Well the wifes not back but the children are.
You had previously crossed out 2 weeks in your appointment book to go to Germany for a Dental trades show in Cologne. Then you decide not to go. So what do you do instead?
You go on another road trip and leave the children at home-they’re old enough to look after themselves.
This time I fly to Christchurch and pick up a rental car for me and my three legged companion and we drive away into the sunset. Yes we are heading for the West Coast.
But wait, did I have an itinerary? Did I know where I was going? Nope, not really, I only booked the first night in Arthurs Pass.This was the beauty of my plan and a long time dream. Just go and photograph with no time constraints or any other obligations -like wife waiting in the car! You only need fuel in the tank, and fresh water in the car. I did buy some fruit and a muesli bar as part of my survival kit if I did get stuck somewhere.
Just after picking up the car I dropped in to see my friend and mentor John Foster. He gave me lessons in the past on portrait photography and wedding photography. This time we sat in front of his laptop and John gave me a list of places that I should visit. Most of them (should I say all) I had never even heard of. Places like Jacksons bay (below Haast), St Bathans (Central Otago), Hooker Valley (Mt Cook), Nugget Pt (Catlins) and the list goes on filling up the pages in my note book. John is a real expert on NZ and photographic locations as he runs photo tours regularly. I am especially grateful for John’s willingness to share his knowlege.
To cut a two week story short, I had a great time, met wonderful people and other photographers along the way. You can tell the photographers from the tourist by their big cameras and long lenses. They also have their three legged companions and of different breeds. I took around 2400 shots but just a few made it to the website. My 5 and 4 star ratings (personal) make it to the Home page and Blog. The 3 star into the gallery. And the rest wait on my hard drive for their ultimate demise-“delete” or “reformat”. Actually its not really death row for the leftovers as I tend to keep then and eventually pass them over to another drive. As mentioned in a previous blog its amazing how you discover a “keeper’ months after or years down the track which you had previously passed over.
I have divided all my photos for the website into 3 separate subjects and release dates. The first being Aoraki/ Mt Cook and the Mckenzie Country area.
The second being The West Coast. And the third the Catlins.
You may also notice that a lot of my photos are of insignificant objects or scenes. These are definitely not the beautiful great sweeping landscapes you see in the bookshops by famous NZ photograhers like Andris Apse and Petr Hlavacek- I visited both their galleries. The images I do are more what I call a photostudy with a leaning towards photojournalism. This is an exercise in Light and how in just a few seconds it can change the scene, turning it from something mediocre into something magic. Its a bit like passing a South Island town- don’t blink otherwise you will miss it!
1. Hooker Valley Walk. Mt Cook/Aoraki.
30 March 2017 Nikon D750 iso 200 f4.0 1/750sec Nikon 24-70mmf2.8