30 day photography challenge - day 1

Day 1 - 30 day photography challenge. Well... more like day 8, but day 1 of actually getting round to posting anything.

'Something Old'. Amazing die-cast "unimog" truck. Found at the fair in Ma'ufanga. It's so cool that it pains me to let my son play (read: "wreck") with it.

Art Challenge 2

"But without 'art', 'earth' would just be 'eh'."
(On The Spot art challenge, Reef Cafe, August 29, 2011)

Saturday mornings

Saturday morning flea market at Ma'ufanga. There's a lot of sifting through trash to find your treasure but occasionally some real gems turn up. Like a full Thomas the Tank Engine set which the seller was practically giving away. I honestly couldn't believe my luck - it was one of those moments when you want to turn around and 'high five' the person nearest you.
I'm not sure who gets more enjoyment out of it, me or my son. Gotta love it.

Reppin' HYPE in the Kingdom...

H.Y.P.E movement in the Kingdom of Tonga - 'Helping Youth Pursue Emancipation' encouraging young people to transform their lives by engaging in community action and striving for excellence. What's not to like about that? I was privileged to be asked to photograph them last week, pretty happy with the results.

More marching bands!

Tailulu College. Sometimes, if my kids get me mad enough, I threaten to send them to Tailulu. Worst uniform ever. But clearly another example of yet another GREAT MARCHING BAND!

Heilala Festival 2011

I'll be the first to admit that the annual Heilala festival has lost its appeal to me. It certainly isn't what it used to be. Okay, so perhaps there are certain safety issues with the torch lighting ceremony along the waterfront that we did in years gone by and, yes, I guess we all realise the dangers involved in giving our children a bottle of kerosene and a box of matches... but it looked cool.
But one thing is for sure - I can't go past a good float parade! And what's better than a good float parade? A marching band! And the only thing better than that is LOTS of marching bands!

I love marching bands. It's not something I'd really encountered until I came to Tonga and the fact that the schools here have really embraced it and made it their own gets two thumbs up from me. What's not to love?

And the winner is... Liberty Afeaki, Miss Heilala 2011.

Bokeh

Bokeh. It's that fancy thing going on with the lights in the background. The stuff that is happening away from the best point of focus. But it doesn't happen in those tricky heart shapes like it is here. No, that takes cardboard, scissors, tape, box-cutting knives, Christmas lights, a small 5 to 10 minute window of opportunity as the sun sets in the background... and a serious desire to make it happen. As you can see, I couldn't even manage to get the darn thing straight, so slanty heartshapes is what we got. *Sigh*. Will try harder next time. Watch this space for bokeh stars, coming soon. Well... soon-ish.