Through the eyes of a travelling photographer
Making one of her last trips this year, the HMS Queen Elizabeth 2 will soon become a floating hotel in Dubai. Thousands of spectators were there to witness the departure, as she sounded a blazing horn heard across much of Auckland. Surprisingly the Queen Elizabeth 2 is forty years old, however in pristine condition. The Queen Mary 2 recently replaced the QE2 as the flagship vessel of Cunard.
A favourite pastime is stargazing through telescopes at my grandfathers house, who has a couple of scopes, and old photography gear. The conditions tonight were tough, with a lot of shimmering in the atmosphere which doesn’t give the best results. The full moon isn’t the best to photograph either, due to the lack of contrast and shadows as the sun is lighting the moon from directly above.
An old, but favourite of Jupiter passing behind the Moon – June 2005
20D + 10″ Meade LX200 telescope
Orions Belt, shot with 1DIII, 70-200f4, @ 200mm, mounted on telescope, ISO 3200
Clouds creating some shadowing
1D III + 8″ Celestron telescope
Orion’s Nebula – 1DIII – ISO 6400, 2000mm focal length
During my very short stay in NZ, decided to catch up with my old workmate Kayla and her partner Carl. Just over two years ago, Lilly was born, very premature due to complications, weighing in at just 3lb 4oz (1510 grams) – half the normal weight.
The gallery of the newborn photos in the ICU of Auckland Hospital can be viewed here
Bethells at sunset was chosen for some casual mostly candid family photos against the beautiful rugged coastal backdrops.
Straight after the evening shoot at Karekare, drove into the city to meet a photography friend, Mathew Wong, who has put his own shots into his flickR gallery
Only managed to take a handful of shots, but was more interested in having a chat about photography styles.
Matt with a pen light
Matt in action 😛
Finishing off with some wide angles by Princes Wharf
Managed to arrange a short notice meet up with some photographer friends (from www.gkpe.org.nz / photography-on-the.net) where we discussed travel/camera gear/beers and had a good laugh.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter also made an appearance, now operating from a different rego/helicopter – ZK-HLN instead of the old outdated ZK-HHV. In late 2006, I saw the progress of the rebuild, adding a more powerful motor and extra features such as night vision goggles and collision avoidance system. Click to see the build photos
Limited by a short 105mm lens again, as 300mm back in UK
Liz – photographers in action
David lining up a shot looking South towards Whatipu
Fantastic full moon rise over the hills at Karekare
Took another drive out to the rugged West coast beach of Muriwai in stormy conditions
Managed to get wet in the process of taking this shot, with large waves crashing over!
After shooting the wedding in Napier, drove back to Auckland and decided to unwind at Muriwai, above the rugged coastline below from the gannet colony lookout. Being limited to just a 105mm lens, made bird photography rather difficult, but still managed to get a few snaps when they were closer. Further tested the new Sigma 12-24 ultra wide angle, which gave some good results.
Three seperate exposures/shutter speeds to create this view looking North
Stormy skies
After the recovery period from recent travels, ventured down to Napier for the wedding of Amy and Craig. The weather was stunning 27°C – in fact a touch too hot for all who were dressed for the occassion. The ceremony was held at the Botanical Gardens, with some photos afterwards along the beach where Craig proposed, as well as the port where the massive Queen Victoria was docked.
Amy and her mum, after walking the aisle of flowers
Dove release
From near the proposal point
The “invincibles” striking a pose
Amy and her brother Clinton – champion wrestler
After almost eight months away from home, the final destination was approaching. After missing the connecting flight, had to wait for the next available flight several hours later. The flight from Sydney to Auckland was a brisk 2 hours 20min flying over Piha, Oratia & Henderson (my home towns over the past 20 years) before seeing a spectacular view of Auckland city and the Hauraki Gulf.
The view towards Bondi beach
Clear waters of the Tasman Sea, and Sydney City views
Auckland’s Harbour Bridge, Sky Tower, Princes Wharf (with a large cruise liner) and North shore
Motuihe Island, in the Hauraki Gulf, where I’ve spent days planting trees
The next twelves days in New Zealand will be a rush, catching up with friends and family, shooting a wedding, before heading back to London.
The leg from Bangkok to Sydney on the British Airways 747-400 was very tiring. Was initially told the plane is twenty minutes late, and would miss my connecting flight from Sydney to Auckland. Subsequently, the flight left Bangkok two hours late. To make matters worse, the in flight entertainment systems weren’t working either!
Descending through Northern Sydney
Shadow of the BA 747-400
After landing in Sydney was lucky to see the large A380 taking off from Sydney to Singapore.
Flying high above the Thai peninsula, in a Thai Air Asia A320 (HS-ABB), stood witness to a fantastic sunset. With all my recent and upcoming flights, planned them by requesting particular window seats dependant on the flight direction and time of the day. In this case, sitting on the left hand seat behind the wing heading from Phuket to Bangkok (Northwards), had a perfect view of the sunset and cloud formations. Shortly afterwards, was priveledged to get some cockpit photos – a rarity in these days with high security worldwide.
Low tide meant a tricky 200metre walk out to knee deep water, to get some photos of the long tail boats. This is the Northern bay where the tsunami of over 6 metres devastated the low lying area, Boxing Day 2004.
Took a morning gut wrenching walk up to the main lookout over Phi Phi Don, which was made worse by the searing heat.
The main habited part of Phi Phi is surrounded by two bays, Loh Dalam Bay in the North, and Ton Sai Bay from the South.
Phi Phi Leh on the far left, and Loh Dalam Bay on far right
Loh Dalam Bay, where the force of the 2004 tsunami struck from
Testing the new Sigma 12-24mm wide angle lens
The sunset tour boat gave two options to visit Maya Bay –
Swim and climb through the cave from the other side, or take the boat in and kayak or longtail boat onto the shore. I chose to kayak through the shallow low tide waters. The scenery is still stunning, however there’s no life left within the water. Overcrowded, too many old dirty longtail boats leaking oil/fuel into the once pristine water.
Approaching Maya Bay from the South
Entering Maya Bay, as a Thailand flag flutters on bow of the boat
Looking into Maya Bay
The haze distorting the setting sun
Being the peak of the tourist season, the 4 hour sunset cruise, including snorkelling and kayaking had gone up from 350 to 500 Baht since 7 months ago, when I was last in Thailand.
The trip was well worth the NZ$20, with the impressive sights of sheer cliffs and some of the warmest water you’ll ever encounter.
Viking Cave – Locals harvesting the expensive Bird Nest’s Soup
Clear water bay, perfect for snorkelling and kayaking
« Previous Page — « Previous entries « Previous Page · Next Page » Next entries » — Next Page »
