how it was to turn out.

at 6pm, on the 31st, everyone gathered around the stage to partake in blessing the land, the people and the festival. A mihi was made by Christine, followed by a karakia which we all joined in on. This payed homage to the cultural roots that are firmly in place throughout the Far North and its people. Formalities complete, it was time to begin the fetivities.

First up was Cameron, who took to the stage with a guitar and a collection of songs to get everyone warmed up. A throwback to campfire sing-alongs, Cam strummed and sang us from dusk to the early evening. Enter the first of many DJs, ........ began to spped up the tempo, and offered a gentle invitation to move people toward the dance floor.

Without warning countdown had begun and the new year had arrived, followed by many a new years hug, kiss, pash, high-five, wolf whistle and man-hug. With the countdown over, the DJs got itchy fingers, and the decks began to spin once more. The music continued on into the wee small hours, as did the moving feet of the revellers who danced under the nearly full moon

So to conclude a long winded, much reminised account of a New YEars I will remember for years to come, I offer a challenge to our readers: Dare yourselves to venture where the crowds don’t go, where the gig guides and promoters haven’t heard of, and where the mainstream isn’t allowed entry. Get out and about over the summer period and search out the jewels in the rough, such as Open Air.

Happy New Years to all, and we look forward to taking in all the 2010 has to offer us.

Tu meke whanau,

Peace from Dan and the Potluck Palace crew

Salty Sea Dog

2010-01-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

Its been ages since I've updated my blog!!! I should be doing it all the time because I have been doing some awesome things and taking lots of photos, I guess I just havn't been around computers much in the last 2 months.

I'm in Dunedin at the moment setting up my Exhibition at the Blue Oyster gallery for the 2010 Grad show, so while I'm down here I'm using my spare days to get up to date with all of this blogging.

Heres a list of the blogs I'm going to do in no particular order:

Roadtrip from Dunedin to Kerikeri
The New Years Festival we organized
Working on Manawanui, a charter boat in the Bay of Islands
Blue Oyster Grad show in Dunedin
Waitangi Day 2010

See you soon.....

camping season!

2009-11-30T16:50:00.000-08:00

I've finished my studies, summer is here, think its time to pack my bags and get out of the urban jungle, and into the real world! First stop The Catlins.

After packing away my site exhibition and clearing out my room I packed some warm clothes, my surfboard and took off with about 10 others.

Conditions weren't looking amazing for camping but the surf was pumping so it was fair to say I was frothing!

We found a secluded little spot away from the wind, saw seals and a family of yellow eyed penguins, the swell was pounding the cliffs with unstoppable force.

View of the surf from a cave that had been carved out by waves.

Alex scaling the rock face showing us to a cave.

John on top of the world

It was awesome to wake up to the sound of birds, sheep and the ocean instead of the sounds you hear in cities, good to get back to nature for a weekend and I will be returning very soon!

SITE 09

2009-11-20T19:33:00.000-08:00

Done and dusted! Last night we had the opening of SITE 09 the Graduate exhibition of the Dunedin School of Art and it went off! Hundreds of people showed up to see the 70+ students final works.

Today was the SITE festival day which was open to the public with many more people showing up.

Heres a few pictures of some of what was on show.

A ceramic work by John Paxie

Checkin out Emma Chalmers' awesome paintings

Installation by Shelley Harding

Me and Viets space, was hard to move at some points!

Leoni the head of the Art School opens the Exhibition.

GLOW WORMS!!!!

2009-11-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

We recently discovered that theres an amazing Glow Worm community 5 minutes away from my flat!! What other city could you find glow worms or any native bush this close to the urban jungle? Only Dunedin! I took my tripod up and attempted to capture the little critters.

I ended up using a torch to light up the ferns and if you enlarge this image you can see the little blue lights of the glow worms.

