One of the things that interested me about going to Scotland is how it might compare/contrast with New Zealand. Here’s just one fun little example of a tie between the two places. Those of you who are long time visitors of the blog will be familiar with some of my images from Glenorchy down towards the end of Lake Wakatipu. Well, turns out there is a Glen Orchy in Scotland and within that is a cool set of waterfalls where the River Orchy has worn the rock into all sorts of fascinating shapes and mini canyons like the ones below.

Glen Orchy… Not Glenorchy

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2023-06-19 02:32:15
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/2000
• Aperture4
• ISO200
• Focal Length91.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I was lucky enough to stay on St. Claire’s beach in Dunedin for a few nights. Each morning had a different sort of sunrise. This was one of my favorites. I was out there pretty much all the time, with my camera fully loaded and ready to go! Beautiful mornings like this are so serene, but my serenity is often a bit challenged with trying to get as many interesting photos as possible. Another challenge is getting the quadcopter ready as well. If it’s a great morning like this, then I want to get more than just ground-based photos.

Also, fun fact, Baldwin Street in Dunedin is the steepest residential street in the world… one section is so steep it had to be made from concrete as normal road surfaces on a sweltering day would become unstable and start to melt down the hill.

More Than One Reason to Visit Dunedin

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-04-05 19:55:33
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time0.4
• Aperture11
• ISO100
• Focal Length35.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Choppy landed here by this remote lake for a bit while I jumped out to take photos. It was so fun, and I felt lucky there was a bit of snow up high to give some more colors to the scene.

Spring Mountains

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-11-05 05:39:01
• CameraNEX-7
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/500
• Aperture6.3
• ISO100
• Focal Length35.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-0.7

This is my friend Bel doing a bit of impromptu yoga on the Hobbiton Movie Set on the old stone bridge before the watermill. That Bel, doesn’t matter where you are with her there is at least one point in every day where you’ll randomly turn around to find her in some crazy yoga situation!

What Would You Do At Hobbiton?

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-05-08 08:45:47
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/250
• Aperture7.1
• ISO800
• Focal Length24.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-0.3

After a while shooting hobbit holes, you’d think I’d become a little tired of the subject-matter, but I never have! Each little hobbit hole (there are 44 I think at Hobbiton?) is perfectly adorned and unique in its own way. Plus, they all change a little with every season so that adds some nice variety whenever I go there.

Yet Another Perfect Little Hobbit Hole

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-05-25 06:26:56
• CameraILCE-7RM2
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/60
• Aperture8
• ISO250
• Focal Length11.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

In yesterday’s post I mentioned the changes in the landscape color as autumn rolls in here in Queenstown and that the sunsets can really start to go up a gear. That photo was taken one March and the greens there are pretty much replaced by the middle of April every year. It happens fast but it’s epic, especially in the trees around Arrowtown!

Speaking of Yesterday…

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-04-19 19:02:31
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/350
• Aperture
• ISO160
• Focal Length0.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

This was taken on the last day of summer a few years ago. I love it when things start to get properly moody in NZ weather wise. Autumn is a great time, not only for the colors but it starts to get back into aurora time darkness wise and the sunsets tend to go a bit wilder with the extra moisture coming into the air. Here you can see things starting to get a bit more mixed weather wise!

As the Season Changed

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-03-03 09:35:21
• CameraFC220
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/3200
• Aperture2.2
• ISO100
• Focal Length4.7 mm
• FlashNo flash function
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias-1.34

I was doing a run around this lake (it’s about 8 km and a little bit hilly as you can see there on the right), and I noticed how still everything was. It’s not always like this… so halfway through the run, I decided to call my assistant and have them bring out my quadcopter to grab this shot. Drones are so good nowadays; I almost prefer to use them over my regular camera. When it comes to shooting landscape photos, the f-stop isn’t especially important since you want everything in focus anyway. Also, it has around the same number of megapixels as my high-end Sony, so there is not a lot of difference. And, if you are making panoramas, you can still make prints at least 10ft across, which is more than big enough for major installations.

A Serene Lake Hayes

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2017-06-27 04:05:00
• CameraFC6310
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/400
• Aperture5.6
• ISO100
• Focal Length8.8 mm
• FlashNo flash function
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias

This is one of the images from my Fine Art collection which get fabricated in Germany by those Master Printers at Grieger… Recently I did a fun collection of NFTs where there were 6 that had a physical artwork attached. If you hold the NFT on a set date you get the physical print too. That claim period is now open for those who hold them and I can’t wait to see where they end up!

Physical Meets Digital

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-05-11 15:17:51
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/60
• Aperture
• ISO100
• Focal Length0.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

I’d been awake for two days. It all started the day before after I put the kids to bed. I got a Facebook message from Stefan Haworth. It turns out that he and Eden Brackstone were headed out for a little viewing of the big solar storm that was hitting the atmosphere.

Down thisaway, it’s called the Aurora Australis (not Borealis). Back then I’d never before seen an aurora (despite countless attempts in Iceland), I was ready to suit up!

And it turns out that one of the best places we saw them was right near here in Queenstown! We drove down along Lake Wakatipu until we were just past Wye Creek. I got out of the car, let my eyes adjust, then saw colored shafts of light shooting up through the edge of our snow-globe. It wasn’t like I expected! It’s…. hard to explain.

Aurora over Queenstown

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-07-15 08:06:50
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time15
• Aperture2.8
• ISO1600
• Focal Length14.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias