Last year we launched a new site for award-winning Auckland-based photographer Emma Bass (which replaced a site we'd created for her many years ago in the ancient times of the 'net when Flash ruled the world).

It's always very satisfying to see a website become a focal point for growing a career, and the latest update reflects the Emma's continued rise in the field in both the professional and artistic areas.

Her Imperfect exhibition was such an ongoing success that she's launching Imperfect II soon. The site revamp highlights this thriving artistic side by splitting those projects from her professional work, thus in essence creating two sites:

The new site includes a details of Emma's upcoming and past exhibitions, more work categories including Phone Moments, and an updated Press section.

We look forward to celebrating the success of Imperfect II, and expect Emma will be exhibiting internationally soon!

Visit Emma's site at www.emmabass.co.nz.

Four years ago we created a free website to promote one of Carterton's fabulously unique days, The Great Carterton Wheelbarrow Race.

The day comprises many events and activities, including kids and adults races, mobility scooter race and decorated barrows and more. The highlight, however, is the Gladston To Carterton Endurance Event. For this, two mad (and madly fit) competitors take it in turns to push each other in a wheelbarrow the whole 13 kilometers from Gladstone to Carterton!

The race celebrates the story of one of the Wairarapa's earliest settlers, Samuel Oates.

Family legend says that Samuel started working for Charles Rooking Carter (one of Carterton's founding fathers who the town is named after) almost as soon as he arrived in New Zealand in January 1856, assisting with the construction of a hotel and a butcher’s shop.

Carter then asked him to take some goods to his Wairarapa farm. Samuel’s three-day journey over the Rimutakas, pulling and pushing a substantial wooden wheelbarrow, became Wairarapa legend.

For the upcoming event, we gave the site a fresh look and major overhaul, using a responsive template called Madison that adapts itself for mobile devices, tablets and desktops:

We're looking forward to continued involvement with the WheelBarrow Race over the coming years, and Minty's aiming to do better than his previous 5th placing at the Strongman competition!

For photos, rules, history and more, see www.wheelbarrowrace.co.nz

As a farrier, you'll often find you need particular supplies in a hurry, and being able find what you want 24 hours a day is a big bonus. That's why M&J Farrier Supplies got in touch with us about a website, and now they're offering hundreds of products online to help keep horses in the Wairarapa and Wellington areas in great shape.

Marshall is a New Zealand Qualified Farrier, with almost 20 years experience. He and his wife Jo were tossing around possible domain names for the website when we suggested "Hey, you're the farrier. Let's just go for 'thefarrier.co.nz' - easy to read, easy to spell, easy to remember." Choosing a good domain name is important, and those three qualities are always worth keeping in mind.

M & J Farrier Supplies - www.thefarrier.co.nz

Of all the myriad stories to emerge from the chaos and horror of the Second World War, Ray Parkin’s is perhaps the most fascinating and illuminating.

A self-educated Petty Officer, Ray Parkin developed into one of the most acute chroniclers of the POW experience in Java, The Thai-Burma Railway and Japan, writing three classic books on his experiences. He was also an artist of note, and his visual record of those years serves as one of the most powerful and moving accounts of the experience.

Ray Parkin’s Odyssey, by Pattie Wright, is the first full and comprehensive account of the life and wartime experiences of the late Ray Parkin.

Bek and I had the honour of meeting Ray in 2003, and we're proud to have created a site to support his astonishing legacy.

Ray Parkin's Odyssey - Nectarine Website Portfolio

www.rayparkin.com.au

Irena Stenner allows the astounding creative power of the right brain functions to flourish with her art-based team-building workshops!

As Irena says, "We live in a world dominated by left-brain thinking and are only just starting to discover how innovative, wise and creative our right-brain intelligence is. Not only does it help find unique and innovative solutions to problems, it also generates a sense of well-being and builds connections between people and joy. This in turn leads to productive, positive and sustainable workplaces."

In my own travels, I've found that trying to get the mix of the left brain (with its analytical and logical processes) working in concert with the creative and lateral right brain is a tricky balancing act, but can be very rewarding. Some of my friends would no doubt posit that it's especially impressive for someone appears at times to have only half a brain. Given that some theories suggest we only use 10% of our brain capacity, then a quick trip via calculus would put the final tally at somewhere around Π/2.71, I figure (accurate only to 8 decimal places).

Anyhoo... Irena's workshops are fab, what people produce in them is amazing, her own artwork's gorgeous, and we're pretty happy with the site we put together to tell the world about her! www.irenastenner.com

Irena Stenner Website - The Art of Team Building

Award-winning photographer Emma Bass applies her talents to a diverse range of subject matter. Her world is visual… light and colour are her lifeblood.

Emma's images have graced the covers of New Zealand Grace, New Zealand Weddings, North & South, Pro Design, Listener and Next. She has won eight NZAIPP (New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers) Silver awards, four Gold Kodak awards and two Silver APIA awards.

Emma's work is astounding, so we were very pleased to created a site for her. By using WordPress and the NextGen Gallery plug-in, we've made it easy for Emma to update, organise and caption the images herself, and she's leapt into blogging with enthusiasm!

Her fabulous IMPERFECT exhibition opens tonight at Black Asterisk Gallery in Auckland, so if you're around, make sure you head in for a look!

www.emmabass.co.nz