Our boundary fence separates our bush from the road with a steep bank between us. Our bush is lower than the road and it is quite a hard spot to maintain. We initially thought that all the fencing we did and the patching with garden debris would stop Artie from getting through. In addition, Artie does not wander far from us. He keeps in his sights all the time and often waits patiently for us. But canine instincts can’t be fully denied.

The very next day, we marched down to Mitre10 and $200 lates, came home with waratahs and chicken wire fence and got stuck in.

And so, one Saturday morning, we woke to fog covering our property and most parts of Pukekohe township too. We went on our usual walk before coffee and ran into friends walking their dogs too. One of our friends saw my camera and said that it’s a pity the fog will ruin my photography. I smiled and shared that the I’m excited to photograph in the fog. Familiar scenes in town look so much more mysterious and interesting in the fog.

Here are some images from our walk. There are quite a few service stations on this stretch of road. Like fog, photographers are also drawn to service stations.

Given a slightly better pedigree of Nikon in this area, I thought I test and learn how to rely on the camera to lock in focus and make the image. I selected an area of the scene for the camera to auto detect faces and went about making photos. I made some really good images that I really like, but there were some images where the focus was completely off. Sharp focus is not critical to a good photo. However, in this training session, I failed to meet the purpose of what I set out to achieve.

Here are a few of the images I like, even if some of them are not in focus.

Shooting without an aperture ring has made things more challenging for me given my familiarity with Fujifilm gear. I missed focus a few times and fumbled with the selection of photo/ film recipe too. But the benefit of being able to easily remedy it using Nikon’s software is quite refreshing. Unlike Fujifilm, Nikon’s image app is purely software driven. I do not need to the camera attached to edit photos. That in itself is telling about the difference in photography architecture.

On my Fujifilm cameras, I adopt a manual shooting process, changing aperture on the lens and using two dials right by the shutter on the camera body to adjust shutter and iso. I’m slowly coming to grips with shooting without an aperture ring and even learning to shoot with aperture priority mode. It has been a little frustrating, but this process of learning is exactly the challenge I was looking for.

Over the past 5 years, I’ve challenged myself in to make photographs in different ways. I restricted myself to only use one lens each week, I did a 365 photo project (for 2 years) and recently, started adding videos to accompany my photos. However, I’m a geek at heart. I love new gear and if anything is going to encourage me to make photos, it is a new camera.

My criteria for a new camera is, not Fujifilm, portable and not APS-C. This meant I was looking at Full Frame or Medium Format cameras and fixed lens units to help fulfil the portability criteria. Upon reflection, my camera research was surprisingly limited. I only research fixed lens Leica cameras (Q43 and Q) and Fuji’s new fixed lens medium format camera (GFX100RF). I watched multiple YouTube videos, did my sums and tried to convince myself that a new camera will be a make a difference.

As January came to a close, I had pretty much decided I will not be buying a new camera. Unfortunately, social media Gods had another plan for me. They harnessed the power of modern marketing , algorithms and photography influencers to introduce me to the Nikon ZF. Multiple YouTube videos later and a very public announcement that I’m not buying a new camera, I now own a Nikon ZF.

Here are some photos from my first week with the camera.

Rather than risk Chris losing a limb, we decided to get professional help.

Our early good luck did not persist. We were buffeted by one of the strongest easterly winds we’ve ever received in our time here in Drury on Sunday 29 Dec. Since that day, it almost never stopping blowing. Sitting here on New Year’s Eve, I hope that the wind is blowing out all the negative energies from 2025 to create room for positivity.

But before any positivity can settle, we need to clear the mess from the Sunday gales, the wind storm of 25.

Oh, Happy New Year.

The path to the waterfall did not start where the signpost was installed. It just a few meters down along the road that ran above the stream. The nondescript entry point gave no indication that the path down to the waterfall would be a beautiful tree covered short walk to an active waterfall. Water cascaded down from the roadside and feed a moss covered rock strewn river bed. The lush tree cover created an atmospheric scene that made the place look like a scene out of posh magazine.

Speaking of magazines, I realised that Find Your Franklin are the publishers of a beautifully put together local publications that I chanced upon a few months back. Back then, I was unable to identify who the publishers were when I flipped through the first publication. There was no mention of who published it and no links at all. But surprisingly, the instagram algorithm led me to them a few months later and also gave us the chance to visit this wonderful spot near us.

While editing the photos, I felt inspired to try editing a few scenes differently. Rather than keep the in camera look. I explored a darker, moodier and contrasty approach. It was a fun experiment.

Applying the same approach as the Daikoku post, I stayed in the same area and made photos and videos. I’m still learning to work with video. This time, I used my camera to record video with the specific intention to learn how to set my camera up for filming and editing it after.

The challenge with using the same device to make photos and videos is that it can’t do both at the same time. Apart from learning how to focus (I failed in a part) for videography, and balance exposure, I’ve also got to make a decision on whether I should film or shoot. On a FUJIFILM camera, there are a few steps between a change.

