When the ocean heard the surf go silent, the cry was felt across the mountain ranges and the land ~ This was the song of mourning. . . .

The beauty of raw emotion is what drew me to my photography journey many years ago now and I have only ever found that, that ‘true grit’ raw emotion in what the natural world stirs up within us, in the processes of child birth and in the times of losing loved ones.

Not once however have I been asked to capture a Tangi of a dear friends darling man, who was not only also a friend but the closest of homies to many of my own.

What had been wholeheartedly expressed even before his passing ….. Is that Jamie Civil is a Legend ~ A massively talented big wave surfer here in N.Z ~ A “vinyl sound selector of the purest form, true to his art” ~ A builder and a craftsman of perfection ~ A best friend to his big sis Tash ~ A much adored son to his parents, whanau and whanui members ~ A true blood bro to just soooooo many ~ And of course what his entire world was about being ~ A beautiful, giving, loving, loyal and head over heals besotted father and partner to Courtney and their little Lenni girl and the goodness and gorgeousness of their love and life they had in the time that they shared.

So how does one navigate the geography of the broken hearted? … the map of their souls that made every sense on every level to each other, when one is taken away from this human world too soon? , how does anyone find comfort after losing someone so wonderful … Is it in the deep inner knowing that the spirit lives on, on the messages he will send you when you are still , on the salt wipped wind at his favourite spots, in the rolling trills of the tunes you shared the love for, in the memories of those mega moments or the little things that can never fade away.

One of my favourite poems in which I’ve probably shared before today on here is from Henry Thoreau | “The mass of men live a life of quiet desperation and go to the grave, the song still in their heart” I see that Jamie’s song shone brightly through in his life, in the golden hour of his love and life with Courtney and Lenni and also in the powerful heart song’s bravely expressed through all the people who loved him dearly. Accolade after accolade coming through for this absolute beauty of a human who touched an incredible amount of hearts with his gentle humility and next level talents.

This without a doubt was one of the most harrowingly hard events to have to capture and process in not only my personal life but also my photography journey, BUT it was also truly my biggest honour. Thank you for gifting me the essence of the human heart connection Courtney, I pray that peace come in time to you and you walk strongly again with the inner knowing that you walk in yours and Jamie’s precious and rare once in lifetime kind of love, your strength, mana, gangster humour and spirit is truly amazing ~ Love you our girl !

Jamie . . . Rest in LOVE Brother

THE WRITER | dedicated to my oldest sister Jules.

Has anyone ever written anything for you
In all your darkest hours
Have you ever heard me sing
Listen to me now
You know I'd rather be alone
Than be without you
Don't you know

Has anyone ever given anything to you
In your darkest hours
Did you ever give it back
Well I have
I have given that to you
If it's all I ever do
This is your song

And the rain comes down
There's no pain and there's no doubt
It was easy to say
I believed in you everyday
If not for me then
Do it for the world

Has anyone ever written anything for you
In your darkest sorrow
Did you ever hear me sing
Listen to me now
You know I'd rather be alone
Than be without you
Don't you know

So, if not for me, then
Do it for yourself
If not for me then
Do it for the world

Stevie Nicks

..... Ask your hands to know the things they're holding.

But, when time pulls lives apart
Hold your own
When everything is fluid, nothing can be known with any certainty
Hold your own
Hold it till you feel it there
As dark and dense and wet as earth
As vast and bright and sweet as air
When all there is is knowing that you feel what you are feeling
Hold your own
Ask your hands to know the things they hold
I know, the days are reeling past in such squealing blasts
But stop for breath and you will know it's yours
Swaying like an open door when storms are coming
Hold
Time is an onslaught, love is a mission
We work for vocations until, in remission
We wish we'd had patience and given more time to our children
Feel each decision that you make
Make it, hold it
Hold your own
Hold your lovers
Hold their hands
Hold their breasts in your hands like your hands were their bra
Hold their face in your palms like a prayer
Hold them all night, feel them hold back
Don't hold back
Hold your own
Every pain
Every grievance
Every stab of shame
Every day spent with a demon in your brain giving chase
Hold it
Know the wolves that hunt you
In time, they will be the dogs that bring your slippers
Love them right and you will feel them kiss you when they come to bite
Hot snouts digging out your cuddles with their bloody muzzles
Hold
Nothing you can buy will ever make you more whole
This whole thing thrives on us feeling always incomplete
And it is why we will search for happiness in whatever thing it is we crave in the moment
And it is why we can never really find it there
It is why you will sit there with the lover that you fought for
In the car you sweated years to buy
Wearing the ring you dreamed of all your life
And some part of you will still be unsure that this is what you really want
Stop craving
Hold your own
But if you're satisfied with where you're at, with who you are
You won't need to buy new make-up or new outfits or new pots and pans
To cook new exciting recipes for new exciting people
To make yourself feel like the new exciting person you think you're supposed to be
Happiness, the brand, is not happiness
We are smarter than they think we are
They take us all for idiots, but that's their problem
When we behave like idiots, it becomes our problem
So, hold your own
Breathe deep on a freezing beach
Taste the salt of friendship
Notice the movement of a stranger
Hold your own
And let it be
Catching

KATE TEMPEST

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I will come to you river, I will come to the river . . . . wash my soul again

Deep into the national park we drove, crossed sheep paddocks by foot with more equipment in tow than necessary.

