Bay of Plenty Times chief photographer John Borren's top pictures

Baby Kelan's father Lee Marshall and mother Michelle Beaumont moved from Auckland to Tauranga for a better life. Photo/John Borren.

The large open-plan room housed about 30 journalists and a haze of blue smoke hung down around the desks like a Waikato fog. I had been tasked with giving a message to one of the senior reporters.

Close to deadline, he is putting the finishing touches to a story. I stand patiently behind him, a cigarette hanging precariously from his mouth, while he smashes down on the steel typewriter with two fingers (no modern keyboard would last a day).

He finally pulls out the copy and turns to me "what the **** do you want". This is my first morning on the job and the start of what would be a 35-year career.

Bay of Plenty Times chief photographer, John Borren.

Many changes have happened over those 35 years. I started shooting in black and white, processing films in a dark room and now I'm plugging my camera into my phone in the middle of nowhere and sending pictures back to wherever.

For young readers, this may sound pretty normal, but being one of the first photographers in the country to start using digital cameras it was likened to witchcraft. I had to learn on the job.

I've always enjoyed news photography; equally, I've enjoyed meeting the variety of people we have interviewed. Talking to the head of the local Black Power chapter one day and the Prime Minister the next.

This job has given me a better perspective on people because you are invited into situations you wouldn't normally experience in day to day life. It has given me an insight to how people view the world.

I feel privileged to have been entrusted to share their stories in both words and in pictures.

I have become a fuller person, more balanced, and more open because of it.

Having covered so many assignments it's hard to pick out the highlights, covering the Commonwealth Games rates high on the list, but there are many more.

Yesterday marked my last day with the Bay of Plenty Times.

I've had a good run with this masthead and met so many great people along the way.

Newspapers, and their websites, are still very relevant and journalists do a very good job. I hope people continue to support the industry because when it is gone, what will be left is opinion rather than truth.

But it won't be the last you see of my work because I intend to work as a freelance photographer in the area, covering a variety of work.

Thank you all for making this such an unforgettable journey.

Borren's top pics:

The fishing boat Lady Luck sinking off Motiti Island, where four crew were rescued. Photo/John Borren

Rebecca Campbell took a drop on the Mangakarengorengo River after torrential rain created perfect kayaking conditions. Photo/John Borren

Chris Booth cruises along Pilot Bay on his wakeskate pulled by his hand-made wakewinch. Photo/John Borren

Kathryn Brawn, 8, from Maketu, tests her violin playing on the farmyard animals. Photo/John Borren

A tractor and trailer ferries residents away from floodwaters engulfing the Edgecumbe town. Photo/John Borren