Video highlights from The Hills

Those of you that have been watching the new videos will have seen a lot of footage from The Hills golf course here between Arrowtown and Queenstown. It’s all at the end of the “Live action part 1.” You’ll also notice that the horses below are NOT in the video. That’s how new they are! They were just put up a few days after everyone left! Oh well, I’m not sure we could have handled more that morning… it was full-on and I think everyone was exhausted and ready for that hearty breakfast!

Daily Photo – Wild Horses in Queenstown

This is Max Patte’s latest creation. I saw them by accident while I was playing golf at The Hills here. I came over the hill to this little par 3 and I thought they were real! I was so shocked… it was a very strange reaction, actually. I’ll never forget it. It was surreal… and I love that feeling of not knowing if something is real or fantasy, and really getting lost, even if just for a moment.

Filed under the categories: Arrowtown, New Zealand, Queenstown, Travel

Download Now Available!

All of you that participated in the pre-sale event are now able to download your video! We’ll keep the $79 Special Pricing for the Landscape and Travel Photography Tutorial until the Live Video event on the 9th. So, you’ll have a few more days to get this special deal… as a special thanks to those of you that come to the blog so often!

Today’s photo below was taken during the event!

And here’s the little promo video in case you haven’t seen it.

Daily Photo – The Endless Fields of Queenstown

On the final night, we all started walking around these fields together to take photos. The sunset wouldn’t quit! It just kept going and going… like a painting that changed every few minutes. And a few steps this way and that way would completely change the color situation on the bottom half of the photo. Honestly, there were not many bad combinations!

If you get the full video above, you’ll hear me talk more about this shot, and you’ll also get to see full post-processing of seven different photos. I hope you love it! I’m sure you will!

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown, Travel

How about a few Family Photos?

I don’t share these very much… but I thought you might like to see a new batch! I took the family on a little road trip to visit some glaciers near Mount Cook, and then we came back home to Queenstown for a little Easter egg hunt!

By the way, these are all using some NEW Lightroom presets. I know a lot of you have already purchased the existing Lightroom Presets (thanks!). I’ll be sending these out with the new batch as a FREE update for you as a little thank-you gift.

I’ll put a little caption abve each one.

Scarlett reaches up to a huge iceberg that just flipped over, after breaking off the Tasman Glacier near Mount Cook.

Isabella gets ready to take our zodiac over to the next iceberg.

Scarlett begins the Easter Egg hunt in while the wolves chase her.

Isabella runs across the fairway on the 18th hole to try to find some eggs in the bunkers.

Scarlett walks along the path near the forest.

Isabella shows her sister a new stash of eggs

Scarlett takes a break to check how many eggs she has found.

Scarlett runs full speed to the next woods to get more eggs.

Filed under the categories: Arrowtown, Mount Cook, New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown, Travel

Exciting!

Thanks again for all the enthusiasm about the new video that you can sign up for now on the Landscape and Travel Photography Tutorial: New Zealand page! You can probably get the idea there that this thing is super-high quality. And, you’ll get to watch me do all kinds of hi-rez edits of many photos, including the one I am posting below today!

Daily Photo – Rowboat at the Still Lake

We walked around The Hills one morning, and we came to this place after the sun was beyond its “sunrise” phase. The sky was the peaceful morning infinite blue and the water was still as ice. There were many good angles to shoot across this peaceful scene, and most of us chose this view!

It was cool to do this and be with so many other nice photographers that were taking similar shots. I liked seeing their versions as well.

Anyway, if you end up getting the video series mentioned above, you’ll get to see me edit this photo from beginning to end!

Filed under the categories: Arrowtown, New Zealand, Queenstown, Travel

It’s finally ready for pre-order!

Pop over to the new Landscape and Travel Photography Tutorial: New Zealand to sign up! Sign up now, and you get several goodies… you’ll save $20 and you’ll get to join a private video Q&A group after launch.

This is really the coolest video we’ve ever made. I think you’ll find the quality and the content to be second-to-none. Really. Just by watching this preview below you’ll get a great idea of the content. Basically, you get 2.5 hours of post processing and an additional 1.5 hours of live-action footage, following me around while I set up for photos.

And… there is the new puppy in the beginning! hehe

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Queenstown, Travel

Get the new Newsletter New Zealand video news

Sign up below… a new video will be available soon. You’ll see it first!

Daily Photo – The Gardens of Queenstown

The class took a nice stroll through these gardens. I challenged people to try to get five different photos of this bridge, and this was one of mine.

The actual shot I took was much bigger, but I decided to crop down in post to focus on the water. I liked the way they all looked like brush strokes. It made me begin to understand why Monet spent so much time trying to capture the strange light that comes from water and plants.

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown

Karen’s Vita-Mix

When Karen Hutton came to stay with us in New Zealand for about two weeks, she brought her Vita-mix. We liked it so much that we bought it from her. This was fine with Karen because, for some reason, she had three of them. Anyway, it’s a pretty cool thing… and I like it better than juicers because you get all the little bits of the veggies in there too. It even works pretty well in tricking the kids into adding more veggies into their daily regimen. If we could just somehow make them less “green”, then there’d be less ‘splainin to do.