One decision from this experience is that I will not shoot in log format. I’ll apply a film recipe to my video settings and work from there. I’ve learnt to do simple editing on Da Vinci Resolve. But I’m first and foremost a digital photographer who applies adjustments in camera to achieve the image I need. The intention is to use the same philosophy and learn from a simpler position. I can make changes once I get my basics sorted. Walking before running.

In Spring and Summer, the sun is out and that scene changes dramatically. I made a few pictures of the shop a week ago and paired it with some video footage. I’ve not spotted the elderly chef there in some time. Maybe he sold the business and gone off to enjoy life rather than the early starts of running a restaurant.

10 months on from that day, Artie has grown into a confident boy who loves walks, especially those walks where he gets to meet other people and dogs. 18 months ago, in between dogs, we saw a dog at the domain a year ago, looking back constantly at his carers while wandering free and watching their lead. We dreamt a dream then that we would work towards training ourselves and our next dog to behave the same way. I think we’re on the right path towards that dream. We’ve tested his recall ability in local parks and he scored perfectly. It is time for his time on the beach.

Singapore and I evolved on separate paths. Singapore is not just the traditional success at all cost authoritarian democracy anymore. I’m also not the same ignorant youth who thought he was the bees knees for working at Singapore Airlines Cargo. It is good that both Singapore and I have matured. However, my time away has not given me an insight into what is really like to be a Singaporean in current times.

While I might not have a personal first hand experience of what it is to be Singaporean today, I get to hear second hand from my wonderful niece and nephew (YX & YN). They both have just returned from university exchanges in Europe which they have used to their full advantage and explored so many countries and places in Europe. 30 years ago when I was in University, student exchanges were not possible due to my family circumstances and even then, I did not ever think I would travel independently and see the world like they did. I’m glad they are brave and adventurous. If this is the product of growing up in Singapore, then Singapore is a wonderful place indeed.

I think, you thought, who confirm? That’s what my army sergeant used to yell at me. My initial assumptions about similarity of patterns was proven wrong. There were similar principles like getting ready early, moving to the right position and following through with my shots. But approaching Pickle Ball as I would tennis has proven to be a wrong decision.

As I do with anything I need information on, I turn to Youtube and the rich resources of the web. As wonderful Youtube is, it does require weeding through a lot of material to find the right video that explains things in a way that I can understand. I’ve consumed a lot of videos and my attempt at putting the principles to practice over the past three weeks had variable results. It is a rollercoaster ride of frustration, enlightenment and joy.

Picking up something new is not easy. But I think it is good for me. I just need to remember to be kind and patient with myself. It takes time to learn something. Don’t be so hard on yourself Jason.

Talking of something new, here are some photos I took in daylight. Mornings are getting brighter as we enter spring and recently I’ve been hitting Auckland City for lunch and was able to make these images.

I also posted this video of Artie in the bush when it was raining.

He found a single croc shoe and he was very proud of himself.

We’ve got a very happy boy this Sunday.

1. 一半一半: Song by Ricky Hsiao.

I’m not familiar with 蕭煌奇, Rick Hsiao’s music but I like light and breezy songs. This song caught my attention because of the familiar Taiwanese Hokkien words that are similar to Chinese dialect I grew up speaking, Teochew. Words like 流汗 (sweat/perspire), 驚寒 (feel the cold) and 目屎 (eye muck) often featured conversations/remonstrations that were spoken to/yelled at me.

“Don’t run around so much! You’ll sweat so much and be sticky and disgusting”

“Are you wearing enough? You’ll feel the cold if you’re not careful and catch a cold!”

“Go wash the eye muck out of your eyes!”

Ok, maybe not the most pleasant conversations. But they are still snapshots of my childhood. Isn’t it easier to remember the bitter but harder the good?

過去的夢　

一半藏入心肝

一半交予運命

管伊緣分早就註定

日頭毋驚流汗

落雨毋驚寒

2. Passage from River Town by Peter Heller

   She smiled as she spoke, but it was a Chinese smile that served as a mask against deeper feelings. Those smiles could hide many emotions - embarrassment, anger, sadness. When people smiled like that, it was as if all of the emotion was wound tightly and displaced; sometimes you caught a glimpse of it in the eyes, or at the corner of the mouth, or perhaps in the wrinkle stretching sadly across the forehead. Anne had high cheekbones and deep dimples, and today I thought I saw a trace of her sadness wavering along her cheek.

3. Painfully accurate observations of Singapore culture.

I was initially offended by Amandine Honvault’s post. Why is she criticising Singaporeans’ attempt at sharing their love for food, displays of humility and directness with close friends? But then I realise, our actions are understood from our own shared cultural lens which non locals might not have had the chance to experience, let alone understand. While that might be true, reflecting on my own behaviour in the past shows a strong current of competitiveness, humble bragging and passive aggressive displays of “I know better”.

I don’t always send all my posts via emails and I’ve also started posting some life updated in a section on my substack called Life Updates. I feel people may not always want to see posts about Artie but you can check it out here if it interests you.

The previous owners must love ball sports. There is a netball that we’re aware of in the bush. Since Artie had destroyed the football on Saturday, we picked the netball out of the bush and had a great time playing with it with Artie.