Sunset at Muriwai (again)

 

Peering out the window and thinking to myself "there might be a good sunset in 40 minutes" when I'm a 30 minute drive from where I'd like capture it is always going to result in a slightly nerve wrenching drive.

But at the end of the day, scampering over the rocks and plonking myself in what I thought was the best spot, while keeping out of the way of my fellow photographers who'd had the forethought to get there earlier, has resulted in an image I'm actually quite proud of.

Blown up large there is actually bags of detail here, most notably the three couples and 1 fisherman who all remained still enough to add a fair bit of extra interest and scale into the image.

Omeru Falls

 

I've Posted an image of this waterfall before. But it's been a long time since I've photographed a waterfall and as it's one of my favourite subjects, and this ones only 10 minutes drive from my house, I thought it'd be rude not to give this one another crack.

It's also good to revisit old spots, explore new angles, deploy new techniques and sometimes just sit down and admire what you liked about a place the first time.

It's located in the Omeru Pa Reserve just north of Kaukapakapa. The reserve contains 3 waterfalls all within a few minutes walk of each other (and possibly a stumble down a muddy hill to get to one of them). Omeru Falls is actually the smallest of the 3 but in my opinion the most photographic of the lot.

Donald McLean Lookout

 

A quiet day a few weeks ago found me driving through some inclement weather out to Huia. I found my way to the Donald McLean lookout, I was hoping to get some moody telephoto landscapes of the Waitakere Ranges draped in mist, my favourite of which is the image below. However, for a brief few minutes the mist cleared leaving the view clear all the way to the city and Rangitoto Island far in the distance while wee wisps of mist floated around hills that were dappled by small pockets of sunlight.

The Waitakere Ranges | 88mm | 1/80th | f8.0 | ISO100