26/12/06: I managed to convince my extended family that visiting Muriwai Gannet colony would be a nice boxing day trip. Of course that meant we'd be there in the mid afternoon, but it was still a nice trip and I managed to get in lots of practice with birds in flight.

25/12/06:Travelling around the North Island I've taken my first photos of the NZ Dabchick on Lake Taupo and of Weka chicks. I'll be adding them soon hopefully.

The other exciting news was a most interesting visit to Wingspan in Rotorua, NZ falcon are even more fantastic up close!

17/11/06: Stewart Island was great, as was Ulva Island. We managed to see three kiwi, I managed one good photo. Elke is busy writing the trip report.

The "photo of the week" has been changed to a "random gallery sample" because I kept forgetting to update it.

10/11/06: I received my Canon 20d today and Tamron 17-50mm. I will report on them once I've had a bit of time to try them out.
I'm heading to Stewart Island tomorrow for 6 days, hopefully when I return I'll have something to put in the 'Kiwi' gallery.

8/11/06: I've been working on the bird galleries and now that the structures are in place they will progress fast. The concept I'm working towards is not just a collection of my photographs, but a detailed resource for New Zealand birds.

23/10/06: A new photo of the week is up: "Juvenile black-billed gull". I'm still trying to get some of my galleries finished. Elke's site has alot more content now.

20/10/06: My 400mm f/5.6 arrived yesterday - it looks virtually brand new! I took a few shots with it this morning and am quite amazed! It is the sharpest lens I've ever used. I am very very happy with it :)

18/10/06: I went running this morning around the city reservoir and to my surprise found about 10 shags' nests in two trees overhanging the water. I run around there about twice a week - I can't believe I have never seen them before!

17/10/06: I've finally sold the three lenses I've replaced, the 70-200 f/4, 300 f/4 IS and the little 50mm. I sold the 300mm for the same price as I paid for it new two and a half years ago! Good lenses keep their value :)

12/10/06: My Canon 28-70mm F/2.8 L arrived today. It is very substantial with great build quality. It replaces my 17-85mm , but is hardly a wide angle lens on a 1.6x body, so I may have to look into other options.

10/10/06: The Elkeith.com forum is up and running! Go have a look at it and start posting - it's lots of fun! I'm going to link to it from my blog/updates when I want to say more than this space allows.

6/10/06:Text/links have been added to the top of each page so you know where you are on the site as another navigation option.
The first photo of the week is up "Australasian Coot on Lake Wakatipu".

7/10/06:We headed out to the Okia Reserve and Victory Beach for the first time. A penguin colony (both little blue and yellow eyed) is at the northern end. I took a few first shots with my 70-200 2.8, nothing spectacular though.

5/10/06: I bought a second-hand canon 400mm f/5.6 on ebay. I'm really looking forward to getting out and using it in the field. Also, I've managed to get blog/updates to look and work right.

4/10/06: My canon 70-200 f/2.8 arrived today, I ran a few tests and it looks about as good as the f/4 version it is temporairly replacing. I got a really good deal on it so I'm pretty happy!

3/10/06: I'm in the process of 're-shuffling' my photographic equipment in preparation for heading to Italy in summer. I'm selling four of my lenses by internet auction and intending to buy three others to replace them.

1/10/06: Elkeith.com is finally up and running (mostly thanks to Elke). There is still a lot of work to be done, so keep a lookout for updates in the next few days. Elke is busy working on the forum - it's going to be good!