End of Lake Wakatipu

End of Lake Wakatipu
End of Lake Wakatipu in Glenorchy, New Zealand                                                   Click here to learn about purchasing a fine art framed print

This is the end of Lake Wakatipu in Glenorchy. I was here a couple of years ago on a Trey Ratcliff photo adventure. I had just switched from Nikon to Sony and so was still struggling with the placement of the buttons and menus. Sometimes I go back and look at my settings and wonder what I was thinking, like this one, my aperture was f10; seems a bit high. Maybe I should just forget about that and just enjoy the scenery. Forget I even mentioned it.

I was going back to look at my New Zealand photos and found this sitting in the bit bucket. I started working on its just out of curiosity and then got carried away. All the while I was thinking I’d seen this before. Sure enough, I’d processed and posted this same picture. My techniques and eye are constantly changing and this time the result was different. So maybe I should have titled it Glenorchy Part 2, …or some such thing.

Boy, if I could go back in time and make different choices. Well, just a few. Like buying a certain company stock when it was really cheap. Oh well, until I invent a time machine I’ll just live in the present, learn from the past, place one foot in front of the other, you know the drill. Actually, I’m kind of glad I can’t go back, it seems the longer I live the less confused things are. So going back and buying that stock might just put me into a place I don’t want to be. Hmmmm, … tis a bit of a conundrum.

Mount Bonpland

This is taken from Mount Bonpland, high up in the New Zealand alps not far from Glenorchy. We landed on these rocks and clamored about looking for shots but mindful of the engine time on the helicopter. I don't recall the exact number but it was more than a dozen stops on peaks with views I could only dream of, this being one. This was taken a few days after a snowfall in the autumn of the southern hemisphere.

This is taken from Mount Bonpland, high up in the New Zealand alps not far from Glenorchy. We landed on these rocks and clamored about looking for shots but mindful of the engine time on the helicopter. I don’t recall the exact number but it was more than a dozen stops on peaks with views I could only dream of, this being one. This was taken a few days after a snowfall in the autumn of the southern hemisphere.

Road to Glenorchy

Early one morning on the way to Glenorchy in New Zealand we stopped at a vista to watch the sunrise. As you can see the road has a lot of curves and I managed to capture this commuter on his or her way to work in Queenstown. As a rule I don't like to commute to work, but I think if I lived here I wouldn't mind so much. Kind of like when I get stuck on a drawbridge in Florida, just sit there and watch the dolphins swim by. No dolphins in New Zealand, just beautiful landscape and the occasional black swan. That'll do just fine.

Early one morning on the way to Glenorchy in New Zealand we stopped at a vista to watch the sunrise. As you can see the road has a lot of curves and I managed to capture this commuter on his or her way to work in Queenstown. As a rule I don’t like to commute to work, but I think if I lived here I wouldn’t mind so much. Kind of like when I get stuck on a drawbridge in Florida, just sit there and watch the dolphins swim by. No dolphins in New Zealand, just beautiful landscape and the occasional black swan. That’ll do just fine.

Glenorchy Stillness

This is Glenorchy in the early morning when the water is still and the light is perfect. I never realized that black swans existed before I came to New Zealand, I thought they were just in fairy tales or perhaps a rare genetic oddity. But in New Zealand the black swans are in the lakes and ponds of the southern island in abundance. Perhaps if I grew up here I'd be used to it but as a visitor I was amazed each time I saw one. This morning I saw dozens, too many to count. I suspect Glenorchy  is a kind of sanctuary, and give the magical landscape it might as well be a fairy tale.

This is Glenorchy in the early morning when the water is still and the light is perfect. I never realized that black swans existed before I came to New Zealand, I thought they were just in fairy tales or perhaps a rare genetic oddity. But in New Zealand the black swans are in the lakes and ponds of the southern island in abundance. Perhaps if I grew up here I’d be used to it but as a visitor I was amazed each time I saw one. This morning I saw dozens, too many to count. I suspect Glenorchy is a kind of sanctuary, and given the magical landscape it might as well be a fairy tale.

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Drama in the Alps

This is another shot from the chopper while flying through New Zealand's southern alps. Not having flown like this before I was a little overwhelmed... okay, I was very overwhelmed. In any case, my normal daily routine typically doesn't include speeding towards jagged mountain ridges in an open helicopter, ascending just over the top only to have the ridge fall away into an impossible chasm. I see it in movies, but in real life it takes getting used to. In other words I was completely freaked out yet exhilarated at the same time. I dealt with my fear by concentrating on capturing as many images as I could which took all of my concentration so that in the end I began to relax a little. I took about a thousand images in four hours and this is one that captures, at least for me, the drama of that trip.

This is another shot from the chopper while flying through New Zealand’s southern alps. Not having flown like this before I was a little overwhelmed… okay, I was very overwhelmed. In any case, my normal daily routine typically doesn’t include speeding towards jagged mountain ridges in an open helicopter, ascending just over the top only to have the ridge fall away into an impossible chasm. I see it in movies, but in real life it takes getting used to. In other words I was completely freaked out yet exhilarated at the same time. I dealt with my fear by concentrating on capturing as many images as I could which took all of my concentration so that in the end I began to relax a little. I took about a thousand images in four hours and this is one that captures, at least for me, the drama of that trip.

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Glenorchy Reflection

Glenorchy in New Zealand on a brisk morning. Glenorchy is about an hour drive north of Queenstown, is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and is at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu which is a very long lake. This shot is looking towards Mount Earnslaw which is prominent in the area. With all this at every turn I could understand why the people of New Zealand seem to have an outdoors lifestyle. Being surrounded as such they seem generally happy and healthy. Of course it's hard to generalize, but that was the impression I was left with, and I think it's not far off the mark. I had an overwhelming desire to explore every stop we made. I'm pretty sure I'd still be there hiking through the hills and valleys if I stopped at each vista we came across. And who knows, I might even be a little healthier.

Glenorchy in New Zealand on a brisk morning. Glenorchy is about an hour drive north of Queenstown, is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and is at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu which is a very long lake. This shot is looking towards Mount Earnslaw which is prominent in the area. With all this at every turn I could understand why the people of New Zealand seem to have an outdoors lifestyle. Being surrounded as such they seem generally happy and healthy. Of course it’s hard to generalize, but that was the impression I was left with, and I think it’s not far off the mark. I had an overwhelming desire to explore every stop we made. I’m pretty sure I’d still be there hiking through the hills and valleys if I stopped at each vista we came across. And who knows, I might even be a little healthier.

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Place of Magic

Imagine, if you will, walking along a misty frozen swamp just after sunrise, surrounded by snow capped peaks. Occasionally the silence is broken by the call of black swans as the establish they're presence in the valley. This is not a fiction of my imagination, this is the scene at Glenorchy this morning. As I was immersed in this magical landscape I couldn't help but wonder how such a place could exist in our modern world. But it does, right here on the southern island of New Zealand.

Imagine, if you will, walking along a misty frozen swamp just after sunrise, surrounded by snow capped peaks. Occasionally the silence is broken by the call of black swans as the establish they’re presence in the valley. This is not a fiction of my imagination, this is the scene at Glenorchy this morning. As I was immersed in this magical landscape I couldn’t help but wonder how such a place could exist in our modern world. But it does, right here on the southern island of New Zealand.

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