I'm a big fan of the morning and evening light for my photography (as you probably already know), luckily Dunedin has some of the best light I've seen anywhere in the world.

This week chasing that great light has meant cruising around the city beaches on some brisk mornings and chilly nights to capture this week's haul. I've managed to rope in some helpers this week with budding photographer Josh Jenkins, from Tourism Dunedin, coming to the Highlanders vs Chiefs game on Friday night. We were there to shoot some shots of the crowd and the building itself, but we also shot the game and what a great game it was. The Highlanders certainly impressed with their form and attitude this year and were so close to taking victory in this sudden death match. It was a truly entertaining season.

The next day I dragged four of the roller derby girls out into a biting cold wind for a harbourside shoot to promote their Mid-Winter Brawl this Saturday (make sure you put this one in your diary). These girls were great (sometimes these shoots take awhile to construct) and were lots of fun to work with despite the 4°C temperatures. If you haven't checked out roller derby before make sure you get along to The Edgar Centre and find out why this is the fastest growing women's sport in the world. It's like rugby for women, on skates ... seriously.

On Sunday my two-year-old son Keo came down to Blackhead with me to shoot the surf. We stumbled across one of those sessions that will stick in my mind for a very long time. There's something about big blue-green walls wandering in and peaking with ordered perfection that excites me. There would have been about 30 surfers enjoying this mid-winter gift. Even with permafrost on the beach, a chilling 5°C air temperature and 10°C water temperature it was a hearty session filled with hoots and waves that will be remembered by many. I know a few surfers who had the barrels of their lives out there on Sunday. Keo's favourite was the procession of broken boards – he thought it was pretty cool that the ocean could snap a surfboard like a toothpick.

I exited the water at 5:20pm on Sunday and it was 1°C in the carpark. My feet were frozen – so was my grin.

See you at the beach ...

–– Derek