Chasing the Light, doing the mileage

The spring weather of late here in Wanaka has been very beautiful. Yes, unsettled but interesting and thankfully not the gales too often that underscore spring at 45 degrees south.

It's been very conducive for walking, and so too has my mindset: every evening I've been fortunate of late to wander many miles along Lake Wanaka's lakeshore looking and seeing, even doing time exposure photos in the dark. Such is the life of a hobbyist landscape photographer, and sometimes philosopher looking for innocence lost...


When I got my first camera as a child, for whatever reason since I'll typically be walking along and suddenly "see" a potential photo. One started recently with this shot. All I knew prior was the lighting was typical "magic hour" and soft just after sunset. I always try to identify the factor early on that will make the technical side a challenge. By having it in mind it can let us work faster to capture the moment...


We don't really photograph objects [or people], but instead the light reflected from same. Different times of day produce different tones and warmth - these become factors in triggering an emotional response in myself. Here the shot develops - I like the way the texture of the trees frame the triangle formed by the rocks, themselves bordering on triangular...


The moment of truth - the moment I want to share not only what I've seen, but what I feel. But it's not for me to take it further into words. That could be your job if you wish, or simply sit with any feelings the image engenders, or just walk by...


And I'm not the only one out walking. In this instance I'm the opportunist. Anticipation is the name of this game - what was the limiting factor? For me, timing...


I'm finding walking very social too. Here my friend Brent tests his jet boat, which he's just had stretched. I really respect what he does on a typical tourist journey up and down the nearby Matukituki River in Mt Aspiring National Park, as using his Maori culture and local knowledge of wildlife, history and geology he takes his clients into a story...

"Mo te Tangata mo te Whenua" It's about the people, about the place.

True not only as Brent and Sue's ethic, but typical of my own feelings, photography and otherwise.

Kia kaha

But I'm on my own journey too - into my imagination, holding a tension in there like in yoga, between light and shadow, warmth and cold, what I see verses what I feel...


And like us all I continue to walk, hopefully "seeing" a little more light each time, and in it's reflection ultimately finding my truth - renewed on each journey...


Link to: Wanaka River Journeys