CORONET PEAK

Just outside Queenstown. There was a gale blowing
and the wind was fierce and it was impossible to shoot. Peter came up
with the bright idea to angle our Campervan and shoot from inside ..we
did…it worked

FINAL CHAPTER…for NOW!

Well, it has been an extraordinary 5 weeks and after a
lot of miles on the ground and in the air it is time to write the final
chapter on the journey that began 4th March 2005.I apologise for not publishing
sooner but the miles we travelled and the daily schedule made it an impossible
task.

It is now the 8th April and I am sitting on an Aer Lingus flight back
to Dublin with my daughter Emily, super bratette(::….. Airlines have
been the bane of my life for the past 5 weeks and at London Heathrow today
it was no different. Carrying the accumulated luggage of 5 weeks bags
plus cameras, medium format, digital and computer makes a joke of the
nominal 20/30Kg allowance given by most airlines. Regrettably we had many
stressful check ins and always a battle to get my precious cameras on
board and a battle to reduce the excess baggage charges for the combined
hold and carry baggage.

I wish someone …not too far away with a camera in their hand
would be me a pair of trousers(::)

We arrived in Auckland on the 19th March and spent a day wandering around
the Eastern coast of the Northern Island before collecting our trusty
CAMPERVAN that would be our home for the next 15 days. Peter took the
top bunk and me the convertible couch. Both had their disadvantages. Peter’s
forehead started to look a very purply red hue after several days of banging
his head off the ceiling each morning at the very unaccustomed wakening
time of 6am. That was his mother’s gene at work. Sorry Mum.

No, he was not getting up so early to prepare my bacon and eggs. Me, I
got up most mornings at 5am and after some cornflakes, juice and a much
needed coffee set about the task of wakening Peter so that we could head
of in search of that magical morning light. In the early days of our quest
we did not succeed but like life we showed up for it and that’s what mattered.

Below pointing at my head because
PETER failed to take my hat from the last caf we ate at. Clearly MY
HAT was HIS responsibility. Ok…if you are still lost so too is my
poor stetson.

As I reflect it makes me think of TIGER WOODS the golfer. No I am not
comparing my good looks, magnificent physique and golfing prowess to such
a godly figure as Tiger.No, instead I am thinking of all the bad shots he hits and the mistakes and errors of judgement and execution. I am thinking how frustrated he appears to be and then as if magically he shrugs it off and moves on to the next shot. I suppose we all seek his kind of perfection in the things we do and what I suppose I am saying is that I make mistakes as a photographer and as a man. I reckon I take a lot more bad pictures than Tiger makes bad shots but my passion and love of what is important keeps me going and makes me willing to go to any lengths to get there in my photography and in my life with the things I value and have most importance. We all get knocked down and disappointed but I suppose it is not how often that happens but more importantly how quickly we get up afterwards. I once told myself and later a very good friend ‘face the worst and don’t blink”.

I hope she listened.

Setting off from Auckland down the western coast to Wellington we stopped at TONGARIRO. A magnificient park with some incredible walks through spectacular terrain. We had appalling weather there and had no light worth talking about that gave a chance for great photography. It was overcast and cloud but incredibly beautiful.

The light desribes the subject, the landscape and unfortunately we could not do justice in pictures to the incredible beauty of this and many other places we visited along the way. Ergo, Franz Josef and Fox
glaciers. It just rained and the cloud cover and rain stayed with us for about 6 days and each day we grew frustrated that we were now on the WEST coast and when we were on the East coast we saw fantastic sunsets
and as soon as we arrived west they disappeared.

We had a few mishaps. Had an argument during the week with a waterfall and a river that left me shaken but OK. Regretably my Contax Medium format Camera complete with Carl Zeiss lens went to the murky depths
and will never be used again. Discovered after many rolls of film that a lens was unsharp at F8 upwards which meant that nearly all the pictures Peter had taken for a week were unsharp and worthless.

And so I am now back at GREENACRES, my home in Ireland. I miss my son
Peter but I am blessed to have my daughter Emily staying with me this
week. She just turned 16 and we love each other but every now and then
we lock horns and forget what is most important. I struggle with my
sometimes single mindedness and although it is a strength it is also
a weakness.

The hall at Greenacres is littered with my unpacked suitcases and camera
gear. I am hardly unpacked and must away again. This time to Florida.
I begin shooting a television series on fashion and glamour photography
on Tuesday 19th April. The show is called SHUT UP and MODEL, was featured
on the Jay Leno show in the USA as one most likely to succeed. Yeah….I know……it’s a terrible title and sounds awfully tacky. But that’s TV and showbiz folks. So, fame and maybe fortune beckons and once again I must say goodbye to my home ‘Greenacres” for a few weeks just at the time when the flowers are beginning to show the first life of Spring and at a time when I am most wanting to be here surrounded
by the people that I love and care for and that love and care for me. Lots of trees fell whilst away and there is a lot of work to be done. Any volunteers? I think of my son and the great time we had and his continuing adventure. I think of Emily my daughter and I am grateful to have their love in my life. I think of times past and absent friends and I think to the future and more adventures. But mostly I think of how wonderful it was to share the adventure just passed with Peter and know that something shared in the deep connection of love is priceless and effortless. Enough of my sentimental rambling. Where’s my glasses…..see you soon Son….Love you Peter…..Love you Emily…Dad…xx

THANK YOU ALL for visiting and sharing this special time with
me. When Peter returns in a few months we plan to add a gallery of his pictures.
When that happens I will let you know…BYE for NOW….Ed and Peter

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.