NEW ZEALAND: A Deployment Getaway (82 images!!) Photo Location: New Zealand Posted By: Heie, 06:08 AM 01-14-2013,



So I returned a while ago from my vacation to the land of Kiwis, and several people have asked about my photos from the trip. I tried to pick out the best ones, and while there are some that I definitely can highlight, I was unable to pick and choose the few to represent the entire series. The reason for this is because I felt that it would undermine the story telling and the connection many of the photos share to one another. That, and I thought you guys would appreciate the montage (assuming the photos are any good - ignorance is bliss so be don't screw with my bliss! ).This will be long enough as it is, so I will allow the photos to tell the rest of the story.



1) During one of my layovers on the way to New Zealand, I found this terminal wing completely empty and absolutely spotlessly clean, the former atleast can be expected at 4 o'clock in the morning, but the latter? Growing up in airports the likes of JFK, Newark, and Laguardia, I'm not used to this level of public cleanliness lol. This is the Dubai International Airport. Also, the technicalities of this photograph were that I took this handheld, and used the in-camera HDR Processor (don't remember what level, but either HDR 1 or HDR 2).The color version looked terrible because I was unable to get the white balance to line up properly, especially since it was JPG. But once I converted it to B&W, I thought it looked pretty cool. Was a very popular image amongst my Facebook friends and especially the guys in my office. Also, I learned that I have a bad habit of experimenting with the in-camera HDR (for fun, not anything serious), and then realizing the camera is still set to JPG a lot of pictures later.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









2) Milford Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand. Straight ahead and to the left is

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









3) The next day we went sea kayaking for a total of 20 km's through the entirety of Milford Sound, ending when we reached the Tasman Sea. We went under Stirling Falls which was awesome. I had two cameras with me - the K-5/DA* 60-250 and the K-30/DA* 16-50. I still am angry with myself for not making sure the battery grip rubber cover was installed on the bottom of the K-5 (didn't even bring it to New Zealand). What makes matters worse is that I just received the lens back from CRIS and they said the 60-250 was beyond repair as the electrical circuitry was completely destroyed within the lens itself. I haven't tested it because the thought just occurred to me, but it might not be worth getting cleaned and using as a purely manual lens if the contacts don't allow the aperture to work since there's no aperture ring. Another thought was to use it with the Q and Q>K adapter since the adapter would function as the aperture and the lens would be manual anyway... Not sure, but it's the only two courses of action I can think of at the moment. The K-30/16-50 combo survived going under the waterfall perfectly though, as one would obviously expect. Directly in front of me (lower right) in my kayak is my girlfriend, Jenny. Also, off topic, but I learned a very valuable lesson during that kayak excursion - don't make photography the priority during an activity such as this. Like I said, I brought two cameras and two lenses (and the Sigma 8-16 in a dry bag!). I ended up having a miserable time because I was so focused on the pictures I had in my mind and never captured for a myriad of reasons -- we were catching up to the other boats, turned the wrong way, etc. I wish I had trusted my gut and bought the 18-135 WR and just used that. It would have been lighter, much less cumbersome, and I would have enjoyed the trip far more than I did. Regardless, I am glad to have learned that lesson prior to when children become part of the equation.

Pentax K-30, DA* 16-50









4) There's really nothing aesthetically or photographically pleasing that I Ilike about this photo, but I kept it to show the scale of these mountains. Notice the two white 2-story cruise boats at the base of the mountain...

Pentax K-30, DA* 16-50









5) This is the drive down to (or back up from) Milford Sound. It's the only way in or out (aside from helicopter over land or boat along the coast), and it is incredibly avalanche prone during the winter. In fact, we went during New Zealand's early summer, and the day after we left Milford Sound and drove through this pass, there was an avalanche that closed the road for about a week. Talk about good timing. I like to believe I'm just good like that Also, I would have loved to have been able to take this shot from the air - unfortunately you can't really see from this perspective just how crazy this road was, but top-down would have been awesome!

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









6) Starting the Kepler Track, one of New Zealand's Great Walks. Jenny is smiling here, but like she posted on my Facebook picture of this: "Clearly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into."

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7) A view of Lake Te Anau, the lake that we had to walk along the edge of for the beginning of the track. As you can see, we had an absolutely gorgeous day.

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8) Several hours and several hundred meters in elevation later, we decided to stop for some trail mix.

