Te Papa's 10th Anniversary

1 - Last weekend featured Te Papa's 10th birthday celebrations (this, by the way, is an Indonesian dancer, and yes, she is a he)

Part 1 (click here for the gallery):

• New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
• Carlos Navarrete (Mexican mariachi guitarist)
• The Beat Squad (Samba/ lounge group)
  
• Didik Nini Thowok (Indonesian transgender dancer)
• Te Ahikaaroa (Kapa haka)
• Bits and Pieces (some starfish and a trio of odd looking sheep)

Part 2:

• Caitlin and Sika (World instruments - click here)
• Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra (click here)
• Julia Deans (of Fur Patrol fame - click here)
• Queen of the Whole Universe Pageant (drag queens - click here)

Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra @ Te Papa

1 - The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra in action - I got a teency bit caught out because the session was moved indoors at the last minute... the room packed full with people, and alas, I couldn't get my usual 'off to one side with a long lens' place... So, when life gives you lemons, take photos of the backs of people's heads!


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Julia Deans (Fur Patrol) @ Te Papa

1 - Julia Deans (lead singer of Wellington/Melbourne Band Fur Patrol) played a nice set with just herself and guitar. The song Lydia would be familiar for most New Zealanders... Deans won the 'best female vocalist' Tui award in 2001.


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Caitlin and Sika @ Te Papa

1 - World music performers Caitlin and Sika performing in Te Papa's marae


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Te Papa's 10th Anniversary (Part 1)

1 - The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra featured early in the afternoon, the crowd was huge, so I only managed to catch a few photos as the orchestra played their last notes. This shot features conductor Hamish McKeich in a mezzo-piano moment


2 - she's playing an 'F sharp' in third position (I could, of course, be completely wrong about that)


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4 - outside in the Amphitheatre, Maori Kapa Haka group 'Te Ahikaaroa'


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7 - the Te Papa Marae hosted Mexican Mariachi guitarist Carlos Navarrete


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9 - The Beat Squad


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11 - Indonesian Dancer Didik Nini Thowok


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14 - a remarkably authentic sheep impression


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16 - the sheep evolved into furry starfish later on in the afternoon


17 - ...and ran about in the drizzle administering slightly damp hugs


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Queen of the Whole Universe Pageant @ Te Papa

1 - The Te Papa extravaganza finished itself off with something along the lines of a drag queen beauty pageant. I have no particular aspirations towards drag queen photography, so I've used this series for experimentation...


2 - The textured effect comes courtesy of layering between 2 to 5 exposures on top of each other. In this case, we have the underlying photo, then the first texture layer is a marbled effect borrowed from a conveniently printed curtain, and the second texture layer is borrowed off one of the ceramic pots sitting on my parents' deck (note the cobwebs). The exposures are layered in photoshop, and after a bit of masking and messing about, out comes the result.


3 - Other texture effects include ice...


4 - ...cracked concrete, and a chunk of rusty fishing boat.

I'm still figuring out this technique (these ones seem a bit overdone), after wondering about how to do it for the past couple of years (check out examples here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and a particularly good gallery here). It wasn't until I stumbled across this short explanation on dpreview that I realised how easy it is to do.

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Wellington Round the Bays

1 - Not too bad... Website and results are here.

I'm taking a break from photography for a bit while I herd some cats.

The Phoenix Foundation

1 - The Phoenix Foundation played in Frank Kitts Park on Valentine's Day - as part of the Starry Nights series of free concerts... Their wikipedia page is here, and myspace is here, also check out their songs Hitchcock and Going Fishing from Eagle vs Shark


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Flight of the Conchords @ Arovideo

1 - Flight of the Conchords played a short, free, and somewhat secret set of songs at the tiny but cool video store Arovideo... it was a pretty remarkable event to catch, as the pair won a Grammy for 'Best Comedy Album' a few days ago.


2 - ...okay, maybe a little bit not so secret, seeing as the TV showed up... News of the show featured in stuff.co.nz and the NZ Herald...


3 - the deal was first in/ first served, so Chiara and I waited in line for a while. The stars showed up, and the first 1/10th of the crowd jammed into the shop...


4 - my mad rush to a half decent vantage point was rewarded with a prime spot halfway up a convenient staircase (right next to a bunch of videographers - you can hear my camera clacking at 15s & 1m33s on this video of their first song)


5 - Jemaine Clement singing something about leaving monkeys alone (video of the song "Issues")


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7 - Bret McKenzie about to launch into the first song


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10 - Loren Horsley (who played Lily in the New Zealand movie Eagle versus Shark - and looked a little bit different for the role)


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