This is the river you walk up to get to the glow worms

studios are funnnnnnnn

2009-11-05T13:46:00.001-08:00

business cards, check

2009-11-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

Got my business cards done finally, they are like this except i removed the list of areas (event, portraiture etc) and just added 'Bachelor of Fine Arts' in the bottom right corner. Didn't want to categorise my work too much until I fully have a business plan and defined my market a bit more.

Chill out bro!

2009-11-03T16:09:00.000-08:00

After an intense day of trying (and failing) to sort out Site work I decided I needed a break to clear my head so Dan and I went out to the beach. We caught up with a mate Glen who lives in his truck. The waves were big and we didn't bother going out but it was good to chill out and watch the waves rolling in from the warmth of Glen's Truck.

John Browns Body

2009-11-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

I photographed an epic gig on the weekend. The Blackseeds featuring John Browns Body. The Blackseeds were awesome as always they got the crowd of 700+ rocking, Sammys was cranking!

It was really good to see John Browns Body, a reggae band from New York. They played before The Blackseeds and got everyone amped up on reggae vibes. They are an 8 piece band with a unique rootsy reggae sound. Stoked I got to see them and have a chat to them backstage, awesome night!

Have a listen to them on myspace

wet sea dogs

2009-10-26T20:15:00.001-07:00

Heres some pics I just scanned in from a film I took out at St Clair on 24/10/09 for the 350 paddle out. Not amazing quality but some interesting results. It was The first time I had used this plastic film camera with underwater housing. It was fun to use and I'll definitly be using it more in future with summer just around the corner.

Latu and Jayne 'the freeride crew'

Never seen so many surfers in one place!

Viety lovin it!

Perfect 1foot peak

Underwater selfy

Waiting for big Wednesday

This one is from Sandfly Bay the next day. Hang looooose!

350 Day of Action in Dunedin!!!!

2009-10-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

October 24th, 2009. Over 4500 actions in 175 countries, the largest day of simultaneous action the World has seen! All with one number involved, 350. The number signifies how many parts of carbon per million in the atmosphere is safe for the Worlds climate. At the moment it is at around 380ppm which means it has to drop down to 350 to stop the World heating up causing devistation everywhere. This was a day dedicated to sending messages out to World leaders to embrace new legislation at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in around 40 days.

It was also about getting out and enjoying a sunny day in Dunedin and learning about how to live more sustainable as a community.

http://www.350.org/ to find out the facts, and see images from around the World.

New Zealand being the first country to see october 24th was an important part of this World wide campaign, and good old Dunedin stepped it up to create New Zealands biggest 350 action, a whole festival dedicated to the cause, and to creating a more sustainable city, The Spring Food Festival.

The Festival was held by the iconic Dunedin Railway Station, and there was also the usual farmers market on which always has awesome locally made food, drinks, produce and general awesomeness.

There were bands, stalls, free workshops, all kinds of things going on throughout the day, heres a few images.

Cuzzy bro

This bike created by the Greens party powers a blender, I made my own smoothie just by peddling!

Many many simple ways to cut down on polution and live more sustainably.

A big congregation of people in the festival setting up for the big 350 photo, 2 photographers went up in a 30m fire truck ladder to take the photos, they will be at http://www.350.org.nz/ soon.

Otago University and Polytechnic students gave away 3500 seedlings encouraging people to grow their own veges. Good effort!

There were also lots of other 350 events happening including the 350 bikers, a group of 100+ surfers in a paddle out, and the South Island Regional Skate Competition, heres some pics from the skate comp.

Special edition 350 box grinding, yeeeeeee.

You know it!

It was an awesome day showing how so many young and old people care about our environment and want it to be looked after. World leaders now need to listen up to what the World is wanting and work together to create a solution to the climate situation. It can be done!!!!

More pics coming from the surf paddle out soon.

Just been browsing around the net at all the media releases and 350 websites and found a few of my skateboarding inages being used!

My picture on the homepage slideshow of www.350.org. Epic!
my photo uploaded to 350.org's flickr page

Also on the www.350.org.nz website my Mums school Oromahoe has a few awesome photos featured on the homepage, good stuff!

