Beautiful Children of New Caledonia

Floral Fantasy

Are You Ready.........

.............to join us in New Caledonia?????

New Caledonia Retreat

We took a drive one evening and discovered this little hide-away retreat not too far from Noumea. I get so frustrated when I see beautiful scenes in the middle of the day when the lighting is harsh and flat, but once in a while I'm in the right place at the right time! This was one such evening. Incidentally, I tried a little HDR on this, but it ruined it.  I love the shadows and contrast in the low light just before sunset just as I saw it, with very little editing.

Where in the World is New Caledonia!!!

We find ourselves in New Caledonia for about 10 days.  This is the view from our balcony.  (Our connection here does business with this hotel and was able to get us an amazing rate.) I know, I know, it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!!!!!  Unfortunately we did not spend the day lounging on beach chairs sipping an icy, fruity drink.  But we have had a great day.  With our Director of Public Affairs here, we visited an editor of the largest newspaper in NC, and then we were able to meet with the former president of the country!!  Who would have thought this was possible!!! Later in the evening we did the first of 3 training sessions. 

  A polarizer on my lens made the already stunning colors of the water, out of this world.  New Caledonia is surrounded by an immense coral reef cocooning the mainland in the largest lagoon in the world.

Phun Phriday

OREO COWS

At home we have Oreos and milk, in New Zealand they just have Oreo milk.

Napier, New Zealand

We traveled from Wellington up the east coast to the village of Napier.  It is known for its art deco architecture and the largest gannet colony in the world.  This photo reminds me of almost all the villages we have visited.  They all have beautiful little parks and well tended flower gardens in the center of town, all year long.  (This photo was taken late at night without a tripod.)

Maraetotara Falls, New Zealand

This past week we have been back to Wellington to help with 'Books for Fiji'.  We worked really hard Monday through Friday, so we decided we would stay the weekend to see more of NZ.  We drove to Hastings and Napier, about a 4 hour drive over a beautiful mountain range and through beautiful rolling pastureland and charming country villages.  Here is a waterfall along the way.

The 'entrance' to the path to the waterfall.

The Bach

A Glimpse Back Into Time

New Zealand is a thoroughly modern country in every way.  But part of the charm of this beautiful corner of the world are the glimpses of times long past that very easily coexist with life in 2011.  One of those delightful peeks into the past are the corner dairies that I talked about in the previous post.  

This post is about another uniquely NZ tradition called 'The Bach'.  A bach in the 1950s was a tiny shack thrown together on the beach, or other place one wants to stay.  It supposedly is short for a 'bachelor pad.'  Usually made of old plywood, or corrugated metal or other odds and ends, a funny definition of a bach is, 'something you built yourself, on land you don't own, out of materials you borrowed or stole.'  We still see these funny little shacks, usually near the beaches.  If you had more resources, you might have a little mobile home that you would park where ever you wanted to be.  We see these old mobile homes from the 1950s, 60s, tucked away in back yards, vacant lots, or on the beach.  (Today people still say they are renting a bach for a holiday, but it now means a small vacation home.) 

The tractor is also significant.  You see old tractors parked in driveways, or in yards in most of the beach villages, because residents use tractors to pull and launch their boats.

YUM!!!

One of the quaint things about New Zealand is the little corner markets, usually called dairies.  Sprinkled throughout suburban neighborhoods, they are right out of the 40s, 50s and/or 60s.  It looks like way-back-when, people decided to build a little 'convenience' store onto the front of their houses, where a front yard would be.  So they live in the back and have a little business in the front.  Must have been before zoning codes.  Yes, NZ has very modern grocery stores,  just like you'd see in the States, but also these cute little reminders of years gone by. 


And most always these little stores advertise Tip Top ice cream.   Unfortunately, (for our waistlines),  we have discovered that NZ ice cream is delicious, so whenever we are on a Saturday drive, we find a dairy and stop for a double scoop.  They have strange and unusual flavors here.  Two of our favorites are Hokey Pokey and Gold Rush.  I think I've gained 10 pounds!!!      

Coromandel Mountainscape

Coromandel Seascape

Wouldn't It Be Nice If..............

........the weather always cooperated when you wanted to be outdoors taking landscape photos?  Wouldn't that be great!  The chances of that happening, however, are about the same as always being at just the right spot during those golden hours when the light is perfect, or always being able to pick a day to shoot when the sky is a beautiful shade of blue and the clouds look like big cotton balls (see my last post).

Well today was not one of those days.  Today we saw some spectacularly beautiful scenery, but the day was overcast and dull.  I knew any photos I took would even be worse than what I saw, not only because everything was dull, but because of course, cameras can't see everything the human eye sees so there wouldn't be much detail in the shadows or highlights.  Before digital and Photoshop I wouldn't have even bothered taking photos on a day like this.