Charlotte glides through the streams in her stunning wedding dress & red band gummies (beautiful AND sensible !), I not so glamorously creek hop with a heavy camera bag & ladder balanced on each shoulder.

We had already lost the sun’s warmth but thankfully we still had ‘light’ on our side, wonderfully crisp and clean it was… Àmene to Mother Nature’s splendour.

The air, truly freezing.

Over the mountain top cascades the waterfall, the mist from the fall sprays us heavily, excitingly enlivening but simply bone chilling.

My puffer was saturated in no time at all & I was wiping my camera down every few minutes to prevent any damage. Massive respect to Charlie for her serene meditation & presence without one complaint, even when she shook from the cold on her bare skin.

Here we were in nature’s glory, Hummingbird’s first shoot for Nikki Ross Jewellery, deep breaths of snow capped mountain air & we dove right into the innate essence of our surrounds and the mask & scene of portrayal.

Embodying the spirit of Nikki’s company is a soulful hymn . . .

| “She is love, she is attitude, she is strength, she is expression” | Nikki Ross Jewellery REPRESENT ! |

Jewellery | https://nikkirossjewellery.com

Makeup | Charlotte Schryvers

Model | Charlotte Schryvers

The culture of the collaborative

Like rivers of thought, flowing through a common propensity to create.

Celebrating collaboration, alongside the amazingly driven and talented folk from Common People who married a bulk of talents together so that I could have the privilege & pleasure &

FUN FUN FUN of illustrating this.

Fine Art Minimal Landscape | Fine Art Portraiture

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.”

― Albert Einstein, Living Philosophies

All Fine Art prints are available framed or unframed in most standard sizes. Custom made wood frames are crafted from Sustainable Forestry. Commissioned landscape work is welcomed and packaged deals available for the portraiture sessions with framed or unframed prints. Please view more print options available in the

EARTH | WORLD | MINIMAL tab from the Hummingbird home page.

Honouring Home birth | Home birth Awareness week Aotearoa 2017

The way of a woman . . . .

Inner knowledge on giving birth is woven into the DNA of a woman and has been that way from the beginning of humankind. 

Trusting in and being supported through the natural unfolding of this process is a woman's birthright.

The belief in oneself to deliver her baby is not only the birth of the babe but the rebirth of a woman, to come into this power will affect her for the rest of her life.

letting go of one of the greatest fear's a woman faces, will be by far her greatest strength, when she realises that the overwhelming intensity of powerful contractions cannot break her . . . . because it is HER

The real value of setting goals is not the recognition or reward, it's the person we become by finding the discipline, courage and commitment to achieve them

Who looks outside, dreams - who looks inside, awakes

MAP OF THE HUMAN HEART

{Indecisive} . . . "Hummingbird . . . Joyful little sister, Nectar you crave! All the sweetness of the flowers, Is the Aroha you gave"

Lady Hauroko

Dedicated to the 'lady of the lake' the Maori cheiftaness whose protected burial site finds her in seated position on her throne on mary island ~ lake Hauroko Southland Fiords NZ, she......... "was laid to rest wearing a flax cloak with a dog skin collar weta feather edging around her neck, and was seated upright on a bier made of sticks and leaves. The reasons for the burial in this manner are uncertain, although it has been suggested that these burials were to either make sure the remains were protected from desecration by enemies, or to protect living descendants from a dangerous "tapu" the Māori word that means sacred, forbidden or taboo, that the ancient Māori may have believed the ancestral bones possessed. This led to the belief that this woman was of high-ranking status, which was later discovered through an archaeological investigation that she was a chieftainess of the ngati moimoi tribe. The burial still remains on the island today, with a grille made of steel and wire mesh ensuring that interested people can still view the burial, but the woman will remain untouched"

Exhibiting | Wilson & Dorset Wanaka

Earth | World | Minimal . . . . La Dos Series

TUSSOCKS HOMEWARE WANAKA

Hummingbird Photographic Fine Art Pieces lend themselves to minimal landscape with transcendental overtures embodying a liquescent presence.

KAPUA TAIMAHA

TE ANA -AU

LINDISFARNE

Quiet inside & Fondness for Self

Wherever you go there you are

Jon Kobat - Zinn

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As the Wolves and the Wind

Grand Expectations

Do I have a responsibility to make the whole world beat to my drum? No, nor could you. You beat your drum, and the Universe will respond to the drum that you are beating… There are as many different worlds being lived by as many different perceivers of the world as there are perceivers of the worlds

Abraham Hicks

““...... and when you really want something all the universe conspires to help you really achieve it
Pablo Coelho ~ the alchemist”

SACRED FATHERHOOD

THERE IS NOTHING SO STRONG AS GENTLENESS & THERE IS NOTHING SO GENTLE AS REAL STRENGTH