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Photography
© John Baker,
Travel Images
The following images represent the typical range of subjects for this Travel Images photo tour, and were selected in the knowledge that every client is able to obtain similar images. That is my goal for each client.

New
Zealand by Laura Hall |
New Zealand
by Dave New
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 Tom Cooper
New Zealand by Dick and Sylvia Turpin |
New Zealand by Jim Miotke
New Zealand by Anthony Gross
This
is a 'no click' zone! . . .
just scroll on down . . .
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Mount Cook at sunset, Australasia's
highest peak. From the west coast you're lucky to get a glimpse of
the mountain, but exploring as my groups do from the east side has
always brought rewards such as this. |
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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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A 'likeable' S-curve that is part of a
grander scene that is Lyttleton harbour. It's long lenses for this
shot, and wide angles for the vista. The point is, there is often
more than one shot to be created. |
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Talking of birds, New
Zealand boasts the only mainland nesting colony of Royal Albatross
in the world. All the others nest on islands. On my trips they'll
fly overhead, and you'll get shots such as this. |
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New
Zealand's wild Lupine. The
greater the contrast, the greater the impact your shots of this type
will have. New Zealand's spring produces an
abundance of them such as this next image . . . |
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November and
December are the months
for capturing such images 'down under'. |
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On each trip my groups photograph the
Bungee jumping near Arrowtown. Basically there are two photography
options, either freeze the action or opt for deliberate motion blur.
This is the latter, and I'm fortunate that the water is back-lit and
adding to the magic of the fleeting moment. |
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Dawn at the Moeraki Boulders.
Exposures of a 15th of a second and slower turn the water to a 'mist.'
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 this I know for sure, they are
very photogenic! |
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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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The group was out at Taiaroa Head for
the sunrise, which was actually quite disappointing. But, on our
return for breakfast we were blessed with this! Oddly enough, it
rains in New Zealand, but wherever you get rain you're gonna have
rainbows! |
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. . . And this is what a normal
Taiaroa Head sunrise looks like! Plus myriads of seabirds in flight. |
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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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A nice atmospheric
image on Lake Manapouri which is a stitch shot from 3 frames. New
Zealand to the Maori is the 'Land of the long white cloud', but they
were referring to the clouds above the mountains! |
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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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There is a section of the New Zealand
trip which yields a high percentage of bird images, and just after
dawn on one trip we encountered these Terns that 'danced' for the
group for 10 minutes or more. |
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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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Yep, New Zealand is
noted for it's Sheep, and here I got 'lucky' in respect of the dog's
'pose', the backlighting, and the dust flying. Then again you need
to be ready with all your camera settings at their optimum for such
a serendipitous shot! |
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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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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 TSS Earnslaw
has been chugging away on Lake Wakatipu adjacent to Queenstown for
many years, but only once have I seen a rainbow over the boat as happened
with this shot above. |
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Milford
Sound is a truly awesome place for
photography, but it is also one of the
wettest places on Earth. So far my groups have photographed it
pretty much like this on every trip since 1995! |
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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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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. |
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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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Another early light effort
deliberately shot against a dark background for the greatest impact. |
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A slow shutter speed produces
deliberate blur for this galloping horse near 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.
A visit to a Penguin Colony is a part of all my New Zealand
photography tours. |
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This is the
Kingston Flyer being photographed by a Seattle client. Subjects on
my trips are pretty eclectic, and a change of subject now and again
is good for the soul methinks! |
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A
babbling brook at end
of the road in Paradise Valley. It's a very remote spot, and scenes for the
'Lord of the Rings' and 'Prince Caspian' movies were shot in
this area.
Oh, for you 'Lord of the Rings' fans, I point out other film
locations during my New Zealand photo tours. |
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Yes, New Zealand is
noted for it's Sheep who outnumber the locals 40 to 1. Once in a
while though we serendipitously stumble upon Cows being herded down
a country lane. Always a good photo op. |
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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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All the New Zealand photography tours
end at a Maori 'Ko Tāne' and the fear the Maori can put
in you is quite authentic! However, they're great and friendly
people and a good photo op. |
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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.
*cough* It was the church that was completed in 1935, not the lake. |
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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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A Wanaka Lake
sunrise . . . not much else needs to be added in regard to this
shot!
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New Zealand Autumn brochure
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 Gallery Index |
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