But I did take a couple of shots to remember what we saw, and thought I'd share one of them.  Several of you have asked how I edit my photos, and what programs and actions I use.  Today I'll show you a SOOTC shot and what I did to turn it into a nice photo, but certainly not a great one.  (Editing can help, but never takes the place of beautiful light, an interesting subject and great composition.) 

Before I start, however, I wish I could give a simple answer as to how I edit, but I can't, because I process each photo differently depending on what it needs, (if anything), the 'look' I am after, my mood, what appeals to me, etc.   

I can say that I always start in Lightroom, and make overall adjustments if needed, such as exposure or a crop, or to straighten a horizon, and I often use the clarify slider, a favorite of mine that adds subtle contrast.  If a photo needs more, I go to Photoshop and work on specific areas.  I have many different actions, plugins, programs to choose from.  (Maybe some time I will try to list all my favorites.)  I'm a big fan of HDR.  When using this technique sparingly, I can edit a photo to look closer to what I actually saw, bringing out shadows while not blowing out highlights.    My camera can't do this with one exposure.  The key to using HDR most of the time is to use sparingly...but not always.  I know many photographers cringe when they see an over the top use of HDR, but, hey it's art, and there are some photos that are show stoppers with a psychedelic look.

O.K.  here is the SOOTC shot....... 

Wouldn't this have been a beautiful scene if the light was beautiful, or there was either a golden sunset or nice puffy clouds, and the clouds didn't change the beautiful aqua colored water to gray?  Sigh, it wasn't going to happen today.  The flowers were colorful and lit fairly well, but the cliffs in the background are dull, and there was no contrast or definition in the sky or the water.  Now look at the post editing version:

Well, the first thing about this photo I would have changed has nothing to do with the editing.  I should have used a smaller aperture (larger number for you beginners), to have the background cliffs in sharper focus.  

This was really a simple edit.  In Lightroom I moved the clarify slider to the right just to give a bit more contrast  The foreground was well exposed so I wanted to leave it as is.  I then used Nik Software's HDR program.  (To make the best HDR image you need to use 3 or more shots of different exposures and then let the program combine them, but sometimes you can get passable results using just one photo, which is what I did.)  There are many sliders and presets to experiment with until you get the look you want.  After a few minutes I was satisfied that the color of the water was about what I saw, not real vivid but still with a muted shade of the color.  I also wanted to show the definition in the clouds and bring out the color and low light in the cliffs that I saw.   When I was satisfied, I brought the original and the edited photos into Photoshop.  I didn't like what the HDR program did to the foreground flowers so I stacked both photos in Photoshop with the edited one on top then 'erased' the flowers in that photo to show the original photo underneath.  Then I merged them both and removed some water drops that were on my lens that showed up on the sky.  And that's about it.  From start to finish only took a couple of minutes.  Not a great photo, but at least I have something to remember what we saw.  

Whatipu Reserve, New Zealand

We have a new missionary couple, the Ereksons, and Saturday we showed them a couple of our favorite places.  This is one of them, on the west coast about 45 minutes away from where we live in Takapuna.
To meet Elder & Sister Erekson, click HERE.

Here's My Good Side

Taken in Christchurch Botanical Gardens

View From a Windy Hill

Near Christchurch

Kissed by the Clouds

Near the Christchurch Area

Coromandel Sunset

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive.  We were on our way home and made one last stop to enjoy this lovely golden sunset.  I was trying to find a photo op in this scene when a family walked into my view.  At the same time the sunbeams found a break in the clouds and streamed directly down on them.  I snapped my picture.

Quite a View

FROM OUR HOTEL

This is the view from our hotel in Wellington.  We were on the 25th floor in a city that unlike Christchurch, is familiar with earthquakes. 

WELLINGTON New Zealand SEASCAPE

Wellington's Rugged Coastline

We are back in Wellington on another assignment for several days.  It has been windy and pouring down rain for most of the time we've been here.  Yesterday we finished our assignments around 1pm and decided to have lunch on the wharf with our fellow travelers.  The sky cleared, and it was beautiful and we had a delightful time.   I had some great fish and chips, (or as we often hear, fush and chups).  We then dropped our companions off at the airport, (we don't fly out until tomorrow).  After that we drove to our favorite little TipTop Dairy (tiny little corner market), each bought a double scoop of ice cream (hokey pokey and gold rush are our favorites), then spent late afternoon watching scenes like this one!  Lest you think our mission is one big photography vacation, we've been in Wellington this time for three and a half days and have been busy with our Public Affairs assignments for all that time, with the exception of these few hours of rest and the only time I had to take photos for pleasure.

We Interrupt Everything Else You May Be Doing.........

