The Wild Lupins of Lindis Pass

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

The most amazing field of Wild Lupins at Lindis Pass. We saw this from the road, parked the car, climbed over two fences and spent 2 hours in this spot photographing this magical place amongst he flowers. The Lupins stretched literally for miles, all along the river on both sides of the bank. I nearly stayed at home this day as I broke my ankle the night before, but am so pleased I didn't let a bone break ruin this opportunity!

Blue Lupin Bee

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Had to do another Bee.  This time the bee is on a Lupin Flower. Through the macro lens, I watched the bee land on the lupin, then open up the flower pod, pull out the stamen, collect the pollen, then fly on to the next one. Some of the bees in this area were so laden down with pollen they could barely fly. With the naked eye, you couldn't see the work of opening the flower pods, so I'm thankful the Macro lens is teaching me the hidden world of nature.

Bumbling Along

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Canon 7D 100mm Lens

Bumble Bee working on a herb in my garden. Shot with a continuous burst mode as they are always on the move.  I'm getting better on this setting of the camera - it used to be that out of 100 shots, only one or two would be in focus, but now, most of them are in focus so I'll have to remember this and take less images!

Pink Poppy

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Beautiful Poppy taken at Pollard Park the other day. Was very lucky to get this as it was really windy and the poppy was blowing around a lot. Love the depth of colour.

The Lone Tree of Ballantyne Road

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Love lone trees in big expanses, but unfortunately they are so hard to find, but when I do, I tend to go overboard and take lots of images so I can choose which is the best.

Bumbling Bee

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Found this Bumbling Bee on my Lavender plant today. Put the camera on burst mode and managed to get quite a few good ones. Hope you like it.

Stink Bug

Canon 7D, 100mm Lens

Stink bug macro with a textured overlay.  These critters stink if you squash them.  Sitting on a white clematis I just phtoographed it and left it alone.

Textured Rose

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens, Texturd Overlay

Love this macro of a rose, with the textured overlay. Taken at Puzzling world in Wanaka after some rain. The flowers were not totally exposed to the elements as there was shelter nearby, hence they were in very good condition.

Collecting Pollen

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Bumble Bee doing it's job collecting pollen out of a bright pink Cosmos.  Taken at Pollard Park in Blenheim - the most beautiful garden park and well worth a visit if you come down here.

The Lupins at Lindis Pass

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

We came across a valley of Wild Lupins that stretched for kilometres in the Lindis Pass. We couldn't resist and climbed through padlocked gates to photograph here for several hours. This is just a taster, one image of about 500 I took but gives you an idea what it was like.  To emphasise how many Lupins were there, I've added a second photo of selective colouring of the Lupins only.  A magical day.

The Lone Tree II

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Playing around with the Lone Tree of Ballantyne Road in Wanaka. I really like this texture as it seems to go with the particular landscape. I've tried others but always come back to this one. I wish I lived closer to the tree, as lone trees in a big landscape are so hard to find. I had searched for years until I found this one.

Onahau Bay, Marlborough Sounds

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Onahau Bay in the Marlborough Sounds where I spent Christmas Day soaking up the sun and eating way too much. Beautiful New Zealand bush with punga ferns and Pohutakawa Trees, all flowering beautifully for summer. The blue of the of the water and sky was amazing.

The Costa Romantica

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Early this morning in the Marlborough Sounds, we came across a cruiseship having a bit of a nosy in this area. We were on a speedboat heading towards our Christmas Day destination - a beautiful bach which is only accessible by boat. When we saw this though, we made a detour and took a good look around.  This is the Costa Romantica.  After we took a look, the cruiseship turned around and headed back out to sea. The water was incredible, calm, lots of reflections and perfect lighting conditions!

Pink Clematis

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

The Clematis is one of my favourite flowers.  They are so stunning no matter what the size or colour.  This one I photographed yesterday, and I was surprised to see them, as they usually flower a lot earlier, and have a short flowering life.  Not complaining though as I missed them in November when there were a lot around, but never any when I had my camera!

Aggie's White Pants

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

White Agapanthus.  Taken at Ryland Estate yesterday which is 15 acres of beautiful garden, cherry and apricot . Late afternoon and filtered sunlight under a tree.  We also bought 2kg of Cherries for christmas here!

Lavender Farm

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Took a drive to the Lavender Farm yesterday.  Unfortunately the owners were not home to get permission, so I just did some grab shots and I'll try again next week.  Overcast day which made it good.  Beautiful scent. Enjoy!

The Lone Tree

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

At Lake Wanaka I finally found my lone tree I've been wanting to photograph for years.  Hope you love it as much as I do.

The Tree in the Lake III

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens, Textured Overlay

The famed Tree in the Lake in Wanaka, with a bit of artistic license on my part.  Love how this has turned out.  Someone told me I needed to be a bolder with my images and I agree, so from now on, I am going to post up what I want you to see, and not be scared of the photography purists out there!