Daily Photo – Across the Little Lake at Sunset

Here’s a little tip for shooting and getting those sun rays that burst out like that. So, you may have heard that you can set your f-stop as high as it can go… say, f/22 or something. But, you actually don’t have to go quite that high. The bad part about maxing it out is that you’ll see all the dust on your sensor and all the little bits on your lens. That takes a long time in post to clean up. Instead, try around f/16 or f/14… you can still get that nice effect without all the junk getting in the way!

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Queenstown, Travel

Will we plan more?

Maybe! Sign up at the top of the Photography Workshops page to be the first to find out!

A Huge Thanks!

Above you can see everyone that joined us… and our final night together at Bendemeer Estates (also below in the daily photo!) and the Woolshed.

Besides my team of Curtis Simmons, Karen Hutton, and Scott Kublin, I’d also like to thank, in no particular order, Touch of Spice, Artisan Catering, Hilton Queenstown Hotel, Tours and Travel New Zealand, The Hills Golf Club, Milford Sound Lodge, and Southern Discoveries!

Just below is a photo of one of the fire dancers that performed for all of us one evening.

Daily Photo – The Fields of the Queenstown Valley

See that cloud up there? It’s called a “Lenticular” cloud, and they seem to pop up down here every so often. I have never seen them before I moved here, but this is my first time living in a mountainous environment. Maybe you can tell me if these are common in rocky, mountainy areas!

Filed under the categories: Arrowtown, New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown, Travel

To Share Your Own Photos with the Community

Don’t forget about the free Stuck In Customs Community on Google+ ! It’s a great place to share your photos and see other photos from regular visitors to the website here!

Daily Photo – Brushing a Miniature Horse

We took another trip out to Kerry & Simon Brackstone’s farm in Gibbston with the kids. My two girls, Isabella and Scarlett, love that miniature horse! They spent a very long time brushing it… apparently this is something that all little girls enjoy doing. We always hold this out as a carrot for them if they are being good, and they they can hold out a carrot for the miniature horse, and it will be a neverending circle of carrot-based incentives.

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown, Travel

Working on new videos

I’ve been working hard to record hours and hours of new videos. The photo below makes an appearance in one of the videos that will be coming out soon. I’ve just spent a small eternity inside Photoshop. It keeps crashing and it’s driving me absolutely batty. I keep submitting error reports, but I’m convinced those error reports are just placebos. I keep hoping I’m generally contributing to the common good, but I think it probably does nothing… I may give up… and play my own small part in contributing to the Tragedy of the Commons.

Daily Photo – Slow Motion Sunset on the Color-Thickened Lake

The sunsets in the summer here last about 2-3 hours. Once you get around 45 degrees latitude and beyond, the sun does not sink right into the horizon. Instead, it slides sideways into the horizon like A-Rod stealing second in slow motion. This means the colors change very very slowly, and sunset is a nice, long relaxed photography session rather than a high-pressure one.

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown

Want to see a video?

Our team is working on putting together a video now from our time here. I don’t know how much longer it will take, but you’ll find out first if you sign-up for my Newsletter. It’s free and pretty, and we promise not to spam you!

First Name: Email:

Daily Photo – Abandoned North Korean Prison in… New Zealand?!?

I’ve always wanted to get up to this place, but it has been virtually impossible since they closed all the roads years ago.

And yes, it’s right here in Queenstown, New Zealand, atop Deer Park Heights, a huge mountain that can be seen from pretty much everywhere in the valley. It might not look like a mountain next to the Remarkables, but it is huge. Everything in New Zealand is so epic that you lose track of the scale of things. For example, did you know that they make Cinderella’s castle in Disneyworld look bigger by using a forced perspective trick by making the upper spires much smaller than they would normally be? This is what happens with the relatively “small” mountains around here. So you’ll see Deer Park Heights and think, “Oh, I could climb that thing myself!” Well, maybe you could, but you won’t make it down by nightfall.

So, WHY, I hear you wondering, is there an abandoned North Korean prison in Queenstown? It was actually built as a movie set for a movie in the 80′s by Disney. It was called “The Rescue” — and it was horrible. The plot involved a bunch of young boys who had to rescue their dads who had gotten themselves imprisoned in North Korea. I think it skipped the theaters and went straight to airplanes, along with Miss Congeniality 4.

How was I able to get up here and take about 20 new friends? I cannot say!

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D800, North Korea, Queenstown, Travel

Ice Hotels

I’ve always wanted to visit the Ice Hotels (did you know there are a few now?), and after visiting this place below, I’m even more interested. I had a list of places to visit one day, but the list was getting a little long and texty. I decided to take a few hours and re-build the list on Pinterest. I’m much happier with it now… it’s very visual and a more fun way to keep a list of places to visit. Anyway, I have a special board there you may enjoy called “Oh the places I’ll go!” (there are three Ice Hotels in there!)

4.5 Mil on Pinterest

And it looks like we just passed 4.5 million followers on Pinterest! It has officially passed Google+, which is keeping close at 4.4 million. I’m actively posting on both, so thanks again!

Daily Photo – The Ice Bar, Below Zero

We ran around all week preparing for the event here in Queenstown. We took a break to go visit the famous Ice Bar with Eden Brackstone. Just beforehand, he had met Karen Hutton, Scott Kublin, and Curtis Simmons on the rainy streets after a chocolate blow-out at Patagonia (none of this sounds like we are actually working does it?).

Anyway, the Ice Bar was very cool. You actually drink out out of cups made of ice, and when you are done, you get to smash them like plates at a Greek wedding.

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown, Travel