Golden Bay A&P Show: Saturday 21 January
Multi-purpose sports facility plans
The group advocating a new multi-purpose sports and recreational centre at the Takaka Recreation Grounds will be pushing their cause with a stand at the A&P Show on 21 January.
Peter Blasdale, vice-chair of the Golden Bay Shared Recreational Facility group, says concept plans drawn up by Arthouse Architects in Nelson will be on display there and will not only show how the proposed building will look inside and out, but also reveal exactly how it will fit into the overall recreation park site as a whole.
It is envisaged that, if such a facility was built, some of the existing buildings at the recreation ground could have a change of usage as well, says Peter.
“Depending on the final direction, there is the possibility of a 200-seat function room as well as meeting rooms. We will have someone on the stand explaining the proposal, and also getting feedback. There will be forms for people to write down their responses too, a bit like a straw poll of people’s opinions.”
Peter says the group started the process about a year-and-a-half ago, spending the first year getting various user groups to say what they would like to see up at the park. Not all were sporting ideas, with dance, yoga, bridge and youth groups all having their input.
A public meeting last August attracted around 65 supporters for the proposal, including representatives from rugby, soccer, hockey, netball and mountain-biking groups. Many speakers outlined the need for a sports facility, including junior football coach Bernie Kelly, who said that at present sports groups met at many different locations within the Bay, and three-quarters of those groups had no changing or shower facilities.
Outlining Tasman District Council’s role, community services manager Lloyd Kennedy indicated that $3.4 million had already been allocated in the council plan for a Golden Bay community facility in 2012 to 2013, but that the local community would have to raise at least $850,000, or 20 per cent, towards the capital cost. He said the funds would be available subject to public consultation, and told the meeting, “You people have to know what you want, and you people have to run it.”
The council’s contribution would come from the facilities rate, currently set at $41 from every property in the district.
The proposal has also had its detractors, including those who would like to see money go towards a covered pool in the Bay. Dr Bjarne Vandeskog, who carried out a feasibility study commissioned by the Golden Bay Work Centre Trust two years ago to determine the need for a multi-purpose centre, said his survey had shown that the community was equally divided over the issue. He pointed out that Golden Bay already had 44 halls, many of which were underutilised.
The Golden Bay Recreation Park has been used for half a century by numerous sports groups. Says Peter Blasdale: “It’s time we acknowledged this marvellous facility with an upgrade of facilities that the people of Golden Bay deserve.”
The nearest facility similar to the one proposed here is the Moutere Hills Community Centre at Upper Moutere.
The Shared Recreational Facilities proposal can be viewed on <http://goldenbayfacility.blogspot.com/>.
Gerard Hindmarsh
Preparing photographs for competitions
What is it that the judges are looking for when they are evaluating photographs? With the Golden Bay A&P Show on our doorstep, Alan Bilham, APSNZ, of the Motueka Camera Club, discusses some of the key issues that arise when evaluating images.
Image content. What is the photographer trying to present to the viewer, and how much of the setting, foreground, background and surrounding features are used to support the image’s primary content or “centre of interest”. A strong single centre of interest raises the visual attraction of an image. Be careful not to clutter your image. Distractors: overexposure, incorrect focus, crooked horizons, evidence of oversharpening, poor cropping and colour casts.
Image message. Your image needs to say something by visually conveying a mood, an emotion or expression, revealing a story, expressing its characteristics or conveying the author’s intention. The message can carry a 50 percent weighting in its grading.
Lighting and exposure: “Without light there will be no photograph.” Capturing the nuances of light is at the heart of the photographer’s craft. One simple tip in this digital era is to underexpose by one to two stops. Direct sunlight is very useful for scenic shots and is best in the first and last hours of the day. Fluffy, white, cloudy days without direct sunlight are best for portrait photography.
Angle of view: Look at the subject to be photographed from all possible angles in order to discern the best angles for the shot. Look for the light and shaded areas, as contrasts will show your subject best.
Focus: Ensure that your foreground through to your image’s mid-ground and certainly your centre of interest are all sharply focused. If taking a portrait of a person or animal, ensure that the eyes are open, and especially sharp. If your background is important to the overall image, as in scenic shots, then your background also needs to be at least relatively sharp.
Balance: A sense of balance is also important. Most photographers use the rule of thirds to maintain a viewable balance. The strongest visual centres of interest are on the upper horizontals at the intersections with the verticals. Indeed, all the internal intersections are visually strong centres for placement of your key centres of interest. The placement of a horizon along one of the horizontal thirds intersects also improves the image’s balance.
Presentation. Presentation can make or break an image and also needs considerable attention. Carefully read the rules outlining the maximum sizes.
