NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURES - MILFORD SOUND

Milford Sound, located on the west coast of New Zealands south island. Apparently our kiwi neighbours made a number of errors when naming this area.
Their first mistake was calling Milford Sound - Milford Sound. It is not actually a "Sound" at all. But rather a fjord. Which means it was formed by glacial activity rather than the ocean.
Now, to make amends for this oversight, our NZ friends decided to fix their error by calling to entire region Fiordland. There in lies their second error. "Fiord" is a Norwegian word, which is actually spelt "Fjord". Oops. Yep. Nevermind.

On this leg of our journey we stayed a couples of nights in a small town about 2-2.5 hours away from Milford Sound, called Te Anau. Which I believe is pronounced Tee-Are-Now. It is such a great small town, not to mention FREE WIFI!

Disappointingly, on this occasion, we couldn't go or stay for a sunrise or sunset. But instead do more the touristy thing and take in a cruise. Which was awesome! We were lucky enough to have a small pod of dolphins start swimming next to us, which apparently isn't too common around there. We also got to see some lazy male sea lions sunbaking on the rocks, learnt some history and interesting facts of the area. Not to mention saw some great scenery as we went. One of which was the Stirling Falls (pictured below), which deceivingly is approximately 155m (511ft) tall.
We were told that this is one of the few remaining waterfalls in Milford Sound, that is fed by melting glaciers. It won't be long until this majectic fall with have to rely on rainfall alone to operate.

It just goes to show that you should cease the day. As what's here today may not be tomorrow.

Stirling Falls, Milford Sound NZ

THE GET TOGETHER...

Whilst driving around The Entrance, I spotted this location only footsteps from the carpark. What drew me to this area were the vibrant green rocks and I knew I might be able to get a nice pre-dawn sky looking straight ahead.
On the day of this shoot unfortunately the pre-dawn sky wasn't to be, however I did have a nice set of drama filled clouds and to go with that, I had the company of the four pelicans just off in the distance. They look as though this is their morning meeting point, where they get together for a chat before their day begins. It almost reminds me of when I shoot at the local beaches, no matter what time of the year it is, I always see some old school surfers hanging out in the carparks and the daredevil's joining eachother for a morning budgie-smuggler icy swim.
Anyways I think this scene comes together nicely - even the subtle whispy stream just beyond the rocks.
I hope you enjoy.
Catchya
Josh :)

Meeting Point, The Entrance 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

MY NEW TOYS....FIRST USE!

Having just recently had a birthday, I was surprised on the big day by my wife, who had been conspiring with her dad for the last little while to get me some Lee filters. I was lucky enough to get 2 sets of filters - a sunset set and a neutral density (ND) graduated set....well sort of - the ND Grad set has been so popular of late that Lee in the UK were out of stock for up to 8 weeks. Yikes! But I did get my sunset set :)
This was the first usage. Inparticular the orange filter, this gives the shot a nice warming.
I had been to Forrester's to shoot before so I knew I wanted to revisit a rock platform to have a little play with my new toys. I remembered that these platforms have the best highlights of mossy green that I have seen around here on the coast! Another good thing about this location is that the sun stays hidden for a while, allowing you to shoot for longer with nice light. I like how the scene has come together - with the green, the little pool alongside the green and the sun poking around the headland.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Josh :)

Delight, Forrester's Beach NSW © Josh Pitt