Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Whatipu beach Auckland


I love Auckland because it is located at the narrow isthmus of the north island, with lots of beautiful spots for short day trips.  The west coast is blessed with many different black sand beaches.  The sand is black because it is volcanic sand.  All these beaches have rugged coastline, ideal for landscape photography.  Piha, Muriwai, Bethells beach, Karekare and Whatipu, make your pick.

These photos were shot at Whatipu, an hour drive from Auckland central, mostly tarmac road with perhaps the last 20% of the journey on windy unsealed gravel.Whatipu looks out towards Manukau harbour.  On the other side of the harbour is Awhitu peninsula.



In-camera HDR Sony NEX-6

In-camera HDR Sony NEX-6

Long Exposure landscape: Lady Bay Auckland


I often marvel at landscape photos from the National Geographic. The waves and clouds in those photos are all so "Dreamy".  I soon learned about the long exposure with Neutral density filters.  I bought one recently, a Cokin ND2-ND400 variable filter.  These photos were from my first attempt at long exposure with a ND filter.  These were shot at just under the maximum filtering capacity of the filter, i reckon i was doing about -7 or -8 stops. Around 10-13 sec exposures.  Ideally i would like a much longer exposure but for that i will need much darker filter.  Anyway, i am quite happy for what i have got considering this is my very first attempt.




San Francisco and surrounds


After Vegas i stopped by San Francisco to visit family.  You have never been to San Frans until you have seen the mighty Golden gate bridge up close.  I have.  It is really a clever engineering and architecture masterpiece.



Meet the local (the sea lions) at the pier 39.  They are cute, but they stink.

Long exposure hand held - NEX6

Short trip to neighbouring town Sacramento: Capitol building

I went on a day tour to Yosemite national park.  It was worth every penny i spent on it.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking.  I live in one of the most beautiful country in the world, New Zealand.  We have beautiful rugged shoreline, lakes and mountain ranges but the mountain you get at Yosemite is something else at a much bigger scale.

Inspiration point. You can see why it has got that name.

Inspired by Ansel :)
Long exposure hand held - NEX6

Grand Canyon: West rim from Vegas


If you are in Vegas, it is worth doing a day trip to see the grand canyon.  Most of the day tour packages cover the western rim of the canyon.  The landscape at the western rim is a bit different from the eastern side. I highly recommend the helicopter tour. You get to see so much more without wasting time on the tiring bus ride.  The chopper flies over colorado river, Hoover dam, the beautiful lake mead before finally entering the majestic canyon.  Some packages (like the one i went on) even stop at a local ranch for lunch.  You will get to see cowboys and cowgirls at work there.  All the photos below were taken with my small Sony NEX-6 mirrorless camera.  The aerials shots were taken through the helicopter tinted window, which is why you can see a blue hue in some of the photos.

Colorado river
Hoover dam
Lake Mead - in camera HDR Sony NEX6



I have included the photo above to show what you can do with a pocketable (almost pocketable) camera these days.  The only camera i brought along for the trip was my Sony NEX-6 with a kit lens (16-50mm oss).  This photo was shot in an extremely dark old hut at the ranch with minimal ambient light in the dwelling. I shot this at ISO 1600 1/8sec hand held.  The optical stabiliser really works! And very well controlled noise at ISO 1600. Well done Sony.

Monday, January 6, 2014


LAS VEGAS



I have to admit, my last post here was in 2012. That says it all, I have been slacking off big time.  Time for some overdue instalments.

I was in Vegas for a week late last year. People says what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but i have decided to share it.  Vegas is basically a city built on desert land.  When you are within the city boundary everything looks amazing and rather "bling".  This city got more casinos than anywhere i have been to.  There was even a casino by the airport arrival hall! I wasn't there to gamble my very limited fortune away of course. I was there for a conference on Gastrointestinal pathology. Yes go figure how interesting the lectures were.



The trip started off with a minor hurdle where my luggage was left behind by the silly airline when i stop by LAX for transit.  Virgin America located my luggage almost immediately but it took staff at LAX 24 hours to re-deliver them to MGM grand where i stayed.  The hotel wasn't as grand as i thought. Granted, i did not stay in the executive suite but i thought even the overall ambience of MGM lacks the wow factor i have seen in other hotels. Every other hotels have their theme.  For example, walking into the Bellagio felt like walking into a palace from a fairy tale.  There are butterflies, windmill etc, all in the hotel lobby. Being in Caesar palace really made me feel i was in Rome. 






I enjoyed the Bellagio's fountain show very much. It was quite an experience.





Is it weird to have Statue of liberty and Eiffel tower in the same city? Only in Vegas.


Fremont street, the "old town" of Vegas is also a spot worth seeing, preferably at night.  Almost the entire length of the street is covered by the massive LED canopy which lights up at night to display interesting graphics. Lots of cheap eat too (much cheaper than eating at the casinos anyway).