SF knitter's photostream  

We did a little afternoon trip out to the Cape Egmont Lighthouse. The lighthouse is set quite a ways inland, which surprised us. Because of this, on a good day, you can photograph the lighthouse with Mt. Taranaki in the distance. This was not one of those days.

Still, I thought the sky was fantastic, although the light could have been better. This is another place we'll have to come back to.

On our way back to New Plymouth, we did catch a glimpse of Mt. Taranaki...for about a millisecond!

It has been an odd winter so far. First, no snow for ages. We finally get our first snow storm, and then it gets warm enough that most of the snow melts. Then we have another snow storm, and, yep! It gets warm enough again so almost everything melts. The trails are all a bit dicey to walk on now. I think I need crampons!

This was taken the morning after the first snow storm. I should've had my skis on that morning. The conditions were perfect for skiing.

Have a great weekend!

We stuck around until long after the sun went down for some night shots of the bridge. We tried some light painting, but those didn't quite work out. For this, I opened up the aperture, cranked up the ISO a bit and did a 30 second exposure. I was pleasantly surprised. And I wished that those clouds had showed up earlier when the sun went down!

The light pollution at the base of the mountain is from New Plymouth. Also helping light the scene was a half moon. I was a bit restricted with this comp, as someone was huddling with his camera against the bridge, which provided him with a nice wind break. :D

Tech details:
Canon 5DMII
Focal length 24mm
Aperture 4
ISO 800
30 second exposure.

Noise reduction with Nik Dfine
Single shot

I had to stop by Half Day Forest Preserves on my way home during the last snow storm. I was amazed to see this portion of the pond clear of ice. It reminded me a little of the hot pools in Yellowstone.

Again, if you look closely, you can see streaks of falling snowflakes.

This often photographed tree is just along the shores of Lake Wanaka, not far from the downtown area. If you look closely, you can see a few cormorants roosting in the tree.

Alas, we never quite got the skies we were hoping for. Guess we'll just have to visit again! Maybe when there's less mosquitoes...although it might be a bit colder then. :)