21 September 2014

Last year I celebrated my birthday by spending a long weekend in Geraldine.

People then ask “why Geraldine?” Because on a previous trip to Lake Tekapo I discovered someone was offering Lord of the Rings tours from Geraldine using a four wheel drive vehicle. That person was Wayne Keenan (www.alps2ocean.co.nz). Most of the journey was up the Rangitata Valley as I was more interested in photography than chasing Orcs around the place.

Wayne picked us up before Sunrise and dropped us back after Sunset. This included a lovely lunch on the river stones (see where did you have lunch?).

This is also when a breeze blew my camera onto the stones and smashed a lens! Moral of the story- never leave your camera unattended on a tripod, even in the calmest of conditions. The repair cost over $1500 (24-70mm lens). Fortunately I had my 14-24mm and the 70-200mm to use for next day. Only the 50mm focal length wasn’t covered and I had to rely on cropping the 24mm focal length. No worries with a 36mp D800!

Apart from the damaged lens it was a great day and I can recommend Wayne if you want to see parts of NZ that most tourists don’t see.

1.  11 August 2013    Nikon D800    iso 200   29mm   f11   1/160sec    Nikon 24-70mmf2.8

2.   11 August 2013   Nikon D800   iso 200   70mm   f5.6   1/500sec   Nikon 70-200mm  f4

3.   11 August 2013   Nikon D800   iso200   200mm   f5.6   1/320sec   Nikon 70-200mm f4.0

4.   11 August 2013   Nikon D3s   iso800   24mm   f2.8   1/500sec   Nikon 24-70mm f2.8

5.   12 August 2013   Nikon D800   iso200   72mm   f13   1/60sec   Nikon 70-200mm f4.0