Big ups to the 350 Dunedin crew they all did an amazing job!!!

Here's some coverage from the Otago Daily Times. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/79551/dunedin-embraces-climate-action-day

The 350.org main website begins with an amazing photo from a sunrise rally in Wellington which I guess signifies the first action of all actions throughout the World on October 24th 2009, a day which will go down in history.

Businessy stuff. Business card Ideas

2009-10-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been thinking a bit about what the truck I'm going to do next year. Initial thoughts.....travel, or work to start paying off various depts that I have been scammed into
running up.

Another idea: Start up a Freelance Photography. This would give me freedom to do what I want and where I want, providing I can get enough jobs to stay alive. Theres all kinds of small business grants I could get to get me started.

A business card is a start anyway, and it will go well with my CV, Port Folio and Site '09 Exhibition.

Here's one I designed last year but it needs updating.

This layout shows a range of what I can do photography wise, shows that I'm versatile.

Here's a set of more recent images that I would probably add instead.

I should also do the following:

Business plan
Define a target Market
Budget
Timeline
Maybe choose a name for my company
Get registered as a company
Look into grants and scholorships (Artist Development Agency)
Make a fecebook page for my company - network - gain many fans.
Make a proper website
Marketing
Networking

A few things to think about anyway. Its about time to start thinking about life after Art School.

Chizur

gigggggsssssss

2009-10-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

Dabbling in Fashion

2009-10-09T18:14:00.001-07:00

A bit of collaborating has been going down lately, helping a mate Dan get his company Potluck Palace up and running. Potluck Palace is a website promoting artists and creative underground companies and acts as the middle-man, showcasing artists, designers, and companies work and selling their products. They are commited to connecting the creative community online helping them with networking and getting their work out in the World.

I have been helping out with photoshoots with some of their clothing designers for materieal to put on their website.

Heres a few images from a shoot done on the night of 08/10/09. Designer (and Model) is Gene Van Der Zanden, stencil artist who prints onto all kinds of clothing and has a made-to-order system so the customer can decide what print, colour and clothing to put it on.

It was a fun shoot (despite being f-ing freezing) and took place on the site of an old building that was burnt down earlier this year, creepy stuff!

I'll keep updating the progress with Potluck Palace as to when is hits the Internet.

Me on NZ musician Magazine website.

2009-10-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

NZ musician magazine has made me a photography profile on their website. Check it out here

gigs!!!!!

2009-09-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been going to Sammy's and taking photos at some of the amazing gigs that are being held there weekly. Theres so much going on at the moment and I want to try to get to as many gigs as I can. You can see some of the photos on Sammy's Facebook page and also on my Flickr page or you can access my flickr account by clicking on the link on the right. Check it!

Manual Magazine

2009-09-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

I sent a few photos from Temple Basin into Manual Magazine and they put a few on their website. Here's the link http://manualmagazine.com/2009/09/friday-photo-02/#more-3590 check it out.

More from Temple

2009-09-13T17:37:00.001-07:00

Heres a few more shot from our August trip to Temple Basin. I've been meaning to upload more but have been quite busy lately.

This first four shots are us hitting a Hip that Phil made on one of his jump building benders.

Riley Elliott

Louis Verkerk

Jesse Simons (Photo by Louis Verkerk)

Phil Dominick

If you look closely you might be able to see a skier half way down that cliff. Its Sam Hutchings, peer pressure props go to Mark.

The Team building the Gap Jump out in the backcountry. Hows the serenity.

Mark Von Roy hitting the Gap.

So there you have it, more images from an epic trip!!! Check www.flashmodern.com for some videos of the action. Peace

Coming Soon.......

