Journeys

It was a quieter week this week so I thought I would take some time off ...only to get caught up with decorating the house! So much for downtime!

In between covering myself in paint, I did manage to continue the on-going task of processing more stock images from recent (and not so recent) trips. Its always good to re-discover shots you had virtually forgotten about and find yourself instantly transported back to that moment and place. The shot above of the road up and over the Crown range in the South Island was instantly one of those occasions! It was a crisp morning with mist hanging in the valleys and even a hot air balloon sailing away to the horizon. I had an interesting time dodging vehicles with bemused drivers negotiating the switch backs as I ran from bend to bend to get the perfect vantage point... which of course was just about the furthest point from where I could park! I really like the colour palette of this shot, the freshness and clarity of the light jumps out at you.

There are only so many hours in the day and keeping up with the backlog of images can be a bit of a challenge, but it is a great use of downtime and keeps the stock side of things growing slowly but surely.

The week ended with a whistle stop trip down to the South Island over the weekend, to finish off my recent Telecom project. I jumped on a plane Saturday morning landed at Nelson lunchtime, drove a 250km round trip to Blenheim and back. Got up at 6.30 the next morning shot 3 more locations and back on the plane to Auckland by 11.20am. It is amazing what you can fit in to 24hrs! I do love the short hop flights as you fly at a lower altitude and see so much more on a clear day and even have a chance to grab a shot out of the window. Just remember to take your polariser off first,  otherwise the double skin windows leave you with strange purple UFOs all over your shots!

A taste of the high life

Had a slightly different assignment at the end of this week. I don't get asked to do too much architectural photography but every now and then a job comes my way. This one got me into a space I probably wont have the pleasure of owning anytime soon - a luxury penthouse!

My own house has a floor area of approx 170 sqm, but these places were in the region of 400 sqm, in the centre of Auckland with panoramic harbour views! To say they have a lot of zeros in their price tag is an understatement and they sure had a lot of feaures - plush fittings, views to die for and the odd baby grand piano thrown in for good measure (how did they get that up in the lift?)

Lighting the apartments in the allocated time meant sticking with small flashes to supplement (rather than trying to overpower) the ambient light. It also meant bracketing exposures to allow for those amazing (but very bright) views through the windows. Its amazing what you can achieve with this combination, even when dealing with such large spaces. To me, an important element in this shoot was the lens. I was using a 17mm tilt/shift lens, which not only provided plenty of width to the images, but the shift feature prevented everything leaning in at crazy angles. Its a fantastic lens, but a little slow to use with everything being manual. Plus metering goes straight out of whack once you start 'shifting' of course.

I think its one of the great perks of this job, to gain access to areas you would never normally see...unless of course your get your 6 numbers and the bonus ball come up!