First Day of Summer
The first day of summer has arrived and I look with dismay that my last update was almost two months ago. Not good for any sort of blog and for this I must apologise. Work is increasing here at Hobbiton Movie Set and that is my only excuse.
I must admit I am also trying to finish my Blurb book covering our trip to England last June and July and that is also running behind schedule.
My last two months have been gathering an image library of The Shire - some of which I have listed below. Media groups continue to visit on a weekly basis from around the world and it is just so wonderful to share the experiece of the set with them. By way of repetition a link to some text which I wrote a few weeks ago for the folks at Weta for their newsletter. Apologies if you have read it already.
In the meantime some images of the area and my first attempt at a poster for us.
And one from England.
I must admit I am also trying to finish my Blurb book covering our trip to England last June and July and that is also running behind schedule.
My last two months have been gathering an image library of The Shire - some of which I have listed below. Media groups continue to visit on a weekly basis from around the world and it is just so wonderful to share the experiece of the set with them. By way of repetition a link to some text which I wrote a few weeks ago for the folks at Weta for their newsletter. Apologies if you have read it already.
In the meantime some images of the area and my first attempt at a poster for us.
And one from England.
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Living in The Shire
27/09/09 20:22 Filed in: New Zealand
This is a very brief blog. The last 4 weeks have been rather hectic with shifting house, shifting jobs, shifting Islands. But, phew, we have made it! It has been so busy getting into my work mode and learning so much about Hobbiton that it has been seven days a week but this Sunday after a lovely coffee at The Shires Rest I have finally been able to get my website up to date.
All I can say is I am having a ball. Matamata is truly the epitome of The Shire and every day I can visit Hobbiton if I want to. Absolutely fantastic.
It is not just the place or the job though. All the staff I work with are absolutely fantastic. They have made me feel so much at home. I now have a large extended family!
So, in haste, here is one image I have taken in the last few weeks as I gather images for our Hobbiton website and brochures.
Next Friday 02 October I am in Wellington at a book-signing at The Weta Cave. I will be there from 4-30pm to 5-30pm. I would love to see you there.
I am working on our new Facebook page and I do hope you can join us.
Friends of Hobbiton Movie Set
All the best,
All I can say is I am having a ball. Matamata is truly the epitome of The Shire and every day I can visit Hobbiton if I want to. Absolutely fantastic.
It is not just the place or the job though. All the staff I work with are absolutely fantastic. They have made me feel so much at home. I now have a large extended family!
So, in haste, here is one image I have taken in the last few weeks as I gather images for our Hobbiton website and brochures.
Next Friday 02 October I am in Wellington at a book-signing at The Weta Cave. I will be there from 4-30pm to 5-30pm. I would love to see you there.
I am working on our new Facebook page and I do hope you can join us.
Friends of Hobbiton Movie Set
All the best,
Packing Up and Throwing Out
03/08/09 09:07 Filed in: Announcement
In the next 3 weeks I have to pack up seventeen years of gathering and shift. So, this will probably be my last update until September when I arrive in The Shire.
I have been working on a speech covering film tourism for the ITOC Conference in Gisborne. Will post this after the delivery!
I was also “tagged” by one of my Flickr friends last week - the results are below.
Finally - some of my latest images of our wonderful time in England last month.
1. I have worked in the travel industry for 34 years.
2. None of my jobs are jobs - I have loved every one of them as a passion. Work is to be enjoyed and if you can get paid for your passion you are lucky. I am. You must pursue your passion no matter what.
3. I love music. Mike Oldfield is my favourite.
4. I have had a camera since I was seven (my Dad brought me an Instamatic). My Dad loved his cameras (always Nikon).
5. I LOVE Lightroom. For the first time in over 40 years of capturing images I feel happy. It does all the things I have always wanted to achieve.
6. I am never happy with my images. I always look at everybody elses and think - wow .
7. I have learnt (in the last few years) to be happy though. I treat my images as my eyes. The way I may give treatment to an image is the way I want it - the way I see it. Digital imagery is no different to an artist with paints.
