The traveller returns!
Discussion
Wow, it's been a long time. At present there's about 11Gb of image files slowly transferring from a portable hard drive into a new folder called 'NZ'.... 232 minutes to go as I'm not USB2 yet.
Got back last night after a trip that went roughly: London/Seoul/Auckland/Russell/Pahia/Kerikeri/Cape Reinga/Christchurch/Timaru/Twizel/Mt.Cook/Oamaru/Dunedin/Invercargill/Stewart Island/Ulva Island/Queenstown/Wanaka/Fox Glacier (where the mints come from)/Franz Josef Glacier/Christchurch/Wellington/Masterton/Napier/Taupo/Rotorua/Auckland and back. And breathe...
Photographically, what did I learn? One area I've never been much good at is landscapes, and that was my main aim for this trip. I learned that good landscapes can be hard, even in NZ (although it's a target rich environment). You can't just turn up and get a great shot. As a tourist on a schedule, if you arrive in Place X to get a great photo of it and it's raining, you miss the chance. Mount Cook with pretty river and flowers in the foreground? Forget it! So the Catlins, much of the glaciers and Arthur's Pass were lost to the weather. You really need to live there to do it properly. Also, if you're committed to getting good photos, you won't have a relaxing holdiday, as you're always 'on duty'. Like the time in Napier when I woke early, stumbled to the toilet and foolishly peeped out of the curtains. Damn, sunrise over Napier beach, my most easterly point. So it was a hasty dressing and swift walk to the beach, sans breakfast, to record the moment. You can never really relax.
So anyway, I took about 4,500 photos, of which maybe half were deleted immediately afterwards as I battled the eternal Dynamic Range monster. I used Large Fine JPG for the 'record' shots and NEF for the ones that might have 'gallery' potential. Quite unintentionally many fell into distinct categories, eg. 'Sheds of NZ', 'Beaches', 'Forests' etc.
One thing I wasn't expecting was the quality of the light in NZ. It's clearer, brighter and the skies go right down to the horizon. That may sound daft but there's no hazy fall-off. Unusually for me I used a polariser most of the time. Kit-wise, the 18-70mm did 98% of the work, proving wide-enough for landscapes and long enough for most things. The 70-300 did most of the other 2%, with the macro and fast standard only coming out 2-3 times each. The D70 performed perfectly throughout.
188 minutes remaining. Then all I have to do is go through them all and process as required. I may be some time...
Got back last night after a trip that went roughly: London/Seoul/Auckland/Russell/Pahia/Kerikeri/Cape Reinga/Christchurch/Timaru/Twizel/Mt.Cook/Oamaru/Dunedin/Invercargill/Stewart Island/Ulva Island/Queenstown/Wanaka/Fox Glacier (where the mints come from)/Franz Josef Glacier/Christchurch/Wellington/Masterton/Napier/Taupo/Rotorua/Auckland and back. And breathe...
Photographically, what did I learn? One area I've never been much good at is landscapes, and that was my main aim for this trip. I learned that good landscapes can be hard, even in NZ (although it's a target rich environment). You can't just turn up and get a great shot. As a tourist on a schedule, if you arrive in Place X to get a great photo of it and it's raining, you miss the chance. Mount Cook with pretty river and flowers in the foreground? Forget it! So the Catlins, much of the glaciers and Arthur's Pass were lost to the weather. You really need to live there to do it properly. Also, if you're committed to getting good photos, you won't have a relaxing holdiday, as you're always 'on duty'. Like the time in Napier when I woke early, stumbled to the toilet and foolishly peeped out of the curtains. Damn, sunrise over Napier beach, my most easterly point. So it was a hasty dressing and swift walk to the beach, sans breakfast, to record the moment. You can never really relax.
So anyway, I took about 4,500 photos, of which maybe half were deleted immediately afterwards as I battled the eternal Dynamic Range monster. I used Large Fine JPG for the 'record' shots and NEF for the ones that might have 'gallery' potential. Quite unintentionally many fell into distinct categories, eg. 'Sheds of NZ', 'Beaches', 'Forests' etc.
One thing I wasn't expecting was the quality of the light in NZ. It's clearer, brighter and the skies go right down to the horizon. That may sound daft but there's no hazy fall-off. Unusually for me I used a polariser most of the time. Kit-wise, the 18-70mm did 98% of the work, proving wide-enough for landscapes and long enough for most things. The 70-300 did most of the other 2%, with the macro and fast standard only coming out 2-3 times each. The D70 performed perfectly throughout.
188 minutes remaining. Then all I have to do is go through them all and process as required. I may be some time...
Nice pic tho
Welcome Home!
RobDickinson said:
Its because NZ is a bit behind the times, only has Black and white CF cards...
I use these:
NB Don't worry, plenty of colour ones to follow. As there are so many and of so many differnt types, does anyone have any requests?
>> Edited by simpo two on Tuesday 24th January 19:49
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff