NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURES - JET BOATING

Jet boating is very much a part of the extreme adventure cuture of Queenstown and on our way to check in to our hotel we spotted the jet boats carving up the Shotover River, which is located about 10 mintues from the centre of Queenstown. These boats take you on a ride through the Shotover River Canyons at up to 85km/h (51mi/h) in, at times, 10cm (4in) of water.

Shotover River Jet Boating © Rachel Pitt

Shotover Jet Boating © Rachel Pitt

 Whilst this was quite interesting to watch. I have to admit the whipering, turquiose coloured waters had originally caught my attention from atop the high river overpass. I knew I just had to get down there and shoot it.

Heading down to get the shot © Rachel Pitt

There were many layers to be had in this frame and I knew that I needed to watch out for oncoming jet boats whilst I was composing it.
Movement in the water was key, not to mention some other foreground subject to add some other interest. Plus I had the forest on other side of the stream demanding attention too. I snapped a number of exposures and I have included my favourite below. At only a 1.6 sec shutted speed, you can see just how quickly the water was moving. The finished image has a much more serene atmosphere than what was true when shooting the image. Especially when dodging the spray of drifting Jet boats.
I hope you like it.

Catchya
Josh :)

Shotover River, NZ © Josh Pitt

NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURES - CORONET PEAK

On the way back to Queenstown we took a detour to a tiny old style town called Arrowtown and had one of the best meals of our whole trip at a little pub called "Jonesy's", not to mention an awesome waffle ice cream. Whilst we were there we had a stroll around the shooping precinct.
Definitely a place we would frequent if we lived near there. So relaxing.

After our lunch we took another detour and went in seach of a well known location, especially if you are a skier/snowboarder - Coronet Peak.
We followed the signs until we came across the base of the road to take us to one of the most breathtaking views of Queenstown. We begun the 5  - 10 minute drive up the hill and were immediately in awe, we couldn't wait to get to the top!
Once there, we took a moment to take it all in and watch to group of paragliders entertaining us launching off the side of the mountain.

Paragliders, Coronet Peak NZ © Rachel Pitt

Dark clouds began to inhabit the sky, which created a better light to shoot.   
With alot of great areas to pull over and shoot, we settled down and I got out my camera to try and translate this amazing sight......
.....and this is what I saw.

Catchya
Josh

Coronet Peak, NZ © Josh Pitt

 

NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURES 4

So many places to shoot at Lake Tekapo. Even better if you can get a great sunrise with some clouds about which will keep the scene interesting for longer. This image was shot a little while after my last post "Morning Calm, Lake Tekapo NZ". And the water had already evolved from a deeper blue to the more well known turquiose colours that everyone loves.
This image is a great example of why you should always try to include some foreground interest. The rocks in this foreground are so detailed and sharp, especially when enlarged, that you could almost feel like you could touch them.

Catchya
Josh :)

Down by the lake, Lake Tekapo NZ

NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURES 3

On this morning I decided to try my luck with a sunrise. I wanted to head down to the lakes edge to see if I could get some the reflections that New Zealand is typically known for. Unfortunately the stillness was not to be, but as a consolation I had some beautiful colour in the sky.
I still cannot believe that water colours in some of the lake over there. On this occasion a deeper blue than usual and so clear that you can the rocks beneath. They almost look as though they have been painted in.
The other thing I like about this photo (which is a little hard to see when small) are the continuous mountains that go off into the distance through the clouds and also the trees down the right hand side.
My previous image "Fields of Gold" was shot over the other side of the orangey coloured hill, known as Mount John, to the left of frame.

I hope you enjoy this one!

Catchya
Josh :)

NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURES

Recently I spent 10 days across the ditch in New Zealand. It was the first time I got to experience what this wonderful country had to offer.

We began our travels in Queenstown, which is located in the South island of New Zealand, in the Otago region about 500km (310mi) South-West of Christchurch. Sometimes more well-known for its adventure sports than its scenery, Queenstown has much to offer everyone!