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9) A glimpse of what we left behind below during a rare break in the trees.The town (Te Anau) on the opposite side of the lake on the left of the frame is where we started our hike. This is about 6km later.

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10) Finally the trees broke!! The view up on the mountain ridge at the first change of scenery.

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11) She's still thinking that this is so much fun

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12) We made it! The Luxmore Hut comes into view and this is where we stayed for our first night after ascending about 1200m vertically over a span of about 11km total in roughly 5 hours.

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13) A view of the inside of the Luxmore Hut, where we stayed the first night of our trip on the Kepler. The views from inside were just beautiful.

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14) One morning we decided to catch the sunrise. We ended up going with some friends we made at the cabin, one of whom is in this image.

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15) One guy decided to bring his sleeping bag because it was chilly out lol. I gave them my contact info but they never got a hold of me, which I really wish they would. I feel they would love to have both of these images.

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16) The sunrise in all its glory.

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17) Jenny and I decided to go spelunking in a large cave just outside the hut (Luxmore Cave), and I was able to get this image of the entrance from inside. I'm actually really proud of this image, as not only was it technically difficult, but I spent about an hour in Lightroom trying to get it to where it is. Friends in my office swore it looked like an ultrasound (I don't see it...). I brought my tripod into the cave (which I will review at a later time -

Pentax K-30, DA* 16-50









18) Inside one of the caverns. This was actually my first light painting experiment and I had Jenny look up while I painted the walls with my headlamp and the camera was on the tripod. I took a few different exposures, but this one at 8 secs was the best. Light painting is fun! In retrospect, I wish I had thought about it at the time, but this would have been an awesome vertical pano. Next time

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









19) I absolutely love dramatic skies when mixed with a wide angle. This was the boardwalk we had to walk on to get to and from the cave.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









20) Taking a short break on the second day of the hike. Jenny took this shot, and I gave it a pretty aggressive processing treatment to bring out the drama in the clouds.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









21) A view of the trail along the ridgline.

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22) The area was just absolutely beautiful. Some of the most beautiful vistas I've ever seen. I did what I could to rescue this image because it was heavily overexposed in the sky - the sky was very blown out due to setting the shutter speed to not fast enough. At least here it looks foggy (which it was).

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23) Jenny on the same outcrop that I was on in the previous image. This time I made sure not to blow out the sky

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24) I really like this image, and it took me about 15 takes to get a good one. This is me walking on the ridgeline, which you can see was pretty exposed with sharp drop offs. Jenny was right behind, and I appreciate her patience while I tried these shots out.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









25) Jenny coming up on the trail. I ran ahead to try and capture this image.

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26) Another view of the ridge.

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27) I really like this image. I set up my tripod and had us walk towards the camera with a wireless remote in my hand to trigger the shutter of the camera.

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28) A view of my handiwork in setting up the camera and tripod for a shot.

iPhone 4









29) Another view of the set up - this was about 20-25 feet (6-7m) above the trail, and no, those branches were not the strongest 8)

iPhone 4









30) Me looking up to take a test photo and make sure the remote was working - you can see the remote in my right hand.

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31) The actual photo and the final product - this is one of my favorites from the entire trip. Thank you so much for being so patient with me, Jen I spent over 45 minutes on this photo between setting up, test photos, climbing up and down (and up and down again) the tree, and then multiple walking iterations. Well worth the effort









32) New Zealand rivals the Cloudforest of Monteverde, Costa Rica for the greenest place I have ever seen in my life.

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33) Seriously, not a single touch to saturation.

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34) A breautiful break in the woods. I darkened the left side a little bit using a digital grad filter in Lightroom.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









35) I really love this image, and it's my first attempt at making the water silky like that. If you have a calibrated monitor, you will be able to appreciate the Sepia treatment.

Pentax K-30, DA* 16-50, ND Filter









36) Another attempt at making water look like silk. I learned that "less is more" when it comes to these shots. I originally (naively) thought that the longer the exposure, the better the silk. This shot was a 2sec exposure and looked far better than all the ones at 4, 6, and 10 seconds.

Pentax K-30, DA* 16-50, ND Filter









37) Jenny on a bridge over a large ravine. As you can image, I had to do some climbing to get this shot (otherwise why would there be the need for a bridge, right? ).