8. I am very lucky - I have been in the right place at the right time. Lord of the Rings, Narnia, film have been a fantastic experience.
9. I love my wife (Dianne) - we have been married 30 years and children Travis and Sally-Anne. I don't know how they put up with me. I don't deserve them.
10. I am a loner - but I could not be without my family.
11. I never thought I would sell 1.2 million books.
12. One of the proudest moments of my life was receiving a letter telling me I had been awarded an MNZM for services to tourism and writing. Well - actually seeing stamps with my images on was up there as well.
13. I love Central Otago Pinot Noir.
14. This is the only picture of myself I like. Why? It was taken by one of my favourite film directors - Roger Donaldson on Oreti Beach.
15. I love England.
16. My closest friends are now in a better place - I wish they were still here.
17. I am very manipulative so I can get what I want.
18. Take photos - they are your memory - treasure them.
19. Flickr is addictive - I wish I could take images as good as my friends do.
20. I have lived in Wanaka for 17 years and now shifting to Matamata.
21. Tolkien is my favourite author - Arthur C Clarke is my second.
22. I get angry with people that sit around and wish for better - just go and do it!
23. I wish I had enough money to buy a D3X.
24. I am a gadget freak - I love Apple Computers!
25. Ignore number (6) because I am going to do it anyway. Just tell me you like it - I need praise.
26. I am scared of the water.
27. You MUST remain positive - you will win in the end.
28. I am really looking forward to shifting to Hobbiton but really scared to leave Wanaka.
29. I love history - it is what we are.
30. I smoke - I shouldn't. One of the most amazing times for me was on the set of The Lord of the Rings - smoking with Mr Anderson and the Captain of the Titanic.
31. I love clouds - that is why I concentrate on them in images.
32. I wish I had an eye for photography.
33. I love the stars - they are eternity. I want to go to the end. I must be a nerd - I have a telescope.
I have been working on a speech covering film tourism for the ITOC Conference in Gisborne. Will post this after the delivery!
I was also “tagged” by one of my Flickr friends last week - the results are below.
Finally - some of my latest images of our wonderful time in England last month.
1. I have worked in the travel industry for 34 years.
2. None of my jobs are jobs - I have loved every one of them as a passion. Work is to be enjoyed and if you can get paid for your passion you are lucky. I am. You must pursue your passion no matter what.
3. I love music. Mike Oldfield is my favourite.
4. I have had a camera since I was seven (my Dad brought me an Instamatic). My Dad loved his cameras (always Nikon).
5. I LOVE Lightroom. For the first time in over 40 years of capturing images I feel happy. It does all the things I have always wanted to achieve.
6. I am never happy with my images. I always look at everybody elses and think - wow .
7. I have learnt (in the last few years) to be happy though. I treat my images as my eyes. The way I may give treatment to an image is the way I want it - the way I see it. Digital imagery is no different to an artist with paints.
8. I am very lucky - I have been in the right place at the right time. Lord of the Rings, Narnia, film have been a fantastic experience.
9. I love my wife (Dianne) - we have been married 30 years and children Travis and Sally-Anne. I don't know how they put up with me. I don't deserve them.
10. I am a loner - but I could not be without my family.
11. I never thought I would sell 1.2 million books.
12. One of the proudest moments of my life was receiving a letter telling me I had been awarded an MNZM for services to tourism and writing. Well - actually seeing stamps with my images on was up there as well.
13. I love Central Otago Pinot Noir.
14. This is the only picture of myself I like. Why? It was taken by one of my favourite film directors - Roger Donaldson on Oreti Beach.
15. I love England.
16. My closest friends are now in a better place - I wish they were still here.
17. I am very manipulative so I can get what I want.
18. Take photos - they are your memory - treasure them.
19. Flickr is addictive - I wish I could take images as good as my friends do.
20. I have lived in Wanaka for 17 years and now shifting to Matamata.
21. Tolkien is my favourite author - Arthur C Clarke is my second.
22. I get angry with people that sit around and wish for better - just go and do it!
23. I wish I had enough money to buy a D3X.
24. I am a gadget freak - I love Apple Computers!
25. Ignore number (6) because I am going to do it anyway. Just tell me you like it - I need praise.
26. I am scared of the water.
27. You MUST remain positive - you will win in the end.
28. I am really looking forward to shifting to Hobbiton but really scared to leave Wanaka.
29. I love history - it is what we are.
30. I smoke - I shouldn't. One of the most amazing times for me was on the set of The Lord of the Rings - smoking with Mr Anderson and the Captain of the Titanic.
