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.

THE GUARDIANS....

This is another shot capture on Killcare beach. It was taken on the same shoot as another one of my images - Morning Swirls, Killcare NSW.
While shooting that shot I could see the clouds starting to part and the light starting to penitrate. In this shot the the light has completely penitrated an opening in the clouds and was at its picturesque best when I pressed down on my remote shutter release.
I love the soft wash across the foreground and the detail in the rocks and of course the rays of light shining through. I called this shot "The Guardians" because these rocks are the front line soldiers battling against the relentless incoming swells of the ocean. Unfortunately, this a losing battle and one day the rocks will be totally eroded away but will know that they have fought gallantly up until the day.

Catchya
Josh :)

The Guardians, Killcare NSW © Josh Pitt

ROCK SOLDIERS...

Located on the NSW Central Coast - Killcare is quite a beautiful and secluded area which I had never shot there before.
On the morning of the shoot, I rose in the pitch darkness and could see a slight silvering of the clouds in the sky - I had high hopes for a dramatic image. When I arrived on location, clouds covered the entire sky and as I stepped onto the sands it began to rain! Not quite what I had in mind. Luckily, the rain soon eased and then stopped. As I wondered around towards the rocks, I noticed some beautiful green mossy rocks that had the rough ocean washing in, out and around them. I shot a number of different intervals for this composition and this was my favourite. I think I like the swirl of whitewash eye cuddling these resiliant rocks sitting on the beach is really quite interesting. It is almost as though this rock is being protected from the ocean by his rock soldiers spread in front of him. Although big, they are no much for the ocean that manages to squeeze through their guard and continue the erosion process.

Catchya
Josh

Morning Swirls, Killcare NSW © Josh Pitt

Quick! Turnaround...

Sometimes when shooting a sunrise or sunset you need to turnaround instead of trying to shoot where the sun is, because when you do, you may see a really cool glow. This is what happened on my shoot at North Avoca - I was busy trying to compose a shot over on the rock platform, which wasn't working well because I needed a little bit more light. So I turned around and saw the morning glow behind me, which was quite intense. I had remembered some rocks that would make great foreground interest, so I shot off the rock platform to set up to shoot the glow, the rock and get some water movement. You can even see some surfers getting ready to paddle out. After shooting this image, I then returned to my earlier compositionto finish it becasue the light was now much better.

Morning Glow, North Avoca NSW © Josh Pitt

Available at www.joshpitt.com .

Hope you enjoy.
Josh :)

COME AND BE ENCHANTED...

This week I decided to go and shoot a place I had been only once before - North Avoca. I was hoping to find a new angle different to my original shot "Morning Streams".
On this visit the sky was totally clear, not a cloud to be seen, so this focused my attention more on the rocks or beach (instead of the sky). I came back to the little stream running down the rocks and had me fascinated once again with the movement of the water within the miniature rock canyon.
 I wanted to shoot the scene from very low down, so as to focus the viewers attention primarily on the tiny waterfall. I spread my camera legs out very wide so I could get as low as possible to avoid any surrounding distractions.
I choose this name, because to me, the image has a magical quality about it that facinates me when I look into it.

Enchant, North Avoca NSW © Josh Pitt

Available at www.joshpitt.com.

Thanks for stopping by.
Josh :)