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38) I found this to be hilarious. If you look closely, the official sign says "DANGER, TRACK CLOSED DUE TO _____________" and someone wrote in "Stoat Attack." The stoat has wreaked absolute havoc on the New Zealand wildlife, however it is no bigger than a large rat

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39) Have you ever seen so many ferns in your life?! I swear that if Costa Rica backed out on the filming of Jurassic Park (Isla de Cocos is where it was filmed), then New Zealand's Fiordland would have been a worthy replacement. There were many times I felt like a velociraptor was waiting to ambush me from under/behind a fern lol

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40) This was a particularly special meal and epitomises what I love about the trail and the people you meet on it. Jen and I severely miscalcuated what we would need for food. Not in terms of amount of food (we never went hungry), but rather in terms of actual meals and more importantly, the ability to cook. I was under the impression that you just needed to pack in your meals and there would be cooking supplies (which I *mis*read somewhere - all they provided was the stove in *select* places - lesson learned). Anyway, several kind persons really helped us out. A trail ranger gave us the plates, silverware, fresh eggs, and canned peaches for desert, as well as the stove to cook with. An elderly couple gave us a dehydrated beef stew hiking meal and another group of young hikers we met (the ones that went to the sunrise with us) gave us the rice, so we mixed them all together and had a feast Ignore the terrible looking eggs - I didn't have a needle to pop a small hole so they could decompress

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41) Jenny on another long expanse of a suspension bridge. I climbed up and stood one leg on each "handrail cable" for this one. She wasn't happy with me when I started climbing up

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42) A curve in the trail that mirrored hundreds of others.

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43) Such a trooper

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44) This was a funny find, and the perfect kind of humor to making us laugh after finishing the entire Kepler and being just exhausted

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45) Our meal after finishing 70 km's of hiking. 5 meat pies (in New Zealand, they are our versions of "Chicken Pot Pies," but only so much better) of Lamb and Mint, Pepper Steak, and Chicken, a chocolate caramel brownie, her macchiato, and my massive ice cream milk shake. We were told that we had to get pies after finishing by one of the rangers, and it was so delicious - he couldn't have given a better recommendation. And all gone in under 7 minutes

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46) When we were done with the Kepler, we needed a place to stay, and found this tucked away gem. If you are ever in Te Anau, this is the place you need to stay, and the staff are just fantastic. You can see the lake on the right side of the frame, so it's close.

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47) Not a single room had a number - they were all named in the works of Shakespeare.

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48) The owner said this is where they put all the single people...

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49) On the way to the Catlins in the southeast of the South Island.

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50) I've never seen cooler looking trees. They were all over the place and seemed so freakishly windblown.

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51) The lighthouse at Waipapa Point on South Island, one of the island's southernmost points. There were some seals on the rocky shore below.

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52) The inside of the art studio that we stayed in for several nights in Bluff, New Zealand. It was named "The Lighthouse." The owners, Mack and Sue, were an absolutely lovely couple that found themselves in New Zealand and never left. He is an American that fought in Vietnam (two deployments) and she is also American (or English, I can't remember).

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53) I had to park the car and she insisted on taking both bags with her so I didn't have to walk with mine back to the ferry station. Am I a lucky guy or what?

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54) The view of the start of the Rakiura Track, the second New Zealand Great Walk that we completed.

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55) I spotted our reflection in this house as we were talking and absolutely loved how it looked. As you can guess, the view the house has is stunning.

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56) Along the way to the start of the track we found this phone on a tree. Yes I did try to use it and wind the rotor, but sadly it didn't work. Regardless I was fascinated with the antiquity of it and how it seemed to so aptly be a symbol of the tranquility of Stewart Island.

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57) Finally getting to the start of the Rakiura Track. The chain symbolizes the connection between Stewart Island and the South Island of New Zealand, disappearing into the water at both locations.

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58) The Rakiura Track.

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59) More track...

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60) And more track. Here the track descends to one of the rivers we had to cross. This is another one of my favorites from the trip. Similar to the cave entrance shot earlier, the dynamic range of the K-30 is what made it possible. This is a single exposure that was severely underexposred to allow for the beach and a small wave breaking (which are barely visible, but still), to not be blown. Then I raised the shadows within the canopy and loved how it perfectly captures the mood of the entire track we followed.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









61) A view of a river we had to cross at low tide.

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62) Jenny writes a note for her 5 year old brother in the sand, a tradition she started during her travels elsewhere.

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63) A view of the coast along the Rakiura Track. This is about 8km into the first day's hike.

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64) Another of the suspension bridges that we had to cross.

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65) We got some rain along the way (look at the water and you'll see it). But seriously, this could be Costa Rica.