31. I love clouds - that is why I concentrate on them in images.
32. I wish I had an eye for photography.
33. I love the stars - they are eternity. I want to go to the end. I must be a nerd - I have a telescope.
From Wings to Rings
This blog update is for those of you that have not caught up with my news.
A few weeks ago I handed in my notice as Director of the New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum.
On the 1st September 2009 I commence my new position as Media and Communications Manager for Hobbiton Movie Set & Farm Tours in Matamata.
The last seventeen years of my life in Wanaka have been amazing and I have thoroughly enjoyed my work and all the wonderful people I have worked with. I will miss you all.
I will continue to undertake my work for Warbirds Over Wanaka so will still be able to keep in touch with many of you.
However, I felt it was time for a change so now I move from one passion to another. The Alexander Family in Matamata have become good friends and I am really looking forward to working with them, Henry Horne and the rest of the staff.
Please excuse the brevity of this blog but I am currently half way through a journey of commentary around the English Airshow Circuit. I will be in touch with many of you upon my return late July.
For those of you who want to follow my experience of living with hobbits you will be able to check here, the Hobbiton page, Facebook and Twitter. Once I commence work I will be updating all of these regularly.
With my best regards,
Ian
A few weeks ago I handed in my notice as Director of the New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum.
On the 1st September 2009 I commence my new position as Media and Communications Manager for Hobbiton Movie Set & Farm Tours in Matamata.
The last seventeen years of my life in Wanaka have been amazing and I have thoroughly enjoyed my work and all the wonderful people I have worked with. I will miss you all.
I will continue to undertake my work for Warbirds Over Wanaka so will still be able to keep in touch with many of you.
However, I felt it was time for a change so now I move from one passion to another. The Alexander Family in Matamata have become good friends and I am really looking forward to working with them, Henry Horne and the rest of the staff.
Please excuse the brevity of this blog but I am currently half way through a journey of commentary around the English Airshow Circuit. I will be in touch with many of you upon my return late July.
For those of you who want to follow my experience of living with hobbits you will be able to check here, the Hobbiton page, Facebook and Twitter. Once I commence work I will be updating all of these regularly.
With my best regards,
Ian
Updates Galore!
03/06/09 21:51 Filed in: New Zealand | Announcement
The months slip by and here we are in June. Sorry for the lack of updates recently but I can promise you plenty in the next month. Lack of updates equals a new book deadline and some serious changes to what I do!
The biggest news is a trip to an English summer. Next week we fly with Emirates from New Zealand across to Sydney for a nights catch up with Stephen Ryan before onwards via Dubai to London. Am really looking forward to the trip and the flights. Have only flown Emirates once across the Tasman but this time we get an A380 for the majority of the journey.
As the journey unfolds I will be able to tell you more. In reality, the temperature here has not reached +5C for the last few days so an escape sounds pretty good to me. Once in England I will be commentating at Kemble, Biggin Hill and Duxford. Phew - fun!
Before we fly I will be in Auckland for TRENZ. My great friend Russell Alexander who looks after tours to Hobbiton has a travel conference and a new baby all due in the same week so I will give him and Henry (their Sales Manager) a helping hand (TRENZ not baby).
I have just purchased a Mino HD to help tell my story so you will get moving pictures as well. I have been known to emit the occasional Tweet too!
In the meantime - watch this space - images of an A380, Emirates travel and airshows to follow!
All the best,
Ian
The biggest news is a trip to an English summer. Next week we fly with Emirates from New Zealand across to Sydney for a nights catch up with Stephen Ryan before onwards via Dubai to London. Am really looking forward to the trip and the flights. Have only flown Emirates once across the Tasman but this time we get an A380 for the majority of the journey.
