Aperture Priority : Photographs and stories by Rick Harvey

monkey island te wae wae bay western southland

Learning To Love Black And White Photography

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of websites and blogs offering tips and tutorials about shooting black and white.photography – what works, what doesn’t, how to see in black and white, and so on. But, this far into my journey with black and white photography, I have discovered that doing...

Looks Like A Storm Brewing, Mouth Of The Grey River - August 2023

The Great Wave, Greymouth 2023

One of the most famous examples of Japanese art is called The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. It is a woodblock print produced by Katsushika Hokusai in 1831. No – the photograph above is not it! Not too many years after that, one of the most influential French photographers you’ve probably...

to be creative takes courage how to break out of your photography rut

5 Ideas To Help Break Out Of Your Photography Rut

So you’ve found yourself lacking motivation with your photography lately. It’s not uncommon. It’s happened to all photographers at some time I’m sure. So how do you break out of your photography rut? It is probably helpful to consider what being in a photography rut really means. Well – what...

Ilford HP5 Plus 400 In A Minolta Dynax 8000i

Some time ago I was lucky enough to be gifted an elderly but still functional, Minolta Dynax 8000i fitted with a 35-80mm zoom lens. This camera brought back many fond memories for me as one of the first 35mm cameras I ever owned was a Minolta Hi-Matic 7s, purchased for...

Shooting With Ilford HP5 Plus 400

They say good things take time – in my case a long time. It was last year when I decided to start shooting with Ilford HP5 Plus 400. August in fact. In a story on 22 August, I said I’d be starting to shoot some black and white in a...

waves crashing over rocks at slope point in the catlins On1 Photo RAW 2023

On1 Photo RAW 2023 Revisited

The last time I had hands-on experience with On1 Photo RAW 2023 I wasn’t convinced it would be a good upgrade for me. My goodness how things have changed in just a matter of months. Today I hit the Buy Now button for the latest upgrade – to On1 Photo...

get started shooting with film praktica tl1000 with takumar 50mm lens

So You’d Love To Get Started Shooting With Film

There is no doubt that, just like vinyl LP records, film photography is making a comeback – not that it ever really went away. Even though some predicted its total demise, film photography never died but was merely pushed into the background once digital cameras become cheap and plentiful from,...

old chimney standing on the rocky kaikoura foreshore

Is Nik Collection 6 The Best Yet?

Almost a year ago I wrote a story about 6 reasons to use Nik Collection 5, and a few days ago DxO released the latest version of the Nik Collection – but is Nik Collection 6 the best yet? I’m not going to venture an answer to my own question,...