My Patch

Canon 20D, 75-300mm Lens

Tui all fluffed up to make himself look bigger to scare away all the other birds as this was HIS tree and no one else was allowed to land there.  Beautiful specimen and colours. One of the most loved birds in New Zealand.  They have great mimicry, but their own song is beautiful too.  In the cities they are known to mimic the beeping of trucks backing, cellphone ringtones, telephones, to the extent people can't tell the difference!

I Want to Ride my Bicycle...

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Macro image of a piece of jewellery I wear around my neck.  Setup was black velvet, glass for reflecion and a good source of light.  I love doing this sort of photography and am always looking for little things to photograph.  The $2 shops are great for props for this!

Country Entrance

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Everytime I've driven past this driveway, I kept saying to myself i should stop and take a photo.  After three years I finally did.  The light was right - (nearly sunset), with the sun casting a golden glow over everything.  In winter, when there are no leaves, it is also an imposing sight, so I will try and take an image  in Winter as well.  To get this shot I lay the camera on the ground on top of a rock for stability.

Flautist

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens, Textured overlay

Taken at today's opening of liz Davidson Square in our local Town. This very talented young girl musician was playing Baritone Sax, Sax and Flute.  I focused on her hand and managed to capture the essence of her musical genius.  I dedicate this image to Bronwyn and Lia who I know have been practising and learning flute all of 2012.

A Perfect Red Rose

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Trying to keep the theme red leading up to Christmas.  Another beautiful Red Rose taken at Pollard Park in Marlborough a few days ago. Handheld Macro.  Been doing a lot of macro photography in the past week all enthused after taking a workshop for our beginners C grade group.  Their enthusiasm has rubbed off on me and now I'm finding all sorts of things in the macro world to photograph.

Camera Mad

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Canon 7D, 100mm Lens

This is the source of my addiction.  The camera doesn't go anywhere without me.  It's always ready for anything interesting thing that might be thrown my way.  Without it, I would be lost.

Petals Red

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Taken at Pollard Park Yesterday on a overcast day which is perfect for red flowers.  I loved the way the petals were unfolding in this image.  I did try several different crops but for a change, centred was the best way to present this image so I'm breaking the rule of thirds.  Then again, rules are made to be broken. I used a textured overlay to get the effect.

Summer Bee

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Click on this image to see it in large form as the smaller form does not do it justice.  Busy bee this afternoon amongst the flowers at Pollard Park in Marlborough.  I should not have been there as I had just been diagnosed with a broken ankle, and I should have been winging my way home to put on a moonboot.  But it was a nice cloudy day and perfect windless conditions for macro photography so decided to do a quick detour to the park on the way home.   Glad I did!

Sunshiny Poppy

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro

I'm in a bright Poppy mood today, probably because of the overcast skies and humidity and the fact I need something to keep me awake after a broken nights sleep (Damn Cat wanted cuddles in the middle of the night! This is not the normal cuddle by curling up next to you, this is the cuddle where unless I put my arms round her she kept tapping my chin with her paw!)Back to the Flower - this was a handheld macro as I didn't have my tripod with me n the shores of Picton back in early spring.  Beautiful sunny day with no wind helped. I love how the petals are almost iridescent.  

The Tree in the Lake II

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Shooting images in the rain using long exposures.  Calm and hardly any wind.  Even the Shags in the tree didn't move.  Taken at Lake Wanaka last week.  Inclement weather doesn't stop the camera!

Lindis Pass Light

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

We were driving through the Lindis Pass as the sun was going down and came across beautiful evening light and shadows. This is one of my favourite images of the area with the textures of the tussock grass, being almost green in the shade, but golden and yellow in the sunlight.  Not a cloud to be seen.  Beautiful evening albeit a bit cold.

Red Billed Gull Abstract

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Abstract of a Red Billed Gull. These gull are the Red Billed Gulls and are  native to New Zealand. They can be found all over the country. It is a fairly small gull with an all red bill, red eye ring, red leg and feet, pale grey wings with black wingtips. Quite a striking bird. The rest of its body is white, which makes them hard to photography in sunny conditions as it's easy to overexpose the feathers. There is virtually no visual difference between the male and female birds. Immature gulls have a dark brown bill with only hints of red.

A Lake Wanaka Special

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens, Hand held.

You know you're addicted to photography when you pay $14 to go and see Puzzling World in Wanaka, then get caught up in their garden outside the public toilets, taking photos of free growing roses, then have to TEAR yourself away to actually go and enjoy the exhibit!  The roses were exquisite here. The Climate at Lake Wanaka must suit them.

Fetch!

Canon 7D, 100mm Lens

I used the 100mm macro lens for these shots with the dog as it was getting dark and I wanted to be sure I had good quality.  This was taken at Lake Hawea on a really calm day so the water was crystal clear and you could see the stones easily on the bottom of the lake, even though it was quite deep.  The dog was bossy, always wanting a stick thrown in for him to chase it. I ended up taking a lot of action shots of the dog for about an hour.  Lots of fun!