As the journey unfolds I will be able to tell you more. In reality, the temperature here has not reached +5C for the last few days so an escape sounds pretty good to me. Once in England I will be commentating at Kemble, Biggin Hill and Duxford. Phew - fun!
Before we fly I will be in Auckland for TRENZ. My great friend Russell Alexander who looks after tours to Hobbiton has a travel conference and a new baby all due in the same week so I will give him and Henry (their Sales Manager) a helping hand (TRENZ not baby).
I have just purchased a Mino HD to help tell my story so you will get moving pictures as well. I have been known to emit the occasional Tweet too!
In the meantime - watch this space - images of an A380, Emirates travel and airshows to follow!
All the best,
Ian
ANZAC Day
23/04/09 21:02 Filed in: New Zealand
The 25th April is a milestone date for New Zealand and Australia. It was on this day in 1915 that the combined forces of these two countries stormed the beaches of Gallipoli to achieve a victory that was strategically impossible but created in this maelstrom of war a day to remember - a terrible day that would serve to commemorate many terrible days that would follow.
The 25th April is the day that we as a country pause and remember all of those young men and woman, a lost generation, flesh and blood, that fought for a cause that they had the courage to stand up for.
In my day job I have had the honour and privilege to know some of these people and it is a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It is a privilege - there is no better way to say it.
Yesterday I co-hosted the TV-3 ANZAC Day programme with Oliver Driver. Oliver and I had fun- we talked - we discussed - we listened. Listen is the only important word.
Lest We Forget.
Gentlemen - thank you - our heroes.
Watch this Saturday the 25th April on TV-3 at 7-00am.
The 25th April is the day that we as a country pause and remember all of those young men and woman, a lost generation, flesh and blood, that fought for a cause that they had the courage to stand up for.
In my day job I have had the honour and privilege to know some of these people and it is a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It is a privilege - there is no better way to say it.
Yesterday I co-hosted the TV-3 ANZAC Day programme with Oliver Driver. Oliver and I had fun- we talked - we discussed - we listened. Listen is the only important word.
Lest We Forget.
Gentlemen - thank you - our heroes.
Watch this Saturday the 25th April on TV-3 at 7-00am.
A Fantastic March!
What an amazing month March has been. Things have been a little busy and I must apologise for no update since February!
On the 7th March our son Travis married Belinda Thomson in Queenstown. It was great to have Travis, Belinda and their friends at home with us for the ten days prior. The house was full of noise and action (as well as a few clinks of bottles).
The wedding went off without a hitch (well I guess there was one) and we all had a fantastic day.
I had been asked to be the official wedding photographer, which I accepted with some trepidation as this was really my first serious attempt at a difficult job. In the end it all worked beautifully as I had my great friend Chris Hinch with me. Chris is a brilliant photographer but he also knows how to pose people - a skill I have yet to learn.
So the “A Team” worked hard and I am pleased to post just a few of the results. I must admit the weather was perfect - overcast and dramatic clouds.
My great friends at Heliworks provided the helicopter to travel up to The Remarkables and their absolute professionalism just cemented in my mind that they are the best operators in the country.
Now all has returned to normal - well sort of. Auckland next weekend and then back again the following week as a co-host for TV-3 and their ANZAC Day coverage. Then it will only be 7 weeks until we return to England for the summer airshow commentary season. Excellent!
On the 7th March our son Travis married Belinda Thomson in Queenstown. It was great to have Travis, Belinda and their friends at home with us for the ten days prior. The house was full of noise and action (as well as a few clinks of bottles).
The wedding went off without a hitch (well I guess there was one) and we all had a fantastic day.
I had been asked to be the official wedding photographer, which I accepted with some trepidation as this was really my first serious attempt at a difficult job. In the end it all worked beautifully as I had my great friend Chris Hinch with me. Chris is a brilliant photographer but he also knows how to pose people - a skill I have yet to learn.
So the “A Team” worked hard and I am pleased to post just a few of the results. I must admit the weather was perfect - overcast and dramatic clouds.
