Posts Tagged ‘water’
Greetings friends and happy new year to you all!
I have just returned home from a 3 week trip to New Zealand where Sonia and I spent our holiday period and as you can imagine I was like a kid in a sweetshop, spoiled with all the wonderous photographic opportunities all around me the whole time. We hired a camper van and spent the first 11 days touring the South Island, visiting many of the famous natural landmarks, including Lake Tekapo which has views towards Mount Cook.
A boat sets off into the misty blue Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo is fed by the southern alps and sits at an altitude of 700 metres. It covers an area of 83 square kilometers making it the second largest of three lakes that sit at the northern edge of the mackenzie basin. It is fed by glacial melt that contains finely ground rock powder which gives the water the distinctive blueness. I find it hard to believe that the colours in the above image are real, but as anyone else who has seen the lake for themselves will vouch – it really does look like this!
The Church of the Good Shepherd overlooking Lake Tekapo
A church sits at the edge of the lake, built in 1935 it was the first church in the Mackenzie Basin. There is an altar window inside which provides stunning views over the lake and mountains, but there were a few too many other tourists in there for me to want to go check it out close up. I took this shot from a distance up near the cafe and tourist info center.
The Winding Road
I do not think that I would be exaggerating if I were to claim that there is a stunning photo waiting to be taken where ever you are in New Zealand, so to prove it, above is a photo I took as I was about to cross the road back to the parked camper after getting my first glimpse of Lake Tekapo. Never has the old addage of “Always check whats behind you” been so true as when you are in the wonderful country of New Zealand.
As you can imagine, I have a whole load more images from my first trip across the Tasman – so I am looking forward to selecting the picks and highlights and bringing them to you here on my blog in the days to come.
References:
Lake Tekapo @ Wikipedia
Heres a new set of images that I took from Cremorne Point, just a 10 minute ferry ride across the river from Circular Quay. The weather had been tempremental all day but the rain held off for long enough periods to let me get some nice shots of the brooding clouds over the city skyline.
I was using a 2 stop gradient filter for these images. I quite liked the effect it had on the clouds even though I wouldnt have necessarily thought of using it on an overcast scene until I tried it.
Well, theres not much more to say really – I’ll let the images speak for themselves… Enjoy 
Thanks for visiting!
Here’s another handful of shots of the Opera House that I took from another trip to Macquarie Point a week or two ago. I have been in Sydney for less than a year so I am still in awe at how every sunset seems to give you something different to shoot. The colours on this night were just beautiful and this first image has had little post processing done on it and is a pretty accurate reflection of the scene infront of me as I pressed the shutter.
The world famous Opera House and Harbor Bridge
Another wider angle shot of the famous landmarks
Sonia taking time out to pose for a snap
A shot from earlier as the sun was setting
The photo of Sonia really stretched the capabilities of my popup flash. It was pretty dark by the time I took it and I used rear curtain flash to light up the foreground whilst creating a longish exposure of the background. I was happy with the effect although I would love to see what I can achieve when I invest in a proper flash unit.
Thanks for visiting!
Welcome to my latest set of images taken at Manly beach and Shelly beach this week.
Manly is one of my favourite Sydney beaches and even though this was only my second visit there I am completely besotted with it. The beach is just beautiful, the sea so perfect – even surfable on a very calm day. I recently learned that this is one of the popular diving and snorkelling sites in the area due to its wonderful (and now protected) marine life.
The idea of this shoot was to catch some dusky shots of the tidal pool that sits half way between Manly beach and Shelly beach, but as things turned out I preferred some of the other shots I took while we were on our way to and from the pool. I’ve included my picks of the days efforts in this article.
Manly Beach, with Shelly Beach in the background
Shelly Beach
The setting sun over Manly, taken from the tidal pool
The tidal pool at sundown
Moments later, another shot of the pool
Manly beach by night
I was a little bit daring and climbed over a safety rail on the path between Shelly beach and Manly to get this last shot. It was a little bit scary being close to the edge so I was thankful it wasn’t very windy. This sky was almost black when I took this shot but a long exposure allowed me to capture the last hints of colour on the horizon. An interesting mix of warm lights in the distance and a greeny light illuminating the rocks from the path behind me made this one a bit of a challenge in post processing but I think I’ve got away with the few lightroom adjustments I chose.
Thanks for viewing! See you soon
Here’s a set of images I captured at Coogee Beach last Sunday at around sunset. The beach is East-facing so we don’t get to see the sun disappearing off under the horizon from here but I quite like the warm glow that is created on the horizon nevertheless.
Those of you familiar with Coogee beach will recognise this tidal pool instantly by the distinctive blocks that line its edge. This location must have been photographed a million times but I had to get down there and have a go myself.
I think the pool must have been renovated recently as some of the shots I’ve seen on flickr here show the concrete blocks looking a little more worse for wear than they now appear.
According to a guy I met who was filling up some canisters with sea water as I was taking my snaps a large wave manifests once every 5 minutes or so and for reasons I don’t understand this theory seemed to work. The first image was taken as one of these waves combined with the swell to crash up against the pools edge spectacularly.
The 5 minute wave
A period of calm
The deep blue
Smoothing the beach
Sulpher lights
This final image was taken in near darkness and was only achievable by a 4 minute exposure. There is a street light up the steps to the right which floods the scene with the orangey tinge, I have chosen to embrace it here rather than try to eliminate it.
Each of the above images looks a little different to the last and that is due to a combination of small differences in post processing as well as the dramatic changes in lighting and colours that occurred as the sun moved lower and eventually said goodbye over the horizon behind me.
A lot of the best pictures of all Sydneys eastern beaches are taken at sunrise but I am hoping to show how you can still get an interesting photo at the other end of the day too. Hopefully these photo’s will give you an idea of the kinds of shot that can be achieved at sundown.
Cheers!
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