This blog is the latest incarnation of zkarj.co.nz.

The web site began life as “AeroImage” in 1999 and was my first real web site. It came about from a desire to publish my own photos taken at the 1999 Wings Over Wairarapa Airshow – the inaugural such event that has continued biennially ever since. The photos were taken with my Pentax MZ-50 typically on 200 ISO film, then printed at the local 1-hour processor. Once back home, I would select the best and scan them on my HP5200C scanner (which is still operational today) and crop and straighten to an approximate size of 800 x 600 pixels (from a 150dpi scan). High quality JPEG images were then posted on the site – these being of a fairly high quality compared to other sites at the time.

As more photos were added, AeroImage outgrew my allotted space from my ISP and thus the zkarj.co.nz domain was born. The origin of this name can be read on the Legend of ZK-ARJ page. With the new name came the first redesign, leaving behind the dark blue of AeroImage and picking up a cream and red scheme to match ARJ’s in the old photo. The number of photos climbed into the hundreds.

By mid 2002, the maintenance burden was growing tiresome and a new approach was required. I learned and employed XML technologies and the automated galleries were born. By Christmas of that year, a new design and colour scheme debuted and the site took on the form you can still see today.

Now even the XML is burdensome as the photo count had grown to over 900. Included in the 900 were the first digital photos, taken with a Fujifilm SF3000 – a 3.2 megapixel point-and-shoot with a respectable 6x zoom. The introduction of digital signalled a much higher rate of photography and I balked at adding anything new to the site. The last photos were added in September 2004 and now well over 3 years later, I’ve finally figured out how to move forward.

Meanwhile, a year after forsaking the site, I joined Flickr. I steadfastly avoided uploading any aviation photos there on the basis that they were to be reserved for the zkarj site. Finally, after attending the Classic Fighters 2007 airshow, I caved in and uploaded 533 photos from that event to Flickr! I have since added several more air shows as well, along with numerous general aviation photos.

In early 2008 I have stumbled across the solution to my problem. Whilst reading Rodney’s Aviation Ramblings I realised that, like Rodney, a blog would serve my purpose. Having spent some years on my other blog, I quickly installed and configured the new ZK-ARJ blog that you’re looking at now. It has taken on a few different ‘skins’, with the latest change bringing about larger photos as 2012 rings in.

My camera equipment has progressed from the Fujifilm to a Pentax *ist DS, then the superb Pentax K10D and then the superlative Pentax K-5. With these wonderful devices I have shot many, many aircraft and will begin to publish some of this old material as time permits, in additon to new ones.

And so, the photos continue to flow…

–updated January 19th, 2012