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66) While walking around, we found the brightest rainbow EVER after a rain shower. I really wish I could have done a better job capturing how bright that thing was.

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67) Ever seen a rainbow in black and white? I thought it was a unique effect...

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68) The sky after the rain storm broke.

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69) This was the porta potty at one of the tent sites we stayed at. In all seriousness, doesn't that look like something out of Jurassic Park?

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70) A really interesting link to the past - this logging machine was left behind from the 1920's, a time when Stewart Island was a major logging hub.

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71) And climb and climb and climb through the forest

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72) The water of the area was really interesting - the color you see is exactly the color it is. At first, I was caught off guard when I filled up a water bottle at a tent site (which uses the stream water), and was informed that the color comes from tannin that is dissolved in the water because of the heavy concentration of oak and fir trees in the area. It gives a taste of a very weak and unsweetened tea to the water. I actually came to like it.

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73) Part of the trail through the forest.

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74) We decided to take a break and have lunch on the trail. We hadn't met anyone the entire time, so we figured this was a good spot to stop. I set up the tripod behind us and had the remote control in my hand.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16









75) The hut we stayed at had beds and beds (and beds!) of mussels that were exposed at low tide, so we picked some and man, what a massive pain in the ass to cook them without proper cookware (but I was determined - 45 minutes boiling baby). I didn't have any butter to make a sauce in, but I did have freeze dried mash potatoes that I used to make a sauce in. Delicious nonetheless

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76) The (almost) bottom of South Island, New Zealand. As you can see - we were far away from everything.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 8-16, On-Board Flash









77) Have you ever seen a yellow mountain? Absolutely beautiful yellow blooms littered the entire section of the road back to Queenstown.

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78) Other than the absolutely beautiful scenery, notice anything different? That question doesn't apply to anyone of British, Aussie, or Kiwi descent

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79) Another view of the stunning scenery. These lakes have all be cut and carved by glaciers, which is why the water is such a deep blue - looking down into it it was almost sapphire blue.









80) This is further proof that I am dating the most amazing woman in the world. I wanted a shot of the road snaking along the shoreline where the mountains met the lake, so I saw what was a good approach point, pulled over to one of the overlooks on the shoulder of the road, and then told Jenny that I'd "be right back." Severely underestimating the thickness of the undergrowth (which I assumed was 1-2 feet tall and thus I could run up the mountain to a high vantage point), I returned over an hour an undisclosed amount of time later with puncture wounds along my arms from all the thorn bushes I forced my way through, at one point doing so on my hands and knees to crawl through a particularly large and tall bush. First, I had to free climb (a term coming from rock climbing without the use of ropes/anchors/safety devices) about 5-7m vertically just to get over the cliff wall and begin my approach. By the time I got higher, I realized that the road wrapped around the mountain and out of view, rendering all of my efforts futile. But I took this picture anyway, and wanted to show just how far I went. This is at 30mm, so clearly there is no distortion and pretty much accurate to how I saw it in person. That's Jen standing next to our car, and apparently she had four or five vehicles stop and ask if she was stranded and needed a lift/assistance. "Nope. My idiot boyfriend decided to climb the mountain for a photo and said he'd be right back..." When I tried to get back, I realized that the descent was much harder than the ascent, and at times dangerous, so I looked around and noticed further down the road in our current direction of travel there was a gradual slope that was much easier to navigate. So I yelled to her "JENNY! PULL THE CAR FORWARD TO THE NEXT PULL-OFF 400 METERS DOWN THE ROAD." When I got back, expecting her to be livid, her only reaction was laughing at me for tearing the crotch of my pants as I screwed up my hop over a barbed wire fence.

Pentax K-30, Sigma 30









81) The last night of being in Queenstown before flying out, we relaxed at a nice restaurant and had a nice dinner. A perfect close to an otherwise adventure-packed "Rest and Relaxation"

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82) This was an unexpected surprise - sunrise in Dubai which I stumbled upon when I made a wrong turn and found myself in an all-window waiting area at the airport. Of course, I had to dig into my bag and get my camera and lens despite hurrying to catch my connection - I was already running late because of my delayed arrival. But so totally worth it and I made the flight . The sun looked a lot bigger and more impressive in person than it seems here.