2009-09-13T02:07:00.000-07:00

I'm going to add more Photos from Temple Basin real soon. Just got to find the time. Watch this space. Also check www.flashmodern.com for the temple basin video by Mark Von Roy.

grimey streets

2009-08-23T02:02:00.000-07:00

As I walked down to Polytechnic to do some blogging tonight I took a few night shots. I took them as I walked down past the Leith and the Gregs coffee building. I always like checking out the new murals and tagging on the walls. How boring would cities be without this kind of creativity.

A mellow Sunday surf

2009-08-23T00:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday night in Dunedin the legendary Little Bushman played a gig at Refuel. Its the second time this year I have seen them and both times have been awesome! Warren Maxwell and the boys never fail to impress with their 60's psychedelic rock jam outs with that Aotearoa flavour, big ups Little Bushman! http://www.myspace.com/littlebushmanband

Sunday started very slowly, the planned 9am surf didn't happen but we made it in the end and had an awesome mellow longboard session on the northcoast.

Pretty mellow surf but a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Summer is coming!!!!!!!

This last image is from a few weeks ago again on the North coast of the Otago Peninsular. It was a fun day with sets like these coming through, I was stoked to see three surfers on three waves in a row. Not sure who the front two are but the third is Ted Whitaker.

Surfing in Dunedin

2009-08-23T00:00:00.001-07:00

I decided I would spend this weekend in Dunedin instead of heading over to the Mountains. What a good decision the surf was pumping! We went out for a few epic surfs earlier in the week with a nice northeast swell and offshore winds the points were cranking! All of these shots except one are from friday night at Blackhead. I'll have to admit I didn't go surfing this particular night because we arrived too late and it was quite freezing with 30 knot offshore winds. I took the opportunity to take some nice photos of the awesome waves and surfers, the spray coming off the back of the waves was intense!

Surfer: Leroy Rust

Photo by Dan Bregman taken at sunset at Doctors Point.

Surfer: Unknown

Temple Basin

2009-08-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

View looking from a peak on Temple Basin towards the north.

Something that I have been wanting to do for a few years now is hit the Canterbury club fields. After 5 seasons in Wanaka and Queenstown I am getting a bit bored of the same busy mountains and sick of seeing how much more snow Canterbury has been getting. When my mate Ash a few weeks ago suggested we get a crew together and head to Temple Basin I was right into it! We had some general dates planned and a few guys keen. A week before our planned dates the weather report couldn't have looked worse; rain gale force nor-westerlies, and more rain, with snow providing the temps weren't too high. Despite this after much debate the decision was made and it was on!!!! Final count was 8 guys and a few more who would meet us up there.

The Lodge at Temple Basin

Phil Dominick takes a break from shoveling to hit one of his creations.

Sunday 2nd August, Day 1: After a few large nights out in Dunedin, the Kora concert the night before, I managed to pulled myself out of bed and was picked up by the boys at 10am. We did a quick beer/chocolate shop and then hit the road. It was about a 6 hour drive north and then west along the Arthurs Pass. Winds were gusty and we were driving into a big storm brewing in the Alps. It was snowing heavily at Arthurs Pass Village and a guy told us to put chains on our 4x4 so we told him we would. We arrived at the Temple Basin carpark, put our stuff on the goods lift and began our hike through thick snow up to the Club Field. It was dark, luckily the moon came out to guide us. We arrived to 15cms of dry powder and the lights were on for nightriding, we immediatly got in our gears and did some runs. First time using a nutcracker, first time at Temple Basin. Frothing!

View out towards Arthur's Pass at night

Day 2: Didn't sleep very well because I was to excited about snowboarding the next day, I think alot of the other boys were the same. Weather didn't look too good, windy and snowing on and off. We had a few clear patches and did some runs on the main rope tow hitting some good powder and nice wind-lips that kept covering over.

Hotdogs and a Speights for lunch

Day 3 More bad weather but good news was it was snowing. We made the most of it and constructed a rail set up and a hip jump into a nice powder landing, both were close to the lodge which was convenient. The last 2 hours of the day brought sunshine and amazing powder runs on the 2 bottom tows. Mountain to ourselves!!!
Mark Von Roy hitting the box set-up

The team building the Hip Jump in less than epic conditions.