Last Light on the Lindis Pass

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Lindis Pass climbs to an elevation of 971m, and is the main inland route between Omarama and Cromwell in the South Island of New Zealand.  We passed through last week at sunset and this gorgeous golden light on the tussock grass, as will as the shadows, made for interesting photography.  It almost felt like I was in a desert somewhere.

South Island Summer

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Taken somewhere between Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki while travelling towards Lake Hawea.  love the simplicity of this image ad the one white cloud.  The landscape sums up what this whole area is like.  Beauty, colourful, big skies, golden tussock grass.  I felt like a tiny ant in comparison.

The White Rose

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Canon 7D, 100mm lens

Found a beautiful, perfect white rose.  Applied a textured overlay to give it a more creative look.  Handheld macro using a fast shutter speed as I didn't have my tripod with me at the time.  I slightly underexposed it to avoid blown out highlights.  One of my favourite flowers.

Pink

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Found these on the side of the road. Tiny but beautiful.  Good thing come in small packages is what I was always told.  This is no exception.  Those are blades of grass behind to give you perspective on how big the flowers are. If anyone knows what they are please let me know.

All I Want for Christmas is Two Good Legs

Canon 7D, 100mm Macro lens

You don't know just how important feet are, until you injure one.  I injured my ankle on the 5th January 2010 after years of active life running, walking, and being outdoors.  These days you will mostly find me perched on my LazyBoy chair with the cat on my lap, with my foot in the UP position.  Any amount of walking renders my ankle swollen and sore.  As a passionate photographer, this is severely restrictive and frustrating.  So look after your feet and ankles - they are they only ones you'll ever get.

Rose Red

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Beautiful Red rose found at Lake Wanaka.  Handheld Macro.  Roses seem to do really well in the South Isalnd away from the humidity.  This was a particularly beautiful variety.

Lupins at Lake Tekapo

Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

At this time of the year (December) the Lupins are in flower all along the side of the road everywhere you go from Burkes Pass just North of Lake Tekapo, right down to Lake Wanaka.  This is Lake Tekapo.  The lake really is that wonderful aqua colour due to the sediment coming down from the glaciers.

The Tree in the Lake

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Canon 7D, 18-55mm Lens

Taken at Lake Wanaka last week.  It was pouring with rain and quite dark so used an aperture of 22 to slow down the shutter to get the milky look of the lake.  This is the most photographed tree in New Zealand.

On Top of a Donkey!

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

This is the last image I took before the donkey decided to buck me off.  I was resting my injured foot rather than walking down from the Acropolis of Lindos in Rhodes.   I thought I was doing my foot a favour, but in the end, I did myself a disfavour.  I will never ride another donkey anywhere ever!  Beautiful place though - loved Rhodes and Lindos.

Autumn Leaf

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Canon 7D, 100mm Macro Lens

Late afternoon, autumn, and the sun was shining through the left enhancing every line and texture giving a detailed glimpse into death by season!

The Decumanus Maximus at Volubilis

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

On the main road in Volubilis looking back to the Triumphal Arch (In the distance).  This is at sunset and the light was amazing.  I was surprised how large the site was.  Sent shivers down my spine knowing that so many generations before us, this was a city that lived and breathed life, and now it's in ruins.  Will our cities we live in now go the same way in a thousand years?

The Odd-Eyed Cat of Rhodes, Greece

Nikon D50, at 55mm.

This is an image my daughter took in Rhodes, the Greek Islands of a white cat with two different coloured eyes. The condition most commonly affects white-colored cats, but may be found in a cat of any color, provided that it possesses the white spotting gene. There is a common misconception that all odd-eyed cats are born deaf in one ear. This is not true, as about 60%–70% of odd-eyed cats can hear. White cats with one or two blue eyes do, however, have a higher incidence of genetic deafness.

This cat was hiding under a car but I completely missed seeing it because I was busy photographing something else. By the time my daughter pointed it out to me, it had shied away and I couldn't get a decent shot of it. However, she took a brilliant one as you can see, photographer extraordinaire as she is (even though she has a Nikon!!)

Dreaming of Sunny Days

Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

It's raining today, so I wanted to post this up to remind me that somewhere else it will be sunny and even if I can't be there, it's what I'm dreaming of. Snoozing for a week on these chairs is just what the doctor ordered!  I took this image in Santorini.  It's what we did on day two of our trip after tearing round the island on quadbikes the day before!

Blue Door in the Kasbah, Rabat, Morocco

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Canon 7D, 10-22mm Lens

Beautiful blue door in the Kasbah in Rabat, Morocco.  Everything in the walled city was blue and white, which was absolutely gorgeous.  But this was the best door in there.  Would love to go back and explore some more.