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Photography
© John Baker,
Travel Images
This photo essay represents the typical range of subjects on a Travel Images photo tour, and are selected in the knowledge that every client is able to obtain similar images. That is the goal for each of my clients.
New Zealand by Mike Berry |
New Zealand by Richard Buchbinder
New Zealand
by Daniel Attema |
New Zealand by Tom +
Ellen Judd
New
Zealand by Jana Jirak |
New Zealand by Grady Kimbrell
New Zealand by Dick and Sylvia Turpin |
New Zealand by Jim Miotke
New Zealand by Anthony Gross |
New Zealand by Sue Zupko
New Zealand by Bonnie Lynn |
New Zealand by Tom Cooper
This
is a 'no click' zone! . . .
just scroll on down . . .
As we
skirt Lyttleton Harbour on day one, we often get serendipitous shots
such as this. I was initially attracted to the 'strength'
of the silhouette of these Gulls, but also the mild humour I saw
in the poses that are struck. For silhouettes, it really is as simple
as 'point and shoot' on most occasions,
but choose your subjects carefully.
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The
greater the contrast, the greater the impact your shots of this type
will have. This is wild Lupine, and New Zealand's spring produces an
abundance of them. |
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Dawn at the Moeraki Boulders .
Exposures of a 15th of a second and slower turn the water to a 'mist.'
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Taken between showers at
Nugget Point light on the south coast. I'm happy to say that my
clients got the same shot but with a rainbow in the image too! |
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A close up of a fern
frond, and a Kiwi symbol of new life. When doing
close-ups/macro depth of field is very limited, so start by
getting your camera plane as square to the subjects plane as
possible. If you don't your more likely to have one section in focus
and details in front and behind the focus point annoyingly out of
focus. |
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Just as with the image
above, this is another long
lens on a tripod set-up. Taken on a west coast
beach on South Island, it's the 'complex
simplicity' which gives it appeal.
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Birds will desert their
nests if us photographers linger too long, so the first step is to
wait until the eggs have hatched and the likelihood of nest
abandonment is greatly reduced. This Oystercatcher was
captured at the head of Milford Sound, and it was a case of shoot
and be gone so that the birds distress was minimized. |
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Sheep
outnumber the locals 40 to 1 in New
Zealand, so photo ops of them come
in many forms. This was captured in remote Paradise, and works because the back-lighting is enhanced by the naturally dark background.
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Milford
Sound is a truly awesome place for
photography, but the place is also one of the
wettest places on Earth. So far my groups have
seen it like this every time, and the dawn light
is even more spectacular.
The mountain left of centre is Mitre Peak
which rises a mile from the water level. |
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A fern frond. The message is, get close
and fill the frame! |
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Another
placid Milford Sound scene shot at
200mm as the cloud was dispersing. The Sound, really a fiord, was named after
a Welshman who hailed from Milford Haven
in Wales.
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A shot
that might have been taken
anywhere. I erred in not leaving enough of
the strong leading line of the branch in the
image, but it is still pleasing to my own
eye, and hopefully yours too.
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Selective
focus is the technique used for this
shot. A long lens works best as one shoots
through a clump of flowers to pick out a single
flower. The wind can be blowing, but as you
should be shooting wide-open for such an effect
you'll have a corresponding fast shutter speed.
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Don't be deceived by the look of this place! It's actually a high
quality hotel,
and has excellent food to boot. The 'old
banger' parked outside adds to the illusion. |
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Many of the gull shots
were lost against the sky, but this one stood out against a church
roof, and is the benefit of having your camera in 'drive' mode when
such situations arise. |
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The classic Milford Sound once more.My group was there at dawn,
but it was 10 am before the fog/cloud began to clear on this
occasion. |
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I could shoot close-ups
of ferns etcetera until
the cows come home!
Pretty simple really.
A long lens on a tripod, and making sure that my camera is square to
the subject so that it is sharp from corner to corner. |
Of all the ferns I've taken
most have been green, but I chose to show you
this dead fern from an old growth forest, as I
like it's bold 'spines'.
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Looks
like Cambridge, England, but it's Christchurch! The most English of
cities beyond England they say. |
The
Moeraki Boulders are like no other on
our planet as they are completely round, and only
found on the east coast of South Island.
Accordingly, many legends have attached
themselves to the boulders, but personally I
prefer to get amongst them in search of new
compositions.
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A slow shutter speed produces
deliberate blur for this galloping horse neat Te Anau. |
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Blue skies are OK as a
rule, but for the most
striking images one really should pray for
changing light such as this in The Remarkables
near Queenstown.
Another 30 minutes and the cloud had burnt off and the best images were 'in the bag'.
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The Yellow-eyed Penguin. |
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The end
of the road in Paradise Valley. Some scenes for the
'Lord of the Rings' movies were shot out there. |
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East of Te Anau one
moody evening. |
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A Black-Billed Gull. |
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At over
12,000 feet Mount Cook [Aoraki to the Maori] is the highest peak
in all of Australasia.
It is often shrouded in cloud, but that drawback
means that as the clearing takes place there
is likely to be some dramatic lighting going on.
This was shot with a 200mm lens from the
valley floor.
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Simply, silhouetted wild
lupine set against Mount Cook. |
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Wild
Lupine light up the Ahuriri river bed north of Omarama. |
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The Church of the Good
Shepherd on Lake Tekapo completed in 1935.
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I
get immense satisfaction from seeing my
clients getting the most from my photo tours.
This is Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, and on
this particular morning our early start was a
bit of a damp squid, but after breakfast, this happened.
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New Zealand Autumn brochure
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New Zealand presentation
New Zealand Spring 1
brochure
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New Zealand Spring 2 brochure
Also see
Tasmania |
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Back to the Photo Essay Index |
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