Mike came to see me about an old image of his mother in need of some restoration work. Originally hand coloured, the photo was now marked with age, the colour hue having changed from the effects of atmospheric conditions. Altering the skin tone to what Mike wanted, removing all the marks and fixing up the blouse gave the photo a whole new look. This printed out to a 33×40cm (16 x 13 inch) photo.

I just got in a new load of Poplar milled timber for making frames for my canvas prints. Poplar timber is not well known as a wood used in the industry. Being light and strong, it’s ideal for making up my canvas frames. My supplier says among other things they’re used for surf board and coffin manufacturing!

Coming 40 minutes drive from Whangarei, I’m able to source rough sawn 2 x 6 timber directly from where they’re grown - Stix of Mangakahia. They’re then taken to a local timber merchant (CainesTimber) and cut and planed to the size I want - giving me full control over the whole sizing process. This batch should keep me going for a while!

Another 4 galleries of field hockey photos were added from games taken over the weekend. Friday night was reserve women and Saturday Div 1 women. Here’s a shot from Saturday where Toots Tornadoes played Whangarei Girls High School C. In this photo it’s mother against daughter! The game ended 3-all.

More photos added this week with some JMC mixed hockey and two premier women matches. Played over the weekend, Maungakaramea played Whangarei Girls High and Old Girls played Kamo High. Both school teams lost their games.

I had this photo to restore for the Whangarei Boys’ High School Old Boys’ Association. The picture is of the the school’s first official 1st XI, taken in 1941 (Back then it was called Whangarei High School). As can be seen in the closeup the photo was covered in small spots - caused by aging and general wear and tear.

The photo was fixed up to original condition and printed. I played for the 1st XI - for three years from 1982-84.

Brent came to see me about making a great 6oth birthday - glass slide scans put onto a mounted canvas. Brent’s father had been to see me about 2 years ago wanting some old glass slides scanned and put onto CD. They were old glass slide adverts used at the Thames cinema back in the 1920’s. Brent’s great grandfather ran a very succesful plumbing business advertising all sorts of supplies - paints, timber, stoves, plumbing fittings and more.

Brent wanted six slides made into a square then printed onto canvas and mounted. We chose the ones he wanted and it which order whereupon I resized them, did the canvas print then mounted it. All done in less than 48 hours as Brent had forgotten and only just remembered!

Brent was over the moon about the final print and now has ideas of having tea-shirts made commemorating the adverts.

I had the opportunity to photograph my niece’s game directly before my own. She plays for Maunu JMC B (Blue) team and was playing Bream Bay (Yellow) - pre highschool age. Leaving the camera with my sister she did a good job of following my game - against Horahora - and taking photos. Even my niece had a go on the camera - pretty good for a 10 year old! The middle photo isn’t a trick, my sister caught the hockey stick coming out of the player’s hand just as it happened!

The other game covered was our Springfield Div 1 side against Mangapai Gold. A new team this year of mainly new guys to playing competition hockey for the first time. Even though they’ve lost every game so far they’re improving all the time and it’s only a matter of time before they start winning.