sweet pics!
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sweet pics!
No, Canon 5D2.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tippster
Went for a drive the other day and saw one of the brightest rainbows I've ever seen.
35.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/...91268d6d_z.jpgColours of the South Island by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
36.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5234/...a3cb572e_z.jpgColours of the South Island by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
37. Got a rare full rainbow.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2910/...d1683386_z.jpgColours of the South Island by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
Last weekend was the Queen's birthday, so we got a long weekend and went on our first NZ holiday. Drove down to Lake Tekapo, about an hour and a half away.
38. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for a road-trip. It was highways all the way. In NZ, the term "highway" is generous. Outside the major cities (all three of them), highways are mostly two-lane country roads that go through towns/main streets and have stoplights. The views are spectacular though.
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Mackenzie county by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
39. After about an hour we hit the Mackenzie Basin with its gorgeous peaks.
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Mackenzie county by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
40. Lake Tekapo was just as blue as before. The whole area is quite similar to Lake Dillon in Colorado, except much less crowded. The town itself has 350 permanent residents and only a handful of restaurants.
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Lake Tekapo by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
41. The trees were still turning.
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Lake Tekapo by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
42. In most places around NZ, hotels are not that popular/numerous. The main accommodation choices are renting holiday homes (think VRBO), called baches. Just like VRBO, there's a whole range of qualities and costs. We were late in booking so ended up paying a bit more, but got a very nice place right on the lake.
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The Doctor's Retreat by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
43. Most NZ homes also do not have central heating. If you're lucky, the house will have a heat pump or two. More likely, you'll have a wood-burning fireplace + electric heaters in different rooms. This was no different. While it did get chilly overnight, having a roaring fire going was nice.
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A frosty morning by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
44. As a result, most homes have large stockpiles of firewood.
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Firewood by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
45. Lake Tekapo is pretty, but it's like many other alpine lakes surrounded by mountains. If you've been in the mountains (like most of TGR), it won't be that jaw-dropping. The real show starts after dark though. Tekapo is part of an International Dark Sky Reserve, and the night sky is absolutely spectacular and awe-inspiring.
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The southern stars by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
46. The most prominent items in the night sky (after the Milky Way) are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, our two sister galaxies. Easily visible as "cloudy" patches.
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Large & Small Magellanic Clouds by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
47. And if you think you have to go away from town for these views, you'd be wrong. The above shots were taken just across the street from the residential areas and about 300 yards from the main street area. It is just very dark. As part of the reserve, the town ensures that all outdoor lighting points down. From main street you can see the full Milky Way structure, several nebulae, the LMC and SMC, and more. This is right outside the house we were stayed at.
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Stars over town by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
48. My ankle was really hurting so we couldn't really hike much. But we did explore some (here in NZ, day-hike = walk, backpacking = tramping). We parked off a dirt road on the eastern shore and walked along a trail for a while.
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Lake Tekapo by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
49. My son appropriated my binoculars and spent all day looking at stuff.
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Exploring Lake Tekapo by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
50. We also walked a trail up Cowan's Hill away from the lake.
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Walking Cowan's Hill by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
51. It got frosty in the mornings, down below zero overnight, but warmed up to about 13C/55F during the day.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2913/...3da2d022_z.jpg
Walking Cowan's Hill by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
52. We also drove up to Mt. John Observatory, run by the University of Canterbury. Fantastic setting above the lake. They had a couple of telescopes set up outside and we got to see the sun with some cool solar prominences. Going up to the top is free during the day, but if you want to go inside the observatory or go after dark, you have to book a tour (for a fee).
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Mt John Observatory by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
53. We explored some of the trails around the summit.
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Exploring Mt John by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
54. I ended up booking a night-time tour at Mt. John Observatory. Since it was such late notice on a holiday weekend, they only had space for one person, so I went by myself. The tour was fantastic -- the best NZ$135 I ever spent. The astronomers who did the tour were knowledgeable, funny, and stoked to be sharing their love of the stars. They had several 'scopes set up. Saw the Southern Cross, the Tarantula Nebula, the Wishing Well Cluster, the Omega Centauri Cluster (you could see the individual stars in the core), and Saturn (highlight was being able to see the Cassini Division between the rings). If you brought your own camera, their astrophotographer would hook it up to their tracking mount and you'd return with some great shots on your camera (I didn't avail myself of that though). If the sky from town was spectacular, I have no words to describe the view from the observatory. This is just a shot using a static tripod.
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Milky Way from Mt John by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
55. LMC and SMC from Mt. John.
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Milky Way from Mt John by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
Love those Milky Way shots!
beautiful country, awesome photographs!
freak~[http://www.freeskiers.net/community/...ilies/fish.gif&http://www.freeskiers.net/community/...lies/ghost.gif]
Fuzz - some amazing shots in here! Really enjoying this.
#54 is money. Great shots.
I froze my ass off when visiting my step dads family there when I was little. Here's a hot water bottle, how about you build a bedroom with a heater?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
Thanks for the pictures. It makes me miss NZ and realize that I need to get back over there.
Went skiing at Mt. Hutt last week. The snow has been late in coming and it has been quite warm, so not much is open. But it was still nice to get back on snow. Looks like Hutt has some nice terrain, if it snows enough to open! Will have to take my camera up there -- you can see all the way from the mountains to the plains to the Pacific Ocean.
Was thinking of going skiing yesterday, but it was pretty warm and the clouds looked interesting, so drove up to Waimakariri River instead. About a 2-hour drive from our place. Didn't make it to Arthur's Pass, since had to be home to pick up my son from school, but got lucky with some great lighting by the river.