Hope you enjoyed my vacation to New Zealand as much as I did



As always, thank you for stopping by



-Heie

Hey All!So I returned a while ago from my vacation to the land of Kiwis, and several people have asked about my photos from the trip. I tried to pick out the best ones, and while there are some that I definitely can highlight, I was unable to pick and choose the few to represent the entire series. The reason for this is because I felt that it would undermine the story telling and the connection many of the photos share to one another. That, and I thought you guys would appreciate the montage (assuming the photos are any good - ignorance is bliss so be don't screw with my bliss!).This will be long enough as it is, so I will allow the photos to tell the rest of the story.1) During one of my layovers on the way to New Zealand, I found this terminal wing completely empty and absolutely spotlessly clean, the former atleast can be expected at 4 o'clock in the morning, but the latter? Growing up in airports the likes of JFK, Newark, and Laguardia, I'm not used to this level of public cleanliness lol. This is the Dubai International Airport. Also, the technicalities of this photograph were that I took this handheld, and used the in-camera HDR Processor (don't remember what level, but either HDR 1 or HDR 2).The color version looked terrible because I was unable to get the white balance to line up properly, especially since it was JPG. But once I converted it to B&W, I thought it looked pretty cool. Was a very popular image amongst my Facebook friends and especially the guys in my office. Also, I learned that I have a bad habit of experimenting with the in-camera HDR (for fun, not anything serious), and then realizing the camera is still set to JPG a lot of pictures later.2) Milford Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand. Straight ahead and to the left is Mitre Peak , which is the largest mountain to come straight out of the ocean in the entire world. A friend mentioned that they thought Hawaii was, and just to clarify - Hawaii is the largest mountain from base (under water) to summit as a *mountain itself*, whereas this is referring to the largest rise from sea level to the summit (1,692m). Also, something interesting - the kayak guide told us that its name comes from an old Mauri (the indigenous people of New Zealand) word that means "erect manhood," further symbolizing it's command over the nearby mountains and the local people's respect for it. This was an image I was originally very disappointed with as I didn't realize until we left that the camera was still in JPG mode from the above image (like 3 days later - I know...don't judge me lol). So I did with it what I could and decided to try an aggressive processing. I like the result.3) The next day we went sea kayaking for a total of 20 km's through the entirety of Milford Sound, ending when we reached the Tasman Sea. We went under Stirling Falls which was awesome. I had two cameras with me - the K-5/DA* 60-250 and the K-30/DA* 16-50. I still am angry with myself for not making sure the battery grip rubber cover was installed on the bottom of the K-5 (didn't even bring it to New Zealand). What makes matters worse is that I just received the lens back from CRIS and they said the 60-250 was beyond repair as the electrical circuitry was completely destroyed within the lens itself. I haven't tested it because the thought just occurred to me, but it might not be worth getting cleaned and using as a purely manual lens if the contacts don't allow the aperture to work since there's no aperture ring. Another thought was to use it with the Q and Q>K adapter since the adapter would function as the aperture and the lens would be manual anyway... Not sure, but it's the only two courses of action I can think of at the moment. The K-30/16-50 combo survived going under the waterfall perfectly though, as one would obviously expect. Directly in front of me (lower right) in my kayak is my girlfriend, Jenny. Also, off topic, but I learned avaluable lesson during that kayak excursion - don't make photographypriority during an activity such as this. Like I said, I brought two cameras and two lenses (and the Sigma 8-16 in a dry bag!). I ended up having a miserable time because I was so focused on the pictures I had in my mind and never captured for a myriad of reasons -- we were catching up to the other boats, turned the wrong way, etc. I wish I had trusted my gut and bought the 18-135 WR and just used that. It would have been lighter, much less cumbersome, and I would have enjoyed the trip far more than I did. Regardless, I am glad to have learned that lesson prior to when children become part of the equation.4) There's really nothing aesthetically or photographically pleasing that I Ilike about this photo, but I kept it to show the scale of these mountains. Notice the two white 2-story cruise boats at the base of the mountain...5) This is the drive down to (or back up from) Milford Sound. It's the only way in or out (aside from helicopter over land or boat along the coast), and it is incredibly avalanche prone during the winter. In fact, we went during New Zealand's early summer, and thewe left Milford Sound and drove through this pass, there was an avalanche that closed the road for about a week. Talk about good timing. I like to believe I'm just good like