Phil on his jump by the Billy Shack.

Day 4 Weather packed in again and this time it was really snowing! spent alot of the day inside apart from a roof jump we set up and night riding was on again that night.

Mark Von Roy hitting the roof drop

Day 5 First perfect sunny day with half a metre of fresh snow! Headed up the Temple tow and helped dig the track so they could open the Downhill tow. This was the first time it had been open since all the snow so it was garenteed freshies all day!!
Fresh tracks on the Downhill tow after digging the track for half an hour.

Dave Ball slashing the windlip.

Day 6 Perfect sunny day! Did a run through Bill's Basin scoping jump spots and found a few. went to the lodge to gather out gear, shovels, food, beers, and camera gear. A day of building and shooting. Made a nice gap jump, a hip, and got some good shots. Awesome day in the sun shooting from 8.30am until 6pm!

Riley Elliott dropping off a hut at 9am

The crew builing our gap jump out in Bill's Basin

Phil hitting the Gap

Ash Fogelberg doing one of his nose grab blunt stalls at 6pm.

Day 7 Our last day at Temple brough more sun. The snow was crunchy and the crowds were building for the fire and ice festival. We went for a huge hike to one of the peaks that looked out across the alps, amazing views!!! Mark had made a Quarter pipe hit that we had a bit of fun on attempting hand plants and what not and after that we all put our gear on the goods lift and boarded down the mountain as far as we could, a bit of tussock hopping involved! After piling our gear in the car, and having a quick meeting with crazy-legs, we set off on our way home to Dunedin, back to reality. Thank you Temple Basin.

A bit of Tussock hopping on the way down.

Heading back home along the Arthurs Pass.

More Night Riding

2009-07-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

Mark Von Roy hitting the stair feature while we keep warm in the Woolshed bar.

Micah Simons jumping the Water Tank Feature

Thomas 'Horse' Dodwell

We couldn't resist going up to Snowpark again on friday night after a huge day riding a foot of fresh snow at Cardrona. It was another sweet night and I got a few good pics.

Riding at SNOWPARK NZ

2009-07-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

Snowpark in the Cardrona Valley is an awesome place to check out. This season they are doing nightriding sessions every tuesday and friday nitghe which go from 5pm until 9pm. I went up with some friends last friday and had lots of fun.

What a cool place to spend the evening with friends, snowboarding and chilling on the deck or at the Woolshed Bar

A view over to Cardrona Alpine Resort.

I will definitly do more of these nights at snowpark and next time I will bring appropriate gear like flashes so I can get some sick shots of skiers and snowboarders.

sunset in wanaka

2009-07-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

Wanaka is definitly one of my favourite places to stay in NZ especially in Winter. This image displays one of the many reasons.

On the Road

2009-07-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Just out of Omarama

Trees in Omarama

Omarama Bike Track

During the holidays I did a bit of roadtripping and flying around the country. On our way from Christchurch to Wanaka we got caught unaware by a massive snow storm which started around Lake Tekapo. By the time we were in Omarama the road was completely covered and we were advised that the road through the Lidis Pass was closed. I was a bit gutted I didn't have my board with me but I got some cool photos which made it worth it.

White Out

2009-06-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning to a White Dunedin so I went out and took some photos. It doesn't happen often so it had to be done

Leith Bowling Green, not so Green.

Carnage on the streets of Studentville. Quite entertaining...............until I find out later on that someone has slid into my car! Not so funny when it happens to you is it!

Temporary Art by Jim Cooper. Awesome

Thought I would send a few photos from the day to the Stuff.co.nz news page. They put one in which was funny, a photo of some school kids playing around sliding in the snow. Good times.

2009-06-14T01:30:00.000-07:00

see these photos and more in way better quality on my new flickr page.

Slightly Dangerous

2009-06-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Driving through South Dunedin.