My great friends at Heliworks provided the helicopter to travel up to The Remarkables and their absolute professionalism just cemented in my mind that they are the best operators in the country.
Now all has returned to normal - well sort of. Auckland next weekend and then back again the following week as a co-host for TV-3 and their ANZAC Day coverage. Then it will only be 7 weeks until we return to England for the summer airshow commentary season. Excellent!
Video of the Year
20/02/09 10:47 Filed in: Photography
I am an avid reader of Scott Kelby and his blog. If you haven’t been there you must check it out.
One particular area of his blog I have found fascinating is his guest blog Wednesday. Every one is a gem.
This Wednesday though he has really pulled one out of the bag.
If you do anything with this blog of mine PLEASE watch the video below. What Zack Arias has said in this clip is exactly what every artist feels - he is eloquent and clever enough to hit the button.
I must admit I do exactly what Zack talks about on a regular basis - probably we all do.
Just watch it!
One particular area of his blog I have found fascinating is his guest blog Wednesday. Every one is a gem.
This Wednesday though he has really pulled one out of the bag.
If you do anything with this blog of mine PLEASE watch the video below. What Zack Arias has said in this clip is exactly what every artist feels - he is eloquent and clever enough to hit the button.
I must admit I do exactly what Zack talks about on a regular basis - probably we all do.
Just watch it!
The Fantastic Nikon D700
16/02/09 14:16 Filed in: Photography | Announcement
After five full and fruitful years my venerable Kodak SLR/N has been retired. I wasn’t about to replace the camera so quickly but a shrinking NZ dollar against the USD has meant a number of price rises have hit imported goods.
Nikon is no exception and I was aghast last week to find out that my new camera of choice (Nikon D700) was increasing in price by up to NZ$3000.00.
Unfortunately my normal supplier (Kens Cameras) had run out of stock but I did manage to eventually track one down at the old price.
The big question is, am I happy with it? The answer is an unequivocal yes! I must admit me real camera of choice was the Nikon D3X but given the current pricing this camera is just right out of my league.
The D700 is just so many streets ahead of the SLR/N but that is understandable given the progress of 5 years digital technology.
Have only used the new camera a few times but I am impressed by (a) low noise, (b) sharpness and (c) speed. The same battery type as my D300 is an added bonus. I will be posting more images from the camera as I experiment!
Nikon is no exception and I was aghast last week to find out that my new camera of choice (Nikon D700) was increasing in price by up to NZ$3000.00.
Unfortunately my normal supplier (Kens Cameras) had run out of stock but I did manage to eventually track one down at the old price.
The big question is, am I happy with it? The answer is an unequivocal yes! I must admit me real camera of choice was the Nikon D3X but given the current pricing this camera is just right out of my league.
The D700 is just so many streets ahead of the SLR/N but that is understandable given the progress of 5 years digital technology.
Have only used the new camera a few times but I am impressed by (a) low noise, (b) sharpness and (c) speed. The same battery type as my D300 is an added bonus. I will be posting more images from the camera as I experiment!
Wings Over Wairarapa
14/01/09 10:31 Filed in: New Zealand | Travel
This morning I fly to Wellington and catch the train up to Masterton. The next few days I will be “hanging out” with my great friends Phil Makanna, Trevor Graham and Jim Hickey.
Then the weekend will be spent commentating at the Wings Over Wairarapa Airshow.
Really looking forward to the show. Some special aircraft will be flying, including three SE5A WWI fighters.
I believe this will be the first time three of these fabulous little aircraft have been seen in the air together since about 1925.
In the meantime, my photography has been a little sparse over the last few weeks but here is an image taken of sunset over Lake Taupo taken when we drove to Auckland last December.
Then the weekend will be spent commentating at the Wings Over Wairarapa Airshow.
Really looking forward to the show. Some special aircraft will be flying, including three SE5A WWI fighters.
I believe this will be the first time three of these fabulous little aircraft have been seen in the air together since about 1925.
In the meantime, my photography has been a little sparse over the last few weeks but here is an image taken of sunset over Lake Taupo taken when we drove to Auckland last December.