thatAlso, I would have loved to have been able to take this shot from the air - unfortunately you can't really see from this perspective just how crazy this road was, but top-down would have been awesome!6) Starting the Kepler Track, one of New Zealand's Great Walks. Jenny is smiling here, but like she posted on my Facebook picture of this: "Clearly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into."7) A view of Lake Te Anau, the lake that we had to walk along the edge of for the beginning of the track. As you can see, we had an absolutely gorgeous day.8) Several hours and several hundred meters in elevation later, we decided to stop for some trail mix.9) A glimpse of what we left behind below during a rare break in the trees.The town (Te Anau) on the opposite side of the lake on the left of the frame is where we started our hike. This is about 6km later.10) Finally the trees broke!! The view up on the mountain ridge at the first change of scenery.11) She's still thinking that this is so much fun12) We made it! The Luxmore Hut comes into view and this is where we stayed for our first night after ascending about 1200m vertically over a span of about 11km total in roughly 5 hours.13) A view of the inside of the Luxmore Hut, where we stayed the first night of our trip on the Kepler. The views from inside were just beautiful.14) One morning we decided to catch the sunrise. We ended up going with some friends we made at the cabin, one of whom is in this image.15) One guy decided to bring his sleeping bag because it was chilly out lol. I gave them my contact info but they never got a hold of me, which I really wish they would. I feel they would love to have both of these images.16) The sunrise in all its glory.17) Jenny and I decided to go spelunking in a large cave just outside the hut (Luxmore Cave), and I was able to get this image of the entrance from inside. I'm actually really proud of this image, as not only was it technically difficult, but I spent about an hour in Lightroom trying to get it to where it is. Friends in my office swore it looked like an ultrasound (I don't see it...). I brought my tripod into the cave (which I will review at a later time - that tripod is amazing ) and I set the camera on it and took about twenty shots at varying exposures. This I from a single exposure, and the original is completely black except for what seems to be a very overexposured entrance at the top - the K-30 absolutely blew my mind away with what I could pull out of the RAW's shadows in Lightroom.18) Inside one of the caverns. This was actually my first light painting experiment and I had Jenny look up while I painted the walls with my headlamp and the camera was on the tripod. I took a few different exposures, but this one at 8 secs was the best. Light painting is fun! In retrospect, I wish I had thought about it at the time, but this would have been an awesome vertical pano. Next time19) I absolutely love dramatic skies when mixed with a wide angle. This was the boardwalk we had to walk on to get to and from the cave.20) Taking a short break on the second day of the hike. Jenny took this shot, and I gave it a pretty aggressive processing treatment to bring out the drama in the clouds.21) A view of the trail along the ridgline.22) The area was just absolutely beautiful. Some of the most beautiful vistas I've ever seen. I did what I could to rescue this image because it was heavily overexposed in the sky - the sky was very blown out due to setting the shutter speed to not fast enough. At least here it looks foggy (which it was).23) Jenny on the same outcrop that I was on in the previous image. This time I made sure not to blow out the sky24) I really like this image, and it took me about 15 takes to get a good one. This is me walking on the ridgeline, which you can see was pretty exposed with sharp drop offs. Jenny was right behind, and I appreciate her patience while I tried these shots out.25) Jenny coming up on the trail. I ran ahead to try and capture this image.26) Another view of the ridge.27) I really like this image. I set up my tripod and had us walk towards the camera with a wireless remote in my hand to trigger the shutter of the camera.28) A view of my handiwork in setting up the camera and tripod for a shot.29) Another view of the set up - this was about 20-25 feet (6-7m) above the trail, and no, those branches were not the strongest 8)30) Me looking up to take a test photo and make sure the remote was working - you can see the remote in my right hand.31) The actual photo and the final product - this is one of my favorites from the entire trip. Thank you so much for being so patient with me, JenI spent over 45 minutes on this photo between setting up, test photos, climbing up and down (and up and down again) the tree, and then multiple walking iterations. Well worth the effort32) New Zealand rivals the Cloudforest of Monteverde, Costa Rica for the greenest place I have ever seen in my life.33) Seriously, not a single touch to saturation.34) A breautiful break in the woods. I darkened the left side a little bit using a digital grad filter in Lightroom.35) I really love this image, and it's my first attempt at making the water silky like that. If you have a calibrated monitor, you will be able to appreciate the Sepia treatment.36) Another attempt at making water look like silk. I learned that "less