Here’s another one of the images from my 1000 Stories from 1000 Places NFT drop. It sold out in minutes, but they are now available to trade on OpenSea and X2Y2, etc so be sure to check them out.

You only get this Aurora Australis action down here in the winter months, which are of course the opposite to the winter months in the northern hemisphere. When people ask me when they should come to New Zealand, I tell them it really doesn’t matter! Every season, especially on the South Island is about exactly 3 months long and has a special flavor all of its own. We usually hold our photo workshops in the Autumn, because that’s one of my favorite times for photos… but if you want these Auroras, come in the winter.

Invercargill, New Zealand

Stars in NZ

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-07-15 11:45:23
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time30
• Aperture2.8
• ISO1600
• Focal Length14.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Down here in the Southern Hemisphere our Aurora is the Australis rather than Borealis. Different name, same awesome. Here’s a little glimpse of it one night down at the tip of the South Island in Invercargill.

The Aurora Australis

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-07-15 11:42:17
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time30
• Aperture2.8
• ISO1600
• Focal Length14.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Chasing Auroras is a difficult activity! I have a few good Aurora apps on my phone that alert me to incoming ion storms. This is both exciting and daunting. It means that you need to jump in the car and find some awesome places to frame the aurora. In this case, we ended up down on a bridge near Invercargill, where they just recently stopped eating people (inside New Zealand joke), to take this photo. Across the east coast of New Zealand are a lot of wide rivers that start up in the mountains then empty out into the sea.

The Aurora in Invercargill

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-07-15 11:42:17
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time30
• Aperture2.8
• ISO1600
• Focal Length14.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I went down to Invercargill a few months ago for a speaking engagement and photowalk. During the event, we stopped here to take a photo. What a beautiful place and great group of people. I really enjoyed talking to everyone there and getting to know that city a little better. And those gardens? Wow — totally exceeded expectations!

Exploring Invercargill

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-10-24 20:02:38
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/30
• Aperture7.1
• ISO100
• Focal Length28.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias+1.3