Autumn colours and wanderings

Mostly folk around Wanaka agree with me that autumn is their favourite time of year, and it makes me wonder if this true of all over the South Island of New Zealand?

From a landscape photography point-of-view as the season deepens and the shadows with it we [photographers only I suspect] enjoy the onset of mist, fog and low tangental lighting. "Mood" in other words.

Reflections on the Clutha River...


Meg Hut near the river of the same name that becomes The Roaring Meg where it joins the Kawarau Gorge near Queenstown...


Looking up the Matukituki Valley towards Mt Aspiring...


An ancient landslip highlighted by low lighting in the Meg River area...


Meg Hut again...


Diamond Lake from the track to Rocky Top between the Matukituki Valley and the Matatapu Valley,

I've never seen one of these before, but I love the colour...


In autumn and early winter Lake Wanaka becomes quite moody...

A week with a few differences!

Every week I take a couple of large water bottles down-town and fill them with very pure public spring water from near Bullock Creek. I prefer to do this very early in the morning, and it's not a bad idea to take my camera for any landscape photography that may present itself by this corner of Lake Wanaka.

This sunrise was one of the most spectacular I've ever seen. Similar views were apparentlyexperienced in Queenstown and Dunedin...


Next on the agenda on the above Friday morning was to say goodbye to Dougal, as he headed off for his first year at University in Dunedin. Despite the obvious changes for myself, I'm quite excited as it'll be the "makings" of him...


Then after the weekend I had a wee contract job teaching river crossing techniques to DOC staff/friends based around Glenorchy.

Here my good friend Stu starts the practical sessions on the bank of the mildly flooded Rees river...


By the end of Monday the weather was warmer, but the river was coming up as we trained, and getting more raw by the hour. Some sun on our departure was most welcome for this shot...


It was good to be off the islands we crossed to, and head home to Wanaka leaving the wild little Rees to carry on what it's been doing for thousands of years. The sediment from Muddy Creek was making it like soup too - very interesting.

Aerial landscape photography, or what a lot of mountains in New Zealand

The end of this work week has been a little significant, and Friday will be a day to remember: I had two back teeth removed, after struggling for nearly a year to overcome a pocket of infection.

A few hours afterwards I was really chuffed to find myself flying around parts of Fiordland National Park.

Mitre Peak in Milford Sound once again evoked strong reactions in me, and is probably the most photographed mountain in New Zealand, so maybe I'm not alone in these feelings...


I once had a 17 day tramping / climbing trip in this locality, and it was memorable for two facts: we were fortunate to climb one of the remote mountains near this photo, and we only had 10 days food...

Landscape photography takes on a whole other perspective, with accompanying issues, when done from a plane or helicopter. Things like struts, rotor blades, and perspex windows make for challenges and reflections, so one answer is to take lots of images, then modify a select few in PhotoShop.

Cruise boats on Milford Sound...

This wonderful journey took me back, as I've walked a few of the valleys, passes and peaks we flew around and over. But that's another story.

And to finish on a note of just how diverse our New Zealand landscape is, this is the more unseen backside of Roys Peak, Wanaka...

Just some landscape photography

Feeling more like just posting pictures this week, after last week's essay.

One of a few magnificent redwoods at Wanaka Station Park...


Cluden Hills near Tarras /Wanaka...


This must be an "eye" dog...


St Bathans Range - this unique looking and remote mountain range can be seen from so many places in Central Otago...


We've been having the usual changeable spring weather lately in Wanaka. From a photography point of view it keeps me quite busy from not only a hobby perspective, but also gives a chance to add to my library of images I on-sell in the context of building web sites...


All made with the new compact Canon. It's really meeting my needs, but it'll be sometime before I understand it's every function!

Roger and Kara's wedding photos

My good friend and fellow landscape photographer Roger married Kara yesterday here in Wanaka. As groomsman part of my task was to make sure his camera and tripod ended up in the right places, such as the final staged photo shoot up on Mt Roy [via heli] in the evening, but I had enough free time to follow the event and the official photographer with my own camera.

We went to the standard wedding photo locations first, and I must say they do provide memorable settings...


Roger's mum, a very special person to me, came out from the UK . It was lovely to see her again, and she was one of the first in the church - a very top day for her especially...


Plans of a musical nature are hatched pre ceremony...


Anna the official photographer readies Roger's nephew Chris [US], for a photo...


As nearly all parties in the ceremony are professionals in the medical world, an ambulance was used at one stage to ferry us to the photo shoot locations. Roger's sense of humour is obviously alive and well...


Roger and Kara's dog Mylie was a bit of star, but all became serendipitous when another wedding arrived at one of the locations, and then a family out walking arrived, and all had the same breed...


I wish them well in their commitment of love...


Thanks Roger and Kara, and families, for a most memorable and fun day

PS See Roger's landscape photography work here

PS 2 Mon. 19th Apr: it seems this blog is now being used by family in the UK etc. so here are a whole bunch of extra photos:

A celebration of our wild New Zealand landscape and National Parks - and a "heads up"

Quentin Smith of Wanaka has recently formed a FaceBook group: Hands off Mt Aspiring NP and a few days ago membership stood at 5000, and it's now well over 6000!

... which relates to the noises our new, seemingly unenlightened and uninspired, New Zealand Government are making to initiate mining investigations in our National Parks. Not only my local Mt Aspiring National Park I might add!

While they say it's only a stock-take even that is a transgression and impossible to do without major disturbances and destruction of our heritage put aside for all coming generations.

Having got this off my chest [link below] I'm here sharing some of my favourite landscape photos I've made of our wild New Zealand landscape.

This is Mt Brewster - somewhat in the middle of the area of Mt Aspiring National Park our National Government has it's beady eyes on [and in bed with which multi national corporation that historically is always in the background taking profits when it comes to mining resources in any country?]...


Marks Flat under Mt Hooker - a huge tract of land designated at Conservation Estate in South Westland. Should it be part of the World Heritage Site in this area [Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand]?


You can "mine" great powder on the slopes of Mt Cook in Mount Cook National Park...


Alma hut in Westland National Park, with Franz Josef neve behind...


Mt Aspiring from Cascade Saddle


Lake Hankinson in Fiordland National Park [not far from the Milford Track]...


Looking down one of the significant glaciers in Westland National Park


There is a FaceBook generated link here, to view, or I suggest join the group: Hands off Mt Aspiring NP.

Or failing above then click on Groups in your FaceBook account and type in "Hands off Mt Aspiring NP"

And on a related matter this week I found out that New Zealand has 56,000 Kms of public roads that are not public, and our current New Zealand Government, and the preceding one it seems, have apparently been doing their best to sweep these "paper roads" under the carpet by use of cunning legal moves to give the land to those [many of whom have already fenced them off], in exchange for easements. The former offer us, the recreational users and owners unfettered access, the latter, easements, do absolutely nothing for us - only for self serving interests of those who've squatted on our rights.