is more" when it comes to these shots. I originally (naively) thought that the longer the exposure, the better the silk. This shot was a 2sec exposure and looked far better than all the ones at 4, 6, and 10 seconds.37) Jenny on a bridge over a large ravine. As you can image, I had to do some climbing to get this shot (otherwise why would there be the need for a bridge, right?).38) I found this to be hilarious. If you look closely, the official sign says "DANGER, TRACK CLOSED DUE TO _____________" and someone wrote in "Stoat Attack." The stoat has wreaked absolute havoc on the New Zealand wildlife, however it is no bigger than a large rat39) Have you ever seen so many ferns in your life?! I swear that if Costa Rica backed out on the filming of Jurassic Park (Isla de Cocos is where it was filmed), then New Zealand's Fiordland would have been a worthy replacement. There were many times I felt like a velociraptor was waiting to ambush me from under/behind a fern lol40) This was a particularly special meal and epitomises what I love about the trail and the people you meet on it. Jen and I severely miscalcuated what we would need for food. Not in terms of amount of food (we never went hungry), but rather in terms of actual meals and more importantly, the ability to cook. I was under the impression that you just needed to pack in your meals and there would be cooking supplies (which I *mis*read somewhere - all they provided was the stove in *select* places - lesson learned). Anyway, several kind persons really helped us out. A trail ranger gave us the plates, silverware, fresh eggs, and canned peaches for desert, as well as the stove to cook with. An elderly couple gave us a dehydrated beef stew hiking meal and another group of young hikers we met (the ones that went to the sunrise with us) gave us the rice, so we mixed them all together and had a feastIgnore the terrible looking eggs - I didn't have a needle to pop a small hole so they could decompress41) Jenny on another long expanse of a suspension bridge. I climbed up and stood one leg on each "handrail cable" for this one. She wasn't happy with me when I started climbing up42) A curve in the trail that mirrored hundreds of others.43) Such a trooper44) This was a funny find, and the perfect kind of humor to making us laugh after finishing the entire Kepler and being just exhausted45) Our meal after finishing 70 km's of hiking. 5 meat pies (in New Zealand, they are our versions of "Chicken Pot Pies," but only so much better) of Lamb and Mint, Pepper Steak, and Chicken, a chocolate caramel brownie, her macchiato, and my massive ice cream milk shake. We were told that we had to get pies after finishing by one of the rangers, and it was so delicious - he couldn't have given a better recommendation. And all gone in under 7 minutes46) When we were done with the Kepler, we needed a place to stay, and found this tucked away gem. If you are ever in Te Anau, this is the place you need to stay, and the staff are just fantastic. You can see the lake on the right side of the frame, so it's close.47) Not a single room had a number - they were all named in the works of Shakespeare.48) The owner said this is where they put all the single people...49) On the way to the Catlins in the southeast of the South Island.50) I've never seen cooler looking trees. They were all over the place and seemed so freakishly windblown.51) The lighthouse at Waipapa Point on South Island, one of the island's southernmost points. There were some seals on the rocky shore below.52) The inside of the art studio that we stayed in for several nights in Bluff, New Zealand. It was named "The Lighthouse." The owners, Mack and Sue, were an absolutely lovely couple that found themselves in New Zealand and never left. He is an American that fought in Vietnam (two deployments) and she is also American (or English, I can't remember).53) I had to park the car and she insisted on taking both bags with her so I didn't have to walk with mine back to the ferry station. Am I a lucky guy or what?54) The view of the start of the Rakiura Track, the second New Zealand Great Walk that we completed.55) I spotted our reflection in this house as we were talking and absolutely loved how it looked. As you can guess, the view the house has is stunning.56) Along the way to the start of the track we found this phone on a tree. Yes I did try to use it and wind the rotor, but sadly it didn't work. Regardless I was fascinated with the antiquity of it and how it seemed to so aptly be a symbol of the tranquility of Stewart Island.57) Finally getting to the start of the Rakiura Track. The chain symbolizes the connection between Stewart Island and the South Island of New Zealand, disappearing into the water at both locations.58) The Rakiura Track.59) More track...60) And more track. Here the track descends to one of the rivers we had to cross. This is another one of my favorites from the trip. Similar to the cave entrance shot earlier, the dynamic range of the K-30 is what made it possible. This is a single exposure that was severely underexposred to allow for the beach and a small wave breaking (which are barely visible, but still), to not be blown. Then I raised the shadows within the canopy and loved how it perfectly captures the mood of the entire track we followed.61) A view of a river we had to cross at low tide.62) Jenny writes a