56. NZ is known for its "braided rivers" -- ribbons of water that criss-cross over and over again.
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Waimakariri by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
57. Source of the Waimakariri
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Waimakariri by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
56 is absolutely sick. Would love that as a Desktop BG.
Totally.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tippster
Fuzz' photos consistently blow my mind.
The eye and the talent...if Fuzz ever decides to pass along the knowledge, sign me up.
Here you go, cropped for 1920 x 1080: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._the_braid.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Tippster
So much of it is just luck. I don't know that I do anything special. I truly envy those who can "see" a great picture/story in the most common, everyday, mundane scene. I feel like I have to work hard to see it and then get lucky as well. Like #56 -- the clouds just parted at the right time when I was coming up to a pull-out by the road so I could stop and shoot it. A minute later they closed up again and the light was gone.Quote:
Originally Posted by iscariot
I will say that I've found two things that have helped my photography...
One is looking at a lot of pictures. Whether it's on National Geographic, Life (the magazine, now defunct?), 500px, Flickr groups, whatever. It helps broaden my horizon of what constitutes a good picture. I'll see a picture and think "Man, I would never have thought to shoot this." That gets me thinking the next time I'm out to keep my eyes open for something like that.
The second thing is to do more than look at a picture and go "Pretty!". I try to figure out why I think it's a good picture, what makes it interesting. I took an Art History class in college (almost 20 years ago!) where we learned to critique various types of art (paintings, photography, architecture, etc.) -- that helps me a lot even today (e.g. our eyes are drawn towards bright white areas -- so if a scene has a bright area that is not my main subject, I'll have a re-think). The principles of good design are universal. Trying to figure out how those principles came together in a picture, or design, or piece of architecture, or whatever that I really like, helps spark my "seeing".
Thanks, Fuzz!
Thanks for the desktop and for the insight. You are too modest.
Hakatere Conservation Area is a large open-space prairie ringed by mountains. There are a few lakes in the area as well. I'm planning to get to Lake Camp early in the morning when the calm waters provide a mirror reflection, but have just been too lazy. Went up one afternoon.
58. Lake Camp
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Lake Camp by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
59. Hakatere Conservation Area
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Hakatere Conservation Area by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
60. Path to Lake Emma
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Walking in sunshine by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
:fmicon::fmicon::fmicon::fmicon:
Went to Castle Hill earlier this week with my son. It's an open space park with lots of boulders, big and small. A super fun playground for exploring. My son loved climbing around, exploring the various nooks, crannies, and tunnels.
61. Castle Hill
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Exploring Castle Hill by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
62. Bouldering
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Exploring Castle Hill by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
63. So many options to choose from
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Exploring Castle Hill by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
64. Land of the giants
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Exploring Castle Hill by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
65. Lots to explore
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/...9b03f85f_z.jpgExploring Castle Hill by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
This thread continues to deliver. Great shots Fuzz. It looks like there is so much to see there.
^^^Yeah! I am going to blow all my ff miles to take my family to NZ. Magical place.
I'm loving this thread Fuzz.
I really love the mountainscapes taken with a long lens.
90% of these photos are beautiful.
And the other 10% are gorgeous! :D
Thanks for sharing.
Just got back from a week-long trip to Fiji. Posted my pics in the Padded Room here: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ral-Coast-Fiji
A few more here...
66. The water was so clear and so much marine life right off the beach.
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Coral Coast, Fiji by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
67. The kayaking was great.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2903/...6b6dbb34_z.jpg
Coral Coast, Fiji by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
68. Very peaceful -- although changing lenses while out in the middle of the Pacific required extra care!
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5559/...ea459485_z.jpg
Kayaking the South Pacific by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
69. Fiji sunset
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Fiji sunset by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
70. Tropical dreams
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Tropical dreams by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
Set the alarm for 6am yesterday (Saturday) and drove out to Lake Camp (45 minutes) to catch the sunrise.
71. I was hoping for reflections on the lake, but the ice thwarted my efforts. The colours were very nice though.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5556/...c79fe8ac_z.jpgSouthern sunrise by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
72. Then the sun slowly started hitting the peaks.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/...82113672_z.jpgSouthern sunrise by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
73. This is probably my favourite from the series.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3869/...3c01fbd5_z.jpgSouthern sunrise by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
74. Drove about 10 minutes further to catch the sun over Helm's Deep.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3856/...041d11a9_z.jpgSunrise over Helm's Deep by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
Late start yesterday morning...
75. Went for an "Old West" movie look:
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Country road by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
76. The water was calm even at 11am:
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We all fall down by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
77. Had some pretty amazing clouds the other morning:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2923/...11a07d66_z.jpgStorm front coming by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
78. Went for a night shoot last week. It was super windy, so didn't get to shoot much. But the sky was unbelievably dark -- not a single artificial light in sight. The Milky Way was so bright, it cast shadows on the ground. So many stars, I had a hard time identifying the familiar constellations.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/...3731a1ff_z.jpgGalaxy-rise over the Southern Alps by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
79. The fisheye was the only way I could even come close to capturing the all-encompassing sight.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/...444e4d46_z.jpgGalaxy-rise over the Southern Alps by FuzzSummit, on Flickr
80. Spent the weekend in Christchurch for a class my wife had to take and caught sunrise over the bay.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/...8309d2d9_z.jpgSunrise at Governers Bay by FuzzSummit, on Flickr