John C Smith
Blog
Welcome to my blog.
At long last, my updated website is operational, thanks to Shelley Ball who has patiently put it together over the past few months, in between a trip home to Canada to visit her ailing parents, and my procrastination, mainly due to other commitments and invariably having too many balls in the air at the same time.
The site still has much work to be done and many more images to be added, and that will be done over the next few weeks and months. However, the promise was to go live before Christmas 2008 and we have now achieved that.
We would welcome any constructive comments on the new site which will help us as we work towards its completion.
I won't bore you with previous expeditions etc at this point. If there is sufficient interest, maybe I will include something early 2009.
Three items of possible interest right now include;
1) Photo Cards
I have recently launched a set of 12 A6 size 'any occasion' image cards and these are selling well.
You may purchase these by emailing me jckiwis@ihug.co.nz
Prices
Single cards $3.50 (with envelopes)
Set of 12 cards $28.00 (with envelopes)
Postage within New Zealand included
Postage overseas additional
2) Expedition
On 26 December 2008 I fly to Oman. My friend Mark Evans and I are driving deep into the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) along the border between Oman and Saudi Arabia and spending a lunar month travelling through and meeting the local people, and hopefully producing a documentary and photographic essay on how they are dealing with the trappings of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Click here to visit our adventure website and follow our adventures.
I will be back home in New Zealand on 7th February 2009.
This was taken on the Charming Creek Walkway on the northern West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand.
Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2009 to you all.
REFOCUSED
December 2008
Mangatini Falls
1) The Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) expedition was a great success. We travelled over 4000 kms in each of the two vehicles, the majority of which was off-road through some of the biggest sand dunes in the world. We climbed to the top of the highest and third highest dunes in Oman - the highest having a long story attached to it, in terms of getting there! See http://www.mounteverest.net:80/news.php?id=18092 for a summary of the expedition. Below is the view from the top of the third highest dune - in one direction anyway. In total, ~4600 images were taken during the 5-6 weeks.
12 May 2009
2) Was only home for a few days, then headed over to the West Coast of the South Island to capture the essence of the bush for a client. With the weather fluctuating frequently between torrential rain and bright sunshine, neither of which are conducive to bush photography, the challenge was immense. However ~1350 images were captured in the 10 days, so I now have a tad less than 6000 images to wade through - and it's only March! Below is a typical West Coast bush scene.
3) In between the above two events, I learned by accident that the Christchurch Photographic Society were having a fieldtrip into the Mt Arrowsmith Station. This was an area not normally accessible to the public so I just had to go and find time to fit it in! Below two images - the first of the Mt Arrowsmith Range where I did a lot of climbing in my younger years, the second of one of the huts in the South Branch of the Ashburton River. I love mountain huts and am assembling a large collection of hut images with maybe a poster or book in mind one day.
4) I have just had confirmation to host a photographic exhibition in Muscat, Oman, opening on 01 December this year, the day before my next Oman Photo Tour commences (see Adventure Travel page). This will be hosted by the beautiful historic Bait Al Baranda in Mutra, the old fishing port of Muscat.
Image of the Month
Image of the Month
This image was taken in Ngakuta Bay in the Marlborough Sounds last weekend whilst we were out for a pre-breakfast walk with friends.
