Another must-stop for any road trip across the South Island is a stop along the east coast at the mysterious Moeraki Boulders for a few mornings until the sun is perfect.
Passport Sunday… coming soon! (Monday!)
These very unusual boulders are located over on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. I used to have a double major in Computer Science and Geophysics, so I’ve always been fascinated by weird stuff like this but I don’t actually know why these have this shape. I know I could look it up, but I prefer to wonder. Adults don’t wonder enough… it’s an important muscle to train.
This is pretty cool – check out the new park Disney is building for Star Wars. I asked my Disney contact if we can get in there early to do a private photowalk. How cool would that be!?!
I haven’t been back to the Moeraki boulders in probably for years, but I did recently finish working on this shot. Seeing it reminds that I need to get back over there! It’s only about 2 or 3 hours away from here, and it sounds like another good reason for a road trip!
A New Photo-Video for you – All New Zealand awesomeness…
I have a Landscape Photography Tutorial based here in New Zealand available over at https://stuckincustoms.com/landscape-and-travel-photography-tutorial-new-zealand/
Animation/Slideshow – more info at https://stuckincustoms.com/links/animoto — or see my review at https://stuckincustoms.com/animoto-review/
Amaze-maze music by the New Zealand band, Arma Del Amor – see more at https://www.facebook.com/ArmaDelAmorNZ
I will just complain for a moment here about Customs in New Zealand. I can’t tell you how many hours me and the team has had to spend on the phone to get stuff shipped into New Zealand. Of course, this is my first time dealing with shipping Customs… and I, regularly, weekly, literally, get stuff Stuck In Customs.
I’m constantly having to fill out forms, pay tariffs, and do all other kinds of nonsense that get in the way of the free flow of goods around the world. Of course, it’s not just New Zealand, but many countries around the world spend a lot of time slowing down commerce.
Naturally, I’m sort of a “Free to Choose” Milton Friedmaneque libertarian, who has many clever things to say about protectionism… “It protects consumers from low prices.”
I was near Moeraki and taking photos at sunset. This was the only night I was there, and I was excited to eat at this legendary place I keep hearing about called “Fleur’s” — so I was extra-bummed to find out it happened to be closed on that one night in particular. What a bummer. But I walked around the back side to explore and saw this boat up by this tree…
If you didn’t know the geological process that forms these strange round boulders on the beach, what would you guess? I can see how the first explorers here thought they might have been some kind of alien eggs!
After the sun had gotten higher up in the air, I left “sunrise shooting mode” and entered “find interesting shapes mode.” I had on my 14-24 lens, which means I had to get super-close to these birds. Birds are hard to take photos of, I think. So I had to be very slow, like a cat, on my approach to these boulders. I barely got off a shot before the freaked out and flew away!
Well, long term, HARDCORE readers already know this about me and my technique. But I suppose you have come to realize that HDR merely “informs” the final work. That is, HDR comes into play almost everywhere, but I adjust one part of the photo to 0% and maybe another to 100%. And there is lots of variation in between as the eye moves around the photo. For example, I really like how the sun and that whole bit is “blown out” below. If I did normal HDR, then nothing would be blown out. Hey, sometimes I like it… I’m unpredictable, like a woman.
These Moeraki boulders are awesome in the morning! If you are going to visit this place, I suggest you get online and check a few things:
1) Check the tides. Make sure there will be low tide in the morning.
2) Check the sun position and time for the year.
If you get those two things planned out, then you can go and spend the night there in Moeraki. You don’t want to go through all the trouble of getting into position if the conditions are wrong.
The ever-expanding list of languages continues. Thank you to Abdullah Suleiman for this translation! ????? ???????? ???? ???!
Now in more flavors! Links to the International HDR Tutorial!
- English? Howdy! See the HDR Tutorial.
- Sie sprechen deutsch? Herzlich Willkommen zum HDR-Kurs auf Deutsch.
- Parlez-vous français? Bienvenue sur le Tutoriel HDR en français.
- Parli italiano? Leggi il tutorial HDR in italiano!
- Fala Português? Confira o Tutorial HDR em Português.
- Hablas Español? Clic Tutorial HDR en Español.
- Mluvíte ?esky? Pokra?ujte zde! HDR Tutoriál v ?eském jazyce.
- ????? ???????? ???? ???!
We set up on the rocks of Moeraki just outside of Fleurs. There is this abandoned dock here that shoots out into the bay towards the sunset. I like this spot because it is one of the few places on the east coast I have found that points back west towards the sunset.
Taking photos of birds is really really really hard. It just takes a lot of trial and timing! I don’t do a lot of close-ups of birds… just not my thing… but I do like to try to incorporate them into the landscape when it feels right!
Stuck On Earth is still getting downloaded and used like the dickens! It’s still free to download and the community is growing and growing. Remember if you are planning a trip and want to Find Awesome Places To Stand To Take Photos, this is the app for you! 🙂
Here’s a little video that shows some of the features… note that even more have been added since we made this! 🙂
These boulders in Moeraki are beautiful any time of the day, but morning is the best time to get this kind of light. Since it faces the ocean to the east, that morning sun comes blasting out right behind them. But no worries, if you can’t master-plan your visit to that degree, this area is beautiful any time of the day.
We’ve updated the Photography Workshops page with more details.
I’ll be seeing you at the Copthorne Hotel Commodore located at 449 Memorial Avenue, Burnside in Christchurch on Thursday, December 6th, 2012, from 9:30am until 6:00 pm. Also, we’ll be getting you all the RAW files beforehand so you can work along with me if you wish! 🙂
This was a very fun trip! I’ve decided to include three photos today instead of just one!
We stayed overnight in a little town called Moeraki, which is not surprisingly right by the Moeraki Boulders. There is a bay here with these rails that go into the water to launch boats.
Along the way, these Lupins are growing and blooming everywhere! It’s spring down here in NZ, and I think these flowers are great. I’ve met a few locals though that turn up their nose and call them annoying weeds!
A group of people from NZIPP went out for an overnight road trip to this amazing place on the east coast. I’ve always wanted to shoot them at sunrise, but it kind of requires you to sleep pretty close by. I live in Queenstown, which is about 3-4 hours away, and that would mean a 2 AM wake-up time in the summer!
One of the tricky things about these boulders is ensuring you arrive at low-tide. At high-tide, they are almost totally inaccessible… so timing a sunrise with a low-tide takes a bit of planning. Thanks to Jason Law and NZIPP for the nice invite!