The minute you land you know its going to be special. The vast mountain ranges you briefly got to know from the air, now majestically tower over you as you disembark. Greeted by friendly customs officers, you know that this has already begun to be different to the norm. Such a relaxed town it sits alongside Lake Wakatipu, which  is NZ's longest lake stretching for around 80km (50mi). I knew this was going to be the place I was going to do majority of shooting. On this particular day, however, my wife and I had spent most of the day travelling and were ready for bed. We did the watch the sun go down at no doubt a popular area to do so - on the tip of Queenstown gardens. A beautiful area that is only a leisurely 5-10mins walk from town along the lake to the awaiting park benches.
So whilst the shot below was taken in Queenstown it wasn't taken until later in my trip, when we returned for 3 nights to conclude our trip.
On this particular sunrise shoot I had noticed the multitudes of thick but parting clouds, that I thought were going to give me a spectacular sky. I turned this way and that to try and get the right angle for the sunrise. The clouds actually hindered more than helped, because they blocked the rising suns light from hitting the clouds correctly. I ended up shooting looking away from the sunrise, which can be the right thing to do in many cases (as long as you don't have your own shadow in it). This image was shot with a 15sec exposure, giving me a nice water calming effect and a dramatic cloudscape over the aptly named Remarkables Mountain Range watch over the city of Queenstown and are simply stunning. In shooting an exposure for that long I had to use a 3 stop graduated filter. Which is almost like sunglasses for your camera. Because the scene has two very different intensities of light - the foreground (lake/mountains) and the sky, I had to level the playing field by filtering how much light the camera was capturing in the sky. Otherwise once the 15 secs was up, one of two things would occur - the sky would be perfectly exposed, but the foreground would be silouetted (not always a bad thing) OR the foreground exposed correctly, but the sky would be heavily overexposed (just white and boring).

This is the result below. I like the result, because I think it teachers you that the shot is always there for the taking you just need to know how to capture it.

COLOURS OF NEW ZEALAND

Yesterday I wrote about how New Zealand's colours that seemed to be wrong. Whilst you will see it a little later in my finished images, I thought I'd include a very quick raw snap of one of the lakes we have seen on our journey. Don't worry it took a little while for our eyes to adjust.
According to our hotel information - "the turquoise blue of the lake is created by 'rock flour'. The glaciers in the headwaters of Tekapo grind rock into fine dust on their journey towards the lake. This 'rock flour' is suspended in th water and when combined with sunlight creates the unique water colour".

Tomorrow we will be travelling all day to get to the town of Te Anau in southern South Island. On the way we hope to stop in at Wanaka. Home of Lake Wanaka - known for its mirror reflections! Then onto Milford Sound and back to Queenstown to explore its surrounds a little more thoroughly.

Enjoy!
Catchya
Josh :)

NEW ZEALAND 1, 2, 3

Queenstown, New Zealand

Just relaxing at the foot of Mount Cook New Zealand, three days into a 10 day trip. There is not much to say but...WOW! From the moment you fly over, enroute to the airport, you know its going to be special.
I've had a few firsts on this trip - FREE airport luggage trolleys for one. Australia can learn a lot from the kiwis. I got stung by a bee driving while driving 100km/h down a NZ country road - it flogged! Not to mention the worst hayfever ever, I couldn't even go out in the fields - it was hideous. But I survived and have shot some imagery I am really happy with. Hopefully a few photos that are a little different to the norm. I have just included a quick sampler of one I snapped in Queenstown.

Our first night was spent in Queenstown, which we will revisit later in the trip. This allowed me to have a quick look around before we commenced our self drive holiday. First stop was the amazing Lake Tekapo, located about 5 hours north of Queenstown. This beautiful sleepy town has an array to amazing colours that will take your breathe away. In a way it almost seems like the colours are all wrong. The lakes are an extraordinary shade of turquoise, the mountains an stunning tone of greens and golds. These colours I have never seen before, it really was a awe-inspiring moment.
Lake Tekapo also has the beautiful Mount John, which we spent some time upon taking in the remarkable views of the township, lake and country fields. More of the images to come.    

Currently, I'm sitting here at our hotel room hoping the clouds will part from atop Mount Cook so I can get some shooting in tomorrow on one of the trails. Fingers crossed!

Just had a look at the al a carte menu and I love a good steak as much as the next person, but NZ$69 for a 250g rib eye is insane. This place is a little fancy. Though we are looking forward to our gourmet buffet though for $62 each, pretty insane in itself, but not too many options in Mt Cook. This better be good.

Keep an eye on my facebook for more updates and some finished images in the coming weeks.

Catch ya
Josh :)