This morning after a surf at Blackhead I was driving back with this real dramatic morning winter light, I didn't bother stopping to take photos as I was in a rush but I attempted to take a few shots while I was driving. I only took 3 photos and here they are.
Up the hill coming into Corstaphine.

This was taken driving through South Dunedin, I saw 3 men on this roof doing some repairs and they were nicely lit. I took a wild shot and got this. Its a real point, shoot and hope for the best method but it creates some interesting results.

Surf Mission

2009-06-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

I have been surfing alot lately and of course I always take my camera. Heres a few shots of Blackhead over the last few mornings.

Surfer and Quarry

The time has come

2009-06-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

Its been ages since I posted on this blog!!! I have been using my OTHER blog which has the developments of my 4th year project.

I though I had better start updating this one more often, and show photos and ideas that are not so related to my project, but are other things that interest me.
Here are a few photos I took today, they are down Minerva st in Dunedin.

A collection of Buses, Graffiti and Sea Gulls.

These Diggers are demolishing buildings to make way for the controversial new Stadium. It is a hive of activity on Awatea st and it will be for the next few years.

"Bird shits on Fonterra" did I spell that right?
This Sea Gull won't be able to shit on the Fonterra building for much longer, it is also going to be demolished.

The Catlins

2009-03-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is a small selection of photos I have taken in The Catlins, Southland. There are alot of old run-down shacks and interesting signs of old times. It is a quiet unique part of the world, definitely worth exploring.

More Waitangi Images

2009-02-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

The Tainui Waka from the Waikato

The group of 15-20 Waka about to launch off Te Ti Beach

My Kapa Haka buddies and Paul Henry just after performing live on the Breakfast Show

Its an awesome festival with a happy family vibe, lots of fun activities for the kids to do.

The busy Treaty Grounds at midday on Waitangi Day.

A Northland Experience

2009-02-16T18:48:00.001-08:00

For the past January I got a job working at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. At this time of year the area is busy and leading up to Waitangi Day it gets quite hectic! I was doing all kinds of odd jobs in the visitors centre and up on the grounds. It was a good experience for me and I learned alot about the history and significance of the place, our nations birthplace. I had the opportunity to do the photography for the 4 day Waitangi Festival and Waitangi Day which was awesome! I will upload a few pics now and some more as time goes on. Hopefully I can base a project on some of these images.

One of the many concerts on throughout the festival, Ray Woolf.

The big Waka on Hobson's Beach

The Flag Lowering Ceremony performed by the Royal NZ Navy

The Waka Boys on Te Tii Beach

South East Asia Travels

2008-12-28T15:13:00.000-08:00

I have recently been travelling in Thailand for a month. I had a really amazing time and it was my first time in South East Asia so it was a real eye opener. I took lots of photos on my way and I will upload some over the next few days.

View from our Room in Koh Tao.

A lagoon we climbed to on Railay, Krabi

Long Tail Boat at Tonsai.

Sunset at Tonsai, Krabi.

This is a bay on the west side of Koh Tao, amazing rock formations and precariously positioned Hut.

Waterfall on Koh Phangan, we drove scooters down a very rough dirt road to get here.

The road we took the scooters on.

Long Tail boats on Tonsai Beach, Krabi.

More Exhibition Images

2008-11-04T20:27:00.001-08:00

Heres a few more photos from my exhibition the day after the opening. It looks quite different without all the people and food everywhere.

Heres the exhibition title and the corner projection. I utilised the corner of the room to accentuate the motion effect of my video clip.

Exhibition opening!

2008-11-04T15:05:00.000-08:00

Heres a few shots from my first Solo Exhibition opening. It went really well and there were lots of good people, good food, and a few wines went down nicely. I sold a few prints which was a bonus and got lots of good comments.

All that preparation works payed off!