note for her 5 year old brother in the sand, a tradition she started during her travels elsewhere.63) A view of the coast along the Rakiura Track. This is about 8km into the first day's hike.64) Another of the suspension bridges that we had to cross.65) We got some rain along the way (look at the water and you'll see it). But seriously, this could be Costa Rica.66) While walking around, we found the brightest rainbow EVER after a rain shower. I really wish I could have done a better job capturing how bright that thing was.67) Ever seen a rainbow in black and white? I thought it was a unique effect...68) The sky after the rain storm broke.69) This was the porta potty at one of the tent sites we stayed at. In all seriousness, doesn't that look like something out of Jurassic Park?70) A really interesting link to the past - this logging machine was left behind from the 1920's, a time when Stewart Island was a major logging hub.71) And climb and climb and climb through the forest72) The water of the area was really interesting - the color you see is exactly the color it is. At first, I was caught off guard when I filled up a water bottle at a tent site (which uses the stream water), and was informed that the color comes from tannin that is dissolved in the water because of the heavy concentration of oak and fir trees in the area. It gives a taste of a very weak and unsweetened tea to the water. I actually came to like it.73) Part of the trail through the forest.74) We decided to take a break and have lunch on the trail. We hadn't met anyone the entire time, so we figured this was a good spot to stop. I set up the tripod behind us and had the remote control in my hand.75) The hut we stayed at had beds and beds (and beds!) of mussels that were exposed at low tide, so we picked some and man, what a massive pain in the ass to cook them without proper cookware (but I was determined - 45 minutes boiling baby). I didn't have any butter to make a sauce in, but I did have freeze dried mash potatoes that I used to make a sauce in. Delicious nonetheless76) The (almost) bottom of South Island, New Zealand. As you can see - we were far away from everything.77) Have you ever seen a yellow mountain? Absolutely beautiful yellow blooms littered the entire section of the road back to Queenstown.78) Other than the absolutely beautiful scenery, notice anything different? That question doesn't apply to anyone of British, Aussie, or Kiwi descent79) Another view of the stunning scenery. These lakes have all be cut and carved by glaciers, which is why the water is such a deep blue - looking down into it it was almost sapphire blue.80) This is further proof that I am dating the most amazing woman in the world. I wanted a shot of the road snaking along the shoreline where the mountains met the lake, so I saw what was a good approach point, pulled over to one of the overlooks on the shoulder of the road, and then told Jenny that I'd "be right back." Severely underestimating the thickness of the undergrowth (which I assumed was 1-2 feet tall and thus I could run up the mountain to a high vantage point), I returnedan undisclosed amount of time later with puncture wounds along my arms from all the thorn bushes I forced my way through, at one point doing so on my hands and knees to crawl through a particularly large and tall bush. First, I had to free climb (a term coming from rock climbing without the use of ropes/anchors/safety devices) about 5-7m vertically just to get over the cliff wall and begin my approach. By the time I got higher, I realized that the road wrapped around the mountain and out of view, rendering all of my efforts futile. But I took this picture anyway, and wanted to show just how far I went. This is at 30mm, so clearly there is no distortion and pretty much accurate to how I saw it in person. That's Jen standing next to our car, and apparently she had four or five vehicles stop and ask if she was stranded and needed a lift/assistance. "Nope. My idiot boyfriend decided to climb the mountain for a photo and said he'd be right back..." When I tried to get back, I realized that the descent was much harder than the ascent, and at times dangerous, so I looked around and noticed further down the road in our current direction of travel there was a gradual slope that was much easier to navigate. So I yelled to her "JENNY! PULL THE CAR FORWARD TO THE NEXT PULL-OFF 400 METERS DOWN THE ROAD." When I got back, expecting her to be livid, her only reaction was laughing at me for tearing the crotch of my pants as I screwed up my hop over a barbed wire fence.81) The last night of being in Queenstown before flying out, we relaxed at a nice restaurant and had a nice dinner. A perfect close to an otherwise adventure-packed "Rest and Relaxation"82) This was an unexpected surprise - sunrise in Dubai which I stumbled upon when I made a wrong turn and found myself in an all-window waiting area at the airport. Of course, I had to dig into my bag and get my camera and lens despite hurrying to catch my connection - I was already running late because of my delayed arrival. But so totally worth it and I made the flight. The sun looked a lot bigger and more impressive in person than it seems here.Hope you enjoyed my vacation to New Zealand as much as I didAs always, thank you for stopping by-Heie Last edited by Heie; 01-14-2013 at 11:55 AM . Reason: typo