Mt John Observatory – Tekapo
The drive up to the Mt John Observatory is steep and winding, and seems to go on for much longer than it should. Once at the top, you're rewarded with…
Penguin Portraits
Last week I talked about using (lots of) negative space to draw attention to the important parts of a photograph, and to give an impression of the environment. This week,…
Friendly Fantails
Fantails are one of our ubiquitous native birds that are known for following people around. Friendly fantails don't really like us personally, but they do enjoy feeding on the insects…
Booth Island – Minimalism in wildlife photography
After a stunning cruise through towering icebergs, we landed on Booth Island. A wide sweep of pristine snow curved up to the Gentoo colony on the hill. By this stage…
Stargazing
A more accurate title would be "moongazing", but stargazing sounds infinitely better. On the night of the eclipse we were in Tekapo - the best place in New Zealand to…
Zodiac Cruising
It was tempting to just take photos constantly on our Antarctica trip. Especially during zodiac cruises, surrounded by ice. And while those who were around me certainly thought I was…
Incoming Gull!
Colonies of birds are a lot of fun to photograph - but it's sometimes difficult to know where to look! We passed this roost of White-fronted terns briefly while boating…
The Lemaire Channel – a sense of scale
There's nothing like good old nature to make you feel miniscule. While we were in Antarctica I was constantly awed by the sheer scale of the landscape, the wide stretches…
Preening Duck
I wrote a bit about composition a while back. In that post I lamented accidentally amputating parts of birds by not zooming out enough. In trying to diverge from just taking…
Neko Harbour Hike
Our landing at Neko Harbour was probably one of my favourites. Not only were there fuzzy Gentoo chicks everywhere, but it involved a hike that gave us a stunning view…
Flying South – Looking down at Ruapehu
My favourite thing about flying is looking out the window. I love seeing things from a different perspective. I don't usually get window-seats though, unfortunately! Flying south to Christchurch, I…
Skuas, Skuas Everywhere
Skuas get a bad rap. People just don't like things that eat cute fluffy penguin chicks. But they do have fluffy chicks of their own to feed, and there's not…
Australasian Crested Grebes
We don't see Australasian Crested Grebes in the North Island. They're impressive waterbirds that look ridiculous on land because their legs are set very far back on their bodies! It…
Deception Island Sunset
All evening as we'd been eating dinner, Dad and I had been staring out the window as icebergs and behemoths of stone slipped past. We were headed for Deception Island,…
The Tasman Glacier
You'd think I'd have had enough of glaciers after visiting Antarctica, but I will never get tired of ice! We visited the Tasman Glacier and hiked up a big hill…