Photographer research

2008-10-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Moses Berkson is not your average surf photographer. He chooses to cover the improvised secrecy of surfing’s territoriality—the engineering of paths that lead to places that only true surfers know about. The artist has the ability to evoke the most ephemeral moments of the environment’s varying qualities of light, thus engaging the viewer to question his own notions of actuality and space, as well as universal temporality. Berkson’s first solo US exhibition, Coastal Access at The Constant Gallery, is a document of the photographer’s ongoing relationship with his home state of California. Recognizing that regionalism is ultimately a socially constructed notion, Berkson incorporates intimations of localism and physiologically recluse spatialities of non-places vis-à-vis emerging contentions of authenticity, artificiality and conflation in his captured moments. Without disclosing the locations of these elsewheres, he manifests historical apocrypha amidst the proliferating breeds of the feigning and the desiring. Coastal Access runs November 1 through November 29, 2008.
http://mosesberkson.com/

This guy's work sounds interesting and inspiring for my work. Coastal access is a big issue for us Northlanders and even down here in Dunedin you are starting to see areas of the natural coastline being sold to foreign (and local) people who restrict access to beaches etc. Its a key issue for surfers and anyone who loves the coast.

Other Invite

2008-10-23T03:55:00.001-07:00

I think I like this one better, better colours.

Unbound Motion

2008-10-16T21:54:00.001-07:00

I've Been working on a solo exhibition for a while now, and this week I have just realised how much I have to do in prepatation for it!!! Heres one of the invites I made for it. the name unbound motion comes from the ideas of freedom and motion that my work is portraying. I have been working on a video piece which I plan to have playing on a loop throughout the exhibition. I'm also showing a few photos, some of which may have appeared on my blog in previous posts. I'm trying to interlink them all in a way so that they aren't just pictures of snowboarding, or snowy mountains, but various other aspects of freedom and motion that I see in my journeys. Basically I'm wanting to show a coherrent body of work that all has continuity, but isn't too repetitive. Anyway I'm still working on it so I hope it all goes to plan.

Spring Shred

2008-10-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Winter has come to an end but there's still plenty of snow to shred. This weekend we went to The Remarkables and had lots of fun riding 'The Stash' all afternoon in the sun. Here's some pics of our last weekend snowboarding in 2008.

Micah (above) and Simon (below) getting some sweet air off this scary log-on-rock feature.

Me hitting the Hutt rail and roof, so fun!

Nows that winters over its probably time to do some actual work to post on my blog!!!

Animated Photo

2008-09-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a link for a small animated clip I made. It was a photo I took while driving past trees in a car. I took the photo using a Canon A1 35mm with B&W film, and then animated in Adobe Photoshop and Premier. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rpwZMmk_Z4

Winter Returns

2008-09-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

Heading over to Queenstown for another spring weekend and to our surprise it it was snowing the whole trip over! When we arrived the mountain was shut but we drove up to the Remarkables anyway and did some hiking, made a jump and had a fun day! In some places there was a foot of dry powder which covered the tussock nicely so we were stoked to have the mountain to ourselves!

From the bottom of Homeward bound run.

From the top.

Nice Panoramic view of Queenstown, I havn't seen this much snow all season!

Here's a shot of me slashing the pow, taken By Simon Voyce.

Who ever said Winter is over with snow like this! Epic!

A spring weekend in Wanaka

2008-09-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

It's mid September, the snow is melting, the air is warmer, why not head to Wanaka for a late season shred!? This particular weekend the weather didn't look great but we had some nice patches. Saturday was nice, Sunday was a day of blizzard-like wind and rain and being stuck inside confined to the couch, but Monday cleared up nicely and with fresh snow on the hills we decided to head up to Cardrona.

I took my camera and we had a sick day doing a range of fun activities.

Heres some documentation of the weekend.

This is a nice rock drop we found at Cardrona. There was fresh snow and a perfect landing, so we hit it. This is a shot of me taken by Ash Fogelberg. I was using a Nikon d60 with a Sigma 10-20mm lens.

