Noumea (New Caledonia) celebrated 30 years of carnaval last weekend (Sat. 16 Sept.). I had friends participating in the event and so thought it was a great opportunity to practice some portrait photography. Here are just a few to start with. Many more to come.
Walking through La Place Des Cocotiers (Noumea, New Caledonia) on carnival day, I heard these guys playing music. So I went over to listen and take some portrait shots. I love those those traditional instruments. A big shoutout to Christopher Schyle who asked if I could tag him, Yvan Vaquijot and Xango Capoeira Caledonia. It's a pleasure to do so. I'm not sure if they're all members of the martial arts but they do play beautiful music together. Thanks guys.
Copying one of my favoutire photographers here, Paul Zizka. He often posts landscape photos with himself in them to show the scale of things. That's not me in the photos though but a friend that I invited to tag along. I may do more of these kind of photos with someone in them to show thw scale of things. What do you think?
I went up to a lookout tower in Mont Koghi (Dumbea, New Caledonia). I think it used to be a bush fires observation tower for fire brigades. It's just before you arrive at the Auberge du Mont Koghi. At this time of the year, the sun sets at the end of the valley of Dumbea. To the left is a gorgeous view of Noumea and the lagoon in the distance. You get a great view as well from the Auberge. A must for a sunset drink and a meal aftewards.
First off, I have to apologies for not catching the name of this group. This was the last performance of the day and unfortunately the other dance videos of this group didn't turn out at all. They were very jumpy and choppy. Don't know what happened there but the videos weren't usable.
This is another Wallisian, and I think Futunan, dance group. Very different dances compared to Pacifika. You'll notice at the bottom of this video, on the ground, some wood-carved weapons. They used them in their previous dances but, as I mentioned above, those videos aren't available. Just like Tahiti Nui, this group had their own musicians.
Here's the second video from last weeks post, Fête Paroissiale. I have one more that I'll post in the next couple of days.
Pacifika is a Wallisian dance group. Male and female dancers of all ages here unlike the Tahiti Nui group. Some of the male dances are very powerful and can even seem aggressive. One of the dances seem to depict a confrontation of two groups. It also reminds me of Kata in martial arts. Looking at the female dances, you'd be mistaken to think there's only upper body movement. But pay close attention to the feet movement in some of the standing dances. They're small and subtle but have quite an impact on the dance. Pacifica dance to traditional and more modern music. An impressive group to watch.
In last week's post, Fête Paroissiale, I said I was going to share a couple of compilation videos of the dance groups.
This first of three videos is of Tahiti Nui. A Tahitian dance group with their own musicians. You'll see that they have very young musicians and dancers, as young as four years old. An all female dance group with beautiful costumes
LANTERN RETREAT
This event happens on the eve of Bastille Day (French National Day). In the last couple of years the parade has started from Place Bir Hakeim and ends at Place Des Cocotiers, as always (Noumea, New Caledonia). Lanterns are distributed at the beginning of the evening around 6:30 p.m.. At 7 p.m. we had the Royal Australian Air Force band perform with a couple of dancers. There fantastic! Straight after that we start the parade down Avenue Victoire Henry Lafleure onto Avenue Marichal Foch to Place Des Cocotiers. An leisurely half hour walk. The parade ends with fireworks at 7:45 p.m.. An excellent evening for young and old but kids, especially, love it.
PARISH FAIR
A small fair was organised to raise funds for the parish of Église Du Vœu (Noumea, New Caledonia). I arrived a little early, toward the end of the preparations, to take some photos. Which is why you don't see many people but in the end there was a good turn out. As you can see from the photos there were plants, clothes, fresh produce, homemade dishes, books, barbecued skewers and even games for the kids. But that wasn't all. They had a show of Tahitian and Walisian dances of all ages, starting as young as four (4) years old. Adorable! I didn't photograph the dances because I was too busy filming them. I'll put them into a couple of small videos to share.
In last weeks blog post La Maison Célières à l'Époque Médiévale, I mentioned people were able to participate in medieval dances. Here's a short video of those dances. As you can see, people from the Sci - Fi Club were there to help the crowd participate. Kids as well.
The Célières House In Medieval Times
The Sci-Fi Club in Noumea (New Caledonia) organised a medieval day in the Maison Du Livre (Book House). Also known as Maison Célières, named after the original owners of this beautiful colonial house. It's now on the heritage listing and owned by the Municipality. It was a beautiful, warm, winter day (no, that's not a typo). They had people in clothes from the era, food, dishes and cutlery from that time, spiced wines (an acquired taste). Weapons, armour and flags. You could also learn and participate in dances from back then too. They even had a corner for kids to create their own coat of arms. I went with a friend and her two daughters and the kids absolutely loved it.
Not a very good morning for spectacular sunrise photos but the video make you see things in a whole different light. I wasn't very impressed when I got up that morning and saw the sky overcast. Since I was already up, I convinced myself to head out anyway. I'm not an early morning kind of person so it wasn't an easy decision to take, you know. Glad I did though. Came back with this time-lapse and a photo I like very much that I titled Searching Mont Dore.
A lazy afternoon under the shade at the Kou-Bugny bar/restaurant in Kuto, Isle Of Pines (New caledonia). Situated on the beach of Kuto Bay, the view is just magnificent. Sunsets are magic. A must visit if you ever get the chance. You can get there either by boat (2 1/2 hrs) or plane (30 mins) from Noumea. Both offering a unique view of New Caledonia.
This is Pic Malaoui. It's also known as Chapeau Du Gendarme and is part of the Koghi Mountains (Dumbea, New Caledonia). As you can see, there's a track heading to it's summit. I took this photo to remind me to get my butt into gear and organise an early morning trek up there.
A friend's son taking advantage of the last light to paddle on the waters of Anse Longue (Païta, New Caledonia). While the rest of us were enjoying this beautiful sunset and a refreshing drink on the outdoor deck. The water isn't deep here. You can walk out a few hundred metres at low tide. It's also beautiful in the mornings with the water as calm as a lake. If you lucky, you may see fish jumping out of the water.
My first time-lapse ever. Filmed from Artillerie overlooking Baie De La Moselle (New Caledonia). Taken and edited with my iPhone.
A company had contacted me for a sunset photo over Apogoti Bay but, unfortunately, I hadn't any. I decided to head and scout the area for potential spots and came back with this one. I just had to shoot this amazing sunset over Apogoti Bay (Dumbea, New Caledonia). I almost missed it. I was about to head home when I notice the orange coming through. It's not the best of shots. I rushed it a little. But I'm glad I got it.
So last year was a leap year. Which means this was the 366th and last sunset of 2016 that I saw. The sunset was so beautiful, we literally all stopped to admire it. I spent NYE (New Year's Eve) in Tonghouin (Païta, New Caledonia). Here you're looking over Anse Longue. This area is very flat so you could walk out in the water for hundreds of metres. This place is just awesome!
This sculpture of a one legged figure is displayed down on the quay at the Gare Maritime (Noumea, New Caledonia). I was just having fun with this photo. I made sure the foot of the sculpture was aligned with the rope that was holding the ship to quay. I got rid of the pole holding the sculpture in Photoshop and that's it. Just a bit of fun.
Friends and strangers alike watching pétanque on the shores of Anse Vata (Noumea, New Caledonia). Pétanque is a French bowling game similar to Lawn Bowling. Except it's played with smaller, metal balls (bottom of the picture) and on dirt grounds. A very popular game, here, in New Caledonia.