...........to go wild and crazy for the next 6 weeks as New Zealand hosts the Rugby World Cup.  There are flags, banners and crazy people with painted faces, and tons of partying and drinking to celebrate this event that seems to be everyone's priority here......  except for the one guy who put up this billboard:

In our missionary blog I mentioned that we covered several rugby games a few weeks ago,  (another new experience......being a sports photographer.  See story & photos HERE).  Of course, we could not figure out what the rules are, but came away thinking that American football players are wimps when we saw the beating these guys take without wearing protective equipment.  Anyway, we watched the World Cup opening ceremonies on TV, which were outstanding, and then saw the fireworks from the balcony of our flat.    

As I have said before, photography is art, and a photo is the artist's interpretation of what he sees or doesn't see, just as a painting is an interpretation of what the painter sees....how to compose, what to leave in or out of the scene, the coloring, the mood, etc. etc.  I don't think photographers are required to say or justify what they do to produce their work,  but I'm going to with this photo because I've altered this scene so much.  The fireworks are real, but the reflections are added.  The black part is actually the top of an office building that is in front of our balcony, but we still can see the Auckland skyline over the top.   

Phun Phriday

While in Christchurch we took a drive to a little village by the ocean and decided to eat lunch at a cute cafe right on the beach.  We got a kick out of the seagulls picking up every last crumb off of unattended tables.

Inside we saw this sign tacked on the front counter.  Evidently not everyone is amused by the hungry seagulls!

Akaroa, New Zealand

Beautiful Late Afternoon Light in Akaroa

Shocking Reminders!

In our recent visit to Christchurch, there is still devastation every where we looked.  It will take decades for this city to recover.  When I glanced up and saw this I was horrified.  I wondered if anyone was killed in this house, or someone who might have been below it.  What a sobering sight.

Early Spring Landscapes

While in Christchurch on assignment we took a day off and took a drive to enjoy the first signs of Spring. 

Almost Spring in New Zealand (Part 2)

Beautiful Camellias

I've never seen so many varieties of camellias.  They have been stunning bloomers all winter and are still blooming strong.  

Almost Spring in New Zealand!

We've been down in Christchurch on assignment again.  One day we had some time off so we went to the botanical gardens.  Christchurch is known as the 'Garden City' because so much land is dedicated to  green space and gardens.  After seeing the devastation of crumbled buildings and rubble everywhere you look from the earthquakes, it will be so nice to see spring bringing some beauty back to this city.  I'll post some 'it's almost spring' photos for the next few days.

The magnolia blooms are beautiful and prolific and come in many different sizes, shapes and colors.

Kute Kiwi

I had to add a new post quickly after the previous one, and this is about as opposite as I could find.  We were watching this darling little girl play on the beach while we were enjoying an afternoon in Mission Bay a couple of weeks ago.  The sun was bright, the sand was light, she had beautiful porcelain skin, all perfect for a vintage wash look.

An Early Halloween! Look If You Dare!

While we were in Wellington we took a short drive to a nearby suburb to visit the home of Weta Productions.  This is a world famous creative design production company.  They are responsible for producing the props, sets, and creatures for such movies as Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Chronicles of Narnia and Avatar.  This is only one of the creative 'arms' of this company.  They have a small 'showroom' for tourists where they have some of their creations on display.  I took a few photos.  Look at them if you dare...........

Another Wellington Skyscape

Another beautiful 'skyscape' from our Wellington trip. 

Wellington Sunset

WELLINGTON SUNSET

We have spent the past four days in Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand, and a beautiful town at the south end of the north island.  It reminds me a bit of San Francisco and is nestled among rolling hills, lush vegetation and surrounded on all sides by water.  (Flying in, if you 'under shoot' or 'over shoot' the runway in either direction, you are in the water!  The roads are narrow and curvy, and transport you through tunnels, around beautiful coastal drives and on top of knolls with breathtaking vistas.  This evening, after a drive along at the edge of the water around beautiful bays and craggy rock beaches, we watched the ferry boat coming from the south island, the airplanes landing with only yards between water and runway, surfers catching the last waves of the day, and finally this sunset..... all while eating our Tip Top ice cream cones.  (Have I mentioned the ice cream in NZ????)  Isn't missionary work great!! Seriously, visit my missionary blog to read about our assignment in Wellington.

City of Sails

Auckland - City of Sails

Auckland is called the city of sails and this photo shows why.  Even in the winter, the harbor and bays are dotted with brightly colored sails.  It will be fun to see how many sailboats we see in the summer.  This past Saturday was a beautiful day and we spent the afternoon in a lovely little town called Mission Bay.  We ate lunch at a little Mexican restaurant, (one of very few we have found), and then sat on a bench watching the sailboats glide by. 

Devonport

This is a beach in the town of Devenport, which is the neighboring town to Takapuna.  Are you getting tired of beautiful beaches yet?  Me neither!!!!!  If this looks 'different' it's because I took this with a fisheye lens.