Ash doing a sweet nose snappa

The Cardrona Noodle bar is a strange place, but it has a nice ledge that Sam Coleman was keen to hit, here he is doing a front board.

Here's Sam again hitting Cardrona's 60ft kicker.

All in all we had a sweet weekend riding and we were stoked! Spring riding is fun!

Dunedin Surf Missions.

2008-09-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

I always love to go for a morning surf to start my day and if you can brave the cold, (which I barely can) Dunedin is the perfect place for it. I have been trying to take lots of photos from surfing missions because theres always so many opportunities around the Dunedin coastline.

This was a nice day surfing at Aramoana.

August Student Exhibition

2008-09-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

Every year Otago University holds a student exhibition and this year I decided to enter a few works. I put 10 pieces in, mostly photos I had recently taken, and a few others.

Heres my display, I sold a few and won the photography award for the photo of the chairlift.

This photo of the Dunedin Skate Comp I also entered in the Iris professional photography competition, didn't win but it was a good experience.

Snow

2008-09-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

I have an obsession with snowboarding and love to play in the snow! I've taken various photos whilst snowboarding and when I'm in snowy places like Wanaka, Queenstown, Whistler and Tahoe.

Heres a few 35mm Black and white prints. I took the Photos at Coronet Peak in Queenstown in winter 2008 on a stormy day.

Screenprinting project 'Urban Poster Wall'

2008-09-08T21:37:00.001-07:00

This is a project I did during a Textiles elective in 2007. I have mimicked one of Dunedin City's alleyways where many posters are glued up. These posters are advertising gigs and resent album releases for various bands. I always look at these posters because of my interest in music but I became particularly interested in the way some of these posters are peeled back to reveal fragments of past events. This gives a layering effect of time within the City. I started experimenting with the screenprinting technique using photos I had taken from the alleyways. and screenprining them onto different fabric.

The final result was this piece of brown textured fabric with layers of different screenprinted pieces glued on, some have been peeled back to reveal other layers.

This is a site-specific work and the presentation was important. I chose to stick it to a graffiti covered wall and made it become a part of the wall. It molds to the shape of the wall and from a distance looks like a part of it. I would like to extend this project further and do a large version of it one day, possibly as an installation to be exhibited.

Random stuff

2008-09-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

I like messing about in photoshop with photos I have taken, heres a few random ones I have done just for fun, no particular reason.

Shadow Series

2008-09-08T18:59:00.001-07:00

This is a series I did in a painting elective last year. I was looking at the shadow as a symbol of the subconscious mind, how sometimes it is uncontrolable and wanders off. I looked at other artists like Salvador Dali, René Magritte and Giorgio de Chirico whose work gave me inspiration and ideas. I was mainly using acrylic on canvas (30x40cm) and the bottom painting was the one I presented as the final work.

A few Wanaka photos

2008-09-08T18:46:00.001-07:00

Heres a few Wanaka Photos I have taken over the last few years

whilst living or being on holiday there

Some past works

2008-09-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

'Wanaka Skatepark' (2008) Acrylic on Canvas

'Wanaka Easter' 30x60cm Acrylic on canvas (2007)

'Somewhere between Alex and Clyde' Acrylic on Canvas 15x30cm (2007)

Something that influences me in my painting work is my surrounding environment. I painted these in Wanaka over the last few years. I love the Central Otago landscape and have spent a few years living in Wanaka.

Introduction

2008-09-05T01:47:00.000-07:00

My Name is Jesse Simons and I am currently studying Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dunedin, New Zealand. Im originally from the Bay of Islands in the Far North, and have lived in the Deep South since 2004.

My areas of interest in art range from painting to screenprinting to digital media and I am majoring in Photography.

I am also a keen surfer, snowboarder, skater, musician and all these things make appearances in my art. My life influences my art, art influences my life.

I will start by adding pictures of my past art works and talk a bit about them, what they are all about and what they mean.

Hope you enjoy!!